#i also couldnt care less about valerius or the courtiers so

[cedarmoons]

Tbh it makes me uncomfy when folks insist that characters like Lucio needs to be 3 dimensional when their issue really seems to be that there isn't a good or acceptable reason to absolve him of his actions in the narrative. I think Lucio is fun as hell, but he's also incredibly selfish, rude, manipulative, and downright awful to pretty much everyone. I'd prefer a Valerius romance tbh, his characterization touches on the same themes but there's enough distinctions to make it all work better.

So, first off, while I can’t speak for L*cio stans wanting a redemption arc narrative =/= wanting a reason to absolve him. We all want to see stories of goodness and love overcoming a villain’s worst instincts, so I can understand his fans wanting that in his route. (Alternatively, I can understand wanting his route to be a dumpster fire where he and MC are unrepentantly evil, but that shit gets old after, like, two chapters. It is exhausting to be terrible.)

It doesn’t matter whether there’s a “good reason” to absolve L*cio, i.e. remove his chains, because MC does it anyway in Nadia’s route. How that will play out in his route remains to be seen, but I imagine picking “there’s no good reason to redeem you” can factor into a possible reversed ending—he has no incentive or reason to change, since his efforts would be useless, so why not continue being an awful person?

My problem with L*cio is not “oh wow this is a compelling and interesting villain, I want to learn more about him” — I don’t think he’s compelling at all. His character can be distilled into sadistic manbaby who gets off on power displays.

(See: his comment to Asra in the bonus scene, which imo was not evidence of him being a creepy pedo, but that he enjoys others’ discomfort because he enjoys power, and humiliating others = having power over them. With that interpretation, L*cio’s obsession with Asra is not because he has a sexual interest in him, but because he is infuriated that Asra doesn’t play his game, much less follows his rules, which means he has no control or power over Asra, something he cannot stand).

I would find him vastly more compelling as a villain and as a character if the devs focused more on potential character traits like his lust for power, desire for control of himself and/or others, and sadism, but instead they’ve focused on the manbaby who’s mad he can’t hang with the Cool Kids. All that nuance, development, and context is lost when you just have him running after characters whining “Didn’t you miss me?!” versus, for example, immediately attempting to take control of Vesuvia from Nadia and using his charisma and popularity to sway the people to his side.

Instead, he’s a joke to the fandom, the devs, and even the characters in game. It’s a waste of potential and makes his character fluff and filler when it could be something seriously interesting and be a genuine threat to the characters. I hate him not only because he’s a terrible manbaby but because he’s nothing more than a terrible manbaby.

Anyway I’m done talking about this garbage fire of a character.