Writing Tips and Reviews

A Deep Dive into doing Entitled Characters Right

It's no surprise I don't like entitled people, my rants should tell you that if you've seen them, or the entirety of my "Reviewing Bad Writing" series, which is different from regular reviews. In any case, I'm here to tell you about these entitled spoiled brats who became likable heroes by the end of their story.

-Luke Fon Fabre-

If you're a Tales fan like me, you'll know exactly what I'm going to talk about. Luke was born a prince, he was spoiled and sheltered all his life, meaning he was bound to grow up a selfish little shit. When he met Tear, it was obvious she didn't like his behavior but stuck with him because she dragged him into the situation.

What makes him such a good character isn't his constant whining or saying how much better he is than everyone else, it's his growth as a character. I stand by the notion that Raine from "Song of Nature" could have been a great character if she followed the route Luke took. But what is that route? Throughout the game, we learn more about Luke and he grows.

His first line of growth is "thank you", to which his friend completely loses it because that's not a phrase he's ever said before. We see him grow from someone willing to let the lower class die from poison gas to someone willing to sacrifice themselves to save everyone. It's because of Tear and Guy that he was forced to stop being such an entitled brat and become an adult.

Those who knew him the best were crying when he went to sacrifice himself because they knew the hardships he went through and grew to love who he was and who he'd become. If he stayed being a little shit, no one would care and he probably would have not sacrificed himself.

He also doesn't demonize the antagonist or try to excuse his actions, he does the latter in the beginning but not the entire game. Once he realizes he's been a little shit, he decides to stop and grow up. He also keeps looking up to Van, the antagonist, while also fighting against Van's ideals. Van is his mentor and old friend, he's also Tear's older brother, he's doing evil for the sake of good, and while they understand that, they can't agree with it.

Overall, Luke is someone who gained his popularity through the hardships he went through, and his journey to becoming a better person for the sake of his friends. He doesn't stay an entitled brat, he doesn't whine about some "suffering" that no one cares about, not even the story, he doesn't demonize people who disagree with him, and his journey doesn't end with him getting everything he wants and endorsing some idea that he was in the right the entire time and it's okay to demonize people who disagree with you because they're pure evil.

He was written to start like an entitled brat and grew up, that's what makes him so likable.

-Katarina Claes-

Katarina is a different story, she didn't take a long time to change like Luke did because she became a different person when she got her memories back. She became a mix of the otaku girl she used to be and the Noble girl she is today.

What makes her so beloved is the kindness she shows others despite her position as the duke's daughter. At first, she was an entitled brat, she beat on the maids for not getting the color of bow she wanted, then the accident happened and she changed. But before we talk about the current Katarina, we have to talk about the game Katarina.

In the game, she was a spoiled rich girl, she picked on the main heroine, she bullied other characters, she even used her position as Gerald's fiancé against him and was either killed or exiled for her crimes. The story knew she was the bad guy and treated her as such, even if she was the main heroine, she would still be treated like an awful person. She wouldn't be treated as "pure good" just because she's the protagonist, her actions wouldn't be sugarcoated, and those who disagree with her wouldn't be called "pure evil". Because the writers know what they're doing.

Now we look at the anime's Katarina, she's nice to everyone she meets, not because she's pretending, because she's nice. And stupid, but we'll get into that later. While the game version beat on Keith, the anime version took him everywhere she went. While the game version beat on Maria, the anime version became her friend and defended her. The anime version even beats on the game version because of how horrible of a person the game's version is.

They're the same person but it's as if Luke looked back at his old self and pointed out everything wrong with how his old self went about things. To put things into Fate terms, because I love Fate, it's like when Caster Gilgamesh looks at Archer Gilgamesh and sees how Archer is a jackass and how much he's grown from that.

Katarina is not only one of the nicest, and dumbest, characters in the series, she's also just as cute as the other girls. While some writers make their villains look like monsters, Katarina looks like a normal girl who is Waifu material at its finest. I just had to point this out because I hate it when people make a villain look like a monster when they're supposed to be a normal human with screwed up actions. Goetia from FGO gets away with it because he's an actual demon using a human body.

-Conclusion-

Growth, the word of the day, people grow from the experience, you're not the same person you were years ago unless you're an entitled brat and refuse to change because you think you're always right. Yandere dev.

Characters are no different, those who don't grow should be the constant in a story, Yuri Lowell doesn't need to grow because he's fine the way he is, it's the other characters who learn from him that the game focuses on. Yuri already had his growth, so he doesn't need to keep growing as the game progresses. Luke did need to grow, he couldn't stay a whiny brat the entire game, or people would give it a terrible review because no one likes spending an entire game with some entitled shit who whines all day about things not going their way.

If Katarina stayed the same as she was in the game, she would be destroyed by the other characters calling her out for being a terrible human being. Karma exists and those who treat others badly are punished for their actions. Someone who can't handle being told "no" and who calls not being satisfied with daddy's gifts "suffering" is not going to be rewarded in real life, they're going to be hit hard with the reality train one day or another.