Hakkai the Swindler?
This post is my response to a question posted at saiyuki and, as always, I have gone overboard once again. Also, it seemed to me that the person who asked the question or the people who responded may not know of Cho Hakkai's back-story, so I felt the need to cut my examples that use possible spoilers and to do that, I needed to post it here. Also, when my comments run way too long-I mean, too long to be posted as a comment-I do as I am doing now: post my entire comment in my journal, cut down the one of the thread to post-able size and link the sections that aren't included in my response to my journal.
Here's the question:
This maybe the most new-fan question ever, but why is Hakkai referred to so often as a swindler? I understand why so many icons and such play with the fact that he is/was a criminal, but I don't get all the flimflam man references. He seems the least likely of the main for characters to try and con people (unless we're talking emotionally....)
And my long-ass response:
Personally, I've always thought that "swindler" refers to the fact that Hakkai "smooth talker," that he is the best with words out of the group-he can get Sanzo to usually do what Hakkai wants him to do just by talking to Sanzo, he can appease Goku's hunger with his words (at least temporarily) and keeps Sanzo and Gojyo from irritating the hell out of each other. Basically, Hakkai can talk anyone into doing anything he wants, when he feels like it at least.
Hakkai is the one that goes shopping because he gets the best deals.
He is the one that apologizes for Sanzo's/Goku's/Gojyo's uncouth behavior in restaurants or in hotels and is almost apologizing for his own behavior. These apologies are routine and false-he apologizes for Gojyo, Goku and Sanzo, not because he is sorry for their behavior, but because it is good manners (the good manners that were most likely instilled into him by the nuns at the orphanage because of their nature-they seem very Christian in nature, at least to me, in the fact that he is constantly asking forgiveness from others for either his or his companions' behavior) to apologize for a companion's unruly behavior if they will not. Hakkai is never truly sorry for his companions' behavior-in fact he seems to be the most amused and entertained by their antics-but feels an almost pathological need to apologize for it because, while it may entertain him, it could irritate others and so he is apologizing for the possibly irritating behavior.
And whenever Hakkai is apologizing for his own behavior, you get the feeling that he is not apologizing for his actions or behavior, he is apologizing for the fact that someone has to see him doing those actions and behavior. Example:
***SPOILER FOR HAKKAI'S BACKSTORY***
Hakkai wiped out the Hakougen (sp?) clan in order to rescue his sister-killed 1000 youkai and about 300 humans to get to Kanan. He willingly turned himself over to Sanzo for judgment by the gods for his crimes because he knew he deserved punishment for what he had done. Yet I have Never heard him say that he is truly sorry for killing those 1300-either the humans or the youkai. I know that he is apologetic for the deaths and sorry for the pain he caused, but he never says that he is sorry for the murders he committed. He is sorry that they were required and sorry that so many innocent people got caught up in it, but he truly believed that he had no other choice to retrieve Kanan-that there was no other way to get his sister back-and this justified in his actions.
Truthfully, in the situation, there was really no other way to get to Kanan. Now, Hakkai may have been a little extreme, but he was merely being thorough. He was thinking ahead, for his and Kanan's escape and life afterwards. Hakkai (or should I say Gonou? I'm going to stick with Hakkai to avoid confusion) knew that he had to kill the Hakougen's Maou and that the clan may object to this and want revenge against their Maou's killer. So Hakkai had to kill everyone who might take offense to the Maou's death and try to disturb his life after he rescued Kanan, hence killing the entire youkai clan and killing a good portion of his village-the Hakougen could have come after them to retrieve their sacrifice or in revenge for killing their Maou-and the villagers could have come after them to retrieve the sacrifice-they sacrificed Kanan once and would most likely do it again before sacrificing any of their own women.
So, Hakkai was never really sorry that he killed all those people, just sorry that their deaths were necessary for him to achieve his own selfish goals. Hakkai felt sorry that putting his own need before that of others had resulted in over 1000 deaths, but he was never sorry for actually putting his own need above that of others.
***END HAKKAI BACKSTORY***
And because he never felt sorry for his actions, only sorry that his actions had resulted in so much death, he was willing, put in a similar situation, to do it again. Which he did.
***SPOILER HAKKAI-GOJYO BURIAL ARC***
Hakkai refused Sanzo's request for his help because he wanted to leave his old life behind-wanted nothing more to do youkai (besides Gojyo and Goku-and even Gojyo is iffy here because Hakkai was leaving, but where and why, who knows), crime and Sanzo's gods-any more than necessary. Hakkai didn't want to help Sanzo because he knew-either Sanzo told him or it was implied-that violence might have been necessary to accomplish the task and violence was a part of Gonou's life, however briefly it had been a part, and Hakkai wanted nothing to do with violence in his new life.
But when it came down to a choice: totally leave his old life behind, which includes leaving Gojyo in the sticky situation he managed to get himself stuck in, or using the violence he hates to save a person he cares about, he makes the same choice he did before and probably will again: save the person he cares for no matter the cost. The number Hakkai killed in saving Gojyo is negligible in respect to the previous body count, but it does prove that Hakkai was willing to repeat his crime if he felt it necessary.
If Hakkai was so willing to recommit his crime, even if it was on a much smaller scale, then some part of him always thought that he was justified in his actions previously. He may have been sorry for his actions, but a small part of him still felt justified in what he did. Feeling both justified and apologetic for the same actions is almost impossible to do and retain ones sanity-probably why Hakkai is somewhat insane-but it also means that, if you believe both, then no matter what, you are always being dishonest with yourself in one way or another.
***END HAKKAI-GOJYO BURIAL ARC***
I think the main thing is that Hakkai has all the characteristics to make a great swindler (probably why he and Banri get along so well was because of how much alike they are, the difference being that Banri has no conscience and therefore no compunction about exploiting his 'friends' for his own benefit, where Hakkai has somewhat of a conscience and uses his skills to get what he or the group needs without hurting people if possible) and occasionally acts like one when he feels it necessary. Maybe a better word than “Swindler” would be “Manipulator,” they are basically synonyms but the former has a negative connotation attached to it and the latter is basically neutral. Hakkai is natural manipulator, but he does it with the best intentions of everyone in mind. Characteristics that Hakkai shares with swindlers (and manipulators):
(1) has a constantly smiling face, no matter how he feels or what situation confronted with;
(2) always tries to talk himself out of a situation before resorting to other means-Hakkai does try to talk to the first youkai that attack him at the beginning of the series, but they just won't listen to him;
(3) cool and collected no matter the situation;
(4) always thinking, trying to find an easier way to do something or a more efficient way or an escape route, etc. Con-men, so they can leave town quicly before they are discovered and Hakkai, so they can make a quick escape from town if youkai attack them there are examples;
(5) can get almost everyone to agree with him or agree with his point of view by talking with them; can talk people into doing things his way, Sanzo, Gojyo and Goku being prime examples, but also food vendors, hotel employees, townspeople;
(6) has a natural charisma that makes people want to trust him and uses it to his advantage-Hakkai uses it to get people to help them on their trip west and get his companions out of trouble, whereas a swindler would use the charisma to get people's trust and then use the trust to rob them blind.
Also, with those mug-shots, what they were showing, in my opinion, was what kind of crime each would be guilty of if you took that person's most prevalent characteristic-what skill they seem to instinctively use first-and pushed it to the extreme. I also believe that the mug shots also take into consideration their lives in heaven.
Goku is physical, always using his fists (and feet) first. Goku genuinely like breaking things: breaking his limiter (his other self likes this), breaking his enemies and breaking the rules-after all, he is a heretic-his mere existence is breaking one of the rules of heaven. Goku is a naturally-born "breaker."
Gojyo automatically uses his mouth and never censors what comes out of it-half the trouble he got into in heaven was with his mouth and the other half was what he did with his mouth-and reincarnation hasn't changed that part of him. So "obscenity" is perfect for Gojyo.
Hakkai is a manipulator by nature-he was heaven's great tactician, one of many reasons he was considered the most dangerous man in heaven-and the most likely crime a manipulator is going to commit is swindling, hence "swindler."
Sanzo's is a little more complicated-but I think it has to do with the Buddhism rule that he says he lives by (I know it is mu-something, but I can't remember the fricking name-grrr-but I know the gist of it) “No Attachment" - basically hold no attachments to this life because it is the attachments people hold that cause the chaos of life. The most dangerous being attachments to others, in Sanzo's opinion, which is why he basically ignores all the other rules, because, to him, having physical attachments-such as alcohol, smoking, gambling-is fine as long as there are no emotional attachments. I believe this is why Sanzo would be the one to be the murderer. It is not that it is in his nature to be a murderer, but that his natural propensity to have no emotional attachments would make it easiest for him to become a murderer. After all, isn't that why sociopaths kill so easily-they have no empathy for others-no emotional attachments towards others that most humans feel naturally for other humans that would prevent them from killing a person.
The Sakurazukamori from CLAMP's X is 'no emotional attachment' personified-he has no empathy toward humans or even animals and thereby feels nothing when he ends their lives. He explains it to Subaru in Tokyo Babylon Volume 7 that, to the Sakurazukamori, breaking a tree branch and breaking Subaru's arm is no different and then demonstrates on Subaru.
And the nature of the Sakurazukamori is a totally different discussion, so I will end here with my assertion that the swindler connotation is due directly to Hakkai's manipulative nature and the mug shots are simply a glimpse of what kind of criminals they would be if the guys were totally embrace and become the personification of their most prevalent characteristic.
Here's the question:
This maybe the most new-fan question ever, but why is Hakkai referred to so often as a swindler? I understand why so many icons and such play with the fact that he is/was a criminal, but I don't get all the flimflam man references. He seems the least likely of the main for characters to try and con people (unless we're talking emotionally....)
And my long-ass response:
Personally, I've always thought that "swindler" refers to the fact that Hakkai "smooth talker," that he is the best with words out of the group-he can get Sanzo to usually do what Hakkai wants him to do just by talking to Sanzo, he can appease Goku's hunger with his words (at least temporarily) and keeps Sanzo and Gojyo from irritating the hell out of each other. Basically, Hakkai can talk anyone into doing anything he wants, when he feels like it at least.
Hakkai is the one that goes shopping because he gets the best deals.
He is the one that apologizes for Sanzo's/Goku's/Gojyo's uncouth behavior in restaurants or in hotels and is almost apologizing for his own behavior. These apologies are routine and false-he apologizes for Gojyo, Goku and Sanzo, not because he is sorry for their behavior, but because it is good manners (the good manners that were most likely instilled into him by the nuns at the orphanage because of their nature-they seem very Christian in nature, at least to me, in the fact that he is constantly asking forgiveness from others for either his or his companions' behavior) to apologize for a companion's unruly behavior if they will not. Hakkai is never truly sorry for his companions' behavior-in fact he seems to be the most amused and entertained by their antics-but feels an almost pathological need to apologize for it because, while it may entertain him, it could irritate others and so he is apologizing for the possibly irritating behavior.
And whenever Hakkai is apologizing for his own behavior, you get the feeling that he is not apologizing for his actions or behavior, he is apologizing for the fact that someone has to see him doing those actions and behavior. Example:
***SPOILER FOR HAKKAI'S BACKSTORY***
Hakkai wiped out the Hakougen (sp?) clan in order to rescue his sister-killed 1000 youkai and about 300 humans to get to Kanan. He willingly turned himself over to Sanzo for judgment by the gods for his crimes because he knew he deserved punishment for what he had done. Yet I have Never heard him say that he is truly sorry for killing those 1300-either the humans or the youkai. I know that he is apologetic for the deaths and sorry for the pain he caused, but he never says that he is sorry for the murders he committed. He is sorry that they were required and sorry that so many innocent people got caught up in it, but he truly believed that he had no other choice to retrieve Kanan-that there was no other way to get his sister back-and this justified in his actions.
Truthfully, in the situation, there was really no other way to get to Kanan. Now, Hakkai may have been a little extreme, but he was merely being thorough. He was thinking ahead, for his and Kanan's escape and life afterwards. Hakkai (or should I say Gonou? I'm going to stick with Hakkai to avoid confusion) knew that he had to kill the Hakougen's Maou and that the clan may object to this and want revenge against their Maou's killer. So Hakkai had to kill everyone who might take offense to the Maou's death and try to disturb his life after he rescued Kanan, hence killing the entire youkai clan and killing a good portion of his village-the Hakougen could have come after them to retrieve their sacrifice or in revenge for killing their Maou-and the villagers could have come after them to retrieve the sacrifice-they sacrificed Kanan once and would most likely do it again before sacrificing any of their own women.
So, Hakkai was never really sorry that he killed all those people, just sorry that their deaths were necessary for him to achieve his own selfish goals. Hakkai felt sorry that putting his own need before that of others had resulted in over 1000 deaths, but he was never sorry for actually putting his own need above that of others.
***END HAKKAI BACKSTORY***
And because he never felt sorry for his actions, only sorry that his actions had resulted in so much death, he was willing, put in a similar situation, to do it again. Which he did.
***SPOILER HAKKAI-GOJYO BURIAL ARC***
Hakkai refused Sanzo's request for his help because he wanted to leave his old life behind-wanted nothing more to do youkai (besides Gojyo and Goku-and even Gojyo is iffy here because Hakkai was leaving, but where and why, who knows), crime and Sanzo's gods-any more than necessary. Hakkai didn't want to help Sanzo because he knew-either Sanzo told him or it was implied-that violence might have been necessary to accomplish the task and violence was a part of Gonou's life, however briefly it had been a part, and Hakkai wanted nothing to do with violence in his new life.
But when it came down to a choice: totally leave his old life behind, which includes leaving Gojyo in the sticky situation he managed to get himself stuck in, or using the violence he hates to save a person he cares about, he makes the same choice he did before and probably will again: save the person he cares for no matter the cost. The number Hakkai killed in saving Gojyo is negligible in respect to the previous body count, but it does prove that Hakkai was willing to repeat his crime if he felt it necessary.
If Hakkai was so willing to recommit his crime, even if it was on a much smaller scale, then some part of him always thought that he was justified in his actions previously. He may have been sorry for his actions, but a small part of him still felt justified in what he did. Feeling both justified and apologetic for the same actions is almost impossible to do and retain ones sanity-probably why Hakkai is somewhat insane-but it also means that, if you believe both, then no matter what, you are always being dishonest with yourself in one way or another.
***END HAKKAI-GOJYO BURIAL ARC***
I think the main thing is that Hakkai has all the characteristics to make a great swindler (probably why he and Banri get along so well was because of how much alike they are, the difference being that Banri has no conscience and therefore no compunction about exploiting his 'friends' for his own benefit, where Hakkai has somewhat of a conscience and uses his skills to get what he or the group needs without hurting people if possible) and occasionally acts like one when he feels it necessary. Maybe a better word than “Swindler” would be “Manipulator,” they are basically synonyms but the former has a negative connotation attached to it and the latter is basically neutral. Hakkai is natural manipulator, but he does it with the best intentions of everyone in mind. Characteristics that Hakkai shares with swindlers (and manipulators):
(1) has a constantly smiling face, no matter how he feels or what situation confronted with;
(2) always tries to talk himself out of a situation before resorting to other means-Hakkai does try to talk to the first youkai that attack him at the beginning of the series, but they just won't listen to him;
(3) cool and collected no matter the situation;
(4) always thinking, trying to find an easier way to do something or a more efficient way or an escape route, etc. Con-men, so they can leave town quicly before they are discovered and Hakkai, so they can make a quick escape from town if youkai attack them there are examples;
(5) can get almost everyone to agree with him or agree with his point of view by talking with them; can talk people into doing things his way, Sanzo, Gojyo and Goku being prime examples, but also food vendors, hotel employees, townspeople;
(6) has a natural charisma that makes people want to trust him and uses it to his advantage-Hakkai uses it to get people to help them on their trip west and get his companions out of trouble, whereas a swindler would use the charisma to get people's trust and then use the trust to rob them blind.
Also, with those mug-shots, what they were showing, in my opinion, was what kind of crime each would be guilty of if you took that person's most prevalent characteristic-what skill they seem to instinctively use first-and pushed it to the extreme. I also believe that the mug shots also take into consideration their lives in heaven.
Goku is physical, always using his fists (and feet) first. Goku genuinely like breaking things: breaking his limiter (his other self likes this), breaking his enemies and breaking the rules-after all, he is a heretic-his mere existence is breaking one of the rules of heaven. Goku is a naturally-born "breaker."
Gojyo automatically uses his mouth and never censors what comes out of it-half the trouble he got into in heaven was with his mouth and the other half was what he did with his mouth-and reincarnation hasn't changed that part of him. So "obscenity" is perfect for Gojyo.
Hakkai is a manipulator by nature-he was heaven's great tactician, one of many reasons he was considered the most dangerous man in heaven-and the most likely crime a manipulator is going to commit is swindling, hence "swindler."
Sanzo's is a little more complicated-but I think it has to do with the Buddhism rule that he says he lives by (I know it is mu-something, but I can't remember the fricking name-grrr-but I know the gist of it) “No Attachment" - basically hold no attachments to this life because it is the attachments people hold that cause the chaos of life. The most dangerous being attachments to others, in Sanzo's opinion, which is why he basically ignores all the other rules, because, to him, having physical attachments-such as alcohol, smoking, gambling-is fine as long as there are no emotional attachments. I believe this is why Sanzo would be the one to be the murderer. It is not that it is in his nature to be a murderer, but that his natural propensity to have no emotional attachments would make it easiest for him to become a murderer. After all, isn't that why sociopaths kill so easily-they have no empathy for others-no emotional attachments towards others that most humans feel naturally for other humans that would prevent them from killing a person.
The Sakurazukamori from CLAMP's X is 'no emotional attachment' personified-he has no empathy toward humans or even animals and thereby feels nothing when he ends their lives. He explains it to Subaru in Tokyo Babylon Volume 7 that, to the Sakurazukamori, breaking a tree branch and breaking Subaru's arm is no different and then demonstrates on Subaru.
And the nature of the Sakurazukamori is a totally different discussion, so I will end here with my assertion that the swindler connotation is due directly to Hakkai's manipulative nature and the mug shots are simply a glimpse of what kind of criminals they would be if the guys were totally embrace and become the personification of their most prevalent characteristic.