Tigress-Subtle Characterization And Growth

Tigress-Subtle Characterization and Growth

At first glance tigress is the stereotypical hardcore, feels nothing, and shuts everyone out character, but upon a further look there is so much revealed through the lengths the writers went through to develop her naturally and subtly.

Tigress does start out cold and no nonsense. She initially is angry at Po for being chosen as the dragon warrior. This is revealed to be due to her relentless pursuit to hone her kung fu skills and impress Shifu. She wasn’t truly mad at Po or want to be the dragon warrior what she wants is to be acknowledged by Shifu. Because Shifu believes that he led Tai Lung down the dark path he took Shifu is emotionally distant from tigress. This leads to her reckless behavior; Punching ironwood trees for twenty years until she felt no physical pain, training non-stop, leaving to face Tai Lung alone. These were all in an attempt to win his affection. She used to live in an orphanage where everyone feared her and said she was a monster. She was in an environment devoid of affection and the first person to ever show her any was Shifu. He trained her and helped her control her strength so that she was no longer feared by the children or caretakers at the orphanage. Shifu ended up adopting her. From a young age all she sought was approval and love and she rarely was shown either. It is through Po that that starts to change.

When the second movie rolls around Po and Tigress are close. This is the direct result of the first movie. Their relationship kickstarts because Po got through Shifu’s tough exterior. Po causes Shifu to change after the events of the first movie. Shifu realized that his tough love mindset may not be the best course of action and that his emotional distance actually hurt those he cared about most. He realized worth wasn’t just from how much kung fu you knew, but what you did with your strengths. This directly effected his relationship with Tigress. He believed it was his show of love and affection that led Tai Lung to grow arrogant and believe that he deserved the dragon scroll and power, but it was his lack of show of pride in what tai Lung had already accomplished. Their relationship became more open and more like that of a father and daughter than teacher and student. In the credits of the first movie there are scenes of Tigress and Shifu joking around. This large step in Tigress and Shifu’s relationship causes a shift in Po and Tigress’s relationship as well. Tigress now has no ill will towards Po because she now has Shifu’s approval, so now their relationship can progress.

A lot of Tigress and Po’s relationship growth is due to their shared circumstances. Tigress understands Po’s struggle with identity in the face of his newly discovered past. She was the kid with no family and no identity and much of her inner struggle has been centered around that. It is through this connection that Tigress was the ideal member of the furious five to support and sympathize with him throughout the second movie. Po believes that he needs to hide this beneath the surface and that it shouldn’t bother him. Ironically it’s Tigress, the one who hides her pain behind a self made wall, that reaches out to him and tells him it’s okay to feel pain and starts to lower her walls as well as his.

Tigress is a character of action and that is seen clearly through the animation. Most of this development is seen not outright said. If you were to remove the sound from any of her scenes be it when she told Po the story of Tai Lung and part of her past is seen, when she talks with Po on the boat, or the fight and subsequent hug in gongmen jail, you can still understand the emotions this character is conveying and not truly lose anything from the character. This is a strong point in characterization especially in an animated movie. The great sound and voice acting help though.

All of this development was brought about by the thought the writers put into the character and her backstory as well as fantastic animation. Even the end credit pictures help move the character forward to where she ends up. I think this is a testament to the care the creators have for these characters. Where they are able to make characters who feel real and relatable through subtleties such as an expression or inflection of the voice. This helps Kung Fu Panda be one of my all time favorite animated trilogies.

Lotor (season 5)

Season 5 really focused on developing Lotor as a person. At first I thought his character was inconsistent from what we had seen in previous seasons, but the more we saw of him the more I realized that this was the real Lotor. Lotor in the previous seasons felt meticulous and cold and this season established why he always acted like that. He was always told he was less for being part altean and he was raised to believe in victory or death. It was survival of the fittest within the Galran empire and he was at a disadvantage because of his altean heritage and that he was outcast by his own father for his empathy which lead the rest of the Galra to treat him as lower and unworthy. They probably didn’t even try to hide their distaste, so Lotor had to put up a wall to hide his empathy and curiosity from his people. He still continued to “rebel” against his father by allowing the planets he “conquered” to rule themselves and find more peaceful ways to show his strength than his father and people. He is more inherently peaceful and introspective than his father, but due to continuously being taught victory or death he couldn’t throw the teachings away completely which was shown in both his battle with the white lion and Zarkon. No matter how stacked the odds were against him in his battle with Zarkon he kept fighting and finding ways to make the playing field more level. This was, in my opinion, due to his inability to give up because of those teachings as well as his desire to stop his father. I think Lotor truly did want to stop his father, but he didn’t want to kill him to do it. This is why he didn’t look proud or victorious when he felled his father. He was starting to see the cracks in the teachings of the galra. 

His relationship with Allura was one of the most interesting and entertaining parts of the season. I believe that he initially was just fascinated with her power, but has come to genuinely enjoy being around her. I think this relationship will end up being a key player in Lotor’s development and future. I believe Lotor isn’t inherently evil and does truly want what is right, but he is somewhat similar to Zuko in that he doesn’t know exactly what path to take yet. His relationship with Allura could help him make the right decision when the time comes. 

I was worried throughout the season that Lotor would betray Allura and the palladins, but the further along the season went the less sense it seemed to make that he would. I couldn’t find anything he could gain by betraying voltron. I do think he initially planned to betray the palladins, but the longer he stayed with them and got to know Allura the less he wanted to. At the end of the season when he fails the test and Allura passes and gains the knowledge we are shown that he has changed as the season progressed. At the start of the season he wouldn’t have tried to act happy for Allura especially after failing to achieve what he had worked tirelessly for, but he seems to be slowly realizing that his thought process of “victory or death” is flawed and closes him off to other possibilities. This season has managed to convince me they are going through with Lotor’s redemption. I’m still uneasy about him, but I also don’t believe he is evil just mislead in is thinking. 

I think Lotor does believe quintessence can bring peace to the galaxy and it is meant to mirror Honerva’s path. While Honerva slowly becomes corrupted by the quintessence the same may too happen to Lotor, but I believe that his path will end up diverging from his mother’s in that he will learn from her mistakes and if he doesn’t directly learn from them I think Allura can help him see a different path from descent into corruption. This could be an interesting path to see come about.  

The Last Jedi- The Importance of the Throne Room Scene and Kylo Ren’s development

The throne room scene was when we finally see what Kylo Ren is thinking. Kylo believes both sides of the force have failed him. First the light side with his teacher Luke and now the dark in his mentor Snoke. Both believed him to be a failure for different reasons. Luke because he feared Kylo’s tremendous power and Snoke because he believes Kylo is weak and that he has found a more fitting successor in raw strength in Rey. Snoke believed he was only luring Rey to him through the interactions between Kylo and Rey he forced upon them throughout the movie, but in reality he was causing both to find someone who truly understands the other. This caused Kylo to strike out against Snoke and lead to his demise. 

The subsequent fight against the guards showed how in sync Kylo and Rey were. Kylo believed he had found something in between in Rey. Something not quite pure light side or pure dark side, but in the middle. He had come to reject both sides of the force and wanted to make his own way by destroying the old “antiquated” systems and creating the world anew. He rejected Rey’s offer to join the rebellion and stop the first order because he saw that the rebellion would just put the old systems in place, the systems he believed failed him. He could only achieve his goals of change if he stayed with the first order and lead them. He wanted Rey by his side because he saw his goals for the new system in her, but Rey didn’t agree with his methods to reach his solution though tearing down the system through violence. 

Kylo didn’t know another way to achieve his goals but through violence. This was the disconnect. Kylo was taught his whole life to fight (through Luke) and conquer (through Snoke). Whereas Rey was taught to remain passive and accepting. Rey learned that to make change she would have to take action, but only when need be, while Kylo slowly resorts to action in escalating extremes. 

Trish’s conflicting viewpoints on Simpson and Jessica

Jessica and Simpson near the end of the series are working toward a common goal, killing Kilgrave. It’s Trish’s reaction to them and their goal that shows us what type of people they are and their differing viewpoint on the job they “have” to do. For Jessica this job is essential and the whole reason Kilgrave is doing any of it is to get to Jessica. For Simpson It’s because he wants to be the knight in shining armor, the hero.

When Simpson tells Trish that Kilgrave isn’t someone you can capture and that he must be removed Trish responds by saying that he can’t be the one who decides that, that he is being judge, jury, and executioner. There are other people that need him alive like Hope. To her his crusade isn’t in alignment with her moral code because he isn’t seeing the entire picture, like the casualties of Kilgrave’s antics, he has laser focus on killing kilgrave no matter the sacrifices. This was perfectly displayed when he told Trish about his marines saving the barbies. They all burned, but the barbies were saved. He doesn’t really register the losses that come about due to his quest. When his war buddies get killed he is initially upset, but immediately brushes it off and agrees to be a test subject for the super soldier pills so he can go back to his quest as soon as possible. He even tries to remove Jessica so she can’t hinder his mission any more. He also places blame of everything, but himself when things go wrong or he does something deemed wrong by Trish. To him the ends justify the means. By the end he can’t even tell that he’s doing something immoral to achieve his goal.

When Jessica comes to the conclusion she has to kill Kilgrave it it under worse circumstances. Hope has just died in her arms and any illusion she had that she could stop him without becoming what Kilgrave made her, a murderer. Trish supports Jessica’s conclusion and does everything she can to support her. This is because Jessica understands the casualties that Kilgrave has cause and realized that there is no other way. When Jessica Kills Kilgrave he has become so powerful he cannot be contained. Throughout the season Jessica constantly puts the blame on herself for everything kilgrave does. She constantly tries to put just herself in harms way to reduce the casualties. The ends don’t justify the means. Jessica knows this and Trish knows this. Jessica believes the deaths that Kilgrave caused should have been avoided and due to her he has only grown more powerful and that is what eventually drives her to permanently stop him, not the illusions of heroism that drive Simpson. 

Princes Lotor and Zuko

The parallels between Lotor and Zuko are numerous. They were both inherently more peaceful then their fathers and seen as failures and outcast by those same fathers for their empathy and standing up for what they thought was right. Zuko when he was against purposefully sacrificing young soldiers and sending them to a fruitless fight and Lotor for not subjugating and destroying a race of people and instead learning about them and working with them. Due to their banishment they developed a facade that hid their empathy from those around them that slipped at moments. They both work tirelessly toward a goal they think is noble that is warped because of their parents views. Zuko his honor and Lotor the quintessence. I think like preince Zuko Lotor truly believes that the quintessence is the solution to his and his people’s problems. Lotor may end up betraying the Palladins, but it won’t be because he is evil or wanted to betray them. It will be because of a source of conflict and his obsession towards his goal. If he does betray the palladins he will eventually get his redemption arc where he realizes what he strove for wasn’t the solution to his answers. The source of conflict was set up this season in Honerva. I believe it will play out similar to Azula with Zuko in the crossroads of destiny. It is made clear throughout the season that both of Lotor’s parents were neglectful and one was abusive, so if he accepts that Haggar is his mother and discovers she has been helping him with the palladins and indirectly saved him from Zarkon through Kuron he may be manipulated. He admits to Allura in the finale that he envies her because she had Alfor as a father and he travelled the world with her and it was implied that he also envied that she got to have that childhood with happy family memories. If his mother is revealed to have loved him and “love” him his emotions can be manipulated in her favor. There is also the parallel between Honerva and Zarkon and Lotor and Allura. Both sets have a fixation on quintessence and believe that it can bring prosperity to the people, but while Zarkon and Honerva slowly become corrupted in their initially honorable quest Lotor and Allura have the ability to change their projected outcome. I think that while Honerva slowly edges Lotor to corruption Allura, because she is pure at heart, can prevent his downward spiral. The reason the relationship between Lotor and Allura was expanded upon so much this season could be for this reason, to prevent Lotor from becoming his Father and Mother and truly use quintessence to help the people and bring about a new age of prosperity instead of destruction and death. Lotor’s redemption arc has just begun. 

The Brilliance of the Battle of the Labyrinth

My favorite thing about the battle of the labyrinth is that it shows the effects of past events on demigods in the present. We see the Worst parts of Annabeth, Nico, and Percy. This is where Rick Riordan best shows the negative effects that come with what these demigods have been through. 

For Annabeth this is where her abandonment issues come to a head. We saw glimpses of it in the past, but it was never as apparent as it is in this book. Annabeth feels threatened by Rachel and Calypso. Percy is the only person that has truly stayed by her side through thick and thin and she is terrified of losing that. It was always just Percy and her when it came to the demigod part of their lives and both Calypso and Rachel threaten that. Calypso because he can offer Percy freedom from the great prophecy and a dangerous life and Rachel because she can be a part of his mortal and demigod lives while giving him a taste of normalcy. This doesn’t excuse her actions, but it adds a sense of realism. She’s 15 and had to deal with people leaving her for her whole life to this point she isn’t going to take what she sees as possibly losing the only one who stayed very well. 

Nico lost his sister and discovers he is lost in time. He does not take either very well. He tries to bring Bianca back from the dead and is manipulated by king Minos due to his fatal flaw and inability to cope with his sudden loss. He doesn’t know where to direct his anger at Bianca and himself so he projects it onto Percy as well as Percy’s friends. Nico didn’t just get over his problems even by the end of the story. This book has him struggle with all of this, come to terms with it, and start to move forward. His road to acceptance isn’t over, but he’s taken steps in the right direction.

Percy’s problems don’t truly come to a forefront in this book, but during his stay on Calypso’s island we see his stress about the coming prophecy and war. He considers staying on the island and for a moment forgets about everything else except Calypso and escaping the prophecy. The stress of everything that has happened to him and the terrible possibilities for his future have really weighed on him. This provides buildup for the war and to see how this stress effects him moving forward and how it will effect his decisions.

All of these characters acted questionably and made choices that we may not agree with, but that brought a layer of realism. People don’t work out their problems right away and not everything resolves in a short period of time. Things that happen in the past can effect someone moving forward and it takes time to accept and move forward. Sometimes someone can’t move past what happened. This is what the Battle of the labyrinth does well and what I like most about it.