A Game of Thrones Topic *spoilers for the books in here*

Nobody is here so I figured I'd vent in a topic. I've come to the conclusion that Rhaegar Targaryen is an anime character. I know that sounds weird but lets list his qualities.

Uncommonly Pretty
Silver Hair
lolDragon
Gifted Swordsman
Just Sad Enough To be Pitiable
Good at Almost Everything
Tragic and Heroic Death
Mysterious

I mean he is like a whole bundle of cliches wrapped together. I mean he's the type that would be mocked for being a Sephiroth clone if he actually was an anime character. Now I'm not saying he's a bad character, its kind of interesting as he represents 1 side of the duality of manliness that GoT tried to coney. His opposite being portrayed by Robert of course.

That sounds more like a terrible fanfiction character than most modern action anime characters.

Possibly. The fact that everyone sounds like they want to ride his "dragon" if you catch my meaning, just really screams "Cliche Anime Villain" kinda like Sephy with -100% mother complex and +50% sister complex.

It's weird though, I find him fascinating partly because he is a bundle of cliches. I think GRRM tapped into something almost archetypical in the human mind when he made Rhaegar and Robert. It's also interesting because of the series mythical setting and the way that stories and legends are passed down in their society. Just a single generation has passed and already these figures are hyper idealized when deep down they are proven to just be human. Rhaegar was the lucky one who dies before getting a chance to become another Mad King where Robert ends up dying a slow death from being King.

It's kind of hard for me to see what you mean because the silver haired prettyboy swordsman that's gifted yet tragic that everyone loves isn't really something I'd consider a cliche - it's one of those "cliches" that don't actually occur very often. And it's especially not something I'd consider a cliche of anime - games maybe, thanks solely to Final Fantasy and other JRPGs, but anime rarely dealt those kinds of villains. If anything, when I think of well known anime villains, they tend to be unsympathetic and *generally* not-pretty - characters like Kyubey, The Major, Gihren Zabi, Kazutaka Hyoudou, F/Z Caster, Gilgamesh, Manami Tamura, Light, Charles,  etc.


If anything, I'd argue unapologetic arrogant sociopaths and manipulative warmongers are more cliche in anime than tragic prettyboy swordsmen. Why do you think Wakamoto is such a popular VA? It's not just his voice - the roles he takes are very important as well. The only silver haired prettyboy swordsman anime villain I can even think of is Vicious, and he wasn't exactly tragic. I mean he got his girl stolen, sure, but he never seemed to give that much of a fuck about that so much as the fact that Spike betrayed the organization.


When anime employs the whole tragic character thing, it's rarely for a guy nowadays, or a villain. It's generally for a cute girl and it's a thing to try to make you feel bad for a character so they're better waifu material. In fact, in typical Seinin action series nowadays, the male tends to be an everyman underdog with little to no combat ability, while the girls are the ones that are extremely powerful.

True and I'll grant you that although A Game of Thrones was written in 1996. Maybe video game character would be closer to the mark because you are correct that it seems a much greater cliche of video games.

When I first picked up GoT and read the description for Dany, I immediately pictured her as an anime character. I had a very hard time imagining her as a real person until the show came out. It's because silver hair and purple eyes just scream 'anime' to me. So by extension, all the Targs have become anime characters in my eyes.

I also for the longest time pictured Davos as Desmond from Lost.

God i feel bad for Theon in Dance. The guy was a total tool but he didn't deserve what happened to him...