Last night I thought up this interesting little mindset I think works well for my personal idea of emerald duo. (all is about the dsmp characters)
Phil’s absolute worst fear is that Techno will abandon him. Techno grounds his sense of self, he knows everything that has made Phil who he is and he is the only one who truly knows him. Techno is capable of caring for Phil as a person rather then the persona of what modern people know about him. In a way Techno seeing Phil as a good person feels like the only thing keeping Phil from losing himself in regret and mourning of his objectively very harmful life.
Technos absolute worst fear is that Phil will begin to fear him. Everyone Techno has ever known has been genuinely afraid for their own safety because of Techno at some point, that is everyone except for Phil. Techno has been lost to the voices and unintentionally hurt Phil before, that’s just classic emerald duo angst right there. But Phil has always seen that as a separate problem to solve, to fend him off until he gains control again. Phil does not hold him solely morally responsible for those actions in the slightest.
Phil has never needed to expect a violent reaction from Techno, because even when he gets angry the way Phil sees Techno is fundamentally different then anyone else. As seen in the butcher army it’s easy for people to fall into the thinking that Techno is like a wild beast tearing up the countryside. Something that attacks because that’s it’s nature, and maybe there is a bit of truth to that. But Phil has never seen Techno as unpredictable, Phil has learned to study people so effectively nothing is unpredictable anymore. Techno finds immense comfort in the fact that Phil knows enough about him that he is not afraid, it confirms that he does not deserve the dehumanizing treatment he regularly receives. That he is a person that can be understood, not some vicious wild animal.
I guess this is another reminder to never ask me about emerald duo ever, you will get a novel in return.
I may have said this before but about ctommy and ctechnos relationship and the red festival. If tommy was in techno's position there is not a single world where he would have killed tubbo, even if it meant his (final btw!) death. Yes because tubbo is one of the people he cares most about, but I think he would truly have done it for almost anyone. He took the full blame for the griefing of george's house to save someone he had just met. And im not saying that techno is wrong for prioritizing his life over other people's, but I will say this difference is the reason I love ctommy and not ctechno.
Note: These are my own thoughts and beliefs. This isn’t meant to be hate or critical at all, but rather trying to figure out why Technoblade’s actions are harder for some people to understand. I’m always open to friendly discussion, as some people might have noticed things that I haven’t!
After completion note: This could be slightly hard to read due to my jumbled thoughts, and the sudden realization I had while working on this, but I tried to explain everything as best as I could! This is now not even c!Technoblade critical, but rather Minecraft critical /j
A quick lookover at the cast of the Dream SMP will definitely show how many unique characters there are within the story, and that’s only based on appearances. Diving deeper into each of them, they all have their own morals, backstories, and relationships that drive what they do.
There’s another factor that makes each of them unique too, and that’s how they tell their stories. Some are more reactionary, while others take time to work out their own feelings and thoughts. Imagine it as a scale:
While some characters are more introspective and express their feelings and motivations more through words (ex. Ranboo, Ghostbur), other characters share their own morals through their actions, be them extreme or subtle (ex. Sapnap, Dream). Of course, those aren’t the only two options, with the storytelling being a sliding line where there is a middle ground for some characters to display their own feelings through a combination of words and actions (ex. Jack and Tommy).
Now, this isn’t saying that Ranboo can’t act on his morals, or that Dream can’t use his words (we’ve all seen them do both very well). It’s more so a representation of the storytelling they’re most common with. All the ones who use words to express their feelings have backed it up with actions, and the ones who’ve acted on their thoughts have shared reflections on it with words. One way of storytelling is not better than the other, and it’s rather good to have multiple ways of seeing how characters react to situations through their common/preferred method of expression.
However, when it comes to Technoblade, he exists on the scale in a very weird way.
While he can appear on the scale, he doesn’t exactly fit within the similar boundaries of other characters. He acts, but rarely backs it up with almost any words. When he does use words, while they make sense, there’s too little to connect them to the full extent of what he does.
There’s another character who’s also in the same spot as Techno on the scale: Phil, who does tend to act in the same way Techno does, also having the same explaining gap as Techno.
So why do I understand Phil’s reasoning more than Techno?
It’s because of something else outside of words and actions, just rather character explanation. It’s an overlying trait.
Phil’s overlying trait is that he’s centuries old and has seen loved ones die. With this knowledge, it’s much easier to come to an understanding of where Phil’s own thoughts lie and why he acts the way he does. Of course this trait isn’t applicable to all his actions, but it allows us to bridge gaps between his disconnected actions and come to an understanding of why he might believe in specific ideals and morals.
Overlying traits can change though, Ranboo being an example of this. At the beginning, his trait was memory issues, which caused his feelings to be affected by his condition, and seek out those who he remembered to be good. It’s why he had the memory books, and why they were used to bridge parts of his own thinking and actions. Currently, his overlying trait has shifted to wanting peace. It’s through this why he takes his alliances and friends into consideration when making decisions, because all he wants in the end is the best result for everybody to benefit from.
Techno doesn’t appear to have a current overlying trait that originated from anywhere. “Destroy the government” could possibly be seen as this, but it’s more of an overlying statement than an overlying trait, something that’s rooted in mostly words rather than in a fact. “I’m a person too” could also be it, but that thought is rarely covered, with Techno currently leaning towards a more militaristic and authoritarian mindset.
At this point, there doesn’t seem to be a clear overlying trait for Techno’s character that connects his actions together. Techno rarely goes into his own mindset, rather acting upon what he believes in the moment without exploring it in a coherent way. With characters like him who don’t use their words for solid explanation, visuals are especially important to convey how a character is feeling outside of said words, which Techno tends to do.
Now, this isn’t Techno’s fault in being unable to convey his specific emotions to his audience. IRL limitations are in the way of that, such as cc!Techno streaming very infrequently. With cc!Ranboo, he streams every day, so there’s time for him to introspect and to do what he wants to do in terms of lore. Minecraft is also extremely limited in specific emotions of players, which is why crouching is the closest thing to conveying fear or playfulness, and the arm motion is used for waving or expressing anger.
For c!Techno, facial expressions would be the most useful tool in explaining his internal thoughts, but he can’t show them like how he could in animation or live-action. As seen in the content created by the fans, famous Technoblade scenes will have a wide variety of facial expressions, since that would be the visual focus of his character.
I believe the reason it’s so hard for people for understand Techno as well as they could, is because he doesn’t express his feelings through words or actions, but rather a third category: his expressions, which we are unable to see due to the limitations of the game.
Actions don’t always equal true feelings, and while words are important, they can be inconsistent with how one expresses them.
So while this is the more linear form that we can expect:
In reality, it’s actually more like this:
And with the third category, the previous linear form is rather inaccurate within itself. Yes, this makes things more complicated in terms of working out how each character can portray their own morals and ideals.
But isn’t that what Dream SMP is about? Absolute insanity wrapped in different perspectives that might not be as clear as they seem?
TLDR: Technoblade is hard for me (and possibly many others) to understand due to the most important factor of his storytelling, facial expressions, being limited to nonexistent within the game Dream SMP is set in.
(Thank you so much for reading this if you got this far! I really appreciate it!)
before you get out the pitchforks and torches, hear me out. nah, mans does not have a victim complex. there's something that fits a lot better and even matches up with shit the chat/the voices have said to him.
c!techno has a pretty intense god complex if you look at how his character behaves.
now, let me explain.
i'd like to preface this with saying c!techno? favorite dsmp character. absolutely hands down. c!ramboo is a close second along with c!wilbur. and i love c!techno and c!philza's dynamic to death. i just like picking characters apart and trying to understand them. so this might come off as critical, but it's more so me picking apart c!technoblade, getting inside his head, and understanding what makes him tic.
now that that's out of the way. c!techno's massive god complex.
the origin of him developing a god complex isn't far fetched. i mean, chat constantly spams blood for the blood god. after hearing that for years and years on end, especially on repeat for hours, there's no way in hell it wouldn't get to your head. and it might've had a slight brainwashing effect but i'll pin that analysis for another day
but, regardless, let's look at what a god complex is to see if the symptoms match up.
"A person having a God complex will always believe that he is perfection personified, and will expect to be treated that way, too. According to him, he will be forever incapable of ever making a mistake, and will never accept responsibility for anything that goes wrong. The rules embedded in society’s mindset will never be important for a person with this complex, as he’ll deem himself to be above these “petty” things of the mortal world." — Psychologenie
this already sounding familiar? sounds pretty similar to shit c!techno has said himself or actions he's taken during events in the smp.
let's dissect some of the character traits of a god complex.
"People having this complex are arrogant to the point that it becomes very annoying for others. These people believe they are the best at everything, and everyone else is très inferior to them." — Psychologenie
hmmmm. gee, this sounds an awful lot like how c!techno talks to c!tommy. if you took a shot for every single time c!techno called tommy useless you'd probably be dead. (please tumblr i'm begging you don't actually do that)
"This complex makes people very judgmental. They constantly scrutinize others’ actions, and label them as bad, or not up to the mark. They cannot stand from not judging everyone and everything apart from themselves, and this judgment is almost always negative." — Psychologenie
hmmmm. again, sounds an awful lot how c!techno talks to c!tommy.
"Similar to narcissists, people with a God complex are absolutely allergic to criticism. They cannot tolerate anything that even mildly contradicts their beliefs or actions." — Psychologenie
i've seen it brought up that c!techno doesn't really take responsibility for his actions. i agree, mans really does not and always excuses the shitty things he's done. he denies taking any responsibility when tommy confronts him about shooting tubbo and in the classic doomsday argument.
but the bit about not tolerating anything that even mildly contradicts their beliefs or actions matches up a lot more with how c!techno obliterates anyone who does not agree with his version of anarchy.
c!techno also does not have the fixed helpless attitude that comes with a victim complex (e.g. "i can't do anything about the bad things happening to me, so why bother trying?"). mans grinded enough wither skeletons to obliterate an entire server and still has some. he does not consider himself to be helpless in the slightest and is very hard working. he's also set a bunch of withers loose on the server multiple times when people didn't agree with him to get his way.
"These people feel the uncontrollable need to influence people, and any given situation. As a result, they are shrewd and manipulative, and feel free to “use” people as and when they please." — Psychologenie
now, this will make a lot of people think of dream. which, duh, mans obviously has a god complex. most of these traits easily apply to him.
c!techno equally shows this trait in my opinion. except instead of emotional manipulation, he uses physical violence to maintain his influence over people and any given situation. he uses his reputation to instill fear in people. think of him merely putting on his armor and tommy changing his mind about trying to attack him.
"More than often, people with this complex are those with a lot of power over others. They feel the ever-increasing need for more power, and to exercise that power in every way possible. They cannot bear to relinquish control, in any situation." — Psychologenie
again, look at c!techno's use of withers. look at the absolutely absurd amount of withers he has. look at the absurd amount of anything combat related he has. look at his reputation as one of the best fighters on the server. despite being an anarchist, c!techno very much relies on power and violence to communicate. one of his most iconic quotes from the dsmp highlights this.
"Tommy, the thing is, you're using words... but the thing about this world, Tommy, is that the only universal language is violence, and we've had that conversation. We've spoken that language in the pit. It's over, Tommy." — c!technoblade
another point i would like to bring up in my argument that techno has a god complex. take a look at this.
"Though people with the God complex seem so sure, and so in love with themselves, some experts suggests that they actually suffer from a low self-esteem, and are insecure about almost everything, which is why they constantly require attention and admiration from others around them." — Psychologenie
c!techno? low self esteem? abso-fucking-lutely. people typically get angry to cover up more sensitive and painful emotions, and to make them feel less weak. anger is used to cover up a weakness. so, if you look at what makes someone angry, you know where their sensitive spots are.
looking at the dsmp, what has made c!techno the most angry?
you can narrow it down to two things really.
people taking his stuff or showing little regard for his gifts/acts of service (i'd assume those are his love languages, fair enough)
people dehumanizing him
a post by @simplepotatofarmer covers this in depth, which i would highly recommend checking out, but for the sake of keeping this part brief.
the best example of c!techno getting angry at being dehumanized is this line from the doomsday argument: "I'M A PERSON, TOMMY!"
c!techno does not shout often. the fact he shouts this line at tommy speaks volumes about how deep the wound goes.
the reason c!techno gets so angry at being dehumanized is likely because he has been repeatedly dehumanized by others.
and as a result, deep down, he likely no longer views himself as worthy of being treated like a person. that's rock bottom in hell levels of low self esteem.
how would he go from low self esteem to developing a god complex when they seem to be polar opposites?
well, if you don't view yourself as being treated like a human, believing you deserve to be treated like a god is a far better alternative than accepting you feel like you should be treated like nothing.
