yapping abt Boothill again wow who's surprised anyways this time its about one of my fav little tidbits and it's the red star on his back, underneath his cape
historically, the red star has been a bit of a politically loaded symbol, often used alongside communist and socialist ideology. I won't get into that can of worms because quite frankly, i do not know enough about communism or socialism to speak on that but! The red star has also been used in other revolutionary movements and it feels quite fitting that a political character like Boothill, especially one that has been in and quite possibly led the guerilla warfare against the IPC on Aeragan-Epharshel (as well as incite a riot on another planet), to have one on his back.
Aside from political ties, the star is placed on the backside of Boothill's right shoulder. Spiritually, the right shoulder symbolizes "masculine" or "yang" energy and the concept of taking action and pushing forward etc. It can also signify the ability to give and providee support for others. And as the saying "carrying a weight on your shoulders" goes, the back right side can often reflect emotional weight from the past and other commitments. All in all, it's quite representative for Boothill who is a very energetic person, is constantly helping and supporting others and is also carrying the weight of honoring his planet and achieving justice and vengeance for the sake of his lost tribe.
Moving on, the color red by itself symbolizes raw emotions and intensity. The color is typically used to symbolize love, danger and aggression among other things. It's a color that can be found in splashes on Boothill's design and again, it suits him quite well as he's a person who loves hard and feels emotions very intensely. Not to mention, his physical appearance is intentionally meant to be intimidating and garner attention (specifically from the IPC) and the color red assists in selling that image.
Adding onto that, within Apache and Algonquin culture, the color red is seen to represent vitality, the blood of the people, as well as energy and war and strength. Across different indigenous american communities (including the Apache), red is also believed to be the only color that spirits can see. In the medicine wheel, according to Algonquin teachings, the color red represents the south. The direction in turn corresponds to the element of fire, growth of emotional intelligence and youth among other things. (I mention youth not because I think Boothill is particularly that young but because he's been described as a young cowboy which leads me to believe his aging has been slowed down and well.. he's also got that youthful energy idk im getting off topic now)
Moving on, stars by themselves have commonly been seen as beacons of hope and guidance, which suits Boothill quite well once again. Aside from him being optimistic, he does lend guidance though not in particularly conventional methods. Of course, it can also be seen as Boothill longing for guidance himself and clinging to hope as we have to remember that he's practically wandering the cosmos along for the most part and carries the weight of vengeance by himself. The star in Apache culture is closely connected to endurance, origins and spiritual guidance and in Algonquin traditions, stars are regarded as living beings that act as a calendar, compass and spiritual guide. (i'll eventually make a bigger star analysis for boothill but for now...)
Anyways, the red star on Boothill's back is a fun little tidbit and one that I find quite fitting for him as a character and for his story, all things considered.
Kindly lmk if I made any mistakes here !!
