Character Analysis - Tumblr Posts

Jason Todd character profile!

Poem: First Memory (Louise Glück)/ And My Father's Love Was Nothing Next To God's Will (Amatullah Bourdon)

Novel: The Outsiders

Quote from a Novel: "they are going to stop hitting, I am going to catch my breath, this can't end here, not now and yet he couldn't breathe anymore nor feel his body nor hear anything, nor see anything either and still he hoped, something in him repeating, life will hold, still, it always holds, it's going be alright still, they will stop because they will understand that my life is too small in my body and it's wearing too thin now to last more than a bubble of knowing that rises and explodes... " (What I call Oblivion, Laurent Mauviginier)

Play: Hamlet (Shakespeare)

Quote from a play: "Here he lies like something melting away. His mother’s blood comes quaking howling brassing bawling blacking down his mad little veins." (An Oresteia, Anne Carson)

Song: The Horror and The Wild (the Amazing Devil)

Song lyrics: "And I am both the fire and the forest, and I am the witness watching it "(Mitski, Burning Hill)

Ancient Greek Deity: Nemesis

Flower: Rain lily

Feel free to add more!!!

After a mission together, Jason takes one look at Dick's posture as he stares down at the city, and takes him to one of his favourite rage rooms.

Jason finds the dead body of a child he tried but couldn't save. Dick watches Jason punch a wall and tear at his own hair and manhandles him on a chair, shoves an icepack by his ribcage and teaches him to breathe.

It's okay. Your anger is not shameful. You don't have to be afraid of it, and there's no need to laugh and hide while it's boiling under your skin. You have a right to your own rage.

It's okay. Your anger is not violence, your emotions have not doomed you to be the worst version of yourself. You were not made for all this blood. You can live through the rage without letting it consume you.

PREACH OML SAY IT LOUDER FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK

however though, I don’t quite agree with your statement that “both of them are morally grey”

Primarily because a lot of what Mono does that could be considered morally darker was out of self defense (this applies to Six as well! But you already talked enough about Six!) Killing the doctor, killing the porcelain children, killing the hunter, those were all things that had to be done or the two kids would’ve died. It’s also important to remember that those entities aren’t really people, not anymore at least. They’re basically creatures- monsters, designed to attack and be hostile towards any kid they come in contact with. I don’t really think their deaths should be put on the same moral high ground as the death of a kid. And I don’t think it’d be fair to say those two are morally grey just for trying to defend themselves. Mono has consistently been portrayed as helpful and kind. He went out of his way to free Six from the hunter, he went through the school to save Six from the porcelain children, and greeted her rather gently when she woke up. And ofc he freed Six from her corrupted form in the signal tower. I agree with your point on the double standards between the two. People forget the way Six pulled Mono out of the TVs consistently, the way she pulled Mono out of the ruble when that building fell upon them, or overall the way she continually chose to help Mono through out the game, the fact she even stuck around.

I can pull more examples for the two, but I want to try to remain within just LN2 for clarity’s sake.

maybe its a bit of my own personal bias, but I don’t exactly like referring to any young kid as morally grey.

Mono and Six are only about nine years old, that’s incredibly young. I’m no expert in child development, but from my previous research, proper decision making skills, and emotional/social skills are only beginning to mature at that age. Mono and Six aren’t clueless of course, they understand what is happening but they wouldn’t understand the why of it all. They of course wouldn’t be able to process it emotionally either.

and that’s completely disregarding the effects long lasting trauma has on children and they’re development.

it doesn’t feel fair to expect these nine year olds to make morally sound decisions. Especially highly traumatized ones.

and I’m not saying your saying or trying to imply a lot of this! But I wanted to add these in as a response to the “they’re both morally grey” statement. I see a lot of misconceptions and misunderstandings that come from that perspective as well. So I wanted to clear the air a little

I got really frustrated in a debate about Little Nightmares with someone so I’m drawing a whole comic for getting my feelings out.

my personal theory (out of the kajillion pages i could write abt it) is that vito formed after mal, n he didnt know the full extent of what mal did (i personally believe mal beat some ppl up that were trying to beat him up n got sent to juvie) so vito treated mal like "u seem kinda evil n stuff, buuutttttttt i dont hate u as much as the others"

N IF WE GO EVEN DEEPER INTO MY THEORIES i think that vito was split from mal (if thats how it works idk i dont have did) n they share a lot of similarities that i could spent 100k words talking abt it

also..... mal wanting to burn the memories n dreams mike has w/ zoey..... but nothing related to harming zoey herself........ jealousy perhaps? adoration, if i may be so bold? LOVE IF I MAY?????? (for zoey not mike im not a mikecest fan)

why was there a glass of water in this scene? did mal leave that for him? does mal care about him slightly more than the others, enough to not wanna see him die (? i don’t think he can die but um. it would start hurting after a while) of dehydration at the very least? were they friends before mal was forced to go dormant? was he also friends with manitoba, considering his torture method lets him use his lasso and burn pictures of the guy he hates being romantic with the girl he likes? or does he just hate them less than the others? do they also hate him less? am i looking too far into this? probably. whatever. i just like the idea that at least one of the headmates was nice to mal when the others weren’t.

yeah, thats a common theory i see, n 1 thing i can 100% agree on is that mike sees mal as 100% evil (or malevolent.... heh...) even if mal isnt

for example, at the end of all stars, when the two had there confrontation, mal started begging for his life (my friend n i were talking abt that scene, n she said how even as a kid she was like "what the hell y is he begging y is this sad") but mike just wouldnt hear him out

(fun fact: sealing away an "evil" alter n never hearing them out/hearing their problems is actually the opposite thing that should be done for that alter..... just saying........)

also mini rant but I HATE FANON MAL. I KEEP SEEING PPL DEPICT MAL AS THIS INSANE, PSYCOPATHIC, MURDEROUS KILLER EVEN THO THE WORST THING HE DID IN THE SHOW WAS LIKE BREAK PPLS STUFF N PUSH CAMERON DOWN A HILL. LIKE, OTHER CONTESTANTS HAVE DONE SO MUCH WORSE BUT HE GETS THE KILLER TREATMENT???? also yknow, the character w/ did getting that treatment...... just saying, do better guys.....

also, a common theory is that vito is that type of protector, n i see y, but while i was making ideas for the backstory, i didnt really see how an alter like vito could help in that sort of scenario. sure, hes strong, but he presents himself as cocky, selfish, n kinda stupid too. i personally think hes mainly a trauma holder, but helps the system out w/ like social events n stuff

(key word "presents" himself......... heh............ *evil mal laughter*)

why was there a glass of water in this scene? did mal leave that for him? does mal care about him slightly more than the others, enough to not wanna see him die (? i don’t think he can die but um. it would start hurting after a while) of dehydration at the very least? were they friends before mal was forced to go dormant? was he also friends with manitoba, considering his torture method lets him use his lasso and burn pictures of the guy he hates being romantic with the girl he likes? or does he just hate them less than the others? do they also hate him less? am i looking too far into this? probably. whatever. i just like the idea that at least one of the headmates was nice to mal when the others weren’t.

The sociopath you can't help but enjoy

James "Jim" Moriarty

Scar

Maleficent

Loki Odinson

Henry Bowers

Count Olaf

Sherlock (Don't feel confident putting him on here but🤷‍♀️)

Rick

The Joker

Nathan Harris (He deserved better, RIP Anton)

If you don't agree please comment and tell me why. Also please don't take this to heart if your favorite isn't on here these are just the characters I know/enjoy.

The "dumb" bestfriend trope

Thor Odinson

John Watson

Morgan Cavanaugh

Castiel

Ron Weasley

Groot

Fernando Guerrero

Jimmy Gibbler

Dean Winchester

Patrick Star

I DO NOT BELIEVE THAT ANY OF THEM BESIDES PATRICK ARE ACTUALLY DUMB. THESE CHARACTERS ONLY FILL THE ROLE OF BEING THE DUMB BEST FRIENDS IN THE SHOWS/MOVIES THEY ARE IN!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!SPOILERS FOR WHIPLASH (2014)!!!

Tw//Mentions of abuse (not specified or detailed) The ending to Whiplash was not a happy one and here is why I think so. Fletcher is a character that is in fact an antagonist despite the motives he reveals in the café after Andrew anonymously sues him. Fletcher only does these break down and build up techniques so he can have a living, walking, breathing, jazz-playing trophy. He wanted to have a legacy that would live long after him. He wanted his players to be remembered so that he would be remembered. Wanting to be remembered is valid and all. But Fletcher drives his players to the brink. To the edge. And he does it using some pretty intense manipulation. Fletcher, as he did before, manipulated Andrew yet again. After exiting the café he invited Andrew to the next performance. He knew that Andrew couldn't resist the temptation after Fletcher implied that he needed Andrew. Just like when Andrew first joined the band, Fletcher gave him soft and gentle encouragement. He gave him a gentle nudge of confidence. These little nudges of confidence were to establish an initial trust. Fletcher needed Andrew to trust him and become attached before he could use his typical aggressive tactics. Now, when inviting Andrew, Fletcher only told him about the songs Caravan and Whiplash. Andrew had no idea that the set would start with another song. This is the cymbal to the head. Fletcher embarrasses Andrew in front of an entire auditorium. This is step one of Fletcher's process. He knows Andrew is great but he needs to make sure that Andrew will still push on no matter what. He needs to be sure Andrew has the character for the player he wants. Andrew leaves the stage where he's met by his father. Andrew refuses his fathers attempt at consoling him. He falls into Fletcher's ideology of "good job" being bad. From this point on Andrew is in the headspace that he has to do good and he has to impress Fletcher. He is no longer playing for fun for an audience. He's craving Fletcher's approval. Even in the end, Andrew isn't proud of his accomplishment until Fletcher smiles and lets him know that he approves. Without even realizing, Andrew let Fletcher know that he is dependent on him for approval and validation again. This is the practice and the return. Fletcher has Andrew where he wants him. Fletcher, the abuser, has his greatest prize back in his grasp. He knows Andrew is a good player and now he knows that Andrew has the personality that he wants in his star player. This is the redemption. With all of this in mind, Whiplash does not have a happy ending. The antagonist, the abuser, gets what he wants. No matter how much it seems Andrew got what he wanted (to play and be great), in reality he got sucked back into the abusive cycle. Andrew may never end up truly happy. Most likely, with abusive Fletcher over his shoulder, Andrew will fall down the rabbit hole of the music industry. ----- Sorry for the long post! Feel free to challenge my analysis in the comments! I only watched the movie once and I typed this up on a whim so it likely has some holes in it. I probably could have written it up/worded it better

How Sunday is Perfectly Morally Gray

Original thread on Twitter

Sunday is a misguided savior—made to believe he is the sole salvation of all, who was willing to be the lonely scapegoat/sacrifice/host of a place where everyone else but him lives in a beautiful never-ending dream.

Repeatedly during 2.2, Sunday alludes to a story about the Charmony Dove and how he believes an injured bird who can't fly should be caged, pampered and fed to live the rest of its days in comfort. It is alive, that is what matters the *most*

Sunday's thoughts to me probably go—Why can't we be all caged like the Charmony Dove? Where is the place that we can exist without predators and hardships? Everything should always be nice and unchallenging, we should just leave in perpetual peace and happiness and indulgence

This idea of a paradise free of suffering is reflected in the "sweet dream" of Penacony, but Penacony itself is fueled and fed by its dreamers who slowly lose themselves as the dream eats away at them.

So Penacony can't be the paradise, there needs to be a better, a newer dream that someone will bring forth so that everyone can be the Charmony Dove in the cage. No more hardships, no more sadness, no more disease, no more death, everyone lives their best lives.

Sunday was brainwashed into thinking HE would best suit as a sacrifice to these needs, he was ready to be the lonely host of this new and so much better dream where everything is all good. He designated himself as the cage, he is the sacrifice so that everyone else can have it good.

Everything about this heavily references an old short story by Ursula Le Guin called "Those who walk away from Omelas" which is basically a story about a wonderful utopia called Omelas where everything great and stuff, BUT it comes with the price of one single child suffering very badly

The story details how most people are horrified to learn about this child who lives in total abject misery, darkness and filth, but they see the utopia they live in and go "this is fine, this beautiful paradise is all worth the suffering of one person"

But SOME people can't deal, even just one person suffering and not being part of utopia is a no go, it's not worth it, so they "walk away from Omelas" and go somewhere not better objectively, but just away from that place and that price they had to pay for utopia

Sunday literally wants/offers himself up to be this child. He is willing to be the sacrifice so that everyone else can live happily. Because, selfish as it is, he feels like everyone should be put in a gilded cage so they can have it good and easy.

There's a very misguided savior complex here where he thinks everyone should be subject to this sort of "salvation" like there's a special mindset here of Sunday's, self-sacrificing and very Catholic that HE can choose what is good for others and be willing to pay the price for it

And like, it's terrible but also commendable at the same time. Sunday says if you are weak that is fine, he will give you a dream where you can just live your """best life""" and be ""happy"" but is it really happiness if it's "fake"/handed to you on a platter and decided for you

But the message of Penacony says dreams are just dreams and you should wake up and strive for it, not live in the dreams. Omelas says if even just one person has to pay for your paradise it will never be worth it.

Sunday is terribly misguided, was brainwashed/conditioned to believe this, using his childhood grief to perpetuate a misguided ideology where he will basically Jesus himself for a thing that is objectively not really any good for anyone.

But like, he is rather straightforward as a character and yet his motivations and what thoughts he might have while believing in this is so so fascinating…

Anyway I stop yapping maybe don't hate Sunday, maybe read Omelas

PS: Does Sunday think he is unworthy of his own paradise because he failed to save his mom if so that's so Catholic of him dude needs therapy

(HH phase post 4) if only i put this much thought into like a good series 😢😢😢

let me rant about alastor and how i like his character a lot !!!

when i watched the pilot (a few days after it released {even though i should NOT have been watching that}) i remembered alastor as this all powerful horrifying intimidating totally cool mysterious guy. yeah he was all fun and transatlantic, but his impression was mysterious and powerful.

and he's still horrifying and intimidating, but hes so much more HUMAN in the show. which is good because he WAS a human !! hes not all powerful, but he IS a total attention hog and he IS a little prick !!!

i like how he still fucked with lucifer even though he could be obliterated in a second, and i LOVE how he reacts when people dont give him attention. it just makes him so much more than just the kinda cool, powerful, intimidating character.

during the overlord meeting when caramel doesnt really give a shit where he was, he gets annoyed. this little attention hog cant stand that she doesnt care !!! and earlier in that episode, with zesty, he was all like "pls matpat theorize about me 🙏" WHICH IS SO REAL PLEASE TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT ME 🙏🙏 but hes just DYING to know that people were all thinking of him n keeping him in their prayers n shit

and i like how silly he is. him kicking his feet is prime example of this. other examples are him interacting with basically anyone outside of the hotel and niffty, how he treats mimzy, rosie, and niffty are prime examples of his silliness.

him and rosie are SO good together. i could talk about this fucking show FOREVER guys agshshds

and it doesnt clash with him still being a badass, (even if he got his shit got fucked up by adam) hes still menacing and youre still on your toes about what he could do to the hotel and everyone in it.

he just thinks hes all that (all that enough to fuck with THE big boss of hell himself) and he IS really fucking powerful, but compared to the lineup that hotel has, hes just some guy. and i like how thats more apparent in the show. ok thats it bye bye i hope i articulated myself well !!!!

Erasermic builds

Shouta obviously needs to be able to use his capture weapon to hold his own body weight, and also needs to be able to brace landings between buildings so his arms and thighs gotta be WHAM. While hizashi is a bfg, he still needs to fight because no hero is a one trick pony, but his fighting style is more like mina's, so he's still got muscle, but alot less than shouta and alot more lean in general.

Neytiri, Spider, Quaritch, and parental love

Spider just wants to be accepted and have a family that loves him. Unfortunately Neytiri merely tolerates him, and his actual father is a murderous RDA colonel.

Spider wants to be loved and accepted by Neytiri. The Sully’s are probably the few Na’vi who genuinely welcome Spider. He feels like he belongs with them, Na’vi. However, Neytiri tolerated him at best. After all, he’s from the sky people, helped Quaritch + recoms learn to be Na’vi, put her children in danger, and was the indirect cause of Neyetam’s death.

Then you have Quaritch. Quaritch desires to build a relationship with his son, actively listens to him, and saves Spider from the torture of General Ardmore. Hell, at the end of the movie, Quaritch ACCEPTS Spider as his son. Unfortunately Quaritch is also a colonel who led an invasion on the Tree of Souls, attempted to murder Jake, Neytiri, and Kiri, and threatened to hunt down the Sully’s and kill them. So yeah…

Spider is in this weird limbo, and I really can’t wait to see what happens next.

ok i have finals so i won't get too into it but my two cents on why ratio didn't become part of the genius society stem from a particular text on the data bank, esp. this particular paragraph:

(whole thing can be found on the wiki page for the genius society)

Ever since i read this whole text, i felt like this was Why Ratio didn't and won't ever be a member. He is an educator whose final goal is to eradicate ignorance and idiocy from the galaxy, and he's all about challenging youself to gain more knowledge and better oneself as an individual. I'm not sure if it is 100% canon (haven't checked), but i just don't think Ratio resonates with the fact that there are limits to mortal wisdom.

This is My main reason why Dr. Veritas Ratio wasn't "chosen" as a member of the genius society, along with other small things that can also be found or deduced from this particular text (geniuses often being apathetic, ratio not concerning himself too much about the aeon's affairs, etc.).

BUT, this was very low effort and i invite more people to join in with their takes :3

Who wants to hear my thoughts on season 2 characters (which mostly will just be giving them depth and talking about common theories/hcs that i don’t really enjoy….)

btw im still gonna post them, i’m just warning

Oh i’m about to be so OBNOXIOUS!

Okay so Topher as a character is meant to annoy you, or at least make you uncomfortable. That’s just how “weird” characters are written and designed, it’s intentional but I feel like people make that his whole thing. He’s struggling in every sense of the word, he quite literally went to a mental hospital and has an unhealthy/obsessive relationship with Abe.

Another thing I think is that the “Topher is secretly a bigot” theory is extremely one dimensional and would be very lazy. Topher being written as a “woke ally” feels like he’s overcompensating for where he comes from, not as if he’s doing it to cover up bigotry. He can be a freak separate from his opinions, we see that in the show! He’s just weird!

Stop giving autistic characters bad traits that they don’t have! Just build on the things that are already there, trust me, he already has a ton of flaws😭

an analogical analysis from an intrulogical idiot

as a newly converted analogical enjoyer and orange side/dark side logan truther i feel the need to mention that their arcs FUCKING MIRROR EACHOTHER. I AM SO NORMAL ABOUT THEM. so because i have absolutely nNO life i am going to give you, unlucky scroller, unwitting follower or one of the folks who followed me for invader zim, the play-by-play of these emo nerds.

so

in the beginning (only going from the start of the series) they were admittedly at odds, but not as much as say, virgil and princey or logan and patton. the first time (to my recollection) that they interact outside of the group setting is the negative thinking episode where they debate, in which virgil (to my recollection) receives the first positive feedback from any of the lightsides. now, at this point in the series, logan is still relatively respected and listened to by the lightsides and thomas while virgil isnt, given he's a darkside its not that surprising. in this period logan gets progressively more and more ignored and brushed off, slowly but still, an important piece in this timeline that i dont think is recognized enough is mind vs heart in which is the first of MANY times he is forced to compromise or back down to keep the peace. in the same time however, more and more virgils points are heard out and taken into account and compromised with (dark side of disney, alone on valentines day, etc) for virgil being compromised with is a step towards being heard, for logan being forced to compromise is a means to shut him up.

then excepting/accepting anxiety happens. OH BOY! i feel the need to point out that our bespectacled boy very much does his best to help the situation by providing hard facts that "no anxiety=bad". but the consequences of this episode should also be mentioned, that being, when virgil gains a seat at the metaphorical-but-also-probably-literal-given-this-series table, logan's is all but ripped out from under him. this is shown in the episodes immediately following, in which patton copies logans logo (minor but should still be said), being forced to be stage hand in can lying be good, etc BUT something i skipped over on purpose so i could talk about it here

THE FUCKING NOSTALGIA 2 PARTER (aka 38:33 seconds of why patton is my 2nd least favourite side) now before i continue, do note i am relentlessly biased about how based logan is in this episode because his advice in it prevented my own anxiety spiral SO BE WARNED. so, in this episode logan suggests that partaking in recreational nostalgia could help thomas cope with being reminded of his breakup, this leads to the whole crew (+ janus who was probably in disguise as roman but i digress) going on a field trip to pattons room. this causes virgil to freak out and logan likely blaming himself for hurting his anxious associate because of his mistake (likely associating this with his other mistake of misdefining infinitesimal and that might be why he doesnt like to be reminded of it but thats just a theory A FILM THEO-) so logan leaves and lets everyone else sort shit out, starting a pattern in which instead of causing what he perceives as unnecessary conflict logan attempts to remove himself from the situation at all costs, while virgil becomes more vocal when he's uncomfortable with an idea or plan.

then a bit later things continue going downhill for logan with his contributions being more ignored and solutions dismissed, becoming more vocal, confrontational, aggressive and frustrated when he is pushed aside (sound like a certain early arc anxious side anyone?) this period also features an odd 2 episode alliance between logan and roman that i still dont quite understand but feel like it is worth noting. also during this time virgil generally doesnt show up in an imprtant role for a while for whatever reason (truly the episodes, why do we wake up through learning about ourselves fundamentally confound me) also during the period of crofters the musical going forward logan fixates on being taken seriously more than usual. now one of my least favourite and simultaneously favourite episode.....

LEARNING NEW THINGS ABOUT OURSELVES!!!! MY BELOATHED!!!!!! THIS IS THE EPISODE THAT STARTED MY 3 MONTH LONG PUPPET OBSESSION (DONT ASK)!!!!!!!!! now while i will gladly go into more detail about my thoughts on this episode at a later date i'll do a quick run down. thomas calls out that logan has a temper in the overlap bit (orange side probably= anger temper= logan therefore anger= logan and logan probably= orange), logan rebounds like a goddamn kickball from the prior episode into desperately trying to prove that he is serious, logan is a LOT more resistant to compromise than usual, while virgil just rolls with it when earlier in the series the opposite would be true, logan and roman are back to fighting as usual, and thomas says that virgil doesnt have to go puppet if he doesnt want to but literally everyone peer pressures logan to. i will go more in depth on this episode later, mark my words fam(ILY).

now, the next several episodes (besides are there healthy distractions, which has some adorable analogical btw) follow the format of "darkside pulls up/patton in the plushie episode, puts logan in their crosshairs, silences him for the episode, problem eventually fixes" (listen as much as i ADORE svs: redux, the amount of disrespect for logan in it is lethal to my system)

to summarize

1 for virgil being compromised with is a step towards being heard, for logan being forced to compromise is a means to shut him up.

2 when virgil gains a seat at the metaphorical-but-also-probably-literal-given-this-series table, logan's is all but ripped out from under him.

3 a pattern starts in which instead of causing what he perceives as unnecessary conflict logan attempts to remove himself from the situation at all costs, while virgil becomes more vocal when he's uncomfortable with an idea or plan.

4 logan becomes a LOT more resistant to compromise than usual, while virgil just rolls with it when earlier in the series the opposite would be true

5 thomas says that virgil doesnt have to go puppet if he doesnt want to but literally everyone peer pressures logan to

... am i the only one who sees this??? their character arcs are going in opposite directions!!!!!!!! if we analyze this trend, we might be able to gleam where logans arc is going next!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gojo and Toji - the two extremes of the Jujutsu society - How position, power and lineage shapes the very narrative of jujutsu kaisen

A very common occurrence within jujutsu kaisen is the persistence of certain characters. Their relevance to the story even after their death. One of these characters is Toji Fushiguro, often referred to as “the black sheep” of the zenin clan due to his lack of cursed energy.

Gojo and Toji exist as stark parallels to each other. While one was gifted with the strongest technique, one was cursed with no curse energy at all. It depicts the two extremes of unfairness in the jujutsu world, how Toji, despite belonging to an influential clan, was mistreated for something he had no real control over, whereas Gojo was revered for the very same. Both depict a very interesting parallel of how lineage and power truly disbalances the scales in the jujutsu society and plays a very crucial role in determining the fate of a person.

Gojo clan possesses a certain set of techniques that are passed down onto generations of sorcerers, and while there may be the possibility of generational disconnect in terms of hereditary techniques, it still distinguishes the Gojo clan in terms of power and influence. Gojo’s possession of both limitless and six eyes is not determined by any specific factors, rather just his sheer fortune and lineage. Had Satoru belonged to another clan, he would hold no significance to the story.

When we talk about Toji in terms of lineage, his fallout plays a greater role in helping us understand how his lineage led to his ultimate demise, not his lack of cursed energy. His mistreatment occurs simply because he fails to satisfy his position as a man in the zenin clan, a clan whose roots are bound in orthodox ways of conduct. Maki Zenin, is able to flourish as a sorceress because of her severing her roots i.e annihilating the zenin clan that served as an anchor to her existence, thereby uprooting the very curse of lineage upon her.

Toji’s possession of heavenly restriction helps him outstrength Gojo Satoru himself, and Toji serves as a catalyst in making Gojo Satoru untouchable by allowing him access to reverse cursed technique. By strength alone Toji defeats Gojo and later mocks Geto for having the blessing of lineage (a very big gag to the narrative itself)

His departure from the zenin clan ends up making him an unstable hitman who kills for money, while there may have been a period of stability in his life after meeting Megumi’s mother, it is brief and he eventually falls into the same inescapable pit.

Toji’s fallout, not only as a member of the zenin clan, but also as a person, starkly contrasts Gojo’s flourishment as a sorcerer and member of the Gojo clan. Both products of perfect lineage, yet standing on two extremes of unfairness, that renders both helpless to their pre-determined fate.

Toji’s lack of cursed energy rendered him powerless in the eyes of the zenin clan, whereas Gojo’s possession of the limitless and six eyes makes him stand out as the strongest sorcerer of the current era, both standing on the two ends of a scale balanced by position and power alone.

Toji’s position rendered him helpless against the odds of the jujutsu society, who’s ideals are bound in determination of strength through lineage and being a man in the zenin clan took away any possibility of him attaining normalcy in his life. Had Toji belonged to any other bottom of the barrel clan, his lack of cursed energy would not reduce him to being a failure, and he may have been able to live out a normal life. Similarly, had Satoru not been born as a Gojo, he would not have possessed what made him the strongest. He may just have been any other sorcerer.

The unfairness of jujutsu society goes beyond their preference for lineage, it stems from their inability to see beyond their orthodox parameters of judgement that disregards individuality in sorcerers and reduces them to being a measure for power, something that lineage plays a massive role in determining(i.e certain techniques that are considered strong only being heritable through lineage). Whereas an individual’s position in this said lineage also determines how their fate is going to play out.

Endeavour - A tribute to his eternal mockery.

Mha represents the feeling of inferiority and its eventual transition into obsession through perspective of multiple characters. Endeavour is a more violent example of it. He is, by no means, a shallow character, Whether you like him or not is upto you but Endeavour’s actions brilliantly depict how violently consuming obsession fuelled by inferiority can be.

He exists to be a beacon of lacklustre achievements who fails to truly retain his potential under All Might’s reign as the symbol of peace. His individual victories are not greatly highlighted upon because to him, every other achievement stands insignificant in front of his life goal. Endeavour’s character is a byproduct of an unresolved inferiority complex that stems from a one sided rivalry (All Might never truly considered Endeavour his rival). This inferiority bleeds into despair and eventual obsession as he finally comes in terms with the fact that he might just never be the number one hero. So he marries Rei, he decides to produce an ideal off spring who would carry his legacy to surpass the symbol of peace.

Unfortunately for Endeavour, all might resigns almost immediately after Shoto’s admission into UA, which was never truly predicted due to All Might’s lack of transparency of his injuries to the public. So when Endeavour becomes the number one hero, it comes like mockery to him.

His obsession to surpass All Might had blinded him to the point where he failed to see humanness in his own children, not even his ideal creation. In the initial chapters of the manga, he often refers to Shoto using third person pronouns, reducing him to a mere vessel for the achievement of his lifelong goal. While Touya’s death was a gravely moving point in Endeavour’s life, it never truly changed him, he remained the same at his very core.

Endeavour’s abuse towards Rei and his other children is simply a depiction of his own loss of sanity and morality due to being consumed by his obsession and deep sated inferiority. He fails to see his own self as human due to his long lasting feeling of failure.

Comically, and tragically too, this feeling of failure manifests itself so deeply into his life that not only does he fail to surpass All Might, but he also fails to become a father or a husband, let alone a person.

Endeavour’s change marks that very point of his life where he realises the hopelessness of his dream. He became the number one hero, yet fails to find the same reverence for himself in the hearts of the masses like All Might did, when he goes home, he is met with a shell of a person he should’ve been. This marks the very rock bottom of his inferiority complex, he achieves everything, the number one position, the ideal child, everything he had strived for, yet he is met is the same fate. Of eternal mockery and despair.

His choice to become better doesn’t truly change anything, neither does it undo his wrongs but Endeavour’s choice to try wasn’t intended to be a gloss over or a redo for his past actions, but rather another form of mockery to his persistent efforts to achieve something he had long lost. It becomes a cycle of trying and failing. Endeavour’s character is rooted in failure because that is what he sees himself as. His very name is a mockery to his existence, endeavour “to try hard to do or achieve something.”

Endeavour’s efforts to make reparations for his wrongs is not atonement for his character, it is another mocking act of failure he carries forward in this vicious cycle for he is never truly able to atone, not to himself, not to his children.

The two faced spectre and his poor guise of duplicity

jujutsu kaisen as a manga is very carefully curated to lay some of the key themes out. For characters like Gojo, and Geto, it takes a painstaking amount of care to carefully lay out the intricate details and nuances of both their characters and their relationships and the inherent symbolism in it. Something as such would convince you that Jujutsu kaisen is very generous with its explanation of themes to its readers. However, I think this act of laying bare the key details is what really tricks the readers and convinces them into believing Sukuna is a standard, evil character. With no real motives or purpose, just simple need for violence.

Sukuna’s curation, by far, consists of the most intricately picked out details that intentionally create a barrier between him, the reader and the characters he interacts with. He belongs to an ancient era, much of what he speaks is often lost in translation to the sorcerers and curses of the current era. You may find a lot of Japanese speakers/readers break down multiple panels of Sukuna’s speech bubbles and more often than not, his speech bubbles dissect to give us a deeper, more complex dialogue which neither the reader nor the listening character will grasp at first. This barrier of language is intentional to create an air of mystery and confusion on both ends, it tricks the readers and the characters in verse into believing Sukuna as a being is shallow enough to simply fight for the hell of it.

A very essential part of Sukuna’s character is his curiosity. He is curious, at his very core. He is curious to test someone’s limits, to see how far can someone really go, how far can they be pushed? He is curious about human food (cue to him trying and disliking popcorn) His curiosity is a very significant cause that steers him into battles. He treats every opponent differently, he praises some, he belittles some, he encourages some. It’s his way of understanding and testing the true limits of his opponents. He praises Jogo, Kashimo, he asks Higuruma to heal himself, he acknowledges Gojo when the narrative itself brushes past his death. His candidness in every character interaction during a battle is what makes him raw and hard to stomach beyond the surface level.

Sukuna is both similar to, and different than gojo. In a way they're perfect anti parallels to one another. In their shared loneliness and dehumanisation, they find a common ground. Yet it is also what differentiates them. Gojo's isolation renders him impenetrable by those around him, so he becomes a pillar that ensures the security of the jujutsu society, despite acknowledging its flaws, his existence on the mounted platform makes him shoulder the burden of being a beacon that needs to guide his students in order to bring about a change. However, Sukuna's loneliness is a trait that had been engraved into his being from his time in the womb itself as a taboo child. So his isolation as the strongest only strengthens his beliefs of living as he chooses to. Which is why there is a stark contrast in the two panels between Gojo and Sukuna wherein both are titled as the honoured ones.

Sukuna is a very refined character. He recites haiku in midst of his battles, he knows poetry, he knows the language of flowers and knows archery. He praises the moon during his fight with Jogo whilst simultaneously belittling him.

Sukuna’s character often comes with an air of duplicity. It’s not greatly intended on his part but rather something that is reinforced by Gege. Its a very funny way to trick your readers into doing their homework for their characters.

He is a man rooted to his principles and beliefs, a lot of his practices reflect the traditions of his time. But him being grounded to his principles doesn’t really equate to him being moral. He lives the way he wishes to, he fights and destroys and pushes everyone to their limits, his beliefs are limited but stay unshaken.

For a character like Sukuna, who is a product of neglect, and someone who’s very existence is reduced to a title alone, his isolation from human sentiments is very understandable. He was a taboo child, someone who’s very existence stems from negativity cannot understand the concept of “love” so he rejects Yorozu. Sukuna is a character who was robbed off the very chance to be human, he lived and died as the “two faced spectre,” and the effect of this dehumanisation reflects itself in the final chapter. He dies in Yuji’s hands calling himself a “curse,” yet when confronted by Mahito he expresses his true feelings of both fear and regret.

His confrontation with Mahito was extremely fitting for his character because throughout the story, Sukuna, sticking to his beliefs, lives the way he wishes to. He partakes in all heinous acts and stoops low enough to deceive and kill when necessary. When he fights Yorozu, in megumi’s body, he tells her she can do anything she wishes to if she defeats him upon being questioned for marriage. This really grounds Sukuna’s belief of loss and defeat to be equivalent to death itself. He cares not for what Yorozu does to him if he is defeated because a defeat to him, is shameful enough to be considered death itself.

Which is why the only time he directly confronts Mahito, and through him the very narrative itself, is after his defeat. He loses so he finally let’s go of his arrogance. And we find out who Sukuna really has been all along.

HOLY HONK MY MIND IS LITERALLY 🤯🤯🤯

Nothing is more fabulous than deep character analysis 😤🙌🏼💙🤌🏼

How Leo’s role as face man prevents him from confiding with his team

Watching throughout the entire series we see Leo constantly keep up with his role as the face man of the group

While on missions he can use his charisma and persuasion in order to get people to go along with his plans without letting people know what he’s really thinking

But he never seems to put it down

•Leos Emotional Guard

At first glance Leo’s entire personality revolves around being lenient laid back and chill, and to everyone else it makes him seem like a very open book, and that’s why the face man role works out for him

But it means that no one is really aware of anything beneath the surface. They never bother to ask because who would need to?

However, this also includes Leo’s family

Despite his chilled back personality Leo is one of the most emotionally guarded ones out of all of the brothers

Throughout the series we can see little moments of vulnerability from each members of the family, digging deeper into their emotions and their insecurities and then go on to discuss said feelings and gain some form of comfort or closure from their family. Most notable ones shown below

Donnie in “Donnie vs Witch Town”

Raph in “Anatawa Hitorijinai”

Mikey in “Hidden City’s Most Wanted”

April in “Always Be Brownies”

Splinter & Donnie in “Turtledega Nights”

•How Leo is Different

Similar to everyone else, Leo is shown to have these moments sprinkled in too but they never occur with his family

The two most memorable moments we have are shown in “Portaled Jacked” with Senor Hueso and during his one-on-one conversation with Casey

Why these two characters and not one of his close family members?

Because it’s easier talking about problems to strangers and people who don’t know you as they have no previous knowledge or connotations of you to fall back on and there’s no feelings of burden or guilt if you believe the topic will never be discussed with them again. There’s less feelings of consequences that comes with being vulnerable towards people who don’t know you well. Because if you open up more to the people who do, the risk that their opinion of you will change gets higher

Then we add in the fact that Leo is already extremely guarded of his emotions. He doesn’t want his brothers to think less of him because he already isn’t confident of his place in the team already and thus doesn’t confide in them

•Deflecting with Humor

And then the two moments where we do see little slips in Leo’s carefully constructed masks that occur around his family, which we can find in “Minotaur Maze” and “Many Unhappy Returns”

He ends up immediately backtracking and deflecting with humor, thus changing the subject and preventing anyone from delving into it further and reacting to the quips instead

“You know it’d really help me if you guys said that I was your champion.” “Just open it!”

“This whole situation was my plan all along. If it wasn’t, then why’d I ask your tailor to make me this outfit?” “So we could both perish looking super fly?”

What makes it worse is that Leo has such a habit of doing it that his family expects it, which  then causes them to believe there’s no underlying issues beneath the surface and thus don’t react accordingly. (with the addition that both parties had valid reasons for being upset with him at the time)

But it causes a situation of Leo internalizing his emotions, and if he doesn’t expand on the topic himself, then his family won’t see a reason to either nor think there’s an issue to begin with

•The Movie

To add onto this point, we see Raph and Leo arguing over Leo’s role as leader. As usual Leo deflects the argument with humor and avoids the situation. But we can see during the argument that how Leo privately lets down his guard and for a second the audience is able to see how he’s really reacting to Raph’s words. However, it is apparent that Raph doesn’t  see this side of him and most likely never really has

“You just don’t get it Leo”

Now as the audience it is very easy to draw to the conclusion that Leo has clear issues with his role as the leader and most likely many insecurities regarding it thus why he acts the way he does. Like any other serious situation, he copes with, he deflects with humor and tries to avoid it

This argument then implies that in the two years since Leo was made leader of the group, he never revealed his internal issues with it and never made it apparent to his brothers either because he hates being vulnerable

The face man role works for him because it requires skillful work in that you can manipulate people the way you want to without ever letting them know what your thinking. And Leo carries that role with him when it comes to his brothers and family as well. But this doesn’t work out for him anymore when he becomes the leader and communication becomes so important to the team. (I talk about this more on a different post)

Thus the events of the movie and why things played out the way they did

Naturally he learns how to trust in his team more when the situation becomes dire enough that he realizes he can no longer keep deflecting

But even after all the traumatic events that he went through. When it comes to the one time we see him really cry. He still only lets himself cry when he’s completely alone within the prison dimension

TLDR: Leo’s role as the face man is kept on both on and off duty as we find that he is really one of the most emotionally guarded out of all of his brothers as he doesn’t want to let them know what he’s really feeling out of fear that they might think less of him as he is already insecure of his placement in the group and would rather confide in people who don’t know him well over his family where he runs the risk of them treating him differently

Honestly, “Mr. Emotionally Unavailable” has some real competition ahead of him

If we were being completely blunt, all of the brothers have trouble when it comes to letting go of their real emotions, Donnie just being out of his depth with them and it being uncomfortable, Raph wanting to be strong for his brothers, and Mikey most likely wanting to focus on his brother’s emotions over his own as the Therapist of the group, but i believe the Leo definitely has the worst case out of all of them.