Top 5 Reasons You Should Love (or at least respect) Relena Peacecraft-Darlian
To say that Relena Peacecraft-Darlian has been a contentious character through the length of Gundam Wing fandom would be a bit of an understatement. The fact of the matter is that this is a character who amassed several hate sites (one which had an image of Relena coming out of a horse’s behind, stay classy fandom) and several long diatribes and an entire genre of fix dedicated to killing, torturing, and basically hating on her. Pretty much every insult, every slight, gendered or otherwise, fandom has heaped on this character.
And even though a lot of the fervent hatred for her has died down as the fandom has gotten a bit older and smaller, it is still very much present. If people aren’t talking about how they hate Relena now, they are usually talking about how they used to hate her.
I have loved Relena from the beginning, and needless to say my love of this character and the reaction that she drew from fandom at large made GW fandom a very unpleasant experience for me.
Which is why I am starting out this Women Love Fest of 2011 by describing my top 5 reasons of why you should love or at the very least respect one Miss Relena Peacecraft-Darlian.
1. She has a strong belief system
One that she fights and defends and stands for, yet at the same time is willing to modify it as she learns. But the fact is that she is a strong person with strong beliefs and she is going to stand for them because in a world as chaotic as Gundam Wing’s, your principles and who you are, are incredibly important.
2. Her kindness and compassion is treated as a strength, not a weakness.
In a world prone to violence where children often have to shoulder the costs and responsibilities of war, Relena stands as a refreshing counterpoint to the rest of her universes’ insistence on fighting as something inevitable. She treats everyone with respect and compassion and offers refuge and sanctuary to those who think they are beyond any. And her unwillingness to engage in violence on any scale isn’t punished, she isn’t treated as weak, no rather the narrative regularly holds her to be just as strong if not stronger then characters who are active combatants.
3. Relena has what I would say the strongest character arc of the entire series
Relena starts the series as a naive, privileged lonely girl, and through the course of the series grows to be a caring, brave, conscientious and strong young women who knows the pain of loss and the desire for revenge and comes away from it stronger and older and on the cusp of an extremely active life. Her arcs is probably one of my favorite in fiction in terms of seeing her grow from this clingy person to someone who is independent and wise is a treat that I will carry with me for the rest of my life.
4. She is adaptable and learns from her experience
While I discussed earlier how Relena has a strong belief system, it isn’t so strong that she isn’t willing to amend or adapt it as she learns something new or is faced with a problem. She consciously seeks to expand her knowledge and constantly seeks the input of others, including the opinions of those who have opposing viewpoints to hers. She is willing to change and learn and most of all she listens which is just as important as standing up for ones beliefs. Relena isn’t perfect, but she always strives to be better and that is always worth respecting.
5. Because let’s face it the series is just the beginning
One of the most wonderful things that Gundam Wing gave me was it gave me Relena who at the end of the series is in a position of power and change and the idea was that she would continue to work her way up. The set up at the end is of a hard working woman who has so many plans and so many futures that she wants to work forward and with the optimism that she can be and is successful. I wish fandom could celebrate Relena’s accomplishments and the fact that she broke a ceiling in multiple different societies and in a position that in any other series would be given to a dude. Part of my pledge for this week is to fledge Relena’s post EW life out, to try and reach into those glimpses of the women that she was on the cusp of becoming and the one that I knew she would be.
And basically I hope you all will join me.
