#Character Foils

[biggesthomuradefender]

hmmmmmmm…

interesting. :)

[shaylogic]

Trauma Trigger Response Mask Up Babes

[shhhhimwatchingthis]

I see a lot of people talking about the duel between Luke and Percy, and while a lot of people are correctly interpreting the moment where Percy cuts Luke and immediately apologizes and lowers his guard as another moment revealing Percy's fatal flaw --loyalty and love for his friends, an inability to contemplate betrayal and a habit of giving mercy/redemption to those people-- I think a lot of people are misinterpreting, or glossing over the next moment--when Luke retaliates

people seems to be reading the moment where Luke strikes Percy back, knocking him to the ground and drawing blood as a comment on Luke's cruelty and violence,(in contrast with Percy's loyalty and mercy) and while i don't think that's wrong, I think a better way to look at the moment is that Luke's reaction reveals his fatal flaw.

its never explicitly stated in the books, But Rick Riordan mentioned it after The Last Olympian in interviews. Lukes fatal flaw is Wrath. he is angry, blindingly, overwhelmingly angry at the gods, and Kronos is able to manipulate and twist that anger until things go so far Luke is forced to destroy himself to save the world

The duel between Luke and Percy is such a brillant scene, yes because Luke and Percy are foils, yes we see Percy's fatal flaw in Crystal clarity. but we see Luke's too--he reacts in a surge of anger knocking Percy to the ground, making him bleed, ignoring Percys apology because in the moment he doesn't care about reconciliation only revenge, he hesitates only just before killing Percy, his rage taking over. Luke doesn't make Percy bleed in this scene in a moment of cold or calculated cruelty. its swift burning and unthinking anger. its his doom. because the next moment Annabeth reveals herself, sides with Percy, and Luke runs off, isolated, where, if you've read the books, he becomes even more tragically isolated from his friends and vulnerable to Kronos' manipulation

Loyalty and Wrath cost them both in that fight. their fatal flaws indeed.

[anthurak]

So by this point, I think many of us are likely familiar with the idea that the breakup of Team RWBY at the end of Volume 3 is meant to thematically parallel the breakup of Team STRQ in the wake of Summer’s death, ie; Ruby falls into a coma for a few days while Summer disappears and then both their teams fracture. Along with a popular sub-theory that Blake leaving Yang after the Fall is meant to parallel Raven leaving Tai.

But the thing is, if Ruby falling into a coma at the end of Volume 3 is meant to parallel Summer’s (supposed) death and the way this loss caused the fracturing and breakup of their respective teams, then Raven’s actions DON’T really parallel Blake nearly as well as a lot of people think.

And in fact, I feel like Qrow could potentially have paralleled Blake’s actions FAR better.

Like people talk about how Raven ‘abandoned’ Tai just like Blake ran away from Yang after the Fall of Beacon. Except if the point of parallel to the Fall of Beacon is Summer’s death, then the parallel doesn’t work because Raven was ALREADY GONE from Team STRQ by the time Summer disappeared. To the point where Tai, Qrow and Ozpin had (and still have) NO IDEA she was even involved in whatever happened to Summer. Raven can’t exactly have abandoned Tai just like Blake did to Yang if Raven wasn’t even around.

Instead, as I’ve discussed in the past, I think Raven’s actions following Summer’s ‘death’ potentially line up far better with WEISS. Like if it turns out that losing Summer was what actually drove Raven to return to her tribe, then that lines up very nicely with Weiss being taken back to her family/Atlas in the wake of the Fall of Beacon: Both return to the shitty, abusive family that raised them. And given how much of Weiss’s character is tied up in her family and their ‘legacy’, then the way Raven eventually took over her tribe makes her an ideal foil; effectively representing a Weiss who did eventually take over the Schnee family and company, but in the process internalized all the pain and trauma her family gave her.

And as for a cherry on top; if Ruby falling into a coma after the Fall of Beacon is meant to parallel Summer’s supposed ‘death’, then what was one of the last things Ruby did at the Fall?

Run off on a special mission with Weiss, just like we now know Summer did with Raven.

Now going back to my point about how Raven was not even around to abandon Tai just like Blake did to Yang, you know who WAS presumably around when Summer ‘died’?

Yeah; Qrow.

Let’s consider what exactly Blake actually did following the Fall of Beacon beyond just a surface-level reading: Yes, she did go back to her family, similar to what Raven may have done, but given that the Belladonnas are NOT actually shitty and abusive, I maintain that Weiss is still the better parallel to Raven. Instead, let’s consider Blake’s whole arc across Volumes 4 and 5 relating to the White Fang: At first being depressed over loss and perceived failure before being inspired to start working for a better cause, in this case pushing back against and stopping Adam’s takeover of the White Fang.

So I have to wonder; what if this reflects what Qrow did with Ozpin and the conspiracy following Summer’s ‘death’? Maybe Qrow and his teammates had helped Ozpin in the past and knew what he was doing, but what if THIS was the point where Qrow became fully committed to Ozpin’s cause and joined the Ozluminati full-time? Perhaps seeing it as a way of ‘honoring’ Summer’s memory.

Instead of staying with the one teammate he had left (and possible partner) who was now in a massive depressive spiral AND had two kids to take care of.

It starts to make Qrow and Tai feel a lot like Blake and Yang, doesn’t it?

This is one of the big reasons why I think Qrow and Tai are the REAL foil to Bumbleby on Team STRQ. They effectively give us a look at a version of Blake and Yang whose relationship failed. Or rather, were never able to ‘take the next step’ and actually form their relationship.

Qrow is a Blake who fully internalized her self-loathing and belief that she didn’t deserve Yang or that Yang was better off without her and has simply been pining for Yang from afar.

Meanwhile Tai is a Yang who likewise fully internalized her fears of abandonment and fully resents Blake for leaving her or may not have ever even fully recognized her feelings for Blake in the first place.

Essentially, Qrow and Tai are the version of Blake and Yang who weren’t able to work through all the problems, issues and baggage which allowed them to actually start their relationship. Like a Blake who didn’t get that vital pep-talk from Sun at the end of Volume 4, or a Yang who likewise didn’t get that vital talk from Weiss in Volume 5.

Which in turn leads us to what I brought up earlier with Qrow joining up with the Ozluminati full-time, essentially representing a Blake who threw herself into reforming the White Fang instead of returning to Team RWBY and reconnecting with Yang. Meanwhile Tai simply throws himself into a deep depression, grief and ‘moping’, ironically all the things he would later accuse Yang of doing (at some point I’m going to do a post on just how much PROJECTING Tai has likely been doing…)

So now Qrow and Tai have this low-key toxic relationship where Qrow is more-or-less aware of Tai’s extremely dysfunctional parenting but has also been enabling it and a lot of Tai’s unhealthy coping mechanisms over the years because he’s been pining for Tai ever since their Beacon days and still is pining in a very depressed, self-loathing ‘I don’t deserve him/to be happy’ way and also doesn’t want to risk conflict with his former partner and also the only teammate he has left.

Thus Qrow keeps his distance and just goes along with Tai’s dysfunctions and/or lets Tai push him away. Which in turn just reinforces Tai’s abandonment issues.

And Ruby and Yang are still stuck with utterly dysfunctional parental figures.

Oh, and if you need more proof about the deliberate parallels between Blake and Qrow…

Then how about the whole damn song where they sing about how they’ve always felt terrible about themselves but now things are looking up for them.

[killugon-truther]

i love when people actually bring up/point out that both gon & killua have abandonment issues & insecurities surrounding being good/strong enough for the ppl they care about/love, including & especially when it comes to each other.

[hobbithabits]

A meme by yours truly :3c

I do love Spirk and Garashir because they are Soulmates and I stand by that, but character foil ships excite something in me I cannot describe. They have the same level of unspoken-ness as the soulmates but they hate each other so their character development is more fun. Need me some more gay guys who just fucking hate each other.

[shyjusticewarrior]

Tim & Duke Are Mirrors

Tim became Robin because "Batman needs a Robin" and Duke because "Robin doesn't need Batman."

Tim grew up rich with preoccupied parents, Duke grew up poor with attentive parents.

When training Tim, Bruce thought about how Tim could die like Jason did. When training Duke, Bruce thought about how Duke could use what he learned for things Bruce doesn't approve of like Jason has.

[jameslongforjimshortforgabriel]

thinking about how in Alexander Hamilton the main lighting is yellow while in Aaron Burr, sir the main lighting is blue..... complementary colors...... on opposite sides of the color wheel....... character foils my beloved

[stackofsnakes]

Another reason of why i don't like my Vimes badass, is because it ruins the contrast. Vimes and Carrot act as foils to each other. Two sides of the sme coin, which is a highly idealized version of law enforcement.

Carrot is an idealist. Honest to the point of naivety(which is not the same as stupid), straight laced, the very peak of masculine physical prowess, uncompromisingly principled and charmingly confident. He's the sort of man they make action figures of. He believes in the good of people and holds everybody to a high standart.

Vimes is more pragmatic. Ageing, hardened by years and things that happened during the years, described as rather thin in the first novel, tired. He is not above dirty tricks; it's all good practice since his enemies aren't either. He believes in the bad in people and holds everybody to the lowest standart possible.

In my head, Carrot holds dominion over all the badass physical traits. He is the one man army rolling down the streets coming for you, but when he arrives you realize he's a teddy bear in the body of a warmachine. He's already memorized your name and scheduled you in for tea on tuesday. Meet his expectations or he'll be very disappointed. He might write your dear mother.

Sam doesn't look like much; a bit dented if anything, dirty more often than not, despite Sybils best efforts. You have to see him in action to realize he's wearing an invisible lether jacket at all times.

[telumendils]

Jewelers often put shiny metal foil underneath a gem to make the stone shine brighter, or display them on dark velvet to bring attention to their brightness. A literary foil serves a similar purpose: To provide contrast to another character by accentuating their differences. [x]

Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005-2008) ↳ Team Avatar + Character Foils

[biggesthomuradefender]

ngl i honestly don’t think that homura was planning to genuinely kill sayaka in ep. 8.

i mean, if u just take the scene of face value, it obviously seems that way: homura declares that she doesn’t care abt sayaka or if she lives or dies (which is 100% a lie, she may not like sayaka very much but she def cares abt her just like she does the other girls), and then raises her soul gem to her face in a threatening manner before kyoko shows up.

but that’s exactly it: homura puts her soul gem in front of sayaka’s FACE, not her soul gem, which is the only thing that can actually kill a magical girl.

so why wouldn’t homura just attack her soul gem directly? it wouldn’t be hard to do; sayaka is incredibly weak and depressed/suicidal atp, and homura could easily just snatch her soul gem/ring and break it, esp considering her time manipulation.

and when kyoko shows up, homura doesn’t put up a fight at all; she just stares stoically at sayaka. and even when homura DOES use a bomb to get away, you see how she doesn’t go to sayaka to finish the job. why would she have given up that easily, despite the fact that killing sayaka would still be very easy to do?

i think it could have been a last, desperate attempt to maybe "wake" sayaka up, a threat to get her to heal herself before her inevitable turning into a witch or smth. homura isn't above being harsh or using deception to achieve her goals, as she's done it multiple times (esp in rebellion), and i don't think it's necessarily any different here.

[biggest-vi-defender]

ik that everyone talks abt how isha is a parallel to powder/jinx, which is clearly intentional ofc, but i also wish more ppl would also mention her parallels/similarities to vi, esp when vi was younger.

[raynetheinsane]

“oh dabi and hawks are character foils!!” WRONG.

HAWKS AND SHIGARAKI.

Their stories, their lives, even their dreams are perfect mirrors of each other. they are two sides of the exact same coin.

Young Takami Keigo, son of a well known theif, he finally escapes an abusive home only to be met with an even crueller world. Just when he thinks the world has failed him, in comes the HPSC. They give him a new name, a new purpose, a new life. He is perfectly trained in everything he does, designed to carry out the Commission’s will.

Young Shimura Tenko, grandson of a well known hero, he finally escapes an abusive home only to be met with an even crueller world. Just when he thinks the world has failed him, in comes All for One. He gives him a new name, a new purpose, a new life. He is perfectly trained in everything he does, designed to carry out the All For One’s will.

Even their dreams, the thing that separates a hero from a villain are nearly identical.

Hawks wants a world where heroes aren’t as burdened, where they can trust that others will help them and that they can not have everything put on them.

Shigaraki wants a world where people dont leave it all to the heroes, where they realize that they have autonomy outside of hero society and can help people as well.

Admittedly, Shigaraki wants his because he believes heroes to be incompetent, but the point still stands.

Hawks and Shigaraki are cut from the same cloth. The only place where they differ is who “saved” them.

(Because neither of them were really saved, were they? Simply told they were saved, and pushed into a life that they didn’t want in the first place)

[anthurak]

So I’ve seen some discussion on how Loona probably had at least one ‘bad family’, either her birth family or one she was previously adopted by, before being taken in by Blitzo, which would tie into her attachment to Blitzo.

Now I am certainly in FULL agreement with this theory, in fact I think Loona’s specific ‘bad family’ experience has even already been foreshadowed by her whole ‘this kid probably sets dogs on fire’ spiel in Murder Family. Remember that we are currently 2 for 2 on seemingly innocuous bits of dialogue from that episode actually hinting at major character backstory and trauma.

However, I’ve ALSO got a couple ideas that could take this theory even further, and make things more interesting, as well as MORE traumatic and angsty for our favorite goth hellhound.

What if Loona not only had at least a bad experiences with abusive, neglectful or otherwise shitty families, but also a genuinely good family that ended BADLY?

Specifically, a bad ending that LOONA herself was responsible for because she couldn’t trust or believe that they actually cared for her.

As in, by this point Loona had already been burned (figuratively and even literally) so badly by previous family experiences that she couldn’t believe or trust that these people really DID care for and wanted to love her.

To the point where Loona deliberately destroyed her relationship with this family. Either by simply running away, lashing out, or even outright destroying the family in some way. However it happened, Loona wound up back at the orphanage, and only later realized that those people truly DID care, and what she had lost by burning that bridge.

Which is why Loona sticks with Blitzo, even if she’s probably fully capable of fending for herself now, and even if Blitzo, in her own words “fucks up, like ALL the time”. Because she knows that he still genuinely cares, and she DOESN’T want to lose that again.

Which in turn would allow Loona to provide an extremely interesting perspective on OCTAVIA’s current conflict with her own father. As in, perhaps Loona doesn’t push Octavia to necessarily forgive or accept her father for his mistakes, but rather simply to not cut her father out of her life. As well as helping to show Octavia just how little her mother cares for her by comparison.

Because at this point, Loona is VERY familiar with the difference between abusive parents and caring parents, and knows what it’s like to burn bridges with both. And she does NOT recommend doing the latter.

And one OTHER theory that would really cement Loona as actually having the MOST fucked up backstory of the I.M.P. family; you know how Loona is both a parallel and foil to Blitzo in many ways? Well I think it’s very likely that these similarities AND contrasts extend to their backstories/childhoods as well.

For example: What if, much like Blitzo, Loona also lost a family to a fire.

Except UNLIKE Blitzo, this was a fire that Loona DELIBERATELY started.

Perhaps it was the family who burned her. Or maybe it was the family she was CONVINCED would burn her…

Most people are expecting Loona to simply be a poor, innocent victim. Personally, I think it’s WAY more interesting if Loona has ALSO made some mistakes and done some fucked up shit herself.

[adhdkiramman]

will never not be crazy to me to see blind caitlyn hate from jinx and silco stans, as if they both don’t act as foils to her character and vice versa…

[killugon-truther]

i wish there was more killua and gon/killugon media (fanfics, playlists, etc.) that focused more on gon’s POV, thoughts, and personal feelings instead of just killua’s.

don’t get me wrong, i absolutely love & thoroughly enjoy killua’s POV— it’s one of my favorite things abt hxh— but gon’s is just as emotional, loving, and important, and i feel like it gets glossed over and forgotten a LOT due to multiple factors, such as the fact that we don’t get a lot of gon’s internal thoughts the way we get so many of killua’s and that gon’s complexities & deep inner struggles/doubts are just more difficult to read than killua’s.