Custom Checklist #11 - Exellis in Kromnet Suit

I look at my Glyos storyline like a television show - in terms of seasons and such.

One of the seasons ends when the denizens of the Glyos system meet Monstrous.

An earlier season ends with what is thought to be the ultimate showdown between Exellis and Pheyden. Pheyden finally tracks down Exellis and demands that Exellis pay for the crimes he has committed against the Glyos system. He activates the Kromnet suit, thinking that there is no way that Exellis will be able to defend against it.
But Exellis has a Kromnet Suit too.

Stars die as the power of two Kromnet suits battle against each other. Pheyden and Exellis fly through space, their bodies slamming through entire planets and reducing them to rubble.
It takes a unique thought on Pheyden's part to finally overcome the power of the suits...but that story will have to wait for another day.

Comments

R. said…
Interesting take with the whole "Exellis-as-villain" thing. Any particular bit of inspiration for it?
John K. said…
From Matt's original description:
Rebelling against his tyrannical creators in the Glyos System, Prototype Sincroid Exellis battles for the freedom of his mechanical brethren as leader of the Lost Sincroid Revolution.

I see him as someone who doesn't truly think of himself as evil. He thinks of himself as the hero of his people, the Sincroids. But in his quest to help them, he winds up killing and destroying everything that gets in the path of completing the quest.

I've read a number of examinations of media that state the best bad guys are ones who don't think they are evil. A generic evil character is boring to me - a great, dark character has a number of levels to his personality, like Lex Luthor. There have been a number of different Lex portrayals - with so many cartoons, movies, and comics, there was bound to be - but the one that resonates with me the most is the interpretation where Lex just wants to protect the earth against the alien invader - Superman. How can we trust Superman? No one can be THAT good - Lex knows this because he is human, and knows that evil is somewhere inside him.

If you want some "fun" reading, google Raksha and Megatron. The concepts there are taking what I've mentioned above too far.
R. said…
Raksha? Taking things too far? Naaaaaaah...

I guess, after reading that profile way back when, I took Exellis as a "rebellious hero" archetype, given his rebellion against his "tyrannical" creators -- a thought that I don't doubt is influenced as much by U.S. folklore and civic history as much as Luke and the Rebel Alliance.

Yet, there's also degree of tragedy to his character in other sources -- that Photo Real Guide in particular: he's been lost to time, somehow vanishing from the Glyos System without a trace. More than likely, his rebellion failed, and while he might not be destroyed, he might as well be. So maybe he'd be more of a "fallen hero" than anything else -- either trapped in some unknown place, or hiding away for his shame.

(Or, if you're like me, convinced that he's been memory-wiped and now goes under the name of "Aves," but that's beside the point.)

Whatever the case, I guess it's easy to read Exellis as a character on the precipice between redemption and damnation. To use the oft-cited Les Misérables: is he Jean Valjean, whose tragic fall from grace is a prelude to an even greater heroism than before? Or has he become something akin to Inspector Javert, who sees only his version of justice, losing his grip on "good" and "evil" in the process?

Of course, the beauty of Glyos is: hey, we can have both if we wanted to; just lay it on parallel universes or whatnot.

Anyway, just curious. Thanks for the response.

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