Rooting for the Underdog ***SPOILERS***

BishounenStalker · Post by **BishounenStalker** » Sat Nov 23, 2002 1:36 am

Why is it that usually end up becoming a huge fan of the most underappreciated character in any anime I watch (or VG I play)?

Like in Gundam Wing. Everything is pilots, pilots, pilots. IMO, the only pilot worth a second viewing is Duo. Heero's a robotic moron (I only tolerate him because he makes Duo happy), Quatre only kicks ass when he's on a ZERO-induced acid trip, Trowa is just plain boring and flimsy, and Wufei is an immature little asswipe who needs a fast reality check.

My favorite? Treize Khushrenada. The guy nobody gives a flying fig about. Hell, most fans can't even pronounce his last name.

Why is he my favorite? The man's a genius. In episode 7, he made the pilots out to be the band of buggers they were and completely took over the Alliance. Then near the middle of the series, he splits OZ straight down the middle by telling Duke DeMayo to go screw himself, leaving an open door for him to kick Queen Relena off her undeserved throne and become Sovereign of the World Nation, in effect ruling the world. He freaking succeeded in world domination!

But how many shrines to him do you find out there? And the handful that you do find don't appreciate him for who he is, they just capitalize on the yaoi fodder between him and Zechs (which sickens me). I have yet to find one. If someone could give me the URL of such a site, I would be most grateful.

Second underappreciated character: Rufus Shinra of Final Fantasy 7 If you're asking yourself "Who the hell is Rufus Shinra?", you're proving my point. Most people who even played the game don't bother remembering his name.

Why do I like him so much? He was a badass. Plain and simple. Could wield a shotgun one-handed, had control of everything that wasn't nailed down, and a lot of stuff that was. And in a sense he wasn't really evil, just ruthless. His old man did all the really nasty things (dropping the plate on sector 7, capturing Aeris, etc.). Rufus was actually trying to SAVE the planet in the end, not destroy it (mission to destroy Meteor with the Shinra 26), just the same as Cloud was. But instead of a glorifying full-rendering in the ending sequence, he gets a blast from Diamond Weapon in the face (which we don't even get a good look at). Rufus was a completely misunderstood character who deserves a lot more respect and recognition than he got.

I guess these are the two underdogs I really feel like rooting for right now. Agree? Disagree?

ryu amata · Post by **ryu amata** » Tue Dec 03, 2002 11:12 am

I have to disagree with Rufus. The only reason he wanted to save the planet is so that he could continue ruling it and find the promised land. He was just on a constant power trip.

As for Gundam I would have to agree but, 1. Treize is a pilot. 2. I like Zechs. He is my favorite next to Duo.

Kubo* · Post by Kubo* » Wed Dec 04, 2002 1:41 am

Rufus had style man. Even though he was the villian in a purely black and white way, I think he probally had more style than most of the other characters in that game. I don't know sometimes the really cool characters don't get enough recognition like I always really liked the short guy and Karl, the guys with the fancy headgear in lain. Karl's just cool man. 8)

ryu amata · Post by **ryu amata** » Wed Dec 04, 2002 10:18 am

I would have to say my fave underdogs in FF7 were Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie. Jessie also had a huge crush on Cloud but never got to say so.

Kubo* · Post by Kubo* » Thu Dec 05, 2002 1:12 am

that thing about Jessie was so tragic, but also they all got killed after about the first two or three hours of game before you even get to see the world map.

IratusAngelus · Post by **IratusAngelus** » Thu Dec 05, 2002 11:23 am

Biggs and Wedge are the most underappreciated FF characters in every game they're in. Granted, they have small roles, and they're different people in every one, but they're still awesome. Has George Lucas ever tried anything legal against Square for those characters, or are the names still too vague for any action?

Wykith · Post by **Wykith** » Thu Dec 05, 2002 12:02 pm

You're right about Rufus, but it's kind of hard for him to live up to the image of bad ass villian when you've got someone like Sephiroth in the same game with you. Most characters are taken for granted for a reason though. Look at Edea from FFVIII. Once she goes back home you kind of forget about her for the rest of the game but she's got shrines all over the place. Some characters leave an impression, others don't. It's all about taste. Treize was one of the coolest villians in any series though but that's only because he wasn't a black and white villain. He was a polititian....like Rufus.

SarahtheBoring · Post by **SarahtheBoring** » Thu Dec 05, 2002 7:33 pm

Oh please, Rufus Shinra has mad phalanxes of fangirls. He's not an underdog.

He has slightly fewer fans than Vincent, Cloud and Seph, but he's not underappreciated.

Hermianna · Post by **Hermianna** » Tue Dec 10, 2002 3:41 pm

Underdog? You mean background characters that don't get enough attention? Well, I have a lot of those, but mostly from Disney movies. In anime, I always go for the heroes/villians.

Lone Wolf · Post by **Lone Wolf** » Tue Dec 10, 2002 4:06 pm

Ack! You could have warned me about the spoiler there about FF7. I haven't played it yet.

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Rooting for the Underdog SPOILERS

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