Mr. Bambu
Suffer-Not-Injustice Bambu
VS Battles
Joke Battles
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man the way you worded that I thought Ant had read MORK BORG or something and was hating on it lol
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Most well written characters for every tier
- Thread starter Grand_Saver_Ritsuka
- Start date
- 18,393
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Bambu is a copycat!
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Issei really created this thread and hasn't updated it or even created a list template at the OP lol
Noneless21
He/Him- 7,558
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Because he know Goku solo
RandomGuy2345
He/Him- 24,984
- 15,508
DaMonkeMan
He/Him- 18,012
- 15,462
You are one ******* hundred percent a weeb dude
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No he is not.
He watches just one anime per year, and as a weeb community, we don't consider him one of us. It would be more acceptable if he could watch at least 200+ anime series annually.
He watches just one anime per year, and as a weeb community, we don't consider him one of us. It would be more acceptable if he could watch at least 200+ anime series annually.
DaMonkeMan
He/Him- 18,012
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kokushibo’s symbolism
Kokushibo's six eyes symbolizes the six realms of existence in buddhism, The six realms can have a literal meaning or a symbolic meaning. They are six states of mind we experience in our life, states which shift to each realm according to your karma.
karma in buddhism refers to action driven by intention which leads to future consequences.
Kokushibo experiencef all 6 of these realms in the course his life, and in this post i will try to explain why and how
- human realm
the human realm in buddhism is considered to be the most advantageous of all possible rebirths as in higher domains, beings are blinded by the pleasures of their realms and neglect working towards bodhi (enlightenment) while being on the lower realm are too busy trying to avoid the suffering and pain of their worlds to give a second thought to liberation.
however, the human realm is a balance, as it provides enough suffering to motivate the beings inside to acheive liberation but not too much that every moment of their lives is consumed by it.
in most cases, humans waste their lifetimes in pursuits of their desires rather than working towards enlightenment, Because of this, most of them descends to a lower domain of rebirth after a human life.
kokushibo experienced the human realm in his early childhood, it’s the greatest test and it offers the opportunity to become enlightened. Kokushibo dealt with some hardships but it was the challenges he and Yoriichi faced that makes up the human realm,
passion, desire, doubt, and pride.
- The Jealous God Realm
Asuras are hyper-competitive and paranoid,They are driven by a desire to beat their competition, and everyone is competition, their first priority is getting to the top and they always desire to be superior to others
Kokushibo experienced the jealous god realm when He was fueled by intense jealousy, ego, and aggression to rise in power and position, and according to the purpose of the human realm, this is a key moment since should he give in to temptation, he will fall into the lower realms.
- God realm
He lived a blissful life, had a family, became heir, they were peaceful somewhat boring days
- animal realm
he saved Michikatsu, and the envy and jealousy boiled in his stomach once again and blissful peaceful days were over, and seeing yoriichi kill something that wasn't even human that made his envy slowly turn to obsession, he saw yoriichi's skill and strength and wanted all of it to be his,
he abondoned his family to walk the path of a demon hunter just like yoriichi, but he also couldn't use the breath of the sun so he made the moon breathing,and eventually he got the mark
however, he realized that there was no future left for him as those with the mark die at the age of 25,so there was no time for him to train and achieve his goal
however, Muzan presented him an opportunity,a future where he can find purpose and fulfill his dream. Koku gave into the temptation to lose his humanity for his greed and desire.
and so michikatsu became a demon and was reborn to the animal realm as kokushibo
The animal Realm symbolized him losing his humanity and it is a reflection of a man's basic instincts
The animal realm is where animals are believed in Buddhist texts to be driven by impulse and instinct, they prey on each other and suffer, and kokushibo’s obsession and instinct is to become stronger than his brother he preyed on humans and suffered trought his enitre life without finding a purpose nor completing that obessesion
Just as the moon reflects light from the sun,The reflection of Kokushibo's instincts was to surpass Yoriichi who is like the sun. Kokushibo could not achieve liberation since he was always obsessed with surpassing his brother
- hungry ghost realm
kokushibo experienced the hungry ghost real since he was always hungry to be like Yoriichi, but could never reach him, he was but a mere shadow to what his brother is and he became monster because of his hunger and fustratation from his desire that could never be fulfilled.
the beings in the Hungry Ghost Realm have big bellies and small mouths and Ironically, the final attack that led to kokushibo’s death was muichiro’s stab to his stomach
- hell realm
the moon in Buddhism is symbolized as liberation and enlightment, however, ironically Kokushibo contradicts that as he is in fact the opposite of what that entails. He couldn't free himself from that obssession, he acheived nothing and lost everything that’s important to him
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the icarus and the sun
Icarus,drawn by his desire to to reach the heavens, tried to reach and devour the sun, lost himself in the process and ignored his father's warnings, then failed and burnt his wings causing him to fall to his demise
seems similar?
Who is the sun, and who is the icarus?
And the dynamic between them
Yoriichi and Kokushibo share the same dynamic exept it was presented in a more humane way as a brother envious of his twins overwhelming talent and losing himself and everything in the process
what makes their dynamic so wonderfully written is that the entire foundation of their character is based on the fact that both their existence affect and change each other, one being the unreachable sun and the othe being the icarus that’s deseprately trying to reach it, how it affected him and how it both broke and change him
how they may be twins, but they couldn’t have become more different, they walked different and conflicting paths and had contradicting Philosophies.
kokushibo was a broken human being, one whose envy drove him to reach for the sun
but no matter how desperately he tried to reach out for it,The only option was writhe and suffer, just like the icarus
And just like the icarus, Kokushibo's lost everything while trying to reach for the heavens
And even after abononing everything he had, he couldn't achieve what he wanted, he never got to see the world he longed to see.
kokushibo as a charcter felt human, he was flawed, he didn’t lose everything, he abandoned everything, he made mistakes and his development as a character was realistic
and what makes the dynamic between the two so amazing is the fact that the entirety of koku’s character develoment is based on their dynamic, you cannot talk about him without talking about how yoriichi affected him, they’re connected,he is the icarus,yoriichi is the sun
not to mention that it’s also inspired by the story of the sun and moon god(Japanese pantheon), who separated and walked different paths
While Kokushibo's became a demon and bleived that being eternal and living forever was the logical conclusion
yoriichi bleived that living and dying was the beauty of being human he became a demon hunter and bleived that they should reach the end of their lives feeling nothing but ease, and stayed as such until he died of old age
and just like tsukuyomi, kokushibo is a a proud, violent, and somewhat tragic character.
he also needs to chase after the sun, and he continued to do so without stopping for 400 years
Kokushibo, or Michikatsu’s goal was to become the strongest samurai. We can see in his backstory that Kokushibo trained as hard to the point of bleeding from his hands so he could become a worthy successor. Its a common notion that hard work beats talent, or that it will result in success, that hard work never betrays you.
However, all that hard work proved itself to be worthlesswe Kokushibo worked hard, practiced till he bled, and gave more than just his all. While, Yoriichi who never touched a blade, defeated an opponent that Kokushibo never even managed to land a hit on
All the effort and hard work he put was simply outmatched by a his twin who had talent, who if anything didn’t even want it, treated as something worthless
he realized that,even with all his hard work, in front of a one of a kind prodigy, his pace was akin to that of a turtle
it was hopeless, nothing could be done.
and then their treatmentt changes, kokushibo was abondoned by his family, yoriichi became the focal point of everything,he was special and while he was not,his dream of becoming a samurai would never be acheived
he ammounted to nothing for he was not special
after that it's only natural for envy and hatred started to it’s roots, your family of origin and your enviorment plays a huge role in your development as a kid and kokushibo isn't an exeption
his backstory and the root of his obssession felt human and it had realistic development
they reunited again after 10 years
=
yoriichi saved Michikatsu, and the envy and jealousy boiled in his stomach once again, his peaceful days were over, and seeing yoriichi kill something that wasn't even human that made his envy slowly turn to obsession, he saw yoriichi's skill and strength and wanted all of it to be his,
he abondoned his family to walk the path of a demon hunter, but he also couldn't use the breath of the sun so he made the moon breathing..and eventually he got the mark
He tought he could reach yoriichi's level if he trained more,but he realized it would be impossible, the mark shortened his lifespan, he paid for the strength with his life, and so did all of the pillars
He realized that there was no future left for him,and that there was no time for him to train and catch up either
until he met muzan,and he was offered eternal life
At that moment the path he wanted with all his heart was before him
His obsession of catching up to yoriichi made him choose to become a demon, at that moment, he was free from all obligations, he had enough time to train and reach his level…or At least that what should have been,
Yoriichi appeared again, and proved that even his old age, he is the sun that can't be reached, he almost killed him, making realize that all of his training was useless,and just as he was about to deliver the final blow, he died of old age
And even after living for centuries, even after forgetting how all his loved one’s faces looked like he still remembered yoriichi’s face vividly even if it’s the one he wanted to forget about the most
That's how far his obsession has reached.
His jealousy turned to envy, that envy turned to obsession, and that obsession haunted him for the rest of his life
He abandoned everything, and he lost it all in his path to reach for the sun…
and he realized in then end, that all of it was pointelss, that no matter how many times he yearns for the sun and reach out his hands, his only option was to writh and suffer untill he turns and to ash and disappear
and even with the amount of times he felt jealous of his brother, or how he stated he hated him. He still held on to the flute that he gave to Yoriichi, because that was the only thing left that truly mattered to him.
This Kokushibo's origin, his emotional struggle was shown and beautifully talked about his constant change as a character while trying to reach his goal was well documented his regrets and emotional scars are shown and his monologs that beautifully portrayed his emotions.
Kokushibo was so obsessed with fulfilling his dream and finding a purpose in life, that he abandoned many things that were important to him.
He lived hundreds of years, but he never even found an answer to why he was even born. He abandoned his family, his home, and killed even his descendant
But he realized how empty and hideous he’s become, just to catch up to yoriichi So doubts arise, did he really want to become the strongest?To the point that he’d abandon everything? did he really want to never lose? so much so he ate all those humans?
did he reallt fear death? so much so he’d abondon his humanity?
In the end, he realized that his true goal and dream was that he wanted to be just like Yoriichi. However, his envy and obsession to reach his level were the reasons Kokushibo abandoned everything, and just like the icarus, his fate was to writhe and suffer in the ground until he turned to ash
and that's all i have for now, i don't know if i screwed something up
how is it?
Icarus,drawn by his desire to to reach the heavens, tried to reach and devour the sun, lost himself in the process and ignored his father's warnings, then failed and burnt his wings causing him to fall to his demise
seems similar?
Who is the sun, and who is the icarus?
And the dynamic between them
- character dynamic
Do you see what I mean?
Yoriichi and Kokushibo share the same dynamic exept it was presented in a more humane way as a brother envious of his twins overwhelming talent and losing himself and everything in the process
what makes their dynamic so wonderfully written is that the entire foundation of their character is based on the fact that both their existence affect and change each other, one being the unreachable sun and the othe being the icarus that’s deseprately trying to reach it, how it affected him and how it both broke and change him
how they may be twins, but they couldn’t have become more different, they walked different and conflicting paths and had contradicting Philosophies.
kokushibo was a broken human being, one whose envy drove him to reach for the sun
but no matter how desperately he tried to reach out for it,The only option was writhe and suffer, just like the icarus
And just like the icarus, Kokushibo's lost everything while trying to reach for the heavens
And even after abononing everything he had, he couldn't achieve what he wanted, he never got to see the world he longed to see.
kokushibo as a charcter felt human, he was flawed, he didn’t lose everything, he abandoned everything, he made mistakes and his development as a character was realistic
and what makes the dynamic between the two so amazing is the fact that the entirety of koku’s character develoment is based on their dynamic, you cannot talk about him without talking about how yoriichi affected him, they’re connected,he is the icarus,yoriichi is the sun
not to mention that it’s also inspired by the story of the sun and moon god(Japanese pantheon), who separated and walked different paths
While Kokushibo's became a demon and bleived that being eternal and living forever was the logical conclusion
yoriichi bleived that living and dying was the beauty of being human he became a demon hunter and bleived that they should reach the end of their lives feeling nothing but ease, and stayed as such until he died of old age
and just like tsukuyomi, kokushibo is a a proud, violent, and somewhat tragic character.
he also needs to chase after the sun, and he continued to do so without stopping for 400 years
Kokushibo, or Michikatsu’s goal was to become the strongest samurai. We can see in his backstory that Kokushibo trained as hard to the point of bleeding from his hands so he could become a worthy successor. Its a common notion that hard work beats talent, or that it will result in success, that hard work never betrays you.
However, all that hard work proved itself to be worthlesswe Kokushibo worked hard, practiced till he bled, and gave more than just his all. While, Yoriichi who never touched a blade, defeated an opponent that Kokushibo never even managed to land a hit on
All the effort and hard work he put was simply outmatched by a his twin who had talent, who if anything didn’t even want it, treated as something worthless
he realized that,even with all his hard work, in front of a one of a kind prodigy, his pace was akin to that of a turtle
it was hopeless, nothing could be done.
and then their treatmentt changes, kokushibo was abondoned by his family, yoriichi became the focal point of everything,he was special and while he was not,his dream of becoming a samurai would never be acheived
he ammounted to nothing for he was not special
after that it's only natural for envy and hatred started to it’s roots, your family of origin and your enviorment plays a huge role in your development as a kid and kokushibo isn't an exeption
his backstory and the root of his obssession felt human and it had realistic development
they reunited again after 10 years
yoriichi saved Michikatsu, and the envy and jealousy boiled in his stomach once again, his peaceful days were over, and seeing yoriichi kill something that wasn't even human that made his envy slowly turn to obsession, he saw yoriichi's skill and strength and wanted all of it to be his,
he abondoned his family to walk the path of a demon hunter, but he also couldn't use the breath of the sun so he made the moon breathing..and eventually he got the mark
He tought he could reach yoriichi's level if he trained more,but he realized it would be impossible, the mark shortened his lifespan, he paid for the strength with his life, and so did all of the pillars
He realized that there was no future left for him,and that there was no time for him to train and catch up either
until he met muzan,and he was offered eternal life
At that moment the path he wanted with all his heart was before him
His obsession of catching up to yoriichi made him choose to become a demon, at that moment, he was free from all obligations, he had enough time to train and reach his level…or At least that what should have been,
Yoriichi appeared again, and proved that even his old age, he is the sun that can't be reached, he almost killed him, making realize that all of his training was useless,and just as he was about to deliver the final blow, he died of old age
And even after living for centuries, even after forgetting how all his loved one’s faces looked like he still remembered yoriichi’s face vividly even if it’s the one he wanted to forget about the most
That's how far his obsession has reached.
His jealousy turned to envy, that envy turned to obsession, and that obsession haunted him for the rest of his life
He abandoned everything, and he lost it all in his path to reach for the sun…
and he realized in then end, that all of it was pointelss, that no matter how many times he yearns for the sun and reach out his hands, his only option was to writh and suffer untill he turns and to ash and disappear
and even with the amount of times he felt jealous of his brother, or how he stated he hated him. He still held on to the flute that he gave to Yoriichi, because that was the only thing left that truly mattered to him.
This Kokushibo's origin, his emotional struggle was shown and beautifully talked about his constant change as a character while trying to reach his goal was well documented his regrets and emotional scars are shown and his monologs that beautifully portrayed his emotions.
Kokushibo was so obsessed with fulfilling his dream and finding a purpose in life, that he abandoned many things that were important to him.
He lived hundreds of years, but he never even found an answer to why he was even born. He abandoned his family, his home, and killed even his descendant
But he realized how empty and hideous he’s become, just to catch up to yoriichi So doubts arise, did he really want to become the strongest?To the point that he’d abandon everything? did he really want to never lose? so much so he ate all those humans?
did he reallt fear death? so much so he’d abondon his humanity?
In the end, he realized that his true goal and dream was that he wanted to be just like Yoriichi. However, his envy and obsession to reach his level were the reasons Kokushibo abandoned everything, and just like the icarus, his fate was to writhe and suffer in the ground until he turned to ash
and that's all i have for now, i don't know if i screwed something up
how is it?
DaMonkeMan
He/Him- 18,012
- 15,462
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He was jealous of his brother while the brother simply want to have brotherhood.
Def not best written character; he even refused to die at the end. He just came into conclusion about the truth.
Def not best written character; he even refused to die at the end. He just came into conclusion about the truth.
Mr. Bambu
Suffer-Not-Injustice Bambu
VS Battles
Joke Battles
Super Moderator
Administrator
Calculation Group
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i mean you kinda just ignored the symbolims character dynamic character development and character flaws as well as the character origin and part that makes him well written tho
DaMonkeMan
He/Him- 18,012
- 15,462
The funny video won't stop me from skinning you alive for being a weeb and lying about it.
Honestly the fact you pretended to have extreme animosity for weebs is the worst part.
DaMonkeMan
He/Him- 18,012
- 15,462
I almost feel bad that I don't give a singular **** about your attempts to save your own life.
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No, I will put it down for you
- He was scared of death (since he is supposed to be dead by 25)
- Jealous of his brother
- He even sold himself to Demon King to surpass his brother since he hates him
- He lost to his brother so bad
- After 800 years (or more) he still did not understand the actual message from his brother
- Did not even stop fighting after being ultimately defeated
- AND AT the end, he just found out that his brother loves him.
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...yeah, but that does not make him not well written
i analyzed the charcter so i kinda know all of that
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No, it's not definitely well-written if he still did not develop himself unless he got defeated by 4 AND after he looked at himself of what he became (yk the reflection from the sword)
Hell, I would even argue after he saw himself, he did not give up. He only realises the actual truth near death.
Hell, I would even argue after he saw himself, he did not give up. He only realises the actual truth near death.
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i'm talking about his development in his backstory from his childhood
uhh....dread, do you know what makes a well written character?
like the character symbolims the character dynamics relatability charcater origin his motivations and how well developed they are ect
you just seem like you hold a grudge against him lmao
don't worry, we all love yoriichi
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He never developed until near death.
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I would even argue Muzan is more well-written than him. Hell, AKAZA is infinitely better.
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he developed plenty in his backstory, i explained all of that in my comment above, i got his symbolism and dynamic from his backstory as well plus he had well fleshed out motivations that were developed, he also felt human as he had flaws
he is quite a well written charcater
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muzan is decent and akaza is also quite well written two
but kokushibo is the best written character in the series
Eden_Warlock99
She/Her- 10,617
- 4,101
Flat Characters can be well-written me think
DaMonkeMan
He/Him- 18,012
- 15,462
I don't know if he's the best character in his tier or anything but I really like the character Spike Spiegel.
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Naw, I disagree with the take. He never developed in his backstory, the fact he turned demon and 80 years later he could not even be 1% strong as his brother indicate this flaw in your take.
He only felt human before he turned as human (the jealousy and despisal) and near death.
The only thing I agree which why he is unique is the fact that he is duality to his brother and yet want to reach his position but turned to be completely opposite.
His whole character was "I just wanted to be like Yoriichi no matter what"
Akaza is arguably the better well written in the series. (from the demons).
From the entire series - Yoriichi
And I know what is “well-written character”, but you said it is the best well-written character, and I disagree with it. Akaza is infinitely better.
He only felt human before he turned as human (the jealousy and despisal) and near death.
The only thing I agree which why he is unique is the fact that he is duality to his brother and yet want to reach his position but turned to be completely opposite.
His whole character was "I just wanted to be like Yoriichi no matter what"
Akaza is arguably the better well written in the series. (from the demons).
From the entire series - Yoriichi
And I know what is “well-written character”, but you said it is the best well-written character, and I disagree with it. Akaza is infinitely better.
Scottycj256
He/Him- 1,770
- 924
character development is not just changing personality and opinion every 0.5 microseconds
thats Mobile Suit Gundam Wing tier character writing, which sucks, dont do that
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I am still pissed off that he did not introduce all his techniques while each other demon/character already has done it.
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This really isn't how It works Dread, you're oversimplifying his character as well as motivations and why he had them, and he developed plenty in the backstory as well
I really don't know why you hate koku's guts lmao
FoxySonicMaster108
He/Him- 2,123
- 782
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Not really, a flat character is one that lacks depth and complexity, Kokushibo is anything but a flat character
Eden_Warlock99
She/Her- 10,617
- 4,101
I thought Flat Characters are ones that don't change during the story, or were those called something else?
RandomGuy2345
He/Him- 24,984
- 15,508
The Formation of The Bloodline
On the September 25th, 2020 episode of Smackdown, Jey Uso goes on a rant about how the Anoa'i family always sees Roman as the top dog, and how Jey Uso is just another person, mentioning how people usually say "Which one are you?: when they see him. He’s referring to the fact that he and Jimmy Uso are basically seen as the same person, and how people get them confused. What really stands out in this segment is when Jey Uso declares that he will defeat Roman Reigns at Clash of Champions, and Roman's face starts to intensify. Even hearing the mere thought of his own blood beating him gets him riled up inside. He thinks he’s the only one who’s capable of supporting the family, which is emphasized here, basically saying that Jey isn’t worthy of being the Head of the Table, and during their match at Clash of Champions, he's forcing Jey and even Jimmy to acknowledge him. This is only the beginning of his manipulation of The Usos.After Clash of Champions, Roman once again manipulates Jey by saying it was the worst night of his life, and all he wanted was for Jey Uso to be in the spotlight. Roman’s definition of that is Jey forever being second fiddle to Roman so he can continue to feed his ego as he reigns supreme over everyone. He even goes as far to say that Jey disrespected and embarrassed their whole family by not acknowledging him.
In the build to their Hell In A Cell rematch, Roman makes the ultimatum that if he quits, he's no longer the Universal Champion, but if Jey quits he "falls in line." Everything Roman says, he’ll do. He has no choice but to respect and acknowledge him when Jey quits.
At the climax of Jey and Roman’s ‘I Quit’ Hell In A Cell match,Jimmy interferes, begging Roman to stop all of this, and that whatever he's going through, they can fix. Roman then starts to cry in regret of what he's done, going as far to say he’s sorry, but just when Jimmy thinks he can trust Roman, Roman locks in the guillotine, forcing Jey to say ‘I quit’, once again showing how much of a manipulative piece of crap he is. He’s willing to sacrifice his own flesh and blood if it means becoming The Tribal Chief. On Smackdown, Jey Uso finally acknowledges Roman as the Head of the Table, proving his loyalty as he attacks Daniel Bryan.
When Jimmy Uso comes back from injury, he’s unwilling to fall in line and acknowledge Roman, even calling him out for using and abusing Jey like he did when they were kids, and after Jey walks out on both of them, Roman starts manipulating again, saying he doesn’t want to fight Jimmy. He wants what’s best for the family, using Jimmy’s words against him so he can make him fall in line, too. You can tell Roman wanted to lash out on Jimmy by the way his face starts twitching before he starts using his manipulation tactics to get the upper hand.
At the end of it all, Jey, Jimmy, and Roman make amends, officially forming The Bloodline. However, there is one thing that I feel like needs to be pointed out here is what Roman says here: “All of us working together, can’t nobody touch us. Can’t nobody touch us… if we do it my way.” Those last six words really stick out to me because this is Roman’s somewhat subtle way of saying “I’m in control now, and you both are going to do everything I say from now on.” He thinks his way is the only way of doing things. It’s just Roman feeding his ego once again.
Sami Zayn Arc
After this, The Bloodline, that being Jey, Jimmy, and Roman, dominated the WWE. Roman is now the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion, and The Usos are the Undisputed Tag Team Champions.However, Roman’s reign was in serious jeopardy, as Drew McIntyre was about to end Roman’s reign of terror, until Solo Sikoa made his debut and cost Drew the titles. Right off the bat, Roman doesn't hesitate to state Solo answers to him now, despite the elders being the ones that sent Solo to help Roman.
On the October 7th, 2022 episode of Smackdown, Logan Paul starts to play mind games with Roman, implying that he can't tell if Roman or Jey Uso is the Tribal Chief. This causes Jey to lash out at Logan, but if you look at Roman, his facial expression changes the moment Logan mentions Jey. To Roman, this is a big hit to his ego, as he believes that no one is worthy of being the Tribal Chief other than him, and the thought of someone else taking over is what pisses him off, and it even makes him somewhat fearful. Roman thinks he should be on top of the world, and that everyone should fall in line and obey him. This is exemplified on the October 28th, 2022 episode of Smackdown, where Jey and Sami start arguing. Jey questions Sami’s loyalty to The Bloodline, as he’s been doing for months, saying that he’s not even blood, and that Sami is not willing to do the things he would for his blood. This leads to Jey angrily shouting “I don't give a damn what the Tribal Chief say!” which causes Roman to immediately perk and give Jey Uso a death stare. Before things escalate, Sami saves Jey from getting likely another ass whooping from Roman. From Roman’s perspective, Jey saying what he said is basically him saying “The Tribal Chief doesn’t tell me what to do!”, which is a big deal for Roman, because he wants everything to be done his way, and his way only. This is the WWE planting the seeds for the eventual Bloodline implosion.
At Survivor Series: Wargames, Sami proves his loyalty to The Bloodline by helping Roman beat his closest friend Kevin Owens.
On the January 23rd, 2023 episode of RAW, Paul Heyman forges evidence to prove that Sami Zayn is a snake, and has been plotting behind The Bloodline so he can see it implode. The stand out moment for me in this segment is when Heyman presents ‘Prosecution Exhibit D’, where Sami Zayn (seemingly unintentionally) bumped into Roman. After seeing this, Roman gives Sami almost a look of disgust, ashamed of the fact that Sami would actually try and pull something sneaky like that. Notice how Roman doesn’t seem to acknowledge anything but when Sami bumps into him. Sami “defends” himself by saying he's shocked over the fact that Paul would do something like that and incriminate him after all they went through, and that his "defense" was he has no defense. This sends Roman over the edge, as he goes on a rant talking about how Sami has so much ego to where he doesn't even explain his actions. He even says that Sami doesn’t even care anymore after all of the stuff they went through together. He then orders Solo to finish the job, but just before Solo finishes Sami off, Jey Uso stop him. He proceeds to defend Sami, telling Roman how many bullets he took for them to show his loyalty. Jey proves this by showing everyone the video tape he made for Sami, showing all the times he was loyal to them. Jey explains how at first, he didn't trust Sami at all, but Sami was able to see the good in him, and that he loves him like a brother. This hits hard for people who’ve been watching the show weekly to see how much Jey hated Sami’s guts. He thought he didn’t belong anywhere near The Bloodline, but Sami proved him wrong, which shows great character development on the side of Jey. At the end, Sami is found not guilty, but Roman wanted to test Sami's loyalty as he defends his titles against his best friend Kevin Owens at the Royal Rumble.
At the Royal Rumble, Roman successfully retains his title against Kevin Owens, however, the aftermath is what really matters. When the match is over, The Bloodline (except for Sami) beat the living hell out of Kevin Owens (30:22), and just before Roman can finish Kevin off (31:29), Sami stops him. He convinces Roman that he doesn’t need to do this, and that he’s above this. Roman agrees, so he ends up giving the chair to Sami and tells him to finish it (32:26), but when Sami hesitates, Roman starts pie facing him. This is Roman once again trying to assert dominance by abusing the people around him. However, this was the last straw, as Sami turned his back on The Bloodline by hitting Roman with a steel chair. However, instead of apologizing to The Bloodline, Sami apologizes to Jey, which again shows how amazingly subtle this storyline can be. It’s the little things that really propel it. Another little thing I noticed is how Jimmy was the one who attacked Sami first, and he was the one who was the most friendly to him the entire time he was with The Bloodline. They even made their own handshake. This is Jey slowly starting to realize how abusive and manipulative Roman is.
To prove that Sami still has love for Jey, he even tells him that he's going to do everything in his power to see Roman crumble, and he doesn't want Jey to have the same fate.
At the Elimination Chamber, Roman orders Jey to finish Sami off for him, but Jey hesitates. Similar to what happened at the Royal Rumble, Roman pie faces Jey, as if doing that will make Jey do what he wants. Roman retained his titles in a very hot Canadian crowd who hated Roman’s guts.
On the February 23rd, 2023 episode of Smackdown, Sami does the same thing to Jimmy as he did to Jey. He tries to convince him to step away from Roman so that he doesn't have to fall with the ship. Jimmy calls out Sami for being selfish, and says that he was the one who made that choice to turn his back on The Bloodline, which is something family doesn't do. Sami turns Jimmy’s words against him, saying that family doesn't make you test your loyalty every week, and they don't abuse you and use you like Roman's been doing to Jey for years. Jey is in the crowd seeing all of this go down.
Next week, Roman orders Jimmy to take care of Sami Zayn so Jey can come back to The Bloodline, going as far to say if Jey doesn't come back in a week, he'll blame everything on Jimmy. Jey realizes this, and he makes the decision to come back to The Bloodline. Jey explains his actions on Smackdown, saying he had to because Jimmy's his blood, and he has to put family first. He calls Sami Zayn selfish, just like Jimmy did. This heated feud culminated in Sami and Kevin winning the tag titles from The Usos, finally ending their record-breaking reign.
In the build for Cody Rhodes vs Roman Reigns at Wrestlemania 39, Roman brags about the fact that Cody's deceased father (Dusty Rhodes) basically praised him whenever he was around, and would never, ever mention Cody. This just boosts Roman’s ego more, which I will get into more detail a bit later.
On an episode of RAW, Cody tells Roman that on April 3rd, he's going to have to wake up, look in the mirror, and acknowledge the fact he lost, and that when he does, everyone will leave him. One thing to take note of is how Roman starts to lose his composure when Cody says that Jey will leave him. Roman knows for a fact that if Jey leaves, so will Jimmy, and then Solo, and then Heyman. His empire will crumble. His expression paints a whole story here. Unfortunately for Cody, he wasn’t able to finish the story, as Roman barely escaped with the titles thanks to a Solo Sikoa interference.
On an episode of Smackdown, Roman calls out The Usos for having the nerve to dedicate their tag title rematch to him and lose. He thinks it’s weird that there are hall of fame tag teams in their family, but The Usos dedicated their match to someone who’s not even in a tag team. He demands that they apologize to him. Jimmy thinks Roman is just playing around, until Roman pie faces him, but just before Jimmy can do anything in retaliation, Jey calms the situation down and apologizes to Roman. Paul Heyman then announces that Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn will defend their tag titles against Solo Sikoa and Roman Reigns himself. This is all just to fill Roman’s ego up even more. He doesn’t need the tag titles at all, but he wants to challenge for it because he can. He wants to run the WWE.
On next week's episode of Smackdown, Sami says that Roman and Solo are not gonna win because they are not as good as him and Kevin. He even says that Roman isn’t even as good as The Usos, which really ticks Roman off. Notice how whenever someone even as much implies the fact that The Usos are on the same level, or even better than Roman, he starts to lose his cool. The Usos end up sneak attacking Kevin and Sami, which we then realize that they went out on their own, as Roman goes on a complete tirade, shouting at The Usos that he didn't tell them to come out in his ring, and that they had a plan: his plan. Roman goes off on them again backstage, once again saying that he's the one that calls everything. He's the quarterback of the faction.
At Night of Champions, The Usos once again interfere in Roman's match, and while they were succeeding at first, everything went downhill once they accidentally Superkick Solo. Roman gets extremely pissed off and pie faces both Jimmy and Jey, which culminates in Jimmy snapping and Superkicking Roman. Jey automatically questions what the hell was Jimmy thinking, to which he responds with the following: “I'm doing what you should've done a long time ago! I got you!” Jimmy proceeds to Superkick Roman again. This is an extremely powerful moment for victims of abuse and manipulation. Seeing Jimmy finally snap and give Roman what deserved for years, as well as seeing him scream out years of abuse is very satisfying to watch. It teaches a lesson to not put up with someone’s bullshit and to stand up for yourself when you’ve been abused, even if it’s your own blood. Thanks to this, Sami and Kevin were able to retain their titles.
Jey Uso Arc
After NOC, Jimmy finally gets to tell Roman how he really feels, calling him out of manipulation, abuse, and betrayal of his family. Something everyone’s been wanting to hear. He also warns Solo that Roman will do the same thing he did to The Usos for years if he decides to stick with Roman. Roman then selfishly states that the fans chant 'Uso' because of him. He then proceeds to do what Jimmy warned Solo of: he manipulates him, trying to convince him that Jimmy is trying to speak for him as if he doesn’t have a voice. This all turns out to be a set up by Roman, as when Jimmy and Jey think they’re all on the same page, Solo attacks Jimmy. Roman strikes again with his master manipulation skills.Roman once again makes another attempt at manipulating Jey, as he makes Paul Heyman say that Roman's plan all along was to groom Jey to make him the next Tribal Chief. Heyman also says that Jimmy knew about this all along, but he resented it out of pure jealousy. This was another tactic to make Jey come back to Roman. They even went as far as to set up a match between him and Austin Theory for the U.S. Title that same night, which ends up going awry.
Next week on Smackdown, Roman tries damndest to convince Jey to join his side, mentioning the fact that he’ll become the next Tribal Chief. Before Jey can make his decision, Jimmy interrupts to tell Jey that Roman is using you again to get his way, and that he doesn’t actually care about him. Roman mentions the amount of success The Usos have had since teaming with him, adding the fact that they were never this successful by themselves. Roman also points out the fact that Jimmy was the only one who had a problem with Jey being named 'The Right Hand Man', to which Jimmy admits to it. Jey assumes the Jimmy was doubting him. And from then on, Jey talks about how in reality, he was trying to keep up with Jimmy the whole entire time while they were competing with Roman, even saying that he made it big because of Roman. However, this ends being a manipulation on Jey’s end, as it turns out he was goading Roman into a false sense of security to strike at the right moment. Another powerful moment in the story, similar to Jimmy's moment at NOC, as Jey finally stood up to Roman’s abuse and manipulation. This led to a Bloodline Civil War at Money in the Bank, the matche being Roman and Solo vs The Usos, which culminated in Jey being the first person to pin Roman Reigns in roughly 4 years.
The Subtle Storytelling of Roman’s Character
Some of you might be saying “Random, most of these moments you mentioned Roman wasn’t even involved. If anything, this shows how well written the other characters were as opposed to Roman.” And while that does show how well written the other characters are in the story, damn near every major storyline The Usos had all stemmed from Roman. The Sami Zayn story, and how he fulfilled his goal of crumbling The Bloodline, wouldn’t have been nearly as powerful if it wasn’t for Roman’s constant self-doubt, manipulation, and abuse Sami suffered from the past few months of being with The Bloodline, and the whole Bloodline Civil War story wouldn’t have been nearly as powerful if it wasn’t for The Usos finally breaking from Roman’s abuse and manipulation, as well as seeing Roman become more and more desperate to make sure his empire stays intact. There’s no depth Roman wouldn’t sink to in order to keep his spot at the top. Gaslighting, abusing and manipulating his own flesh and blood was something he did not hesitate to do. He’s a power-hungry tyrant that needs to be slain.Roman’s anxiety/self-doubt really starts to kick in whenever someone says, or even implies the fact that The Usos (specifically Jey) is on the same caliber, if not, better than him. Roman has a fragile ego that can be broken at any moment. He thinks he’s the only one who's capable of supporting the family. No one can replace him, and the mere thought of someone doing just that takes a toll on his psyche. This is why the titles mean so much to him. Without these titles, there’s basically no Tribal Chief. Hell, the titles are the only reason why Roman is able to stroke his ego more and more.
Roman’s massive, but fragile ego can also be shattered if the fans don’t acknowledge him, or if someone gets into his head. The whole concept behind this is masterful storytelling, as before Roman became The Tribal Chief, he was known as ‘The Big Dog’, a character who was widely hated by the WWE universe. He was pushed as being a guy you were supposed to root for, but the fans just weren’t having it, no matter how hard WWE tried. However, this was subtly implemented in The Tribal Chief character, which is explained perfectly here in this amazing video that I heavily recommend you watch. Whenever Roman is booed by the crowd, it reminds him of his past when he was the most hated wrestler on the roster, and that damages his psyche. When his opponent is playing mind games (specifically Seth Rollins), it reminds him of where he used to be at one point, which damages him, too. And whenever Roman couldn’t beat his opponents by himself, whether it was physically or mentally, he fell back on The Bloodline to come and save his ass, but now that since he has no one but Solo left, it’s only a matter time where The Tribal Chief breaks under all of the pressure, and he will fall.
Conclusion
This is why I nominated Roman Reigns. Everything from his in-ring work, his mic skills, his psychology, his storytelling, his ability to make you feel everything he says, his superb acting, the facial expressions which perfectly sell every moment and whatever emotion he’s feeling at the moment, how he carries himself. Everything is top tier. His work from the past 3 years has easily cemented him as one of the best wrestlers of all time. This is why WWE fans call every Bloodline segment as “Cinema”.
As of right now, WWE are currently building up Jey Uso’s match with Roman Reigns at Summerslam, which will be a Tribal Combat match, and so far, the build has been really solid. Odds are the match is gonna be great.
RandomGuy2345
He/Him- 24,984
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It's finally done, y'all!
RandomGuy2345
He/Him- 24,984
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Honestly thought it'd be longer.
DaMonkeMan
He/Him- 18,012
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That's what he said.
RandomGuy2345
He/Him- 24,984
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