Char Clones Characterization?

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Mafty
Posts: 1133
Joined: Sun Apr 19, 2020 10:43 am

Char Clones Characterization?

So Char's popularity lead to him becoming an Character Archetype, particularly in the Mecha Genre, and Expys of the character began appearing in various shows even now. So to avoid this becoming just a list post, lets discuss what everyone thinks are the best and worst Char Clone Archetypes(SPOILERS)?

Best

- Harry Ord : most people seem to like Harry the best of the Char Clones. This is probably to do with the fact the character is well written and fairly likeable. He's not as ruthless as many other Char Clones, and can actually bring himself to care about other people in a meaningful way; ie his crush on Diana/Kihel is positively written, and doesn't lead him to go off the deep end like other examples. On top of that his is able to be calm and practical in extreme situations, and has excellent piloting skills.

-Lancerow Dawell': From the kind of obscure Gundam X we have Lancerow in a Char/Quattro hybrid. He's Char in the past and Quattro in the present. He's levelheaded compared to nearly everyone else in the SRA; is able to easily work together with his former rival Jamill, to the point both drop their rivalry, and doesn't allow his past issues to overwhelm him. By the end of the series most of the control of either side is in his and Jamils hands, and it works out much better than the previous leaders.

-Meio Plato: Taken from the somewhat obscure 80s Gundam clone (literally it was allegedly to replace Gundam and kick off a new franchise with less timeline issues) Dragonar. Interesting his design resembles the later Anaval Gato (down to having=g the same hairstyle and same colored pilot suit) in practice however his character is more middle ground. Plato grows from being blindly supportive of his superior's and movement (like Gato) to actually defecting to the main characters side, when he truly realizes how off balance the leaders are (unlike Gato). This itself is a major factor in the ultimate resolution of the series, even giving it a rare example of a Sunrise Real Robot Series with a happy ending.

Worst

Slaine Troyard, Aldnoah Zero: Starts off as a sympathetic Char Clone; expect he has disastrously bad luck, and is mistreated by everyone on both sides of the conflict save for Princess Asseylum. Ultimately writing issues lead Slaine to shift back and fourth between being sympathetic and unsympathetic either episode by episode, or sometimes in the same episode. At the end Slaine winds up with one of the worst punishments any Char Clone every had, and the show tries to play it of as a happy ending. In short Slaine had an Interesting concept that was squandered.

Zeaheart Galette: Another victim of inconsistent writing. Zeheart goes between being sympathetic and unsympathetic at the drop of a hat. At times he'll regret his armies actions, and care for the friends he's made undercover. Later he'll blindly commit war crimes at the behest of the Genocidal Dictator Ezelcant. Even if the series had been longer I think there still would have been issues in the characterization which comes from trying to combine too many divergent character traits together.

Chronicle Asher: coming from the longest Gundam series yet (at 51 episodes) Chronicle seems vague and underwritten. Large parts of Chronicle and Maria's backstory are never elaborated on(we only really get vague flashbacks to the formation of Zanscare and Shaktis safe exile), and he shifts from being sympathetic and reasonable (Protecting Katejnia, helping some of the Refugee Kids, seeming to genuinely care for Maria, expressing remorse for Myra's death) and being as crazy and ruthless as the rest of Zanscare(manipulating his niece, trying to kill her 13 year old friend, allowing everyone in Underhook to drown, participating in the brutal Earth Cleansing Operation, and the Angel Halo Superweapon). I 've heard Tomino was disappointed in the way some of his character arcs were vetoed by executives, plus there's a novelization, so maybe that expands of some of the characters backstories.

What does everyone else think?
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MythSearcher
Posts: 1845
Joined: Sun Jan 20, 2013 4:36 pm

Re: Char Clones Characterization?

Ramba and Gato.(Norris is a step further because he is modelled after Ramba)
Yes, in Adult's Gundam(Otona no Gundam), Enterbrain considers them to be characters modelled after Char. And I think they nailed it.
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