#that's not to say i don't like the idea of a redeemed volo. it's a fascinating concept to me that i really like

[pyromaniac-cyndaquil]

'volo isn't a villain because-'

'i hope volo isn't evil this time-'

'he's not babygirl he's a terrible person-'

Cowards. Skill issue. He IS fucked up and evil and that's exactly WHY he's babygirl-

[nemesis-is-my-middle-name]

Yeah, I totally agree. Volo's character is impossible to pin down. We're not even given crumbs.

We get some tiny hints, but even those can be interpreted in any way. He seems, from my perspective in my play throughs, a bit condescending in how he pushes the character to the plates and all, especially with that pointing-animation. But that is purely interpretation from me going by vibes.

There could be misantrophy going on, not unlike Zyrus, but we don't really see that. We only don't see him really connect with people. He is an outsider to everyone. He is not part of the clans or Jubilife and we miss any interactions with his guild members. Even his interactions with Cogita seem somewhat stilted, but none of them show him dismissive or him actively turning away from people.

What we know is that he has a goal and the drive to get it. But we don't know why. Volo is driven enough to reach out to my favourite edgelord forgotten middle child god of shadows, Giratina, but the why is missing. Is it a the end justifies the means situation? Because kicking in the door to the fucking shadow realm and getting the god of pouting to work with him shows that he has massive cojones, but why are these aimed at Arceus?!? Is it an underlying idea of grandeur? There is ego, because, hooboy, is he salty that the character gets the azure flute and not him. It has to be him and he does not even entertain the idea to just watch the character meet Arceus or getting to meet Arceus thus by proxy with the hope to get a few spare minutes. It has to be him and him alone that gets Arceus' attention. But how far does his ego go? Or is his ego really what is important? Maybe his ego hides away a pretty big existential crisis that makes him want to meet god themself and redo the world. There has to be something soft underneath considering that he has a Togekiss in his team. Or has he found the one Togekiss in the whole world that is a truly horrific monster behind their cute facade, like the fae-stories of our world? A sicko Togekiss? But Pokemon has consistently used those friendship evolutions like Crobat to show that a character is either redeemable, has a truly soft and nice side to them or even to show that they have changed from their evil ways.

Even the overlap of his and Giratina's wish to oppose/confront Arceus cannot be taken as basis of character. Volo actively seeked Giratina out, while Giratina acts passive. We know Giratina changes after the encounter and softens in their approach to humans. They even chose to protect humanity and watch it from their realm. Volo instead doubles down, but we only get that info second hand and we also don't get to see him after this. So even the similarities of Giratina and Volo cannot be used as cracking this nut of characterisation.

So, yeah, I just wanted to agree with you :D

the god of pouting whkjehkjeh

no but literally!! he's so inscrutable all the fucking time it's insane!! like it almost feels like the people who wrote his motivations had zero actual contact with the people writing his player interactions. he like says something about how HE should've been the one in the protag's role, as the Champion of Arceus, but then he's also working like. with giratina? and wants to Subjugate arceus to create a new world? those two things DO NOT SQUARE SIR. PICK ONE.

you're so right though that almost all the hints we actually get about his character, even past his motivations, are presented in the negative. he's like a nonperson in hisui. he seems perfectly friendly—he's not pushy, or suspicious of you, or anything—and yet he's also not on particularly good terms with the galaxy team, or the clans. even his coworkers don't seem to know him very well. even cogita only seems vaguely annoyed by him! it's so goddamm WEIRD. why does he help you stop the apocalypse?? why does he follow you around giving you tips during the red sky event?? WHAT WAS ANY OF THAT FOR.

like i will be real i mostly. ignore. a bunch of the shit volo says because it's so difficult and annoying to make sense out of and to be honest i think they straight up did not think about what it meant when they were writing it so why should i. really the only things i consider actual Volo Character Traits is his general cheerful and kind of ditzy demeanor and his one statement by the giratina statue about channeling his anger at reality into ambition and research. other than that. lalalala i do not see it