3 amazing series & how they influenced me II: The Hunger Games, Game of Thrones and Naruto.
This is kind of the second part of the post “3 Amazing Series & They Influenced Me”. On the first post, I wrote a little bit about Albus Dumbledore (Harry Potter), Walter White (Breaking Bad) and Aizen Sousuke (Bleach). Now, I’ll be writing about other 3 characters I’m really keen on and that I believe they’ve been so well-constructed they really changed some views of mine.
Daenerys Targaryen (Game of Thrones).
Honestly speaking, I loved Daenerys from the very 1st time I watched the series. It first happened in 2016, when HBO Channel was rerunning S05’s “Hardhome” (I guess that’s the one Daenerys returns to Meereen). Seeing those dragons making justice for their mother and witnessing Daenerys’ power to make all of that possible astonished me. She’s very revengeful, and so I used to be. Had I not been like her back in the day, I wouldn’t have identified with her as much.
Up to this day, I’m unable to explain how that strong and determined character lost track of what she was supposed to do and ended up going up there beyond the Wall to lose one of her children (and 1/3 of her military¹ power). Even though the producers of the show destroyed this character, I’ll always pick her out as one of the most complex characters ever created.
Nagato (Naruto).
I’m a Naruto fan since my childhood. I used to love some other chars, such as Gaara or Itachi, but now I feel like it’s more appropriate to choose this one. The reason that justifies me choosing this specific character is due to his sense of justice. Some people would say he’s a corrupt and others that he’s a genocide. I don’t agree with either the allegations. It’s primitive yet understandable that he kept seeking vengeance since he lost his parents to the war. People’d only become able to understand what he’d been thru if they’d suffered from the same pain he had.
I’m now aware of the fact that this² isn’t something socially/widely acceptable, but still. There are some things that can only be taught through pain (not necessarily physical pain). Moreover, sometimes it is logic to reply pain with pain — like that one time my bricklayer stole me, or the other one when my boss fired me just because. But nevertheless, since we live in a rational society, we might as well learn to bottle up our feelings and destructive thoughts, sail through and heal from it.
Katniss Everdeen (The Hunger Games).
I was very unsure I’d choose either Katniss or Snow. Snow’s honesty at saying the things he wanted to do to her or at wanting nothing but the truth from her was something to praise. However, he’s a disgusting³ character to me, and his honesty would be easily overshadowed by his genocidal acts.
Katniss, on the other hand, was such an incredible character to me just because of the lovestruck girl she used to be. Her indecisiveness on choosing either Peeta or Gale was definitely something I’d do were I at the same position. Her story with Peeta was something I envisioned⁴ with a classmate I used to have a crush on. Even though I wanted him to death, I wasn’t quite sure of my feelings, so I let it go with the flow (kept him in my mind, but in front of him I’d act totally the opposite). That’s actually the pattern I follow whenever I start crushing someone — I may be cold or harm someone’s feelings (just like Katniss!), but it’ll be due to my own lack of self-consciousness rather than not liking that person.
– Tria. November 15th, 2021.
- I mean, even though the Dothraki and the Unsullied were pretty strong, her dragons were definitely her best choice to take over the Seven Kingdoms. Losing one of them was surely something that weakened her.
- "This" = being revengeful.
- He is not disgusting to me. I simply wanted to keep away the readers's thoughts thinking I agree with fascism. I do not! But Snow somehow fascinates me.
- I can’t remember who I am talking about, as I couldn’t while writing those sentences either. Strange, isn’t it?
– Tria. February 20th, 2022.
