Nine Essays About Characters That Matter
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- Опубліковано 8 чер 2024
- FIND THE ESSAYISTS
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AZRIEL: Malacalico (he/him) @malacalico // malacalico.carrd.co/
TAMAMUSHI UNIVERSITY: @tamamushiuniversity4159 // / @tamamushiuniversity4159
BRIAN LAZAROW: @brianlazarow2206 // / @brianlazarow2206 // / theraelbrianl // / dragonlazarus // / brianlazarow // lbreel.com
ZEPHYR CAULFIELD (he/they): @ZephyrCaulfield // / @zephyrcaulfield // / caulfielder
CHOCCY PROPHET (he/him): @choccyprophet8691 // / @choccyprophet8691 // Devil May Cry analysis: • Devil May Cry 2: Why D...
ACE AT WRITING CLUB (he/him): writingaceclub.neocities.org
MOMENTS IN MEDIA: Timo (he/him): @momentsinmedia // / @momentsinmedia // Companion video: "Persona 5 Royal is a sequel to itself": • Persona 5 Royal is a S...
DANNY MOTTA (he/him): @DannyMotta // / @dannymotta
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Shorts and hot takes: / tbskyenshorts
Let's plays & gameplay: / 2bskyen
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As a video essayist, I obviously love to go on and on about my own silly opinions, but I also love to watch video essays and hear about other people's ideas
Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
2:52 Azriel: Twilight Princess Zelda
8:52 Tamamushi University: Rabsca
15:25 Brian Lazarow: Percy Jackson
23:24 Zephyr: Chainsaw Man
32:04 Choccy Prophet: Mechanicus Adeptus
41:18 Ace: Spamton
47:18 Moments in Media: Goro Akechi
57:12 Danny Motta: Rengoku Kyojuro
1:06:49 TBSkyen: Cloud Strife
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Royalty free music in my videos sourced from filmmusic.io, incompetech.com, and composed by Kevin Macleod. Used under a Creative Commons license ((creativecommons.org/licenses/b...)
Additional music by Stevia Sphere
steviasphere.bandcamp.com/
Used under a Creative Commons License - Розваги
*FIND THE ESSAYISTS HERE:*
*AZRIEL: Malacalico (he/him)* @malacalico // malacalico.carrd.co/
*TANAMUSHI UNIVERSITY:* @tamamushiuniversity4159 // www.youtube.com/@tamamushiuniversity4159
*BRIAN LAZAROW:* @brianlazarow2206 // www.youtube.com/@brianlazarow2206 // twitter.com/TheRaelBrianL // dragonlazarus.tumblr.com // tiktok.com/@brianlazarow // lbreel.com
*ZEPHYR CAULFIELD (he/they):* @ZephyrCaulfield // www.youtube.com/@ZephyrCaulfield // www.tiktok.com/@caulfielder
*CHOCCY PROPHET (he/him):* @choccyprophet8691 // www.youtube.com/@choccyprophet8691 // Devil May Cry analysis: ua-cam.com/video/DFV_MOJrVDY/v-deo.html
*ACE AT WRITING CLUB (he/him):* writingaceclub.neocities.org
*MOMENTS IN MEDIA:* Timo (he/him): @momentsinmedia // www.youtube.com/@momentsinmedia // Companion video: "Persona 5 Royal is a sequel to itself": ua-cam.com/video/iT1UojxPwlM/v-deo.html
*DANNY MOTTA (he/him):* @DannyMotta // www.youtube.com/@DannyMotta
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Thank you to all the contributors, I have enjoyed putting this collection together _a lot_ and hopefully it won't be the last time I do something like this. Also, making the animations for the in-between segments finally spurred me to update my avatar and channel branding, so consider this a Last Hurrah for the old avatar :)
we need a face reveal
Great video and I love that you gave a shout-out to other great content creators! More videos like this please.
"All of my Oddities adorn me into adulthood" is such a metal line.
Thank you! I feel like signs of aging are used to demonize transitioning (and most unconventional self expressions like tattoos) so why not embrace them? If I’m going to live in this body might as well enjoy the decor that I have and will come with time.
@@writing-ace-clubYou went hard as fuck, yours is probably my favorite essay out of all these (and man do i love Goro Akechi), nice job.
man, i sure hope that this well crafted piece of media does not change my perspective in any meaningful manners
I am currently stuck with every fiber of my being on Arcane's version of Viktor and when you said sometimes a character just digs their nails into your soul I FELT that 😭
I can truely relate to that feeling. For me personally it’s Sevika from Arcane and I can’t tell why. But overall many Characters in Arcane give me nearly those feelings, they made a really good Job in Character design.
When I first played FFVII at the age of seven, my strongest reaction was to Tifa. I loved the game, but I loathed her. She lied about being Cloud's childhood friend; she hung around with his bullies and wouldn't be seen with him during the day. She knew Cloud was wrong about the events in their hometown, and if she'd have just said something sooner perhaps he wouldn't have broken at such a crucial point! She was consistently weak willed, and consistently compromised herself to keep the peace and avoid confrontation. Naturally, when everyone else leaves the ship to tie up lose ends, she has nothing. She just clings to Cloud and begs for a little attention. Pathetic. Selfish. Cowardly.
As I grew up, I gradually pulled back from a fandom that seemed determined to set the two female leads against each other, and learned more about trauma and empathy. Tifa's desperation and self-erasing coping mechanisms began to make sense. I learned to give her credit for the moments where she did stand up and take direct action, and especially for the kindness she shows towards Aerith, and Cloud. I began to realise just how rare it was to see a woman with such flaws be given the space to work through them. So often media condemns women like Tifa, or frames her self-sacrificing nature as a positive. With Tifa, we see the loneliness, we see the damage she causes to herself and to others, and we see her fix it and grow into a hero. More than that, she grows into a person who can properly voice what she wants.
She does regress horribly in Advent Children but so does everyone else. >.>
What I love about Cloud is that the climax of what happens at the reactor at Nibelheim shows he always had the potential to be a hero. Not some sort of major hero of Midgar, not the face of some ideal SOLDIER. He is a hero to Zack, and a hero to Tifa. That desperation to stop Sephiroth and keep his friends safe made him what he wanted to be. The failed ambition, the shame, the insecurity all go out the window in that one moment because they don't constrain him. They don't need to define him. When Cloud's memories are restored and he comes to understand that, it's such a great emotional catharsis as you see that facade crumble away. He's awkward, but friendly, and he embraces who he is around people he is happy to call friends.
For me its Evelynn. The damn chokehold this woman has on me is crazy, and as a woman myself its not as typical for this type of femme fatale character to fascinate me as much. Maybe I should also think about my obsession in the essay way.
The Skyen origin had me in tears. This was an amazing video, please do more of this. I love to see all the different perspectives taken from the same prompt.
Also the leprosy joke made me cackle out loud
When was the reveal?
@@strangeperson6969 i meant the reveal of what Skyen means, I'll edit the comment so as to avoid confusion
@@saguierdimas Ok. Thank you.
Which vidéo is it ?
The video left me in emotions I can't really explaine. Since childhood I connected far better to fictional characters than real humans. And the video reminded me again why.
I could name so many characters who deeply effected me in my time: Cloud Strife the first character I felt understood by or Sasori from Naruto I looked up to and seeked comfort in when my emotions got to troubling. Even if I now know that pushing your feelings away is not the right way.
Or the time I started to take interesst in Dark Souls and the whole concept just... stuck with me and a bonfire now is tattooed on my arm with a massage of "Keep fighting through life even if it's hard."
There are so many that could fit the mold of "a character that matter to me" because... every character helped me in a time of my life I needed them.
But right now I actually would say it is a character from Genshin Impact that saved my life. Wanderer.
He had a life full of trauma, a feeling of not being wanted and because he is a puppet no heart and so no emotions. Even tho he has emotions but just can't understand and deal with them. Like me.
He did terrible things to others because of his hurt and to fill that void. Until he got stopped as a villain and did the only thing he saw for himself: Erasing himself from all the lives he ruined. A wish I had. But it didn't worked and he was still in this world as the Wanderer. An empty Vessel that traveled through the world seeking meaning. The Fates of all hadn't changed even after is own erasure from history and the Wanderer stand before a choice: Should he embrace his old memories and all he did or not?
He could have lived a live without the guilt, the pain and everything but... he choice not to. He remembered what he did and understood that the only way to deal with the pain, emotion and guilt is not to throw it or himself away but... to finde his own path with it. To open a new chapter and atone for his sins and finde new meaning and happiness. And it gave me hope that I could be my own Wanderer. Rising from the ashes of my past and find a way that brings me happiness.
This comment is probably way to long and emotional. I could talk so much more about the topic, maybe I should write and make my own video.
Thanks to all who did this amazing work on the video.
Danny talking about his mom made me ugly cry. As a disabled single mom who’s poor, I always worry that I’m not enough.
I watch Demon Slayer with my kid. It was perfect. It was all just perfect.
One character that always stayed with me through all of my life is Rubeus Hagrid, the half giant, because of his personality. Throughout my childhood i always was this chubby kid too tall for my age, too clumsy to play sports (and with no interest in them either) to out of shape that i never had any chance in any fight,with more interest in painting my imaginary monsters, cooking with my mom and reading scary books with scary stories, which means that i was the stereotypical weird kid that everyone else either ignored or tormented with my only friends being the nice bookeepers.
And then i saw the first Harry Potter movie and Hagrid appeared; this giant man that can be intimidating but with hearth of gold and clumsy, caring hand, this giant man that loves strange and scary things, this gaint man that is lonely, and i saw myself and i loved him, i loved him so much that i hated that Hagrid didnt appeared for much of the movie, and Hagrid alone was the reason i saw the rest of the movies. And i hated Harry so much when he choosed to name his firstborn after the man who wanted him to die and the simp of his mother, instead of the first person who ever baked him a birthday cake.
And yet, Hagrid is a bad character, written by a bad writer as a comedic sidekick that no one takes seriously, but no one, not even Rowling herself, can take away that first impression where i saw Hagrid as the confirmation that i wasnt alone in this world, that i wasnt a freak, as the confirmation that i was gonna be ok in the future.
I love this comment so much. One of my favorite quotes, I can’t remember where it comes from, is “When you create something and you put it out into the world, it isn’t really ‘yours’ anymore.” Part of the reason I want to make art and stories is to create characters that matter to people, even if it’s in a way I never intended in the first place.
Talks about Percy Jackson, Warhammer 40k, and Persona 5?! Man this video was tailored quite well to my tastes. Thanks to Skyen and everyone who contributed to this essay. It was well worth a watch!.
Percy Jackson and Pokémon are the twin roads that inevitably lead to SMT
The Ace: Spamton one was so enjoyable to watch, it was at the same time silly, funny and serious, and it had me hooked for that segment
I find It very funky that Cloud in Danish is literally Sky, what a coincidence
i swear every language in northern europe, scaninavia, and english, are just the same language with the words mixed up to be similar things but not the same word LOL
Probably not a "coincidence" per se, but yes very cool1
@@pisscvre69 If I remember correctly, that's because they're all Germanic languages. Danish is a north-germanic language and english a west-germanic one.
@@pisscvre69 i wonder why countries right next to each other would have similar words in their languages 🤔
This video is honestly so profound and reminds me of why when I was a child, I wanted to be a video game designer and to create media. My journey is... nothing like what I expected. I still struggle everyday, and my career path has pivoted entirely away from that. It could pivot back. But seeing all these discussions of masculinity, what it means to be a hero, the dark sides of ourselves, and all these deep topics does remind me that media that makes you think is always worth making no matter the risk. Keep making your essays, they matter to people and help us all think :)
I could talk a lot about how much I loved this video, but I'm just going to say it was so comforting in a weird way, I love listening to people talk about things they are passionate about, and this was a whole hour of just that. Amazing
Strongest because of the battle he looses.
Such a perfect way to summarize it, that it makes me cry.
Love that carrachter. Nothing more noble than the spirit of selfsacrifice.
I am so grateful I was able to be a part of this! Everyone did such an amazing job and I had an absolute blast. Thanks, TBSkyen :)
Can I just say - your unbridled joy when talking about Chainsaw Man was absolutely phenomenal and I loved every second of it? It brought such a giant smile to my face
@@tobiasarboe5753 thank you! that really means so much to me
I'm very late to finally getting around to watching this, but I genuinely think your essay is my favorite of the bunch! You put words to everything that made me love Chainsaw Man, and I'd love to watch more rant essays from you in the future!
Danny's story about about his mother was so beautiful
Agreed
One of my favorite moments from the Percy Jackson series, is when Percy and Annabeth return from Tartus. I just can’t forget what they had to go through, and the relief I felt after they escaped. Definitely one of the best adventures that came from the books.
I miss Bob though
As someone who spent their preteen years (and a lot of teen year tbh) as a almost rabid Percy Jackson Fan, I Knew as soon as he said "demigod who's too loyal"
That ending for the Rabsca segment will live rent-free in my head forever.
First off, this is one of the coolest videos I've even seen. I love when creators provide platforms for smaller creators, and this video is probably one of the best I've ever seen on UA-cam. Talking about how writing what you are passionate about helped me a lot too. I've always been a strong writer, but writing about stuff I don't really care about for school has always been tedious.
The video is helping me right now, as I'm taking a shot at making a video essay for the first time. This video has helped me to look back more on my writing, and just find subtle ways to change my writing style to fit my personality more, instead of coming across as a school essay. Once again, great video.
Skyen, The Cloud, thank for for featuring these stories and for adding your own. They were beautiful and resonant and inspirational for us (me, at the very least) to ponder our own relationships with the characters and influences that shape us. Cheers to your wonderful content.
I've been thinking on this for a couple days now. Video games were a huge refuge for my abused, abandoned, confused non-nurotypical young self.
They were a world of escape and a sense of control. But the question is, what character. Kefka for his isolation from society? Cloud for his attempts to fill a mold? The no-name hero for the self insert? The mysterious God hand separated by the fourth wall, but with all the ability to fit the bits into place and make them work?
I've decided that it's none of those. It's the video game ability to let me be something anything, everything other than what I am for a moment. A change to imagine, breath, succeed or win, under conditions infinitely more understandable and simpler than the meatspace I'm imprisoned in.
It sounds weird, but when I look in the mirror in the morning and this 'meat machine' that houses me stares back, I no longer hate it in a haze of overwhelmed confusion.
I've had my chances to be a million things. Amongst those, I can be myself.
Video games give me a chance to be a stranger or a strange thing, where it's my results that matter. It's a lot easier to look into a mirror and look into the face of a stranger if I've looked into a monitor and seen a stanger, but it's the effort that defines what matters.
Anyway.... I should give this more thought, run it out and edit the crap out of it, but meh. I'm tired and this is going to get lost.
Anyway, a million forms, but the effort that matters, it's all just skins until you try real hard and that's you applied to game and then you could flip it to life.
But maybe I'm drunk and this should get deleted.
OH MY GOD HE HAS LEGS
I’ve noticed that if a character appears very collected/happy but is secretly depressed or very insecure they will always become a new favorites
Just finished watching the videoand I did enjoy everyone's essays. Going to definitely check out a few of the channels that caught my attention (and it was definitely fascinating to see the origin story of "Skyen" at the end.
I'm sad to say I don't really have much of a story I can think of for myself of a character who I have personally connected to. The best I can think of is Cecil from FF4, but that is kind of more "broken thinking" from childhood, but overall just a character who I enjoyed greatly. The idea of someone starting off a dark knight and then becoming a paladin; someone who wishes to do the right thing and still follows the orders of those he would call family in spite of knowing what he is doing is wrong. And how the dissidia games seem to promote the idea of Cecil not really cowering away from his days as a Dark Knight, but rather embracing it and allowing him access to more moves than the good chunk of the cast. Still, I wish I could elaborate more on it, but I'll leave it at that.
Definitely would be interesting to see a sequel to this in the future come up. I know for myself, I would like to try and toss my hat into the ring should another opportunity come up for a "TBSkyen Presents" showcase (but perhaps for another time. Might just ask about it in the monthly Q&A maybe...) Thank you as always for the lovely content Skyen. Always proud to support you over on Patreon.
-Mike Sol
HE'S GOT LEGS 😮
For me violet evergarden is such a character. Turns out, i am on the spectrum and have cptsd.
Coincidence
I think not
I loved this and hearing about these extremely personal experiences. None of the characters talked about in this video were like this for me, but being touched by characters (and maybe even obsessed by them) really struck a chord with me. For me, the most recent example of this is Mollymauk Tealeaf from Critical Role. I don't even really know why. He is not the kind of character archetype I usually like best (I like the less sociable, quiet, borderline antihero types with a heart of gold most of the time). But Molly, for some reason, just wouldn't let me go, even now, way after the campaign has ended. I think some things about his characterization were just so novel and intriguing for me. He might have been the first character I consciously thought about who combined kindness with confidence and loudness without being arrogant or full of himself. I usually saw kindness combined with insecurity or at the very least gentleness, but Molly is such a vibrant ball of energy and motivation and simple ideals, all the while not taking himself or anything all too seriously. He could be a person doing kind things in his own, small way without expecting gratitude or without the story rewarding him with having saved someone important or getting a reward later. As a character, he is both designed not to be the coolest, the most dramatic, the most impressive, but to leave every place a little better than it was before all the same. I like him both from a writing and from a personality standpoint, and someone like him was completely new to me. The reason might be gendered, since more female characters get to be kind and nice and not prideful at the same time than male (or, in Molly's case, male representing) characters do. Either way. I don't think Molly will let go of me anytime soon. He is my blorbo and my poor little meowmeow and you can pry him out of my cold, dead hands.
That person talking about his mom had me weeping. What a wonderful thing.
Excellent video. I would love to see more of this. Excellent, excellent, excellent.
Oh my god that Akechi Goro essay is so on point. I’m super glad that someone else saw the duality in him, and his tragedy.
That character for me, would be link, specifically the one from ocarina and majoras. Since childhood i always admired that style of heroism. Link is a chosen one, sure, but for most of the games you spend time helping others for no reason other than, you are there, you can help them. From simple quests like: buying a mask for the daughter of a guard who cannot leave his post or kafei's questline. Neither of does are required quest to finish the game and neither of them gives you an amazing item that helps you. You just help them out of a sense of doing good just for the sake of doing it. You are making the world a better place for those people even if reality looks grim.
And this stuck with me until this day. To help others you don't need to have super powers, you don't need to be a chosen one. You just need to be there and do something, anything that can make that persons life easier or just be there for her
I'd LOVE to see more videos like this; these more personal deep dives and discussions feel so much more impactful and interesting to engage with than a lot of other content on the platform.
Man, I love how the mini skyien moves, that's good animation
For me, my special character that has stuck in my head for as long as I’ve known him is Malleus Draconia from Disney’s Twisted Wonderland. Among a cast of goofy, Disney villain inspired characters attending what is basically hogwarts, Malleus just sticks out to me in a deeply relatable way. He struggles with making human connections and is a nerd with specific niche interests that only he really understands. He is an incredibly powerful dragon fey prince that is feared and respected by most of the cast, and yet he is also deeply human. He is playful and likes teasing others, yet will typically present in a reserved manner because of his responsibility as the heir of a whole nation. He tries his best to make nice with the other students, yet his attempts tend to be misguided due to his lack of understanding about how people work. Honestly, I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve rewritten this comment over and over again out of fear of being misunderstood in a similar fashion. For seeming dumb or shallow for liking a gacha game character this much.
I adore taliyah because of how she makes me so secure in my gender, I adore sableye because of how that lil critter is so mischievous and the gimmick of gem eating, and i adore how aloy is able to be both feminine and masculine, both leader and lone wolf, and still be a woman, and a brilliant character in a medium so dominated by cis guys
I cried at some point during every single one of these essays. It meant a great deal to see characters represented from both franchises I've experience myself and franchises I've never wanted to touch, obscure and unpopular characters to primary protagonists. It made me think about my own media favorites, and about the characters who, for better or for worse, shaped me into the person I am today. The bit at the end where you reveal that detail about your name- what a fantastic example of us literally crafting our identities from the media we consume and the characters- no, people, who influence our lives.
Thank you, TBSkyen. And thank you to all the other creators of this video. You've given me a lot of insight into my own life with this.
i saw that there was a percy jackson section and I'm too weak to do this right now percy was such a big part of my younger teenage years I Will Get Emotional :'D but just wanted to drop a comment because this is such a cool idea for a video!! I love seeing people wax on about their favourite characters :'] nothing more heartwarming than someone's pure and unadulterated love for a fictional person that has significantly altered their brain chemistry (affectionate) thank you for compiling this!! I will watch it when I am more well rested and less fragile feeling HAHAH always love what you're putting out and so cool that you always spotlight other creators as well! thanks for creating mr skyen :]
I really liked the part about percy jackson and it really spoke to something that I as an aspiring writer and long time reader find to be hurtful: The amount of self insert based media there is really really hurts creativity and someones perspective on art. The people I have seen that would be able to appreciate media more when not wanting to self insert is painful.
And while writing this I realized what helped me to not have this perspective: Eragon. Christopher Paolinis work, having his characters change, be incredibly different and making their self identity a massive part of the final conflict was something that led to me respecting and celebrating everyone for their uniqueness. Its something ive realized to help me both in my day to day life and when reading media.
I feel so super validated right now for my borderline obsession with a certain video game character that changed my life by sparking my latest journey of self-improvement and self-actualization, like some of these folks with their characters. It took me a while to figure out why I love him so much, and I've come to realize that it's because he represented so many things that I wanted to be but didn't realize I wanted to be until I got to "know" him. He's inspired me to become confident, strong (in more ways than one), and in touch with my masculine side (I'm AFAB and nonbinary, and had been struggling with how I wanted to understand and define my gender identity before I "met" him). Much love to all the incredible essayists. I cried multiple times. And thank you to TBSkyen for elevating trans voices ❤
My friend, its a sad truth that in the constant onslaught of content most creators on UA-cam loose track of themselves in order to raise their chances to win the lottery of the algorithm. Thank you for being different in asking interesting questions to yourself and other people, you have been a big part of me becoming an adult in interaction with video games. Bless your heart and bless your channel. Please do what feels right to you and
i hope that you always find meaning in what you do because at least for me it is extremely meaningful to me and i believe the rest of your audience as well.
THIS WAS A FANTASTIC VIDEO!!! I find it very admirable that you used your platform to give more of a voice to smaller creators, and what each of them said resonated with me in some way. What a great way to reveal something about yourself, while also giving the space to others to share some of themselves too.. This is what essays and art in general should be striving for, and I think this is very important criticism to be making in media nowadays, which can so easily become "content" and fodder to the great capitalist machine.
TB SKYEN AND WH40K WAS NOT THE CROSSOVER I EXPECTED BUT THOROUGHLY LOVE. If we could get Skyen to start dipping his toes into the gargantuan lore would just be delightful
He’s brought it up many times before
Mainly using as an example of something so extreme and in your face somehow makes it loop back around into subtly and genius
Last time he brought it up was in passing about aesthetics I think
Hf Danny's mum cracked me up 😭 She's so strong
I never really thought about Rengoku in the mind of Danny, it is amazing hearing what he has told him about his mom while realizing what the beauty of Rengoku is. Ace's Spamton essay is amazing as someone who is still in the process of discovering one's identity, and yours was a great one to listen to as I never understood FF games until I heard your perspective on the matter. Great video!
I've not yet worked up the courage to actually start posting video essays. I hope some day I do, and I likewise hope that you do another video like this. Because there is definitely a character who I could write an essay or two about
Oof, even by watching it again, certain parts got me still.
Thank you for every person who worked on this video
What a great idea to have others talk about their favorite characters. I love Skyen for opening the floor for others to speak.
I'm going to enjoy listening to all of these essays, but I just want to say that I find myself stumped at seeing Skyen with Legs. Been so used to seeing just the upper body and suddenly seeing legs threw me off.
I am loving animated TB Skyen, it adds so much character for such a small thing and it's just glorious
A character that will always make me feel hope and just like I can eventually be myself is lake from infinity train seeing them struggle to gain their own identity and own independent both warms my heart and brakes it *spoilers* the first time we see them they are stuck mirroring someone else's life I won't get into to much detail but it reminded me how I felt in my abusive relationships like I was only mimic and I had nothing outside of them and the moment in that episode where they are running and they starts to step out the door and falls down because they are stuck every time that hurts to watch the other part is when they finally get off the train the first time but is chained to a fleck and even though he is dying he still takes the time to them they will never be a whole person there are several scene like this when they about to leave with their new friend they can't go through the portal and is left behind but the part that just makes me ache everytime is they finally get to machine that gives their passengers thier numbers they don't even recognize their presence more or less recognize them as a person and they quite literally rage against the machine and start breaking it apart it's so heartbreaking to watch but ultimately makes the resolve more impactful when they finally get to get off the train in the show the flecks are beings that manifest through reflections and that's what has been stopping them this whole time so when the first thing they see when getting off the train is a lake they name themselves after that lake which is another reason why I relate to them so much I'm non-binary and to see them reclaim something that held them back and choose it as their identity it just made me cry like a baby anyways sorry for the long message but this video just made me think about them and how much this show in general means to me
Fuck it's so gratifying to see someone impacted so similarly as i was to Cloud, who reached such similar conclusions, especially someone's whose analysis and opinions I've grown to respect over the last year or so (your Bloodborne analysis series was absolute fire, btw). It hits all the moreso when the character's perception by the public and treatment in spinoffs and cameos have mutated so far away from their initial characterization.
this is a masterpiece of a project. if feels pretty self-conclusive, but i really hope you make a second episode at some point.
I love when channels with great content use their following to spotlight other channels. Been seeing a lot more of it lately, and the number of channels I subscribe to has been skyrocketing. Love it!
I fucking love just seeing people talk why they love a character so much, please do more of this, it's amazing
Thank you guys so much for doing a video like this! I think this is one of my new favorites on your channel. I really loved listening to everyone talk about how these characters have impacted their lives, and I loved gaining a new perspective on a lot of them! Skyen, it would be so great to see you do another one of these sometime and, if you want to- if you can, I'd love to see you do some analysis videos on the aspects of Final Fantasy 7's story that you mentioned at the end of your essay. You seem really passionate about it!
For me, a very small but important character for me is and was Remy from Street Fighter III: Third Strike
On the surface he very much looks and acts like a typical mid 2000s emo edgelord. Tight, black leather jacket, long, turquoise flowing hair and a permanent sour expression were very much the style at the time. I didn't have many early experiences with Third Strike, though. I played it on Fightcade years after it's been already cemented as a legendary fighting game.
But I rarely played it online with other people. What I'd do is usually to just go through the arcade ladder over and over again.
I gravitated to Remy partially because of his slender looks and because I enjoyed his gameplay. He's a very defensive character who also has moves which allow him to both maintain a constant flow of motion and to react to the enemy with sudden aggresive bursts.
It's later that I took interest in his character. He appeared in only one game, so there was very little to gleam. But I found the fact that he was a fighter who hated fighting a fascinating irony. Not a hypocricy, because I don't think he was ever unaware of it. Another aspect was that in his ending he is shown swimming into a cave and cradling the body of his sister, frozen in a block of ice before he leaves her forever, his disposition and desire for some kind of revenge dissipating. There really isn't much to work with, but my mind always keeps coming back to him for some reason. His design reflects this kind of duality with the icy look and the turquoise blue hair and his stance and animations and charge moves leaning him towards a calmer playstyle, but the fiery red pants and some other moves and this deep inner hatred for everyone else in the cast making him much more aggro. So there's this very special kind of duality that I guess I feel in myself as well. A calm demeanor which can sometimes break down and just explode with anger.
And it reflects in the final boss of SFIII too. Gill, the man who also has a blue-red color scheme, but on his body. And unlike Remy's wiry frame, he is muscular and confident, a cult leader who preaches harmony and acts like a Messiah. I guess now that I think of it, Remy is like the logical and pragmatic part of my brain, my thoughts on how the world is and how I should act, and he is fighting against Gill, my own desire for a Messiah, for someone else to guide me and to finally give me peace between the two inner sides of my brain and make it feel like there's something in life more valuable than my own base survival. Maybe it's even as simple as my inner atheist vs the Christian values I was somewhat raised on, but it seems to have manifested in a strange way.
I think for me, the most lifechanging character was Yoshimitsu from Tekken.
Not because of his Lore, but because of how much time i've put into learning him. Dancing around the Opponent, Playing with their heads,
not only reading the opponent but also forcing them to think of doing X, just to counter exactly that. And all of this being NECESSARY for success.
When ive finally gotten pretty damn good at him, i wondered what else i could achieve in my life. Now im 3D modelling, creating a videogame myself
and doing the Textures, Programming, EVERYTHING at a decent level. I still come back to Tekken 7 for this character alone and he still is THE greatest
Videogame Character if you consider Gameplay. It helps that his Lore is amazing too haha
I feel welcomed to the Skylight Zone
Ace section was SO SELF AWARE and memeish with huge and horrible production value fluctuating, it had me at the edge of my seat every second, great job I loved it.
i really hope zephyr essay turns out to be a little bit of a twist in that it's about the chainsawman and not just denji,but a denji essay is cool too
"SHE JUST GOT LEPROSY" QNSHSJSNJS ICONIC. QUEEN SHIT.
Thank you for shining light on different aspects of writing and essays. It was beautiful!
rick Riordan has always been really good with his characters and their development over the books if they're not developed in one book they're developed in another if they're not developed in that book they're given their own series or miniseries and Jesus christ his ability to web out connections between every book and series is just god tier. villains are fun, characters are engaging, exposition is subtle but not impossible to spot, and overall everything is just so fun
his title the "Storyteller of the Gods" is absolutely deserved
It took me a solid minute to realize this was not an April fools joke but an actual legit video that just so happened to be posted on April first. It was good though, in a lot of ways that can’t be summed up in a comment but I did vibe.
Honestly i think as i'm watching through one piece luffy has kinda become this kind of character for me. I'm currently just past the marineford arc.
Something i feel that arc and a few of them before it really showed is that no man is an island. As strong and resiliant as luffy is he's lost without the rest of his friends. Where i am in my life i feel one piece is definitely helping inspire me to push forward. And the marineford arc helped me feel better about asking for help when i know i can't do this alone.
I am autistic and sometimes i need support, it happens, and i see a lot of my own behaviors in luffy. His hat being a comfort object, his tendency to be a blunt instrument, his selective empathy, and a lot more. So i feel seeing him stubornly press ahead and try again and again has definitely helped me do the same over the past year.
The quote that cements this i feel is this
Luffy: i can't use a sword, i can't cook, i can't navigate, i can't even lie
Arlong: what can you do?
Luffy: i can beat you
holy cow this was awesome - love the deep analyses and hearing from different people - so reflective and eye opening
The character who has always been bouncing around, somewhere in my head is Luna Lovegood from Harry Potter. And yes, I know, TERF bad, etc. etc. - but that doesn't change the fact that this particular resonated with me quite hard. I'm pretty sure there's some kind of parallel to be drawn because I was always the oddball kid who talks to (or rather 'at') people about weird things and who somehow knew stuff that always made people ask "how tf do you know that?", but I'm no psychologist.
In any case, I really enjoyed this video, so thank you Skyen and everyone who participated in this collaboration for creating it.
Feeding the algorithm so this kost deserving channel can keep growing. Love your content: it's never low effort, insightful, and always worth the time.
The Denji essay was really cool to listen to, it’s a really unique perspective to Chainsaw Man that I haven’t really seen! Awesome video too :D
Thanks Skyen, and everyone who participated. I've learned a lot from this! This video brings very valuable and human information to the forefront which otherwise would have gone unnoticed, and it's prompting me to think (again) about why I like certain characters. Sometimes those reasons only become clear when you're older and are better able to see underlying themes in characters and your own life.
Whew, this has been me with Mohg from Elden Ring for about 1 year now!! The whole phenomena of hyperfixating on one character is such a crazy ride. Im glad you made this video Skyen! Makes me feel seen 💕
Yuka from Blue Period and Cheryl from I Want To Be An Anime Girl literally changed my life and I don't think I can truly articulate how they changed my life, apart from just saying the word Gender
So much warmth and feel good vibes! I really needed it, that's the best way to get to know new creators!!
That last part really made me cry at 3 am, why must you do me like this
I,,, guess I'm morally obligated to finally play FF7 now.
you can also watch his gameplay he made of the old ff7, or the remaked ff7
@@horuho245 I think I want to play it by myself first. To feel all the gut punches as they are, y'know? But that won't stop me from watching like three playthroughs after, starting with Skyen's
Words cannot describe how unfathomably in love I am with this video. Truly the only character on here I have any real interest in is Princess Zelda but I was so endeavored in the fact that other people on this Earth also share a real passion and nuanced understanding of these concepts, I couldn’t help but watch from start to finish. There’s something so profoundly satisfying about someone who’s just unapologetically and unabashedly discussing something specific they care about that not many others do. Makes me wanna analyze the story mode for Super Smash Bros Brawl or examine every theme for every Destiny season or something along those lines. Thank you Skyen. God I love it.
The Rengoku section makes me cry every time.
Thanks, Danny.
Perhaps this format would fit well as some form of yearly tradition.
I enjoyed it and it made me cry quite a bit. I love these essays and hope you can do this more often too
I've never had the same kind of emotional connection to a character design as these essayists talk about. Maybe because my primary media as a kid was novels where a lot of details get filled in especially if you're not a careful and deliberate reader.
The one character though that I remember that said something was Ratchet from Ratchet and Clank. Here's some random kid from some random backwater planet who sees that something crash landed and the kid just wants to help get the special robot to the real hero. Your first weapon, and the weapon that serves you all the way through the game, is a wrench. You've got space fantasy version of jeans and leather workman gloves. Over time you become the badass hero, but only because there's no one else. Everyone else is either incompetent or working for the villain.
What sticks with me is that's kinda how I felt growing up. A nobody having to become a hero because nobody else, especially those who are supposed to, will.
I immediately fell in love with Kucan's performance as Kane in C&C: Tiberian Sun. Zuko and Iroh will always have a special place for me as male role models. I'm sure there has to be others, but none that I can remember right now.
This was such a fantastic idea for a vid! I am always up for hearing why a character resonates with a person. And it made me rethink many of the characters that have dug their claws into me for whatever reason. My personal consistent top one will always be Laura Palmer from Twin Peaks. I have never experienced so much dread and hope from watching her story. I would be totally down for part 2 of this if ever that were to happen (-:
I loved the video, thank you and all the creators for it!
Skyen, thanks for this video, its an amazing compilation, and it reopens my eyes to other perspectives, and it makes me appreciate characters more than ever before. Much love from Mexico
Well, for me, this has been Sans from Undertale. I've played wayyy after the big hype, 1-2 years after I'd say, and I just decided, 'hey, why not try this game I've seen on youtube', I knew about the runs, I knew about some characters names, I knew about some deaths... I didn't know about how deep Sans's writing was and I had no idea how far I would fall after replaying over and over again, catching the subtle dialogues you only understand after beating the game in all modes. You see, for anyone having played Undertale, you normally do the routes in a specific way if you are not coached on how to do them, which is neutral, pacifist, genocide. I did those in this order, firstly because I did not know about the neutral I missed befriending Undyne, I defeated Asgore, then 6 souls Flowey I don't know how because it was (or seemed) incredibly difficult, he made my game crash and broke the 4rth wall a bit too often, which was absolutely nerve wracking and awesome at the time. I defeated Asriel and saved everyone. Then came the genocide route. And I never though I wouldn't be ready. Because genocide is supposed to be your last route to do, you befriended everyone, you knew all their quirks and everything about their lives, maybe you grew attached to them, then you come to kill Toriel, and if the only thing you've ever done is let her hit you until she gives up, and if you strike her, then you get the full guilt. Toriel, Papyrus, Undyne, you kill them all.
And in the Judgement hall, is Sans. And he is a tragic character that at first you don't understand, after all, he is this goofy guy, telling jokes, and everything he says is puns or how cool his brother is, and yeah of course he is mad at you for killing everyone, but that's just the beginning of scraping who he truly is.
Sans is... Depressed. His particularity besides being 'the weakest monster', is that he sees through the game itself. He is made to judge you, your actions, your LoV, he is blessed with the eye that sees, and he is the only one that remembers what you did. So, what if you start the game anew after beating him and meeting with Chara ? Everything is normal, you leave the ruins, and he is there stalking you as a shadow and he tells you this : "Human, don't you know how to meet a new pal ? Turn around and shake my hand". Just a simple greeting, but for you he is not a new pal, he is a long time friend you've betrayed, fought and killed, and he, is already contemplating killing you now, he tells you so in the restaurant before the Core. But he's made a promise, to an old lady living in the ruins, which is Toriel, that you may have killed in that exact same run. Maybe he does not remember, since this is the same dialogue as each time, or maybe he does and he actually tries to understand which one you are this time, friend or foe. Thing is, it doesn't matter, he is bound to that promise, and he will only intervene when everybody is dead, when it's already too late. But why would it matter, when everything will reset again.
The most painful is, when you manage to end a true pacifist, upon the hill by the sun, Papyrus runs away first, and Sans says he's going after him, but the path he takes is the Underground. Well we know about the funny shortcuts, but what if he didn't shortcut, what if he just knew there would be a reset after this, or is he so self aware that he lives in a game in which his choices don't matter, why should he care ? Why would he care ? After all, they'll all end up back down there.
But that's not entirely true, he does care for one person : his brother. And to know how much he loves him, you can do 2 very fucked up things. Kill Papyrus only, or everyone but Papyrus, or . First, Sans will congrats you because hey, good job for reaching this point, and yeah, the underground is scary and you must do some choices to survive, but if you had a chance to do something else, would you have done it ? Because if you could, then why did you kill Papyrus. Or you have the other one, in which Papyrus becomes kings of the Underworld but is very angry and sad that everybody left without him on a holiday trip without saying goodbye, because Sans told him so, and in which Sans thanks you for having spared his brother even though you killed all their friends.
Yeah, Sans has been that deep character I cannot forget. What about you.
Absolutely fascinating. I’d love to see more content like this from you.
While watching this I knew internally the one I was waiting for was 100% your take on ff7, and not because I am biased towards your content (though it’s quite good I will say), but because ff7 also has a special place in my heart as it’s my favorite game, though I guess the thing I’d find odd is that I wasn’t even born when it was made, I simply played it a few years back for the first time and fell in love with the story. Mostly though, for the longest time and even now, a character that stuck out to me was red 13, he has, and probably always will be my favorite character, simply because I noticed over time I wasn’t really a common type of person, so to see a character that so perfectly represented myself, with his insecurities, fears, goals, and personality, it really resonated with me… even if he’s the only one in the main cast who can be removed from the story without any significant changes being elseware, a completely insignificant character which I also relate too. Ff7 is quite the master piece, so it was nice to here about someone who felt as I did about it, idk, felt like sharing even though this is way boiled down to not seem like I’m looking for attention or anything, loved the video, keep up the good work! I think that’s what people like hearing anyways
This is amazing, please do more of these!
Thank you for sharing your experiences and analysis ❤
I’m so glad that you state that Sephiroth isn’t really the most evil character in Seven.
Great video and I love that you gave a shout-out to other great content creators! More videos like this please.
A démon hunter who smiles. I presented this character yesterday in my art history class. Best nickname ever !
Great essays, all of yall. Thank you for sharing.
Rengoku Lights a fire in me every time i see him or smth related. ❤🔥
imagine Danny coming out of theater and being like damn. . . . . rengoku is my mother
Amazing video! I love hearing of things people are passionate about. I'd love to see more collabs like this, maybe on other topics?
Like scenes or lines that matter. Or, stories in general.
now I want to write my own essay and send it to Skyen. Damn.
Same
This video is so cool! Thank you for inspiring me!
Honestly, I would also have named a character that not many people would have thought of. Koshiro Izumi aka Izzy from the first season of Digimon.
Why? Well, first of all, I am autistic, even though I didn't know that when I watched the series as a child. But I have always been weird to many other children. I was always very curious about how things functioned and basically taught myself how to read at a very early age. And I loved stories. But I never really resonated with most protagonists in these stories. But then the story of Digimon had moments that focused on Izzy and I felt some strange kind of connection to this character. He was a socially awkward, short and extremely curious guy. I saw a lot of myself in that. But neither was he teased for it, nor was he some kind of chair guy in the background who only supported the others. His quick thinking, analytical mind and unconventional ideas were some of the greatest assets for the team. Not to mention that his partner Tentomon's transformations were never triggered by overcoming fear or being determined enough. The first was simply a weird idea to charge up Tentomon and the second was a moment when he wholeheartedly embraced his hunger for knowledge.
Izzy was always fundamentaly different from the other members of the team. But even when his quirks were sometimes played for laughs, in the end, his strengths were always valued by the team. His way of being different was a strength to be proud of. And to the small autistic grade schooler who never really felt like he belonged, seeing someone similar to me being accepted and valued not despite his quirks but actually because of them was a very powerful experience.