#just to give this kid some more character development when zanes arc was fully finished as of season 3

[elemental-daddy-neos]

So a mutual put this on my dash, but I wanted to reblog this version to argue a few things here. Character design is very important, but if anyone actually bases their like/dislike of a character solely on that... That's just kind of dumb. I don't like Syrus, but it's certainly not because of how he looks.

We really need to start putting more words on shelves. Relationships can be bad without them needing to be "toxic" or "abusive". Like yeah, I don't think Syrus was a good friend to Jaden at all, but it's not really that deep. He just sucks. (That's my opinion, you can disagree with it, but it's not changing.)

I don't think it's accurate to say that people put Syrus on a pedestal, because no one was doing that. They certainly did with Jaden, but as for every other character? No one expected great things out of Syrus or acted like he could do no wrong/was some kind of savior. People sure thought highly of Zane because he was actually a great duelist, and yeah, it might suck to be related to someone more successful and feel like you'll never live up to them, but I can't think of a single person who pressured Syrus to try and live up to his brother's legacy other than Syrus.

As far as why I don't like Syrus... Listen. I did like him at one point in time, when I was a kid in middle school and had barely any knowledge of him outside of the handful of GX episodes I caught on tv and fanfiction. When I fully rewatched GX as an adult, I went into it with the expectation that I would like Syrus because I remembered him being written nicely in stories I couldn't remember, but that expectation quickly died. His greatest sin is simply being annoying, and I can safely say that there's no secondhand embarrassment on my part that comes with watching him. He just gets on my nerves for more than one reason.

As far as loyalty... Syrus is about the least loyal person in Jaden's friend group. The very first example is him leaving the red dorm the second he gets the chance to. It wasn't too long ago that Jaden had the same opportunity he did to advance to Ra Yellow, but he stayed in the end because red was where he belonged. You'd think that a loyal friend would at least consider doing the same, but Syrus didn't even hesitate or seem to remember how Jaden had turned down the chance to move up to stay with his friends. First chance he got, he left.

Of course, Syrus did still stick around as a friend, so him moving dorms didn't change much in the end as far as friend dynamics were concerned, and sure, if his goal is to be more like Zane, it'd make sense that he'd want to get to blue dorm eventually. I just think it's very telling how there was never a moment where he thought "What about Jaden?" before accepting the promotion. Even if he's got his reasons, you'd think that someone who considers himself the protagonist's best friend might think about him just a little before committing to Ra Yellow.

This kind of ties in to those comments about how "Syrus cowers in danger", which is a normal response to have, if you're not very brave, and he's definitely not. Those situations started to rub me the wrong way after enough times of watching Syrus continually doubt Jaden in every dangerous situation they found themselves in. I think it's kind of sad when new characters enter the show, become Jaden's friend, and have more faith in him than one of the characters who's been there from the beginning. He never believes in Jaden, he never has the slightest bit of faith in him despite seeing his abilities for himself time and time again, and every time there's a high stakes duel with our beloved protagonist taking place, Syrus is always standing on the sidelines fearing the worst and expecting Jaden to fail. This does not ever change throughout the course of the show, and it really just drives home how accurate that curse mark he received in season 3 was. His defining character trait isn't loyalty, it's doubt.

And for the aniki thing- Jaden never liked that. He was shown to be uncomfortable with Syrus calling him that because he didn't want to be an older brother figure for this guy, he wanted them to be equals. Syrus just didn't listen to him when Jaden said not to call him that, so he ended up letting it slide. It's not exactly a measure of how devoted he is to Jaden, just how eager he is to shove his brother problems onto the first guy that shows him kindness.

I know this is getting really long at this point, so I'll try to wrap it up: Syrus was never a good friend to Jaden. He used him as an emotional crutch for the whole show, leaned on him because he couldn't handle his issues on his own, and never gave anything in return for all the support he received from his best friend. Even as far into the show as season 4, when Jaden was struggling really hard with his depression over the events of season 3, Syrus (and everyone else) essentially ignored him unless they needed Jaden around to solve their problems for him. We never once saw Syrus try to reach out for Jaden or check in on how he was doing, arguably at the time in his life where Jaden needed his friends the most, but what we did see was Jaden still going out of his way to help Syrus. That episode where Syrus had to duel that guy who wanted to challenge Zane? Jaden brought him food to cheer him up. He was going through a hard time, and he still put in the effort to support his friends, and at the end of the day, what I really hate about Syrus is that all the effort Jaden put into being his friend was never returned by him.

Syrus isn’t a bad character, you’re just mean.

The way some gx fans just completely write off Syrus pisses me off more than it should, because you know they wouldn't be doing that if he was a little bit taller and a little bit more attractive. I have legitimately seen people argue that Syrus is an abusive, toxic asshole to everyone when most of the people around him are abusive toxic assholes to HIM. Syrus is just a little guy who was put on a pedestal because his brother managed to be an amazing duelist and all that people see in him is “Zane’s little brother”, completely writing him off and not seeing him as a person beyond that.

Syrus's entire struggle is that he'll never live up to his brother or be a great duelist, or even manage to play the card game he's going to school to study for, and he overcomes that as the seasons go by (ESPECIALLY season 4). Syrus starts off as incredibly cowardly, shy, clingy, and easy bait for stronger students, but he breaks free from that shell as the episodes go by.

I've legitimately seen people justify Tyranno and Chazz's bullying of him because he "deserves it for being a coward", when all he has done is be mildly annoying or a hormone-enraged teenager, as if those things are inherently horrible acts that require Syrus to pay for his sins.

Syrus is by far the most realistically written GX character and I personally believe that people do not like him because Syrus exhibits behaviors that they've done that they're embarrassed to death about. I've seen people get mad because "Syrus cowers in fear whenever there's danger" AS IF THAT ISN'T A NORMAL REACTION???

Syrus watched his teacher's soul get stolen and watched Zane have a heart attack and die right in front of him, give this poor boy a break and spare him of your massive hateboner.

Yes, it is wrong of Syrus to project his insecurities onto Jaden, but in NO way is he a bad friend or quote unquote “abusive”. He was ride or die, absolutely loyal to Jaden, why else do you think in the original japanese sub he called him "Aniki"? Because he cared. Jaden was like a big brother to him, and I hate that the fandom writes that off and claims he was horrible to one of his best friends. People hate Syrus for no reason much to the point people will literally pull shit out of their asses to Argue Syrus is a bad character, and I think thats very unfair.

Sorry for ranting but I just HAD TO.