#Jorryn just kinda goes off

[jorrynoftheroundtable]

Ok I think I can explain this a little better than I have previously

The whole “Defect that decides they’re the paragon of their clone species” thing is amazing but personally they have to be in some way disadvantaged from the rest of their race.

Invader Zim is by all means an absolute genius, but his compulsive/destructive nature mean that he’s generally a hazard to be around, which is what initially led to his exile. This is exacerbated by his narcissistic (affectionate) nature in that he refuses to listen to anyone else because how could he, Zim, fail? This is explicitly a character flaw, yet it makes those moments where he rejects the idea of being defective so much greater.

Meanwhile with Hordak, he’s very physically weak. Off the top of my head I don’t remember specifically what his condition is called, but the necrosis on his limbs being very different from other horde clones means that despite his best efforts, no matter what he does, he will always be defective in the eyes of Horde Prime.

What both of these characters do is show very obvious flaws that nobody can twist around and say “No, actually, that just makes me better than you”. It’s not like saying “Zim is too kind”, his very being is a flaw that inhibits his goals.

And yet, when these characters get the upper hand against someone who would otherwise be equal, it gives the writer a chance to show them struggle. This in turn raises the stakes for that character and increases the tension.

I think part of this is because whenever a character seems invincible, it’s more a question of if than when they’ll die. You can’t build up an almighty war machine as a villain, only for them to keep being an Unstoppable Terror by the end of the story. I mean, “Yay, we stopped the death laser- but Darth Vader is still trying to kill everything that breathes. OH WELL!” would be pretty anticlimactic, no?

With the Defective Paragon, though, you don’t know how their story ends. If they escape to live another day, the heroes might not think them worth the trouble. Or, they might show up to be a nuisance at the climax- for better or worse. Do they get redeemed (Now that I’ve typed that, Prince Zuko kind of fits this archetype) and join the heroes? Do they lose hope and retire forever, only to be hunted down by their kind? The possibilities are endless.

tl;dr: There’s something amazing about Defects who decide that actually, no, I’m better than the rest of my kind. Whatever their idea of “Better” is.