Amphiox
2013-08-28, 10:55 PM
The recent, shall we say, culling, of secondary villains that has been going on reminded me of a somewhat recurring pattern I've noticed within the narrative of this comic.
No one dies forsaken. (Well, not no one absolutely, but very, very few).
And by forsaken I mean unnoted, unmourned, uncared for. When a sentient individual that has had at least some screen time for even the most minimal character development dies, there is always at least one other character that either mourns the death, expresses sadness or grief or anger over it, does some action or makes some effort to indicate he or she cares about it (like trying to arrange for a Raise or Rez), or does some other thing to explicitly indicate that the deceased person was valued or at least recognized, as a person and individual.
And it usually isn't just a hint or suggestion, it is very often explicitly and directly shown.
No matter how vile or undeserving the villain, someone still cares.
When Nale was killed, Elan and Sabine were shown to care.
When Z was killed, Nale was shown to care.
When Malack was destroyed, Laurin and Tarquin were shown to care.
When Tsukiko was murdered, the MitD was shown to be saddened.
When Miko died, Soon's ghost made an effort to speak to her.
The YBD had its mother. The ABD had her son and mate to keep her company in the afterlife.
Therkla had Elan. Even Kubota had Elan shown to be angry about how he was killed.
Samantha had her father.
Even minor characters often get some acknowledgment. For example Crystal and the rest of the thieves that Haley and Belkar killed off were shown to be important enough to the surviving thieves to merit plans for raising them. The civilians in Cliffport that Nale and Thog murdered were noted by the police chief and his deputies. The police chief himself was shown to be mourned by his deputies. Shojo's wizard who got eaten was acknowledged by Shojo.
Even all the goblin mooks that have died from the beginning of the strip to now, all of them, got a collection on-page explicit acknowledgment by Redcloak.
The only exceptions I can think of for named or otherwise uniquely identified characters are Thog (but we don't actually yet have confirmation of Thog's death, and there's still Sabine around to express some acknowledgment of him if and when his death is confirmed), Samantha's father (because there was no one else around when Miko killed him), and of course, Trigak. (Alas, poor Trigak....)
It plays I think into one of the major themes of this work. The characters in this narrative are individuals. Not amalgations of game rules or narrative conventions or plot devices. Each and every one is a person.
No one dies forsaken. (Well, not no one absolutely, but very, very few).
And by forsaken I mean unnoted, unmourned, uncared for. When a sentient individual that has had at least some screen time for even the most minimal character development dies, there is always at least one other character that either mourns the death, expresses sadness or grief or anger over it, does some action or makes some effort to indicate he or she cares about it (like trying to arrange for a Raise or Rez), or does some other thing to explicitly indicate that the deceased person was valued or at least recognized, as a person and individual.
And it usually isn't just a hint or suggestion, it is very often explicitly and directly shown.
No matter how vile or undeserving the villain, someone still cares.
When Nale was killed, Elan and Sabine were shown to care.
When Z was killed, Nale was shown to care.
When Malack was destroyed, Laurin and Tarquin were shown to care.
When Tsukiko was murdered, the MitD was shown to be saddened.
When Miko died, Soon's ghost made an effort to speak to her.
The YBD had its mother. The ABD had her son and mate to keep her company in the afterlife.
Therkla had Elan. Even Kubota had Elan shown to be angry about how he was killed.
Samantha had her father.
Even minor characters often get some acknowledgment. For example Crystal and the rest of the thieves that Haley and Belkar killed off were shown to be important enough to the surviving thieves to merit plans for raising them. The civilians in Cliffport that Nale and Thog murdered were noted by the police chief and his deputies. The police chief himself was shown to be mourned by his deputies. Shojo's wizard who got eaten was acknowledged by Shojo.
Even all the goblin mooks that have died from the beginning of the strip to now, all of them, got a collection on-page explicit acknowledgment by Redcloak.
The only exceptions I can think of for named or otherwise uniquely identified characters are Thog (but we don't actually yet have confirmation of Thog's death, and there's still Sabine around to express some acknowledgment of him if and when his death is confirmed), Samantha's father (because there was no one else around when Miko killed him), and of course, Trigak. (Alas, poor Trigak....)
It plays I think into one of the major themes of this work. The characters in this narrative are individuals. Not amalgations of game rules or narrative conventions or plot devices. Each and every one is a person.