could you elaborate? about how sigma and junpei are foils i mean
First thing I’ll start with is morality, the glaring point here:
Junpei is ultimately, a selfish person. Regardless of what sort of Junpei tunnel vision you have, he is a selfish person with regards to the greater good. Junpei prioritizes his loved ones above all, and no I’m not disputing that, but Junpei is also more than willing to manipulate others, use crafty and passive aggressive tricks and essentially leave people in the dust (see: DOOR 3) for the sake of his loved ones.
The good that Junpei does throughout the course of 999 is either for Akane’s sake or by pure accident. Junpei is an accidental hero who is glorified by those around him despite his inherently selfish intentions. Helping Clover? An accident. He was literally describing Snake’s corpse and Clover happened to pick up on a crucial detail. That was it. It was due to Clover’s agency that Snake was saved–not Junpei. Junpei didn’t “save” Clover. Clover did.
Junpei likes to view himself as some sort of white knight, patting himself on the back for defending and “protecting” Clover and Akane, not because of his moral code but because it fuels his ego. “I could’ve saved her!” is a prime example of that. The emphasis put on his capabilities, and what he can do for others rather than their actual well beings. A common mentality that’s expressed throughout the narrative.
Despite the fact that Junpei is initially viewed as a golden hearted, pushover, innocent sort to the player he subverts that trope entirely by proving that he does have autonomy, keen insight as to how he can tip the scales to his own benefit (re: rigging cards so he’d get the door he’d want, DOOR 3, manipulating Ace, etc.), and if anything holds said autonomy over others.
When you see Sigma, you see stereotypical masculinity. Tough guy, mechanic’s uniform, likes women, probably aggressive, strong, muscly and big. Basically, stereotypical masculinity personified. Male power fantasy. Sigma instead, ends up being a man who values emotion intensely. Sigma is an optimist, Sigma is an idealist and that is treated as a flaw within the narrative. Sigma is tenacious and refuses to compromise his compassionate values. Even for someone else’s sake, regardless of how much they love him. And that’s not viewed in a positive light: Sigma abandons Phi so he can comfort Luna during her last moments, however he blatantly ignores how it impacts her, claims that it’s the right decision simply because it adheres to his moral code.
Sigma is outspoken but as I said before, never asserts his dominance over others—that’s why he loses. Whereas Junpei is desperate to survive, and that’s why he does it so well: Junpei has a clear mind, concrete goals and crystalized survival instincts. Sigma does not. Junpei is willing to assert his dominance over you. Sigma is not.
There are shades of grey in the good Sigma does for others, that’s the realism to it. That when you sacrifice so much for others without a care, you’re bound to harm those you love in the process. And he endures the ramifications for it. Sigma doesn’t get his way. He never does. Yet he fights regardless. Sigma is a reckless altruist who endures and is impacted by the ramifications of said altruism. Both in the present and in the future.
Sigma is ultimately vilified by the cast, whether it be a result of his naivety or his actions in the future. However Sigma’s intentions are always, always inherently good–you can say differently about his words, but Sigma never once takes a course of action with malicious intent. Yet he’s consistently vilified, and the cast’s perception of him is more often than not disagreeable, bad, etc.
Junpei is a survivalist who places those he loves above all and is glorified by both fandom and the cast despite his neutral and selfish intentions; Sigma is naive, prioritizes the greater good above all as he sacrifices every bit of himself for said greater good, hurting those he loves, and is willing to take an extreme course of action for it which enables vilification from both fandom and the cast. Yet one is perceived as a hero in canon while the other is not, which was the danged point, which is what I mean when I tell you that they’re foils.
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