I guess you are talking about Elizabeth Midfort, right?
First of all, let me say that to write a proper analysys I
should probably reread the whole series, so take the following thoughts as my
personal opinion and don’t expect very original views.
I’m not sure how much of the story you know or if you’ve read the manga, so I’m afraid of spoiling it for you, but without getting into specifics: yes! Gon is a deconstruction of the type of character Deku is.
*This isn’t anything against Deku for the record–he and Gon are the same archetype, but whereas BNHA is a straight shonen and plays to all its tropes and Deku to all the traits of typical shonen protagonists, HxH deconstructs those tropes and archtypes. A deconstruction is not necessarily better writing than a straightforward trope either.*
The story is asking Gon just how much he really wants to be like his father, and whether his perky “never give up” attitude is really worth the cost (it’s not, and this starts increasingly becoming the case in each successive arc until it reaches a complete destruction in the Chimera Ant Arc). It also examines what goes in to creating someone who refuses to fail, and basically we see that, as you say, Gon is a child who is desperate to earn his father’s approval and love–and his father’s orchestrated this cat-and-mouse game precisely to have Gon earn the right to see him. (It also asks similar questions of Killua in that it asks him how much he really wants to be separate from his family, and it asks Kurapika what the cost of the legacy of his tribe is.)
The comparison of Ging to Gon through is apt, because Gon’s ultimate journey will probably be not becoming his father or needing his father’s approval, but for now he is on that path.
The villain wants love and validation, and believes others owe it to them. They’ll frequently get enraged and violent when the objects of their affection deny them.
Examples: Tighten from Megamind, Severus Snape from Harry Potter, Frollo from The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Ross from Friends.
The hero will do whatever it takes to protect their family, while abiding by a code of underlying morals that they will not violate.
Examples: Dean Winchester from Supernatural, Joyce Byers from Stranger Things, Marlon from Finding Nemo, the man and the boy from The Road.
The villain:
The villain will do whatever it takes to protect their family, including taking away their freedom, abusing them, or hurting and killing other innocent families.
The hero was raised in an abusive, violent environment. They’ll do whatever it takes to never have to experience that again, and to make sure others never have to suffer in the same way.
Examples: Finn and Rey from Star Wars, Katniss from Hunger Games.
The villain was raised in an abusive, violent environment. They’ll do whatever it takes to never experience that again, including doing the exact same thing to other people.
Examples: That one dude from A Series of Unfortunate Events, Severus Snape (again.)
The villain wants a remedy for injustice, and goes about it by hurting innocents to get an audience or power.
Examples: Killmonger from Black Panther, Magneto from X-Men.
The realization that evil or destructive people are human, and, essentially, want the same things as good people, is a realization that makes them easier to write in an identifiable way.
I hope this helps, and happy writing! ❤
Sing tea! (chocolate chai + coconut). The coconut really compliments the chai well, and the sprinkles as accents look cute.
I have watched playthroughs of the first two and Mukuro, Junko, and Komaeda are my children. :’‘‘‘)
If you want a really excellent fic based on Danganronpa (with a crossover with Medaka Box, but you really don’t need to be familiar with it to get attached to the characters), I highly recommend @linkspooky‘s Perfect Minus x Ultimate Despair which is told in two parts. It’s got beautiful lines like these (spoken to Komaeda):
“I mean normally, if somebody insults you, if they say annoying stuff
you won’t want anything to do with them anymore. It’s not like I want to
love everybody like Medaka-chan did but…I’m also a mediocre person who
adired something much greater than myself, so along with the unpleasant
parts about you I saw there was something beautiful about you. You had
something I didn’t have.”
“What?”
“Your ideals. You
have such beautiful ideals. I don’t think your beliefs are wrong at all.
I know you feel disappointed in yourself, and maybe in others too for
not being able to reach your ideals, but that’s why ideals shine so
brilliantly… because… they don’t exist in this world. They’re like
celestial bodies, they’re far off in the distance, and shine light on
you.”
“I wasn’t…”
“It’s only natural to fall short of
your ideals. Ideals are greater than reality. You’re always going to
fall short of them, you’re always going to be uglier than your ideals,
you’re always going to be a hypocrite in the end, but… I don’t think
you were wrong in the first place for believing in them, or that
striving for them is wrong. It’s a beautiful ideal don’t you think? That
people can always keep hoping, and that hope will shine even in the
worst of situations?”
I discuss this quite a bit in my answer on what Shouto regards as a hero here. In short, Shouto is reserved yet feels passionately. He’s a paradox. He must be protected at all costs.
1) Armin Arlert. He’s my favorite character because of his complexity and relatability, and I love how his flaws are still present, and how he’s basically a covert hero for the entire story. His flaws are that he underestimates himself and has major insecurity and a lack of self-worth, as shown in his heroic sacrifice. He really doesn’t value himself completely because, like Erwin, a foil of him, he values ideas over individuals in some ways–however, he still struggles to reconcile that with a very real and very present compassionate side, as shown in how he understands that empathy and talking to Marlay is the best way forward, not bam bam kill them.
2) Eren Jaeger. He’s such a unique protagonist, and despite his anger issues and the things he’s doing now, he’s compelling, sympathetic even if you can’t excuse his actions, and just really intriguing. I think Eren’s current spiral is completely understandable but also not excusable, obviously, and I love his foiling with Mikasa, Armin, and Hisoria. He’s desperate and scared, and he’s a child who was forced to grow up too fast and now he’s an adult who is repeating the same mistakes adults made with him. It’s tragic to the core.
3) Annie Leonhart. I love Annie and if she doesn’t come back to the plot soon I’mma cry. I love her contrast with Mikasa, Eren, and Armin–all of them really–and how she really, really wanted to be a kind person and wanted to save individuals (like how she saved Armin during the Female Titan Arc) and get back to her father even though he was abusive because at least he loved her. Despite her cold personality, she wanted to be liked and loved, and I really want her to have that chance for however brief a time.
4) Ymir. I love Ymir and her relationship with Historia, and I’m still bitter about her ending lol. But her compassion and the way in which she foils Historia is excellent, and I do not believe her role is over in the story just yet even if she is dead.
5) Reiner Braun. Reiner’s development over the Marlay Arc has been amazing. I always liked him but this really made him grow in my eyes. I desperately want him to have the chance to redeem himself by saving Gabi and Falco–which does not mean letting either of them take over his titan.
6) Bertolt Hoover. I loved Bertolt. I really do still love him, and I think his ending should have been better written in terms of what it meant for his character because I think the ball got dropped a bit there. His “Somebody” speech from the Clash of the Titans Arc is exactly why that arc is my favorite arc, and that speech moves me to tears with how visceral and raw the emotions are every single time I read it. He just wanted somebody to find them and see them and save them. And, no one did for him.
7) Zeke Jaeger. I actually don’t like Zeke but I think he is a fascinating, compelling character and a fantastic villain (yes, I do think he is the final antagonist). He foils Levi in that he and Levi are both mentor figures for Eren. I don’t believe his “I was always on Paradis’s side!” spiel at all, but I do utterly sympathize with the role his father forced on him.
8) Pieck. She’s just cool, man. And I’m terrified for her.
10) Porco. I actually quite like Porco, though he’s kind of a brat. But I think he made the exact same mistake he accused Reiner of making during the most recent battle and messed things up for everyone, and I hope that jumpstarts some development for him.
11) Eren Kruger. Again, I quite like him, but he was only around for a few chapters. I am curious if we will access his memories again as well.
12) Grisha Jaeger. Grisha, you are a bad dad. I know he tried to do better and largely did with Eren, but he still cursed his kid and I just. I have a hard time with that. And poor Zeke.
Oh, I’m counting Marcel with Lady Tybur. They’re cool but just kinda there.
I definitely am still into SnK! It’s in my blog description, which hasn’t changed in weeks (and SnK’s been a part of it for months). I’m not sure where this is coming from, sorry? I haven’t said anything negative about it and am eagerly awaiting spoilers this week.
Edit: Oh, is this because I changed my blog header image? I was just playing around with a new look! Rest assured my love for SnK and Eren and Mikasa is still very much unchanged. XD
Neferpitou and Shaiapouf’s main point of comparison is underlined by Palm:
They are apparently both loyal to the same person, but actually Neferpitou is loyal to the person Meruem is, while Shaiapouf to the King he could become.
When it comes to this I would like to consider two points.
1) The two different ways in which their loyalty is channelled is another example of how the themes of the CAA concerning the discrepancy between the evolution of the species and the evolution of the individual are embodied by the characters and expressed through their arcs.
As a matter of fact Neferpitou’s loyalty is not useful to the species, but it is good for Meruem, while Shaiapouf’s one has in mind the best for the species, but it is hurtful for Meruem as an individual.
Moreover this discrepancy introduces another one between what a person is and what they should be.
Let’s consider the names of the three Royal Guards. Each guard’s name is born by the union of the name of an Egyptian god and the name of a character of a French children book titled CarolineandsesAmis. The book talks of the adventures of a girl called Caroline and of her animal companions. This choice of names underlines both what it is expected from the Royal Guards and Meruem (aka that they become gods and rulers of a new world) and what they actually are i.e. a child growing (Meruem) and three companions who are there to help him do so:
2) The reason why Neferpitou and Shaiapouf find themselves having opposite prospectives about what is the best for Meruem lets us explore another interesting theme i.e. what is empathy and if it is really worth anything without sympathy.
This analysis will try to explain and expand the two above-mentioned points.
hamliet 