[ a l l y o u n e e d i s t i m e ]
SUPERBI SQUALO, META ANALYSIS; RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SQUALO AND XANXUS
I would like to take this moment to talk about the relationship between Xanxus and Superbi Squalo of the Katekyo Hitman Reborn! fandom (the manga version, in particular) and focusing on their history following the Cradle Affair and the Vongola Ring Battles.
Squalo, according to Dino Cavallone's account of their school days, had been a very definite and prospective successor to being the next leader of the Independent Varia Assassination Squad following his victory over the last leader Tyr, whom he had defeated after a two-day death match. According to Cavallone, practically all the (previous?) members of the Varia (and also, those outside the Varia, presumably holding offices within the Vongola family itself) expected Squalo to be the next leader of the Varia. But he did not, instead giving way to Xanxus for reasons entirely unknown to people. Why?
He gave his reason as that he was attracted (or drawn) to Xanxus because of his 'fury'. Namely, his ambition and his frustration towards the society that they were stuck in, with all its petty customes of inheritence and bloodline. This is purely my own speculation, but I have reasons to think that Squalo had his own experiences and motives [to be elaborated at a later date] to feel a particular resentment towards this "old-fashioned" idea, and thus readily joined Xanxus in his plans for a coup d'etat.
I'm sure most of you will know what followed; the coup (henceforth referred to as 'the Cradle Affair' or 'the Cradle') failed, Xanxus being reduced to nothing more than a frozen statue in the Ninth's Zero-Point Breakthrough Dying Will Technique. We can only presume that Squalo was only repremanded for this, for he continued his career within the Varia with little trouble, considering that he was not kicked out from the organization. Until eight years later, when Xanxus was "resurrected" from his stasis and returned to reclaim his status as the leader of the Varia. It is during these eight years that Squalo did his own private research into Xanxus' past and heritage (reinforcing the view that he was not shut out completely from the Vongola family with his actions in the Cradle), and finding out that Xanxus is not actually related to the Ninth or to the main Vongola bloodline despite the presence of the Dying Will Flame.
The fact that Squalo found out that Xanxus is not related to the Ninth by himself with private research tells us that Xanxus was reluctant to discuss this matter with Squalo, and did not tell him the true reason for his desire to start the Cradle. This may also tell us that Squalo found sufficient drive within himself to seek out the truth of the matter, which may indicate the level of familiarity and respect that he had for Xanxus. Also the fact that his loyalty for Xanxus did not immediately decrease upon the realisation of his lack of any familial pristiege (after all, Xanxus was not even a bastard, not being related to the Ninth in any way whatsoever, he was merely a trash, an outsider) will say a lot about the extent to which Squalo was dedicated to Xanxus and his cause.
In the Varia Arc (or the Ring Battles Arc, whichever you'd like to call it) we see plenty more interactions between Xanxus and Squalo; I will pick out three major scenes and discuss them here in this writing.
Xanxus does not hesitate to let Squalo know when he did something wrong (such as not realising that the other halves of the rings that he brought back from Basil were fakes) and with a great deal of violence, slamming his face against the table and giving him a bloody nose. Xanxus also is often seen throwing his whisky/liquor glasses at Squalo's head with such force that the glass shatters on impact with Squalo's head -- it is indeed a wonder how Squalo hasn't checked himself in for a long-term stay at a trauma centre. But here is the crucial bit -- even when he's subjected to such violent and no doubt humiliating treatment, Squalo only protests with a customary VOOOOOOOOOIIIIII. The kind of actions which would earn the other person his neck, merely gets some empty grumbling from the former Varia leader-candidate himself. And considering that Squalo's pride means everything to him as a person and also a swordsman, this is a very unusual attitude, to say the least. Which tells us that Squalo either respects or fears Xanxus (maybe a bit of both, really) to back down and acknowledge his position as the leader of the Varia.
This is also interesting to note as Xanxus may be deliberately provoking this kind of behaviour from Squalo by abusing him so unjustly. As Xanxus was not aware that Squalo knew about his illegitimacy to the Vongola, we could only conclude that Xanxus was either subconsciously trying to play Squalo down to his subordinate level -- either because Squalo, unlike him, has legal and legitimate connections to the Vongola (we could only speculate on this, sadly) and also because of his former, rightful entitlement to the position of the Varia leader which he handed over to Xanxus instead. It is true that Squalo bent his pride in favour of Xanxus, and it is clear that he respects him enough, but Xanxus may still have felt threatened by such a person continuing to hover near him in the position that he's been given, not earned. This would give him all the conscious and subconscious reason to put Squalo down as much as he can, to assert his superiority over the other, and also test Squalo on his loyalty - whether he was still following him and his cause, that is, that ridiculous hair or not.
And, finally - Xanxus' raucous laughter as Squalo is supposedly killed by the giant shark following his defeat at the Battle for the Ring of Rain. Was he really glad that Squalo is gone? That finally, finally-- something distasteful that had remained with him for the last decade, the only reminder of his failures -- is dead and gone? Was it relief? Or is it just his reaction to everything?
I would like to take this moment to talk about the relationship between Xanxus and Superbi Squalo of the Katekyo Hitman Reborn! fandom (the manga version, in particular) and focusing on their history following the Cradle Affair and the Vongola Ring Battles.
Squalo, according to Dino Cavallone's account of their school days, had been a very definite and prospective successor to being the next leader of the Independent Varia Assassination Squad following his victory over the last leader Tyr, whom he had defeated after a two-day death match. According to Cavallone, practically all the (previous?) members of the Varia (and also, those outside the Varia, presumably holding offices within the Vongola family itself) expected Squalo to be the next leader of the Varia. But he did not, instead giving way to Xanxus for reasons entirely unknown to people. Why?
He gave his reason as that he was attracted (or drawn) to Xanxus because of his 'fury'. Namely, his ambition and his frustration towards the society that they were stuck in, with all its petty customes of inheritence and bloodline. This is purely my own speculation, but I have reasons to think that Squalo had his own experiences and motives [to be elaborated at a later date] to feel a particular resentment towards this "old-fashioned" idea, and thus readily joined Xanxus in his plans for a coup d'etat.
I'm sure most of you will know what followed; the coup (henceforth referred to as 'the Cradle Affair' or 'the Cradle') failed, Xanxus being reduced to nothing more than a frozen statue in the Ninth's Zero-Point Breakthrough Dying Will Technique. We can only presume that Squalo was only repremanded for this, for he continued his career within the Varia with little trouble, considering that he was not kicked out from the organization. Until eight years later, when Xanxus was "resurrected" from his stasis and returned to reclaim his status as the leader of the Varia. It is during these eight years that Squalo did his own private research into Xanxus' past and heritage (reinforcing the view that he was not shut out completely from the Vongola family with his actions in the Cradle), and finding out that Xanxus is not actually related to the Ninth or to the main Vongola bloodline despite the presence of the Dying Will Flame.
The fact that Squalo found out that Xanxus is not related to the Ninth by himself with private research tells us that Xanxus was reluctant to discuss this matter with Squalo, and did not tell him the true reason for his desire to start the Cradle. This may also tell us that Squalo found sufficient drive within himself to seek out the truth of the matter, which may indicate the level of familiarity and respect that he had for Xanxus. Also the fact that his loyalty for Xanxus did not immediately decrease upon the realisation of his lack of any familial pristiege (after all, Xanxus was not even a bastard, not being related to the Ninth in any way whatsoever, he was merely a trash, an outsider) will say a lot about the extent to which Squalo was dedicated to Xanxus and his cause.
In the Varia Arc (or the Ring Battles Arc, whichever you'd like to call it) we see plenty more interactions between Xanxus and Squalo; I will pick out three major scenes and discuss them here in this writing.
Xanxus does not hesitate to let Squalo know when he did something wrong (such as not realising that the other halves of the rings that he brought back from Basil were fakes) and with a great deal of violence, slamming his face against the table and giving him a bloody nose. Xanxus also is often seen throwing his whisky/liquor glasses at Squalo's head with such force that the glass shatters on impact with Squalo's head -- it is indeed a wonder how Squalo hasn't checked himself in for a long-term stay at a trauma centre. But here is the crucial bit -- even when he's subjected to such violent and no doubt humiliating treatment, Squalo only protests with a customary VOOOOOOOOOIIIIII. The kind of actions which would earn the other person his neck, merely gets some empty grumbling from the former Varia leader-candidate himself. And considering that Squalo's pride means everything to him as a person and also a swordsman, this is a very unusual attitude, to say the least. Which tells us that Squalo either respects or fears Xanxus (maybe a bit of both, really) to back down and acknowledge his position as the leader of the Varia.
This is also interesting to note as Xanxus may be deliberately provoking this kind of behaviour from Squalo by abusing him so unjustly. As Xanxus was not aware that Squalo knew about his illegitimacy to the Vongola, we could only conclude that Xanxus was either subconsciously trying to play Squalo down to his subordinate level -- either because Squalo, unlike him, has legal and legitimate connections to the Vongola (we could only speculate on this, sadly) and also because of his former, rightful entitlement to the position of the Varia leader which he handed over to Xanxus instead. It is true that Squalo bent his pride in favour of Xanxus, and it is clear that he respects him enough, but Xanxus may still have felt threatened by such a person continuing to hover near him in the position that he's been given, not earned. This would give him all the conscious and subconscious reason to put Squalo down as much as he can, to assert his superiority over the other, and also test Squalo on his loyalty - whether he was still following him and his cause, that is, that ridiculous hair or not.
And, finally - Xanxus' raucous laughter as Squalo is supposedly killed by the giant shark following his defeat at the Battle for the Ring of Rain. Was he really glad that Squalo is gone? That finally, finally-- something distasteful that had remained with him for the last decade, the only reminder of his failures -- is dead and gone? Was it relief? Or is it just his reaction to everything?