Thoughts on Zorins backstory?
Ah, the Scythe Wife. This old post on LJ has always been my favorite on Zorin. It goes into a lot of detail about her name origin, the political climate, and how it might have affected her and how she used it to her advantage. Give it a read. It shaped my view of her.
She probably came from a middle-class family of farmers from Eastern Germany, given her pension for using a scythe.
Her background is probably pretty similar to most female concentration camp guards. I think she was raised on propaganda and leaned into it. She joined the army before the war and volunteered to be part of the Aufseherin.
I think she got assigned to work as a guard at the camp where Millennium was operating in Warsaw, liked the cut of the Major’s jib/they liked how insanely stacked and intimidating she is and saw potential. She was likely invited to join Mill’s Special order #666 operation during the war.
I don’t think Zorin could ever be considered a kind person, even when younger. She subscribes way too hard to the extremes of Social Darwinism, aka “Survival of the fittest.” If the Nazis had never risen to power, I think she still would be a cruel jerk, just much lower level--like the worst middle manager you’ve ever had x10. Thinks anyone working below her is dirt. She's cut from the same cloth as the Aunts in The Handmaid's Tale imo.
To get her powers, I think it involved plucking out her one eye and somehow exchanging it. Her mismatching eyes, choice of scythe, brutal strength, and mystical powers make her feel like an attempt to create an ancient god. In Norse myth, Odin sacrifices his eye to gain wisdom. While it's never stated precisely what this 'wisdom' is, one can gather it's likely enhanced perception into the spiritual world. Zorin's mind-bending abilities to see into another's memories, I think, counts as enhanced "supernatural perception."
I also believe part of her transition involved covering half her body in tattoos that I assume to be mostly armanen runes.
The division between tatted and clean skin reminds me of the giantess Hel, who rules over the realm of the dead. Hel is described as being half black and half white with a consistently grim expression. Although she honestly isn't very developed in Norse lore, Hel is generally depicted as being cruel or indifferent to the concerns of the living and dead. Sounds similar to Zoirn to me.
She's probably pretty sexually promiscuous. Her pants are like wide open in most manga panels you fully she her in, and she's just chilling topless in the extras at the end of one of the chapters.
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