#also im for real holding myself back from ranting about how female characters are treated. dont get me started

[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.