How To Write The Perfect Protagonist
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- Опубліковано 7 вер 2024
- Guts, Musashi, Thorfinn. Analyzing what makes "the perfect protagonist" using examples from anime and manga to look at what goes into writing a great main character, and clearing up any misconceptions surrounding this topic.
edited by : Romario Villalobos
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How to Write The Perfect Antagonist: • How To Make The Perfec...
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In my opinion, Thorfinn will always be my favorite protagonist. His journey from an innocent child, to a hate filled teen, and eventually to a peaceful man who strives to be a true warrior resonates with me far more than others.
You're that jojo guy
I agree, he's my favourite, although I can admit there are some better written characters than him
I agree 👍.
Thorfinn’s a little overrated imo. But then again I’m not too far into the series.
He is an amazing character, although I still have Musashi over than him.
Put them on a farm and they are quality protagonists.
*GODfinn*
Farming = Enlightenment
@Aaron Camacho Villanueva well then go read some battle shonen. Vinland Saga ain't for you
@Aaron Camacho Villanueva he definitely isn’t trash compared to himself in the prologue, it’s fine if you prefer him in the prologue but saying Slavefinn is worse than himself in the prologue is just 🧢
@Aaron Camacho Villanueva this is the type of guy that would beat up weaker people because they did him wrong
Guts theme in the background hit me too hard
us*
Hits everyone hard
:(
😭 best theme. Change my mind
@@kyrohowe3156 bro just go to a surgeon he will change your mind leaterly
One can never achieve true perfection per se, but a lot of manga characters surely comes close to that goal
first reply
Can u grow a mustache?;
Waiting for the day when you grow mustache
This time you didn't got the most likes XD XD
Dude, you see all the things I see, your everywere
It's scary how well written these three are. They got everything and more
Even though those 3 arent from my favorite manga those 3 are definitely my top 3 protagonist
Yeah but i also love how clichéd gintoki might seem like but he breaks through all that
@@snappyego908 gintoki is just something tbh a very different kind of shounen protag hes just so dope
Thorfinn in the end become a corny ass character
There are more, PunPun and Gintoki
Characters like Thorfinn and Guts are great examples of protagonist that have a lot of dynamism to them in terms of their character writing and goals.
deeper characters than garbage, wimp Deku will ever be
@@amuroray9115 he's a troll lol
@@kingaskeladd5052 he’s not lying though
@@armedwithwings3953 well tbh, trolls mostly do that shit, creating a fake account after the series or character they said
@@armedwithwings3953 he is
I love protagonists like Mushashi and Thorfinn because they start off wild and believe being strong in fights is the only strength you can have. But later, as they go through many hardships they figure out there are many different strengths in the world.
Gabimaru from Jigokuraku is a perfect example too
Eren kinda too
@@hashslingingslasher3083 no lol he isn’t similar to mushashi or thorfinn at all
@@diorv2402 he was pretty similar to Thorfinn at the start they became different to each other later on
@@hashslingingslasher3083 not at all lol
I'm a simple man, I see Thorfinn, Musashi, AND Guts in a thumbnail, it's an instant click
Indeed
SEINEN BIG 3 🔥
No matter what, Goku is better.
@@TipoIrritable mald and seethe
@@TipoIrritable🤡
I think having a revenge motive and developing from there is part of what makes characters like Thorfinn and Guts amazing
Problem is that 99.9999999999% of pretty much every other revenge story is often just used as an excuse to either have a "cool" edgelord who is angry at every rock he sees along the way in the molds of the likes of Kratos (pre GOW4) and Skorpion or to serve as a lazy, cheap plot device.
I agree to an extent. We can relate or sympathize with a character with a motive like revenge because in most cases, the path of revenge is a self-damaging one and the result might not always be the best outcome. So as a reader, it's extremely satisfying to finally see the character acknowledge that, and better yet, learn from that and change their path. But that's the principle behind what makes Thorfinn and Guts so great - not the sole fact that they had a revenge motive. Imagine if they achieved their revenge in a satisfying way. It wouldn't have as much impact.
I will try to write my characters like that. Give them deeply rooted flawed traits and outlooks. It could be self-doubt, overconfidence/haughtiness, overly people-pleasing, depression, overly ambitious, denial, and much more. It's the human experience, the redemption story, finding out how to cope. Then, once you're coping, find out how to accept the reality. Then, once you've accepted it, embrace change - even when it's not easy to. That's when your character's PEAK. Because that's when I'M/YOU'RE peak, as a human being - ever malleable and moldable, finding pride in not being held back by back a deeply ingrained flaw. True strength.
I think I'm verbalizing my thoughts correctly, hope that makes sense.
@@mekingtiger9095 Thank goodness thorfinn grew out of that HAHAHAHAHHA
Make the reader feel like the protagonist is a REAL PERSON
Then you would probably hate him
Yes but actually No
@@deathlydashi or you just hate real people
@@deathlydashi still much better than the "anime jesus" characters like Naruto , Tanjiro and Deku
@@yacineboudella4898 deku isnt anime jesus
musashi is my all time favorite protagonist and character in general. vagabond impacted me like no other, it truly changed my life
🐐
Swing sword like you have no hands
He's not one of those typical hero who saves the world or typical grunt anti hero makes him one of my favorites protagonists and also the fact that he's based on a real person makes him even better
Satou from the fable is my favourite character
@@Truewarrior37 I've read vagabond and although I could understand most of what it tried to portray I never could quite get what Musashi meant by that. What did he mean by saying "Swing your sword like you have no hands". Does it mean that you and the sword are one?
Masked : protagonist needs goals
Gintoki : I just want sweets
Control your blood sugar level
Denji: booba
@@nathwcx8299 😂
Asta: bang a nun
That's a goal 🤷♀️
"the main goal is to give your story life"
shows Death Parade
I absolutely love Gon's character development throughout HXH! You think he's gonna be another traditional innocent, overpowered, righteous and dumb protagonist but that all gets flipped on it's head! He's intelligent, loses more than he wins, doesn't really care about right vs wrong, and shows how a terrible world would actually affect a child and how trauma can completely change someone. The chimera ant arc is one of my favorite arcs from any anime and the stark difference between Gon and Meruem's character development is not only shocking, but truly engaging and I hurt for both of them! Oh and Killua is a bad ass..
My favorites are Musashi and Gintoki. Musashi for obvious reasons. For Gintoki I could write a poem, but if I had to say 1 thing is that he is the only shounen protagonist that carries his own show. He is funny, mysterious, has a lot of strength potential and he never gets annoying.
Yesss Gintoki is so well-written and a joy to watch his story play out. Sorachi is a literary genius
Yona from Akatsuki no Yona is sooo underrated. She goes through so much change internally and externally. A Really good mix of Shojo and Shonen. I really recommend it👍🏾
I completely agree. Yona of the Dawn deserves so much more attention.
She is a pretty well made character but surprisingly my favorite arc in the whole manga is the one about the character that ambushed her and Hak and made them fall of a cliff.
One of my favourite series when I was on my red haired female protagonist. I think it started because of red hair snow white story and was skip beat that made me like genre.
She really is a very well written protagonist. My favorite female character. The akatsuki no yona manga is criminally underappreciated. Need more people to get into it.
Woah, I actually just started the 1st episode of that show, it seems like it will be a great journey!
I love the way the guts theme is just playing in background
Stories like Thorfinn’s just makes you want to be a better person. I really love mangas like that
Be it more humane and grounded protagonists like Thorfinn, Mob, Guts or Eren, more interesting ones like Masashi, Lelouch or Araragi, larger than life and inspirational ones like Asta, Luffy and Naruto, or ones that act as the other side of the chess board like Ainz or Light....
Either way, it is the progression and ideologies of those characters; what makes them intriguing to watch and see how they develop from the ground up, be it a positive or negative change, or just continuing on a flat character arc and focusing on other aspects of their persona.
@@wwe12153 Luffy isn't realistic... One of the major points of his development is his reach to One Piece purely because he is trying to follow Shanks' footsteps, or live up/make up to him. Did you just forget the first arc of OP... Plus, Luffy's personality changed as the series went by, didn't he say he wanted to retake the Island from Big Mama and help those people. He is still acting selflessly despite saying otherwise and is starting to resemble Asta and Naruto more so than less. Also just following the Shounen protagonist route 101.
Also no, Eren is literally the definition of a realitic character, I would say even more so than Guts, but probably less than Thorfinn. Even more proof by his story structure being literally the exact same as Thorfinn's, he just chose the negative route, which isn't that different. He is human, he is flawed, selfish, and self important. Wasn't that the whole point of chapters 130/131/138/139? That everything he did was to live up to the promises he made, and let his family live because he was gonna die anyway. He was still afraid of death obviously tho... Wasn't that whole scene in the Uprising focused on him overexposing his self-righteousness and narcissism, and "beating that kid" hoping for change, yet still making those mistakes emplifying the inability to avoid his nature...
The whole story of Eren is nature vs nurture, like most human beings... A lot of people seem to ignore those aspects about his character because they only started paying attention to his changes around the Marley arc...
You very clearly need to pay more attention to the little nuances.
@@Osama-KIN_TMZ01 I completely agree with you about Eren lol.
Also Thorfinn would surely be more realitic cause he is based on a real human afterall lol
@@shubhamsharma2923 Thank you. Also yeah, that's why I love Thorfinn, he hits waaaay too close home. I also love the comparison between him and Eren as both of them have pretty similar revenge stories, the biggest difference is that Eren's chose pessimism over Thorfinn's optimistic and peaceful views following Thors... Kinda also makes me think of what would have happened if something similar happened to Eren, or he had good guidance similar to that of Thors. Not that Eren is necessarily in the wrong or right set of mind, but it is interesting to think about.
@@Osama-KIN_TMZ01 I mean AOT world is a lot more cruel to let there be people like Thorfinn ( No disrespect towards him though) King Fritz that built walls was sort of similar .
Anyways I love both Characters
@@wwe12153 OH! It seems I found the Luffy fanboy. Did I push your button or something? You surely went into defense mode.
You couldn't be more careful with your wording, couldn't you? You haven't even provided anything against the other characters for what I said, also calling Eren "edgy protag", really? what are you 9 years old?...
Luffy literally follows a flat character arc to the tea. Sure, he is more like Goku than Asta or Naruto, but you missed my point about their characters completely... Also he sure as hell ain't realistic, I have never seen an optimist naive person to that point, let alone being placed in events to reshape the structure of other characters. He never really changes in any light positively or negatively, that's not realistic.
Eren changes negatively through his revenge in lack of guidance and due to his nature, Thorfinn changes positively after his revenge to the realization of his father's sayings meaning, Guts changes many times throughout the story both positively and negatively in different arcs following his ideals and mind set maturing and going through certain events.
You never question how Luffy will change later on in the story mentally, because he doesn't and he isn't portrayed to be real. Have Luffy even experienced a realistic stimulation psychologically, questioning his ideals, his mind set, goals or going through a total breakdown? Never.
Doesn't make him a bad character tho, but sure as hell ain't realistic.
You forgot Edward, he is a Static Character, maintaining his personality throught the show, but, he changes his IDEAIS. In the beggining he is just trying to get his and his brother bodys back. In the end he is more worried about saving the Country. And we can see him using previous experiences to make better decisions along the anime.
Guts and Gintoki represent what a MC is the best to me.
Same here... My top 2 protags of all time
Just for having Musashi (and Thorfinn and Guts) on the thumbnail you deserve a like.
"each protagonist isn't going to connect with every reader" please send this to western comic book writer where, according to them, everything has to be relatable and NoT oFFenD anyone
That's superhero comics though bro. Granted they hold most of the market but stuff by image and other smaller companies are a lot more like manga in that they aren't all the same template.
Western comics can and are good. I'm guessing you're referring to DC/Marvel though. Both of those companies unfortunately have unending narratives for characters unless a reboot happens and that's just the way they tell stories.
I think it's important for anime characters to find the perfect balance of developmental growth being relatable and not boring Op while also not being a little bitch. People that do that really well in my opinion are Edward Elric, Eren Yeager, Ken Kaneki, Thorfinn, Kei Nagai, Johnny Joestar and Guts
@@QuantumtestGaming ok
@@QuantumtestGaming fax
@@QuantumtestGaming pre 139 sure was great tho
@@zura24256 the man is huge troll lol. You could ignore him.
It's kind of good to see AOT doesn't getting overhated everywhere.
@@cryptic7800 I disagree , I feel 139 provided a great angle of his Character as well but feel free to disagree.
this is why I like Re zero subaru feels so real, so relatable yet he feels so different, he feels like his own person and his development is one of the best out there
If you have read arc 6 you know why he is the greatest.
@@subaru16 I'm planning too
@@F1reBeat start now man Don't wait. This arc will do wonders to Subaru's charcater.
@@subaru16 Both Natsuki Subaru and "Natsuki Subaru" are the greatest.
@@ultimatedesbear4271 shut
I’m on the Golden age arc of berserk and holy shit I can’t put the book down! 🔥
It's been a year, how do you like the rest of it?
@@khirek5335 Im asking the same thing
Bro read the eclipse and hasn’t recovered since
Musashi and Guts are the perfect example character driven protagonist, their journey is an inner journey, and the manga presented it beautifully.
Gon character development is perfect for hxh story and is executed masterfully
Finally Gon Apreciation 🤝
Though, when you look at it, Gon is a static character. He never really changed with the exception of getting stronger, and that's why his development is awesome; we get to see how fucked up he was since the beginning, and one single (yet huge) incident made him completely unable to think straight.
Gon is so underrated he’s my fav
My top 5 protagonists and characters are Luffy, Guts, Thorfinn, Mob, and Musashi
Mine's Gintoki Sakata, Koro-sensei, Saitama, Joseph Joestar, and Shigeo "Mob" Kageyama.
Obviously, there would be possible changes later on, but for now, I'm proud to say that these are my personal favorite protagonists.
Luffy appreciation, love to see it.
@@ryukokanami7645 Cool, but what aspects of Saitama makes you love him?
1. Shiro Emiya (Fate/)
2, Lena (86)
3. Yona (akatsuki no yona)
4. Kamille Biden (Zeta Gundam)
5. Accelerator (Index franchise)
6. Allen Walker (DGM)
7. Kenshin Himura (Rurouni kenshin)
8. Yato (Noragami)
9. Takumi Nichijou (Chaos Head)
10. Rintaro Okabe (Steins Gate)
@@deltafx9462 shirou 🐐
When I write my story and hopefully pop off I want you to know I will never forget how helpful you’ve been to me on my journey to become one of the greatest writers/story tellers
I mean Aslong as the protagonist helps with the themes, relatively compelling, And works well with other characters then I would say that would make a perfect protagonist.
Been subbed to you for over a year now and it still astounds me how articulate and knowledgeable you come off in these video essays despite how young you are and how new you are to the medium. Lets hit a well deserved 200K!
Make them feel as human as possible. Make them have flaws, make them fail, make them succeed, make them develop or be a big impact on others' development. Make them impact the story and make the story impact them in return. And most importantly (for me): make them relatable, not in a self-insert-perfect-guy-with-op-power-to-project-yourself-onto kind of relatable but in a "damn, I know what this pain feels like" relatable.
That's why, for me, Kumiko from Sound! Euphonium will always be my favorite protagonist, and my favorite character, in fiction. There's no other character that impacted me as much as her throughout the story and that I could relate to more than her, because I KNOW what failures feel like and I KNOW how the success she experienced feels because I have been exactly in these kinds of position as she was too at least once in my life. I know her emotional struggles and her family situation because I've also went through this stuff when I was younger.
Plus, she mostly plays a passive observing role throughout most of the show and lets the plot affect her and only at the end actively chooses to step in and push the plot forward on her own and be the one to affect it.
Simply put, a perfectly written character
If I had to put my top 5 anime and manga protagonists it would be sth like
5 Araragi - Monogatari
4 Guts - berserk
3 Gintoki - Gintama
2 Okabe - steins gate
1 Kumiko - sound euphonium
I agree. Sound! Euphonium hits different for this very reason. It feels real. There is frustration and happiness. Everything is perfectly balanced in a way that sometimes they make you feel sorry, happy and even proud for the characters
The first paragraph fits in with natsuki Subaru
Finally, at least someone appreciated the character of Okabe Rintaro, he is amazing. In fact, I would put it first.
@@okaberintarou6647 el psy congroo
In no real order, my favorite MCs are Thorfinn (Vinland Saga), Edward (FMAB), Eren Yeager (AoT), Light (Death Note).
Their development, combined with what they added to the overall story and themes is why I love them so much.
Ohh you have a good taste sir.
For me it's Eren(aot), Rudues(mushoku tensei), and Natsuki(re:zero)
Eren a vengeful
Rudues the pervert
Natsuki a normal teen
I like how they response to a situation.
Eren's POV never stays constant enough for me to consider him a protagonist. Many other characters are more explored than him ever since the beginning
@@kanjitsu8417 truee but still eren is fav protagonist for me
Same to me plus Lelouch from Code geass and reinhard fron Logh
@@wayzz2427 lelouch is my favourite too.
I would love to see Dr. Tenma on this, but unfortunately, the purity of his soul is something that I don’t think I can ever achieve. But he’s my ideal “human being” protagonist. The hope he represented in contrast to Johan’s nihilism is what made that manga perfect.
I agree, the dynamic between Tenma and Johan is what makes Monster stand out from other mangas.
Unpopular opinion : about all aspect you talking about, i would say Dr. Tenma is the closest character we got. He almost have everything, great intro, goals, problems, development, very good to symbolized a dynamic character he changed not just his internal but external like physical, and skills.
And very close to him i've got Guts, Izumi shinichi and Phosphophyllite.
Tenma is underrated, but to so many people, he got overshadowed by Johan
@@yup7380 true, Johan just stole the show
yeah Tenma is perhaps the most realistic protagonist out there, he gets overshadowed by Johan but that is understandable why. One of the reasons I think Tenma is a great protag is because the roles the other characters play in his arc and how well the play, the antagonist, supporting characters, they all make him a better character.
My favorite is Gintoki Sakata. This dude not only has the drip, but he is also excellent in embodying the show's main theme of living beautifully until the end.
You see, Gintoki is a former samurai who fought to save his master and his country from the Amanto, despite being painfully obvious that the Samurai stand no chance against their modern technology. After Gintoki and his comrades failed, each of them went separate ways. Gintoki was found by Otose near her former husband's grave. Otose took Gintoki to her snack bar, and now works to pay the debt.
But the show doesn't make Gintoki look as a good person, no. In fact, Gintoki is lazy, spends his day lying on a couch reading manga, likes to waste his money in bars and pachinkos, and as a result of this, his subordinates Shinpachi and Kagura complain about being underpaid, as well as Otose still hasn't got her debt back until she employed Tama.
But the best explanation why he's a perfect MC in my book was Kintama arc. This is an arc where Gintoki was replaced by Kintoki, a robot who supposedly made up for Gintoki's flaws such as him being lazy, irresponsible and not willing to pay the debt. He brainwashed the entire city into thinking that he was the true main character, however the people sooner started to realize that their beloved friend Kintoki used to be different, and went against him.
Then Gintoki said that the main character isn't him, it's every single idiot in the show. Having flaws made Gintoki more human and relatable.
This arc is a good lesson for anyone wanting to create a good MC. The MC doesn't need to be a hero who wants to save the world for the sake of it, but rather a simple human who doesn't wish for anything unrealistic. That makes the viewers more emotionally invested within the MC. His perfection as a character lies in his imperfection as a person.
Mucho texto
Well said
Well said
Just finished Shinsegumi Crisis, can't wait to see Gintoki's backstory. His dynamic with Zura and Takasugi is very interesting. The three of them lost their precious teacher. From what I've seen, Takasugi wants to project his pain and destroy the world for taking away his teacher, Zura wants to change the country to be a better place in a very less violence way than Takasugi's faction, while Gintoki wants to move on and live happily with his lazy funny idiotic personality.
@@yup7380 u totally get it. I can guarantee u episodes 300-366 + Final movie will easily be one of the best experiences in animanga.
Phos from Houseki no Kuni is a really good example of a dynamic protagonist in my opinion, as they feel like a different person after every couple of arcs. Phos goes through a lot of change throughout the story, and every time they change on the inside, they also change on the outside in some way. Change is actually a pretty big theme in Phos and Houseki no Kuni in general, as when the gems lose a bit of their body, they lose some of their memories, so if they get that part replaced, they will be making new memories. One of the biggest changes Phos has experienced was when she got a part of her body replaced with the same part but from a different gem (keeping this vague for spoiler reasons, as this has not been in the anime yet) and after that change Phos starts to act more like the gem whose part she is using, to a point where other characters are starting to question whether she is the same Phos that they know. Phos also changes their goals/motivations throughout the story quite a lot (they spend like most of the first third of the story thinking about what is their goal/motivation), for example at the start of the story Phos' motivations are limited to finding a fun job for Cinnabar and being useful, while at the end her motivations are so different that it is hard to think that Phos from the start of the story could even have a goal like this (not going to say what her motivations are because that would be a massive spoiler). This is because Phos always keeps changing throughout the story, going from a cheerful and lazy person, to a more stoic and serious one, and then to something which does not resemble them from the start at all. There is this great scene in chapter 93 which shows just how much Phos has changed as a person (again not going to describe the scene because this one is a really big spoiler and requires a lot of explaining, but those who read the manga will know what scene I am talking about). Anyway what I was trying to say is, they change a lot both inside and outside and they also happen to not only be a good example of a dynamic protagonist but also are one of my favourite protagonists in general
Yeah phos is underrated
How to write prefect protagonist: go on hiatus as much as you can
@@amuroray9115 all top class story, like these always go in hiatus for some reason
And thay are never shonen
Spike Speigel is such an interesting case of a dynamic character.
He never really changed, we just slowly understood more and more of him.
If you'll continue Gintama in the far future, it can be surprising, but you'll still end up loving it, especially Gintoki. (Purely based on this video and some previous ones)
Honestly, I'm a little annoyed by this. There are great protagonists, especially Thorfinn and Guts, but Gintoki can be here just as much as them and the only reason why he isn't here, is because he haven't seen read it FULLY OR AT LEAST MORE THAN WHERE HE STOPPED.
@@vyrimidghoalabrupt7922 Its his choice, I'm sure one day he will pick it up, because of the urge to know it fully whether Nux and the show/manga fans rightfully claims Gintama as one of the very best or not. I disliked Gintama at first and menaged to go later on into Berserk quality with its comedy and characters.
@I'm kissing my dead friend Well, its a comedy with shounen elements, I didn't expect seinen from Gintama, never.
No offense, but this comment seemed to me that you're degrading the show purely based on its target audience.
There are much more serious pieces out there with much less enjoyment and quality.
Also, I think calling the target audience like that is just plain wrong. A mature adult with proper knowledge can enjoy it as much as a "younger weeb".
I'm a 27 years old female and trust me: I'm the biggest eyeroller when an anime/manga becomes immature.
AOT is one of them. Why? Because it wants you to think it is a serious anime/manga, while under the surface, it can be pretty premature. Its still a good product.
Gintama isn't like that. Based on cultural differences and subjectivity, yes, some jokes can be a miss, but as a slapstick comedy/parody, its mostly a hit.
I won't compare it on manga front with Berserk or Vinland Saga, or on anime front with Legend of the Galactic Heroes, because Gintama first of all, doesn't take itself seriously that much and still its much more matura than shounens in general.
I love them for entierly different reasons, but the enjoyment factor remains the same and for me, that is the most important thing.
I believe he would still love Gintama because he doesn't rate mangas on how much adultiness it has and out of thousand jokes, there will be misses.
Anyway, have a great day.
@I'm kissing my dead friend I don't even see your comment anymore maybe you deleted it, I don't know, but really?
"Imagine laughing at weeb jokes and references" you clearly didn't see the show now I know you just came here to being toxic because for some reason Gintama hurts your feelings without even seeing the actual show.
Don't act like an edgy teenager next time, it's really childish and immature.
@I'm kissing my dead friend Well, I cannot see even your newer comment, just the two dots.
Anyway, so you haven't seen the show and you're judging the entire thing based on a two hour compliation?
I mean, you see the irony in here right?
Do not watch compilations and act like you really know the show. Because you don't and it can be seen from your "they make dumb jokes and references" comment crystal clearly.
It is cringe as hell actually.
Let me tell you if I would see a random compilation about Gintama without knowing anything, I wouldn't like it, I know, but I would never assuming I know the show and judging from that alone. I wouldn't know the characters, their gags, I wouldn't get used to its world, I wouldn't know Donald Trump is in the plot, I wouldn't know how the serious arcs fit the comedy together, I wouldn't know that the show can be insanely funny even for the most "MATURE" elite people,I wouldn't know literally anything, hence why I wouldn't say that I know what this show is about. You even stated that Gintama is unfunny most of the times. From your two hours compilation? Like wtf.
honestly, just make the MC relatable and I'll be invested. People give shit to Shinji but god he's so well written
it’s more than that lol
relatability plays a big factor when it come to making a protagonist, it's one of the reasons why a character can feel realistic to one's own personal being. While im not saying a character always has to be relatable in every sequence in a series but they can pretty much impact the viewer in the most delicate or subtle way no matter how simplistic or deep a character may be.
I'd say that the more accurate key word isn't necessarily "relatability", but rather _empathy._ Characters don't always need to be relatable. They just need to awaken empathy from the audience.
Gintoki
Barely any character development
No goals
So he isn’t the perfect protagonist and is very imperfect
He did his job
Love That Man.
The thing about Gintoki is that he is already a fully developed character even at the start of the story so we don't see much development for him
@@dpage446 exactly
@@dpage446 true thats what made his backstory compelling and how sorachi hints and builds it up
If they tell the story following the timeline, Gintoki would have some of the biggest development
Bro, I’m 19 too! You have no idea how inspiring it is to hear that haha. I’m making a story myself and this here has been a great help!
Kenshin himora will always be my favorite protagonist his journey and theme of redemption was written beautifully imo
My favorite protagonist is Kotaro from KLA. I know that sounds silly, you probably haven’t even heard of him. But the character is so wholesome, but behind that, you can see the nuanced effects of abuse; you can see his progression from a neglected child who feels the need to act like an adult, while keeping so many adolescent-based aspects like his love for TV-shows and his funny feudal accent. He is BY FAR the best younger child protagonist (>13) and perhaps one of the best in the lighter fiction genre.
I love kotaro lives alone!
YOO TRUE I AGREE KOTARO FELT VERY REAL
My favorite protagonist is Hyouka's Oreki Houtarou. He has goals and motivations and ideals that are constantly challened in the show via it's mysteries. Also, Fukube Satoshi is my favorite supporting character (Ep 21 for context). Hyouka is just a masterpiece through and through. Not many people talk about it but from its shot composition to music to characters to imagery-all of it is just done masterfully.
Closest is Frieren from Sousou no Frieren(an amazing manga with an amazing protagonist, wow). Even though she is a near immortal elven mage, she is constantly learning about tons of things. Because of the death of Himmel, she has tried to pay close attention to humans and everything else around her so she can understand them; something she didn't do when Himmel was still alive.
Just read chapter 93 of Vinland saga like 5 min ago. I’m in love with it and the characters are beautiful. I’m suprised tho seeing so many people 💩 on Thorfinn and the farmland saga arc from what I’ve seen of posts when those chapters first dropped.
I think a lot of that hate was just memes but there are some smooth brained people that only watch anime for action and could care less about characters development
I've seen no1 shit on farmland they shit on every post farm vinland saga
yeah i see so many people shitting on it:
The farmland arc was an absolute masterpiece but after that i had issues with the plot as well as thorfinn's character
@@ayushkhatoi1741 the farmland arc is what built to the later story arcs and the current Thorfinn we know of today
If not for chapter 139 Eren would be a perfect protagonist, no matter how terrible his end was some particular things about his character build-up just can't be overlooked, his journey from a caged child with a strong sense of freedom and wanting to know more about the outside world to seeing the cruelty of the outside world and doing the unthinkable to save his race from it, he had every reason to be the person he became after the time skip, also what other fictional character writes their own story?
Always love me a good protagonist. Even if the setting is trash, storyline trash, art trash, a top tier protagnoist can make up for it.
I mean if your protagonist is shit then the story is basically shit. The protagonist is the guy that the story revolves around to, he's the one that follows the plot, if you're plot is so awesome and so cool and amazing, if you can't have an amazing protagonist or just a decent one, it will just make the story feel more bland because remember the protagonist is the star, having such a bad star, people would rather simp over side characters than the mc
@@rapraptan8084 The “guy” that the story revolves around? You’ve never seen any female protagonists before?
@@gamergirl2236 I have seen a lot. But it's common to have male MCs, I guess I'm just used to male MCs more.
@@gamergirl2236 We are talking about shonen here, do you remember what shonen means ?, yeah “Young boy”, so claiming that using “guy” to refer to protagonists is wrong is pretty much nonsense
Eren Yeager was on pace of becoming the most realistic, compelling, unique, captivating, mesmerizing, spectacular and relatable protagonist of all time since the genre was first founded centuries ago until the final chapter.
fr. id argue that he would be top 2 or even top 1 but the final chapter completely character assassinated him (along with the rest of the series and cast)
His character is not ruined the final chapter makes his character more complex and well written and shows he is not truly a monster (that crying panel) I just have a problem with the ending that didn't executed properly.
@@zura24256 thanks for the joke, appreciated
@@kingaskeladd5052 there is something called opinions I dont have a problem that you like his character or not
@@zura24256 well I consider your opinion to be a joke, its that simple.
Day 6 of recomending "Summer Time Rendering" to Masked Men
Its a Mistery manga with 13 volumes and it get an Anime Adaptation in the future too. Its about a Mystirious Murdercase on a Island in Japan that includes time travels (like Tokyo Revengers) very good Plot twist and big and small mysterie plot beginnings and reveals (like the urasawa mangas) and some very cool and interessting Charakters.
If you search for a Manga who let you stare with Big consentrated Eyes every time you read it you should go for it.
Honestly it gave me AOT vibes from the perfekt Mysterie/Action balance and how every supernatural feature is perfekt explained and i would put it in the same tier as AOT. Its just much shorter.
YEESSS its sooo fucking underrated
Yeah loved plot twists of that manga
Is it finished?
Re Zero but summer time?
There are tons of amazing protagonists throughout the manga world..
And eventhow everyone has their own tastes,their own version of a greatest protagonist, i believe that
There are some protagonists that everyone can find appealing and overall amazing..
This is all my opinion tho
Can you name some
I learned about all these terms in my English class, never thought the knowledge would be helpful in a masked man video😳
Shirou emiya is pretty much the perfect protagonist for fate stay. night its easy to miss because fate stay night was originally a vn. And it has multiple adaptions but the best versions are unlimited blade works and heavens feel and in them he's just incredible he embodies the themes of the story goes through so damn much and despite being pretty larger than life remains relatable and yet he's just one part of a much greater character because remember fate stay night was originally a vn and had multiple routes and you got to read his internal thoughts so the version of him in the animes are just one aspect of a much greater character.
Phos from HnK is easily one of my favs... and man I just love a good protag.
Very good video, Masked. Protagonists are incredibly important to the story and while a perfect one does not exist, some are definitely better than others, hence the "big three" you picked. Keep up the good work.
Guts Musashi Light yagami Caiman/Nikaido and Eren are some of my favorites. I like jojos but they're protagonists that aren't as in depth as the others
Johnny definitely is
My fav Shonen protagonist: Gintoki, Eren, Joe, Reinhard(LoGh it's sci fi anime though)
My Fav Seinen protagonist: Mushashi , Kaneki, Thorfinn, Guts
These characters impacted me the most
And I love their development, peaks .
Finally someone who still consider Eren as a great character
@@mananghildiyal2675 there is stereo type like shitting on shonen Characters like kaneki ( seinen) eren gintoki luffy is considered cool and appreciating guts mushashi thorfinn is what we consider pure high breed taste ..
@@Truewarrior37 Yeah and I hate this
Eran gintoki are meh but kaneki is shit
@@deavin4293 you need Dr tenmas medical surgery to remove the shit called others opinion inside your BRAIN
Hey i know you dropped Land of the Lustrous but I do recommend giving that a pick up, it’s a short read and the protagonist is one of the best to do it in my opinion, not to mention the manga itself is stellar! I really really recommend giving it a 2nd chance! … There is so much to grasp with Phos’ character!
The perfect protagonist for me will forever be Mori Buntarou. His development is absolutely insane, his journey is nothing short of beautiful and his conclusion was just breathtaking. Truly my favourite character journey oat.
Finally someone said it. Thank you. Imo he is one of the (if not the most) relatable character ever.
@@tiovegetto8044 yea same. His journey hits way to close to home. The manga literally changed my life for the better, truly love the man with all my heart
When Ancient Greece is mentioned within 10 seconds of the video starting you know it's bound to be fire
As an aspiring author I really love these types of videos Masked,they help me so much and I'm ashamed to say it but your writing videos help out more than any writing advice I've seen in the writing community. To grasp a lot of things like breaking points, friendship etc I had to rewatch the same types of videos for a few good years but watching one of these vids just gives me ideas and opens up ways for me to structure my story. I hope you do more of these in the near future
These videos are always well done and are very enjoyable.
This is why Eren’s my favourite character. I feel like you could find every theme of the series through him, he’s like a representation of the series as a whole and throughout we’re looking at the world trough his world view. For example the Titans are only seen as this symbol of fear, hate and unjustness because Eren sees them that way, it’s shown in the 1st ep that most others just see them as apart of the world and as a species that happens to be above them on the food chain, I mean they don’t affect the business owner’s way of life for example. And as the series goes on the Titans are seen as less of a threat the more Eren gets over his hate and the world of AoT gets bigger as Eren’s world view broadens
But also you can find Eren’s personality traits through the duos he forms. For example Levi’s basically an experienced composed version of Eren. They both have 2 sides to them, their human side and their monster side and Levi’s main trait is that he’s *humanity’s* strongest solider. He values humanity just as much as he values completing the mission, even tho you’d think at the start he’s completely cold but you can see throughout the series that he’s probably just as emotional as Eren and I think you can see in *that* moment in season 3 part 2 that he and Eren are pretty much the same person, he’s just better at composing himself and has found a way to balance his humanity and his duty, which was the path that Eren was on.
And Christa was the one who helped him on that path. Her arc of discovering herself went perfectly alongside Eren’s arc who before that was very delusional and would lie to himself a lot, and his character in season 1 and 2 to me seemed like a take on toxic masculinity but through getting in touch with his feminine side he’s able to understand his self, emotions and place in the world a lot more.
And Armin represents that idealist, dreamer side of him who wants freedom. Whereas Mikasa represents that part of him that’s trapped
Jean has an ego and personality that matches Eren’s but their beliefs and ideologies are pretty much opposites, so naturally that creates conflict. But throughout their acceptance of each other’s beliefs shows how much they’ve grown
Reiner represents the average nothing special solider who Eren was. I won’t spoil anything but their relationship becomes 1 of the best parts of the show imo
And Zeke represents that evil side of Eren. Again I won’t spoil anything but I think it’s easy to box both characters into hero and villain stereotypes but the more you learn about Zeke and the more everything’s put under a different light, the more you start to question who the good 1 is and who the bad 1 is out of the 2
And there’s a couple more like Annie, Connie and Floch but I can’t really be bothered to continue but I think it’s amazing how layered Eren is and how you can make characters who’re good in their own right with just 1 of Eren’s traits. And I think it was a genius move to have Eren be a child at the start and have him age throughout the series because someone’s truest self is shown as a child because of the nature and nurture shit. I think it’s easy to simplify AoT down into a coming of age story and as everyone knows your nature is tested and adapted by your environment and Eren’s environment really tests him. He’s gets constantly punished for flaws and really beaten up because of them and his beliefs and ideologies are constantly tested and put into different contexts and situations, and because of he has to adapt to his environment so much his development is incredible, but his core nature never changes. Those personality traits he had as a child and all the lessons he learnt never go away
whats your views about eren after 139?
@@cryptic7800 Still the same Eren, actually more so than any other Eren if you pay attention to prior events... Granted, chapter 139 had its problems, but most of them aren't because of Eren, but more so the conclusion itself.
Then again, a lot of people have many misconceptions about his character. That's probably why the lad avoided talking about him in the video, to avoid the annoying people in the comment section.
@@Osama-KIN_TMZ01 imo if you remove the mikasa obsession and the" i did what i saw in the future memories" part then his character is completely fine for me.
@@cryptic7800 To be fair, that whole Mikasa problem is just an Anime issue, mostly because WIT removed pretty much all of Mikasa's personality from the Manga and cut important content... But yeah, the obsession is a bit annoying, but it does at least make more sense in general with prior events.
Tho about the Eren future memories stuff, I do agree that they were left too subtle throughout and contributed to all of problems in Eren's decisions. Tho, they still make sense in the grand scheme of things, his choices were still based on his selfish reasons and promises to his loved ones.
Honestly the ending I genuinely think it is overhated, as if you let it sit with it grows on you. It is decent I guess.
@@cryptic7800 I’m an anime only. So I’m gonna block the replies from now on so I don’t get spoiled
My favourite protagonist is Eren Yeager. His natural development from an annoying kid with anger issues to genocidal maniac, while still being completely understandable (for some readers even justifiable) is just amazing for me. I also love the way he reflects the themes of the story.
No protagonist had me question my own morality as much as him.
Eren is a garbage character a complete joke after the ending just pathetic
"Only Ymir knows" wow ,amazing motivation
@@Alex-mr4ib His motivation was erasing titans and saving his friends. Zeke explained what Ymir wanted.
@@artaum5635 and he failed in both just any pathetic character would
@@QuantumtestGaming Titans are gone, his friends lived long happy lives. He can't control what wars start a century later.
wait 19 years old?? you my new fav main character then.
After all these years my two favorite anime protagonists are still Ichigo and Guts. No matter what new anime or manga I consume no one else has captured my attention or made a similar impact on me like those two
I agree, I hate when people think a great character has to be edgy
Edgy anime characters aren’t cool they’re just cringe
This. Whenever some one talks about well written characters it always boils down to who is more edgy and lives in a darker or gory environment. Ther is alot to consider but people contradict themselves when they say characters should have multiple dimensions but their requirements boil down to the same two one dimensional points
Unless its well written and has a good reason why
Like with guts
@@zelnickno.2348 I wouldn’t call him edgy tbh
@@Ismael-kc3ry i meant black swordsman
Sry i didnt specify which arc
@@zelnickno.2348 oh yeah agreed then
For Me Gintoki Is The Best For Me Ppl Can disagree totally fine theres lots of of other protag that u might think its better fair enough.
Yeah love that silver hair neet making kids do child labor without paying them
After gintama ended it feel I lost part of my soul
@@Truewarrior37 Yeah same love that man finally able to rest peace
Gintoki the goat >>>
I'm working on manga. I'm a writer, and my protagonist's motivation is no motivation. He doesn't seek change. I gave him a quote to represent what he wants. "I don't want drama, and I don't want stress."
Thank you, I subscribed.
if you publish a chapter, do tell me about it >:)
Back then the old weeb called Luffy, Naruto and Ichigo as the big three. And the thumbnail show me that Miyamoto, Guts and Thorfinn were the cults manga big three. The trinity of manga characters
Two uploads in a day???? We’re EATING. 200k time
Type moon showed me great characters like ryougi shiki and emiya shiro, those are my favorites.
Special mentions : guts and motoko kusanagi
waiting for the day that ill see gintoki on one of these thumbnails
Yang Wenli is probably my favourite Protagonist. My guy just wanted to study history and have a calm job instead of leading an intergalactic resistance fleet.
Dr Tenma up there as well.
Reinhardt >
For me Yusuke Urameshi from Yu Yu Hakusho is my personal favorite protagonist in anime. When I was 19 I was dealing with a lot of struggles and I started watching anime from childhood that I never finished or only remember little parts from Toonami. And man what a life changing experience that was took my sadness away and made me try again probably would not be here today with out it. Guts is special for another reason he helps remind me no matter how hard life is you keep struggling
Day 7 of asking Masked to watch Steins;Gate, Monogatari, Fate/Zero, Yu Yu Hakusho, and Baccano.
Also, in my opinion, the perfect protagonist would have to be Lelouch with Gintoki and Eren right behind him. All 3 of them are basically the embodiment of perfection in my opinion.
What do you think of kiritsugu as a protagonist?
I think he'd already watched fate zero. There are few clips from anime in this exact video.
@@AM-gm7ev I honestly think he’s fantastic as a protagonist as well. Honestly, one of the most well written anime characters I’ve seen. Also, sorry for the late reply.
its kinda sad how no one mentions kiristugu he is complex and has so many different layers. ...Kiritsugu is the best type moon protagonist , but he takes such extreme measures to achieve it. He is willing to bear all the evil in the world in order to realize his goals.
@@hesklairvoyant Kiritsugu, Lelouch and Johnny Joestar are my top 3 protagonists
A great protagonist is someone who makes makes you love the story and replicates and pushes the themes of story successfully
step 1: be Kentaro Miura
lol
Lol
Step 1 : be Kentaro Miura
Alternative way : be Urasawa Naoki
Another alternative way : be hajime isayama
@@galactica604 another alternative way: Be takehiko inoue
My favorit Protagonists are Thorfinn, Guts and Miyamoto Musashi(Vagabond), however the Protagonist that resonated to me the most is Kiriyama Rei(3-gatsu no lion)
Gintoki is a perfect protagonist
it’s about time we get a video like this!!!
I think this is the perfect time to say
ALL HAIL LELOUCH!!
All Hail Lelouch!!
Not really the best protagonist. Mushashi, Thorfinn,Guts and Gintoki are better imo
@@rudrakumar5441 gintoki is mid af
@@unrivalled834 FACTS
ALL HAIL LELOUCH.
Thorfin, guts, Subaru,
The 🐐 goat
Joe from Ashita no Joe is one of the greatest protagonists in manga and is so damn underrated by Western fans
Best conclusion in fiction
This video came at the perfect time man! I’ve been making a story and I’ve just gone through multiple revelations that, truth be told, made me tear up from just how excited I was to write him down.
I’m also going to be trying Blender sooner or later and will be making a selection of scenes to recreate and DAAAMN I’m loving it even more! I’m going to use this make sure my dude is the best he can be!
Thanks again!
Thorfinn is my favorite protagonist. I think he's the best written out of all the ones I've read about and I'm glad the character exist
i really like the editing in this video
I would pick Killua as my favorite protagonist.
His journey. Is a beautiful one that is often overlooked. You see him grow from heartless brain washed kid to a man. Yes, i said a man!
At first he just goes along for the ride with gon. Maybe out of boredom or out of interest in gon's attitude and abilities but that changes with time. He realizes from following Gon what it is to have a goal, desire,friends, and hope. He learn to care for someone he learns the meaning of killing and being a monster and learns to break free from his chains. Not only does he start to think for himself but he acts on his thoughts. He takes actions to become better. He becomes that light to someone the same way gon was his light. He saves his friend and frees his sister. From that point he has a goal of his own to protect his sister.
This is a short summary of how he changes but their is more to it and i have to say his character is probably my favorite. The great thing is how smoothly this all occurs in the flow of the story.
I think a thorfinn evolution video or smth of the kind would be kinda sick
My fav main character is subaru form re zero (just my opinion)
Honestly man, your videos are just so well done!
Thank you for another great video!
Thumbnail contains my Top 3 Protagonists of all time.
same
I loved that when you were talking about the external and internal change, you showed Hyakimaru from Dororo who I think is the perfect example of both
The External change is shown, well, in most of the series really, it is pretty much the main driving force of the plot, but the internal change is hinted and pointed at throughout the series up until the final episode where we find out what he wants to do and what kind of person he wants to be aside from just being a human with all of their body parts
Monkey D. Luffy and Gintoki Sakata are my two favorites
Yo the editing in this video is really good. Nice job
Sugar, spice and everything nice! These were the ingredients chosen to create the perfect protagonist!
But professor author added an extra ingredient to the concoction- - SWAGGER
I love Vinland Saga so much and I enjoyed seeing Thorfinn grow as a character so much