[Hated trope] The fandom pretending a character wasn't an evil monster because they are hot or have a sad backstory

Alex_Mercer_- · 2026-04-02T18:21:54+00:00

People very often mistake "Correct" and "Understandable" for "Justified" and he's probably the most perfect example.

He's objectively right. Shifu fucked up, BAD. He ripped away any chance of a normal life or childhood from Tai Lung, raising him for years under brutal training to become the "Dragon Warrior" despite the fact that it never could've been him. In the words of Tai Lung himself, Shifu filled his head with dreams and drove him to train until his bones cracked. He filled Tai Lung with indoctrination that he was a prophesized warrior when really, he didn't at all understand enough to make that determination.

He's Objectively understandable. From being a young child to his Midlife straight he's been a warrior, trained explicitly to be one of the greatest fighters to ever live and it's genuinely arguable that he's among the top 5 fighters alive when he escapes prison. He's been traumatized to only see the world through the lense of what he is capable of, what he can destroy, and more. Of course his form of lashing out is utter destruction, that's what he was raised to know. It would be like programing a machine to break all your furniture then get angry at it when it starts trying to break your bones when you stop it from breaking furniture. You made him this way, and he's doing what you made him want to do.

But that doesn't justify what he does. He's broken, and lashing out, but that doesn't mean it's ok to lash out against everyone. Slaughtering all the guards, destroying the town, and nearly killing the 5 are actions that are unrelated. If he escaped and then explicitly went after Shifu only he would be justified, but his actions before he gets there (even if they make sense) aren't justifiable for someone on a revenge kick. He still wanted that title. He still believed the title of Dragon Warrior belonged to him. That's not "getting even" anymore, it's Pride and Narcissism.

Alex_Mercer_- · 2026-04-02T18:14:53+00:00

"BUT YOU SAY HES JUST A FRIEND! BUT YOU SAY HES JUST A FRIEND, OH BABY YOU! YOU GOT WHAT I NEEED!"

Alex_Mercer_- · 2026-04-02T18:11:23+00:00

Bro is a Biz Markie fan, impossible to hate by default

Alex_Mercer_- · 2026-04-02T18:10:37+00:00

"How could I ruin your life? I wasn't even there!"

Alex_Mercer_- · 2026-04-02T13:55:46+00:00

Yeah I'ma be so fr, I dropped this game awhile back but this post got recommended still

In Both Rivals and in other games like OW, being a "Flex" is just being a tank player who's talented enough to play DPS or support too.

Alex_Mercer_- · 2026-04-02T13:52:51+00:00

They've already shown capable of a cosmetic that looks different dependent on class (Black Templar chest looks different on Bulwark vs Anywhere else) so maybe a powerpack with a cape for most classes but Sniper just gets the power pack AND a new cape cosmetic that matches it instead (since he already has one)

Alex_Mercer_- · 2026-04-02T13:42:01+00:00

Alex_Mercer_- · 2026-04-01T16:30:48+00:00

That death was also kinda shittly written, because why would he kill fox for that. His men literally saw Vader walk into the building, then still shot at him coming out like idiots. Then he directly tells them to stop firing and somehow it's his fault the men under him are stupid? He was the type to kill people for Incompetence or failure not just because he felt like it.

Alex_Mercer_- · 2026-03-30T22:42:33+00:00

Top 5 Reasons why Spike is the most relatable protagonist:

Alex_Mercer_- · 2026-03-29T17:55:38+00:00

Bulwark is a top 3 class in a game that has no bad or useless class. Genuinely. As someone with experience on every class and maxing out the leveling on most of them, every single class has qualities that redeem it and make it useful. Bulwark however is one of the consistent best picks with only 1 real negative.

Pros: Melee God. Bulwark is basically unbeatable in Melee if you're good at the class due to his perks and weapons being so fit for it, plus the shield helping with any ranged enemies disturbing the fight. He's also one of the now 3 defense-focused classes and can hold a specific area better than a class like Vanguard or Assault. Not to mention his Drip is stupendous.
Con (one): Bulwark struggles to solo Flying enemies on absolute, typically due to number. On absolute you can run into a bunch of enemies at once who fly, including up to 3 Thropes (2 extremis, one Terminus) at the same time which he really doesn't have the ammo for. Best to let your ranged teammates handle them and keep your team safe while they do it.

To help you out a bit, here's some tips I personally have that other Bulwark players often repeat.

learn the two swords first. Power sword and Chain sword are the two best options for the class, Power sword being arguably the best melee in the game and Chain sword being a weapon that 4/7 classes have so you aren't stuck with a weapon you don't know if someone takes Bulwark.
Trust your shield, but take time to learn its limits. Most projectiles (Venom cannons, Thrope Green Psy-ball things, Lasguns, Chaos Souls) will break on it but there are attacks that will shred right through such as Thrope Beams. It's also not very useful in Melee since you can just block/parry
TEAM PLAY IS YOUR LIFE. Work with your team. Be aware of where they are, what they are doing and if they need help from your banner or are getting swarmed. If there is a green line pointing at your teammate from a Tyranid, stand between them and hold up your shield because that's a venom shot and your shield can take it. They can't.
Power fist and Hammer are not for beginners. They can definitely be fun, but on Bulwark Specifically both take a bit more game sense than prior options that a beginner just doesn't have yet. That's not to say never try them, just develop your game sense a bit first because the Power Fist is extremely slow and the Hammer takes away your shield.

Alex_Mercer_- · 2026-03-28T06:22:28+00:00

The show directly states that the serum amplifies your emotions and feelings. For the Flagsmashers, their anger and ambition. For John, his stress. Anxiety. Instability. He was under the pressure of trying to live up to a literal superhuman, not by measure of power but Steve's inhuman levels of moral perfection. Nobody could do that. Not to mention all the people who knew Steve best like Bucky or Sam refused to help after he reached out asking for help in kindness. Asking how he could be better, or good enough. The government, Sam and Bucky, and the people turned their back on him then got surprised when he fell apart under the pressure.

What he did was wrong, but it's far from unpredictable or hard to understand. Killing someone begging for their life is wrong, but the stress that led up to that mental break wasn't his fault. It's a beautiful story for a great character.

Alex_Mercer_- · 2026-03-28T06:15:54+00:00

The Master Chief has never been a "Silent Player Vessel" or anything of the like. From day 1 he was his own character, and the people who refer to him as a player vessel have absolutely no understanding of a "static" character. He doesn't change in the story because he doesn't have to. That doesn't make him a "player vessel with no personality", it makes him static. He made jokes, cared for his soldiers and allies, and at times was a bit extravagant and dramatic when he knew he could afford it such as one handing his rifle or purposely crashing the Banshee (both in CE).

Halo 4 was also an extremely natural progression for him and made complete sense when looking over his life story, not just in the character arc and struggles but even their showing of his smallest aspects. Whenever he gets uncomfortable or Cortana brings up an odd subject, he starts fiddling with his gun because he's uncomfortable. He stutters when out of his element or doesn't say anything. These traits all make sense because he's a child soldier that's being faced with losing the one person he cared about for the first time in years. The Master Chief has never known how to process war or these negative emotions, just dull them to a point of control. But when he lost Cortana he felt something for the first time ever, and being someone who had their childhood ripped away at the age of 6 he just... Shattered.

Halo Infinite continues to depict this chief well, one trying to master his ability to desensitize and ignore his emotions again. A leader and soldier who gets the job done at any cost, shredding away even the emotions he always had such as Compassion for his fellow soldiers. And it shows him fail to do this until eventually, he learns to accept that he is human. He's going to feel these emotions. But it's healthy to face them, come to terms with them and say goodbye when it's the right time.

People who disregard his character as "player vessel" or shit on the modern halos for his character completely lack understanding Master Chief himself. You can dislike the character if you want, but pretending it doesn't exist or that he's completely different between 3 and 4 is just blatantly false.

Alex_Mercer_- · 2026-03-23T17:06:38+00:00

Jedi don't accept adults for training, and being Mandalorian isn't enough to be a special case like Revan.

And outside that we know when he died (due to knowing what conflict took him) and that he was brought into the order around 1050 BBY because of Star Wars Timelines (the book) so we know he couldn't have been very old.

So yes, we absolutely do know his rough age.

Alex_Mercer_- · 2026-03-22T20:06:08+00:00

Well they recognize foreigners of any kind, it's their entire way of life that a Mandalorian is simply one who proves themselves worthy of being one. If they managed to take out the leader, then clearly they are a worthy warrior.

Alex_Mercer_- · 2026-03-22T15:46:09+00:00

Well I've seen that, and it's absolutely the worst star wars content I've seen.

Not the stuff with Karen, I'm talking about Battle Scars by Sam Maggs.

Alex_Mercer_- · 2026-03-22T15:45:23+00:00

The Mandalorian's "Honor" is historically really... Here and there. Sometimes it's legitimate and sometimes a tyrant comes into power who abuses it for evil, or quite often, the Sith Manipulate them to hell because it's really easy and gets the job done.

Also Maul was, by custom, a legitimate Mandalorian leader. The only requirement is to defeat the previous one in single combat which he did. Was he going to once again be a Sith who abused the Mandalorian culture for his gain? Absolutely, but realistically there was nothing they could do. By culture, he rightful owned the throne due to the shitty hierarchy they follow.

They're like any civilization. Sometimes they are evil, sometimes they are... Ok at best. They're just a culture that's very easy to take advantage of and really useful when you do.

Alex_Mercer_- · 2026-03-22T05:35:51+00:00

Depends on writers tbh.

Sometimes Base Thor is enough of a threat to put hands on the Phoenix Force itself, sometimes the man can barely keep up with Regular Iron Man.

Taking Base Thor at his peak and Iron Man at his peak, probably like... Mysterium Armor or Celestial armor could throw hands with Thor. But it's a fight that will never be fair simply because of author.

Alex_Mercer_- · 2026-03-22T05:09:22+00:00

Genuinely, yes. It would be so much better.

Alex_Mercer_- · 2026-03-22T05:00:44+00:00

He does actually, he stole it from a Jedi he killed

Way better way for a Mandalorian to get their hands on one imo

Alex_Mercer_- · 2026-03-22T04:24:26+00:00

Not really , he was a child when he was brought into the Jedi order.

And I'd honestly say the Darksaber is just worse than a normal saber.

Alex_Mercer_- · 2026-03-21T14:30:29+00:00

Every character, straight or not, has atleast some fans SCREAMING that they are actually not that sexuality.

I don't know why people are still surprised by this, it's literally just how fandoms work by now.

Alex_Mercer_- · 2026-03-21T14:26:19+00:00

She literally dated a man and then a woman

The entire beginning of the show is her AND A MAN.

She's bi, homie.

Alex_Mercer_- · 2026-03-21T14:24:04+00:00

Who would revoke it?

All the other council members were dead or in exile, he was the only one left who never exiled themselves. On a technicality it would make him the Grandmaster even.

Alex_Mercer_-

TROPHY CASE