Character essay, pretty much all the relevant information you need to know.

Jul 18, 2019 03:10

Since my interpretation is a little... out there: I feel that this post is necessary to explain to anyone who might be confused or frustrated at the way I play him.


Character Personality/Analysis
Throughout the course of "ALTERNATIVE", Zazie has two very distinct and separate identities that both serve different roles and interact with the world in vastly different ways





Bete
Initially in the episode Zazie is an orphan named Bete, who lives with a group of kids who had all lost their friends and family when Legato forced everyone in their village to walk into the desert.

Bete is a very quiet kid, but from what we've seen of him he's generally pretty good hearted, even if he's on the timid side. In his entire appearance, he only has three spoken lines ("'m sorry, sir" which is barely audible, "Mother... and father..." which is mumbled during a nightmare, and "Hey, good luck." which is actually his only line that he actually speaks) there are plenty of times where he could have spoken, and other child characters are far more talkative. Over all though, he seems to have difficulties warming up to and speaking to adult strangers. Even the ladies that he has a softer spot for like Milly (as seen above)

After all: he thanked Vash when Millie asked him to, was the only child not throwing things at Wolfwood when he showed up, helped out with the other kids, babies one of the kids at dinner, cried when he was having a nightmare, and cheered Vash on when he was about to confront the men who just shot up their little house.

But then, something pretty strange happens to him towards the end of the episode...





Zazie
When we later find out the small device on his head was controlling the sandworms and causing them to rampage, Bete changes completely. His eyes lose their light, his voice deepens, and he's suddenly a lot more vicious. Claiming that he's a demon and insists that his name is Zazie the Beast. This time he used the children as hostages, and even went on a rant about how much he hated kids. Vash tried to talk him down, however before he had a chance to change Wolfwood killed him.

Now, there are a few conclussions we can draw from this, and a few different theories as well.

The Many Theories of Zazie
The first theory is that Zazie isn't a child but a dwarf assassin. That he simply tricked everyone into thinking he was an orphan and pretended to be nice to trap them. This theory does have some weight behind it, after all, his voice does become a bit deeper when he reveals himself as a villain, his child hating rant implies that he himself isn't a child, and he tells Vash that he could never comprehend why he did something this intricate. In fact, on the surface this is really the only logical interpretation of his character.

HOWEVER there is also strong evidence that this is not the case, that Zazie is in fact a child: just one with a lot of issues when it comes to his identity and sanity.

The first issue with him just faking it is that his time as Bete is too genuine. When he speaks it sounds natural, there is never the slightest hint of insencerity in his actions, nor is their any disgust when he's around the fellow children. Those tears he cried at night where very real, as the very fact of Vash mentioning them to Zazie caused him enough of an emotional reaction to shoot. Vash told him that being evil wasn't who he really was, that he was forcing himself, that the demon inside him hadn't won yet. And the thing was? That Zazie was listening and reacting as if what Vash was saying was having an undesired affect on him.

Another theory that holds some weight is that Zazie is a literal demon that possesses Bete. There is a flaw in that as well in that there are no supernatural activities on that level in Trigun either. Despite the religious over tones, there are no messages from god, no angels, no ghosts, no demons either. The only Ghosts that appear in the anime are the memroeis and ideals of a person rather then an actual ghost. The only real powers that could be considered supernatural are Legato's psychic abilities and Leonoff and his puppets. Legato's abilities can be explained by having Vash's arm (as plants break the laws of science anyways) and Leonoff's puppets could simply be incredibly high tech and run off of lost technology (which, being a Gung Ho Gun, he has access to). Calling someone a "demon" happens frequently in reference to the Gung-Ho-Guns, but that is never literal and refers to their actions and character (which, Zazie's can definitely qualify as demonic). In my opinion, it would make more sense for Zazie to be delusional and truly believe he is a demon possessing a child rather then being a literal demon.

So what does this mean? Well, it could very well mean that he was in fact a child: a kid who didn't want to be one and turned himself into a "demon" instead. That, rather then being a dwarf who managed to trick everyone into thinking that was a sweet kid was in fact the opposite. A scared, hurt child who for some reason felt the only solution to this was to become something else.

I am talking of course, about split personalities.

Now, the idea of a villain having split personalities and one of them turning out to be a good guy was done later with Livio and Razlo. However there are some similarites between their cases that may point that Zazie was almost a prototype of the concept.

Visual:
The first being the visual changes between the personalities. When Bete reveals himself to be Zazie, his eyes clearly change from being normal looking to something completely different. The eyes changing in some way is often an indication in anime and manga (not just in Trigun) that the personality has shifted to someone different or that the personality has somehow changed whether through some sort of trauma or mind control.



What is interesting in Zazie's case are the specific changes in his eyes. Not only do they become darker and have less light in them (something typical to show anime characters going evil) but his eyes also dilate, which is exactly what does occur in the switch between Livio and Razlo. On a more minor note he also changes his outfit between Bete and Zazie by removing the scarf and poncho. which, while isn't very significant is also another visual signal in anime/manga that the personality of the person in question has changed.

Dialogue:
An interesting point to note is the dialogue the occurs between Vash and Zazie before his death.

Vash: You know this isn't who you really are.
Zazie: Huh?
Vash: It's true, I saw you crying the other night.
[Zazie Shoots at Vash]
He could have denied that as part of his act after all it isn't below him to brag or insult Vash's intelligence. Earlier he had told him "You probably aren't even capable of comprehending why I would choose to do something this intricate.". Instead that solicited an immediate emotional response from him to shoot. It was information that caused an undesired affect on him, and wasn't something he wanted to hear. Shooting Vash was an attempt to make a distraction and get him to shut up. However instead of shutting up the way Zazie wanted, Vash continued:

Vash: The demon hasn't won. At one point you even tried to cheer me on in spite of him.
Zazie: Well that's where you're wrong: Demons can block their consciousness and memory on demand.
Vash: I don't believe that.
[Zazie Growls]
Once again, he could have said that this was a trick and that Vash was being foolish, however instead he said that "demons can clock their consciousness and memory on demand" which is exactly what happens when personality switch. When one comes out, the other is unconscious and has no recollection of what the other did, unless the system is more developed and has the ability to communicate. Furthermore he says that demons can block their consciousness and memories, which can either refer to their own (which wouldn't be so useful if they were an actual demon, but regardless still happens with multiple personalities) or their as in their hosts (which would be the more relevant phrasing if we went the actual demon route, even if it's very odd wording on his part... and is still equally true if we aren't talking about literal demons). Still, Vash continues to try and talk the situation down.

Vash: You want it this way? You're forcing yourself.
Zazie: Goody two-shoes idiot! YOU DON'T KNOW WHO I AM!
[points gun at Vash now]
Zazie: That's fine. Believe whatever you want: you can just die thinking your pleasant little thoughts.
Meryl: Stop this Bete, right now!
[Zazie looks at her annoyed before looking back at Vash.
Zazie hesitates for a moment, then Wolfwood shoots him dead.]
The main reason why Zazie's death was so controversial in canon was because he actually showed signs of being talked out of it before being killed. Vash's words were clearly getting a rise out of him as much as he tried to BS his way out of it by saying he was an evil demon and trying to break whatever ties he had with Bete's earlier behavior.

Now based on the dialogue, Zazie may be a literal demon, and he may be a kid who thinks he's a demon. However one thing is clear: that he identifies himself as separate from Bete, and that trying to undermine him by saying that he is in fact a child and that Bete is still somewhere inside of him only serves to piss him off.

Other Questions:
The big questions of course remain. How was he recruited in the Gun-Ho-Guns? If Zazie truly is another personality then why was he developed? If Zazie is a literal demon then how was Bete possessed? Are there any other supernatural cases like this if he was literally possessed? If he wasn't a child and this was all an act then why did he seem so genuine in his acting? Why even claim to be a demon? The questions unfortunately are never answered. Anything about Zazie's true history and nature is never explained in the anime, and it's why there are so many theories and interpretations about his character.

At this point all that's left is speculation not only about his nature as a character but his history as well. At this point it is all up to speculation and I find other interpretations equally valid as my own. However I've taken this time to explain in great detail why I interpret his character the way I do based on what is given is the episode.

character essay, ooc

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