#Taranza is trying hard not to judge

[pinkd3mon]

Bonus piece from this art

[nickiemoot]

doesnt susies japanese bio say she's eliminating savages.

okay. first of all, before i start rambling, if this is referring to the "susie has never done anything wrong" post, that was clearly a joke. obviously she's done bad shit. she's a flawed character. she falls under the "redeemed villain" category like many kirby characters. don't get me started on the importance of a nuanced approach with flawed characters and the overall unfair treatment of female characters. if this isn't what you were going for, i apologize. you happened to stumble on a thing i have Opinions about lmao.

anyway. i don't speak japanese and i have to solely rely on other people's translations. so this is a lot of speculation on my part.

i think you're referring to the quote from star allies. i had to go to the wiki to find it, here's a copy and paste:

Her Dream Friend description states that she intends to bring back the company her father built. In the Japanese version, direct quotes from her are given: 「科学の力で 家族だんらん、幸せな くらしを ごていきょう…」("Through the power of science, I offer family harmony and a happy life...") and 「そんな理念の もと、ヤバンなヤツは くじょ、いたしますわ！」 ("I will exterminate the uncivilized!")

now i have no idea what the subtle connotations of the word that was translated to "uncivilized" is. i don't know japanese. i know that the word you used, "savages", has really serious connotations in english because of actual real life history. the haltmann company is definitely meant to be more or less "destructive western capitalism" in theme. but does this word in japanese mean the same thing as the highly specific and deeply racist english word? i don't know. the wiki translated it as "uncivilized". does that make a difference? i don't know.

here's my take: she is a person who was raised to believe she was superior to everyone. her father is rich and powerful and her people are very technologically advanced. she was probably spoiled as a child. her time in AD was no doubt very shocking and traumatizing, and when she came back there was no happy reunion because her father didn't recognize her. her response was... not healthy! she focused on revenge and didn't question shit! not until the star dream incident did she actually start questioning what she believed, how she viewed the world, the consequences of her actions, etc. obviously she wasn't immediately fixed and is now flawless! she has so much baggage to unpack! unlearning things is really hard, and unlearning whole worldviews taught to you since childhood is extremely difficult. this is a real thing, it's possible to unlearn prejudice irl but it's a long process that takes constant conscious effort. but i think she is trying.

plus, i highly suspect that the way that quote is written is meant to convey her way of speaking. "exterminate the uncivilized" is susie-speak for "defeat the enemies". the word "exterminate" is just scifi talk meant to make her sound robotic. and sure, the way she considers anyone not on her side as uncivilized is. problematic. but again, she's unlearning a lifetime of bias. if anything, it would bother me immensely if she was suddenly redeemed and perfect with no lasting effects! that doesn't happen!

anyway, im not gonna get into it because that's a whole 'nother goddamn essay i could write, but consider: kirby is full of redeemed villain characters including ones who are not really good guys at all (marx, dark meta knight, hell even taranza and magolor are questionable) AND YET the only one who gets judged like this is susie, the female ex-villain. female characters are always scrutinized more than male characters in the same fandom. why is that? think about it.

[pythi-the-drawing-writer]

Let's Talk About Taranza

To preface, this isn't gonna be some professional deconstruction or educated/educational essay, this is just me ranting about a Favorite Videogame character of mine. + Disclaimer, haven't played Forgotten Land at the time of posting, if somehow there's critical Taranza/Sectonia lore in there or something then I don't know it yet.

So without further ado let's rant about my favorite Kirby character (aside from Kirby himself), The Master of Puppet, Taranza!

Design: so first off, I'm in love with this spider's color palette, the dark green primary color is just nice to look at, the silver hair is eye catching but not distracting and outlines his brown head exceptionally well, the red scarf is very clear and gives nice separation between head and body, plus scarfs are just a top tier accessory, and the orangish yellow patterns and trim on the coat have a neat contrast and blend with the green. Just good stuff all the way. And something I actually haven't noticed earlier but Taranza's silhouette looks like a spider with it's mandibles open thanks to the horns which is super cool character design and just generally makes his shape a lot more memorable and recognizable than all the orbs and ovals other characters are made of.

Now for the rest of the design. Let's see, straight hair cut that's cleaned up and neat with sharp edges, fancy decorated coat and shirt, nearly folded and presented scarf, clean white gloves, yep that's nobility alright just right off that bat this guy looks like some high class noble or prince. Kirby designs are always pretty straightforward at letting you know exactly what their deal is and Taranza is no exception to that. I'd like to note something very nice is how his primary green color and secondary orange colors neatly complement and contrast Sectonia's Yellow and Blue colors and both share red accents which is just a lovely point of connection between the two.

Characterization: honestly Taranza just gives the vibe of someone trying his best, if you know about the story of Gwain and the Green Knight where the whole thing is that Gwain isn't the most noble, heroic, smart, or fearless of the knights but he keeps trying his best and that's what matters then you know what I mean cause that's just the exact vibe he gives off. He kidnaps the wrong person thinking Dedede is the Hero he was sent to get cause obviously a renowned hero would live in a castle and be the king, every major boss fight in KTD is just him throwing whatever he finds nearby at Kirby, even the whole mirror thing was just him trying to get a good gift for his crush/girlfriend having no idea it would fuck them over so hard.

Now something that's kinda interesting is that just judging by his abilities in Triple Deluxe and Star Allies he may perhaps be one of the strongest magic users in the series. He's able to forcefully control other beings, not by Dark Matter possession but by forcefully pulling strings like a puppet, However there's more, once again he causes every major boss fight in KTD except for Sectonia. He's able to force a flower to grow into a crazy tree, he broke a seal on a cursed painting that's been holding for who knows how long, he summons actual Kracko on his own, and animates/unseals a giant statue all without/before any sort of dark matter or dark mirror power up, compare to Magalor who seems to only be able to summons items and portals and small rifts temporarily without the Master Crown Marx who seemed to have no magic power until he made his wish

Plus Taranza's abilities in Star Allies, the two stand out ones being summoning a mini Dreamstalk and the actual Phantom of Sectonia. The Dreamstalk in KTD was a seed(possibly even a miracle fruit) that all the people of Floralia put their hopes and dreams into and that it grows with the power of the sun stones and dreams, only in full bloom with enough power of dreams. The one Taranza can summit is definitely not even close in comparable to the size of the real one but noticeably it is in full bloom, meaning he has enough magic power and strong enough dreams to make those flowers bloom properly which is interesting.

Next the Queen's Phantom, right out the gate the game just tells you that yep this is the Ghost of Queen Sectiona herself thanks to the move name with it even having the exact same magic circle effect that Sectiona uses and the exact same lightning attack she uses in her fight, as far as I'm aware this is the first time we've seen someone with enough power to summon up the actual dead and use their power, this is noticably different from Star Dream's boss summons who are just clones similarly to the Dedede clones in Planet Robobot. So yeah dude packs a lot of magic

A small detail. In the Haunted Mansion level of Triple Deluxe you can see paintings of Taranza and Magalor, this could mean that the two know each other or at least Magalor has somehow visited Floralia some time long ago, and it's possible that this Mansion might have been Taranza's home some time ago but that's just wild speculation based on some background details.

Also it's pretty cute how Taranza is just so obviously in love with Sectonia and would do anything for her until he realizes that this has gone too far, and is just tragically heart breaking but kinda inspiring that in the end he recognizes how toxic and dangerous his relationship is, and it's just so sad seeing in KCD and Star Allies just how far he wants to go to see her again even though it's hinted in KSA that he knows that it's not possible.

Honestly their whole story is kinda a Greek tragedy. Taranza's blind love and loyalty is what lead him to getting that mirror and enabling Sectonia and Sectonia's vanity is what allowed her to be manipulated and corrupted by the mirror in the first place, no cosmic conspiracy or some kind of destiny led to this just their own personalities and traits in the wrong situation.

So yeah, that's Taranza. A poor lovestruck spider who couldn't escape a tragic fate of his own naivety and loyalty but wants to do his best to do good by those he cares about and just can't seem to let go of the ones he loves even though he knows that sometimes not even his powerful abilities can do anything about it