damnit, this was a good shirt you bastard.
“A man who inflicts suffering can not rest. His guilty mind won't allow it”
“: There's no need for you to prove that you exist, because soon you won't”
“Scar: I will give you a moment to pray.
Edward: Thanks for the gesture, but I don't believe. Stopped a long time ago.”
“Scar: Yet another soul who departs from God's path. Death will be swift.”
“Scar: What a righteous day this is turning into! That you would come here and save me the tribulations of finding you! Blessed God, full of grace.”
“Scar: I am an instrument of divine judgment!”
“Scar: You don't have any right to see my God!”
Scar
Scar, from the excellent Full Metal Alchemists Anime/Manga is actually one of my favorite characters. Following his people’s genocide, he is a one man killing crusade, determined to kill off the state military leaders responsible, not stopping until he can kill as many state alchemists he can or die in the process. Scar was also one of my favorite characters in the story, in part because I think that the determinates “never relent, never surrender” ideal of him is kinda admirable, in part because I think he is the most justified of most vigilantes, as he fights out of religious beliefs against a fascist militaristic genocidal state. But I think the real reason why I like Scar in terms of vigilantes, is that unlike most characters of that type, he has self doubt and does question himself. As his murderers are driven out of a sense of vengeance, cultural hatred, and religious duty. I think his honest religious devotion to his cause and his tendency to question himself really makes him an interesting character compared to most vigilantes, now he is different in the anime and the manga (as is everything in FMA, they are totally different).
In the manga, he is a priest before the genocide of his people, and is shown as a rather conservative person, as he rejects his elders brothers pleas for moderate ideas and fights against threats to there “cultural purity”. And yet, he doesn’t do so out of zealotry, so much as actual beliefs in those being a threat to his culture (he is kinda right)and he is doesn’t attack his brother for his ideals, just voices objections. And he does honestly act revolted when he talks to the ultra conservative members of his sect who wish to use alchemy to commit a counter genocide. He is far more powerful and committed than his anime counterpart, as well as more ruthless and cold. He is clearly evil, he murders innocent who get in his way, as well as innocents who had nothing to do with the genocide, such as the main character. And while he does question his beliefs, he never does admit he was wrong or give up on his ideals. So evil, but I’d say LE, as he is very devout and has a sense of justice, when threatened by a person who’s parent he killed, he says “you have a right to shoot me, and if you don’t shoot I’ll leave you alone. But the moment you pull that trigger, I will consider you my enemy and will fight to kill you”, which shows that he is very concerned about the justice of his cause, and when murder is “justified”. So I’d peg him as LE.
His Anime counter part is different, if not radically so. Instead of being a priest in the war, he was a child solider, and lacks the priest back ground, so he is more of a normal guy who is just walking around killing Alchemists. He is conflicted with far more self doubt than his manga counterpart, and seems a little more reluctant to fight, through that might be because he is not as powerful as his anime counterpart. He does however actually get upset about his pass murderers, and seems more bothered by the idea of a cycle of hatred, and in his relationship with the Elric brothers, does seem to realize that killing wont’ solve anything. And yet, he does still plan to kill 7,000 people, most of whom are just solders obeying orders, in taking down a rebellion (and lets be fair, with Scar leading them, they have a valid point). So he too is evil, through nicer than his anime counterpart. And as he does too have a code of honor and true devotion, he is also LE in the end.
As for the new anime, I’m not sure how that will turn out. I suspect that it is a more loyal anime adaptation compared to the current anime, which has a totally different plot (not that makes it any less awesome mind you), so I suspect that it will be the same. Personally, I’m looking forward to the new anime, through I doubt it can be as awesome as the manga or old anime because it won’t be as unique, but we will see.
From
EE
2 comments:
Does Scar really count as a vigilante? He's not enforcing any laws that I know of nor bringing any criminals to justice.
If the war was still going on, and he didn't kill innocents who got in his way, i would argue he is just a rebel/terrorist. But as the war has ended and his own people basically tell him that his vengeance killing spree is against there way, I'd mark him as a vigilante in the sense of his enforcing his own brand of justice. He isn't conventional certainly. What did you think of the article itself?
from
EE
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