I’ve already mentioned how much I love Capheus in my last post, but it bears repeating. Capheus is the best.
I don’t think I’ve ever loved a character this much (and yes, friends, that includes Barney the Purple Dinosaur, to whom I dedicated most of my childhood).
I want to write a really in-depth post about how much I love him, but it’s actually really hard for me to describe how much I like him, or why.
Basically, he’s just such a good person. In the face of anything, he’s just so positive. I don’t know why that resonates with me, because I am a bitter, negative, ball of sarcasm given flesh, but it does.
And you might say, “Oh TC, there are plenty of good, positive characters out there,” and I’ll agree, but Capheus is of a different breed.Â
 He’s unbreakably positive, but he isn’t naive, like a lot of these other positive-type characters seem to be. He knows there’s shit in the world. He’s seen it. He’s lived it. He’s currently living it. When he was just a child, he and his mother were exiled when he was just a child (after he was nearly killed), because of who his father was–a father he never got to know. There was barely enough food to feed the both of them, and they had to give up his little sister because of that. His mother is sick with a disease that will eventually kill her. Originally when we see him, the Van Damn isn’t pulling in many customers, and he’s obviously struggling for money. Then he has that run in with the Superpowers, and you think, “Yay, something good is happening for him!” but then he ends up mixed up with a druglord and everything that happens as a consequence.
So yeah, he knows about all this bad shit in life, and despite everything that happens to him, he still smiles and laughs and remains unerringly positive. Hell, the guy is pretty much laughing as he recalls that the Van Damn gets stolen a lot. Did he get sullen, or give up? Nah, he just learned how to hotwire and stole it back. Capheus has every excuse, every right, to give up, to turn negative and jaded. Instead, he gets up every morning, shrugs on his jacket, and says, “I have this feeling, today is going to be a good day.” And he can do it without seeming naive–in fact, he seems to be one of the wisest characters, giving counsel to the others when they’re struggling.
Another thing you see with a lot of these types of “good” heroes is that they can do no wrong. They’re the types who never kill, who always spare the bad guy or turns him to his side by showing him the error of his ways. And if the bad guy doesn’t turn? Well then he dies by someone else’s hand, or by some sort of act of god or nature. These types of heroes who refuse to kill are given the moral high ground and lauded for their actions, despite what the consequences might be (*cough* looking at you, Teen Wolf–I didn’t watch this season but I still see the gifs on my dash*cough*). Capheus isn’t like that. He’s good, he’s a hero, but he isn’t preachy. Technically it’s Sun (with a little Will on the side) that does most of his fighting/killing (and okay, during the scene with the Superpowers in the warehouse, I was like, “Goddamn”), but it’s through Capheus, and he isn’t fighting it. He accepts it and allows it, though he may prefer nonviolence, because he knows it’s him or them. He knows sometimes things don’t happen the way you want them to, and the world doesn’t go the way you want it to (let’s not forget how he tells Kala: “Life is violent”). He doesn’t revel in their death, doesn’t take pride in the violence, but he doesn’t grieve them either–doesn’t beat himself up over it, or get mad at Sun or Will. He’s kindhearted but practical, and it’s refreshing to see that in a character.
So despite everything he’s gone through, despite things that could easily have turned someone else down a dark path, or at least lead them to the dark and brooding hero-type, Capheus doesn’t get jaded or cynical. He still retains an almost childlike sense of wonder for the world around him. He doesn’t freak out when he starts to visit the others, or question it. He just sits back and enjoys the ride. “London! The queen! Harry Potter!” I mean, c’mon, how could you not love a character that was so excited about being on a plane and seeing clouds. And I loved it when Kala visited him. “You are very beautiful,” he tells her. And it isn’t romantic, he isn’t hitting on her. He just sees a beautiful woman and wants to let her know that she is beautiful.
And so that got wordy and rambling but basically what I’m trying to say is: Capheus is the fucking best.
areudirty
dailybridgerton
jimmyeatworldofficial
theartofmadeline
