The character analysis for real this time
Nov. 14th, 2011 04:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
branchandrootA handful of interesting things I noticed about some 07-Ghost characters that has shaped the way I think about them. Mild spoilers.
Hyuuga For one thing, he has a lot more freedom and influence than his rank would indicate. Ayanami is a General, Katsuragi is a Colonel, Kuroyuri for pity's sake is a Lieutenant Colonel. Hyuuga, who was Ayanami's classmate at the Academy, is a measly Major. The only Black Hawks he outranks are Konatsu, only a few years out of the Academy, and Haruse, who appears to be enlisted (though he may be a Warrant Officer since he became a Hawk, who knows, it would make a certain amount of sense). But here's Hyuuga blithely teasing his commander and cutting the trousers off of disrespectful Generals with no repercussions. I actually think the two things are directly related: he hasn't been promoted because his personnel jacket is full of notes like "insubordinate", "lazy", and "insufficiently dedicated". My personal canon is that Ayanami adds to those notes now and then as his part in their teasing. But Hyuuga is, at the same time, Ayanami's oldest follower and possibly friend, and an insanely powerful swordsman and Warsfeil. People are probably as afraid of him as they are of Ayanami, if not moreso because Hyuuga is less predictable.
The other thing I see in Hyuuga is the classic "swordsman so good he's crazy with it" character. When he hunts Teito during the war, he goes through elite armsmen like a buzzsaw, and all the while he's remarking how how much he hopes this next one will make it fun for him. It is for this reason that I firmly believe there will be a showdown between Hyuuga and Castor at some point. As soon as Castor pulled out a sword and Konatsu noted he was even faster than Hyuuga, that became the only future that makes sense.
Konatsu And then there's Konatsu, who looks like the sane one but only if you don't look too close. The first time he sees Hyuuga standing in a pool of bodies and blood, his only thought is "wow, I didn't know the Academy had a teacher that talented!". And, when you think about it, this makes perfect sense. Konatsu is from a Warsfeil family; he was raised by people who corrupt and manipulate souls as the family business, and appear to worship Verloren insofar as they believe it's Verloren who watches over them and determines the fate of their souls.
Incidentally, that worship and the genesis of the God Houses in the blood of the original Ghosts is what leads me to believe that Warsfeil houses like the Warrens are descended from Verloren and his incarnations.
So, yes, Konatsu is conscientious and responsible, dedicated to his duties, and well socialized. It's just, he's been socialized right from the start into exactly the kind of community the Black Hawks are: dangerous people who are not a little crazy. He acts sane because he's wonderfully at home where he is, but it does well to remember that Hyuuga, who only likes a) candy and b) life-threatening danger approved of Konatsu enough to sponsor him.
Kuroyuri I actually read Kuroyuri as a girl, for the purposes of writing about her in English. There's one manga frame of her as a child (an even younger child, that is) in what looks to me like a dress, and it makes the most sense to me that a girl would choose to deliberately obscure her sex in a mostly male military. Besides, this series needs more kick-ass women early on. Her rank, I have a harder time figuring out. My only supposition so far is that she really is insanely powerful, and certainly the tornado of zaiphon she's shown unleashing suggests that. I could also see Ayanami pushing her promotion that high in order to give her some added safety--even if she's older than she looks, she's still fantastically young to have been serving a few years already. So we have someone who's very young, very powerful, has already had attempts on her life from an even younger age, and, as the Warsfeil come more into the open in the military, is something the regular troops fear and hate. Without the protection of rank, I could see some very ugly situations developing, which would most likely result in a significant reduction in manpower before she was done defending herself.
Haruse He's the easiest for me to make sense of in a way. He's personally loyal to Kuroyuri. He got to know her personally, and to recognize her determination. For him, joining the Hawks wasn't a case of "I want to be a soul-sucking monster", it was "I want to serve with this person I like and care about and respect, and it might be a bloody assignment but I know she's not a monster". And that fact that he was made a Warsfeil strengthens my theory that Verloren's/Ayanami's blood is responsible for that ability.
Katsuragi Katsuragi is a little terrifying. He's spent ten years undercover, and did plastic surgery on himself to get there, all in Ayanami's service. I honestly don't know exactly what could have made him so utterly devoted to Ayanami, but given Ayanami's character and the little Katsuragi says when he finally shoots down his ostensible boss, it seems likely to have been a combination of Ayanami's dedication to the Empire and Ayanami's... humanity. He says that Ayanami never looks at people as if they were insects (though I suspect Teito would take issue with that). I speculate that Katsuragi had gotten rather disillusioned with the leadership of the Imperial Armed Forces before he ever came to the Black Hawks, and Ayanami's care for his own people and driving dedication to his country gave Katsuragi his faith back. He's got that born-again fire to him, when it comes to Ayanami. Katsuragi is another one who looks sane in comparison to Hyuuga, but only because his crazy is quieter.
Then there's the issue of Fea Kreuz and the Raggs family and the church.
We see our Ghost bishops making very deep genuflection, almost prostration, to the Pope. This is not surprising or particularly uncommon. What interests me is that Fea Kreuz, when he goes to his brother the King of Raggs to insist that Tiashe/Teito is not actually dead, performs exactly the same reverence to his brother.
Now that's a little unusual. There's a lot made of the Pope's co-equality with the King of Raggs and the Emperor of Barsburg. Subjects of one ruler do not usually make the same reverence to another, and a Bishop is essentially the Pope's subject.
So, is this a case of political expedience? Of quietly acknowledging the primacy of the ruler who is, after all, closest to hand? That isn't unheard of either, certainly. Or is it a more personal issue? Does Kreuz do this to emphasize a double loyalty, seeing as he's the King's brother? Unless and until we see some more bishops interacting with more powerful rulers, there's no way to really guess, but it's an interesting thought to contemplate. One thing that's clear is that the Pope did not or could not forbid Kreuz to treat the King as the Pope's equal in Kreuz's loyalty. Given what the Pope says in canon about desiring more power, I have to believe it was a case of could not rather than would not, which suggests an interesting tension between the indirect influence of the Church and the direct power of the thrones.
My personal (developing) theory, fueled by the fact that Kreuz calls Krom "majesty" instead of "aniue", is that some of the Raggs nobles thought that Kreuz became a bishop so that he would have a separate power base from which to challenge his older brother. Kreuz, being in fact deeply loyal to his brother, makes this particular gesture to head off that kind of gossip and emphasize that, despite being part of a separate power base, he will not raise his hand against his brother and king.
Hyuuga For one thing, he has a lot more freedom and influence than his rank would indicate. Ayanami is a General, Katsuragi is a Colonel, Kuroyuri for pity's sake is a Lieutenant Colonel. Hyuuga, who was Ayanami's classmate at the Academy, is a measly Major. The only Black Hawks he outranks are Konatsu, only a few years out of the Academy, and Haruse, who appears to be enlisted (though he may be a Warrant Officer since he became a Hawk, who knows, it would make a certain amount of sense). But here's Hyuuga blithely teasing his commander and cutting the trousers off of disrespectful Generals with no repercussions. I actually think the two things are directly related: he hasn't been promoted because his personnel jacket is full of notes like "insubordinate", "lazy", and "insufficiently dedicated". My personal canon is that Ayanami adds to those notes now and then as his part in their teasing. But Hyuuga is, at the same time, Ayanami's oldest follower and possibly friend, and an insanely powerful swordsman and Warsfeil. People are probably as afraid of him as they are of Ayanami, if not moreso because Hyuuga is less predictable.
The other thing I see in Hyuuga is the classic "swordsman so good he's crazy with it" character. When he hunts Teito during the war, he goes through elite armsmen like a buzzsaw, and all the while he's remarking how how much he hopes this next one will make it fun for him. It is for this reason that I firmly believe there will be a showdown between Hyuuga and Castor at some point. As soon as Castor pulled out a sword and Konatsu noted he was even faster than Hyuuga, that became the only future that makes sense.
Konatsu And then there's Konatsu, who looks like the sane one but only if you don't look too close. The first time he sees Hyuuga standing in a pool of bodies and blood, his only thought is "wow, I didn't know the Academy had a teacher that talented!". And, when you think about it, this makes perfect sense. Konatsu is from a Warsfeil family; he was raised by people who corrupt and manipulate souls as the family business, and appear to worship Verloren insofar as they believe it's Verloren who watches over them and determines the fate of their souls.
Incidentally, that worship and the genesis of the God Houses in the blood of the original Ghosts is what leads me to believe that Warsfeil houses like the Warrens are descended from Verloren and his incarnations.
So, yes, Konatsu is conscientious and responsible, dedicated to his duties, and well socialized. It's just, he's been socialized right from the start into exactly the kind of community the Black Hawks are: dangerous people who are not a little crazy. He acts sane because he's wonderfully at home where he is, but it does well to remember that Hyuuga, who only likes a) candy and b) life-threatening danger approved of Konatsu enough to sponsor him.
Kuroyuri I actually read Kuroyuri as a girl, for the purposes of writing about her in English. There's one manga frame of her as a child (an even younger child, that is) in what looks to me like a dress, and it makes the most sense to me that a girl would choose to deliberately obscure her sex in a mostly male military. Besides, this series needs more kick-ass women early on. Her rank, I have a harder time figuring out. My only supposition so far is that she really is insanely powerful, and certainly the tornado of zaiphon she's shown unleashing suggests that. I could also see Ayanami pushing her promotion that high in order to give her some added safety--even if she's older than she looks, she's still fantastically young to have been serving a few years already. So we have someone who's very young, very powerful, has already had attempts on her life from an even younger age, and, as the Warsfeil come more into the open in the military, is something the regular troops fear and hate. Without the protection of rank, I could see some very ugly situations developing, which would most likely result in a significant reduction in manpower before she was done defending herself.
Haruse He's the easiest for me to make sense of in a way. He's personally loyal to Kuroyuri. He got to know her personally, and to recognize her determination. For him, joining the Hawks wasn't a case of "I want to be a soul-sucking monster", it was "I want to serve with this person I like and care about and respect, and it might be a bloody assignment but I know she's not a monster". And that fact that he was made a Warsfeil strengthens my theory that Verloren's/Ayanami's blood is responsible for that ability.
Katsuragi Katsuragi is a little terrifying. He's spent ten years undercover, and did plastic surgery on himself to get there, all in Ayanami's service. I honestly don't know exactly what could have made him so utterly devoted to Ayanami, but given Ayanami's character and the little Katsuragi says when he finally shoots down his ostensible boss, it seems likely to have been a combination of Ayanami's dedication to the Empire and Ayanami's... humanity. He says that Ayanami never looks at people as if they were insects (though I suspect Teito would take issue with that). I speculate that Katsuragi had gotten rather disillusioned with the leadership of the Imperial Armed Forces before he ever came to the Black Hawks, and Ayanami's care for his own people and driving dedication to his country gave Katsuragi his faith back. He's got that born-again fire to him, when it comes to Ayanami. Katsuragi is another one who looks sane in comparison to Hyuuga, but only because his crazy is quieter.
Then there's the issue of Fea Kreuz and the Raggs family and the church.
We see our Ghost bishops making very deep genuflection, almost prostration, to the Pope. This is not surprising or particularly uncommon. What interests me is that Fea Kreuz, when he goes to his brother the King of Raggs to insist that Tiashe/Teito is not actually dead, performs exactly the same reverence to his brother.
Now that's a little unusual. There's a lot made of the Pope's co-equality with the King of Raggs and the Emperor of Barsburg. Subjects of one ruler do not usually make the same reverence to another, and a Bishop is essentially the Pope's subject.
So, is this a case of political expedience? Of quietly acknowledging the primacy of the ruler who is, after all, closest to hand? That isn't unheard of either, certainly. Or is it a more personal issue? Does Kreuz do this to emphasize a double loyalty, seeing as he's the King's brother? Unless and until we see some more bishops interacting with more powerful rulers, there's no way to really guess, but it's an interesting thought to contemplate. One thing that's clear is that the Pope did not or could not forbid Kreuz to treat the King as the Pope's equal in Kreuz's loyalty. Given what the Pope says in canon about desiring more power, I have to believe it was a case of could not rather than would not, which suggests an interesting tension between the indirect influence of the Church and the direct power of the thrones.
My personal (developing) theory, fueled by the fact that Kreuz calls Krom "majesty" instead of "aniue", is that some of the Raggs nobles thought that Kreuz became a bishop so that he would have a separate power base from which to challenge his older brother. Kreuz, being in fact deeply loyal to his brother, makes this particular gesture to head off that kind of gossip and emphasize that, despite being part of a separate power base, he will not raise his hand against his brother and king.
no subject
Date: 2011-11-15 10:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-11-15 10:12 pm (UTC)There will be some nice Ayanami and Black Hawks by and by, though.