About next generation sequels
❝WHICH HOGWARTS HOUSE DO I BELONG IN?❞
Anyway, here's a reflection. Next generation sequels: cash cows, butchers of canon, chances for more cool world building? For my bitter nitpicking over everything Okamiden, it would seem I'm against them as a subgenre. But... no, actually. It's a case-to-case thing to me. Sometimes it works, sometimes it's awesome, sometimes I want to send bomb letters to the one who had the brilliant idea.
I do admit I'm more strict to them when the nextgen characters are children of the previous protagonists, though. Maybe it's all the fanfiction where we get kids related to the characters all the time, with different degrees of quality. Maybe it's Disney and the awful direct-to-video sequels scaring us out. I have no idea. I'm aware it's really unfair to the kids to be this kind of nextgen, Mary Sues or not, since they'll be compared to their parent all the time. Not that legacy nextgen doesn't suffer from that, but it's like a celebrity kid trying to become famous on their own.
But we have our reason to be weary as fans: they can break canon/fanon too easily in the hands of a lame writer, and we can't deny their canon status. What if they sink most ships? But even more importantly: what if they leave plotholes or do retcon? This is why I can't squee about Okamiden: evil is back so fast? redoing Susano's son to be cuter? new Brush Gods?! all of this to justify Chibiterasu? LAME.
Legacy nextgen -what I call when the new character fills the old role but is only slightly related somehow to the old protagonist- tends to be more thought out. They can still leave plotholes and do retcon, but sometimes it's less... I don't know, fanficcy. Plus, if we don't like it it's easier to stick to the other part of the canon and be Pharaohs of Denial consider this a canon AU or something, not a part of our continuity. This is what a part of the Phoenix Wright fandom seems to do about Apollo Justice, for instance.
Yet there's an issue when it comes to legacy, and it's this: how do the the old main characters stand? Are they dead? Are they alive but are only mentioned? Are they companions and/or enemies and/or MacGuffins of the new guy? Are they the mentor figure since there was a timeskip? Let's see every case.
a) Ded. Hmm, tricky one. If this happens many years/centuries later and they want to continue the worldbuilding, it makes sense they're not around as it's a different story where they're the myth. The issue might come when the timeline is recent, and fans will jump since OMG THEY KILLED OMC YOU BASTARDS! and feel all ripped off. I normally don't mind this one so much.
b) Just mentioned. It depends of how it's handled to me. But it can be easy for fans to feel ripped off if they were expecting the character to have a role and then they didn't even see them. The authors/creators should say right off that it's not OMC's story but NMC's, to avoid confusion and wank. It's easier to handle cameos and mentions like this.
c) Character or MacGuffin. It also depends. I try to judge the plot itself and give NMC's story a chance, at least. But the thing is, OMCs can get intrusive sometimes. It can be very tempting to have them hijack the story so in the end; the whole plot is about OMC and justifying what they did during the timeskip and telling what they're doing now. In the end, NMC seems to be a point of view or a minor character instead of the actual lead. For fans of OMC it might be so fair, especially if they dislike NMC, but I think it's playing dirty and perhaps I do want to get to know NMC better. Don't get me wrong, I like secondary characters being just as important, but didn't they have a story before? If you want to make an actual sequel, have NMC as an apprentice, not a main character? But yeah, this is a YMMV and case-to-case thing. If the NMC is as boring as Jason in the next Percy Jackson series, who cares.
d) Mentors. Subtrope of the above. It's a great way to keep OMC around and have character growth for them. I love mentors. I like it a lot when it's exactly this: a mentor. As read above, mentors can hijack the plot. Yes, I'm talking about Apollo Justice and this is why I can't entirely swallow Phoenix's role: I sort of like you, but please GTFO the spotlight for GS5, hobo. And be more mentor-like, FFS.
It is a YMMV thing, I think. And very dependent of the plot in each case. There might be children-of-OMC that I can like, and dead-OMC that I can hate with a passion. But yup, overall I can say it's unfair to dismiss the new kid because it's not the old kid, and I try to love/hate the NMC based on themselves.
Why am I bringing this rant up? Avatar: The Legend of Korra. I'm not freaked out about it just because it's nextgen. I'll wait for more details to form an opinion. I do like the rumors I've heard (happening 100 years later, Korra being the next Avatar, a waterbender, AND a female: if that's the case, it'll be timeskip legacy OMC-as-dead-mentor nextgen, and it sounds so potentially cool with focusing on a female Avatar this time)
Anyway, here's a reflection. Next generation sequels: cash cows, butchers of canon, chances for more cool world building? For my bitter nitpicking over everything Okamiden, it would seem I'm against them as a subgenre. But... no, actually. It's a case-to-case thing to me. Sometimes it works, sometimes it's awesome, sometimes I want to send bomb letters to the one who had the brilliant idea.
I do admit I'm more strict to them when the nextgen characters are children of the previous protagonists, though. Maybe it's all the fanfiction where we get kids related to the characters all the time, with different degrees of quality. Maybe it's Disney and the awful direct-to-video sequels scaring us out. I have no idea. I'm aware it's really unfair to the kids to be this kind of nextgen, Mary Sues or not, since they'll be compared to their parent all the time. Not that legacy nextgen doesn't suffer from that, but it's like a celebrity kid trying to become famous on their own.
But we have our reason to be weary as fans: they can break canon/fanon too easily in the hands of a lame writer, and we can't deny their canon status. What if they sink most ships? But even more importantly: what if they leave plotholes or do retcon? This is why I can't squee about Okamiden: evil is back so fast? redoing Susano's son to be cuter? new Brush Gods?! all of this to justify Chibiterasu? LAME.
Legacy nextgen -what I call when the new character fills the old role but is only slightly related somehow to the old protagonist- tends to be more thought out. They can still leave plotholes and do retcon, but sometimes it's less... I don't know, fanficcy. Plus, if we don't like it it's easier to stick to the other part of the canon and be Pharaohs of Denial consider this a canon AU or something, not a part of our continuity. This is what a part of the Phoenix Wright fandom seems to do about Apollo Justice, for instance.
Yet there's an issue when it comes to legacy, and it's this: how do the the old main characters stand? Are they dead? Are they alive but are only mentioned? Are they companions and/or enemies and/or MacGuffins of the new guy? Are they the mentor figure since there was a timeskip? Let's see every case.
a) Ded. Hmm, tricky one. If this happens many years/centuries later and they want to continue the worldbuilding, it makes sense they're not around as it's a different story where they're the myth. The issue might come when the timeline is recent, and fans will jump since OMG THEY KILLED OMC YOU BASTARDS! and feel all ripped off. I normally don't mind this one so much.
b) Just mentioned. It depends of how it's handled to me. But it can be easy for fans to feel ripped off if they were expecting the character to have a role and then they didn't even see them. The authors/creators should say right off that it's not OMC's story but NMC's, to avoid confusion and wank. It's easier to handle cameos and mentions like this.
c) Character or MacGuffin. It also depends. I try to judge the plot itself and give NMC's story a chance, at least. But the thing is, OMCs can get intrusive sometimes. It can be very tempting to have them hijack the story so in the end; the whole plot is about OMC and justifying what they did during the timeskip and telling what they're doing now. In the end, NMC seems to be a point of view or a minor character instead of the actual lead. For fans of OMC it might be so fair, especially if they dislike NMC, but I think it's playing dirty and perhaps I do want to get to know NMC better. Don't get me wrong, I like secondary characters being just as important, but didn't they have a story before? If you want to make an actual sequel, have NMC as an apprentice, not a main character? But yeah, this is a YMMV and case-to-case thing. If the NMC is as boring as Jason in the next Percy Jackson series, who cares.
d) Mentors. Subtrope of the above. It's a great way to keep OMC around and have character growth for them. I love mentors. I like it a lot when it's exactly this: a mentor. As read above, mentors can hijack the plot. Yes, I'm talking about Apollo Justice and this is why I can't entirely swallow Phoenix's role: I sort of like you, but please GTFO the spotlight for GS5, hobo. And be more mentor-like, FFS.
It is a YMMV thing, I think. And very dependent of the plot in each case. There might be children-of-OMC that I can like, and dead-OMC that I can hate with a passion. But yup, overall I can say it's unfair to dismiss the new kid because it's not the old kid, and I try to love/hate the NMC based on themselves.
Why am I bringing this rant up? Avatar: The Legend of Korra. I'm not freaked out about it just because it's nextgen. I'll wait for more details to form an opinion. I do like the rumors I've heard (happening 100 years later, Korra being the next Avatar, a waterbender, AND a female: if that's the case, it'll be timeskip legacy OMC-as-dead-mentor nextgen, and it sounds so potentially cool with focusing on a female Avatar this time)