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- #21
Thaeonblade
[09] Warrior
Thank you.
For what?
Pat was set-up in promotions and previews the " Heir To The Title of Holy Warrior" and the Main Hero of the new story. Never in those previews did it say that Pat starts out as an unlikable asshole who murders people in cold blood.
Which is honestly part of the fundamental difference between Sieg and Patroklos and why comparing them doesn't work for Patroklos. Another difference that you agreed on is that the plot is heavily contrived in favor of Patroklos, which is part of the problem of why the character is bad. If the story at least let the brat face some genuine consequences for his actions like Siegfried and other characters have, then the hate that myself and others feel for him wouldn't be so bad.
But as the horrible story stands, Patroklos is way too pampered by the plot and that actually enables Pat to remain unlikable and not go through genuine, natural and un-contrived character development.
Also, if Pat is supposed to "start" as the villain, then how the hell did he get Soul Calibur? This isn't a nitpicky complaint that can be hand-waved or ignored, there's already rules set up in past games about how the sword chooses it's wielders. Mainly that those wielders (Xianghua, Siegfried, King Arthur, Hilde's ancestor) and potential other wielders (Characters with soul calibur as an ultimate weapon (Kilik, Talim, Nightmare (III shows why as odd as it was), Sophitia (III), Cassandra, Ivy, Yoshimitsu and so on) had to have strong wills and be pure of heart, strength and intention.
PS: the weapon profile on Soul Calibur comes from Soul Calibur II's Weapon Gallery
When Pat first got the sword, he had none of those qualities. Not to mention that according to past games, Pat. should still be malfested unless the writers simply forgot about it or decided to ignore it for plot convenience. So at the point when Sieg decided to give him the sword (A dumb move, I won't deny that), there is no reason or logic behind how the brat can touch the sword and much less unlock it's power in later chapters.
In short, Pat got the sword because the plot said that he got the sword. He gets to unlock his true style because the plot said that he could. He got to perform a feat that no one else has ever done because the plot said so. He also is somehow able to defeat the essence of Soul Calibur even though it had previously controlled him because the plot said that he could. Even though he was previously too weak of will to keep Soul Calibur from making him kill his sister and yet is strong enough to send himself back in time hours later.
You can't separate the bad story from Patroklos because the horribleness of both are bonded together. They feed each other like a symbiotic cycle. What harms or weakens one will effect the other and vice versa. Patroklos' reputation is harmed by the bad and contrived story while the already weak story is further harmed by the fact that Patroklos (The main protagonist and primary viewpoint of the story) has almost no likable, redeemable or identifiable qualities that make him worth following, caring for or rooting for. I actually had more fun watching this brat get beaten up by ZWEI and Nightmare than I did beating anyone with him...because I didn't care about him to where I wanted him to win.
That alone is why Patroklos is objectively worst than Siegfried. (Fully admitting that I really do personally hate the brat, but all that the facts and evidence presented in the games do is vindicate that hate.)
Say what you want about Sieg and he's overrated or that his hands were dirty as well (missing the point that redemption was the main theme of his later character arc), but the story actually made him suffer hard for all of his actions. (Especially in post-xianghua fight Soul Calibur and Soul Calibur II which I'd describe as his purgatory and even in III and IV) It didn't shelter or pamper him or automatically give him a holy sword from the start and beat the audience over the head with the fact that we're supposed to like him without giving us a reason to like him. Even in III and IV, the story still isn't forcing us to like him because we're not forced to only follow his viewpoint. Even as the main hero in III and IV, Sieg was still just a part of a larger story with other characters and motivations tied into the mix of the tale of souls and swords.
Can't say any of that for Patroklos for reasons already stated.