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meganbmooreThis isn't exactly a "five favorite characters/biggest crushes" post...there are characters who rank higher on the favorites list than a couple of these, but who don't qualify because A) I know how their story ends, or B) They aren't in a series where I have to worry about that. The post is mostly prompted by talking about some of these characters with various people lately.
Also a bit on why they're all just walking balls of angst and killing them probably WOULD be putting them out of their misery.
#5: Ageha(Basara) An actor and former slave who spent a lot of his life being forced to service men and women yet managed to maintain his pride and dignity, every relationship this guy has is SERIOUSLY screwed up. Shidou, the person he loved(platonically) the most was also the one he hated the most, being the son of Ageha's master and regular rapist throughout his childhood. Shidou protected and loved Ageha(again, platonically...a twisted combination of a master's obligation and dominance and brotherly love) as best he could, but at the same time, he never forgot Ageha was a slave. Ageha let his bitterness rule him, yet became Princess Shinji's(Shidou's pregnant lover) protector the second he learned she had been Shidou's lover, and has constantly made sure she was safe ever since. When she gave birth and he saw Shidou's son, it was like fifty tons of bricks fell on him and he realized for the first time that under all his hatred and bitterness towards Shidou, the love was stronger. Yes, I cried when he held the baby. Then there's Sarasa...until he meets her, he has no allegiances and no faith in anyone, and even his faith in himself is limited to the freedom he has as an actor. But before he knows it, he's become one of her followers, and, in truth, is the one who believes in and understands her the best. When she sinks into depression after she and Shuri(more on him later) learn each other's identities, it's an even greater betrayal than learning that the man she loved was the one who had taken his eye, because she's the only person he's ever allowed himself to have any faith in, and she let him down. But, even though he claims to wash his hands of her, he's the one who's there, waiting for her to get better. Oh, and did I mention that it's entirely possible that he'd the king's oldest son but was sold into slavery so that he wouldn't be a threat and because he wasn't the son of the favorite wife?
Survival chances: Sigh. I'm fairly certain he'll be a goner...but I cling to hope.
#4: Kyo Sohma(Fruits Basket) Ah my poor woobie Kyo. Thanks to that evil horrible wretched Akito and the family's pre-existing hatred for the embodiment of the cat(and the monster that lives inside him) Kyo grew up hated, persecuted and exiled, and almost friendless. His (super awesome) adoptive father took him in out of his guilt for shunning his own grandfather, who was his generation's embodiment of the cat, the closest thing to a friend he seems to have had growing up is a cousin who mostly needed a sparring partner for his own anger issues but still saw him as second best to the favored Sohma cousin, hugging or being hugged by the girl he loves makes him turn into a cute orange cat, and unless he can beat his cousin in combat, he has to spend the rest of his life locked up in a dark room because of stupid tradition. Oh, and that cousin? The curse of the family is essentially that he can NEVER beat him. Did I mention that his mother basically died of obsessive overprotectiveness and that the vast majority of his family hates his guts just because he exists? Yet, he's an inherently likable guy, if more than a bit temperamental, and is always visibly trying to control his instinct to hit or yell anytime someone annoys him around Tohru because he knows she'll instantly freak out and try to fix everything, but in his way, he's just as bad as she is, at least when it comes to her.
Survival chances: I THINK he's safe...I'm fairly sure everyone will make it through Fruits Basket alive(even horrible wretched evil cruel Akito). However, that book can make you giggle with glee and sob from the angst in the same panel, so I don't feel quite secure.
#3: Kougaiji(Saiyuki): The nicest and most honorable guy in the series (sorry, but I always get the feeling that Hakkai, much as I love him, would just as soon kill them all--well, except maybe Goku, Lirin and Yaone-- except that Kanone wouldn't approve. Not that he hates everyone, just that he doesn't see the point in living--ANYONE living--if she's dead.) and Kou is technically the bad guy. Not that he wants to be, but he has no choice. Serving his stepmother is the only chance he has of saving his mother, and without him there to run interference, it's obvious that his half-sister would just be another casualty in his stepmother's quest to revive his father. Unlike Sanzo(who, appearances aside, does care about his companions, he just doesn't like them) his followers follow him because he's a good and honorable guy...he's someone they WANT to follow, as opposed to not having any choice, out of control or necessity. But everyone's coming at the guy from all sides. Hazel's on a demon hunt, Stepmama's decided he's a liability, and he and Sanzo's group can't really afford to play nice anymore. Also? Torture, mind control and evil spells couldn't force him to stay under stepmama's control.
Survival chances: Oddly, I see most of the main characters in Saiyuki coming out of it OK. That said, if they start dying, he and Dokugaku will likely be the first to go.
#2 Shuri(Basara): Ah Shuri...how much do I love you...Cold, arrogant, passionate, ruthless, ambitious and perpetually screwed up. There were two "Children of Destiny" born, each of which was prophecied to overthrow his father, the king. So what does Dad do? Brands him as a slave as an infant, banishes him to a relative's estate until he's old enough that he has to be given a country to rule, then exiles him to a desert kingdom overrun by criminals and filth. What does he do? He brings the kingdom under control and eliminates almost all crtime and makes his capital city among the most profitable and most content in the entire nation. In the process, though, he was forced to become even harder and more ruthless than he had already. In his whole life, he's only allowed himself to care about or rely on three people: his cousin Shidou(notice a theme with this guy?) General Kazan, who did his best to raise him as a son, though neither could ever admit it, and Sarasa, the love of his life. Shidou was loyal to a fault, even choosing Shuri over Ageha and, to a limited extent, Shinji, and it got him killed. Kazan loved him more than propriety would allow him to admit, because a general CAN'T view or treat a prince and king as a son, and Shuri would never allow himself to admit how much Kazan meant to him. When Kazan betrays him (by falling in love with and hiding his enemy's mother) Shuri is desperate to find a way to spare him, offering him chance after chance to save himself, because he CAN'T lose him, because Kazan was what kept him grounded and reminded him that he was fighting for more than land and power. And even after Kazan takes his own life, Shuri still can't see the type of honor(essentially, bushido) that Kazan lived by and tried to teach him, because it's a type of honor that his life hasn't allowed him to have if he wanted to survive, and even after Kazan's death, he still can't admit how much he needs him. Leaving him with Sarasa, who(unknown to both of them) is his mortal enemy. Shiduo and Kazan gave him strength and purpose, but Sarasa gave him humanity. She became his goal. His world became about defeating Tatara(really Sarasa) and wresting control from his father and creating a kingdom for her, a kingdom where she can be safe and happy and look at it and see how beautiful it is. And all that time, he(as the Red King) and Tatara were systematically destroying everything in the quests to defeat each other, as more and more of Shuri's goals, love and ambition were transferred to her, for everything he lost, his love for her and need to protect her became stronger and stronger. When they learn each other's identities, everything, every shred of goal and need and love was shattered because both had focused it all on the other, and they both lose their entire sense of self. Sarasa doesn't exactly have it easy, but she had a much stronger support system than Shuri, who only had her. Even Nakijin and Yuna, arguably his best friends and closest companions, he can't allow to REALLY be friends because she lost the only two friends he had...Shidou and Kazan, and he can't let them be that close to him. And yet, despite all that, and that he was a playboy before meeting and falling for Sarasa, he remains loyal. Even though learning she was Tatara destroyed him emotionally and almost physically, he knows that she's the only one he'll ever love. Even though as far as he's concerned they can never be together, he can't make himself accept a replacement after having the real thing...there's just no point. And even though he can't force himself to face Sarasa, he's still driven to protect her, even though he now knows that he's protecting his enemy when he does.
Survival chances: You know, I have NO idea how Basara can possibly have a happy ending unless it's a "true love conquers all, even the hatred of thousands" ending, but I'm told it has a happy ending. Granted, I stopped reading the spoiler I came across the second I realized it was a spoiler(I have tried to religiously avoid Basara spoilers) so it could have been an evil joke, but I'm holding out hope. But withoutthat spoiler, I would have him pegged as dying. But in my world, he and Sarasa work things out and have a daughter who grows up and marries Shidou and Shinji's son(yes, i ship infants and unfertilized eggs...)
#1 Magatsu Taito(Blade of the Immortal): I shall have to limit myself because my Magatsu love can go on for hours if I don't(and because I need to go shower and go to bed). Magatsu is a peasant who despises samurai. When he was a child, his younger sister was murdered in the street by a samurai because she happened to be in the way, and the law says that not only was that ok, but that his sister, a small child, was in the wrong for being in the paty of her social superior. So where does he end up? The right arm of a young samurai, Anotsu Kagehisa, whose goal is to prove that it's the sword that matters, not how religiously you study how to use it. If you're better than the other guy with the sword, then YOU are the superior, regardless of birth or upbringing, and those who don't are can't fight(like, you know, kids) should be left alone, the opposite of the laws that said his sister's death was justified because her birth was lower...by Anotsu's laws, the one who should have died was the one who would strike down a child for playing in the street with her brother. Anotsu, though, is still a samurai, one whose goal is to reinstate his family's name, which is something he can't stand beside and support. At the same time, Anotsu is the only person he could call his friend, and one of only two people who could be called his friend. And the other is the guy out to destroy the Itto Ryu(Anotsu's group) because his...urm...we'll go with "charge" to avoid the long explanation of Manji/Rin...had her parents murdered by them several years ago. First time they met, they ran each other through and left each other for dead. Over a sword. After which Anotsu turned samurai again and O-Ren, a prostitute he protected and replaced his sister with, but whose romantic prospects he had only just become aware of, was murdered because of him. And not because the guy who killed her knew they were close, or even knew Magatsu...he knew Magatsu was just about the only person to live through a fight with Manji, and that O-Ren MIGHT know him, so he tortured and raped her for information, then killed her when he was through(then he went on to hurt Rin, which cost him a hand courtesy of Manji) So Magatsu went from living for revenge against the samurai caste(and serving a samurai in the process) to living for revenge against the guy who killed the girl he didn't even know whether or not he loved. One of his main contributions to super coolness, BTW is the fact that he's a master strategist with suicidal tendencies. No matter what, he's always hyper aware of his surroundings in anything resembling a fight, and is always the master of his terrain, even when he seems to be losing. While he doesn't exactly actively seek death, as far as he's concerned, if he kills the other guy, it's a win, even if he had to let him get in a few too many good licks than is good for my heart in the process. It's not that he WANTS to die, he just doesn't have any driving ambition to stay alive either(why-from his perspective-should he? Everything he cares about is either dead or on a path he has to oppose) As a result, Magatsu tends to get run through a LOT...I almost fear his appearances because I know he's going to get sharp things shoved through his body...his survival skills rival Manji's(the titular immortal of the series) only without the bonus of being able to heal from anything in (comparatively) nothing flat. Incidentally, I should mention that, excluding some boring characters, Magatsu is one of the three sanest characters in the series.
Survival chances: I honestly have no idea. Samura has no shame about offing characters, and Magatsu doesn't exactly work at the "staying alive" thing. OTOH, he's one of the few characters I can actually see being able to move on once all is said and done, simply because he has nothing to live OR die for, but wants something. Plus, he's about the only person I can see Manji possibly entrusting with Rin if he dies.
Honorable mentions: Kakkashi, Shikimaru and Kiba from Naruto, Shesshomaru, Koga and Miroku from Inu Yasha, Ichigo, Renji and Uryu from Bleach, about the entire cast of Full Metal Alchemist(sans the evil horrible wretched president and the seven sins, as well as Ed and Al's father *does not trust* who abandoned them and can be blamed for their mom's death *suspects he is evil*) and Fruits Basket(sans the evil cruel viscious abusive Akito) pretty much everyone from Saiyuki(sans Hazel and the evil doctor)and other's I'm not thinking of because it's 2:15 am.
Exempt because I know their fates: Toya of Ceres, Tasuki and Chichiri of Fushigi Yugi, Sano, Yahiko, Saito and Aoshi of Rurouni Kenshin, the entire cast of Wolf's Rain, Rei from Mars.
Exempt because they should be safe due to it not being that kind of book: Everyone in W Juliet, Hana Kimi, Wallflower, Love Hina, and Ouran High School Host Club.
Survival chances: Sigh. I'm fairly certain he'll be a goner...but I cling to hope.
#4: Kyo Sohma(Fruits Basket) Ah my poor woobie Kyo. Thanks to that evil horrible wretched Akito and the family's pre-existing hatred for the embodiment of the cat(and the monster that lives inside him) Kyo grew up hated, persecuted and exiled, and almost friendless. His (super awesome) adoptive father took him in out of his guilt for shunning his own grandfather, who was his generation's embodiment of the cat, the closest thing to a friend he seems to have had growing up is a cousin who mostly needed a sparring partner for his own anger issues but still saw him as second best to the favored Sohma cousin, hugging or being hugged by the girl he loves makes him turn into a cute orange cat, and unless he can beat his cousin in combat, he has to spend the rest of his life locked up in a dark room because of stupid tradition. Oh, and that cousin? The curse of the family is essentially that he can NEVER beat him. Did I mention that his mother basically died of obsessive overprotectiveness and that the vast majority of his family hates his guts just because he exists? Yet, he's an inherently likable guy, if more than a bit temperamental, and is always visibly trying to control his instinct to hit or yell anytime someone annoys him around Tohru because he knows she'll instantly freak out and try to fix everything, but in his way, he's just as bad as she is, at least when it comes to her.
Survival chances: I THINK he's safe...I'm fairly sure everyone will make it through Fruits Basket alive(even horrible wretched evil cruel Akito). However, that book can make you giggle with glee and sob from the angst in the same panel, so I don't feel quite secure.
#3: Kougaiji(Saiyuki): The nicest and most honorable guy in the series (sorry, but I always get the feeling that Hakkai, much as I love him, would just as soon kill them all--well, except maybe Goku, Lirin and Yaone-- except that Kanone wouldn't approve. Not that he hates everyone, just that he doesn't see the point in living--ANYONE living--if she's dead.) and Kou is technically the bad guy. Not that he wants to be, but he has no choice. Serving his stepmother is the only chance he has of saving his mother, and without him there to run interference, it's obvious that his half-sister would just be another casualty in his stepmother's quest to revive his father. Unlike Sanzo(who, appearances aside, does care about his companions, he just doesn't like them) his followers follow him because he's a good and honorable guy...he's someone they WANT to follow, as opposed to not having any choice, out of control or necessity. But everyone's coming at the guy from all sides. Hazel's on a demon hunt, Stepmama's decided he's a liability, and he and Sanzo's group can't really afford to play nice anymore. Also? Torture, mind control and evil spells couldn't force him to stay under stepmama's control.
Survival chances: Oddly, I see most of the main characters in Saiyuki coming out of it OK. That said, if they start dying, he and Dokugaku will likely be the first to go.
#2 Shuri(Basara): Ah Shuri...how much do I love you...Cold, arrogant, passionate, ruthless, ambitious and perpetually screwed up. There were two "Children of Destiny" born, each of which was prophecied to overthrow his father, the king. So what does Dad do? Brands him as a slave as an infant, banishes him to a relative's estate until he's old enough that he has to be given a country to rule, then exiles him to a desert kingdom overrun by criminals and filth. What does he do? He brings the kingdom under control and eliminates almost all crtime and makes his capital city among the most profitable and most content in the entire nation. In the process, though, he was forced to become even harder and more ruthless than he had already. In his whole life, he's only allowed himself to care about or rely on three people: his cousin Shidou(notice a theme with this guy?) General Kazan, who did his best to raise him as a son, though neither could ever admit it, and Sarasa, the love of his life. Shidou was loyal to a fault, even choosing Shuri over Ageha and, to a limited extent, Shinji, and it got him killed. Kazan loved him more than propriety would allow him to admit, because a general CAN'T view or treat a prince and king as a son, and Shuri would never allow himself to admit how much Kazan meant to him. When Kazan betrays him (by falling in love with and hiding his enemy's mother) Shuri is desperate to find a way to spare him, offering him chance after chance to save himself, because he CAN'T lose him, because Kazan was what kept him grounded and reminded him that he was fighting for more than land and power. And even after Kazan takes his own life, Shuri still can't see the type of honor(essentially, bushido) that Kazan lived by and tried to teach him, because it's a type of honor that his life hasn't allowed him to have if he wanted to survive, and even after Kazan's death, he still can't admit how much he needs him. Leaving him with Sarasa, who(unknown to both of them) is his mortal enemy. Shiduo and Kazan gave him strength and purpose, but Sarasa gave him humanity. She became his goal. His world became about defeating Tatara(really Sarasa) and wresting control from his father and creating a kingdom for her, a kingdom where she can be safe and happy and look at it and see how beautiful it is. And all that time, he(as the Red King) and Tatara were systematically destroying everything in the quests to defeat each other, as more and more of Shuri's goals, love and ambition were transferred to her, for everything he lost, his love for her and need to protect her became stronger and stronger. When they learn each other's identities, everything, every shred of goal and need and love was shattered because both had focused it all on the other, and they both lose their entire sense of self. Sarasa doesn't exactly have it easy, but she had a much stronger support system than Shuri, who only had her. Even Nakijin and Yuna, arguably his best friends and closest companions, he can't allow to REALLY be friends because she lost the only two friends he had...Shidou and Kazan, and he can't let them be that close to him. And yet, despite all that, and that he was a playboy before meeting and falling for Sarasa, he remains loyal. Even though learning she was Tatara destroyed him emotionally and almost physically, he knows that she's the only one he'll ever love. Even though as far as he's concerned they can never be together, he can't make himself accept a replacement after having the real thing...there's just no point. And even though he can't force himself to face Sarasa, he's still driven to protect her, even though he now knows that he's protecting his enemy when he does.
Survival chances: You know, I have NO idea how Basara can possibly have a happy ending unless it's a "true love conquers all, even the hatred of thousands" ending, but I'm told it has a happy ending. Granted, I stopped reading the spoiler I came across the second I realized it was a spoiler(I have tried to religiously avoid Basara spoilers) so it could have been an evil joke, but I'm holding out hope. But withoutthat spoiler, I would have him pegged as dying. But in my world, he and Sarasa work things out and have a daughter who grows up and marries Shidou and Shinji's son(yes, i ship infants and unfertilized eggs...)
#1 Magatsu Taito(Blade of the Immortal): I shall have to limit myself because my Magatsu love can go on for hours if I don't(and because I need to go shower and go to bed). Magatsu is a peasant who despises samurai. When he was a child, his younger sister was murdered in the street by a samurai because she happened to be in the way, and the law says that not only was that ok, but that his sister, a small child, was in the wrong for being in the paty of her social superior. So where does he end up? The right arm of a young samurai, Anotsu Kagehisa, whose goal is to prove that it's the sword that matters, not how religiously you study how to use it. If you're better than the other guy with the sword, then YOU are the superior, regardless of birth or upbringing, and those who don't are can't fight(like, you know, kids) should be left alone, the opposite of the laws that said his sister's death was justified because her birth was lower...by Anotsu's laws, the one who should have died was the one who would strike down a child for playing in the street with her brother. Anotsu, though, is still a samurai, one whose goal is to reinstate his family's name, which is something he can't stand beside and support. At the same time, Anotsu is the only person he could call his friend, and one of only two people who could be called his friend. And the other is the guy out to destroy the Itto Ryu(Anotsu's group) because his...urm...we'll go with "charge" to avoid the long explanation of Manji/Rin...had her parents murdered by them several years ago. First time they met, they ran each other through and left each other for dead. Over a sword. After which Anotsu turned samurai again and O-Ren, a prostitute he protected and replaced his sister with, but whose romantic prospects he had only just become aware of, was murdered because of him. And not because the guy who killed her knew they were close, or even knew Magatsu...he knew Magatsu was just about the only person to live through a fight with Manji, and that O-Ren MIGHT know him, so he tortured and raped her for information, then killed her when he was through(then he went on to hurt Rin, which cost him a hand courtesy of Manji) So Magatsu went from living for revenge against the samurai caste(and serving a samurai in the process) to living for revenge against the guy who killed the girl he didn't even know whether or not he loved. One of his main contributions to super coolness, BTW is the fact that he's a master strategist with suicidal tendencies. No matter what, he's always hyper aware of his surroundings in anything resembling a fight, and is always the master of his terrain, even when he seems to be losing. While he doesn't exactly actively seek death, as far as he's concerned, if he kills the other guy, it's a win, even if he had to let him get in a few too many good licks than is good for my heart in the process. It's not that he WANTS to die, he just doesn't have any driving ambition to stay alive either(why-from his perspective-should he? Everything he cares about is either dead or on a path he has to oppose) As a result, Magatsu tends to get run through a LOT...I almost fear his appearances because I know he's going to get sharp things shoved through his body...his survival skills rival Manji's(the titular immortal of the series) only without the bonus of being able to heal from anything in (comparatively) nothing flat. Incidentally, I should mention that, excluding some boring characters, Magatsu is one of the three sanest characters in the series.
Survival chances: I honestly have no idea. Samura has no shame about offing characters, and Magatsu doesn't exactly work at the "staying alive" thing. OTOH, he's one of the few characters I can actually see being able to move on once all is said and done, simply because he has nothing to live OR die for, but wants something. Plus, he's about the only person I can see Manji possibly entrusting with Rin if he dies.
Honorable mentions: Kakkashi, Shikimaru and Kiba from Naruto, Shesshomaru, Koga and Miroku from Inu Yasha, Ichigo, Renji and Uryu from Bleach, about the entire cast of Full Metal Alchemist(sans the evil horrible wretched president and the seven sins, as well as Ed and Al's father *does not trust* who abandoned them and can be blamed for their mom's death *suspects he is evil*) and Fruits Basket(sans the evil cruel viscious abusive Akito) pretty much everyone from Saiyuki(sans Hazel and the evil doctor)and other's I'm not thinking of because it's 2:15 am.
Exempt because I know their fates: Toya of Ceres, Tasuki and Chichiri of Fushigi Yugi, Sano, Yahiko, Saito and Aoshi of Rurouni Kenshin, the entire cast of Wolf's Rain, Rei from Mars.
Exempt because they should be safe due to it not being that kind of book: Everyone in W Juliet, Hana Kimi, Wallflower, Love Hina, and Ouran High School Host Club.
The above is over 2 hours of my life(expected it to be 1) so I apologize for any incoherency.