#i won't always answer anons with indepth analyses btw

[demytasse]

Which sin do you think Izaya would be? I was thinking Envy or Pride, but I can't decide which :/

Ohohoho~ you've come to the right person! One who shakes off their drowsy, morning fog upon reading a prompt such as this and speaks to the void in absence of the opinion seeker, "ah yes, this aligns with my interest—to feverishly research what will back or deny my instinct, and humour my guilty pleasure to gain or refine my knowledge, that of a topic that I'm no guru." To whom will immediately dash to the keys, gulp down their coffee, and pay no mind to the outside world in order to fulfil the request and voice the following (as well the preceding to the priorly proffered following, and seemingly the proceeding to the original intent of the initial following)...

*ahem* Let's disregard my caffeine-induced wordplay.

     Envy—would be the quickest assessment of Izaya as he has a proclivity to be envious of others. Specifically, he’s coloured green by what Shinra had at a young age, a life-defining and adamantly sought after goal while he was aimless; of what Shizuo gained over time, the world’s acceptance of his dirty soul, and furthermore he’s jealous of the sentimental bonds that other acquaintances have. Greedily, without cognisance, he wants what others have: acceptance and a connection to humankind even though he wants to believe that he doesn’t desire to have it.

Though all in all, Pride covers his entire character.

Pride is the most serious of the seven sins and with it brings the highest punishment; it’s believed that the devil himself was wrapped so tightly with pride that it transformed him into his namesake. It’s the definition of selfishness and egocentric ideals—a perversion from seeing oneself as part of humanity, one of a community, at level with thy neighbour and equal to one’s peers. Simply, sinners of Pride don’t consider themselves average but superior to others as a god. Right out of the gate, those aspects can be connected to Izaya, and to set a keen visual to his prideful air is the ever-so-poignant scene—of him looming above his chessboard while he’s setting the stage and circumstances for the Raira trio and defining the roles of other people in his game. I would stick a screenshot here, but I’ve already used it for a long-ago analysis, and with the internet’s prevalent use of it, if you don’t know exactly what I’m talking about, assuredly you can type ‘Izaya’ into Google and it would show up on the first page...I didn’t check that claim, I’m not going to check...so let’s not quote my joke... Anyhoo! Back to the point of Pride: those who are defined by the sin tend to put themselves and their desires above all others, therefore anything they do in pursuit of whatever they want is paramount; any sacrifice is warranted and easily brushed aside as justifiable.

And Izaya acts all according to his will. He steps on others and sacrifices people in order to reach his achievement—or enlightenment as he would say. Perhaps it’s his claim that human observation is an innocent hobby, but it’s not simply as such. Ultimately his playful deeds are what other people might define as acts of evil and with that, he’s their villain. Rather explicitly he doesn’t see himself as a sinner for his hobby, just an indulgent, admittedly narrow-minded and focused. Though that matters little in this case, as he tends to ignore the immoral aspect of what he does, and it’s not even a thought in his mind that he should atone for how he negatively affects others—individually or as a whole—and that isn’t exactly something admirable, more so narcissistic.

Even so, it’s an echoed fandom assessment that Izaya is mentally weak, in spite of that he’s intelligently strong, unrelentingly foolish, and stupidly purposes his cunning and wit—he’s his own foil that destroys himself; it’s a sinner of Pride whom constantly puts themselves on the chopping block as a slave of their will just as outside parties are.

(I nod at Wikipedia ingratitude of the following quotes, not to say I only referenced the site, ahaha...seriously.)

“What the weak head with strongest bias rules, Is pride, the never-failing vice of fools.”

"(The proud man) is like a partridge in its cage acting as a decoy; like a spy,he watches for your weaknesses. He changes good things into evil, he lays his traps. Just as a spark sets coals on fire, the wicked man prepares his snares in order to draw blood. Beware of the wicked man for he is planning evil."

     Now, it’s a common defence of Izaya that he’s not evil, and overall that’s true of his character. However, to properly pin him a sin it’s important to consider how others perceive him as vanity is innately tied to society and he very much cares of his image—it’s that intense focus of how one is positively or negatively viewed that’s a direct attribute of Pride. So while Izaya’s intent and furthermore actions are self-indulgent and not specifically to toy with others, it’s how others feel themselves to be victims, tangled in intricately set up traps that make his deeds seem ill-conceived and make him evil to the public eye. Really, who’s to blame them? Izaya’s not exactly innocent, I’m sorry (not sorry) to say. And finally, in acknowledgement of hubris; overconfidence and arrogance—prideful behaviours that are driven by ego are foolish challenges to the gods, acts committed in order to be seen as worthy beings of prestige and high regard. To which this should go without saying: that pomp and circumstance, that flamboyant charade and dance is exactly Izaya’s purpose of his trials, it’s inexplicably what rules his character arc, as he desperately flounders to gain worthy attention of a certain valkyrie to seek admittance into Valhalla. What a fool he was to head in that direction. It’s alright to say that I overuse that pun.

     So yeah, to sum it up, Izaya’s a greedy little ball of envy, but he shades himself with an umbrella of Pride.