Escaflowne Escaflowne Fanon Perceptions

Escaflowne is one of the most glaring examples I've seen of a series where fans so often adopt character myths, or condense a character down to one or two attributes. The difference between the canon material and what you may find in the various fanon portrayals of the characters - be it in fanfiction, roleplaying, or artwork - is annoying and, I think, worth a look.

I know that characters are easily stereotyped in all sorts of anime, not just Escaflowne. But I wanted to focus on Escaflowne for two reasons. First, it's my passion. Second, because it's so short (26 eps), there's not nearly as much opportunity for character development - we don't get to see the cast on their liesure time, just being themselves. There's less material to base our perceptions of them on, which makes it easier for fans to take one or two traits and a few scenes, and come to the conclusion that those traits and scenes define a character.

I'm curious what everyone thinks about these character stereotypes - what have you seen, which (if any) you agree with or disagree with, whether you find them annoying or outright offensive.

Common examples - the traits I see that most often are used to define a character by fans:
Hitomi: useless whiner
Allen: playboy
Dilandau: shallow psycho/sadist
Merle: comedy with no potential for growth
Folken: emotionless

Do you think these are accurate ways to portray the characters? Are they justified?

For the record, the examples I gave are all ones that I disagree with. I don't like only one or two traits to be the scope of a character, and I think that the canon material gives plenty of arguments that every member of the cast is a complete person with a wide range of emotions. Allen and Dilandau in particular have what I feel are undeserved reputations within the fandom.

I can't count the number of fanfics that I've stopped reading after just a page or two because I felt that the author didn't keep someone in character. There's nothing more irritating than seeing your favorite character lose his or her emotional depth and become shallow, or have unlikely emotions/responses projected onto him or her to serve the author's purpose (ever so common in mushy romance fics...). I've also seen my fair share of this in RPGs; many are the groups I did not join because Dilandau was being played by someone who thought there was no more to him than burning things and slapping people. :anger2:

Anyway... whatcha think? *attempts to breath some life into the forum*

 

well what are you going to do. Stereotypes are both useful and stupid. If some one doesn't give the character the right respect then of course they ruin it for the rest. But they are also useful because they serve as guidelines that people can use instead of making risky moves.

Now as for that list of yours.

Hitomi-Is a whiner but is also very sensetive and has her parts of usefulness (can't spell), the most human of them all
Allen- Well ya you're right, Allen is a playboy knight
Dilandou- The Enemy, so you see why Van and Allen are the good guys
Merle- Comic relief
Folkien-Big bad mysterious guy with a past

So you are correct on the characters with their quirks and such, it is annoying to see people ruin them by being shallow, but you can't really blame them.

 

Well... normally, if it bugs me enough, I explain to the person what I find inaccurate about their character portrayal. You might be surprised how many people are open to looking at a character in a new light.

You think so? I don't.

For one, the accepted age of adulthood on Gaea seems to be about 15 - you can serve in the military, get married, or become king at that age. Allen, however, is 21. And yet, he's only had three relationships in that time - or two, if you consider that what went on with Millerna was probably more on her side than anything. (Though they kiss twice, the first time she kisses him, and the second time he does it to get her to shut up for a minute. )

I don't think Allen intentionally "plays" women. He's got to be a very lonely person - I think he wants love and companionship, since he has no family; it's natural that he might unconsciously be a little desperate to find romance. I'd imagine that he was drawn to both Millerna and Hitomi because both were strong young women with an independant streak; as much as Allen seems to conform to traditional ideas of what's "proper" for a lady, I think he likes his women intelligent and strong.

Let's not forget about his sister-complex, either. Allen goes for women who look, and possibly act, like his long-lost sister Celena. He wants redemption. He couldn't protect her, and he blames himself - he's never forgiven himself for losing her. That's one of the reasons that he may be unable to choose between Millerna and Hitomi initially; he wants to protect and care for them both. I think his feelings were less romantic towards either of them than most viewers realize. Even Allen likens Hitomi to Celena at one point, and isn't heartbroken at losing her - he realizes that he saw his sister in her more than a lover.

Spoiler: mid-series Allen

We can't, of course, forget about Marlene. Allen was about 16 at the time they were together, at the height of the teenage hormone peak. Sure, they had an illegitimate child together, that's the main argument I hear from those who think Allen is a playboy. But y'know... the relationship was in progress before Marlene was married to the Duke of Freid. If Allen could have, I think he would have married Marlene in a heartbeat, and that would be that. He didn't just knock her up and forget about her; he also seems to wish he could be a father to Chid, but is too responsible as a knight to ever try to be. (If he told Chid, or anyone else, not only would it probably break Chid's heart to learn that his hero was only human - remember his reaction to Allen being accused of treachery - but it would also shame Chid and make it impossible for him, as a bastard child, to rule Freid. He'd lose his place in the world.)

Anyway, I think that Allen is, if anything, rather chaste. He's handsome, noble, admired, skilled - he could have any woman (or man) he wanted, probably, and yet he doesn't abuse that charm. He couldn't very well tell Millerna off, because she was royalty, but I don't think he would have let their relationship progress. He's polite with her in a way that seems... tolerant, but not incredibly interested, I think. He missed Marlene, clearly. I think he's a flirt and a naturally sensual person, but a player? No.

 

I've added a few stereotypes I've seen:

Well, I think several things of them. Since I've been insane about Escaflowne for atleast 5 years, it's come to a point where it's like I know the characters. They're real people, and my buddies. (Yeah, I know I'm sad, leave me alone...). So I get a little touchy about people stereotyping them. xD It's one of the only times I flame people. And trust me, with all the people I've made cry for insulting their noses, I could've beat Joseph Stalin's killing count.

Hitomi- She annoys me a lot sometimes. I've noticed at every second she's on screen, she has some kind of noise. She's always BREATHING. It's really annoying. Or she makes those little gasping giggly sounds. She like a dog, or a hamster. She can't STOP. Also, she's really ungrateful sometimes. And stupid. I wish I could slap her and say, "Come ON!" But all in all, she's just a good person who makes selfless sacrifices, and I respect her for that. ^.^

Dilandau- I have a lot of sympathy for him. He's so misunderstood. And he had his (or her, more correctly) life taken away. It was so unfair, and probably really scary. All in all, he really cared about his DragonSlayers, and just couldn't express anything to them. They we're all the family he had. And killing was his life. Poor kiddo. He went through a lot of horrible things, too...

Merle- Dude, I love Merle. She's so misunderstood, too. She stuck with Vahn so long, and in the end, she even gave him up. That takes a lot. She act mean and is the comic relief for a reason. Nobody understands her, and that sucks. She's just so cute, too! xD Merle knows how to lighten up a conversation, too. Amongst all teh seriousness, I'm sure they're were times they were glad to have her.

Folken- Poor Folken. He's a good guy, who cares about the dragon, challanges traditions in hope of an improved society, cares about people, and is loyal to his death to the people who help him. In a sense, a very talented and fair card player who just got dealt all the wrong cards. He couldda cheated and won, but that's the beauty of him: he played fair.

Vahn- He's not a wimp. But he looks like it. xD There's just a lot expected of him. He's also put on the traditional tough guy attitude. Yah can't help loving Vahn. I dunno why. There are people stronger than him, though. But he took a LOT, and did what he had to do. G'job!

Wow. I'm pretty sad. I'm sitting here psycologically analyzing them. ^.^; I could write a book about them.

 

Thank You. I agree. I disagree at a few parts, though. I don't see Hitomi as independent at all. I think her dependence on others is why Allen liked her. He could protect her, and she was like a replacement for his sister. She was strong, though. Like Marlene seemed to be. Strong, but still needing his protection. He'd already lost Serena and Marlene, as well as his mother. So I think his intrest in Hitomi began simply because she brought him so much nostalgia. He honestly just wanted to protect her, and loved her as a subsitute for what he'd lost.

 

Eh, she's the dramatic heroine. XD What do you expect? She isn't a favorite of mine either, mostly due to her teenage angst overload at times... Oh well.

I agree with everything you've said, except in calling Dilandau a "her." Dilandau is physically and mentally male. Celena is female. You don't want the long version of this opinion, trust me. XD

I can't stand the "fans" who persist in reducing Dilandau down to nothing but a two-dimensional killer/sadist. He isn't, and the series makes that perfectly obvious in his reaction to the loss of his men. He's clearly very troubled, and never learned how to connect to his gentler emotions. But as I've said time and again in many a rant, he's got just as much capacity for love, sorrow, sympathy, etc. as anyone else - but he would need the right environment and situation to tap into that. Like a lot of people who've been hurt, he mistakes those feelings for weakness and refuses to acknowledge them or show them.

Of course, there's no denying that he IS mentally disturbed.

Merle's actually very insightful - she has a clearer sense of the emotions around her than others do, usually, and she's very sincere. ^^ She's just... well, she's like the cat who doesn't want her master's attention going to someone else. XD Besides, since she was orphaned at a young age and grew up with Van, he's pretty much her only family... like an older brother.

Folken's a truly tragic character. He systematically is stripped of everything over the course of his life - his birthright, his family, his honor, his humanity - and then once he starts to build something worthwhile in Zaibach, once he has a goal... Bam, he's stuck fighting against the one person he most wanted to understand him.

The thing you gotta love about Folken is that he's a villain only because he's misguided; he's deceived and has put his faith in a flawed vision, in the hopes of bettering the world to spare others the sorrows he went through.

Yeah I can. XD

Eh, makes two of us. ^^; I'm starting to think my obsession may not be healthy... >_> *starts stroking her right cheek, then realizes what she's doing and pretends she wasn't doing it*

Well, certainly he wanted to protect her - I could list off quotes to prove it, too. XD But Hitomi's not dependant in the sense that your typical damsel in distress is - not always. She does have a streak of rebelliousness in her, which Allen actually reacts quite badly to (remember when he tells her he might need a birdcage for her - and then later is lecturing her about not going off on her own?).

Anyhow, my point was that Allen isn't going for helpless women who can't think or act for themselves. A "player"-type would probably be targeting much weaker personalities. Hitomi is confused, and rightly so - but she doesn't handle herself too badly, considering all she went through, and it sort of puts her whining in perspective. XD (Doesn't mean I like her, but eh.)

 

I'm going to add my two cents to this discussion. Of course, there is not a lot you can buy with two cents, so that should warn you about the quality of my reply. :anime:

Hitomi: useless whiner
Allen: playboy
Dilandau: shallow psycho/sadist
Merle: comedy with no potential for growth
Folken: emotionless
Van: Wimp

Hitomi: I actually like Hitomi. Considering that she was suddenly teleported to another world and started seeing visions (usually of someone's death), she was able to adjust very well. Plus, she's, what, fifteen? Heck, I would probably curl up in the fetal position and start babbling to myself if the same thing happened to me. She is kind of whiny, but she is also caring and tries to help others. My friend's reaction to the episode where she, Allen, Merle and Allen's men are trying to save Van after he was captured sums up Hitomi: "Hey, she just jumped over a hole and saved the brat! She's more useful than 95% of the other shoujo heroines. Yay!" Anyway, um, yeah, Hitomi does have her bad points, but Van would be really, really dead without her. Several times, even. :anime:

Allen: Allen is definately not just a playboy. He is someone who has suffered through the loss of his family and is trying to prove his worth to himself, the world, and possiblly his father. His "romances" are attempts to replace Celena. Since he was unable to protect his sister, he becomes a bit too overprotective of Hitomi (did anyone else want to hit him over the birdcage line?). You guys have covered Allen very well, so I'll stop right there.

Dilandau: Another character you guys have covered, so, since he's the character I identify with the least (sorry), I'll just move on.

Merle: Sure she is comic relief, but she's good comic relief. Characters who are used for comedy are usually the ones who surprise you, whether it's through their actions or observations. Like many of the others, Merle starts as a seemingly one-dimensional character and evolves throughout the series. While it's obvious she cares about Van, she also cares about Hitomi, even though she seems to dislike her. One needs to simply see her reaction when Hitomi is revived after the incident in Chid's dungeon. If I remember correctly (it's been awhile), Merle even licked the other girl's face, she was so relieved. Merle was also the one who saved Van from the twins and, in the end, she has the maturity to realize that she has no chance with Van and let's him go. Besides, she's adorable. Cat burgler, indeed.

Folken: Let's just say that Folken is a sensitive person who was mislead into thinking he could change the world into one that would be a safe place for his brother and everyone else. If I go more indepth than that, I won't be able to stop. This post is too long anyway.

Van: Ah, dear Van-sama, how I wanted to beat you upside the head with a brick. It's not that I dislike him, I just became frustrated with him. Let's face it, for the first part of the series he is a jerk. Admittedly, he does have reason to be a jerk, but it still bothered me. However, like Hitomi, he is a teenager who has been thrust into a bad situation (i.e. his kingdom being destroyed, his brother working with Zaibach, etc.).and is trying to make the best of it. He tends to scream and over-react a lot as well. However, he does genuinely care about the people around him. He is very sensitive (remember that the reason Folken wanted to protect Van was because of this) and tries to live up to everyone's expectations of him.

Well, that's it for now. Man, I suck. :sad: Oh well, I tried. Just not good at expressing my ideas, I guess.

 

So very true. Hitomi does actually make herself useful, and not just through her visions - in fact, I almost liked her when she told Van off because he wanted to use her powers to win the war. It was a very natural response. She's actually far more helpful when she relies on herself insted of her visions - for example, when she rescues Van from his near-death experience (well... with Merle's help). And, to her credit, she's not all that pretty in the conventional sense. I loved that about Escaflowne - up until Naria and Eriya come in, no one's bust is unreasonably large. XD And they, at least, are of an age (18) where their... err, level of development... makes some sense.

Indeed. She sees Van and Hitomi's feelings for each other long before either of them do, and what's more important is when she gently confronts Van about it.

And Van, like Allen, is almost alone in the world. It's no wonder that he tries to behave rather callously - his family is dead or missing, he grew up hearing gossip that his brother, whom he idolized, was a coward who ran away from the dragonslaying rite, and he was forced into adult responsibilities as a teenager. And that's all before the series even gets going. @_@ He then loses Balgus, his mentor and probably surrogate father-figure, his kingdom burns, he almost loses Merle, etc. He's carrying the burden of his Draconian blood, which means a constant secret and a risk that anyone who finds out will fear or hate him. Can you blame him for being a bit temperamental? It's his way of dealing with the insecurities that he can't allow other people to see.

Although... yeah, there were times I felt he needed to sit down and shut up. >_>