Book of the Shadows, Character Synopsis - Hime of the Two-Six

Today I want to touch back with the Book of the Shadows and introduce another future character, one of the Two-Six of my story, Hime. She gets her debut as a part of the First Sun Saga, the World of C. 

It goes without saying that Hime holds a spot in my heart as a character to write about. She is easily the least nuanced of the Two-Six, which both makes her character an easy one to write, and puzzling one to create a story for.

Hime does represent much of the traits of her character images – the strong willed, determined, princess types. However, she’s twisted in a way that they are not, or at least are not readily recognized to be. Arcueid Brunestud [Shingetsuan Tsukihime], Euphemia Britannia [Code Geass], and Lacus Clyne [Gundam Seed], are the major drivers for Hime’s general persona, Euphemia chief among these. She has that general outgoing personality; the effervescence and all around brightness about her that makes you want to recognize her as something special. But at the same time part of her character image are the likes of Hagaromo Gitsune [Nurarihyon no Mago] and the darker side of Isayama Yomi [Ga-Rei]. Throughout I try to toy with the readers by suggesting that she may in fact be insane. She is insane, but only in so far as she is spoiled.

That is the point of Hime – she is the spoiled princess.

Hime is not evil. Like the gods in the Cthulu stories, Hime is neither good nor evil, by traditional ideals of right and wrong, or fair and foul. She is simply “right”.

What makes the law, the law? Why is the drinking age 21 (in the US), and not 18, or 25? Why is drinking even legal for some and not for others? The reason is quite simple – because we say so. That is the reality of any and all laws. They exist as the law because we have decided, directly or indirectly, that they are the rules by which our lives should be lived.

The classic model of a spoiled prince or princess is that they are aloof to the rest of the world and simply do as they please. The law is irrelevant to them because it is only what they deem it to be. They view the world in a rose-colored prism, where everything is great, and they are the center of the universe. As explained in one chapter of the World of C story, a king or queen may be a bit spoiled, but in the end is cognizant at least of their responsibility and duties. They are grown up enough to know that there are those that will disagree with them and may be right. A prince or princess tends to be too young (in most stories anyway) to know that they are not all powerful, not of unlimited power, and may sometimes be wrong about one thing or another.

But look at the princesses whom constitute her persona. Lacus Clyne (yes, I realize she was not actually a princess, but did fill the mold of one) was a political activist who became a driving force within her story. She was very cognizant of her surroundings, and of her own limitations. Arcueid Brunestud had a solemn task of exterminating rogue vampires, and the duty of preventing herself from becoming like them. Euphemia pursued a plan, though flawed, meant to bring an end to violence, bloodshed, and discrimination. In these cases they all knew they were limited in power, not always the ones with the answers, and had a duty beyond themselves.

Hime is the ultimate version of a princess. More than that aloofness, she envisions herself as incapable of being wrong. She has little to no hesitation because every move she makes is likely to be right. And if it doesn’t work out, it’s not because she herself is wrong, but someone else has done something wrong and thrown her off. Above all else, she is the only one – the only one, period – who has the freedom to do absolutely anything she wants.

This is different from Hancock [One Piece]. Hancock doesn’t believe she is always right, only that she can’t be wrong. To be wrong requires some mechanism for you to be held at fault or thought of as not being in the right. Hancock’s contention is that even should she do something wrong, no one will recognize her as wrong for it because her beauty is just so great. She may not be right, but she is without “guilt”.

Hime doesn’t believe such a thing, or any comparable allegory towards herself. She doesn’t necessarily think herself the smartest, or most beautiful, or strongest. She simply thinks that what she believes is correct – end of story. It is like giving her Kumagawa Misogi’s [Medaka Box] All Fiction in reverse. Instead of making things like they never existed, she makes it like all she says is fact. What’s more, that providence only falls on her, not even the other Two-Six, as far as she is concerned. Not Anzushiro, not Athena, not Kali.

According to Hime, there are simply things that she can do because she is who she is. This doesn’t make what a person might do wrong, in her sense. Just that they are wrong for doing it because only she is allowed to. You are fine to do anything you desire, as far as Hime is concerned, unless it is something she directly decides should not be done. She does not hate murder, she only hates when someone she cares about dies. Thus, you can kill anyone in front of her, and she could care less. You have only done something wrong if it was a loved one of hers whom you killed, or if she is inconvenienced by it, or if she wanted to kill them. In which case your crime is not murder, but of theft. You have stolen from her the right she has to anything she wants in the universe.

That is the only wrong in the world, as Hime sees it – what trespasses you have made against her. She is indifferent to the rules or laws of the universe as created by the residents of the universe. If you want to outlaw murder, that’s fine for her. She will defend that law because it is the law, not zealously or enthusiastically, but because it is the law; just don’t expect her to abide it.

She is no more a hero than she is a villain. She is amoral, but will not deliberately spite another for the fun of it or just because she can like a villain would. But she is not as patient or reserved in the use of force as a hero might be. She is greedy, selfish, and stubborn, like most villains, just to a slightly lesser degree.

As I started out saying, there isn’t much nuance to her character. She’s very straightforward. Everything she says or does is for her benefit first. Everything she says or does is what she thinks is right for her to do. The only nuance to her character is in the way others perceive her. Because she is greedy, and selfish, and idealistic, it’s assumed she is not especially bright and would never do anything underhanded or evil. But Hime will not hold herself up to such visions. Assume of her actions what you will, because she will do as she pleases.