Thread: Mechalympics: Angstathon

Let's have a friendly little competition.

We're having a pity-party for the put-upon main characters of giant robot shows and need a guest of honor. Which main character should we throw the party for?

(the answer shouldn't be who thinks HE deserves it, but who YOU think deserves it)


WARNING: While this thread reveals no major secrets or plot details, there are some vague, generic statements that may count as very mild, non-specific spoilers. For the most part, they're nothing you couldn't learn from reading the back of DVD covers. Proceed with caution anyway... and be sure to use spoiler tags when giving detailed spoilers!


Contestant #1 - Shinji Ikari ~ Neon Genesis Evangelion



Shinji's father is a certified bastard who isn't beyond sacrificing his own child's life, happiness and sanity to get what he wants. His mother's dead,

 click to show spoiler

absorbed into a giant killing machine he has no choice but to pilot.

The only people Shinji has ever loved are dead or insane: the only one who's ever openly loved him, he's been forced to kill. The world is ending and he's never been laid. He's the main character of his series, but everyone hates him.

family issues: single parent, latch-key kid, emotional abuse, neglect
past life issues: N/A
fandom issues: almost universally hated
sexuality issues: general discomfort with intimacy, unhealthy sexual outlets (masturbating on comatose friends), possible latent homosexuality
dead friend/family count: anime ~ 5, manga ~ 6
dead love-interest count: 1
aggression from other characters: quite a bit of verbal abuse but remarkably little physical violence
self-pity: sky high


Contestant #2 - Shinn Asuka ~ Gundam Seed Destiny



His parents and little sister have been killed before his eyes. He hates the destructive power of war but sees war as the only practical outlet to avenge his family. He was the main character of a major franchise show, but had that honor yanked out from under him when a putzy fan-favorite showed up with a super-powered shiny new sparkle-shooting machine and

 click to show spoiler

killed his girlfriend.

He's now a psuedo-villain and almost everyone who watches the show hates him. If any of his friends or loved-ones survive to the end of the series, it will be a minor miracle and the only way for people to stop hating him is for him to admit he was wrong and hug the bastard who stole his show.

family issues: orphan (recently)
past life issues: N/A
fandom issues: general trend of dislike
sexuality issues: N/A (Shinn is actually one of the first Gundam characters to remain primarily heterosexual even in the doujinshi world)
dead friend/family count: 4
dead love-interest count: 1
aggression from other characters: low, Shinn's smackdowns seems to come by proxy.
self-pity: moderate


Contestant #3 - Apollo ~ Sousei no Aquarion



He's got no parents. He hasn't even got a real name. After 13 years of scraping by in a place that makes Afganistan look like paradise, his only real friend has been absorbed into a giant plant to supply power to immortals who look at humans as living batteries. He's saved civilization as we know it half a dozen times by piloting his mech and all it seems to have gotten him the undying contempt of one of his co-pilots. Beyond that, he's got to deal with the consequences of his previous incarnation's chronic inability to make a decision about his sexuality. His reincarnated girlfriend just wants to beat him up and his old boyfriend, an extremely formidable immortal with an army at his disposal, is PISSED OFF about those 12,000 years of issues left hanging. Everyone seems to want him to dissappear, die or fail miserably... and none of it seems to be his fault.

family issues: orphan (all along)
past life issues: painful/traumatic execution, unresolved love triangle, general confusion
fandom issues: well-liked but virtually unknown
sexuality issues: decidedly heterosexual but the target of a rather agressive past-life lover of the same sex
dead friend/family count: unknown (at least 1)
dead love-interest count: N/A
dead self count: 1 (past life)
aggression from other characters: high. Sirius hates him, Touma (love)hates him, Silvia (love)hates him, his superiors smack him down regularly, his main love-interest is slap-happy, he spends two or three hours of the series' runtime with his face ground into the dirt one way or another. He was crucified in his past life (ouch).
self-pity: non-existant

Contestant #4 ~ Write in...

Add your own character . Just remember: they need to be the main character of a mech series (ex. Ayato, RahXephon; Heero Yuy, Gundam Wing; Van Fanel, Escaflowne). Be sure to include a short description as to WHY they deserve to be in the running.


So, who wins the pity-party?