How do you feel when fodder characters are given sympathetic backstories? (IE: Opponents the protagonists face in tournamnets you know will lose)
| Some examples: Nam from Dragon Ball. Competes in the tournament and loses to Goku. Comes from a poor village with no water and plans to use the prize money to feed his village from the drought. Espa Roba from Yugioh, only exists to be Joey's first opponent in Battle City. However, he's also protecting his family from bullies and wants to be a duel champion to save them from that. To me, while it's nice to learn about it so they're not flat cardboard cutouts of characters, it also generally makes me want to root for them and not the protagonist. In the Nam example, Goku didn't have a goal other then winning the tournament itself. |
| My waifu is the most wonderful waifu. Mai Valentine. |
| Answering this kind of question would be possible spoiler for those who hasn't watched the series so I'd recommend adding spoiler tags with "Anime name" in the spoiler. I don't mind it but usually the "enemy" has a more tragic background. Also |
AzuchiMay 22, 9:50 AM
| Today, I may be a weak little bug that gets tossed in the wind, washed away by the currents, and drowns, but tomorrow, I may become the butterfly that spreads its colossal wings and flies the open skies! ~ Oe Kintaro |
| I generally do not mind it since it fleshes out the world, and it is interesting to see these characters as characters, people with their own lives. Is it a fun diversion? I suppose so, but I think more characterization if done well is a great thing. That being said, series like Naruto do go completely overboard by trying to make every character sympathetic or have a sad backstory. Akame Ga Kill fleshed out its characters only when they are about to die, and it honestly cheapens the entire experience. Even if these characters are fodder, they should mot be treated solely as vehicles for emotions, if that makes sense? |
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| I approve of it, it expands the depth of the characters involved and allows room for the audience to understand the opposition and potentially relate to, plus it humanizes them as a person with their own journey rather than just a plot tool for the sake of it. However, the line gets drawn when forced sympathetic backstories or the like are used. Way too many instances are like this or are poorly timed, which is a really cheap and shallow way of trying to get a reaction out of the audience. |
 "You fought to the end. You survived. That's why you're here now. I think that's something you should be more proud of." - Vladilena Milizé |
| Don't particularly mind it, I support it, I feel like it flashes out a bit of character and makes the world breathe a little more, Its defiantly way better and have more purpose then compare to leaving them as essentially background characters Just make sure they don't force it for extra drama, then I will just shut one eye on the overall quality |
| well you find out about their motives, their reason for fighting etc. and if well done can be enjoyable to watch. anyhow no one is expecting much from them anyway |
 The end of an era. Thank you Wit, Mappa and Isayama. Feeling half happy, half sad. Kawaii waifus and precious best girls <3333 |
| As long as the backstory is somewhat entertaining, I don't care much. |
This dance is the pinnacle of human achievement. |
| Hmm, I guess it’s more of a case by case basis for me. While it’s usually hard for me to root against characters with sympathetic backstories, I also wouldn’t want the overall story of the anime to end up worsening as a result of having that side character win. Whether I would personally root for the side character with the sympathetic backstory to win a tournament or not, kind of depends on what that character is like personality-wise, what kind of deeds he/she has done in the past, who his/her opponent in the tournament is, what’s at stake for both of them, and how the overall story would turn out in the end. On a side note, I really like Jinzo and The Fiend Megacyber, and was also quite surprised that Espa Roba |
| Most battle shounen anime is addicted to give 90% of it's characters a cliché sob story. |
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TheBlockernator said: Nam from Dragon Ball. Competes in the tournament and loses to Goku. Comes from a poor village with no water and plans to use the prize money to feed his village from the drought. I only like that because it was done as a joke. The joke being that such a character has no place in a comedy anime. |
LucifrostMay 22, 10:32 AM
| その目だれの目？ |
| If I am being honest I generally hate it but I do empathise with the author. How do you give the characters motivation to exist in the story? Ideally you introduce the character and their motivations first and only then use them in the story, but this is not always possible. This can also lead to an overuse of the opposite trope where the protagonist will randomly meet his opponent under different circumstances before they become relevant and just get info dumped for no reason. I think post mortem backstory dumps only work when you are already invested in the character and want to know more about them. Even then, I would say geneally speaking I dislike the device. |
| If it was done right it can gives you more context for a character so he can be more sympathetic and his actions will be more understandable but when every character gets sad backstory for the sake of it then it becomes repeative and tiring |
pk8listMay 22, 11:06 AM
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