The Sephiroth-Class of Hype

We all know the name so well.. The huge sword-wielding, black trenchcoat-wearing uninspired villain of Final Fantasy VII who, ten years on after the game’s release, still dominates polls and is the main reason I never use a poll. The fact is you can LIKE Sephiroth if you want. It’s the whole “he’s the best damn villain ever!11" that makes people mad. And another villain has started to, in my opinion, gather the same kind of exaggerated glory.

That character is Liquid Snake, main antagonist of Metal Gear Solid, a somewhat important character in Metal Gear Solid 2 and possibly having a much bigger role in MGS4. Voiced by Jim Flinders/Cam Clarke, this guy simply radiates “cool” to many videogamers, including myself until a short while ago. His impassioned dialogue, awesome fights and resistance to being killed all contribute to why he is ranked so highly. However, given scrutiny, Liquid is a poor, shallow and stale villain with no depth or intrigue added to him. Another reason I say he has Sephiroth Class over-hype is because, like Sephiroth, his “awesomeness” overshadows better villains in the Metal Gear Solid series. Namely Solidus who you may have noticed I am fond of.


Now, this is not a bitch thread to complain about how Solidus was screwed over. It is an honest assessment of Liquid Snake’s character. The most basic answer to why he has the level of recognition he does is because he’s “cool.” Nothing deeper than that. No lines of his can be translated into being revolutionary, insightful or revealing some level of depth to his character. In fact, his dialogue constantly contradicts itself.

Liquid: [about Big Boss] I will surpass him! I will destroy him!

Emotionally charged lines about how he will be more than what he was made to be. And yet...

Liquid: NO! We have no past, no future. And even if we did, it wouldn’t be truly ours. You and I are just copies of our father, Big Boss!

So..one minute he dramatically proclaims going beyond Big Boss..and now he states that no matter what they do, it will all be pointless for their accomplishments are truly their father’s accomplishments. Note also that the “bound to fate” philosophy is way overused.

Look also at these lines. After Metal Gear is destroyed.

Liquid: Just because you’ve destroyed Metal Gear doesn’t mean I’ll stop fighting.

And later on. Liquid KNEW as he said that line that a nuclear strike was heading their way.

Liquid: There’s no way out for us.

You see? Liquid’s obsession completely overrides rationality and thought and any chance of him growing as a villain. He claims to keep fighting but I guess that to keep fighting means to have do some fisticuffs with Snake before a nuke vapes you....

That’s about it... Oh and his obsession kind of limits his intellect as well.

Solid: You’re just like Naomi...
Liquid Well I’m not like you!


How middle-school is that?

The fact of the matter is that at the end of the day, you analyze Liquid and his motives, objectives and everything about him is pretty ridiculous. Same as Sephiroth, really. And as time goes on, these two will be given much more respect than Kuja or Solidus. Both of them actually made sense and their characters were not only more deep, but they showed far more intellect than either Liquid or Sephiroth. When something sub-par eclipses something awesome, not saying anything about it is tantamount to condoning it and I will never do that.

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That's my feel about Liquid. I am sure there are other characters who have Sephiroth's level of unearned praise but Liquid is the most well-known, I think.

Uh... well, my suggestion to you is to get a job or something. How old are you? If you already have a job, get more jobs.

I just couldn't read it because it was too long. I think it was just a rant that Sephiroth is known a lot better than Liquid, but both are pretty damn cool? Then there was something about a middle schooler or something at the end. I don't know.

Sephiroth is the best villain EVER. Bar none.

Ya man none will ever surpass Sephiroth because he has a badass trenchcoat and his sword is really fucking huge and he's awesome.

Plus did you see him chop up that girl when you totally didn't see it coming? Bad. Ass.

Summary=Sephiroth & Liquid suck, Titus. Shall I present sign language? *points to Paris Hilton photo* Suck like that only she's done more than they have. She's a musician, ya know.

You can NOT call that floozy a "Musician". Call her a musician and you insult millions of real musicians on the planet.

She's a money-wielding whore who's famous for the wrong reasons, hired someone else to do all the music for her, and probably didn't even sing it herself.

Well, it's more an insult to Sephiroth and Liquid. By providing a real-life and universally-hated bimbo as better, it serves my purposes of showing how much they are shit.

Even if you don't think Sephiroth is a badass villain, you have to at least admit that he is one of the best known ones, because the game was so classic, and he was such a mysterious character for countless amounts of hours of gameplay, and replay value.

the talking tentacle thingy from halo 2 was the best villian ever!!!!...... lol