scars, far angstier than yours
Earlier,
calixa decided she was going to watch the Rurouni Kenshin anime, then saw the sheer length of it and possibly got scared off. I was, however, reminded of the sheer level of angst involved in Kenshin's scars, and am wondering: can anyone beat that?
Back when Kenshin was an angsty young assassin, a man he killed slashed his cheek, leaving a diagonal scar. IIRC, the wound refused to heal for a long time. Later, Kenshin married a woman named Tomoe, only to learn she was a spy and assassin who wanted him dead because the man who scarred him was her fiancee. long story short, she basically throws herself on his sword and dies in his arms, but not before giving him another scar that intersects with the first, forming an "x." So there he is, wandering around with this giant scar on his face, given to him by a pair of lovers he killed, months apart. Did I mention that one was his wife? And there's that whole symbolism about their being separated in life, but united in death because the scars they gave him are joined?
Is it any wonder he changed his named, took to wandering around Japan, and adopted extremely strict no-killing rules?
But you know, there are contenders for angsty scars. Here are a few:
Scar in Fullmetal Alchemist:
Scar(not his real name) and his brother are attacked by Kimbley while the Amnestrian army is basically wiping out their entire race. Kimbley destroys a huge chunk of the flesh on Scar's face and his entire arm. Scar's brother then uses alchemy to attach his own arm to Scar's stump to save his life, dying himself in the process. Scar kinda goes ballistic when he wakes up and learns he now has his brother's arm, and kills every Amnestrian he can find, including Winry's parents. Later, he changes his name to Scar, abandons his people's beliefs, and vows to use his brother's alchemy to destroy all the Amnestrian state alchemists.
Shuri in Basara:
When his mother was pregnant, a prophet told his father, the king, that if a son was born, the son would eventually overthrow him. When Shuri was born, the king had his back branded with a slave brand, then spent Shuri's life trying to destroy him the crushing-with-the-weight-of-the-world-against-you way. Around Vol 9 or so, Shuri slices off half the skin on his back and asks Sarasa to cauterize the wound. I guess he figures a huge mass of scar tissue is better.
Actually, this is kind of mild compared to the stuff Yumi Tamura puts him through after this...
Yum Moon in Emperor of the Sea:
Arrested as a pirate by his enemy/childhood friend/romantic rival, Jang Bogo, Yum Moon is tied to a stake a foot deep in water and the brand of piracy is burned into his forehead while he stares forward with blood pouring down his face. Among those watching are Bogo, their mutual true love, Jung-Hwa, all of Bogo's men, random peasants, and the only two surviving members of Yum Moon's men, one of whom is his ward. Right after thatm he's tossed in a prison camp. (Somehow, he and Bogo later somewhat work out their differences, though that doesn't stop things from going down in a massive ball of angst.)
Sandor Clegane in A Song of Ice and Fire:
When he was a child, his older brother, Gregor, a knight, shoved Sandor's face in a burning brazier, hideously disfiguring half his face. Sandor now hates fire, his brother, everything about knighthood, and himself. He thinks both "The Hound" and "Dog" are suitable nicknames for him, and goes around trying to convince everyone he's as monstrous as he looks.
Zuko in Avatar:
When he questioned the order of his father, the Fire Lord, Osai(dad) forced him into ritual combat where he turned about 1/3rd of Zuko's face into a massive burn scar and publicly humiliated him, then declared him an exile and drop kicked him out of the country. Spends the first season and a half hunting down the hero, Aang, hoping to capture him and regain his honor. Never really seems to realize that Aang is 12.
Honorable mention: Tokine and Yoshimori in Kekkaishi:
When they were younger, Yoshimori tried to take on an Ayakashi he wasn't strong enough to face, requiring Tokine to step in and save him. In the process, she was badly injured, and was left with scars on her hands and arms. Even though Tokine is the better kekkaishi of the two, Yoshimori's guilt causes him to devote himself to becoming stronger so that Tokine will never be hurt because he was too weak to take care of himself again. Honorable mention because tokine(so far) seems to have few issues with it (she's practical, scars happen) and all the angst over the scars comes from Yoshimori's staring at them and vowing to get stronger because of it.
I'm not including the stardard eye/hand/arm loss as scars because...well, then it'd never stop.
Anyone else have any angsty scars contenders? Gojyo and Harry Potter also come to mind, but it's too late to get into them.
(Of course, I now find myself trying to remember the origin of Manji and Giichi's scars in Blade of the Immortal...I want to say we know at least some of Manji's, but not Giichi's.)
calixa decided she was going to watch the Rurouni Kenshin anime, then saw the sheer length of it and possibly got scared off. I was, however, reminded of the sheer level of angst involved in Kenshin's scars, and am wondering: can anyone beat that?
Back when Kenshin was an angsty young assassin, a man he killed slashed his cheek, leaving a diagonal scar. IIRC, the wound refused to heal for a long time. Later, Kenshin married a woman named Tomoe, only to learn she was a spy and assassin who wanted him dead because the man who scarred him was her fiancee. long story short, she basically throws herself on his sword and dies in his arms, but not before giving him another scar that intersects with the first, forming an "x." So there he is, wandering around with this giant scar on his face, given to him by a pair of lovers he killed, months apart. Did I mention that one was his wife? And there's that whole symbolism about their being separated in life, but united in death because the scars they gave him are joined?
Is it any wonder he changed his named, took to wandering around Japan, and adopted extremely strict no-killing rules?
But you know, there are contenders for angsty scars. Here are a few:
Scar in Fullmetal Alchemist:
Scar(not his real name) and his brother are attacked by Kimbley while the Amnestrian army is basically wiping out their entire race. Kimbley destroys a huge chunk of the flesh on Scar's face and his entire arm. Scar's brother then uses alchemy to attach his own arm to Scar's stump to save his life, dying himself in the process. Scar kinda goes ballistic when he wakes up and learns he now has his brother's arm, and kills every Amnestrian he can find, including Winry's parents. Later, he changes his name to Scar, abandons his people's beliefs, and vows to use his brother's alchemy to destroy all the Amnestrian state alchemists.
Shuri in Basara:
When his mother was pregnant, a prophet told his father, the king, that if a son was born, the son would eventually overthrow him. When Shuri was born, the king had his back branded with a slave brand, then spent Shuri's life trying to destroy him the crushing-with-the-weight-of-the-world-against-you way. Around Vol 9 or so, Shuri slices off half the skin on his back and asks Sarasa to cauterize the wound. I guess he figures a huge mass of scar tissue is better.
Actually, this is kind of mild compared to the stuff Yumi Tamura puts him through after this...
Yum Moon in Emperor of the Sea:
Arrested as a pirate by his enemy/childhood friend/romantic rival, Jang Bogo, Yum Moon is tied to a stake a foot deep in water and the brand of piracy is burned into his forehead while he stares forward with blood pouring down his face. Among those watching are Bogo, their mutual true love, Jung-Hwa, all of Bogo's men, random peasants, and the only two surviving members of Yum Moon's men, one of whom is his ward. Right after thatm he's tossed in a prison camp. (Somehow, he and Bogo later somewhat work out their differences, though that doesn't stop things from going down in a massive ball of angst.)
Sandor Clegane in A Song of Ice and Fire:
When he was a child, his older brother, Gregor, a knight, shoved Sandor's face in a burning brazier, hideously disfiguring half his face. Sandor now hates fire, his brother, everything about knighthood, and himself. He thinks both "The Hound" and "Dog" are suitable nicknames for him, and goes around trying to convince everyone he's as monstrous as he looks.
Zuko in Avatar:
When he questioned the order of his father, the Fire Lord, Osai(dad) forced him into ritual combat where he turned about 1/3rd of Zuko's face into a massive burn scar and publicly humiliated him, then declared him an exile and drop kicked him out of the country. Spends the first season and a half hunting down the hero, Aang, hoping to capture him and regain his honor. Never really seems to realize that Aang is 12.
Honorable mention: Tokine and Yoshimori in Kekkaishi:
When they were younger, Yoshimori tried to take on an Ayakashi he wasn't strong enough to face, requiring Tokine to step in and save him. In the process, she was badly injured, and was left with scars on her hands and arms. Even though Tokine is the better kekkaishi of the two, Yoshimori's guilt causes him to devote himself to becoming stronger so that Tokine will never be hurt because he was too weak to take care of himself again. Honorable mention because tokine(so far) seems to have few issues with it (she's practical, scars happen) and all the angst over the scars comes from Yoshimori's staring at them and vowing to get stronger because of it.
I'm not including the stardard eye/hand/arm loss as scars because...well, then it'd never stop.
Anyone else have any angsty scars contenders? Gojyo and Harry Potter also come to mind, but it's too late to get into them.
(Of course, I now find myself trying to remember the origin of Manji and Giichi's scars in Blade of the Immortal...I want to say we know at least some of Manji's, but not Giichi's.)