AP 692 - Bad Character Arcs

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VicMonado
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AP 692 - Bad Character Arcs

Post by VicMonado »

So opposite of last week, sometimes character arcs don't go the way we would like and can make some come off worse or even regress characters we previously like. So can you name 1 or a few characters in anime that got worse during their story at some point?
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Blackmagic4444
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Re: AP 692 - Bad Character Arcs

Post by Blackmagic4444 »

Merlin from The Seven Deadly Sins. Here was a character that had an air of mystery around her about her motives and her past on why she does the things she does. But when you find out why and how she becomes the person she is today it is very underwhelming. Even more so when you find out what her end goal is, especially when she can very much relate to the people around her, and makes her actions upon re-watching episodes sour.
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rampant_a_i
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Re: AP 692 - Bad Character Arcs

Post by rampant_a_i »

There's just too many disappointing characters in general in anime and entertainment media at large. The worst offenses, however are those where a character shows such potential for character growth and/or story advancement, but fail to follow through on that potential. Again, there are too many to list all of them, but some of the notable ones are Misa from Death Note, who shows the courage (or insanity) to acquire the Shinagami Eyes, but only manages to remain wholly locked in Light's sway, much to her tragic misfortune. It would have been far more interesting had she demonstrated even more initiative and challenged Light, perhaps even to force him to wise up and take her seriously, rather than as a puppet.
The penultimate disappointment is Shinji Ikari from Neon Genesis Evangelion, the main protag, who fails to launch or grow a pair and stand for himself like a mature adult. War has, historically, forced young adults to wake up and lose their innocence, for better or worse, but Shinji just flubs up any initiative afforded him. At first, He seems to be heading in that direction when he tries to leave the Eva program, but he only proves his father right that he's still just acting the petulant little boy after all. There is a reason why Shinji has become the infamous poster boy for everything wrong with the weak-willed high school male protagonist seen far too often in Japanese media. Unrealized potential, much like the original series itself. (The question is, why do we still love these series?)
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