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Axel: Post-Days character thoughts



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Goldpanner

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krexia said:
the underlying concept common to all these metaphors is that when you truly care for or love someone, you entrust them with part of your heart. So, if we speculate that this aspect of heart metaphors also has literal connotations in the KH world, then Roxas literally shares his heart with Axel through their friendship, which is what allows Axel to feel.

This makes a lot of sense to me. Consider it added to my personal fanon.

It might also explain something weird Saix said in Axel--Seven Days; as Axel stared up at Kingdom Hearts emoing about Roxas leaving, Saix asks 'how is your wound?' and Axel has no idea what he meant. I kind of guessed it had something to do with Roxas leaving, and perhaps he means wound from his heart having been ripped away? Literally?

*TwilightNight* said:
Sometimes, I feel like Nomura shouldn't have created half of the members if they were to be scrapped so horribly and they couldn't handle it.

The characters haven't been fleshed out, but I wouldn't say 'scrapped'. I think they've just left fans a lot of freedom and space to play with, that's all. It can be a good thing; I liked fandom's colder, serious Roxas more than the one that was revealed in Days.
 
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Finland

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One of the best analyses I have read in a while. Thanks, I enjoyed going through this.
I especially liked the points made of his title. :3 Wonderful job.
 

krexia

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But, when you notice it, they wouldn't have had a problem with Axel, and his popularity, if they actually placed the same efforts to the other members.
Just to play devil's advocate - why should every Organisation member get equal screen time? Every story has major and minor characters. Does the fact that a bunch of people in this story come from the same secret society really mean they should all be equally important to the plot? There's a valid argument to be made that Axel is more significant than the rest of the Organisation due to his direct connection to Roxas, and therefore Sora.

And I've seen series (*cough*Bleach*cough*) that go horribly wrong by trying to include too many different people. When an author insists on going into detail about the past, motivations and thoughts of every single character things get incredibly boring incredibly quickly.

I do agree that Days put too much emphasis on Roxas and Axel - but the reason I think that was because the pacing was terrible, and because so much of the interesting development was given in diaries rather than cutscenes. Not because I think there's an inherent problem with the idea of some characters being more important than others.

Like you It's not so much that he killed Vexen and Zexion that bothers me, I mean Sora pretty much took out the entire org and yet I still like him, no it's the sadistic way he did it that I can't forgive.
I still think that those scenes were about power/control rather than sadism. We've seen nothing anywhere else in the series to suggest that Axel enjoys making others suffer. Vexen and Zexion's deaths were both relatively quick; if Axel were truly sadistic he could have done a lot worse than instant incineration.

Krexia, I can't believe you're not a writer. You seem to have a true gift for it.
Sure, you with Axel and I with Saix we'll write a character analysis to blow everyone's minds, and then we will rule the fandom! Mwhaaaaa:lol:
lol, sounds like a plan. And thanks again. My high school English teachers never seemed to think so, but then they made me read and write about shit like Jane Austen so I don't think I can be blamed for not putting much effort in xD

It might also explain something weird Saix said in Axel--Seven Days; as Axel stared up at Kingdom Hearts emoing about Roxas leaving, Saix asks 'how is your wound?' and Axel has no idea what he meant. I kind of guessed it had something to do with Roxas leaving, and perhaps he means wound from his heart having been ripped away? Literally?
Ooh, could be. I still need to get myself a copy of that book - not that your translation isn't wonderful, but I'd like to experience it firsthand too!
 

jean1000695

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Just to play devil's advocate - why should every Organisation member get equal screen time? Every story has major and minor characters. Does the fact that a bunch of people in this story come from the same secret society really mean they should all be equally important to the plot? There's a valid argument to be made that Axel is more significant than the rest of the Organisation due to his direct connection to Roxas, and therefore Sora.

And I've seen series (*cough*Bleach*cough*) that go horribly wrong by trying to include too many different people. When an author insists on going into detail about the past, motivations and thoughts of every single character things get incredibly boring incredibly quickly.

I do agree that Days put too much emphasis on Roxas and Axel - but the reason I think that was because the pacing was terrible, and because so much of the interesting development was given in diaries rather than cutscenes. Not because I think there's an inherent problem with the idea of some characters being more important than others.


I still think that those scenes were about power/control rather than sadism. We've seen nothing anywhere else in the series to suggest that Axel enjoys making others suffer. Vexen and Zexion's deaths were both relatively quick; if Axel were truly sadistic he could have done a lot worse than instant incineration.


lol, sounds like a plan. And thanks again. My high school English teachers never seemed to think so, but then they made me read and write about shit like Jane Austen so I don't think I can be blamed for not putting much effort in xD


Ooh, could be. I still need to get myself a copy of that book - not that your translation isn't wonderful, but I'd like to experience it firsthand too!

Well, about the cutscene part, I think it's because the DS does not have much capacity to put too many cutscenes inside it, so they place the more important points of the plot into cutscenes and the others that are not really worth mentioning or not very important are not. Also think that the other members should have more screen time.
 

Goldpanner

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Every story has major and minor characters. Does the fact that a bunch of people in this story come from the same secret society really mean they should all be equally important to the plot?

I agree with this, too. It's sad that awesome characters like Luxord and Xigbar and Zexion don't get more screentime, but on the other hand, it's not like anything is actually taken away from them. The characters were created, and they are who they are. Anyway, fandom can fill in the gaps ;D

Ooh, could be. I still need to get myself a copy of that book - not that your translation isn't wonderful, but I'd like to experience it firsthand too!

♥ Thank you ^^ I reccomend buying the book!! Chapters two and three are a bit of a disappointment, just recounts of stuff that happened in the Pride Lands and Halloween Town in KHII, but the rest are really good. Kind of sad, but good.
 
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I have to agree with this 'essay' since I always thought that character's personality can change all the time. Some people might not like it, but it's also very interesting how a character develops through the story. I can understand why people don't like it, but it's like in real life people also change through time. In my opinion, characters with the same personality all the time is boring. I like to to expect the unexpected things a character shows through experience.
 

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I just love AXEL ;___; my room is dressed in him. I liked the column, some how some parts I disagree. But I still like it.
 

Ventux

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I just thought the way he died was stupid (and pointless). Not the "emotional" part, the fact that he lightheartedly kamikazeed for a group of DUSKS.
 

Ikkin

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I just thought the way he died was stupid (and pointless). Not the "emotional" part, the fact that he lightheartedly kamikazeed for a group of DUSKS.

I think Axel's death tends to be really misunderstood, due to the fact that the circumstances of it aren't spelled out explicitly.

First off, Axel was dying anyway. Take a look at his movements when he's fighting - he's hunched over constantly, keeps having to stop to rest, and generally seems to be in bad shape. He wouldn't have been dragged down by a single Dusk if he was at full strength. (The novels explain this - Axel had tried to save Kairi from Saix, and Saix completely owned him. Axel took off to Betwixt and Between knowing that he wasn't going to survive for long)

Second, Axel quite literally had nothing left. Even Roxas admitted at the end of Days that, after he left the Organization, he had nowhere to go - and Axel had the Organization after his blood rather than a Keyblade. Axel had no friends, no home, and no future.

Finally, Axel didn't kill himself just because he thought he needed to save Sora from a group of enemies that Sora could possibly take on his own - he did it because he wanted to shock Roxas into waking up, so he could see him one last time. And at that, he succeeded.
 

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This is one of the most beautiful write ups on the KH series, and perfectly explains what makes this game transitional story's character development so great. Your right, Axel is a perfect example of plausible character development. =] I loved reading every word of this.

It also makes me realize that Axel's death in Kingdom Hearts 2 is really a good thing, the character got what he wanted, to redeem himself as a human being (or rather, redeem the fact that he's no longer a human being) by protecting his friend's life (a friend that reminded him what it was like to be human).
 

Bob-sama

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Wow... this analysis is really well written. i really liked how you described Axel's 'obsession' with Roxas. personally, i'm an Axel fan, but i've always had a hard time explaining to others about Axel, and this analysis describes it really well.

also, just my own thoughts... but maybe the nobodies aren't exactly devoid of feeling. as in the previous posts, KH is based a lot on metaphors of the heart, so if we use that as the concept, the 'emptiness' is not just a lack of a heart. in human terms, a heartless person is a cruel and merciless person. this, however, is based purely on personal morals. the organization aren't exactly cruel, they are fighting desperately for their goal. in kh, 'heartless', and 'nobody' are different entities. nobodies are empty. in human terms, an empty heart is a heart that has been hurt, betrayed, and therefore devoid of hope, and dead. perhaps this is the same for the organization. they had probably been hurt, betrayed, so become afraid of emotions. everyone in the organization are maybe just afraid to be hurt, so they avoid feeling anything at all, just as humans do. in this aspect, perhaps they are not unable to feel, simply they are elites that have been hurt especially badly, so are more fearful of pain.

Axel had begun to change after COM, as Roxas said in days when they were having ice cream. if he were really such a bastard throughout COM, then he wouldn't have been any different when he came back. but he had changed, without Roxas. so that means he is capable of feeling, after seeing what happened to Riku, Sora, and namine. even though he looked as if her were thoroughly enjoying eliminating his companions, at the end, he looked as if he were tired of all the plotting of the organization. he was already starting to develop in COM, but just slightly, so a lot of people were still pissed about him killing their favourite character.

one other thing, my friend was pissed, saying that Axel betrayed Xion in days. and i was quite interested in that. it is true that he betrayed his important friendship for his wellbeing, but if i think that Axel knew Saix before the organization, and he did everything in his power to help Saix go up in ranks to achieve who-knows-what goal, he never actually betrayed anyone. he promised Saix before the organization something, and he never broke that promise, even if it meant destroying what was important to him. Axel never promised Xion anything, or Roxas, so what was wrong with trying to satisfy both sides? he tried to stay true to his friends, but at the same time to not betray the organization. it got him killed too. he was always by himself in that aspect, without anyone to help him. so he wouldn't be a bastard, since he never did anything that went against himself.

i'm sorry for my rant. but seeing this really got me thinking.
 
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