Scratched record ahoy
Jan. 26th, 2008 06:38 pm( Fruity quiz )
Same story as usual. I feel like throwing a hissy fit whenever I see icons, youtube/niconico comments, whatever stating than one of my favorite characters is teh ebol or that they should return to [insert place of origin here], regardless of the fact they're essential to the fucking plot and they help the main character like whoa.
Let's take the following kind of character, shall we? Let's say it's a he for simplification, but could also be a female or asexual. From practically his first appearance, it's not a secret he's shady with an agenda yet to be revealed. The sidekick or the love interest might distrust him, giving the audience a reason to hate him: such a good friend of the main character can't be wrong! He might have a creepy smile or secret face when the regular cast isn't looking. And he actually happens to be an antagonist force for either a short time or most of the canon. He even challenges main character to fight him without holding back, once or twice, and may even tease the main character's abilities on their face to push them further.
Now, let's take some subcategories of this archetype. Okay, there are the ones who ARE evil and are either opposing the main character or using them (Xelloss from Slayers comes to mind, I guess). Then we have the neutral ones who aren't good or evil, but just there to watch and see what side to root for. And then the redeeming type, who after fighting the protagonist he realizes he was wrong, or he actually grew fond of one of the main characters (Tao Ren from Shaman King, Ken from Digimon 2, in some degree Ishida from Bleach).
But see, there's another subcategory, the one I love the most. It's the kind of pseudo-antagonist who turns out he was supporting the main character from the beginning. He's actually either a nice guy, or at least considers himself one of the good guys. His actions look extremely jerky and contrasting, but he has justified reasons to be so rude and crude to the naive main character. As a matter of fact, his whole raison d'être is helping the main character from the shadows, pushing them to their fate/the right direction, even risking to be hated by them. So in reality, he loves and admires and trusts the main character so much; he believes the character will win and have their happy ending, and his own happy ending depends on that by extension. Probably the reason he smirks that way when they fight him is because it makes him feel alive, or it's surprising to him, or he can see they're improving so much. But truly, his love -platonic, romantic, whatever- is just amazing. He's not a saint -hell, he even might be a complete asshole sometimes- but he's far from being the devil. And if the main character gets to acknowledge that, why can't the fandom?
This message is sponsored by my two main RP/fanfic muses. If I got a dollar every time I see an Eriol icon with the word evil on it, or a niconico comment saying "月へ帰れ" when Ushiwaka pops in a video... Siiiiiiigh.
Same story as usual. I feel like throwing a hissy fit whenever I see icons, youtube/niconico comments, whatever stating than one of my favorite characters is teh ebol or that they should return to [insert place of origin here], regardless of the fact they're essential to the fucking plot and they help the main character like whoa.
Let's take the following kind of character, shall we? Let's say it's a he for simplification, but could also be a female or asexual. From practically his first appearance, it's not a secret he's shady with an agenda yet to be revealed. The sidekick or the love interest might distrust him, giving the audience a reason to hate him: such a good friend of the main character can't be wrong! He might have a creepy smile or secret face when the regular cast isn't looking. And he actually happens to be an antagonist force for either a short time or most of the canon. He even challenges main character to fight him without holding back, once or twice, and may even tease the main character's abilities on their face to push them further.
Now, let's take some subcategories of this archetype. Okay, there are the ones who ARE evil and are either opposing the main character or using them (Xelloss from Slayers comes to mind, I guess). Then we have the neutral ones who aren't good or evil, but just there to watch and see what side to root for. And then the redeeming type, who after fighting the protagonist he realizes he was wrong, or he actually grew fond of one of the main characters (Tao Ren from Shaman King, Ken from Digimon 2, in some degree Ishida from Bleach).
But see, there's another subcategory, the one I love the most. It's the kind of pseudo-antagonist who turns out he was supporting the main character from the beginning. He's actually either a nice guy, or at least considers himself one of the good guys. His actions look extremely jerky and contrasting, but he has justified reasons to be so rude and crude to the naive main character. As a matter of fact, his whole raison d'être is helping the main character from the shadows, pushing them to their fate/the right direction, even risking to be hated by them. So in reality, he loves and admires and trusts the main character so much; he believes the character will win and have their happy ending, and his own happy ending depends on that by extension. Probably the reason he smirks that way when they fight him is because it makes him feel alive, or it's surprising to him, or he can see they're improving so much. But truly, his love -platonic, romantic, whatever- is just amazing. He's not a saint -hell, he even might be a complete asshole sometimes- but he's far from being the devil. And if the main character gets to acknowledge that, why can't the fandom?
This message is sponsored by my two main RP/fanfic muses. If I got a dollar every time I see an Eriol icon with the word evil on it, or a niconico comment saying "月へ帰れ" when Ushiwaka pops in a video... Siiiiiiigh.
