Anime: Why I like Foil Characters

Anime. It's everywhere in our society today. From Pokémon to Attack on Titan, Dragon Ball Z to Avatar: The Last Air-bender. It's everywhere. Usually, the main characters are identified by a happy-go-lucky attitude and their ever present courage and strength. Now, maybe I am just a minority, but I usually hate these characters. More often than not these characters are static and maintain a sold note throughout the show. In contrast to these happy protagonists you have the foil characters. In the following I would like to explore these type of characters and why I enjoy them so much.

1.) What are foil characters?

Foil characters are individuals in a show, movie, or book that has a nasty and contrasting role in comparison to the protagonist. These characters usually bring out the good qualities and highlight the caring nature of other characters. In short: they're assholes.

2.) Why do I like them?

I like them precisely because they are such butt holes. These characters are often more relatable than the protagonists. They are realistic and grounded in the "real world" of their anime and can see past the bull s**t of other characters.

3.) Some examples and their characteristics

In the following pictures all of the protagonists will be pictured on the left side and the foil character will be pictured on the right. Blow each picture a brief list of each character's traits will be available to help draw differences in their traits and to better understand what a foil character is.

My first example comes from the anime classic of: Dragon Ball Z. In this anime the two main foil characters of each other are in the form of Goku (red) and Vegeta (blue). Thorough out the ever ongoing anime, the two's personalities are compared and contrasted to show their vast differences in processing information and handling each situation.

Goku- happy go lucky Vegeta- angry more often than not

- constant smile - continuous scowl

- loud - actions speak louder than words

- dense - observant

- (on the surface) appears stupid - received an advanced education

- in situations with competition he - in situations with competition he fights

fights to push himself to win

- is fine with losing - losing is a blow to his pride

Next, we will look at yet another long and on going series: One Piece. These two characters are friends who are loyal to each other and rarely fight each other. But when they do, then you better watch out. The characters I am talking about is none other than Luffy (in red vest) and Zoro (green hair).

Luffy- happy go lucky Zoro- calculated

- no one is a stranger - everyone is suspicious until proven not

- hates to lose- fights to win - winning is a matter of honor

- (on the surface) appears stupid - also kinda stupid

- loves to be around others - honestly just wants to sleep

- has a mindset that everything will be - is in tune with the events going on around

fine despite horrible circumstances him and has realistic outcomes in mind

Lastly, perhaps my favorite, is the ever present dynamic of Izuku (left) and Katsuki (right) from My Hero Academia (Boku no Hero Academia). This is perhaps the biggest example of difference in personalities in this list. With that in mind, lets look at their characteristics.

Izuku- continuously optimistic Katsuki- mad at God and the world

- teamwork makes the dream work - I'm going to do this on my own

- quiet and shy cinnamon roll - continuously yells at everyone

- losing is essential to learning - if you're strong enough then you'll never lose

- has multiple friends - only has a couple close friends

- cautious of other's feelings - dgaf what others think

So, if you look at the characteristics of the characters compared, then you'll notice that the protagonists and foil characters mainly have a consistent theme. I think that this is why I enjoy foil characters so much. In our society today, strong male characters with optimistic personalities have become the norm. To me this has become stagnant and boring, so being able to see a character that's the opposite of that (the foil character) is refreshing to me. I also might be drawn to these characters more based on my own life experiences. My dad and I are very similar personality wise. We are blunt, crass, easily angered, and do not really care what others think of us. In short, we have the personalities of foil characters. But all that aside, this is all I have got on the topic. Thanks for reading and have a nice day.

-Sincerely, Jillian Hope Dykes

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