@@potatogaming7044 It became rarer to see full villains these days, people tend to give redemptions to everyone, villains are just "misunderstood people who suffer" even when they commit horrible crimes ( the Diamonds, Catra...). A lot of writers don't want to write their villains as bad people. I like antagonists who are not actually evil and can be redeemed ( Hunter, Zuko) or used to be evil but try to fix their mistakes but sometimes someone can reach the point of no return, and Belos is in that case so I hope he won't be forgiven like the Diamonds or Catra were. So yeah, in older Disney movies you often had purely evil villains but they are rare nowadays even if there are still exceptions, for example Bill Cipher in Gravity Falls. These villains can also be interesting even if they are pure evil but people tend to think they can't make a villain interesting if they're not sympathetic. Belos might not be sympathetic but he's interesting because he's fascinating and scary.
@@jujublue4426 SORRY THIS IS SO LONG I LOVE TALKING SORRY AGAIN I would disagree on catra's side it was obvious since the beggining that she was an antagonist to sympathize for. Shadow weaver on the other hand...she had potential but ultimately they decided to make her "actually has feeling and redempt herself through death" (not exactly a redemption though,but it's clear her death is to "make up for her action") And having the final villain just, evil, but barely known (hinted but not known) kinda sucked. (though, the serie definitely focus more on catra+ adora(and her friends) so on the serie on general this does not make it less appreciable) Belos is also made quite "sympathic". But more on the way that "he really believe that what he's doing is what's right. But he is viewing it through his time lense + his perception of society" (without counting that he is also ambitous and has a big ego. But those are personality trait that affected little thing which affected bigger things) But yeah. We definitely miss evil being who are just. Evil. More precisely Doing thing cause they want to. (Which is why people appreciate bill so much, or dimensio, and why the collector was appreciated at first second. And also Scar etc.. They're doing things not for a secondary reason of them believing that they're doing the right thing or whatever. But because they just do what they want. Thinking that they do the right thing is only second favorite to that. And revenge is third. Depending on how it's done.)
@@jujublue4426 I don't get why people think villain redemptions are such an epidemic. Most villains in children's media as of 2022 still get flat out killed or imprisoned in some way.
Belos is a man of such wild contradictions within himself. He despises witches and wild magic, yet he uses all aspects of it to fulfill his goals. He hates his brother for betraying him so much that he has killed every single one of his clones, yet he bears some obsessive love for him, to bring him back so many times. And he never stops to ask himself if he is the problem. It's obviously never him, it's the world and others that are on the wrong side of things so he continues to treat the GGs in the worst ways possible and then is surprised again and again that they betray him.
And the thing is, from current Hunters' perspective at the very least- it was never him actively searching or longing to betray Philip to go and do something else with his life, in fact from Hunters view (before Hollow Mind) we know he was doing everything in his power to try and help his uncle's reign, and to heal him from 'wild magic', and to live up to the standards he believed were expected of him. Of course we all know the entirety of Hunters life was a lie directly caused by Philip's callous manipulation and disregard for other people, but the point still stands that Hunter was never seeking out betrayal; rather, Philip directly imposed the thought of Hunter inevitably betraying him at some point in time (and whatever the word 'betray' means to Philip anymore) onto Hunter, only to kill him and try again. But honestly, since Philip clearly can't control or care about Hunter in the way he leads him onto thinking he does, what's the actual point of having him at all? If his goal was to destroy all witch craft entirely and go back home by himself to be a witch Hunter General, then what's the point of having a 'corrupted reanimated half witch' clone of your dead brother coming back with you? He would have to kill him anyway if he were to stand by his 'morals', otherwise he quite literally allowed (and preformed) necromancy of some form to undo death and betray God's will for Caleb. Which once again, proves the hypocrisy of utilizing the very 'evil' witchcraft- that he says is horrible- to succeed at his own goals.
@@UnluckySuperstition I feel like the point of creating the Grims was entirely a selfish desire on Philips part. It seems that, from the paintings in Hollow Mind, Caleb practically raised Philip. He was his corner, his main caretaker and the person who effectively taught him about the world. And this idealized version of Caleb, is what Philip desperately wants back, since the real Caleb tarnished those memories with his "betrayal". But that version of his brother is never coming back cause Caleb grew up and realized his mistakes, while Belos insists on stagnating and never changing. As for Hunter, he was practically what Philip wanted all along. His perfect loyal clone, that would have stayed one if Philip didn't purposefully put him through a grueling loyalty test in Hollow Mind. Cause that's exactly what it is, leading Luz and Hunter through those very specific memories where Belos' duplicitness is front and center. And Hunter was passing with flying colors, making all sorts of excuses for Belos' wrongdoings. But it wasn't enough for Philip, he had to push to the very end and show him the dead Golden Guards, basically baiting Hunter to snap.
If you see Belos as a colonizer rather than a "con artist" the way he is written makes even more sense. It's not just personal glory he is after but rather defend the way of living that he grew up with.
Yep, I just made a comment about how his manipulation tactics remind me of the ones used by the catholic church in his time period (which were used during colonization)
@@MohamedRamadan-qi4hl The church from the colonizing ages forced indigenous people and african people to follow a religion,a religion that didnt had nothing to do with their culture and traditions. Imagine someone coming to your home and forcing you to follow a certain religion and if you don't you get killed,or ostracized for being a heretic. Religion was violent back then,still is today for some,it was used back then to keep the people fearful,in place and proposed the lack of critical thinking. It was fucked up
Belos’ manipulation went as far as to LITERALLY MANIPULATE A GOD. Sure The Collector is a kid, but he could have everything - But Belos managed to poke the main flaw - The Collector is lonely. They want friends. Belos swindled his way by promising a game, but unbeknowst to the Collector, they’re already playing a game and Belos is using them like a pawn. He’ll do anything - By LITERALLY ANYTHING - To get his way.
Indeed, somebody else in the comments pointed this out to me that I maybe should've brought that up in this video along side the other characters, but I think you just explained it perfectly
@@MidgardMadness I wished we hadnt entire Political Parties on this Planet that are just... just blatantly anti-lgbt and even have the Audacity to make this a Core-Concept of their Group. Its hard to make more Shows like Owl House thx to that.
Some people were underwhelmed by Belos' true identity and motivations (he's just a human con artist who wanted to kill everyone for no reason and bail), but that makes me appreciate him more. Because Belos managed to fool everyone, even us, into believing he was this grand, god-like figure with a flawless plan...when it reality he's just some old man who never outgrew his biases despite having centuries to do so.
I don't see Belos'/Phillip's malice as being without motivation. He is a 17th Century witchhunter born and raised in a Puritan environment, most likely during a bout of panic over witches (Connecticut was the site of some of North America's earliest witch hunts) As much as he is a lying, scheming bastard, I think that he is absolutely sincere in his belief, that he is ridding the world of a great evil by eradicating the population pf the Demon Realm.
Belos is one of the best villains I've seen in a long time. However, in my opinion, the most brilliant aspect to Belos, both as a character in the narrative and as an antagonist towards Luz, is how he essentially represents the worst extremes of realism in opposition to escapism. He's someone who inherently believes a world like the demon realm can't have any value at all and seeks to permanently erase it. The way he talks to Luz is akin to a narrow minded adult trapped in old customs and beliefs, trying to convince a kid to abandon her supposedly corrupt viewpoints. In his eyes, this world isn't the real world, and as such, it's dangerous and nothing more. Luz's character arc is one that represents the inherent value of escapism. That even though it's important to face reality and the inevitability of growing up, fantasy can still be a powerful asset to facilitating growth and development. Just because we experience a world different from our own doesn't mean it should be cast aside forever. I almost wonder if Belos is actually meant to be a representation of Disney's own hypocrisy and its rigid views on escapism and change. To me, Disney is a company that still continues to manufacture the same tired and boring formula, trapped in their own old customs and pathetic branding, while dismissing anyone who strays too far from their intended vision.
@@jujublue4426 I think so. Frankly, Disney strikes me as the kind of corporation that would throw a tantrum if one of their workers told them they didn't like Mickey Mouse.
I find it funny that you do not see the contradiction in your statement. You condemn Belos for his narrow minded, extremist views. Then you state your own narrow minded, extremist views. Because it is easy to hate a word without treating it like a real thing. Witches. Black People. Disney. You brand a group with a single word and then hate the word. Ignoring the fact that Disney is made up of a LOT of people. Gravity Falls, Amphibia, Tangled the Series, heck THE OWL HOUSE. In what way does Disney refuse to change? People talk about how Disney cancelled the Owl House while ignoring the fact that they green lit the show in the first place. You think they didn't know what the show was about when they poured a bunch of money into it? Dana Terrance asked people to support the Owl House....NOT hate on Disney. Support helps people. Hate does nothing but make you temporarily feel better. Do you know the person that cancelled The Owl House? Have you met them? Yet you assume to know what they think and what kind of person they are? Do you have any idea how corporations work? Well they don't. Half the time the person making the decision has no context as to the decision which they are making. Dana said it herself. The show was cancelled because it was a show for teens on a channel that had been switched to the 'for kids' channel. That is what "Doesn't fit the Disney Brand" meant. Stop taking her words out of context to further your lies. I know a catch phrase is easier to sell than the truth. For instance "It is the Titans will". See...easy to sell. It was unfortunate timing and corporate bullshit, not malice or evil intent. Have you met, every single person working for Disney? Yet you presume to label them all? And don't give me that "oh well the creators are cool but the executives are evil" bs line which people love nowadays. Do you really think every executive in the world goes to sleep at night practicing their evil laugh while twirling their mustache and petting their one eyed cat? Grow up. People need to stop this absolutist belief that has led to our current issues with cancel culture. I mean didn't we just have this as a thing with the Johnny vs Amber trial. I guess some people learned nothing from that. The world isn't black and white, it is nuanced. So I find it funny that you believe Belos to be a representation of Disney's hypocrisy. When he is actually a representation of the hypocrisy of people like you. Who put people in a box and then judge the box. Again Grow up. Be better. The Owl House deserves better fans than this.
Something that always drive me crazy is how people get mad at Lilith for trusting emperor bellos but people fail to recognize that Lilith see belos as trustworthy her as a character seeing him different then we as a viewer
THANK YOU! I seriously couldn't have said it better myself! I actually was annoyed by the reputation that people placed on Lilith that I did an entirely separate video in her defense. Sure, a lot of it is kinda cringe since I was first learning how to make videos and some stuff is kinda out dated, but a majority of my points in it still stand.
I don't blame anyone for falling for his tricks. I mean this dude has literally managed to manipulate almost all of witch kind with only a select handful being able to see the truth of what was happening. And he's pretty much been doing this for the bulk of his life. Which has lasted for hundreds of years, so he's pretty much had a long time to hone his manipulative craft and he was already really good at it even before those hundreds of years passed by. I'm not going to blame the victims who are being manipulated I'm going to blame the manipulator. Like I said he has been able to manipulate virtually everybody around him and he knows exactly what to say in order to appeal to people around him. It's like Lilith said: the confidence the compliments and the telling you exactly what you want to hear.
Playing devil's advocate here, she _did_ 100% try to kill Luz in her fight with Eda. No matter what justification she may have come up with in her mind, the act in and of itself is not really defensible, not even by blaming Belos' manipulation, and the fact that everyone in the show just shrugs it off is one of the weaker points of an otherwise extremely well written show. (though clearly they were fast-tracking some stuff in S2, so who knows, maybe that was left on the cutting room floor) With that in mind, I definitely think people are somewhat justified in their distaste for the character. In my eyes she's always been little more than a foil to Eda, though she definitely has her more endearing moments. The aforementioned attempted murder definitely seemed a bit too drastic of a turn for her character, but I thought narratively conveyed her desperation in the moment fairly well. Afterwards, while there are moments where the old Lilith shines through, especially in "Escaping Expulsion," but it can occasionally feel like most writers just wound up writing Lilith as a completely different character without much of a transitional period. (again, could have just been one of the things they had to rush)
belos is a spectacular example--almost near perfect example--of a person who's grown old, but never grew up. he still holds onto these ideas from his childhood, but never thought any wrong of it. even his brother who was raised in the exact same environment as he was learned to appreciate witches, a species that they were both taught to be the worst there was. but not once did he ever consider those ways wrong.
Made worse that anytime he does something absolutely atrocious to somebody else/several people, in his eyes, it's always their fault. In his eyes, he can do absolutely no wrong, and even when he does do something wrong, to him it's immediately justified because of what he believes. So many of the issues he claims to have suffered/does suffer from are self-inflicted, but he's essentially caged himself in a mind set that it doesn't matter because what he does is for the greater good. Even if it means everyone around him must suffer for it.
@@PhoenixArtz000 Yeah, his character in the final episode did actually drop in quality. But he's still a threatening villain though. Still wish they didn't just kill him off.
Emperor Belos is definitely an interesting villain. we didn’t see a lot of him in the first season but from what we did get he was pretty menacing. In season 2 we got to see a lot more of him which I was grateful of and then in eclipse Lake they showed us his face without any buildup and acted like it was no big deal. Now I thought this was a really weird decision to say the least. Him with his mask on was so cool and taking it away I thought I took away a lot of his menace but then we got hollow mind and then I understood why he didn’t need the mask anymore and he is horrifying without it😅. We will definitely be seeing him again in season 3 in some form. After all if your main villain gets defeated in exactly two seconds by someone who wanted to play tag I think there’s a problem. Would feel a little anticlimactic if you ask me. He is definitely a really good villain
Disney heros (and I include Luz in) are normally very generics and non-iconic. They villians on the other hand are normally the most remarkable of their stories. Take for example Bill Cipher or Darth Vader
For me the real twist wasn't who he was but his motivation. Like from the moment we met him and even after we learned his true identity it was never clear what Belos wanted, if anything meeting him as Philip made it even less clear. Did he just want power? Did he hear the titan but misconstrue it to fit his own needs? Was he just that desperate to get home? Was the day of Unity some ritual to bring him home and keep his kingdom? Overall, he's just a hateful man who thinks that he's protecting humanity from evil. That big witch hunter reveal made me think back to the exchange in Yesterday's lies with Camila: "I'm the good guy." "Yeah a lot of bad guys say that." Now I feel like that line was meant as foreshadowing for Belos.
Great analogy between Camila's exchange in Yesterday's lie and Belos' motivation! Also, I feel the exact same way about the real twist being Philip's motivation as well! 😮
Oh my god, I never realized!! Yeah! That creep is just like Philip, but he just doesn’t have any of the power so he’s just a joke, like Philip was at first! That’s sick
In a way, Phillip was just like Luz when she was in the human realm (and to an extent when she first came to the Boiling Isles): he was so wrapped up in his fantasies of being a witch hunter bent on saving humanity, he never even considered the reality that witches might not be as bad as he thought they were or even tried making connections with them.
For that we actually need to see his first time on the demon world, we know he is a witch hunter, and he is roten to the core, however we also know that in the demon world EVERYTHING IS TRYING TO KILL YOU, and we also know that all myths of the human world exist because something demonic went to the human world (even girafes) so there is a point to be made that both worlds should never co-exist, now imagine been on the 1600 and then you see somwthing of the demon world at your doorstep, you must definetly would be scared for life, luz had a better time understanding stuff because she had Eda, but we know nothing about Phillips expirience, just the betreyal pf his "brother/best friend"
The collector and belos are like perfect opposite foils for Luz- the collector is all fantasy and play, ignoring the impacts their behavior has on the world in favor of playing their games, whereas belos is opposed to everything magical, all the while still being wrapped up in his own selfish ideals of what's best, never taking responsibility. Both mirror Luz's position at the start of the series: an impulsive, reckless kid who endangered her classmates and needed a serious reality check, which she got through the boiling isles
Luz is the only person who’s ever successfully tricked Belos. Think about that for a second. Yes, he tricked her when they first met. But ever since the two have met face-to-face in the BI, SHE ALWAYS OUTWITS HIM EVEN IF SHE LOSES. I hope this is acknowledged openly in S3 as they take him out for good.
Overconfidence. In S1 he is so sure he can't lose he even says "Ok. I'll play." to later get his mask pierced by ice. In S2 he is so sure he can't lose after starting the draining spell that he completely oveelooks the fact that his own tools, the coven sigils, can be used against him. Plus, he underestimates Luz and misjudges her intentions. Sure, he doubts, but then Luz strokes his ego and he shakes her hand. Overconfidence is the downfall of pretty much every mastermind villain.
There's a thing called the Faces of Power. That is, power comes in many different shapes and forms that it can be utilized in. And, at some level, Belos has manipulated the Boiling Isles using all of those faces. This is something incredibly difficult to accomplish, since, as described below, some of those faces of power are normally things that even people in positions of absolute power have difficulty controlling. I will name each, and describe how Belos uses and manipulates them. In doing so, I shouldn't need to describe the face itself, since it should be self-evident. Face One: The Power of the Outcome. The Emperor's word is law. The most basic form of power and most primitive, and the "weakest" of the faces. Do this thing. Don't do this thing. At this point, the Emperor doesn't really need to do this anymore, since the Isles are moving along more or less exactly as he wants. However, he can exercise that power any time he needs to. Face Two: The Power of Agenda. Everyone joins a coven, but they get to choose which coven. However, while making it a choice, the Emperor controls what options are available, and it doesn't matter what you choose, so long as you choose from the options presented. Only a small number of "exceptional" people get to be exempt from that choice, but it's again a choice that the Emperor mandates. Everyone is doing what the Emperor wants, so long as they are choosing one of the options that the Emperor has given. Anyone who chooses not to choose, or wants to take multiple options, is now a weirdo and distrusted, if not an outright outlaw. Face Three: The Power of Ideology and Subconscious. Belos controls what everyone believes, through control of the media, public education, and propaganda. Everyone is taught that the Coven system is good, Wild Magic is bad, and everyone should obey the Emperor since he speaks for the Titan, and that the Titan is a god. Everything that everyone knows, believes, and thinks is ultimately controlled by Belos. Without any need for any intervention from Belos, everyone is more or less doing everything that he wants without him having to say or do anything. Face Four: The Power of Paradigm. It's a face almost too big to describe and many argue it isn't one of the faces, but think of it like this: Everyone knows and agrees on what certain things are and what they can be used for. Belos has tampered with this, by putting in false definitions that have overridden what is actually true. He created the false definition of Wild Magic, that is, magic outside of the Coven System. He has also created the false definitions of the Covens, the Coven System, and what each individual coven is and does. In doing this, he has strongly limited what magic is and what magic does, at least so far as everyone believes. It's like changing the definition of what is a carrot from "Orange vegetable that can be eaten, and bought and sold at the market", to "Green rock that can be thrown into the ocean to make music play". By changing what everyone defines as magic, he has taken complete control of what everyone thinks magic is and what it is capable of. No ordinary human could accomplish something like this. It is something that would literally take multiple human lifetimes to accomplish. And here it is, with Belos having been able to infiltrate the faces of power to such an insane degree that he controls not only what people do, but think and believe on the most fundamental of levels. It is honestly unnerving to consider just how deep his claws truly go in the society of the Boiling Isles.
Do you have any more info on who introduced 'faces of power' or keywords to use? It looks like a really neat tool for analysis but I'm not finding anything on google
Curious that you mention it, because I see a video about how Belos has taken control of the Isles' narrative through fascist means, and practically, Belos does all the 10 steps about how Fascism works (thats the name of the book)
Dana has made a great job in not humanizing him. There's no wiggle room for individuals to justify his actions like we see in most current villains, and its honestly refreshing. The more "human" elements we see of him, his face, identity , past, the more monstrous and horrific he truly becomes.
I'd argue that Belos very much is humanized by the show, they just never excuse or accept his actions. He's a bigot who can't get over his brother complex- that's who he boils down to.
belos also gave hunter a sigil even though his plan for the day of unity involved killing everyone with a sigil. he claims that it “hurts every time” but still plans to kill hunter, even before hollow mind. he cannot look at hunter without thinking of caleb and how he was betrayed. it’s possible that he feels guilty about killing him, and it’s too painful to even see hunter. however, i doubt that. belos is never seen showing hunter real, honest kindness. i think belos thought that it was inevitable for hunter to betray him because all of the other GGs have betrayed him. this isn’t entirely untrue. even before he learns the truth, hunter keeps flapjack even though he knows full well that he shouldn’t. he disobeys darius’ orders for the good of his friends. belos knows that as soon as hunter develops an attachment to someone outside of him, he’ll rebel. just like how caleb rebelled. belos does not care about killing hunter, and does so without reservation. the sigil also acts as a failsafe. belos would’ve tried harder to kill hunter between hollow mind and king’s him if he didn’t know that hunter would just die on the day of unity. he decides to kill every single iteration of caleb before they can do anything to rebel (since they need a sigil to join the coven and eventually become GG). he will kill hunter no matter what.
Someone also pointed out that while Belos does deny the Collector's giddy accusation of enjoying killing the Grimwalkers, you can actually see him _smile_ a little bit before doing so. Disturbing...
Just imagine Belos when he realizes, that the idea, the mission what he killed his own brother for, and lost his own humanity for doesn't exist anymore. That scene could be dramatic!
Let's boil it down. Bellos encourages competition. By making all the witches feel like they need to compete with each other, They focus on one another as rivals, They pay less attention to him, and are less willing to work with one another. He made them all believe that there's only so much room in the powerful spots. This leads to isolation and the feeling of an 'in group, out group mentality'. He makes people feel like they're special and that HE's the one who makes them special. Even those who manage to see through what a dumb idea that is, he still finds away to make them isolated in some way, shape, or form and that only he can lift them up.
It's honestly so insane how Hunter is most likely younger than all the other grim walkers because Belos thought that it'd be easier for him to manipulate a teenager rather than a fully grown adult.
"people that are willing to do anything to achieve their goals, are the scariest ones." Dana said once, Belos is definitely one of my favorite villains, I saw people complaining about how "he's only built to be hated" but first thing I think it would be problematic to have us pity belos at the end, second thing one villain does not need to be likeable, the only thing you need to have a villain is one person thinking that what they're doing is right.
I find it funny to think that if belos arrived on earth 1. He would disintegrate (probably) 2. A grown man near a child claiming occult nonsense after said child had been missing for months (he would be shot, onsight) 3. someone would ask for a selfie with his cool cosplay and he'd implode
I think it's fitting that Luz used Belos's real name of Philip to give him that final push to except her deal a piece of information that he willingly gave Luz to traumatized her only for Luz to trick him when he least expects it.
Belos is a perfect example of the dangers of Indoctrination. If you raise somebody their whole life to hold hate in their heart to a certain group of people, they are going to do that. He grew up with his brother as a person that despises magic and witches, because his whole life, he was taught that they brought suffering and death wherever they went. His whole life was full of Fear and Caution of anybody who insisted on the use of magic, and even idolized himself as a child as someone who would "slay these horrible monsters", because that's all he saw them as, monsters that want to cause pain. When he went into the Boiling Isles, a world completely different from his, it was horrifying, for now he was in the domain of the one creature in this world he despised the most. He hated this place and was deeply afraid of it and it's capabilities. When his brother fell in love with a witch, it confused him, it baffled him. How could his brother of all people betray him in this realm!? It was always supposed to be the two of them until the very end, and now, here he was, IN LOVE WITH A WITCH!? And when he conceived a child, he saw that his brother was perpetuating this cycle of evil. He felt like the realm had corrupted his brother. He saw it as a mercy to free his brother from his "suffering" that these horrible witches have induced upon him. This wasn't just about how he's raised anymore. In his eyes, the Boiling Isles took the light of his life away from him. They proved themselves just as evil as the tales predicted they were. He vowed to never let another human life suffer at the hands of these wicked creatures ever again. He rose to the top, ruled over the realm with an iron fist and the help of a godlike being with unimaginable power. But this being was only a means to end. Another foolish being of this realm that he would happily manipulate. After all, why feel empathy for manipulating these horrible people when they manipulated and did the same thing to his brother? He constantly tried to bring his brother back as a Grimwalker, hoping that this time he would listen and stay close to him, and that he wouldn't be fooled by this place again. But he turned on him. Every. Single. Time. At first it was just frustrating. But that frustration turned to anger. That anger turned to hatred. Hatred for everyone on this God forsaken realm who had taken everything he loved away from him. So he vowed to destroy every living being in this realm and return with the other humans to take over this realm, and he saw that the site of his greatest defeat would become that of his greatest triumph.
This was a fantastic video that honestly gave me a nuanced perspective to Belos and his "Witch Hunting Game" he has attached his purpose to. And having a timeline going from each characters perspective to show how Belos effects and manipulates everyone was outstanding.
The timeline or the specific ways he manipulates each character was really what inspired me to make this video. Despite all these characters having different experiences/backgrounds that we learn and encounter throughout the show, Belos always found a way to work around those different perspectives so that he could get the same outcome, to have them do what he needs for his desire as a witch hunter on his mission. It's like, no matter the circumstances may be around him, he has all the tools of manipulation to deal with them to still in the end get what he wants, which to me was a very interesting way to go about having manipulation in a show, and I thought it be fun to bring that up to people, so, here we are lol
I looked it up and the Salem witch trials occurred in 1692 to 93.* Assuming Belos and his brother grew up sometime around these events and then came to the isles, he was there for more than 300 years. That's a long time to devote to his personal mission as self appointed savior. People cling more to their beliefs the longer they've invested time and energy into them. So yeah, he's definitely too far gone. He's spent far more years on his plans than people could even live. *It's been pointed out to me that there were witch trials in Connecticut that happened nearly 30 years before the time I assumed. And that this is also where Luz's hometown is. (as well as the shows creator)
But I just feel bad for Hunter. Seeing him throw the Golden Guard cloak off him is heartbreaking. After he had tried so hard to earn the cloak, that same fabric was choking him now he realized how much of a monster Belos was.
The consequence of the people trusting Belos' promises is a prime example to the saying "If you surrender your freedom for the promise of safety, you deserve and end up with neither."
Belos is an interesting villain Even though an argument can be made that he grew up around the time of the Salem witch trials explaining his xenophobic attitude, I have heard some say this: "Someone told him "witches are evil" and he believed it no questions asked." Plus, in the 1600's, a girl who's good at math or didn't remember all the 10 commandments were considered "evil witches" I bet he'd have a heart attack or aneurysm when he sees his hometown here and now in the 21st century,along with TikTok, the British colonies no longer being a thing, slavery being illegal, freedom of religion thanks to the Bill of Rights, interracial marriage, food with a lot of salt and sugar and so many other things that have changed Things change but Belos/Phillip Wittebane won't change
It's interesting that his friend/brother had a child with a witch even though he grew in the same period as Philip, unlike him he opened his eyes and realized witches were not evil while Philip/Belos prefered to remain stuck in his views and rather killed his own family than questioned his judgement despite being in this world for centuries.
Exactly, rather than give the witches a chance like they did for his bother to possibly prove their viewpoints wrong, he desperately clung on to his main ideology and believed in them so much that he was too stuck to them to change
@@MidgardMadness Yeah, there's a good chance that Caleb (Phillip's brother) was open-minded and maybe just played along with the "witch hunts" Getting to the Boiling Isles probably proved to Caleb that witches weren't bad people,they were just different. Pretty sure we can all agree that he fell in love with a witch, possibly from the Clawthorne family
46:10 - I don't think her breakdown has much at all to do with "finding out someone she looked up to was evil". She already didn't really look up to him at that point, and saw him as kind of a prick. She's more feeling the guilt for being part of his plan (as she says in the next episode). Because she teaches him light magic, she helps him to reach The Collector. Would he have, logically speaking, succeeded without her help? Probably, but that doesn't change that she's personally blaming herself for it. The other factor I saw someone mention was that her hope for getting home was predicated on the assumption that Philip had been successful in creating a portal and returning to the human realm. Finding out that Philip, now Belos, had in fact _not_ returned to the human realm puts significant doubt on that assumption. Are Philip's notes even complete? Remotely accurate? Do they even lead to a successful portal? The fact that Belos was trying to steal Eda's portal to begin with points to a likely answer of "no".
Philip is indeed a ruthless, and very effectively written antagonist. His lack of screentime in season one is a little bit of a problem to me, as he is meant to be this big threat and a looming presence, despite not having any presence in the first place (aside from the finale), and it still feels for me that his overall screentime is very little for the main villain, but, to quote everyone's favorite shiny coconut crab: ''Much like the greatest movie villains of all time, he's not in the movie for very long, but he makes the most of every single scene.'' Otherwise, he is nearly perfect. I like how Philip *(Not* Belos) is shown as a twist villain for the audience, and not the characters, the voice acting, the twisted yet still somehow understandable motives, his amazing manipulation skills, all the lies he tells... Long story short, I adore him as a villain.
Really? I mean, I would say him not really caring about Eda nor Luz made him more threatening, especially if more interaction would have made him less intimidating both in making him less mysterious and giving him some losses.
Honestly, it reminds me of the villainous Fire Lord Ozai in ATLA, we don't see Ozai much as a person in the first season, but see the aftermath this tyrant by viewing the other three nations of Water, Air and Earth, and to see how far his manipulation and cruelty went through Zuko and Azula, and what would happen if he goes unpunished.
Disney had a lot of influence over S1. Disney brand, its gotta be relatable, gotta get that classic high school, gotta learn lessons. The first episode is a huge sign of Disney. "Us weirdos gotta stick together."
He may not have been very physically present in season 1, but we always saw how he affected the boiling isles through his actions via the coven system, the conformitorium, and the Emperor's Coven. We may not have truly met him until the season finale, but we grew to distrust and hate him long before he graced the screen because of what he had done to the boiling isles and how it had affected the witches and demons residing on them.
Main villains are meant to have little screen time, it would cheapen all of his on-screen appearneces and make him seem fell less threatening as nothing is scarier than the unknown
Philip is honestly one of the first villain characters that I actually despised fully, especially after learning he was human. I think that's also what's great about him. He isn't some fearsome deity, he's just some dude who wants to go home by doing the worst things possible. I like how there's an undertone of brotherhood in TOH because of his story, I think it also helps to reflect on our own humanity in a way. I actually like his set up in season 1, it made me think he was some scary menace when we had no idea who he was. When we found out, however, it honestly subverted my expectations as the show has done over and over again. I am actually really glad he's just a human, because he acts as the perfect foil to Luz (he's a human witch hunter, she's a human who wants to be a witch).
Belos was the worst version of Luz. He was so delusional and a giant hypocrite. He called witches evil and all his acts were evil. 'A road to Hell pays with good intentions.' However, his intentions were so out of place and evil. He wanted to return home as a hero. He deeply was looking out for himself and didn't care about others while Luz care about others. He lied, back stabbed, and murder anyone to achieve his goals. What he gave up mostly was his humanity and his brother. He used palismans to sustain his life, but it also had a terrible price by turning him into a monster. He even murdered his brother because his brother fell in love with a witch, Belos took this as a betrayal. He was also worst side of conformity. He was willing to kill Luz. When Luz branded him with the mark of the coven, he knew this will kill him. He didn't want to be bested by a child. He see that if he's going to die, he wants to make sure Luz dies with him. He was also selfish and terrible and was willing to sacrifice innocent people and he didn't care if they are humans or witches. His acts were also became his downfall at the end since he was unaware that King was a titan and a titan can release the Collector. Kikimora told King about the Collector. By lying and backstabbing the Collector, Belos paid the ultimate price for his crimes. His plans to kill all the witches became undone. King and the Collector ruined Belos's master plan. Even if Belos did return home in the human world in his human form, it wouldn't last and he needed palismans to stay human. Also, he didn't see the world has changed a lot and the people would have seen him as a crazy old man.
It only ocured to me now, while watching this video, how Belos (Philip Wittebane) and his brother (practically confirmed to be named Caleb) are dark foils to Lilith and Eda. Both Wittebane brothers and Clawthorne sisters spent their childhoods in environment where they were tricked into dedicating their lives to the beliefs that are flawed and ultimately existed for purpose of serving selected number of individuals. Each duo consists of one free spirit who (while at first believing in the cause), ultimately starts to see flaws of the system, resulting in their decision to disobey it; as well as one calculative mind that fully committed to the cause they were presented to in their childhood, further creating their hateful relationship with their sibling. But as we see in the show, two tandems grew up into two different sides of the same coin. Great video essay and Thank you for staying on my Ted talk ;)
In Hollow Mind, King said so himself,"No one wants to believe the person you idolized/looked up to, is a bad person." Or something along those lines. 😔
Emperor Belos/Phillip is master of manipulation who fooled us at first perceiving himself as an all powerful witch when in actual reality he's just an old man who never outgrown his prejudice towards witches despite being in the Boiling Isles for centuries and it's amazing how he single handily created a social norm to manipulate everyone without much effort!He's truly one of the best villains I've ever watched
Another thing to note is also that Belos and Luz both arrived to the Boiling Isles at different development points of their lives, Belos as presumably a fully grown adult (with his moral values and justifications already solidified under whatever puritan society he was a part of); and Luz as an adolescent, having grown up in a world where fantasy was widely accepted and inspiring to her. It's a dichotomy of 'Witchcraft and unacceptable behavior are evil and need to be quashed' and 'Fantasy is something to aspire for and be delved into as often as possible' Because of both Luz and Philip's extreme views they both ended up struggling to adjust to a world where 'fantasy' or 'sin(in Philips case)' was everywhere. Except Where Philip was blatantly manipulating and destroying everyone around him for his own gain, including murdering his brother for having violated and shaken those views so radically- all the way until the Collector squishes him. He hasn't learned or accepted anything new, he hasn't connected to anyone, and in fact he desperately held on to the one person that can with him, to the point that after he killed them he reanimated that person into a new form countless times, and then murdered them every single time they even slightly strayed away from him, or grew as a person (Aka: Hunter); Luz however begins to develope away more and more from treating the world around her as a purely fantastical adventure novella, where everyday is an adventure in her own Azura book- to realizing that everyone around and her means so much more to her and to the people in their own lives than just being fantastical magical wonders (which, they are; but the ability to perform magic isn't the biggest thing about them anymore- they mean more than just the fantastical elements about their person). She's still growing and developing as a person and found and connected to the people around her, making friends and relationships with people that avidly detested her or were completely off put until they all found ways into each other's hearts.
Because Luz is young, Belos is a really old man with damaged psycho statement, it's normally, humans stand much more static and conservative with time, especially because we have our habits, liking/disliking things, with time, loose their making much more hurt and painfully. A human will die, when gone his age and environment, yeah, it's sick of every alive entity. Sorry for grammatical troubles, I am not English speaker
I love Belos he’s such a believable villain because he makes total sense he’s a colonizer from the 1600s from New England of course he was going to be this way
Also anyone notice any scary similarities between Belos and Charles muntz from up they are both trying to not only return home but to prove that something exists but neither seem to realize that no one‘s gonna care about anything they say or even know who they are when they get back because they’ve been gone for so long they share like that same delusion
It's commendable how Dana Terrace and her team managed to write such a dense and beautiful story in this way. This video gave me goosebumps. Congratulations!
Wow, Thank You! Really surprised and glad that people enjoyed it, took a lot of effort to make, but I'm happy with how it turned out and that it was received well by the community
As someone who was raised by a neonazi I relate to Hunter’s trauma. Gaining friends who understand my internal struggles has helped me much like Hunter. Hunter is also very neurodivergent in the way he interacts with the world. I see myself in the way he interacts with Hunter and Willow. Hunter’s freeze moment in front of Bellows on the day of unity I also relate to. Despite everything awful he has been he’s still a kid under extreme duress. He’s being abused by the person he’s had to rely on to survive for his whole life. Bellows has complete control over Hunter’s mind. That is incredibly traumatic and can affect someone in such an awful way. He comes to grow and love others who don’t abuse him. It becomes his life line when he cannot return to his past life without it becoming life threatening. He grows so much from others giving him the chances he thought he didn’t deserve. I love Hunter so much. He’s on par with Zuko from ATLA in my opinion
Hope is the key to manipulation. If you convince someone that they are hopeless without you, they will believe that you are the only one who can give that hope for their lives back to them. Burdened is the soul that believes their life is hopeless, never yet fulfilled is the one that needs to be fulfilled by fulfilling their purpose for another.
Question. During the finale when Belos speaks to Hunter and Hunter goes "You're..you're lying!" and Belos turns back to his real self he says something like "Fine then!" or something, did anyone make that out? Also an excellent breakdown of a very very well written character!
Thank You for enjoying! Was really fun to go over what made him such a great character and antagonist for the show. As for what he said in the moment you're talking about, I'm pretty sure he said "Caleb" which is possibly the name of his brother, which is why I say when I went over that moment that it shows he's once again be reminded of why he had a resentment towards him.
@@MidgardMadness Extra note: That’s the name Hunter used in “Any sport in a storm”. This name was given to him by Flapjack. A flapjack being something that only a human would know is.
Phillip existed during the Salem Witch Trials, a era full of mass hysteria. I find it absolutely perfect he's that sort of villian-to build his reputation as a Emperor out of fear.
I like how the finale made it to where Belos’ manipulation backfired on him in the form of Luz tricking him by branding him with his own sigil, and the Collector splatting him against the wall as soon as they’re free. Up until this point, Belos has lied and manipulated his way out of his “deals” or manipulated others until they’ve served their usefulness. Whether it’s from his past as Philip coming to the isles, using his subjects like Lilith, Kiki, Hunter, etc as pawns in his game as he rose to power, or many of the other horrible acts he’s committed, he’s always come out on top. In the finale, Luz knows she can’t beat Belos, so she plays his game. When she sees the glove, she realizes that’s her only way of being able to stop him and stop the draining spell. In doing so, she plays on Belos’ desire to return home a hero. She manipulates him the same way he’d manipulate others by claiming to be able to fulfill these desires, but in exchange for something she wants. And Belos being Belos, he of course doesn’t fall for it right away. However, he thinks that once Luz calls him by his real name, that he’s finally broken her and now she’s just another pawn he can use for his triumph and glory. That’s why it’s so satisfying that she gets the jump on him during the handshake. All those centuries of manipulation and winning cause him to slip the moment he thinks he’s finally gotten what he wants.
I appreciate that as a villain the tools you would use to sympathize with him are what he uses to controls you. You think you see a lonely man? A kind man? A caring man? You can look as deep as you want but when push comes to shove he just doesn't care and you can't work with him. It's a really refreshing take especially after watching SU where every villain was redeemable lol
Got a lot of comments in regards to that, and actually thought about putting it into my script as I was writing it since the idea became so popular after time travel came into the mix, but due to it being only implied and never explicitly being mention in the show, I thought it would be too much of stretch to put it in, not that I don't think it's true, it's for sure possible that that could be the case now that we look back at how he treated Lilith during S1, but just didn't think it was there enough to be a set in stone point to help my case of Belos' character, still, interesting to think about
i havent even seen this video yet but ive seen a few ppl say that belos is a flat character which. is just SO false. i can appreciate the want for more morally grey and sympathetic villainous and antagonistic characters, but a villain does not need to be sympathetic whatsoever to be a well written character
Yes! I don't hate sympathetic villain characters but omg, make a character actually evil! I hate when a hero is like "You killed thousands! you destroyed villages for fun and hurt people I loved!" and the villain is made out to be "Oh but im only destructive because my parents are dead, please forgive me 🥺" it only works for some characters so many times.
If they decide to do a season 3 I really hope they don't try to redeem Belos and just keep him evil! What's the point of even having villains anymore if their all just going to get a free pass in the end.
@@vermiciousknid2456 He literally has the whole Isle in the palm of his hand, and uses this to get what he wants if try pull a switch of like "But, he's only human! They make mistakes sometimes" I'm going to cry.
This is a really great analysis! One thing that I found very interesting about Belos is that they didn’t give him a sad backstory to make us as an audience sympathize with him and that he’s always been a bad person.
Thank You! This was the one of the biggest projects of my life, so I'm glad you enjoyed! I also agree, rather giving us a backstory to allow us, the viewer, to possibly sympathize with him, they instead gave us insights into his perspectives so we can understand why he's doing the things he does
I don’t think that was case. There is a sad backstory with Philip, but it’s in the background and you can only piece together what happened. It came off as a sort of Greek Tragedy, the classic tragedy before people abused the term to mean sad moments. No, Philip is a true Greek tragic villain whose fall from grace is caused by his own hand. He wasted his entire life clinging on child fantasies that he lost everything from his brother to his world to his human form.
I love your insight to this character, and yeah, it's TERRIFYING how far people are willing to go just to manipulate others. Like the people of today, Belos literally created a CULT that tramsformed the society of witches on the Boiling Isles who were kinder than the ones Luz met in the first episode! Please keep reviewing more of the Owl House content, you do such a great job! ^^
Thank You! Will try to keep up the owl house stuff since I just love the show so much, so hopefully I can live up to viewers expectations... hopefully lol
The character reminiscing about past events( shown in the video as a faded version in the background) is a genius idea to make the viewer understand their point of view!
I love how the first season builds him up as this unbreakable giant, and so when we get more personal with him later it feels extra creepy, like we’re seeing what makes the monster tick
Really thought it was important to not just go over Belos, but also look into the influence he had over the rest of the cast since it's an important aspect of his character and what made him such an interesting villain for the show, so I'm glad you found it insightful!
Excellent video! I loved the reveal that Philip's journal was heavily altered from real events. Not only was it a great twist, especially when paired with the revelation of Philip's identity, but I felt like it was incredible commentary on the narratives of historical figures and how eager we are to accept it as truth. As they say, history is written by the victor.
This was one of the best character breakdowns I have ever seen. You articulated your points by gathering the best clips and presenting the best evidence possible to support your cases. The character of Belos was such an interesting and complex human being with a plan and a philosophy and the way he carried it out was phenomenal and you captured that with this video perfectly. I look forward to more breakdowns in the future. This was such an amazing video. Probably will watch it more in the future. 👌
THANK YOU SO MUCH! That means so much to me, I really just try to do my best lol. Planning on most likely doing more breakdowns like this in the future with other characters, maybe even beyond The Owl House and Amphibia at some point, so I'm glad that you'll look forward to more!
He was so manipulative he manipulated me into thinking he was a sympathetic villain and a twist villain would enter at the end. But now we know different.
Emperor belos is a great character. Yet we don’t really see him, at all. He wants to be a hero, but for praise. He isn’t trying to get rid of witches just to “save humanity.” He wants a title, his motives aren’t for good. The writing switched fast, at first it seemed like it was because witches were mean to him, but that didn’t really add up, and would be a lower to standard of writing to do “revenge,” they were “mean to him,” doesn’t work, and his family dying to witches was a lie. But if is he a hero in his eyes? Or pure evil? You can’t have both, pure evil is like they know what they are doing is wrong, and having him wanting to do it for a title makes it make more sense, or eles the evil shown wouldn’t have worked.
You can find his parallels in real life bigots. They spend their days in hatred because otherwise they only have the uncomfortable reality that they’re wrong.
What I really love about "Hollow Mind" is not the revealing of the fact that Belos is evil and duped the entire Boiling Isles into following his corrupt Coven system (no DUH), but how cleverly it ties the loose ends. It shows just how smart and thorough Belos is with his plans. He *knew* that Lilith and Luz will eventually travel back in time and encounter him, aiding him in finding the Collector and giving him the light spell respectively. This is why he kept Lilith under his wing all those years, this is why he never tried to kill or severely wound Luz. He *KNEW* that they are destined to play their role so he just let them have it. Remember how Lilith exclaimed angrily: "it's almost as if Belos sent her here to set me off!" after meeting Flora d'Esplora? Because that's what he did. He sent Flora to set Lilith off, to instill the desire to prove her worth, and also to give her the time-travelling device. There's only one villain whose schemes I find even more complex and thorough, and it's Doc Scratch, an omnipotent and omniscient being as old as the universe. It's saying something.
I was half tempted to actually discuss something along these lines while in my script when talking about his hold over Lilith, but due to how it was kinda left up for the viewer to decide if that was the case instead of being mentioned within the show itself that that's what happened, I thought it would be too much of a stretch, but it still could be possible, and that's scary to about
Ya know, before I watched this video, I just hated Belos. Now, I'm actually terrified of him... I may actually use some of the pointers you made in this video for my own stories. I'm an aspiring author and the big story I'm working on does have a very manipulative and tyrannical villain in it who has managed to deceive everyone into believing that they are the world's savior when they're actually a grave threat to their world's core existence. This video has been quite insightful of how to write the kind of villain I want to write.
Wow, Thank You! I feel honored to be a part of your inspiration! I'm really glad you found it insightful, there was so much that I found that made Belos such an interesting antagonist for the show.
@@MidgardMadness You're welcome! And thank you for making this video! While I am now quite more fearful of Belos than I was before, you really did make quite the insightful video and helped me better understand why Belos is such a dangerous and terrifying antagonist. Keep up the good work!
Honestly Emperor Belos was a great villain he truly believed he was in the right, my favourite line of his was “can’t reason with crazy”, I hope we get a little more on him in season 3
That kinda falls under what I said after her learning that Belos was Phillip, "she has to cope with the fact that she helped make this monster what he is today." Both, helping him get the mirror that's related to the collector, but also giving him the last glyph, which helped him eventually gain the power that he has, but you're right, probably should've specified on that a bit more
The fact that Lillith thought a sacrifice was cursing her sister is so frustrating-a sacrifice means that YOU give something up not that you choose for someone else
This is a fantastically well organized video and I think it was a great way to show how manipulative Belos is by presenting it from the POV of those manipulated. I do want to give one input on the idolization of Belos (more so Philip) though. I would argue that Luz's reaction to finding out Belos was Philip was less so tied to the fact that it was the breaking of that idolization. Philip had already lost that status in Elsewhere and Elsewhen when he used Luz to get the Collector's plate. A recurring character struggle for Luz has been blaming herself for the hardships of those around her, such as when Eda was going to be petrified. She blames herself because she was used as bait to lure Eda there. What breaks Luz here, and what Belos knows will break her resolve, is that fact that she *is* responsible for his rise to power. She gave him the last glyph. She helped him contact the collector. In her eyes, all of what he is now was done because of her. And Belos wants her to blame herself this way. He wants her to second guess her actions. He's trying to reinforce that idea that she'll only make things worse. To give up.
I didn't even notice that! That could possibly fall back to my point that he went back to Hexside since it was the last place he felt comfort, which specifically was when he was in *that* outfit, when he was on the team with his friends
Belos is a great Villain and you made a great job to show it. He used a God and made him to work for him. He could manipulate every person if he has enough time and i think that is scary. Even if you fight him he manipulate you to do what he wants.
Belos is what the most evil, devilish monster we as a species could end up becoming. A monstrous human completely devoid of empathy, yet uses i only to manipulate others around them like a spider building a spider web. They offer you your wildest dreams but there always a catch that, at first glance would be harmless, but in the end truly destroys you. Belos played almost everyone like a fiddle, and it will be very interesting to see how the residents of the boiling isles recover after learning that their emperor wasn't a witch and wanted them dead only to leave their world (and leave them for dead). Would anyone still wish to follow Belos and reject the thought that were only being used? How much resentment would the residents feel that their own blind loyalty to a manipulative monster almost everyone their lives? Season 3 is going to be wild witches! (pun intended)
Thank you for giving Belos the love and loathing that he deserves. A solid villian and a fun mix of charismatic, cruel, and genuinely believing in his own righteousness
YES YES YES FINALLY!! i hate belos with a burning passion but i cannot deny that he is one of the most well written villains i have ever seen in media for such a long time. i wanted someone to make a character analysis of him and his villainy cause he's just so damn interesting, and how his actions shaped the isles itself is something that i can personally see in my own environment, and how it reminds me of how my country and its people were shaped because of one's actions. and you delivered! THANK YOU!! THIS WAS AMAZING!!
It's such hilarious anticlimax 🤣 Belos was done dirty. Dying so unceremoniously is a fitting punishment for him. But I do hope at least part of him comes back
@@mabelsan1133 He probably is; some of his goop landed on Hunter's shoulder and you can see said goop shut the door of the house at the end of the credits.
@@mabelsan1133 kinda yeah, but it does establish Collector as fucking terrifying, and also it's clear Belos isn't actually dead, so there is a silver lining
THANK YOU SO MUCH! This video is everything I've dreamed for and more. I've always wanted someone to give Belos the proper analysis he deserves, and in the format of a very long video at that! He is easily one of my favorite animated villains, and top five characters in the show.
I'm glad you enjoyed! Really took a lot of work to make, but still thought it'd be fun to go over what made him so interesting for the show, and what made him such a menace for the characters.
And i believe that the irony is that after his 400 years preparing for his big plan and when he tell's humanity of his glorius "hunt", he will be seen nothing as a madman and a monster (because the fact that he lived 400 years is an already a big hint) and the bighest bittertruth will be that he won't get praise from his own kind and that he sacrifaced his own brother's life for nothing.
I always knew belos was a menace but the moment he truly became irredeemable for me is when he refused to play hide and seek with the collector. Absolutely despicable behavior
I love how Belos has no redeeming qualities to him. He is truly a horrible old man who wants nothing but power and control over a society he despises. It makes his inevitable downfall even more sweet as everything that happens to him is completely justified and the world will 100% be a better place with him gone. I want to see more irredeemable villains that get taken down by the heroes in return for all of the trauma, pain, and sadness they caused the world.
My favourite quote from Philip/ Belos is (context being that he was just punched, and he got to one of his many milestones of becoming "Witch Hunter General" is: "...THOSE WITCHES!!!! *echoes ominously*, *absorbs palisman essence*, it doesn't matter, I just need to live long enough to see this through, and your going to help me collector"
Yeah, the way he shouts the word "witches" is just... it really screams (no pun intended) unbridled rage and hatred. Like, Lilith wouldn't have punched him if he wasn't such a dick in so many ways, but he still blamed her and was furious with her.
This was such an interesting video! I think that Belos is one of the best villains I've seen recently. His complicated motives are what initially fascinated me but it's also that a lot of villains, the "big bads" are not that threatening. Sure, they are overpowered and have guards and allies, but in a lot of cases, they don't have a direct connection to any of the protagonists. As a viewer, we only see the actual threat when the characters we connect with and relate to are directly affected by the actions of said villain. This is why Belos is such a scary character because he reached the position he's in now with only his powers of manipulation. In a sense, he is someone who understands human (or in this case, witch) psychology well enough to abuse that knowledge.
What I didn't get... a lot of people have said that "Why did they have Belos reveal he was Phillip? We already knew that!" That wasn't the point, the whole point was for Belos to twist the knife with Luz and break her spirit; which totally fits with his sociopathic personality as a witch-hunter.
This video just shows how much of a great villain belos is and to think that despite being a human he caused more death than possibly anyone else in this series.
I love Lilith's character, because she is so deep and complex. I also appreciate how even framed as a bad guy she only tried to do what was right, to make her mistakes right again. I also saw that instance of the sister's having to fight for who would get into the emperors coven as a real turning point if they had just talked about it before, if Lilith had tried to talk to Eda and seen a different way. Things might have been different.
You know, when looking into it, Hunter Pretty Much Kinda Reminds Me Alot Of Ben Reilly. Like, Really. The two Actually have Alot in common: -Both were Clones of the Original's Brother(Ben being Peter's role as Brother). -Both have Blonde Hair but lack Blue Eyes. -Both are just Kind-Hearted People with Attitude but with some Self Esteem Issues and Insecurities. -Both wanted to prove themselves for their Relatives(Ben with Peter being The Best Spider-Man he could be And Hunter wanted to prove Belos what he's Capable of). -Both have their Siblings trying to torment them and Kill Them(Ben with Kaine and SpiderCide and Hunter with Phillip/Belos). -Both have Siblings who have a Disgusted Feature, Have Terrible Conditions that Effect Their Bodies, and Turn Them Into Liquid Like Monster(Ben with Kaine and SpiderCide and Hunter with Phillip/Belos). -Both try to find their place in the world. -Both try to find their own Discovery,Identity, and Independence. -Both Actually are able to make friends Easily. -Both have been Tormented by the Creators Several Times. -Both have Creators that have Actually Made Them for selfish Purposes and have their own Selfish abd Disgusting Ideals(Belos for his Prejudice on trying to exterminate Witches and Creatures abd all life in the Boiling Isles And Dr. Miles Warren for his Lust towards Peter's first love Gwen Stacy). -Both experience Heavy Trauma. -Both find their own Love Interests that they could Actually Deeply Connect With(Ben with Janine and Hunter with Willow). Really, when looking at things, when Looking at the two, Really, the two Actually Have Alot More In Common Than We Think......Like, Really.....
The worst part about how he tricked Lilith is how he blatantly let her see his true intentions which would lead her to leaving the empowers coven and eventually finding the time pools with Luz where they help a younger Philip.
This Blew Me Away dude! Dana and the writers are so good at making a character so evil and I can't wait for the last 3, 44 minute special's to wrap up such and incredible show.
I love this video, it really does perfectly describe the essence of Belos. Hunter-being my favorite character- is so articulate because of Belos’s manipulation. Eclipse Lake is my favorite episode of TOH, it really shows so much about all the characters. I’ve probably rewatched this video around 3 or 4 times, and it’s still just as good as the first.
Finally FINALLY someone made a video about ONE of the best Villain and One of my fav characters in the show ,,,,, and the way u did it? Ugh it's sooo good (In short Belos is one of my fav Villains of all time and ....... This video is just GREAT in general)😀
"He thinks he is doing a bad thing for a good reason" No, he thinks he's doing a good thing for a good reason. Eradicating witches and demons from existence is a good thing in his mind.
24:15 It did not seem like a ruse to Me. I do not think darius treated hunter that way to trick hunter into interacting with people outside the castle. I think he genuinely had a low opinion of hunter and was genuinely treating him like crap. He earlier in the episode stated that he just gave that task so hunter so he would leave him alone. And based on his tone honestly did not expect hunter to succeed. It was just a happy accident One that Darius was glad happened but did not intend to happen.
Exactly, the way Darius treated hunter in the past was not an act. And the way he treated hunter at the start of any sport in a storm wasn't an act. As you said, Darius literally admitted he just wanted hunter to leave him alone. He genuinely disliked hunter before hand. I feel like when people try to act like he didn't and was protecting hunter all along than they remove an important part of Darius's character, and the reason why he disliked hunter in the first place, which is to do with the previous golden guard.
Belos is the epitome of "bad person but well-written character".
I feel like your saying it’s not common to have a good villain.
@@potatogaming7044 It became rarer to see full villains these days, people tend to give redemptions to everyone, villains are just "misunderstood people who suffer" even when they commit horrible crimes ( the Diamonds, Catra...). A lot of writers don't want to write their villains as bad people.
I like antagonists who are not actually evil and can be redeemed ( Hunter, Zuko) or used to be evil but try to fix their mistakes but sometimes someone can reach the point of no return, and Belos is in that case so I hope he won't be forgiven like the Diamonds or Catra were.
So yeah, in older Disney movies you often had purely evil villains but they are rare nowadays even if there are still exceptions, for example Bill Cipher in Gravity Falls. These villains can also be interesting even if they are pure evil but people tend to think they can't make a villain interesting if they're not sympathetic. Belos might not be sympathetic but he's interesting because he's fascinating and scary.
@@jujublue4426 SORRY THIS IS SO LONG I LOVE TALKING SORRY AGAIN
I would disagree on catra's side it was obvious since the beggining that she was an antagonist to sympathize for.
Shadow weaver on the other hand...she had potential but ultimately they decided to make her "actually has feeling and redempt herself through death" (not exactly a redemption though,but it's clear her death is to "make up for her action")
And having the final villain just, evil, but barely known (hinted but not known) kinda sucked. (though, the serie definitely focus more on catra+ adora(and her friends) so on the serie on general this does not make it less appreciable)
Belos is also made quite "sympathic".
But more on the way that "he really believe that what he's doing is what's right. But he is viewing it through his time lense + his perception of society" (without counting that he is also ambitous and has a big ego. But those are personality trait that affected little thing which affected bigger things)
But yeah. We definitely miss evil being who are just. Evil.
More precisely
Doing thing cause they want to.
(Which is why people appreciate bill so much, or dimensio, and why the collector was appreciated at first second. And also Scar etc.. They're doing things not for a secondary reason of them believing that they're doing the right thing or whatever. But because they just do what they want.
Thinking that they do the right thing is only second favorite to that. And revenge is third. Depending on how it's done.)
@@jujublue4426 horde prime and shadow weaver? also were the diamonds forgiven lol
@@jujublue4426 I don't get why people think villain redemptions are such an epidemic. Most villains in children's media as of 2022 still get flat out killed or imprisoned in some way.
Belos is a man of such wild contradictions within himself. He despises witches and wild magic, yet he uses all aspects of it to fulfill his goals. He hates his brother for betraying him so much that he has killed every single one of his clones, yet he bears some obsessive love for him, to bring him back so many times. And he never stops to ask himself if he is the problem. It's obviously never him, it's the world and others that are on the wrong side of things so he continues to treat the GGs in the worst ways possible and then is surprised again and again that they betray him.
And the thing is, from current Hunters' perspective at the very least- it was never him actively searching or longing to betray Philip to go and do something else with his life, in fact from Hunters view (before Hollow Mind) we know he was doing everything in his power to try and help his uncle's reign, and to heal him from 'wild magic', and to live up to the standards he believed were expected of him.
Of course we all know the entirety of Hunters life was a lie directly caused by Philip's callous manipulation and disregard for other people, but the point still stands that Hunter was never seeking out betrayal; rather, Philip directly imposed the thought of Hunter inevitably betraying him at some point in time (and whatever the word 'betray' means to Philip anymore) onto Hunter, only to kill him and try again.
But honestly, since Philip clearly can't control or care about Hunter in the way he leads him onto thinking he does, what's the actual point of having him at all? If his goal was to destroy all witch craft entirely and go back home by himself to be a witch Hunter General, then what's the point of having a 'corrupted reanimated half witch' clone of your dead brother coming back with you? He would have to kill him anyway if he were to stand by his 'morals', otherwise he quite literally allowed (and preformed) necromancy of some form to undo death and betray God's will for Caleb. Which once again, proves the hypocrisy of utilizing the very 'evil' witchcraft- that he says is horrible- to succeed at his own goals.
It has more sense apart of the fact that Belos isnt even could be considered human
Yeah he is the definition of a literal HYPOCRITE
He’s like my sister who asks a question, gets an answer and then denies that answer. Every, Single, Time.
@@UnluckySuperstition I feel like the point of creating the Grims was entirely a selfish desire on Philips part. It seems that, from the paintings in Hollow Mind, Caleb practically raised Philip. He was his corner, his main caretaker and the person who effectively taught him about the world. And this idealized version of Caleb, is what Philip desperately wants back, since the real Caleb tarnished those memories with his "betrayal". But that version of his brother is never coming back cause Caleb grew up and realized his mistakes, while Belos insists on stagnating and never changing.
As for Hunter, he was practically what Philip wanted all along. His perfect loyal clone, that would have stayed one if Philip didn't purposefully put him through a grueling loyalty test in Hollow Mind. Cause that's exactly what it is, leading Luz and Hunter through those very specific memories where Belos' duplicitness is front and center. And Hunter was passing with flying colors, making all sorts of excuses for Belos' wrongdoings. But it wasn't enough for Philip, he had to push to the very end and show him the dead Golden Guards, basically baiting Hunter to snap.
If you see Belos as a colonizer rather than a "con artist" the way he is written makes even more sense. It's not just personal glory he is after but rather defend the way of living that he grew up with.
White dude wanting to subjugate a race of people, "civilize" them, and then eradicate any he deems unworthy? Sounds like a colonizer to me.
He's both
Yep, I just made a comment about how his manipulation tactics remind me of the ones used by the catholic church in his time period (which were used during colonization)
@@DC_let_the_Waynes_be_happy the church didn't manipulate anyone. They command because they had moral and religious authority
@@MohamedRamadan-qi4hl The church from the colonizing ages forced indigenous people and african people to follow a religion,a religion that didnt had nothing to do with their culture and traditions.
Imagine someone coming to your home and forcing you to follow a certain religion and if you don't you get killed,or ostracized for being a heretic.
Religion was violent back then,still is today for some,it was used back then to keep the people fearful,in place and proposed the lack of critical thinking. It was fucked up
Belos’ manipulation went as far as to LITERALLY MANIPULATE A GOD.
Sure The Collector is a kid, but he could have everything - But Belos managed to poke the main flaw - The Collector is lonely. They want friends.
Belos swindled his way by promising a game, but unbeknowst to the Collector, they’re already playing a game and Belos is using them like a pawn.
He’ll do anything - By LITERALLY ANYTHING - To get his way.
Indeed, somebody else in the comments pointed this out to me that I maybe should've brought that up in this video along side the other characters, but I think you just explained it perfectly
@@MidgardMadness I wished we hadnt entire Political Parties
on this Planet that are just... just blatantly anti-lgbt and even have the Audacity
to make this a Core-Concept of their Group.
Its hard to make more Shows like Owl House thx to that.
@@slevinchannel7589 Don't forget the market's hostility to animated series popular with teenagers and adults
“He’s my friend, right? But he wouldn’t lie… He wouldn’t!? He wouldn’t! We spent hundreds of years playing his game! _I-I want to play a new game!_ “
It’s like Belos’ hubris was the end of him
Some people were underwhelmed by Belos' true identity and motivations (he's just a human con artist who wanted to kill everyone for no reason and bail), but that makes me appreciate him more.
Because Belos managed to fool everyone, even us, into believing he was this grand, god-like figure with a flawless plan...when it reality he's just some old man who never outgrew his biases despite having centuries to do so.
Same. He's not some evil god, just a complete asshole.
It goes to show that we more often lie to ourselves, than we are lied to by others
Very valuable lesson, and moral
if anything that makes him all the more terrifying, he's not some grand power, he's just some guy, anyone could be that evil or powerful
I don't see Belos'/Phillip's malice as being without motivation. He is a 17th Century witchhunter born and raised in a Puritan environment, most likely during a bout of panic over witches (Connecticut was the site of some of North America's earliest witch hunts)
As much as he is a lying, scheming bastard, I think that he is absolutely sincere in his belief, that he is ridding the world of a great evil by eradicating the population pf the Demon Realm.
And the next big bad is just some kid with godlike abilities looking for playthings
Belos is one of the best villains I've seen in a long time.
However, in my opinion, the most brilliant aspect to Belos, both as a character in the narrative and as an antagonist towards Luz, is how he essentially represents the worst extremes of realism in opposition to escapism. He's someone who inherently believes a world like the demon realm can't have any value at all and seeks to permanently erase it. The way he talks to Luz is akin to a narrow minded adult trapped in old customs and beliefs, trying to convince a kid to abandon her supposedly corrupt viewpoints. In his eyes, this world isn't the real world, and as such, it's dangerous and nothing more.
Luz's character arc is one that represents the inherent value of escapism. That even though it's important to face reality and the inevitability of growing up, fantasy can still be a powerful asset to facilitating growth and development. Just because we experience a world different from our own doesn't mean it should be cast aside forever.
I almost wonder if Belos is actually meant to be a representation of Disney's own hypocrisy and its rigid views on escapism and change. To me, Disney is a company that still continues to manufacture the same tired and boring formula, trapped in their own old customs and pathetic branding, while dismissing anyone who strays too far from their intended vision.
So that's why TOH "doesn't fit the Disney brand" ?
that is powerful observation
@@jujublue4426 I think so. Frankly, Disney strikes me as the kind of corporation that would throw a tantrum if one of their workers told them they didn't like Mickey Mouse.
@@jujublue4426 Probably not one they'd admit to.
I find it funny that you do not see the contradiction in your statement.
You condemn Belos for his narrow minded, extremist views.
Then you state your own narrow minded, extremist views.
Because it is easy to hate a word without treating it like a real thing.
Witches. Black People. Disney.
You brand a group with a single word and then hate the word.
Ignoring the fact that Disney is made up of a LOT of people.
Gravity Falls, Amphibia, Tangled the Series, heck THE OWL HOUSE.
In what way does Disney refuse to change?
People talk about how Disney cancelled the Owl House while ignoring the fact that they green lit the show in the first place. You think they didn't know what the show was about when they poured a bunch of money into it?
Dana Terrance asked people to support the Owl House....NOT hate on Disney.
Support helps people. Hate does nothing but make you temporarily feel better.
Do you know the person that cancelled The Owl House?
Have you met them?
Yet you assume to know what they think and what kind of person they are?
Do you have any idea how corporations work? Well they don't.
Half the time the person making the decision has no context as to the decision which they are making.
Dana said it herself. The show was cancelled because it was a show for teens on a channel that had been switched to the 'for kids' channel.
That is what "Doesn't fit the Disney Brand" meant.
Stop taking her words out of context to further your lies.
I know a catch phrase is easier to sell than the truth. For instance "It is the Titans will". See...easy to sell.
It was unfortunate timing and corporate bullshit, not malice or evil intent.
Have you met, every single person working for Disney?
Yet you presume to label them all?
And don't give me that "oh well the creators are cool but the executives are evil" bs line which people love nowadays.
Do you really think every executive in the world goes to sleep at night practicing their evil laugh while twirling their mustache and petting their one eyed cat? Grow up.
People need to stop this absolutist belief that has led to our current issues with cancel culture.
I mean didn't we just have this as a thing with the Johnny vs Amber trial.
I guess some people learned nothing from that.
The world isn't black and white, it is nuanced.
So I find it funny that you believe Belos to be a representation of Disney's hypocrisy. When he is actually a representation of the hypocrisy of people like you. Who put people in a box and then judge the box.
Again Grow up. Be better. The Owl House deserves better fans than this.
Something that always drive me crazy is how people get mad at Lilith for trusting emperor bellos but people fail to recognize that Lilith see belos as trustworthy her as a character seeing him different then we as a viewer
THANK YOU! I seriously couldn't have said it better myself! I actually was annoyed by the reputation that people placed on Lilith that I did an entirely separate video in her defense. Sure, a lot of it is kinda cringe since I was first learning how to make videos and some stuff is kinda out dated, but a majority of my points in it still stand.
@@MidgardMadness no problem and I appreciate you make these videos
I don't blame anyone for falling for his tricks. I mean this dude has literally managed to manipulate almost all of witch kind with only a select handful being able to see the truth of what was happening.
And he's pretty much been doing this for the bulk of his life. Which has lasted for hundreds of years, so he's pretty much had a long time to hone his manipulative craft and he was already really good at it even before those hundreds of years passed by.
I'm not going to blame the victims who are being manipulated I'm going to blame the manipulator.
Like I said he has been able to manipulate virtually everybody around him and he knows exactly what to say in order to appeal to people around him. It's like Lilith said: the confidence the compliments and the telling you exactly what you want to hear.
I think they also might be overlooking the fact PRETTY MUCH EVERYONE ELSE WAS!
Playing devil's advocate here, she _did_ 100% try to kill Luz in her fight with Eda. No matter what justification she may have come up with in her mind, the act in and of itself is not really defensible, not even by blaming Belos' manipulation, and the fact that everyone in the show just shrugs it off is one of the weaker points of an otherwise extremely well written show. (though clearly they were fast-tracking some stuff in S2, so who knows, maybe that was left on the cutting room floor) With that in mind, I definitely think people are somewhat justified in their distaste for the character.
In my eyes she's always been little more than a foil to Eda, though she definitely has her more endearing moments. The aforementioned attempted murder definitely seemed a bit too drastic of a turn for her character, but I thought narratively conveyed her desperation in the moment fairly well. Afterwards, while there are moments where the old Lilith shines through, especially in "Escaping Expulsion," but it can occasionally feel like most writers just wound up writing Lilith as a completely different character without much of a transitional period. (again, could have just been one of the things they had to rush)
belos is a spectacular example--almost near perfect example--of a person who's grown old, but never grew up. he still holds onto these ideas from his childhood, but never thought any wrong of it. even his brother who was raised in the exact same environment as he was learned to appreciate witches, a species that they were both taught to be the worst there was. but not once did he ever consider those ways wrong.
Made worse that anytime he does something absolutely atrocious to somebody else/several people, in his eyes, it's always their fault. In his eyes, he can do absolutely no wrong, and even when he does do something wrong, to him it's immediately justified because of what he believes.
So many of the issues he claims to have suffered/does suffer from are self-inflicted, but he's essentially caged himself in a mind set that it doesn't matter because what he does is for the greater good. Even if it means everyone around him must suffer for it.
And that could also be the one of the reasons why Belos' inner self appeared a a child?
Belos may be a self-righteous, xenophobic zealot, but you have to admit he’s got the drip.
This is what makes him such an evil and terrifying yet interesting and convincing villain.
nah the last episode proved that he lacks drip immensely
/j
heck yea
@@PhoenixArtz000 Yeah, his character in the final episode did actually drop in quality.
But he's still a threatening villain though. Still wish they didn't just kill him off.
@@shawnwarrynn8609 I don't think he's _totally_ dead yet though. 😬
Emperor Belos is definitely an interesting villain. we didn’t see a lot of him in the first season but from what we did get he was pretty menacing. In season 2 we got to see a lot more of him which I was grateful of and then in eclipse Lake they showed us his face without any buildup and acted like it was no big deal. Now I thought this was a really weird decision to say the least. Him with his mask on was so cool and taking it away I thought I took away a lot of his menace but then we got hollow mind and then I understood why he didn’t need the mask anymore and he is horrifying without it😅. We will definitely be seeing him again in season 3 in some form. After all if your main villain gets defeated in exactly two seconds by someone who wanted to play tag I think there’s a problem. Would feel a little anticlimactic if you ask me. He is definitely a really good villain
He'll probably try to manipulate Hunter again, or, failing that, manipulate Luz.
Yeah I doubt he show up in this form but I like all the comics where he's like 5 inches tall absolutely hilarious.
In the credits of the finale it shows him alive so yeah he’s coming back.
He's still alive in some form, part of him travelled to the human realm and is shown to be alive in the final shot of the season 2 finale.
Disney heros (and I include Luz in) are normally very generics and non-iconic. They villians on the other hand are normally the most remarkable of their stories. Take for example Bill Cipher or Darth Vader
For me the real twist wasn't who he was but his motivation. Like from the moment we met him and even after we learned his true identity it was never clear what Belos wanted, if anything meeting him as Philip made it even less clear. Did he just want power? Did he hear the titan but misconstrue it to fit his own needs? Was he just that desperate to get home? Was the day of Unity some ritual to bring him home and keep his kingdom?
Overall, he's just a hateful man who thinks that he's protecting humanity from evil. That big witch hunter reveal made me think back to the exchange in Yesterday's lies with Camila: "I'm the good guy." "Yeah a lot of bad guys say that." Now I feel like that line was meant as foreshadowing for Belos.
Great analogy between Camila's exchange in Yesterday's lie and Belos' motivation! Also, I feel the exact same way about the real twist being Philip's motivation as well! 😮
It was the same for me
Oh my god, I never realized!! Yeah! That creep is just like Philip, but he just doesn’t have any of the power so he’s just a joke, like Philip was at first!
That’s sick
In a way, Phillip was just like Luz when she was in the human realm (and to an extent when she first came to the Boiling Isles): he was so wrapped up in his fantasies of being a witch hunter bent on saving humanity, he never even considered the reality that witches might not be as bad as he thought they were or even tried making connections with them.
☝️this
Exactly what makes him an excellent foil to Luz.
For that we actually need to see his first time on the demon world, we know he is a witch hunter, and he is roten to the core, however we also know that in the demon world EVERYTHING IS TRYING TO KILL YOU, and we also know that all myths of the human world exist because something demonic went to the human world (even girafes) so there is a point to be made that both worlds should never co-exist, now imagine been on the 1600 and then you see somwthing of the demon world at your doorstep, you must definetly would be scared for life, luz had a better time understanding stuff because she had Eda, but we know nothing about Phillips expirience, just the betreyal pf his "brother/best friend"
The collector and belos are like perfect opposite foils for Luz- the collector is all fantasy and play, ignoring the impacts their behavior has on the world in favor of playing their games, whereas belos is opposed to everything magical, all the while still being wrapped up in his own selfish ideals of what's best, never taking responsibility. Both mirror Luz's position at the start of the series: an impulsive, reckless kid who endangered her classmates and needed a serious reality check, which she got through the boiling isles
@@somedragonbastard i kinda feel like the collector is moreso meant to be KINGS foil, from the beginning of the series
As a victim of trauma from abuse and manipulation, belos truely does perfectly represent how manipulators are.
It's so realistic I didn't even realize it was manipulation until other people pointed it out. Oof
This is giving Mother Gothel
are you ok?
Luz is the only person who’s ever successfully tricked Belos. Think about that for a second.
Yes, he tricked her when they first met. But ever since the two have met face-to-face in the BI, SHE ALWAYS OUTWITS HIM EVEN IF SHE LOSES. I hope this is acknowledged openly in S3 as they take him out for good.
Overconfidence.
In S1 he is so sure he can't lose he even says "Ok. I'll play." to later get his mask pierced by ice.
In S2 he is so sure he can't lose after starting the draining spell that he completely oveelooks the fact that his own tools, the coven sigils, can be used against him. Plus, he underestimates Luz and misjudges her intentions. Sure, he doubts, but then Luz strokes his ego and he shakes her hand.
Overconfidence is the downfall of pretty much every mastermind villain.
There's a thing called the Faces of Power. That is, power comes in many different shapes and forms that it can be utilized in. And, at some level, Belos has manipulated the Boiling Isles using all of those faces. This is something incredibly difficult to accomplish, since, as described below, some of those faces of power are normally things that even people in positions of absolute power have difficulty controlling.
I will name each, and describe how Belos uses and manipulates them. In doing so, I shouldn't need to describe the face itself, since it should be self-evident.
Face One: The Power of the Outcome. The Emperor's word is law. The most basic form of power and most primitive, and the "weakest" of the faces. Do this thing. Don't do this thing. At this point, the Emperor doesn't really need to do this anymore, since the Isles are moving along more or less exactly as he wants. However, he can exercise that power any time he needs to.
Face Two: The Power of Agenda. Everyone joins a coven, but they get to choose which coven. However, while making it a choice, the Emperor controls what options are available, and it doesn't matter what you choose, so long as you choose from the options presented. Only a small number of "exceptional" people get to be exempt from that choice, but it's again a choice that the Emperor mandates. Everyone is doing what the Emperor wants, so long as they are choosing one of the options that the Emperor has given. Anyone who chooses not to choose, or wants to take multiple options, is now a weirdo and distrusted, if not an outright outlaw.
Face Three: The Power of Ideology and Subconscious. Belos controls what everyone believes, through control of the media, public education, and propaganda. Everyone is taught that the Coven system is good, Wild Magic is bad, and everyone should obey the Emperor since he speaks for the Titan, and that the Titan is a god. Everything that everyone knows, believes, and thinks is ultimately controlled by Belos. Without any need for any intervention from Belos, everyone is more or less doing everything that he wants without him having to say or do anything.
Face Four: The Power of Paradigm. It's a face almost too big to describe and many argue it isn't one of the faces, but think of it like this: Everyone knows and agrees on what certain things are and what they can be used for. Belos has tampered with this, by putting in false definitions that have overridden what is actually true. He created the false definition of Wild Magic, that is, magic outside of the Coven System. He has also created the false definitions of the Covens, the Coven System, and what each individual coven is and does. In doing this, he has strongly limited what magic is and what magic does, at least so far as everyone believes. It's like changing the definition of what is a carrot from "Orange vegetable that can be eaten, and bought and sold at the market", to "Green rock that can be thrown into the ocean to make music play". By changing what everyone defines as magic, he has taken complete control of what everyone thinks magic is and what it is capable of.
No ordinary human could accomplish something like this. It is something that would literally take multiple human lifetimes to accomplish. And here it is, with Belos having been able to infiltrate the faces of power to such an insane degree that he controls not only what people do, but think and believe on the most fundamental of levels. It is honestly unnerving to consider just how deep his claws truly go in the society of the Boiling Isles.
Do you have any more info on who introduced 'faces of power' or keywords to use? It looks like a really neat tool for analysis but I'm not finding anything on google
Curious that you mention it, because I see a video about how Belos has taken control of the Isles' narrative through fascist means, and practically, Belos does all the 10 steps about how Fascism works (thats the name of the book)
He HAD several human life times at the Isles, to be fair
@@mabelsan1133 Steven Lukes, The Three Faces Of Power should get you there. While not named the same, it ultimately translates to the same thing.
Dana has made a great job in not humanizing him. There's no wiggle room for individuals to justify his actions like we see in most current villains, and its honestly refreshing. The more "human" elements we see of him, his face, identity , past, the more monstrous and horrific he truly becomes.
I'd argue that Belos very much is humanized by the show, they just never excuse or accept his actions. He's a bigot who can't get over his brother complex- that's who he boils down to.
belos also gave hunter a sigil even though his plan for the day of unity involved killing everyone with a sigil. he claims that it “hurts every time” but still plans to kill hunter, even before hollow mind. he cannot look at hunter without thinking of caleb and how he was betrayed. it’s possible that he feels guilty about killing him, and it’s too painful to even see hunter. however, i doubt that. belos is never seen showing hunter real, honest kindness. i think belos thought that it was inevitable for hunter to betray him because all of the other GGs have betrayed him. this isn’t entirely untrue. even before he learns the truth, hunter keeps flapjack even though he knows full well that he shouldn’t. he disobeys darius’ orders for the good of his friends. belos knows that as soon as hunter develops an attachment to someone outside of him, he’ll rebel. just like how caleb rebelled. belos does not care about killing hunter, and does so without reservation. the sigil also acts as a failsafe. belos would’ve tried harder to kill hunter between hollow mind and king’s him if he didn’t know that hunter would just die on the day of unity. he decides to kill every single iteration of caleb before they can do anything to rebel (since they need a sigil to join the coven and eventually become GG). he will kill hunter no matter what.
Someone also pointed out that while Belos does deny the Collector's giddy accusation of enjoying killing the Grimwalkers, you can actually see him _smile_ a little bit before doing so. Disturbing...
Just imagine Belos when he realizes, that the idea, the mission what he killed his own brother for, and lost his own humanity for doesn't exist anymore. That scene could be dramatic!
I can see it happening in the final episode. And when it happens, it will be too late for him.
Let's boil it down.
Bellos encourages competition. By making all the witches feel like they need to compete with each other, They focus on one another as rivals, They pay less attention to him, and are less willing to work with one another. He made them all believe that there's only so much room in the powerful spots. This leads to isolation and the feeling of an 'in group, out group mentality'. He makes people feel like they're special and that HE's the one who makes them special. Even those who manage to see through what a dumb idea that is, he still finds away to make them isolated in some way, shape, or form and that only he can lift them up.
It's honestly so insane how Hunter is most likely younger than all the other grim walkers because Belos thought that it'd be easier for him to manipulate a teenager rather than a fully grown adult.
"people that are willing to do anything to achieve their goals, are the scariest ones." Dana said once, Belos is definitely one of my favorite villains, I saw people complaining about how "he's only built to be hated" but first thing I think it would be problematic to have us pity belos at the end, second thing one villain does not need to be likeable, the only thing you need to have a villain is one person thinking that what they're doing is right.
I find it funny to think that if belos arrived on earth
1. He would disintegrate (probably)
2. A grown man near a child claiming occult nonsense after said child had been missing for months (he would be shot, onsight)
3. someone would ask for a selfie with his cool cosplay and he'd implode
luz gives belos 1 mcdonalds sprite & he crumbles
@@だから-p1b Luz fulfills the prophecy… A single sour patch kid could kill a pilgrim instantly
@@therealchaosguy caleb and evelyn could probably survive a sour patch kid I like to imagine they were rad
Belos wouldn't disintegrate. He's lived so long and can shapeshift because of the palismen eating. The glyphs only give him his magic.
I think it's fitting that Luz used Belos's real name of Philip to give him that final push to except her deal a piece of information that he willingly gave Luz to traumatized her only for Luz to trick him when he least expects it.
Belos is a perfect example of the dangers of Indoctrination. If you raise somebody their whole life to hold hate in their heart to a certain group of people, they are going to do that. He grew up with his brother as a person that despises magic and witches, because his whole life, he was taught that they brought suffering and death wherever they went. His whole life was full of Fear and Caution of anybody who insisted on the use of magic, and even idolized himself as a child as someone who would "slay these horrible monsters", because that's all he saw them as, monsters that want to cause pain.
When he went into the Boiling Isles, a world completely different from his, it was horrifying, for now he was in the domain of the one creature in this world he despised the most. He hated this place and was deeply afraid of it and it's capabilities.
When his brother fell in love with a witch, it confused him, it baffled him. How could his brother of all people betray him in this realm!? It was always supposed to be the two of them until the very end, and now, here he was, IN LOVE WITH A WITCH!? And when he conceived a child, he saw that his brother was perpetuating this cycle of evil.
He felt like the realm had corrupted his brother. He saw it as a mercy to free his brother from his "suffering" that these horrible witches have induced upon him. This wasn't just about how he's raised anymore. In his eyes, the Boiling Isles took the light of his life away from him. They proved themselves just as evil as the tales predicted they were. He vowed to never let another human life suffer at the hands of these wicked creatures ever again.
He rose to the top, ruled over the realm with an iron fist and the help of a godlike being with unimaginable power. But this being was only a means to end. Another foolish being of this realm that he would happily manipulate. After all, why feel empathy for manipulating these horrible people when they manipulated and did the same thing to his brother?
He constantly tried to bring his brother back as a Grimwalker, hoping that this time he would listen and stay close to him, and that he wouldn't be fooled by this place again. But he turned on him. Every. Single. Time. At first it was just frustrating. But that frustration turned to anger. That anger turned to hatred. Hatred for everyone on this God forsaken realm who had taken everything he loved away from him.
So he vowed to destroy every living being in this realm and return with the other humans to take over this realm, and he saw that the site of his greatest defeat would become that of his greatest triumph.
This was a fantastic video that honestly gave me a nuanced perspective to Belos and his "Witch Hunting Game" he has attached his purpose to. And having a timeline going from each characters perspective to show how Belos effects and manipulates everyone was outstanding.
The timeline or the specific ways he manipulates each character was really what inspired me to make this video. Despite all these characters having different experiences/backgrounds that we learn and encounter throughout the show, Belos always found a way to work around those different perspectives so that he could get the same outcome, to have them do what he needs for his desire as a witch hunter on his mission. It's like, no matter the circumstances may be around him, he has all the tools of manipulation to deal with them to still in the end get what he wants, which to me was a very interesting way to go about having manipulation in a show, and I thought it be fun to bring that up to people, so, here we are lol
I looked it up and the Salem witch trials occurred in 1692 to 93.*
Assuming Belos and his brother grew up sometime around these events and then came to the isles, he was there for more than 300 years.
That's a long time to devote to his personal mission as self appointed savior. People cling more to their beliefs the longer they've invested time and energy into them. So yeah, he's definitely too far gone. He's spent far more years on his plans than people could even live.
*It's been pointed out to me that there were witch trials in Connecticut that happened nearly 30 years before the time I assumed. And that this is also where Luz's hometown is.
(as well as the shows creator)
The sunken cost fallacy
Before the Salem Witch trial there is also a witch trial in Connecticut (The same Place Luz was born and Dana's hometown). So yeah
@@mysticadriana 'Kay, thank you for bringing that up! I'm gonna update my post to reflect this.
@@mysticadriana Connecticut isn't a town, its a state.
But I just feel bad for Hunter. Seeing him throw the Golden Guard cloak off him is heartbreaking. After he had tried so hard to earn the cloak, that same fabric was choking him now he realized how much of a monster Belos was.
The consequence of the people trusting Belos' promises is a prime example to the saying "If you surrender your freedom for the promise of safety, you deserve and end up with neither."
"Each one of us is the hero of our own story. No one considers him or herself to be evil."
- Bumblebee, Transformers: Robots in Disguise
as much as I hated that show and it doesn't deserve to be compared the gold that is Prime, that is a great line.
Belos is an interesting villain
Even though an argument can be made that he grew up around the time of the Salem witch trials explaining his xenophobic attitude, I have heard some say this: "Someone told him "witches are evil" and he believed it no questions asked." Plus, in the 1600's, a girl who's good at math or didn't remember all the 10 commandments were considered "evil witches"
I bet he'd have a heart attack or aneurysm when he sees his hometown here and now in the 21st century,along with TikTok, the British colonies no longer being a thing, slavery being illegal, freedom of religion thanks to the Bill of Rights, interracial marriage, food with a lot of salt and sugar and so many other things that have changed
Things change but Belos/Phillip Wittebane won't change
I would want to see his reaction to the world. As like you put it he'd probably have a heart attack
@@cbgaming7209 he just goes to the coffee shop , asking for tea and finding there is none. And the he’s like what the hell is a America
It's interesting that his friend/brother had a child with a witch even though he grew in the same period as Philip, unlike him he opened his eyes and realized witches were not evil while Philip/Belos prefered to remain stuck in his views and rather killed his own family than questioned his judgement despite being in this world for centuries.
Exactly, rather than give the witches a chance like they did for his bother to possibly prove their viewpoints wrong, he desperately clung on to his main ideology and believed in them so much that he was too stuck to them to change
@@MidgardMadness Yeah, there's a good chance that Caleb (Phillip's brother) was open-minded and maybe just played along with the "witch hunts"
Getting to the Boiling Isles probably proved to Caleb that witches weren't bad people,they were just different. Pretty sure we can all agree that he fell in love with a witch, possibly from the Clawthorne family
46:10 - I don't think her breakdown has much at all to do with "finding out someone she looked up to was evil". She already didn't really look up to him at that point, and saw him as kind of a prick. She's more feeling the guilt for being part of his plan (as she says in the next episode). Because she teaches him light magic, she helps him to reach The Collector. Would he have, logically speaking, succeeded without her help? Probably, but that doesn't change that she's personally blaming herself for it.
The other factor I saw someone mention was that her hope for getting home was predicated on the assumption that Philip had been successful in creating a portal and returning to the human realm. Finding out that Philip, now Belos, had in fact _not_ returned to the human realm puts significant doubt on that assumption. Are Philip's notes even complete? Remotely accurate? Do they even lead to a successful portal? The fact that Belos was trying to steal Eda's portal to begin with points to a likely answer of "no".
Philip is indeed a ruthless, and very effectively written antagonist. His lack of screentime in season one is a little bit of a problem to me, as he is meant to be this big threat and a looming presence, despite not having any presence in the first place (aside from the finale), and it still feels for me that his overall screentime is very little for the main villain, but, to quote everyone's favorite shiny coconut crab: ''Much like the greatest movie villains of all time, he's not in the movie for very long, but he makes the most of every single scene.'' Otherwise, he is nearly perfect. I like how Philip *(Not* Belos) is shown as a twist villain for the audience, and not the characters, the voice acting, the twisted yet still somehow understandable motives, his amazing manipulation skills, all the lies he tells... Long story short, I adore him as a villain.
Really? I mean, I would say him not really caring about Eda nor Luz made him more threatening, especially if more interaction would have made him less intimidating both in making him less mysterious and giving him some losses.
Honestly, it reminds me of the villainous Fire Lord Ozai in ATLA, we don't see Ozai much as a person in the first season, but see the aftermath this tyrant by viewing the other three nations of Water, Air and Earth, and to see how far his manipulation and cruelty went through Zuko and Azula, and what would happen if he goes unpunished.
Disney had a lot of influence over S1. Disney brand, its gotta be relatable, gotta get that classic high school, gotta learn lessons. The first episode is a huge sign of Disney. "Us weirdos gotta stick together."
He may not have been very physically present in season 1, but we always saw how he affected the boiling isles through his actions via the coven system, the conformitorium, and the Emperor's Coven. We may not have truly met him until the season finale, but we grew to distrust and hate him long before he graced the screen because of what he had done to the boiling isles and how it had affected the witches and demons residing on them.
Main villains are meant to have little screen time, it would cheapen all of his on-screen appearneces and make him seem fell less threatening as nothing is scarier than the unknown
Philip is honestly one of the first villain characters that I actually despised fully, especially after learning he was human. I think that's also what's great about him. He isn't some fearsome deity, he's just some dude who wants to go home by doing the worst things possible. I like how there's an undertone of brotherhood in TOH because of his story, I think it also helps to reflect on our own humanity in a way. I actually like his set up in season 1, it made me think he was some scary menace when we had no idea who he was. When we found out, however, it honestly subverted my expectations as the show has done over and over again. I am actually really glad he's just a human, because he acts as the perfect foil to Luz (he's a human witch hunter, she's a human who wants to be a witch).
Belos was the worst version of Luz. He was so delusional and a giant hypocrite. He called witches evil and all his acts were evil. 'A road to Hell pays with good intentions.' However, his intentions were so out of place and evil. He wanted to return home as a hero. He deeply was looking out for himself and didn't care about others while Luz care about others.
He lied, back stabbed, and murder anyone to achieve his goals. What he gave up mostly was his humanity and his brother. He used palismans to sustain his life, but it also had a terrible price by turning him into a monster. He even murdered his brother because his brother fell in love with a witch, Belos took this as a betrayal.
He was also worst side of conformity. He was willing to kill Luz. When Luz branded him with the mark of the coven, he knew this will kill him. He didn't want to be bested by a child. He see that if he's going to die, he wants to make sure Luz dies with him.
He was also selfish and terrible and was willing to sacrifice innocent people and he didn't care if they are humans or witches.
His acts were also became his downfall at the end since he was unaware that King was a titan and a titan can release the Collector. Kikimora told King about the Collector. By lying and backstabbing the Collector, Belos paid the ultimate price for his crimes. His plans to kill all the witches became undone. King and the Collector ruined Belos's master plan.
Even if Belos did return home in the human world in his human form, it wouldn't last and he needed palismans to stay human. Also, he didn't see the world has changed a lot and the people would have seen him as a crazy old man.
It only ocured to me now, while watching this video, how Belos (Philip Wittebane) and his brother (practically confirmed to be named Caleb) are dark foils to Lilith and Eda.
Both Wittebane brothers and Clawthorne sisters spent their childhoods in environment where they were tricked into dedicating their lives to the beliefs that are flawed and ultimately existed for purpose of serving selected number of individuals.
Each duo consists of one free spirit who (while at first believing in the cause), ultimately starts to see flaws of the system, resulting in their decision to disobey it; as well as one calculative mind that fully committed to the cause they were presented to in their childhood, further creating their hateful relationship with their sibling. But as we see in the show, two tandems grew up into two different sides of the same coin.
Great video essay and
Thank you for staying on my Ted talk ;)
In Hollow Mind, King said so himself,"No one wants to believe the person you idolized/looked up to, is a bad person." Or something along those lines. 😔
god i love it when the hero and villain parallel each other
Emperor Belos/Phillip is master of manipulation who fooled us at first perceiving himself as an all powerful witch when in actual reality he's just an old man who never outgrown his prejudice towards witches despite being in the Boiling Isles for centuries and it's amazing how he single handily created a social norm to manipulate everyone without much effort!He's truly one of the best villains I've ever watched
Another thing to note is also that Belos and Luz both arrived to the Boiling Isles at different development points of their lives, Belos as presumably a fully grown adult (with his moral values and justifications already solidified under whatever puritan society he was a part of); and Luz as an adolescent, having grown up in a world where fantasy was widely accepted and inspiring to her.
It's a dichotomy of 'Witchcraft and unacceptable behavior are evil and need to be quashed' and 'Fantasy is something to aspire for and be delved into as often as possible'
Because of both Luz and Philip's extreme views they both ended up struggling to adjust to a world where 'fantasy' or 'sin(in Philips case)' was everywhere. Except Where Philip was blatantly manipulating and destroying everyone around him for his own gain, including murdering his brother for having violated and shaken those views so radically- all the way until the Collector squishes him. He hasn't learned or accepted anything new, he hasn't connected to anyone, and in fact he desperately held on to the one person that can with him, to the point that after he killed them he reanimated that person into a new form countless times, and then murdered them every single time they even slightly strayed away from him, or grew as a person (Aka: Hunter); Luz however begins to develope away more and more from treating the world around her as a purely fantastical adventure novella, where everyday is an adventure in her own Azura book- to realizing that everyone around and her means so much more to her and to the people in their own lives than just being fantastical magical wonders (which, they are; but the ability to perform magic isn't the biggest thing about them anymore- they mean more than just the fantastical elements about their person). She's still growing and developing as a person and found and connected to the people around her, making friends and relationships with people that avidly detested her or were completely off put until they all found ways into each other's hearts.
Because Luz is young, Belos is a really old man with damaged psycho statement, it's normally, humans stand much more static and conservative with time, especially because we have our habits, liking/disliking things, with time, loose their making much more hurt and painfully. A human will die, when gone his age and environment, yeah, it's sick of every alive entity. Sorry for grammatical troubles, I am not English speaker
In one episode Darius was a better father figure then Belos ever could be. Any Sport in a Storm is a great episode.
Well, it is not that hard
I love Belos he’s such a believable villain because he makes total sense he’s a colonizer from the 1600s from New England of course he was going to be this way
Also anyone notice any scary similarities between Belos and Charles muntz from up they are both trying to not only return home but to prove that something exists but neither seem to realize that no one‘s gonna care about anything they say or even know who they are when they get back because they’ve been gone for so long they share like that same delusion
It's commendable how Dana Terrace and her team managed to write such a dense and beautiful story in this way. This video gave me goosebumps. Congratulations!
Wow, Thank You! Really surprised and glad that people enjoyed it, took a lot of effort to make, but I'm happy with how it turned out and that it was received well by the community
As someone who was raised by a neonazi I relate to Hunter’s trauma. Gaining friends who understand my internal struggles has helped me much like Hunter. Hunter is also very neurodivergent in the way he interacts with the world. I see myself in the way he interacts with Hunter and Willow. Hunter’s freeze moment in front of Bellows on the day of unity I also relate to. Despite everything awful he has been he’s still a kid under extreme duress. He’s being abused by the person he’s had to rely on to survive for his whole life. Bellows has complete control over Hunter’s mind. That is incredibly traumatic and can affect someone in such an awful way. He comes to grow and love others who don’t abuse him. It becomes his life line when he cannot return to his past life without it becoming life threatening. He grows so much from others giving him the chances he thought he didn’t deserve. I love Hunter so much. He’s on par with Zuko from ATLA in my opinion
I kinda like Hunter more.
Hope is the key to manipulation. If you convince someone that they are hopeless without you, they will believe that you are the only one who can give that hope for their lives back to them. Burdened is the soul that believes their life is hopeless, never yet fulfilled is the one that needs to be fulfilled by fulfilling their purpose for another.
Question. During the finale when Belos speaks to Hunter and Hunter goes "You're..you're lying!" and Belos turns back to his real self he says something like "Fine then!" or something, did anyone make that out? Also an excellent breakdown of a very very well written character!
Thank You for enjoying! Was really fun to go over what made him such a great character and antagonist for the show. As for what he said in the moment you're talking about, I'm pretty sure he said "Caleb" which is possibly the name of his brother, which is why I say when I went over that moment that it shows he's once again be reminded of why he had a resentment towards him.
@@MidgardMadness it was confirmed by the creator that he did indeed say 'Caleb'
@@MidgardMadness Extra note: That’s the name Hunter used in “Any sport in a storm”. This name was given to him by Flapjack. A flapjack being something that only a human would know is.
@@violetwastaken6116 additionally, one of the “two brothers” shown in Yesterday’s Lie was depicted with a cardinal
He said “Caleb” when he saw the pailsmen
Phillip existed during the Salem Witch Trials, a era full of mass hysteria. I find it absolutely perfect he's that sort of villian-to build his reputation as a Emperor out of fear.
I like how the finale made it to where Belos’ manipulation backfired on him in the form of Luz tricking him by branding him with his own sigil, and the Collector splatting him against the wall as soon as they’re free.
Up until this point, Belos has lied and manipulated his way out of his “deals” or manipulated others until they’ve served their usefulness. Whether it’s from his past as Philip coming to the isles, using his subjects like Lilith, Kiki, Hunter, etc as pawns in his game as he rose to power, or many of the other horrible acts he’s committed, he’s always come out on top.
In the finale, Luz knows she can’t beat Belos, so she plays his game. When she sees the glove, she realizes that’s her only way of being able to stop him and stop the draining spell. In doing so, she plays on Belos’ desire to return home a hero. She manipulates him the same way he’d manipulate others by claiming to be able to fulfill these desires, but in exchange for something she wants. And Belos being Belos, he of course doesn’t fall for it right away. However, he thinks that once Luz calls him by his real name, that he’s finally broken her and now she’s just another pawn he can use for his triumph and glory. That’s why it’s so satisfying that she gets the jump on him during the handshake. All those centuries of manipulation and winning cause him to slip the moment he thinks he’s finally gotten what he wants.
I appreciate that as a villain the tools you would use to sympathize with him are what he uses to controls you. You think you see a lonely man? A kind man? A caring man? You can look as deep as you want but when push comes to shove he just doesn't care and you can't work with him. It's a really refreshing take especially after watching SU where every villain was redeemable lol
Another thing to take note of is that Belos would likely remember Lilith from the past as well, taking note of her and Luz to avoid a time paradox
Got a lot of comments in regards to that, and actually thought about putting it into my script as I was writing it since the idea became so popular after time travel came into the mix, but due to it being only implied and never explicitly being mention in the show, I thought it would be too much of stretch to put it in, not that I don't think it's true, it's for sure possible that that could be the case now that we look back at how he treated Lilith during S1, but just didn't think it was there enough to be a set in stone point to help my case of Belos' character, still, interesting to think about
i havent even seen this video yet but ive seen a few ppl say that belos is a flat character which. is just SO false. i can appreciate the want for more morally grey and sympathetic villainous and antagonistic characters, but a villain does not need to be sympathetic whatsoever to be a well written character
Is that the case why people would like Disney villains Their own definition that a flat character
Yes! I don't hate sympathetic villain characters but omg, make a character actually evil! I hate when a hero is like
"You killed thousands! you destroyed villages for fun and hurt people I loved!" and the villain is made out to be
"Oh but im only destructive because my parents are dead, please forgive me 🥺" it only works for some characters so many times.
If they decide to do a season 3 I really hope they don't try to redeem Belos and just keep him evil! What's the point of even having villains anymore if their all just going to get a free pass in the end.
He is flat. But that does not make him bad. Many great villians are flat
@@vermiciousknid2456 He literally has the whole Isle in the palm of his hand, and uses this to get what he wants if try pull a switch of like "But, he's only human! They make mistakes sometimes" I'm going to cry.
This is a really great analysis! One thing that I found very interesting about Belos is that they didn’t give him a sad backstory to make us as an audience sympathize with him and that he’s always been a bad person.
Thank You! This was the one of the biggest projects of my life, so I'm glad you enjoyed! I also agree, rather giving us a backstory to allow us, the viewer, to possibly sympathize with him, they instead gave us insights into his perspectives so we can understand why he's doing the things he does
I don’t think that was case. There is a sad backstory with Philip, but it’s in the background and you can only piece together what happened. It came off as a sort of Greek Tragedy, the classic tragedy before people abused the term to mean sad moments. No, Philip is a true Greek tragic villain whose fall from grace is caused by his own hand. He wasted his entire life clinging on child fantasies that he lost everything from his brother to his world to his human form.
I love your insight to this character, and yeah, it's TERRIFYING how far people are willing to go just to manipulate others. Like the people of today, Belos literally created a CULT that tramsformed the society of witches on the Boiling Isles who were kinder than the ones Luz met in the first episode! Please keep reviewing more of the Owl House content, you do such a great job! ^^
Thank You! Will try to keep up the owl house stuff since I just love the show so much, so hopefully I can live up to viewers expectations... hopefully lol
@@MidgardMadness I'm certain you will; your content is well thought-out and backed by observational fact. Thanks for replying! ^^
Of course! and thank you for the kind words, really nervous about all this since it feels like I got a lot on me rn lol
@@MidgardMadness Of course! ^^
The character reminiscing about past events( shown in the video as a faded version in the background) is a genius idea to make the viewer understand their point of view!
Just something that I randomly thought of while editing and thought it worked great, so it stuck
I love how the first season builds him up as this unbreakable giant, and so when we get more personal with him later it feels extra creepy, like we’re seeing what makes the monster tick
Such an insightful analysis, i thought it was just gonna be about Belos but you managed to make a thesis on 4 characters in such an amazing way.
Really thought it was important to not just go over Belos, but also look into the influence he had over the rest of the cast since it's an important aspect of his character and what made him such an interesting villain for the show, so I'm glad you found it insightful!
Excellent video! I loved the reveal that Philip's journal was heavily altered from real events. Not only was it a great twist, especially when paired with the revelation of Philip's identity, but I felt like it was incredible commentary on the narratives of historical figures and how eager we are to accept it as truth. As they say, history is written by the victor.
This was one of the best character breakdowns I have ever seen. You articulated your points by gathering the best clips and presenting the best evidence possible to support your cases. The character of Belos was such an interesting and complex human being with a plan and a philosophy and the way he carried it out was phenomenal and you captured that with this video perfectly. I look forward to more breakdowns in the future. This was such an amazing video. Probably will watch it more in the future. 👌
THANK YOU SO MUCH! That means so much to me, I really just try to do my best lol. Planning on most likely doing more breakdowns like this in the future with other characters, maybe even beyond The Owl House and Amphibia at some point, so I'm glad that you'll look forward to more!
@@MidgardMadness No problem mate. This video was literally a work of art. Best character analysis of this year alone. 👏
Couldn't have said it better.
He was so manipulative he manipulated me into thinking he was a sympathetic villain and a twist villain would enter at the end. But now we know different.
Emperor belos is a great character.
Yet we don’t really see him, at all. He wants to be a hero, but for praise. He isn’t trying to get rid of witches just to “save humanity.” He wants a title, his motives aren’t for good.
The writing switched fast, at first it seemed like it was because witches were mean to him, but that didn’t really add up, and would be a lower to standard of writing to do “revenge,” they were “mean to him,” doesn’t work, and his family dying to witches was a lie.
But if is he a hero in his eyes? Or pure evil? You can’t have both, pure evil is like they know what they are doing is wrong, and having him wanting to do it for a title makes it make more sense, or eles the evil shown wouldn’t have worked.
Not to mention how he snapped at Luz for not knowing the importance of the title he wants to have
You can find his parallels in real life bigots.
They spend their days in hatred because otherwise they only have the uncomfortable reality that they’re wrong.
What I really love about "Hollow Mind" is not the revealing of the fact that Belos is evil and duped the entire Boiling Isles into following his corrupt Coven system (no DUH), but how cleverly it ties the loose ends. It shows just how smart and thorough Belos is with his plans. He *knew* that Lilith and Luz will eventually travel back in time and encounter him, aiding him in finding the Collector and giving him the light spell respectively. This is why he kept Lilith under his wing all those years, this is why he never tried to kill or severely wound Luz. He *KNEW* that they are destined to play their role so he just let them have it. Remember how Lilith exclaimed angrily: "it's almost as if Belos sent her here to set me off!" after meeting Flora d'Esplora? Because that's what he did. He sent Flora to set Lilith off, to instill the desire to prove her worth, and also to give her the time-travelling device.
There's only one villain whose schemes I find even more complex and thorough, and it's Doc Scratch, an omnipotent and omniscient being as old as the universe. It's saying something.
I was half tempted to actually discuss something along these lines while in my script when talking about his hold over Lilith, but due to how it was kinda left up for the viewer to decide if that was the case instead of being mentioned within the show itself that that's what happened, I thought it would be too much of a stretch, but it still could be possible, and that's scary to about
Ya know, before I watched this video, I just hated Belos. Now, I'm actually terrified of him...
I may actually use some of the pointers you made in this video for my own stories. I'm an aspiring author and the big story I'm working on does have a very manipulative and tyrannical villain in it who has managed to deceive everyone into believing that they are the world's savior when they're actually a grave threat to their world's core existence. This video has been quite insightful of how to write the kind of villain I want to write.
Wow, Thank You! I feel honored to be a part of your inspiration! I'm really glad you found it insightful, there was so much that I found that made Belos such an interesting antagonist for the show.
@@MidgardMadness You're welcome! And thank you for making this video! While I am now quite more fearful of Belos than I was before, you really did make quite the insightful video and helped me better understand why Belos is such a dangerous and terrifying antagonist. Keep up the good work!
Honestly Emperor Belos was a great villain he truly believed he was in the right, my favourite line of his was “can’t reason with crazy”, I hope we get a little more on him in season 3
you forgot that luz showed him a glyth that he needed...in order to make sure his timeline doesn't change he need her to give him the glyth
That kinda falls under what I said after her learning that Belos was Phillip, "she has to cope with the fact that she helped make this monster what he is today." Both, helping him get the mirror that's related to the collector, but also giving him the last glyph, which helped him eventually gain the power that he has, but you're right, probably should've specified on that a bit more
The fact that Lillith thought a sacrifice was cursing her sister is so frustrating-a sacrifice means that YOU give something up not that you choose for someone else
This is a fantastically well organized video and I think it was a great way to show how manipulative Belos is by presenting it from the POV of those manipulated. I do want to give one input on the idolization of Belos (more so Philip) though. I would argue that Luz's reaction to finding out Belos was Philip was less so tied to the fact that it was the breaking of that idolization. Philip had already lost that status in Elsewhere and Elsewhen when he used Luz to get the Collector's plate. A recurring character struggle for Luz has been blaming herself for the hardships of those around her, such as when Eda was going to be petrified. She blames herself because she was used as bait to lure Eda there. What breaks Luz here, and what Belos knows will break her resolve, is that fact that she *is* responsible for his rise to power. She gave him the last glyph. She helped him contact the collector. In her eyes, all of what he is now was done because of her. And Belos wants her to blame herself this way. He wants her to second guess her actions. He's trying to reinforce that idea that she'll only make things worse. To give up.
Such a good analisis😳Philip is indeed a very interesting character and you've done great work with this video
Thank You! Really tried to do my best to make it as interesting and insightful as possible, so I'm glad you enjoyed!
Hunter even wears the green shirt he wore as part of the “Green Endtrails”!
I didn't even notice that! That could possibly fall back to my point that he went back to Hexside since it was the last place he felt comfort, which specifically was when he was in *that* outfit, when he was on the team with his friends
Belos is a great Villain and you made a great job to show it. He used a God and made him to work for him. He could manipulate every person if he has enough time and i think that is scary. Even if you fight him he manipulate you to do what he wants.
Belos is what the most evil, devilish monster we as a species could end up becoming. A monstrous human completely devoid of empathy, yet uses i only to manipulate others around them like a spider building a spider web. They offer you your wildest dreams but there always a catch that, at first glance would be harmless, but in the end truly destroys you. Belos played almost everyone like a fiddle, and it will be very interesting to see how the residents of the boiling isles recover after learning that their emperor wasn't a witch and wanted them dead only to leave their world (and leave them for dead). Would anyone still wish to follow Belos and reject the thought that were only being used? How much resentment would the residents feel that their own blind loyalty to a manipulative monster almost everyone their lives? Season 3 is going to be wild witches! (pun intended)
Thank you for giving Belos the love and loathing that he deserves. A solid villian and a fun mix of charismatic, cruel, and genuinely believing in his own righteousness
YES YES YES FINALLY!! i hate belos with a burning passion but i cannot deny that he is one of the most well written villains i have ever seen in media for such a long time. i wanted someone to make a character analysis of him and his villainy cause he's just so damn interesting, and how his actions shaped the isles itself is something that i can personally see in my own environment, and how it reminds me of how my country and its people were shaped because of one's actions. and you delivered! THANK YOU!! THIS WAS AMAZING!!
Belos was such a well written and intimidating villain, untill he got bitched by a childgod. We definitely didnt see the last of him tho
A terrifying childgod
In season 2 finale end credit sence belos goof close the door we can see him in season
It's such hilarious anticlimax 🤣 Belos was done dirty.
Dying so unceremoniously is a fitting punishment for him. But I do hope at least part of him comes back
@@mabelsan1133 He probably is; some of his goop landed on Hunter's shoulder and you can see said goop shut the door of the house at the end of the credits.
@@mabelsan1133 kinda yeah, but it does establish Collector as fucking terrifying, and also it's clear Belos isn't actually dead, so there is a silver lining
THANK YOU SO MUCH! This video is everything I've dreamed for and more. I've always wanted someone to give Belos the proper analysis he deserves, and in the format of a very long video at that! He is easily one of my favorite animated villains, and top five characters in the show.
I'm glad you enjoyed! Really took a lot of work to make, but still thought it'd be fun to go over what made him so interesting for the show, and what made him such a menace for the characters.
And i believe that the irony is that after his 400 years preparing for his big plan and when he tell's humanity of his glorius "hunt", he will be seen nothing as a madman and a monster (because the fact that he lived 400 years is an already a big hint) and the bighest bittertruth will be that he won't get praise from his own kind and that he sacrifaced his own brother's life for nothing.
I always knew belos was a menace but the moment he truly became irredeemable for me is when he refused to play hide and seek with the collector. Absolutely despicable behavior
Lovely video-essay! I can’t wait to see what will come of Belos’/Philip’s arc in Season Three.
Thank You! I'm so glad you enjoyed! this really was the biggest project of my life, so I'm really happy that people are finding it and liking it
I love how Belos has no redeeming qualities to him. He is truly a horrible old man who wants nothing but power and control over a society he despises. It makes his inevitable downfall even more sweet as everything that happens to him is completely justified and the world will 100% be a better place with him gone. I want to see more irredeemable villains that get taken down by the heroes in return for all of the trauma, pain, and sadness they caused the world.
Great soundtrack choice. Hearing „shall never surrender“ in Hunters part made me happy.
This is the kinda shit that I've been looking forward to after TOH's season 2 finale. There's not nearly enough of these long form video essays.
Thank You! I'm glad you enjoyed it! Took a LOT of effort to make, but still was fun since I knew it would be something interesting to talk about
My favourite quote from Philip/ Belos is (context being that he was just punched, and he got to one of his many milestones of becoming "Witch Hunter General" is: "...THOSE WITCHES!!!! *echoes ominously*, *absorbs palisman essence*, it doesn't matter, I just need to live long enough to see this through, and your going to help me collector"
Yeah, the way he shouts the word "witches" is just... it really screams (no pun intended) unbridled rage and hatred. Like, Lilith wouldn't have punched him if he wasn't such a dick in so many ways, but he still blamed her and was furious with her.
you didn't close those parentheses
Magnificent job on this video. Just more proof that Belos is one of the best Disney villains in ages.
Thank You! Took a while to make this massive project, but still had a lot of fun talking about what made this character so great lol
This was such an interesting video! I think that Belos is one of the best villains I've seen recently. His complicated motives are what initially fascinated me but it's also that a lot of villains, the "big bads" are not that threatening. Sure, they are overpowered and have guards and allies, but in a lot of cases, they don't have a direct connection to any of the protagonists. As a viewer, we only see the actual threat when the characters we connect with and relate to are directly affected by the actions of said villain. This is why Belos is such a scary character because he reached the position he's in now with only his powers of manipulation. In a sense, he is someone who understands human (or in this case, witch) psychology well enough to abuse that knowledge.
What I didn't get... a lot of people have said that "Why did they have Belos reveal he was Phillip? We already knew that!" That wasn't the point, the whole point was for Belos to twist the knife with Luz and break her spirit; which totally fits with his sociopathic personality as a witch-hunter.
It's pretty scary just how strong Belos manipulation is this is why despite me hating Belos he's one of my favourite villains
I love how the entire fandom collectively agreed "he's an absolute monster, but in terms of writing, his character is amazing."
This video just shows how much of a great villain belos is and to think that despite being a human he caused more death than possibly anyone else in this series.
This is how you know you’ve written a good character
I love Lilith's character, because she is so deep and complex. I also appreciate how even framed as a bad guy she only tried to do what was right, to make her mistakes right again. I also saw that instance of the sister's having to fight for who would get into the emperors coven as a real turning point if they had just talked about it before, if Lilith had tried to talk to Eda and seen a different way. Things might have been different.
One of the saddest things is the Selkidomus scales needed to create a Grimwalker. The Selkidomus that Hunter was sent to collect.
Yep. This is dark. A family friendly Disney show!
Or not
You know, when looking into it, Hunter Pretty Much Kinda Reminds Me Alot Of Ben Reilly. Like, Really. The two Actually have Alot in common:
-Both were Clones of the Original's Brother(Ben being Peter's role as Brother).
-Both have Blonde Hair but lack Blue Eyes.
-Both are just Kind-Hearted People with Attitude but with some Self Esteem Issues and Insecurities.
-Both wanted to prove themselves for their Relatives(Ben with Peter being The Best Spider-Man he could be And Hunter wanted to prove Belos what he's Capable of).
-Both have their Siblings trying to torment them and Kill Them(Ben with Kaine and SpiderCide and Hunter with Phillip/Belos).
-Both have Siblings who have a Disgusted Feature, Have Terrible Conditions that Effect Their Bodies, and Turn Them Into Liquid Like Monster(Ben with Kaine and SpiderCide and Hunter with Phillip/Belos).
-Both try to find their place in the world.
-Both try to find their own Discovery,Identity, and Independence.
-Both Actually are able to make friends Easily.
-Both have been Tormented by the Creators Several Times.
-Both have Creators that have Actually Made Them for selfish Purposes and have their own Selfish abd Disgusting Ideals(Belos for his Prejudice on trying to exterminate Witches and Creatures abd all life in the Boiling Isles And Dr. Miles Warren for his Lust towards Peter's first love Gwen Stacy).
-Both experience Heavy Trauma.
-Both find their own Love Interests that they could Actually Deeply Connect With(Ben with Janine and Hunter with Willow).
Really, when looking at things, when Looking at the two, Really, the two Actually Have Alot More In Common Than We Think......Like, Really.....
Belos/Phillip gives Scar and Frollo a run for their money!
Belos is a metaphorical fusion of Stanford Pines, Scar and Judge Claude Frollo
@@Hexsmasher2099 stanford?
Edit: nvm you mean the journals and the diary entries.
Belos is great but he has nothing on Scar. Frollo meaybe but scar no
The worst part about how he tricked Lilith is how he blatantly let her see his true intentions which would lead her to leaving the empowers coven and eventually finding the time pools with Luz where they help a younger Philip.
This Blew Me Away dude!
Dana and the writers are so good at making a character so evil and I can't wait for the last 3, 44 minute special's to wrap up such and incredible show.
“Belos only wants to be the hero in his own story.”
-papa titan
I love this video, it really does perfectly describe the essence of Belos. Hunter-being my favorite character- is so articulate because of Belos’s manipulation. Eclipse Lake is my favorite episode of TOH, it really shows so much about all the characters. I’ve probably rewatched this video around 3 or 4 times, and it’s still just as good as the first.
Finally FINALLY someone made a video about ONE of the best Villain and One of my fav characters in the show ,,,,, and the way u did it?
Ugh it's sooo good
(In short Belos is one of my fav Villains of all time and .......
This video is just GREAT in general)😀
Thank You! Took a lot of work to make this since it seriously is one of the biggest projects of my life, but I'm glad you enjoyed it!
"He thinks he is doing a bad thing for a good reason" No, he thinks he's doing a good thing for a good reason. Eradicating witches and demons from existence is a good thing in his mind.
So basically belos and is such a good manipulator he manipulated himself without knowing it
24:15 It did not seem like a ruse to
Me.
I do not
think darius treated hunter that way to trick hunter into interacting with people outside the castle.
I think he genuinely had a low opinion of hunter and was genuinely treating him like crap.
He earlier in the episode stated that he just gave that task so hunter so he would leave him alone.
And based on his tone honestly did not expect hunter to succeed.
It was just a happy accident
One that Darius was glad happened but did not intend to happen.
Exactly, the way Darius treated hunter in the past was not an act. And the way he treated hunter at the start of any sport in a storm wasn't an act.
As you said, Darius literally admitted he just wanted hunter to leave him alone. He genuinely disliked hunter before hand.
I feel like when people try to act like he didn't and was protecting hunter all along than they remove an important part of Darius's character, and the reason why he disliked hunter in the first place, which is to do with the previous golden guard.