Board Thread:Episode Discussion/@comment-4141313-20190119003858/@comment-38271940-20190124191707

BlizzardDragon wrote: HotSwappableGaming wrote: Correct, characters shouldn't make stupid mistakes in the moment - unless it's built up as such. And a character forgetting about their weapons despite having fought with them FOR YEARS is stupid. In volume 3, what did Yang do? If you're meaning the incident with Merc then you're comparing apples to football fields. He meant when she leapt at Adam after seeing him stab Blake, leaving her wide open to losing her arm in the first place.

And characters make stupid mistakes in the moment all the time. Like Jaune when he saw Cinder, he charged at her despite how much stronger than him she was, and left himself to her mercy.

Or Roman going on a Negative fueled rant in a field of Grimm after Ruby sent Neo flying.

Or Ren losing it when he saw Knucks.

And again, characters forget weapons and such despite having them for years all the time.

Again, using DBZ as an example, how many characters forget to go Super Saiyan right off the bat when fighting. And I'm not even talking about battle junkies like Goku and Vegeta, I'm talking about characters like Trunks and Gohan too, both who have forgotten to go instant super saiyan.

Or, using RWBY as an example, how often did Sun forget about his gun-chuks despite needing ranged attacks? How often did Blake forgoe duel-wielding in favor of single style? How often did Ruby forgo sniping in favor of charging with her scythe? How often did Weiss focus on summoning in the middle of a fight rather than fight normally? How often did Yang forgo shooting from a distance in favor of cqc?

Or here's a better question. How often does Adam really even use his shotgun? In most of his fights, the only time he really used his Shotgun was as a means of launching his sword or strengthening his Iaijutsu style slashes. I can count on one hand how many times he used his shotgun as an actual shotgun.

Adam's entire fighting style is based on Iaijutsu, a fighting stance dependent on using a sword. Without a sword, he's fighting at a disadvantage. Doesn't help that a shotgun has a very small firing range, even compared to a handgun. A typical shotgun has an effective spread range of 40-inches, as in less than 4 ft, with a distance range of 40 yards, as in 120 ft. So he's fighting without his signature style, armed with a weapon he can only use effectively if he gets in close lest he risk easily missing. And with his enemies being a CQC fighter, and a woman who knows how he fights, he's at a tactical disadvantage without his semblance, and to use his semblance, he needs a sword. So he'd aim for Blake's sword.

Adam's fighting style is entirely dependent on his blade. Without a blade, he's severly handicappped. Adam cutting off Blake's arm - Made sense for her character. She was a hothead, reacting.

Jaune attacking Cinder - Made sense. He was angry - he loved Pyrrha. A Trunks/android moment.

Roman going on a rant - His death was stupid, but it made sense(ish). He has a history of ranting - every time we've seen him we've heard just how much he loves the sound of his own voice - A proper build-up, but still a lame death.

Ren - Made sense. He lost his village to that Grimm.

DBZ - I'm attributing that to their Saiyan Pride (Yes, even Trunks and Gohan). Goku and Vegeta always do the build-up to test their opponent. We see the same thing with Trunks v Cell (Semi-P) and Gohan v Cell (Perfect). They all have held back and it's canonically referenced to be part of their pride and blood.

RWBY - These examples are fun and all, but there's a core missing piece you aren't acknowledging. (listed below)

Adam - He has used it in almost every fight he's been in. I can cite examples, if you'd like. Now yes, it's not his core style, but it's still something he has and uses when it's cool or advantageous. And yes, he is severly handicapped without his blade - but his blade is gone at this point, anyway. He's fighting two aura-less girls. It makes far more sense for him to use ranged to pick off at least Blake right here. Yang, too. (Also, it's a rifle)

So, with all of your examples, you make some valid points. But, with the exception of Torchwick (who in my opinion had a proper build-up for his rant death) there's one thing none of these examples reference. They don't die from it. If Ren fought a grimm horde by himself and died, never using his semblance, it's a bad death. If Ruby died because she shot an opponent in melee range with her rifle, not going to her scythe, it's a bad death. If Jaune died to cinder because he never turned his sheath into a shield, it's a bad death. If Sun died becaue in a way his gunchucks could have saved him in, it's a bad death.

You don't have to be 100% real battle tactics all the time in these kinds of shows - the rule of cool is signature with all of Monty's creations. But killing major characters because of the rule of cool isn't a good practice. Because otherwise the power-level comparison is nonsense and character progression suffers from it. DBZ is a perfect example. The humans are worthless most of the time after the Saiyan Saga, only making the rare contribution. This only get better recently, with DBS, and even then it was still a slippery slope most the way down. The best way to have deaths in these rule of cool styles of shows is to mix the rule of cool, tactics, and character progression. A perfect blend, if you ask me. We got rule of cool and character progression, but this mixed death drink is still missing something for it to be great.