At first I ignored this topic because I've discussed this subject countless times. However, I saw the word deconstruction and my debate redlights start tingling lol. Most of this is stuff I typed up elsewhere,but it seems relevant here as well.
Xion's not a Sue imo in case you missed it.
You use to call her a sue all the time,but said you still liked her regardless. Why is she not one to you anymore? Just curious.
Debate time
In order for deconstruction to work the character in question would have to
be the the thing that's getting deconstructed in the first place. Therefore Xion would most certainly have to
be a sue. Can't deconstruct something that's not there. Nor does deconstruction take away what that character
is. It just tries to show a realism to it.
To me to say Xion is not a sue is to say Snow from Final Fantasy 13 is not a garystu. Even though deconstruction did take place. To the point of parody as a matter of fact. However, I dare someone with a straight face to say Snow, at his core,isn't a stu.That's why I don't understand the deconstruction argument because deconstruction
does not take away the suedom.If something quacks like a duck, looks like a duck, it's not a car.
I think she is a deconstruction somewhat,but also gets
reconstructed in the same breath. Some examples...
She's a keyblade wielder.
Deconstruction- Oh,but wait it's fake.
Reconstruction- even though it's claimed to be fake it acts
exactly like a real one would. It purified hearts and sent them straight to KH just like Roxas's and Sora's did. A
true deconstruction would have been if her keyblade didn't work at
all. No heart collecting. Nothing. She was still a girl, that came out of nowhere, who could use the keyblade as good as the rest of them. It was fake in
name only.
She looks like a black haired Kairi.
Deconstruction- She's an opposite sex clone of a boy.
Reconstruction- didn't change the fact that for 99% of the game she looks, acts, and his treated like a adorable little girl. A Kairi. She even *dies* that way so we could moan and cry some more. Didn't stop her from speaking and throwing keyblades from beyond the grave though...
She's the 14th in an Organization of 13.
Deconstruction- she turns out not to be.
Reconstruction- she was still treated like a member. Wore their coat. Had a magical weapon that they cherished and needed for their goals. Could transport like them. Had a number and a X anagram. She was a member in all but name.
Things that weren't a deconstruction at all.
Her personality. It was as sweet as honey to the point of angeliclism. She was only missing a halo and wings. Could do no wrong. Everything that happened to her wasn't her fault. No flaws. Just enough sugar to put you in a diabetic coma. BFF trying to beat the crap out of her twice. Instant forgiveness. Also had a noble and sparkling death, in the arms of her would be lover, with not a care for her own wellbeing etc.
A deconstruction for example would have been that behind that sweetness she was a selfish sociopath with axe crazy tendencies. Or some variation. Anything would have been better than the 110% sweet and lo we got 20 hours.
Her instantaneous friendships with the three main bishies,and Namine.Her first interaction with Riku had the possibility of being a deconstruction,but then enter the next meeting, and it's bang rubbing the sweet comatose girl so a whole section of more pitying can ensure. Um did beat down not happen? Oh and Riku remember Sora? Diz remember your revenge for anything that's not human.Even when Riku fought her he still gave her a tender warning to leave the org. Complete stranger. Enemy no less and he spares her life.
Your Replica wished you would have been so kind Riku.
A deconstruction would be if one or none of the above characters were particularity friendly to her. Roxas for example could have been a deconstruction of his real self (Sora) by truly becoming his own person by
not automatically being friends and potential lovers to a Kairi. The same goes for Xion in regards to him.
Nothing that happened because of her, or to her, were made to look badly on Xion herself. It was
all to make
us feel even
more sorry for the angel. So we could all cry as we overdosed on the sugar coming from her. The sympathy card was played quite
thickly. Nauseatingly so. " As someone put it "She still had everyone focused on
her, and paying attention to
her choices, and what
she thought, regardless of whether or not that attention was negative."
Xion was a blackhole so
very much, and her personality was to cliche and boring. To the people who thought the latter, with the sympathy card being played
hard on top of that was being the subject of almost every conversation, fmv or regular scene, secret report, diary entries etc, it was all
to much to take. If suedom was the only reason for the nonfans then people would have to dislike every protagonists in this series. That's why I don't think it really has anything to do with Xion being solely a sue,but the
execution of those traits in regards to the story and its characters.
How were Aqua's sue traits executed that made her, despite them,be the most popular female character in the series,but Xion's execution made her(depending on who you talk to) either split the fanbase or reach Kairi hate levels? Xion's sympathy play and hostile takeover of the plot endeared her successfully to some. While the sympathy felt forced and contrived to others,and it felt like the characters couldn't
breath without mentioning or alluding to her.
In quotes are courtesy of Tv tropes. A place I love to bits,but just like Wikipedia I take with a grain of salt. However,just like wiki they can be professional and truthful a lot of the time.
Mary Sue is always on the Spotlight Stealing Squad. Without her, there would be a story.
Xion to a T.
She's The Chosen One. Even if the canon hero is already The Chosen One, she either 'shares' the position or just steals it away from them.Or she might be part of the same specialized species or organization as the hero.
Roxas the main character my ass...
Alternately she is destined to help the destined one fulfill their destiny.
Roxas is apparently to dumb and ice-cream crazy to figure stuff out on his own. So Su.. er Xion was there ( physically or otherwise) to push him in the right direction... all the time.
Sympathetic Sue has an unusually Dark And Troubled Past to the excess, but other subtypes often have them too, just to emphasize how brave and special she is to live through it.
God was that sympathy card played
thickly...
Perform a Heroic Sacrifice as a way to prove that she's Too Good For This Sinful Earth. Bonus points if the story goes out of the way to ensure she doesn't leave an ugly corpse (whether it be by a method that doesn't involve external physical damage or by her body not being recovered).More bonus points if it turns out to be a Disney Death.
Thanks to Diz's deus ex machina she's not *dead.*Just hiding. Coded seem to be all about Xion. The other characters being brought back seemed like afterthoughts.
If there is a personality, it's who the author wishes they could be, never who they are. While this is a regular feature in most original characters, Mary Sue takes it to the extreme.
If we go by the Days novels afterwords Xion is Kanemaki. Nomura is Roxas and Sora.
Xion was
so sweet, angelic, and noble that one could feel a toothache coming on. Even nomura came out and said he made her a brave and
pure girl. Pure is usually euphemism for unrealistic and boring.
Regardless of what skill level the canon characters have established, she might just simply be better than them, often in ways that do not make sense.
Contrived is a better word.
Not skills per se,but existence. Apparently she's a better replica then the Riku one. Why?
The org even preferred her, a doll, over the real nobody of a keyblade wielder.
Previously-established personalities change in reaction to her.
So very much yes. Not just personalities though,but the plot itself. In a little word we like to call retcon.
Evil characters follow her around like a puppy or seem uncharacteristically obsessed with her.
Saix's whole purpose in the game seemed to be this.
The characters in general just seem unnaturally focused on her, positive or negative
This so very much.
She gets special treatment in-universe.
If Roxas runs away? The org's assassin comes out to kill him. If the assassin runs away? The kinda batshit second in command comes after him. If Xion does it pretty much
three to four times? Slap on the wrist. Not only that but she gets away with hacking into their computer as well. How she even
knew how to is anyone's guess. Not to mention the password. Everyone's reactions toward her at some point was this. Let's not even get started with the carousing with the enemy(Riku). Also how she
knew Xenmas
real plans, to tell Roxas anything, at her *death* is weird as well.
Another thing I don't get is the she's not a retcon argument. That nomura had a
concept of her thought up at Kh2 so she's not. He also had a pink heart surrounding Roxas during the deep dive trailer of Kh1, and his eye glowing yellow doing the dark meridian sequence. However, we saw how the actual canon of those scenes played out. Concepts are just ideas floating around in an authors head,but until they are brought to life in canon that's all they will ever be.
By the very definition of retcon the Xion that we now have for Days is one. She was
inserted into the
middle of already
established canon and its characters. BBS is a retcon as well. Most prequels are if they are made after established canon has already been set. Again, though execution comes into play.
Retcon = Retroactive Continuity.
Reframing past events to serve a current plot need. When the inserted events work with what was previously stated, it's a Revision; when they outright replace it, it's a Rewrite. The ideal Retcon clarifies a question alluded to without adding excessive new questions. In its most basic form, this is any plot point that was not intended from the beginning. The most preferred use is where it contradicts nothing, even though it was changed later on.See also Ass Pull, but note that not every Retcon is an Ass Pull. An Ass Pull, by definition, is something that was not properly set up before it is sprung on the audience. It is related to Deus Ex Machina. Sometimes a good Retcon can actually improve the current narrative. A good way to get away with a Ret Con is to reveal new implications or motivations for events that have already been established.
Why does saying what she
is, by the definition of it, a bad thing to her fans? She's a retcon and has sueish traits. Is that going to stop any of you from liking her? The
execution of both didn't go over so well to her haters,but that doesn't mean that same execution has to be of any consequence to her fans.
Sue and retcon don't
have to be bad words. It's just that by how the
execution is done, for some, they can become so. I also don't understand this myth that sues can only exist in fanfic. There
are such things as Canon Sues. God knows Bella from the Twilight series is one for an example.
