Discussion My irritation with perfection

Meng Hao with his perfection

 

Maybe his selfless qualities comes from taking care of his mother and not interacting with other people much? And he gets a very affectionate mother so he doesn't go all twisted from the burden he bears.

I agree, conning people for resources rather than killing people for resources is what makes Meng Hao perfect

 

So you would prefer he hold it against her and scheme to kill her? Or hold in a deep seated rage against her? What's the point? He was basically sleeping with her nearly if not underage (in that world) daugther whom she has had a troubled relationship with but cares deeply about.I think any mother would get pissed off. Besides I don't recall any sending him to his death event. She might have attacked him or tried to and then there was going with her father but I thought her father didn't intend to let him die. Even if he did, why be angry at her mother?

You are cynical. We live in a world where it is so easy to justify putting our own interests first, he doesn't. It's my opinion that people tend to reflect what they have been show and you really make the point for me, his dad was absent for 10 years and his mom was ill so how exactly did they survive? The people around them helped them out is the only answer that makes sense. Throw in the fact that people scheming against each other is in no ones best interests in that world and most of his qualities just make sense.

 

wierd.... wher da ISSTH fanboys at?

 

Meng Hao has the same flaws but most people are to fan boyish to see the flaws.

 

If you want complex characters, Japanese Seinen is where you need to go.

 

Talking about Meng Hao he has the most obscure motivation of all. He simply wants to get strong. Why? So no one can bully him? Of course being the most powerful being in existence is the only possible way to do that, he couldn't just find an extremely remote place and live a peaceful life. That wouldn't make any sense at all, I mean why find a remote location and life a peaceful a life when you struggle and fight and make enemy after enemy and become so strong no one can push you around so that you can ... do what exactly?

 

There's no such thing as perfect, so I get what you're saying. It's just another way for authors to cop out on character development.

Also, it's another form of OP protagonists. It can either be a subset of their overall OPness, or the way they're OP to begin with. That's probably why it pops up so often with the rising popularity of such characters.

 

In JP novels, you get wimpy, stupid, pussies with undeserving harems having double standards about killing.

In CN novels, you get overbearing, lustful, arrogant muderers, feeling-alpha-males portrayed as the perfect being.

Meanwhile in KR novels... japtem flying around...

 

(≧▽≦)
I never care about perfect trait written by author, my reaction is
(￣▽￣) is that so? seem normal to me~
IMO a perfect character is boring since it will become story about how awesome MC from Author perspective while usually inperfect make it more interesting. That's why I like Ark more than LMS
(￣▽￣)

 

whats weird is that i don't think the authors are portraying thier characters as perfect, there's some sort of cultural baggage that is being read into it.

I believe that the case is that especially in Chinese novels the main characters flaws are there not because they are being overlooked, but because they are not important compared to the power.

Power changes the nature of the flaws, in much the same way that money turns a weirdo freak into an "eccentric" in western culture.

A powerful man in these novels "has face" not "is arrogant"; until he meets a stronger person, at which point his "face" becomes "arrogance"

Or in other words; the traits decried are virtues when seen through the eyes of those weaker, but flaws to those stronger.

 

For SYWZ they kind of explainedthe mcs "perfectness". Since he has a strong affinity with light he takes on its attributes, and we know that eventually he will train to godhood. But we are told that being a God comes with a lot of restrictions and can end up with the new God losing his memories as a mortal.

 

Ah yes, the Gary Stues of xianxias. OP, ruthless and a manager of a harem.
And I do prefer characters with quirks, even if it's been overdone to death, such as obsession with money (looking at you zuomo and weed).

 

Regarding the imperfect MC depicted as perfect:
You guys forgot that in most of those novels the only real rule of the world is "might makes right".
If he is arrogant, greedy or whatever and has the strength to back it up, then he is perfect. Because he just say so and that's it.

 

The thing about LHC though is that I don't think he was meant to be portrayed as normal. After all, he is the legendary Scion of Light and has to act as the paragon of humanity. Wouldn't really look good if your beacon of hope for the future is just as evil and ruthless as your enemies now would it? However, it does piss me off how often he tries to act as a martyr though. I mean sure he's acting as an ideal knight but he's also putting himself at risk and if he dies, there goes the Alliance's trump card against the demons.

 

Well, I find this thread rather stupid to be honest. What do you want? People to agree with you? Attention?

I find Long Hao Chen to be far from being perfect, and even still, people like him do exist in real life. Just because you can't relate with his character doesn't mean he's perfect, nor that there's no one out there who can't. I can't by the way, but I still don't find him to be perfect.

I too cannot relate with dumb, incompetent, weak-willed, pathetic, over-dramatic, wuss and crying little bitches as MC. Even then, I don't see the need to create a thread to express this.

As for the second part of your rant, I find it even less understandable. Although I don't know about Nie Li because I dropped it after chapter 100 cause I couldn't stand his character anymore, I never saw the author of ATG trying to portray Yun Che as perfect. In fact, Yun Che himself admit many times some of his flaws.

They being portrayed as heroes? That's only natural, a demon for some are some times a hero for others. Besides, they live in societies where strength rules.


To sum it up, I don't believe in absolute perfect MCs; only in characters with abilities above the standards of what the one reading is capable of relating to.

The character that you may find unbearable because he's too perfect, could just be a not so perfect and pretty relatable character to the guy next to you. Just like there are people who can relate with the useless, fat, ugly and bullied kid in class while others who can't. It's just a matter of perspective.