Defining moments of your favorite characters.

[Klinsy]

There are moments in stories that will be always be brought up when a certain character is being talk about, one that showcases their good traits, their awesome abilities and what makes this character have fans.

 

I made this topic for said fans to talk about such moments that show why they are fond of them.

 

I'll give an example:

Doctor Doom is by far one of my favorite villains and one of the reasons for that is his incredible willpower.

Do you know those kind of heroes who are able to resist being controlled through sheer willpower alone?

Doctor Doom is a villain who has this kind of trait and he is better for it.

 

One of the best demonstrations of this willpower is in the story Emperor Doom, where Doctor Doom successfully takes over the world.

He does with the help of the power of Zebediah Killgrave, the Purple Man, what this man lacks in intimidating names he makes up for by being an utterly vile and selfish individual with a terrifying power, the power to make people do what he orders them to do, even against their will.

Doom has put Killgrave in a machine that will make his powers even stronger, to the extent of affecting the entire Earth and allowing Doom to conquer it.

 

Killgrave states that without his gadgets, Doom wouldn't be able to handle his power and thus he doesn't deserve to rule.

Doom orders his servants out the room he and Killgrave  are in and Doom goes right in front of Killgrave and takes off his mask, this mask seems to be the main thing protecting Doom from Killgrave, after that, this happens:

Scan source is DoktorVonDoom.

 

A thing to remember is that machine he is in is making Killgrave's powers stronger, Doom is going up against an even more powerful version that is already strong to begin with and he just shrugs it off, that's how strong Doom's willpower is.

 

Now that I shared mine, I look forward to more people sharing moments that makes the character they like so awesome.

[Jin.]

It should be common knowledge here by now that my favorite character is...

 

 

Major Jin Kisaragi's story could easily be seen as that of a simple foil or rival character, but as the story goes on, his true colours as a misled hero are shown. He learns of a power that only he can use and the only thing that can fully stop the evil that sleeps in his brother, Ragna; The Power Of Order. However, as the wielder of the Yukianesa, a Nox Nyctores which manipulates it's user, Jins emotions were multiplied. That, combined with Hazama's brainwashing, left Jin oblivious to his true power.

 

In Continuum Shift he begins to fight the control after meeting his brother, Ragna, and the Yukianesa locks up, since Jin is not obeying it. Later, he meets up with Tsubaki Yayoi. His sole childhood friend and possible love intrest.

 

Tsubaki is blindly loyal to the Imperator who currently rules the world, and is forced by her to murder Noel and Jin, her best friends. Jin does not obey the Imperators orders to return to his post, and that's when my favorite battle begins.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNdyS38xYzI

-SKIP TO 9:06-

 

A battle that not only broke Tsubaki's resolve, but awakened Jin to his true power. After that, Tsubaki becomes brainwashed by the Imperator, and Jin goes out to save her. Out of his own free will.

[Dr. Homem]

Perhaps one of the most interesting villains in fiction is Lex Luthor. Look at him: the prime human being, a true genius with a massive appreciation for science, self-made billionaire, top physical shape. The pinnacle of everything manking can achieve. The moral and ethical superman who will not be chained by anything other than his will and his ambition.

 

Then comes this benevolent alien who comes to act as humanity's babysitter, taking the title that should be rightfully his. And then Lex starts to obssess over him. He believes Superman is hindering humanity's real potential. He's also jealous at Superman for being far more successful and recognized with much less effort. He dedicates his life to defeating him, not realizing how much good he could do if he put his intellect towards something else. And that is Luthor's downfall. By all rights, he could propel humanity to immeasurable lengths, but instead he's a megalomaniac. He projects his own personality on Superman and thinks that Superman views himself as superior to others because of his powers just like Luthor does.

 

This is why he hates Superman. Kal-El's presence makes Luthor simply a normal man. Luthor's propaganda that Superman's presence spells the end to human ingenuity and attainment is really his own insecurity that he is no longer the best person on earth because Superman exists.

 

 

I find one of the most defining moments of the character is, appropriately, in the best Superman story told so far: Grant Morrison's All-Star Superman, specifically, issue five: The Gospel According To Lex Luthor. This issue is notable for not featuring Superman at all, which turns him into more of an idea than an individual (an aspect explored prominently in the 12-issue series). More importantly, it focuses on Lex’s point of view, an entirely different notion of the Man of Tomorrow and the entire motivation of Luthor as an antagonist.

 

 

Luthor raises the question of what the world would be like without Superman. We’ve already seen how Superman has inspired people to be better, in all aspects of life. For them, Superman is a model to aspire to. In Luthor, we see the opposite of that: what would happen if a man could dedicate his entire life to be the best, both physically and mentally, but still be unable to match up to Superman. That would be incredibly frustrating, and this issue does a good job of conveying that. He uses Clark Kent himself as an example, saying he would never have Lois as long as Supes is around. How would the rest of humanity even begin to compete with Superman?

 

 

Let's ignore the baboon for a second (which itself shows Luthor does whatever he wants despite being in prison - you'll notice he's entirely calm during the whole comic, despite being in death row, since he has achieved his purpose in life) and focus on Luthor's ending speech:

 

 

This is a fantastic moment, because it summarizes the entire conflict between the two characters. Lex can’t handle the competition. It’s a distinctly human motivation, this inability to accept that someone better than you is out there. This is why Luthor is the greatest Superman villain, despite being a lesser threat in comparison to the likes of Darkseid and Brainiac: he is the perfect foil to the hero. He exists only to defeat him. He's completely capable of being the greatest man to have ever lived, if he stopped focusing so much on being the hero that never was.

 

 

[188Eternal]

Sailor Jupiter's debut appearance in the original anime was something quite remarkable. It was a scene where she single-handedly incapacitated a group of street thugs, way before even meeting Luna the cat and awakening in Senshi form.

Another notable scene with her happens a few episodes later, closer to the end of Season1... It's a scene where she's figureskating with a male trainer and she lifts him over her head! (Traditionally it is the male skater who lifts the female skater above the head. So this scene broke the tradition and surprised everyone.) 

 

Regarding my other favourite characters.... Anakin Skywalker will always be defined to me by his strong devotion to Padme in the face of tremendous opposition from everything and everyone around him.

I hated the scene where he murdered kids, though. That was too sad. 

 

And Han Solo will always be defined to me by his courageous penchant for doing things in his own way regardless of what the odds of success are... Whether it's navigating through an asteroid field or winning the love of a woman.

[Jack / Joker]

The Dark Knight really was one 2 and a half hour celebration of how great The Joker is, but one moment sticks out to truly define him.

 

When Joker is apprehended by Lieutenant Gordon, he's thrown in a cell by the cops then thrown about said cell by Batman. After he throws a Sadistic Choice at B-Man, he's left alone with some rough cop who I think voiced Laserbeak in Transformers 3-- sticking to the point, The Joker taunts the poor fella with this important quote:

 

"In their last moments, you find out who people really are."

 

Skip ahead a couple scenes to Batman hunting down the villain once more, resulting in the Caped Crusader throwing his archnemesis to what would be his doom. Batman then ties him to a pole, effectively saving him. But that's not important.

 

The Joker thought he was going to fall to his death. And in their last moments, you find out who people really are, right? And who did we find out the Joker really was in his would-be last moments? Well...

 

http://youtu.be/IP46bUNVqiY?t=1m3s

 

DEAR GOD THAT LAUGHTER

 

It's common knowledge, but that defining moment says "HE'S FUCKING INSANE." more bluntly than even I ever could.

[Red]

My favourite character by has to be Terumi:

 

 

The defining moment of this character? Well he has no redeemable traits whatsoever, so let's just focus on his villainy!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUxSW3VBf9M

 

(From 0:20 all the way to 3:00)

 

This guy single handedly ruined Ragna's life from the beginning. He burned the church, brainwashed his brother, killed his caretaker and even cut his arm off and left him for dead.

 

He thrives off hatred and despair, in fact hatred is the very thing that keeps him alive.

 

Nothing is off limits to him either. He will take every single thing no matter how small it is, and use it against you:

 

 

(Skip to 0:40 right to the end)

 

In Trinity's case she fell in love with the host body Terumi used during the war. Terumi exploited that by getting her to remove a mind control spell off him. In doing so, she betrayed her friends. Because he killed someone very close to her soon after. He never hesitates to remind her of it every single time they meet.

 

If that wasn't enough, there's this:

 

 

(Skip to 6:30 to the end)

 

See, Carl used to have a sister that was turned into the robot you see here. Even though it's practically lifeless and no remanants of his sister at all, he still thinks his sister is alive inside it. That opportunity was too sweet for Terumi. He binds Carl and forces him to watch as his sister is torn apart bit by bit. He can do nothing but watch and sob. Screaming will do nothing, in fact it just makes Terumi do it even more. After watching his sister get killed right in front of him, he gets killed himself by being thrown against a wall with tremendous force.

 

This is why I love him. He's ruthless, he's insane, but he's so goddamn charismatic while doing it. I can't help but smile everytime he comes onto the screen. He's an amazing villain.

[Dr. Mechano]

I have several favorite characters, so I'll dedicate each post in this topic to a different one!

 

First up, it's Dr. Eggman, the greatest scientific genius of the world!

"That's what I am!"

 

Some of Eggman's crowning moments include...

 

• Eggman saves Sonic's life in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (8-bit)

"S-Stupid hedgehog! I'm not rescuing you because I like you or anything!"

 

Eggman has always been a villain with complexity and nuance, and this is demonstrated way back in the Master System/Game Gear version of Sonic 2, where Sonic - hurdling headlong into lava - is rescued by none other than his nemesis. Granted, he's immediately plunked into deathtrap to do battle with Eggman's Ant Lion Mecha, but this moment epitomized one of the doctor's traits: respectful rivalry with his arch-enemy. He wants Sonic to die, sure, but by his hand, not by some stupid accident. And for a game with no dialogue, that's a surprising (but welcome) bit of characterization.

 

• Pretty much every Eggman scene in Sonic Adventure 2

"Yosh."

 

Where do I begin? Sonic Adventure 2 could have its own sub-list of awesome moments for Eggman, including, but not limited to...

 

- Being playable in his own adventure story!

- Character development! Eggman now has a grandfather, cousin, and something of a backstory!

- His own menu theme!

- His own catchy vocal song!

- Being adorable in the Chao Garden!

 

To date, this is still my favorite Eggman appearance. It made me the Eggman fan I am today, and it still has a considerable influence on how I see both Eggman and the Sonic franchise at large.

 

• Eggman tells off the Metarax in Sonic X

 

In this scene, Black Narcissus attempts to corrupt and anger Sonic into dueling with his robot duplicates. Surprisingly, it's Eggman of all people who calms Sonic down, putting his nemesis back in his place. This is made even more awesome when Decoe, Bocoe, and Bokkun - in a surprising bout of competence - completely wreck Black Narcissus when he tries to attack Eggman. Eggman just oozes confidence and smugness in this scene, and clearly - for once - has the moral high ground on everyone.

 

Some people hate this scene, citing it as the ultimate example of villain decay. But I call it one of the best examples of Eggman's character development on the show.

• El Gran Gordo

You all knew this was coming.

 

In the Sonic X comic series, the bizarre saga of El Gran Gordo is one of the most unexpected yet enjoyable focus stories Dr. Eggman has ever starred in. To summarize: Eggman becomes a wrestler to earn money to fund his schemes, cheats to win matches, but then decides he loves being a hero so much that he nearly quits supervillainy altogether to pursue a career as a luchador. He's forced to reveal his identity as Dr. Eggman in order to stop his own rogue robots, and his career is over...

 

...or so it seems. Later, he assigns Bokkun to pilot an Eggman suit, while he re-assumes his role as El Gran Gordo, drawn back to the limelight of the ring. In this bout, he's challenged by Andes the Ginormous and - since he no longer uses cheating in his matches - he's forced to defeat him with his own raw strength. Andes knocks the crap out of him, but just as Eggman's about to tap out, he sees his heartbroken fans - including Chris who says "I believe in you..." - which snaps Eggman back into action, causing him to knock out a man twice his size with his bare hands. 

 

But it's not even over! After this, Eggman and Sonic (El Rapido Azul!) have to team up to defeat the now-power mad Bokkun and reclaim Eggman's base. It's a nonstop adventure with this story, and ultimately ends with Eggman fondoly reminiscing about his role in life, ending with the line: "I do love being an evil genius, but sometimes... it's fun to escape."

 

• Scrambled

The star of the show! Again!

 

X comic's Eggman got his own focus story arc, but the main Archie universe's Eggman is no slouch when it comes to stardom either. In "Scrambled," Eggman, Orbot, and Cubot track down a rogue Snively, defeat him in a giant mecha battle, and get into all manner of zany hijinks (including Eggman singing his own theme song as he terrorizes a village). It's nonstop fun, and definitely my favorite arc of Sonic Universe.

 

• Eggman builds Eggman Land

"Welcome to Eggman Land, the brainchild of my heart and soul!"

 

Eggman has been talking about building Eggman Land since Sonic Adventure, released in 1998. He finally accomplishes this in Sonic Unleashed, released in 2008. Ten years later. It's quite gratifying seeing him finally achieve one of his lifelong dreams, and appropriately, Eggman Land is one of the hardest, most unforgiving levels in Sonic history. Top it off with the Egg Dragoon, one of Eggman's most memorable mechs, and you've got an amazing testament to Dr. Eggman... even if Dark Gaia did steal his thunder in the end. Of course, that doesn't matter, because...

 

• Eggman is finally the final boss of a 3D Sonic game in Sonic Colors

"So I'd say it's been nice knowing you... but it hasn't."

 

From Sonic Adventure all the way to Sonic Unleashed, Eggman was never - not even once - the main villain of a 3D Sonic game. He'd been the final boss of a few handheld 2D games during that time period, sure, but never a full 3D console adventure. From 1998 to 2010 (12 years!), this was the trend; this is what we expected of Eggman - the secondary villain of the game. Sonic Colors came along and changed all of this, which lasted on into Sonic Generations and Sonic Lost World. Eggman was back as a central antagonist in the series, and it was glorious.

 

• Eggmen

"The only person that smart... was me!"

 

When I heard that the main foe of Sonic Generations was going to be some "Time Eater," I was disappointed. My disappointment turned to elation when I realized that the man (or men) behind the monster turned out to be classic and modern Dr. Eggman, teaming up across time to destroy their blue nemeses. It was a great conclusion to a celebration of Sonic's history, and I can think of no more appropriate final foe for this monumental game.

 

• This scene from Sonic Lost World

 

I don't think I need to add anything to this.

 

 

Next time, I'll be talking about another of my favorite character's defining moments. See you then!

[Dr. Crusher]

Do not be alarmed. There are other characters who I would like to talk about in this topic. But like Mechano, I'm gonna start with the obvious choice for oneself: Dr. Robotnik. Be prepared however, because chances are, my post is probably going to sound like the exact opposite of what Mechano's post sounded like. Because I'm a prat like that. I'm sorry. I'll give you your money back, I promise.

 

(Note: Moments like defeating Super Sonic and creating Eggmanland are definitely appreciated by oneself. I just wanted to talk about a few different moments in this topic, that's all.)

 

"Saving" Sonic in the Underground Zone - Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Master System/Game Gear

...And it looks like I'm starting with the same moment that Mechano started with as well, albeit for very different reasons. Because the way I see it, Robotnik only wants to keep Sonic alive so that he can taunt him in regards to what's happening with Tails, especially in the case of the Bad Ending. Is Tails dead? Has something else happened to him? We don't know, but Sonic can't worry about the possibility if he's dead, can he? Robotnik knows better than that. One of the reasons for why I love Robotnik so much is because he looks like your typical Warner Bros. or Hanna-Barbera villain, yet he's much more of a bastard than you think he would be. This event is one of the earliest examples of highlighting this contrast, I feel.

 

Putting Sonic (and Ray and Mighty) Through Hell - SEGA Sonic the Hedgehog

He built a whole island for the sole purpose of torturing Sonic. He built a whole island for the sole purpose of torturing Sonic. He built a whole island for the sole purpose of torturing Sonic. No real plans. No powerful gems. Nothing. He just felt like making the hedgehog equivalent of Mouse Trap. And he's rather obviously enjoying himself from start to finish, if his enthusiastic "YAAARGH" screaming is anything to go by. Imagine how much hatred you must have for a person in order to construct an entire landmass dedicated to their perpetual suffering. That's how much Robotnik hates that hedgehog.

 

Electrocuting Knuckles - Sonic 3 & Knuckles

I could talk about anything from this game and call it a day, whether it be the forest fires and airship bombardment, or his absolute refusal to give up during the endgame boss fights. But if there's one moment that I really like, it's when the jig is up in regards to his echidna-related deception. Does he make a big speech? Does he taunt Knuckles? No. He casually electrocutes the poor guy and fucks off immediately afterwards. This gives me the impression that Robotnik doesn't really think too much about these sort of things. Or to put it in another way, it cements how Robotnik usually prefers to look at everyone else as objects more than individuals with real emotions and feelings. It's one thing to be all giddy and happy about someone's pain/death/etc. It's another thing entirely when you get no reaction at all. Precious lives have no value whatsoever to him. That's actually kind of frightening, now that I think about it.

 

Firing the Missile - Sonic Adventure

So Chaos has presumably been defeated for good. And the Egg Carrier has been destroyed. Most villains would give up at this point. Not Robotnik. Robotnik decides to summon a missile in the hopes of destroying Station Square, because if he can't have it, no one can. And unlike Eggman Nega in Sonic Rivals certain other villains who simply don't think about their own safety, Robotnik definitely knew that there was a high chance that his own life could potentially end should the missile successfully go boom... But he didn't care. All that mattered to him was that everyone paid the price. It's moments like this that make me wonder why Robotnik is usually characterised as a cowardly type in fanfiction, because you can't be that much of a coward when you actively choose to fire a missile at a piece of land that you're still on.

 

Creating the Intersteller Amusement Park - Sonic Colours

The Intersteller Amusement Park is one of my favourite settings in not only a Sonic game, but also video games in general. But I think the park's existence in itself is really impressive. As if Eggmanland and Circus Park weren't grand enough, Robotnik decided to make another theme park... in spaaaace. He could have easily just made Tropical Resort (and Terminal Velocity?) and left it at that. But that wasn't enough. He wanted to create more additions. So he did. He successfully conquered three whole planets - one of them being the picturesque home of the adorable Wisps - and remade them to fit his own sinister needs. He also stole a little asteroid belt for himself, because he can do that. And then, for good measure, he decided this would be a good time to whip out another one of his gigantic space fleets, only this one was going disco inferno. Robotnik always thinks big, and this theme park is wonderful proof of that... and this is all without mentioning his actual plan involving said park... A plan that is disturbingly reminiscent of what Black Doom tried to do...

 

Being the Final Boss - Sonic Colours

For a long time, Robotnik kept getting screwed over by other antagonists and monsters, and it was really, really, really annoying. Among the list of whippersnappers were Chaos, Dark Gaia, Black Doom, Eggman Nega, Mephiles the Dark, and even Metal Sonic. Metal Sonic. Bah, humbug.

 

During this time, the man himself had only been the final obstacle in a few handhelds, and even then, the most recent examples were alongside Eggman Nega. So basically, the last time you fought Robotnik alone as the final boss (not counting Sonic 4 Episode 1 and one or two obscure titles) was Sonic Advance 2, a game that came out in 2003. That is far too big of a gap, if you ask me. When it becomes more of a legitimate surprise if your recurring arch-enemy character is the final boss, I think that's a sign that something has gone horribly wrong.

 

But then, Sonic Colours came along and fixed that at long last. I don't even care about how simplistic the Nega-Wisp Armor fight is, because you know what? Not only did I still really enjoy it in spite of that, but I was just happy to see the doctor being the final enemy once again. And with games like Sonic Generations and Sonic Lost World, I hope the doctor continues to have a good life. He deserves it, after all the shit that happened to him up to this point.

 

The Time Eater - Sonic Generations

Speaking of which...

 

Like Mechano, I was initially concerned about what this "Time Eater" dude was all about, assuming that it was going to be another giant bloody monster. Not out of any real sense of negativity or anything, it was just my eternal paranoia at work. But one day, I spoiled things for myself (don't worry, spoilers have never actually bothered me for some reason) when I stumbled upon an image of Classic Robotnik.

 

"Ah, great, so Classic Robotnik is in the game after al-"

 

...Then I had a closer look at the image, and I noticed he was piloting something. Something that was black and purple.

 

"No way... is he...?"

 

Yes. Yes he was. He was piloting the Time Eater.

 

"But... it's a shame that people will still speak badly about Modern Robotnik. They'll use this as an example of how he's decay-"

 

...Then I saw another image. An image that made it painfully clear that Modern Robotnik was also piloting the beast, and... well, I was very happy, to put it lightly. Not just because Robotnik finally got the upper hand against a giant monster, but also because... it's Sonic Generations. Call me a fanboy all you want, but I don't think it would feel right if someone else was the final boss, with or without Robotnik's past history of "No seriously when will I be the goddamn final boss in main console games again."

 

(By the way, I am aware about the somewhat popular "Time Eater is the remains/a fragment of Mephiles" theory. I don't think about it too much since I know it's probably just a theory and nothing more than that, but either way, I do like the idea of Robotnik turning the tables on Mephileslie in some way...)

 

Going From Zero to a Different Kind of Zero - Sonic Lost World

Even before the Deadly Six fought back, Robotnik was already doing rather well for himself, what with having the Cacophonic Conch to ensure that they didn't get any ideas. Indeed, the Deadly Six's rebellion only went through because of something Sonic did, not because of anything Robotnik did. But anyways, the Deadly Six now have control over all of Robotnik's resources. He only has his intelligence to work with (and also Orbot and Cubot, I suppose). And you know what? That's more than enough for him to get by.

 

So he "teams up" with Sonic and Tails, making it look like all those other times in which a similar setup happened. But it's not really a team up... well, I mean, it is, but it's not like those other ones. This team up is what I like to refer to as a Mega Man 3 team up. Or a Crash Bandicoot 2 team up. Or... something involving trickery, you get the idea. Robotnik isn't content with the good guys fixing things and then leaving it at that. No, this time, Robotnik has a plan. He gets Sonic to do the work for him, letting him defeat the Deadly Six... so that there won't be any Zeti around to take control of his latest (and caped) giant robot when he uses it to kill Sonic. It's a very simple plan, but I would say that it's one of the doctor's best plans, because sometimes, simplicity really is best.

 

I also like how Robotnik goes out of his way to act as "friendly enemy"-like as possible, such as saving Tails from the Cubot Crabmeat, and even reassuring Sonic about Tails' sacrifice... because it feels like an even bigger punch in the gut when he shows up in his giant robot. With one simple action, it becomes clear that all of that was done purely out of pragmatism, and he doesn't actually care about those pesky animals... Well, that's how I like to see it anyway. (You can't tell me otherwise! Hahahaha!)

 

Another touch that I enjoy a little too much is how he acts when he shows up at the end. He says the following line:

 

"Pity about the damage done down there, but there's still enough for me to conquer."

 

He says the first half of that sentence in the most indifferent tone imaginable. As long as the world still exists in some way, he couldn't care less about what it looks like. Then again, when you look at the likes of the Bad Futures in Sonic CD, perhaps it isn't too surprising, but it can still be a little jarring. While the Deadly Six's intentions with using Robotnik's machine to make Sonic's world disappear outright were grim to be sure, was Robotnik's original goal of slowly sucking the energy away from the Lost Hex that much better? I don't know about you, but while a quick armageddon (or giant monster attack) is horrible in itself, I'd argue that a slow death - and/or a cold, brutal dictatorship - is much worse in the long run.

 

One last thing. While it's not the most prominent aspect about them, the Deadly Six do seem to genuinely care about each other, if Zavok's respect for Master Zik is anything to go by. I like to look at Robotnik's shameless betrayal - and the aforementioned acts done out of pragmatism and nothing more - as a way of contrasting with that.

 

He spends the majority of the game in a seemingly helpless position, and yet he still ends up being the final boss. Not that the Deadly Six weren't fun villains in their own right (or at least they were fun to me, hut hut), but like Generations with the Time Eater, it really does feel satisfying to see my favourite antagonist continue his winning streak.

[Dr. Mechano]

Great post, Crusher. It's always nice to see more love for Dr. Eggman, even if we do often appreciate him for different reasons.

 

With that said, my next list of defining moments comes from the element of generosity herself, Rarity!

Let's get fabulous.

 

So then, let's get started, shall we?

 

• Mustache Restoration

One of the first acts of generosity we see of Rarity in the series, and also one of the most poignant. After hearing Steven Magnet's lament over his lost mustache, Rarity consoles the sorrowful serpent by slicing off her own tail and affixing it to his face. What I really love about this scene is that you can just tell that this was a big sacrifice on Rarity's part. Even though she plays it off by saying "short tails are in" and "it'll grow back," she gives herself away by how relieved and happy she is to have her tail restored by the Elements of Harmony later on. Rarity compromised her own appearance - something she takes enormous pride in - to help the sea serpent with his appearance. And that's a perfect introduction to the very essence of who she is.

 

• Rarity and Applejack become friends

All together now: D'aww.

 

Prior to Look Before You Sleep, there was little (if any) indication that Applejack and Rarity were particularly close. They only hung out as part of the larger group, and - as their focus episode implied - seemed to not like each other much, personally. So it was great to see the two grow to care for one another and become actual friends over the course of Twilight's sleepover. Their friendship is one of my favorites in the entire show, and I consider Look Before You Sleep to be a point of significant character development for both of them.

 

• All of Suited For Success

This is art.

 

This episode. What Sonic Adventure 2 was for Dr. Eggman, Suited For Success is for Rarity. It warrants its own mini-list of awesome Rarity moments:

 

- Rarity pushes her generosity to the limit, making two sets of dresses for her friends, and even risking her career by letting them wear what they want to her fashion show.

- "Art of the Dress," which is still one of this cartoon's best and most memorable songs.

- Rarity's fantastic breakdown after her show flops. Tabitha St. Germain is immensely talented, and her vocal work is definitely a big part of what makes Rarity so great.

- Rarity's comeback fashion show, impressing Hoity Toity and saving her career with the help of her friends.

 

Whole episode's a masterpiece, it's easily the best season one episode, and is a high-runner for best episode of the show. In fact, I'm going to watch it later today!

 

• Rarity's wings

"Wa-ha-HAAA~" That maniacal laughter gets me every time.

 

I just love how completely nuts Rarity is in Sonic Rainboom, letting her newfound wings completely go to her head as she hogs the spotlight. While it's a Rainbow Dash episode (and to this day, still one of Dash's best), Rarity almost manages to steal the whole show, both in-episode and in a meta sense.

 

• "This is whining!"

Rarity gets kidnapped, but rather than helplessly wait to be rescued (as her friends theorize), she uses her wits and outsmarts and exasperates her captors - taking a huge stash of gems with her. It's an incredibly satisfying episode, spitting in the face of the "damsel in distress" trope, as well as the notion that Rarity fits said trope in the first place.

 

• Rarity applauds Fluttershy

"Bravo!"

 

This is a small one, but it really sticks out in my mind. Despite her envy of Fluttershy, Rarity stands up and applauds for her friend the moment the crowd turns against her. Rarity risks her own reputation to save her friend's, no matter how jealous she might feel. I like this a lot, because in most episodes about jealousy, the jealous friend is contemptible and utterly consumed by their envy; Green Isn't Your Color actually handles the premise with some nuance, writing Rarity as someone who envies - but still deeply cares for - her friend.

 

• Rarity and Blueblood

"Afraid to get dirty?! BBBLBLBLBLBLBL~!"

 

Every scene with Rarity in Best Night Ever had me in stitches. It's such a great twist on the old fairytale romance that Rarity was expecting, and it was funnier still to see Rarity in the same position as Applejack back in Look Before You Sleep. (On that note, their friendly, supportive chat during the gala was a nice callback to how far they've come as friends since that episode)

 

• Good Sister Rarity

In Sisterhooves Social, Rarity participates in an outdoor sporting competition and gets completely covered in mud just to make amends with her sister. Once again, Rarity forgoes her own comfort for someone else, and does it again by playing in the rain with Sweetie Belle during the episode's conclusion. Considering that she's willing to go camping with Sweetie Belle later in Sleepless in Ponyville, it appears this episode's lesson really resonated with her.

 

• "Yes, I do know them."

No matter how much Rarity wants to fit in with the Canterlot elite, she stands by her friends in the end, proudly letting everyone know how important they are to her. As much as she wants to be part of high society, she puts all of that at risk without a second thought for her friends. Really though, the entirety of Sweet and Elite is one great Rarity moment, so give it a watch!

 

Honorable mention goes to "Becoming Popular" as its own great bit.

 

• All of Rarity Takes Manehattan

What doesn't Rarity do here? Let's just make a quick list of awesome Rarity moments in this episode:

• "Generosity," another Rarity song that's right up there with her other two hits.
• "Ooh, why look, there's our friend Rarity going down in FLAMES!" Another amazing breakdown.
• Rarity's heartbreaking realization that she took advantage of her friends, complete with a sad reprise of her song.
• Ultimately, Rarity deciding she doesn't even care about the contest, and the heartwarming reconciliation she has with her friends.

Honestly, anyone who still claims Rarity isn't true to her element must've been asleep during this episode.

 

• Rarity tries to become Applejack and completely snaps

 

I feel a comment is unnecessary.

 

• Sweetie Belle's Fifth Birthday Party

 

Another small moment, but I really like how Rarity goes out of her way to help Sweetie Belle have the best birthday possible in this episode.

 

• Rarity gains the power to create things from her mind and completely snaps

"Or... Rariots as they'll soon be calling them!"

 

Rarity, you just keep going crazy.

 

• Rarity turns a small farm into a thriving industry

You didn't expect me to leave out the IDW comics, did you?

 

In micro series #3, Rarity ends up at a "beauty spa" (i.e., run-down farm) that's about to be bought out by Filthy Rich. Rarity - ever the savvy businesswoman - teaches the proprietors how to make their products sell, transforming the dank little farm into a well-oiled hair product-selling machine. It's perhaps one of the few stories where "Rich businessperson turns small farm into money-making corporation" is framed in a positive light, but Rarity absolutely makes it work.

 

And that's it for Rarity (so far). Looking forward to what the rest of the show has in store for her! I have at least one more character (possibly more) to talk about, but we'll save that for another time. Until then!

[Tori Himemiya]

I was gonna make a huge post for a few of my favorite characters but I decided not to. Why? Well I want some limelight on something I rarely talk about.

The Touhou Project is a series of bullet hell games where you play as either Reimu, a shine maiden, or Marisa, a magician. Sometimes there's a playable third or fourth character that was originally a boss from an earlier game, but it depends on the game. But its notable that it has a massive cast, ranging from various yokai to gods and they're all girls, save for a few guys. But usually characters in Touhou don't have much character established for them as they're usually on the screen for a few minutes before getting blown up, unless they're a main character. The character I wanna talk about is...

...Fujiwara no Mokou, the Extra boss from the 9th game, Imperishable Night. So some story about the game that she's from. Imperishable Night starts when there's something up with the moon and our heroes goes and investigates. In the end it turns out it was Eirin messing with the moon so she can keep her princess Kaguya out of sight of her fellow lunarians. Kaguya was banished from the moon a long time ago and is immortal but by the time the protagonists reach her she's bored out of her mind and challenge them to a dammaku fight. So they beat her and all is better now.

So then once you get the extra stage, Kaguya sends the protagonists out into the night again for a trial of guts. They are met with much resistance but then they run into Keine, the Stage 3 boss who was trying to protect the human village by erasing it from history. In the extra stage she looks radically different due to her being a were-hakutaku and she says she will everything she can to stop the heroes from reaching Mokou. So after getting through a lot of bullets our heroes run into Mokou.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnTh9mbkFO4

Its a lot harder than it looks

So the cutscene before the fight Mokou explains that she's a human who became immortal by the Hourai Elixir that was created by Eirin. Mokou was wondering why the protagonists where around and they reveal that they were sent by Kaguya as a trial of guts and this upsets Mokou as Kaguya is her bitter enemy and she sends assassins after her, knowing that she can't die, perhaps for lulz. And so our heroes challenge her and its not very easy at all. I should note that Mokou actually explodes to the point that she dies onscreen only to come back even stronger. The only reason why anyone won against Mokou is that she still feels the pain of dying and had enough at that point.

But this is not her defining moment however. I wanted to establish her first before getting that moment out there. The moment that particularly defines her is The fourth Chapter of the canonical Cage in Lunatic Runagate novel which explores Mokou's background even more. Mokou reminisces of when she first became immortal and how she regrets killing the man she stole the elixir from. She also talks about how she began her grudge against Kaguya in the first place and Mokou would had missed her, the only other immortal being in the series as well as rival, if she were to had left. It also talked briefly as how Mokou was treated as during her first years of immortal life. Needless to say she's been through a lot of shit and Mokou does have plenty of regrets, namely becoming immortal in a sense. For an immortal character she is very sympathetic and you can't help but feel sorry for her as she's not enjoying immortality like a lot of other characters enjoy. But she does eventually realize that there's a lot more that she's missing out on a lot of other people's lives.

Just how she treats immortal life in general makes like this character and she's one of the more complex characters in the series. Mokou may not be able to die but her story is just so fascinating. Touhou may have a lot of characters but even for being a one shot ex boss character, Mokou just stands out because of it. And I'm glad ZUN wrote just a great story for this character too as she's definitely one of my favorite characters ever. And I do hope there's more stories about this character in the future as she can only go on living and see everything after all.

[Klinsy]

Captain America: The First Avenger is one of my favorite movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, if not one of my favorite movies in general, part of that is they captured who Cap is so damn well.

 

The defining moment for the good captain himself to me, is this dialogue exchange:

 

Abraham Erskine: Do you want to kill Nazis?

Steve Rogers: Is this a test?

Abraham Erskine: Yes.

Steve Rogers: I don't want to kill anyone. I don't like bullies; I don't care where they're from.

 

 

A good reason why this defines who Cap is so greatly is that it also shows who Cap isn't.

 

He isn't a bully, he isn't someone only in it for the killing and he isn't someone blinded by patriotism, he would go up against America itself if he feels things aren't right or if they abandoned their ideals, while he loves his country, he isn't just fighting for it, he fighting for make the world in general a better place.

 

That's what makes Cap so cool to me, he stands for everyone.

[TearForFear]

There are two moments that made me like Chouji Akimichi above all of the characters in Naruto.

 

First:

 

 

When he OBLITERATED his enemy Jirobo because he insulted his best friend Shikamaru.

Heartwarming, badass, and one of the rarest moments in which a ninja kills his enemy in the manga.

 

Second:

 

 

When, in the recent war, while everyone is worshipping Naruto like he's Jesus, Choji is just happy that Shikamaru is not dead.

That makes Choji one of the few people who's still in character today.

[Vertekins]

Come on! It has to be Sonic doesn't it?

 

I consider SatBK extremely Sonic-defining. I mean damn, it's as if the writer saw what makes Sonic....y'know, SONIC and had the talent in bringing it out so well. You never see obnoxious flanderization here, these moments are never overplayed. They're believable and contribute to making Sonic such a funny, likable, morally-just and strong character.

 

First establishing character moment in the game? The intro.

 

The character's legendary self-assurance and cockiness is one full display here. He treats the situation the way only he can. This scene, everything about it was so, so characteristic of this guy. It's just pure awesomeness.

 

Up goes the Chili Dog...

 

 

Then comes his effortless taking-out of most of the opposition...

 

 

And then he grabs the 'dog before it comes within even one meter of the ground...

 

 

Second establishing character moment of the game?

 

The predicament of the child and her kidnapped parents/fellow townsfolk.

 

Here, Sonic has other priorities. He has a three day time limit to fulfill three requests made of him by Nimue; Defeat the Knights of the Underworld, free innocents from Arthur's dungeon and offer compassion to those in need. If Sonic does not fulfill these demands made of him, Nimue will not divulge to him the means to tackle Arthur head-on because he will not have proven himself worthy of the challenge in her view.

 

We all know that for all of his shortcomings, ultimately Sonic is a guy who tries do the right thing because he's a hero that is depended-upon by many. But then it's also known that Sonic does his own thing as well regardless of what is expected of him and this was in full show when he stumbled across a distraught child and, knowing that Nimue's advice was imperative to his quest, decided to follow his own heart.

 

 

Unbeknownst to him, this was all a part of Nimue's plan, a secret test of character designed to see if Sonic had the traits that constitute a true knight. By following his own heart and showing compassion, courage and strength as he did so, he passed with flying colours.

 

Third establishing moment was his opposition to Merlina when she revealed her plans to place the Grand Kingdom in magical stasis.

 

 

Merlina wanted to violate everyone's rights to escape from her own one-sided sadness and Sonic weren't down wit dat. What meaning would life have if it went on forever? Shouldn't everyone have the right to live their life the way they want to even if their time is limited? Why should one person decide everyone's fate?

 

The fact that Sonic was the first of them to be motivated to violence both speaks of his impulsive, dead-set in his own views nature as well as how strongly he felt about Merlina's actions. And even when his onslaught against her was met with him being swatted-aside like he was a fly, he refused to give up even though Caliburn was bisected and he was being beaten to within an inch of his life.

 

The Determinator indeed.

 

Bonus points for how obvious it is that Sonic never expected to be transformed into Excalibur-Sonic given his expression here;

 

 

It just confirms even more that he was willing to fight to the death if it meant that Merlina couldn't get what she wanted and never expected his own fortitude to effectively save him by inducing the transformation. It's akin to how Sonic never acknowledged that his own fortitude prevented him from succumbing to Dark Gaia's influence in Unleashed - He's literally clueless regarding his own good traits. And that is one of the things that establishes Sonic's character.

[Klinsy]

All-Star Superman is a truly fantastic comic book series, if you want something that shows why people love the Superman franchise and it's characters, it's one of the best books to go to.

 

The great Dr. Homem already shown how well that comic showcases Lex Luthor, but what about the Man Of Steel himself?

 

His defining moment to me is one of the most famous moments in the entire series, chances are if you heard of this series, you have also heard about this moment and it's well deserving of it's fame, that moment is none other than this:

For context: Superman is slowly dying and is trying to accomplish as much as want to do in his life before he bites the dust in this story, and despite that, he still comes to this girl's aid, lets her know things aren't as bad as it seems and lets her know how important she really is.

 

That's the kind of thing the person Superman is does, that's one of the main reasons he is so awesome. 

[Chaos Incarnate]

Oh man, Justice League Unlimited really got Batman down to a tee, especially in the more sentimental moments, like his flashback scene with Ace in the chronological finale of the DCAU, Epilogue.

 

 

It's a real depressing scene, as Ace of the Royal Flush Gang is dying, and she sees things differently about her wrongdoing. She spent her whole childhood as a lab rat. She was just trying to make friends in her new gang, but she's tired of being used by everyone, from Cadmus to Joker. Batman can sympathize in some aspects, having his childhood stolen from him too.  

 

So being the god damn uber Batman, what does he do?

 

 

He stays with her until she dies. *Sheds Tear*

 

This scene really does hammer home all the suffering Batman has had to deal with out of all the members of the Justice League. He truly proves that being powerless isn't everything, he's only human like all of us, with the strength and choice to make a difference,

 

Out of all the portrayals of him out there, this version of Batman always comes to mind.

[Dr. Crusher]

I feel like talking about something that will probably seem laughably minor in comparison to everything else in this topic. And it involves this guy. The guy that pretty much introduced me to video games.

 

 

"Woah."

 

Crash Bandicoot. The super marsupial. The wonder from down under. The rocket with a pocket. You know him well, and if you don't... well, that's okay, I guess. It's your life. I won't dictate it.

 

So around 2003, a game called Crash Nitro Kart showed up, and to this day, it's a bit of a mixed bag in terms of reception. Some like it, some don't. I personally liked it a lot, and I've actually respected various aspects about the game more and more as the years have went by. Sure, I still prefer the original Crash Team Racing, but I enjoy Nitro Kart as well regardless.

 

For those of you who haven't played the game, the plot is pretty simple: Some Naugus-looking motherfucker named Emperor Velo abducts a plethora of the Crash cast and basically forces them to race for his amusement, your main objective being to beat Velo himself in order to ensure the characters' freedom. The game obviously works in a very similar manner to the original CTR, right down to having boss racers. The first boss racer - Krunk, who I can't help but ponder if he's meant to be some sort of alien equivalent to Papu Papu - believes that his own world (that being Terra, the first world in the game) is the real Planet Earth, and that the actual Planet Earth is a copy. Everybody puts on their best frowny faces, and the boss race ensues.

 

You win, of course. Because this is the first boss race.

 

What happens next cutscene-wise depends on which team you're playing as. If you're Team Cortex, they just laugh heartily at Krunk's failure as you would expect from a bunch of evil prats.

 

If you're Team Bandicoot however, this happens. (The cutscene starts at 2:54. I couldn't find any videos with the cutscene on it's own, sorry.)

 

Now on it's own, Crash acting pally with Krunk (and accepting Krunk's regretful confession that Terra was in fact the fake planet) might seem like a small thing to dedicate a full post to. But the thing is, I predict that Crash Bandicoot is a character who a lot of people assume to be nothing more than a dumbass who has that and only that as his sole character trait. This scene alone proves that wrong. He can think. He does have emotions. He does have feelings. (Furthermore, I don't think he is that much of a dummy. Segregation between story and gameplay aside, would he be able to control all those vehicles throughout the series as effectively as he does if he were a complete dumb-dumb?)

 

But more than that, this scene is one of the best examples of showing what kind of person Crash is, that being the kind of person who doesn't really have anything personal against that many folk, even if said folk don't (or initially don't) like them. At his core, the bandicoot just wants to relax and have fun with everyone he comes across. Call it a headcanon, but I imagine that when it comes to even the very worst of his enemies, Crash would only look at them with regret rather than hatred. For someone who's known for being as crazy as one can be without using illegal substances, Crash is much more down-to-earth than you'd think.

 

Sure enough, when Krunk is sent packing, how does Crash feel? Upset. Very upset. Crunch and Coco, to their credit, clearly don't approve of Velo's sinister tomfoolery either, but Crash in particular looks really heartbroken, despite knowing Krunk for what must have been a few minutes at most.

 

...Actually, I've just thought of something else. From the same game no less.

 

So you continue your way through Nitro Kart, you fight the other boss racers, grab the Relics and CNK Tokens and everything else, and finally engage in the climactic race against Emperor Velo himself. When you win (the second time, that is), it turns out that... spoiler alert... the big bad Velo was actually a little Velo in a robotic body all along. Humiliated, the dejected Velo gives Crash his scepter, confirming that his empire now belongs to the bandicoot. Crash thinks about what he could do with this newfound empire of his, even having a funny dream sequence... before giving it all back immediately afterwards.

 

Seriously. For all we know, he could have used his position to kill Velo right then and there, as revenge for taking away that new friend he made as well as all the other bits of trouble that Velo had caused. But he didn't. He just gave the dude his scepter back, and after Crunch requests that they finally get to go home, Crash and the rest get to do so, without them taking any further action against the alien. Again, this proves that Crash is a really chilled and understanding person in reality, which is simultaneously baffling and brilliant considering that demeanour-wise, he puts the C in PCP.

 

Crash Bandicoot is a really cool character. Well, the Crash universe in general is full of cool characters (if I remember correctly, I think Dingodile was the first ever fictional character who I became a full-on fanboy of), but Crash himself still manages to stick out in spite of that. I really hope he gets his comeback in the future, because in my opinion, the character and the series deserve it.

[Radiant Hero Ike]

OOH. MAN there are a ton of characters I like... Let's start with one of my favorites.

 

 

Ash Ketchum

I know he isn't the best trainer in the world, but I think that's why I like him so much. There are many moments in the anime that I enjoy. I'll try and get one from each Generation. I'll include movies as well. So first:

 

The entire First Movie

I think this is what started my love for Pokémon (and Ash). I'd watched a few episodes here and there when I was 3 or 4, but then I saw this movie. Man. I think I cried a lot during it, too. And there was THIS scene that I particularly liked:

http://youtu.be/pCdkuFpjSqQ

Something about how Ash was brave enough (yet pretty stupid as well) to try and punch the strongest Pokémon ever (at the time), was just... inspiring. It was just so amazing to me, 14 years ago, and still is to this day.

 

The Master Quest opening (and theme)

http://youtu.be/LHJHrwD1z1g

My second favorite theme song in the Pokémon series. This opening is also one of the most nostalgic. The part where Ash is standing on the hill, thinking about his rivals, is my favorite part.

 

Ash gets taken by the "blood cells".

http://youtu.be/3YIc5gBzuM4?t=1h15m6s

I cried at this part. I'm 17, and I cried. It's that emotional. ;-;

 

Ash beats Paul in the Sinnoh League

Probably my favorite moment in the entire anime. It was so satisfying to see Ash finally beat Paul. The JP version has better music, as well:

http://youtu.be/A2dxgD3RD80

 

Ash remembers Charizard

I'll admit, I wasn't a huge fan of the BW anime. But this scene:

http://youtu.be/UjeBPkOET38

Was so nostalgic, it was crazy. The entire N arc was pretty good, as a matter of fact.

 

Ash saves Garchomp, and jumps off Prism Tower to save Pikachu

I was skeptical about the XY series at first, after BW, but in only the second episode:

http://youtu.be/hG285AHH6nc?t=15m13s

THIS happened. I mean, WOW, this was like, movie-style action in this! Plus Ash jumping off the tower to save Pikachu. Amazing.

That's just a few of my favorite moments. But for now, this is enough.

[Mauro Fonseca]

EDIT: Uni got here first! Oh well :V

Might as well post this one then. Homem brought up All-Star Superman as defining Lex' character. Uni brought up All-Star Superman as defining Superman's character.

How about All-Star Superman as defining Superman through Lex? Or Lex' redemption, if you will?
 

 

Thanks to a serum he made, he at this point has Superman's powers. As he realizes however Superman managed to speed the serum up (IE, Lex is soon to lose said powers), he also realizes how at the end, for all the desire to be the peak human, he's just one amongst many and truly nothing special- yet special in the sense we're all human.

 

It's worth noting, in case it isn't obvious, Superman in this story acts as pretty much a literal Jesus analogy. He creates the world in one of the issues. As Morrison is said to have said when a kid asked him "but does that issue mean Superman is god?", "Yes, and he loves you. Isn't that great?"

 

EDIT: LET'S NOT FORGET THE MOST DEFINING LEX MOMENT THOUGH

 

[Klinsy]

So, now I wish to talk about a certain man in green, the legendary brother with his own year, the one and only Luigi!

 

It took awhile for Luigi's exact characterization to be set, but once it did, it gave him a lot of qualities that has made me rather fond of him.

 

There is a lot of great moments for Luigi, but I would like to talk about 2 in specific:

 

The first one comes from, surprisingly, Super Mario RPG, a game he is barely in:

This is the Star Hill, here there is many stars where you can read the many wishes made by the various people you can find throughout the game, this one is obviously Luigi's wish. It's heartwarming on it's own but later games establish things that makes it ever more powerful, Luigi is shown to be so much of the lesser known of the two brothers to such an extent that a lot of people don't even know his name including one that he has met many times before, but despite this, this shows off that he doesn't hate his brother or is envious of him, he looks ups to and adores him and wants to be just as a great man as he sees his brother as.

 

The next defining moment comes from a game where he has the starring role, Luigi's Mansion.

 

Luigi has won a mansion in a contest he doesn't ever remember entering and finds much to his dismay, that it's not exactly a place he would want to live in.

 

The mansion is filled with ghosts who Luigi is shown to be very afraid of and the whole contest thing was a trap by King Boo in order to capture both of the brothers and he has already successfully captured Mario.

 

This game is where Luigi's characterization started to be more consistent and gave him a lot of his great traits.

 

I say that the way he continues on into the mansion and tries to save Mario and ultimately succeeds shows what's so great about his character.

 

Yes, he is afraid of what he is up against and the game makes that very apparent, but he doesn't run away and takes on his fears, this shows if Luigi wants something accomplished, he'll face whatever stands in his way until he succeeds,

It also shows off how much he cares about his brother, going trough all this trouble just to save him.

 

There is just so much to love about Luigi.

[Klinsy]

I have quite a few posts to rewrite here so let's start with the last one I did:

 

Meowkie:

 

Meowkie was originally just a mook from the Mappy games but I'm here to talk about a specific one from Namco High.

 

You first meet Meowkie in detention of Namco High and you can't help but wonder why's she's there, she's very nice and friendly and has the job of a hall monitor and she doesn't appear to have done anything bad, so what did she do?

 

Nothing.

 

Meowkie's family are mooks and goons and she tries her best not to do anything "bad" like getting angry to prevent from being like them, unfortunately this leads to her being taken advantage of by jerks trying to get out of their legitimate bad behavior and using her family history against her and blaming her for anything that they did.

 

Poor Meowkie even loses her job as the hall monitor late in the game but if you talk to her through all your days of your time in detention, you can get to her defining moment.

 

Pac-Man has been kidnapped by Evil Namco High, you have a chat with Meowkie and she learns it's okay to get angry, especially if the people you're angry are hurting someone some way or the other and she show's Evil Namco High her true power she's been holding back and saves Pac-Man.

 

And all she had to do was be true to herself. 

[Klinsy]

King Dedede is an interesting antagonist due to not really being evil and being more of kinda a jerk.

 

The king of Dreamland has many bad traits but he has done some stuff that shows he has a good, if somewhat hidden heart.

 

Defining Moment #1: Attempting to prevent nightmares in Dreamland

In Kirby's Adventure and it's remake, Dedede appears to be up to no good like in Dreamland for most of the game, here he does something worse than stealing everybody's food, he broke the Star Rod and prevents the people of Dreamland from dreaming.

 

His army do everything from Kirby trying to fix it, even the for the most part noble Meta Knight seems to helping out, what could be going on here?

 

It turns out the Star Rod had a really bad dude named Nightmare in it, the king didn't mean to rid Dreamland of dreams, his intention was making sure Nightmare wouldn't cause terror all over it.

 

He even sends Kirby after Nightmare after they fought each other and Kirby won instead going after him himself, showing he can see the potential in Kirby ... or he was too exhausted after Kirby kicked his butt.

 

Never the less, this shows the King can be well meaning even if that's a bit unclear.

 

Defining Moment #2: The Waddle Dees won't abandon the king

 

Another way a character can be defined is the reaction they get from other characters and Kirby Super Star Ultra: Revenge Of The King shows that off well.

 

In Revenge of the King, King Dedede attempts to get revenge on Kirby for his last defeat at Kirby's hands.

 

He's got a buffed up army, made improvements to his hammer, set his and Kirby's battle in a electric cage and he even wore a mask to show how serious he is about this.

 

Despite all that, Kirby still comes on top and thus he never got his revenge.

 

His defeat was actually made somewhat sad due to the end credits of that game.

 

 

But the important thing in those credits is that the Waddle Dees walk with him and there's a lot of them, so the good king must have done something great to get that loyalty from that many members of his army.

 

While on the note of Dedede, the Brawl In The Family comic got him right down to the T, this strip is a good example of that.

 

So, there you have it, King Dedede is a bit of a jerk but rarely a flat out villain and he has many good sides to him that make him endearing.

[Klinsy]

So, I'm finally doing a Sonic character, the one and only Big The Cat!

 

The chase after Froggy:

 

Big is dedicated to his pollywog pal and simply finding him is the goal of his story in Sonic Adventure and one of his main goals in Sonic Heroes.

 

In Adventure, he starts looking for him in realtively safe places such as an amusement park and at the beach but the frog always gets away from him, despite that, the big guy continues to go after him because Froggy is his buddy.

 

What really defines him is going on a giant flying thing in the sky and he admits he's not sure who's going to save him and Froggy but he continues on despite the danger.

 

And then Froggy is eaten by a giant scary water monster, what is Big's first response?

To fish him out of there, of course!

 

Not letting Cream get blown off by the wind:

 

Big's first appearance in Heroes gives a small moment that gives a good impression.

 

Cream, alongside the paper that gives her team the only clue to the whereabouts of Froggy and Chocola Chao where about to blown off somewhere by strong wind but Big comes in with his fishing pole and parasol to get her down, establishing he's a really good guy who cares about other people.

 

It also shows Big's great strength, considering the wind was strong enough to blow people away and yet Big is the victor.

 

It's a small moment but many small moments can paint a great picture of how the character is.

 

“It's not nice to tease my friends”:

In Heroes, a lot of the game's team battle out of misunderstandings, with Team Rose and Team Chaotix fighting over a misunderstanding about Chao.

 

During the cutscene before that battle, Big says a somewhat corny line that shows off what he thinks of his fellow member of Team Rose.

 

He loves his friends and he's not going let anyone get away with teasing them, even if that's not really the intention of Team Chaotix.

 

While dealing with Big in other ontinuities, this line from the Archie comics outlines him greatly.

So, that's Big The Cat, I hope to see more of this big guy in the future.

[Lisbon]

I have a plethora of characters that I care about substantially, so narrowing it is going to be tough.

 

I'll start off with the one that I feel has the most defining moment out of all said characters, though, and that's going to be Frog from Chrono Trigger.

 

Despite this game being even older than me, I'll put it in spoilers because this is just such a good moment to experience fresh that I wouldn't want to ruin it for anyone who hasn't played it plans on doing so. So you've been warned, kinda. 

 

 

The scene where Frog pulls the Masamune out of the ground and the light shoots up towards the heavens is what makes his character stand out  to me, from an already exceptional cast of characters.

 

The sequence begins with your party getting the dream stone needed to repair the Masamune, which is a mythical sword of OPness. It also plays a big part in what makes an anthropomorphic frog who speaks in Shakespearean English such a great character. You find the thing in his little home when he's a bit down on his luck and run it back to 1000 AD to get his sword repaired. Need some extremely rare stone, yadda yadda, go back to the time of dinosaurs to find it, find it, bring it back to sword repair guy, he fixes sword.

 

You then run it back to Frog in 600 AD, but in all reality I think I can just post the video from this point forward, because my words can't really function tonight.

Start the first video at about 6 minutes, because everything before that is kind of filler:

 

 

 

Frog is so awesome.

 

[E-122-Psi]

Big has a good few 'blink and you'll miss it' moment in Heroes. In Mystic Mansion, he comforts a scared Cream at the start of the level. Note that in Cryptic Castle beforehand, he was similarly worrisome until Amy gave them a pep talk ("I gotta be tough for all of us...").

 

Also watch the Metal Madness opening cutscene carefully. Look in the background as Metal transforms and you'll see Big hugging and comforting a terrified Cream. It's adorable all these small little titbits they had together in the game.

 

I think there's also something damn awesome about them taking his fishing rod, the abhored Scrappy mechanic of SA1, and turning it into a freaking flaming challis that destroys every enemy on the screen!

 

I admit I really liked Big's role in Spark of Life. He tended to be among many other interpretations simplified into a retard prior to the reboot, compare how he worked with Sally beforehand("Big, Punch!" "Okay."). Here not only does he gain that deceptive simple outlook of clarity, but he proves to be deceptively intelligent, to the point even Sally is taken by surprise. Him jumping in front of her during a badnik attack was also adorable.

[Klinsy]

Ganondorf in The Legend Of Zelda: The Wind Waker is the same Ganondorf that appeared in Ocarina of Time but we get to know a lot of more about in The Wind Waker, so I'm going to talk about how he was in this game.

 

His first defining moment is this speech on why he wanted to conquer Hyrule in the first place.

 

My country lay within a vast desert. When the sun rose into the sky, a burning wind punished my lands, searing the world. And when the moon climbed into the dark of night, a frigid gale pierced our homes. No matter when it came, the wind carried the same thing... Death. But the winds that blew across the green fields of Hyrule brought something other than suffering and ruin. I coveted that wind, I suppose.

 

It wasn't only for the power, he came from a desert where the weather was unforgiving and things to support life was rare, for comparison, the Hyrule we saw in Ocarina of Time was full of life, even when it was covered in monsters and others dangers, Ganondorf saw this and wished the people of his land could have something like that, even though this doesn't justify the horrors he caused in these two games, it shows he wasn't fully ill intentioned. 

 

Another moment that shows a bit more noble side to Ganondorf in The Wind Waker is that he outright says he doesn't want to kill the Link of this game, he just wants his Triforce Of Courage, showing he won't instantly go for the brutal option and show he is capable of showing mercy.

 

A great thing about these moments a lot of the depth is also transferred to how he appeared in Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess, due to be the same person.

 

But how he appeared in The Wind Waker is still my favorite due to that where he got these  qualities.