Resurrected Spotlight Character: Holo (Spice and Wolf)

ridojiri said:
That Horo is hated because she is a really annoying tsundere is all very good and all...

But she is a complex developed character that really emphasises the seemingly forgotten fact that the tsundere is in fact not a readable two-bit character. There is much below the surface of this very old furry.

ladyxzeus said:
noteDhero asked me if I'd like to act Eva's character in the spotlight. I feel like wanting to act a character means that such character is really interesting.

Guess what!

Horo is on my cosplay list.

I'll be voting yes. She's one of the most interesting characters to act out that I've ever found. The series itself may have a lot of holes that don't allow me to vote yes for it, but this character is just... Delicious.

Holo is what, to many, makes the show memorable.
First of all, there's her concept. She's a 'Roggenwolf', a wolf-spirit from folk legend who was a protector of the rye fields and the harvest; the legend depicted in the anime, including the idea that the wolf hides in the last sheaf of rye, comes directly from the actual legend (although the anime most likely speaks about barley, not rye - it's hard to tell, with 'mugi' meaning barley as well as rye and wheat). But Spice and Wolf adds to this simple notion, mentioning how she agreed to be present in the fields in days when the success of the harvest depended on the whims of nature and the supernatural, only to be forgotten when progress and developing technology made her antiquated, until she roused herself from her placidity, longing to return to her old home, a semi-mythical place where everything was bathed in a brilliant silver.
A being who is not human, Holo is shown to enjoy the marvels of the human world with all the lack of solicitude of a child. Seeing herself as better than humans, she is a trickster, toying with whatever interests her, shown to like mind-games, wittiness and swiftness in conversation, all the while seemingly thoroughly enjoying being pampered, being treated to large amounts of alcoholic beverages and socialising.
While this might make her likable, perhaps even charming, it doesn't make her stand out as a character. What does manage to do so is the fact that, every now and again, without too much attention being piled on it, she, and the audience with her, is reminded of the fact that she is, in truth and not only in word, different, a spirit. At such times realisation creeps through that she is, in fact, hundreds of years old and wise in the ways of the world - but in the ways of the world that was and now is gone. She is a stranger in a strange land, having awoken from slumber only to find that what she once knew is lost. It infuses her with a sense of loneliness that might not always be the most convincing, but at least appears to be sincere.

santetjan said:
she is, in truth and not only in word, different, a spirit. At such times realisation creeps through that she is, in fact, hundreds of years old and wise in the ways of the world - but in the ways of the world that was and now is gone. She is a stranger in a strange land, having awoken from slumber only to find that what she once knew is lost. It infuses her with a sense of loneliness that might not always be the most convincing, but at least appears to be sincere.

The Roggenwolf legend isn't very well known and what's there to find on the 'Net indeed mostly points to the being as a malevolent spirit lurking in the fields. The fact that it only lives within something as temporary as fields of grains, however, should already give some pause.
Though it's not the best of sources, as it, itself, doesn't quote any sources, Google made me aware of the fact that there is quite a bit of information on the legend to be found in chapter 48 of Frazer's The Golden Bough - which is probably where the author got the idea from in the first place.
[...]
At any rate, like almost all spirits from legend the Roggenwolf can be both benevolent and malevolent. Clearly, the anime (and the original books) needed the more benevolent side. What is an addition particular to Spice and Wolf, though, is the notion of the agreement between spirit and men, reflecting the more anthropocentric world-view.

kokuro said:
Probably whoever has read my posts in the S&W thread or the comment section on the first vote would know how I think of Horo.

Her design has moe written all over it. Over the first 5 episodes I don't remember seeing any development in her. So she just looked like a fan service package put in the middle of a show that normally wouldn't attract the average otaku. No for me.

santetjan said:

she is, in truth and not only in word, different, a spirit. At such times realisation creeps through that she is, in fact, hundreds of years old and wise in the ways of the world - but in the ways of the world that was and now is gone. She is a stranger in a strange land, having awoken from slumber only to find that what she once knew is lost. It infuses her with a sense of loneliness that might not always be the most convincing, but at least appears to be sincere.

Holo said:


A trip is the most fun before one sets out on it. With dogs, the bark, and not the bite is more frightening; and women are almost always prettier when they are shrouded in mystery. I can never be as pretty as you imagine, and I would never do something like that to you, would it better to imagine?

Confucius said:
Personally, I think Holo is already a developed character from the start, her adventures with Lawrence shows how clever she is.

DetectiveDrake said:


How can a character be developed from the start, when they haven't had the necessary amount of time to develop? Your logic bears no weight at all.

DetectiveDrake said:


How can a character be developed from the start, when they haven't had the necessary amount of time to develop? Your logic bears no weight at all.

By the way, just because she made a few underhanded doesn't mean that she's clever. To me, she felt more cynical than anything.

whitew123 said:

Why can't it be true?

I haven't seen this series, but I can easily imagine a character who already has all interesting characteristics, and during the course of the series they are slowly being shown.

To give you other examples of such characters, there's Taichi Keaton from Master Keaton and Paul von Oberstein from LoGH.

DetectiveDrake said:


I haven't seen either one of those Anime, sorry =/