Egarwaen
(He/Him)
One pattern that shows up throughout Tomino's works is that the antagonists are defined by an extreme sense of self-importance. This is what leads them to dark places, and causes them to fall short even when they have noble aims. Char's arc in Zeta is extremely of a part with this; he spends the entire series grappling with his own legacy and what it would mean for him to lead the AEUG. But this preoccupation leads to him repeatedly failing his comrades - he fails to mentor Kamille, he fails to respect Reccoa, he fails to protect Katz, and he ultimately fails to provide the AEUG with a viable strategy. He's totally unable to get over himself. The culmination of that failure is his contribution to the finale being only a duel with Haman; he's literally crushed by his own legacy, the AEUG wins a Pyrrhic victory, and all his efforts are for nothing.
Mashymre is wonderful in the opening arc of ZZ because he's got that same self-importance, but its nearly impossible to think he's cool. He's a total buffoon, which contrasts with Judau's utter lack of pretension. But even with that there's still some subtlety to his presentation - consider why, for example, he seems to be able to constantly remember conversations with Haman that just happen to directly pertain to his predicaments. It could be just that he's delusional and prone to flights of fancy, or it could be an early indicator of his Cyber-Newtype conditioning.
Mashymre is wonderful in the opening arc of ZZ because he's got that same self-importance, but its nearly impossible to think he's cool. He's a total buffoon, which contrasts with Judau's utter lack of pretension. But even with that there's still some subtlety to his presentation - consider why, for example, he seems to be able to constantly remember conversations with Haman that just happen to directly pertain to his predicaments. It could be just that he's delusional and prone to flights of fancy, or it could be an early indicator of his Cyber-Newtype conditioning.
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