Long post ahead, but I've had this godamn gunman in my head for weeks now, and I barely see any Analysis on Wpnz' character, which is a shame, so I'm gonna rant about things I noticed and how I feel. I've rewatched it so many times and even took to going frame by frame in some instincaes to see what I could catch.
Obligatory tag for @mochi-bons and @starwardchaos @sin-fork02 as you three have been subjected to my insanity and I dragged you down with me
This will probably be incoherent bc I have so many thoughts about WPNZ and the character they gave him
I'll dive more into Wpnz, Karen and the Kids and that whole situation, and Gunshow separately. This is just about character as a whole
A few of the of the main things I noticed about Wpnz that I want to talk about is that he's constantly adjusting and shifting how he acts or what he does based on feedback he gets, how much he cares and wears those emotions on his sleeve and communicate them (even if poorly), how how much he seems to value honesty.
he continues to still course correct and grow after his defeat by Karen and the kids is one of the big factors I notice
Like one just his consideration of erasing his memories at his lowest is something to talk about. The whole reason he works with Puzzles in the first place.Because you have to really have cared, really be hurt and really regret something to even consider getting rid of it like that.
And I love in that context, of him having flashbacks of his kids and those memories directly having him change his behaviour (see him and Toomp when stealing from Bob) for example, or those memories where he fondly remembers his time with Karen and compared it with Puzzles, that he genuinely reflected on and took seriously, to be able to tell Puzzles to forget it.
To be able to do that is incredible and just showing the feature of Wpnz of being able to take what's essentially feedback and change accordingly, and even though his anger gets the best of him and seems to cover bigger emotions like devastation and hurt is really neat in character writing
And in context to his anger, that al consuming rage he experiences in silence of the cats that has him just shooting with no direction, he never enters that again after.
Wpnz never again enters that all controlling rage again. He gets fucking furious yes, but he's never out of control again which is *fascinating*.He corrected and while still furious, is actually in control.
And instead if just spewing rage words, he's actually trying to communicate what he feels, chases Puzzles down through time to tell the man how he's feeling, completely with the intention of killing him after until Puzzles gives him a genuine apology, and lets Wpnz vent his frustrations and wants to be hit
Which also, what a fucking parallel between the two
Bc I refuse to believe in silence of the cats he was going to kill Karen, especially when it's shown how much he cares about her and his kids. He held that blast for a long time, making a point instead of just killing her. I firmly believe he would've fired to miss like he does later with Puzzles. (And when you go frame by frame, before Zack cuts off his leg, the charge is no longer active, it's not lit to fire)
But at the end of that fight, he lets them get that final hit, he just braces and lets it happen, focusing after the fact instead on how he made them that strong (and it's true) instead of the defeat he was telling about in the throws of hurt and rage
But I firmly think in that last fight with Puzzles, Wpnz saw himself, bc it does parallel what happened with him and Karen.
Puzzles apologizes, means it. They fight and Puzzles is letting him do whatever, completely accepting the last blow.
Wpnz absolutely saw himself in that and that's why he gets angry, bc "gaddamn it we're the fucking same"
And gives puzzles that second chance that Wpnz himself blew
Now, onto Wpnz and his values and just how he acts. Originally with the puzzles betrayal I thought he was so mad bc of the valued friendship (which is a huge factor) but you know what it is? What I get from rewatches?
Communication and honesty. That's what he values
Bc we see it first with Karen. Even though he isn't the best at it just bc it's him, he is *constantly* communicating how he feels and being wholey honest on it. And when people give him that back, he's receptive, ie everytime he pivots his actions with Karen, (from flirt-fighting like they used to, to trying to show how he's useful and what he can offer, to then having a genuine conversation and apology and reflection) it's after they've had communication and honesty in feelings.
Every
Time
And that trend continues to puzzles. He's receptive to puzzles when he's authentic. When the anger and emotion is raw and communicated. He goes with it. He knows something's up, but he's willing to give it a shot bc he sees the honesty under it
He's so *shattered* by the deception, after he layed it out to puzzles in their drive (again, completely open in communication and honest)
And even in their fight, he seems to value those things so much, that these people he doesn't even know, the smg4 crew, need to know the truth. It'll hurt puzzles, and that's a plus bc Wpnz himself is so hurt but he's not letting the act lie. Instead of killing Puzzles and just being done with it, he's intending to lay it all out for these people he doesn't know and doesn't need to tell the truth of the situation to.
He encounters puzzles again before the whole jumping through time thing and does go to end him, bc he got all his feelings out in their fight. (Which btw, when he makes that shot through Puzzles body via sniper toomp, he looks away and goes to walk away seemingly not wanting to see dead puzzles)
But puzzles lives, and Wpnz can see he's trying to do *something* even though he doesn't know what, so now he's chasing after puzzles for an *answer*, with his anger on not having killed the guy driving it and covering everything else
And when puzzles gives him that? Gives him an answer? He *lets him say it*.
Every time with bith puzzles and karen, when they're communicating, being open, he *lets them talk*, and waits until they're done, doesn't interrupt. I think in the total of all conversations he's cut them each off maybe once or twice, in the entirety of talks.
And he seems to expect the same back
Like even though his rage takes over, and he can say things in it, he *regrets* it, and does things differently.
Out of the entire main cast, he is literally one of the best communicators, he just doesn't always express it well and it makes me *sick* in the best way
He expects it back and gets frustrated and angry when he isn't given it, he leads emotionally and not with his head and that's *fascinating*. He wears his heart on his sleeve. Is extremely expressive in face and body language (kudos to the animators you guys have to be masochists for that lmao) and doesn't really bullshit anything. He's shockingly patient until he feels slighted and its genuinely fascinating in what you expect of a character like him.
Watching it slowly it's just so fascinating how he interacts
It's no wonder he got attached to puzzles the way he did, bc puzzles wasn't really putting on an act in the junyard. Like to a degree he was, but he was absolutely just a looser.
And Wpnz, with previous context, was probably endeared by this looser trying to come off as competent, failing, letting him see that and still trying.
Even though we know the context and he doesn't, I can so see how with those values Wpnz was endeared.
And then Puzzles giving him a job, a purpose after he lost everything most likely contributed too
But even in the small interaction after the prison break, were wpnz wants details and is pushing back on puzzles being cagey.
Once the *real* puzzles comes out, with the (half) truth and the emotion that feels genuine, he thinks on it. And then puzzles reaches further and goes "once we do my thing, we can do what you want"
He showed he listened to what wpnz was saying (even if for his own benefit)
and Wpnz responds to that. As he always does
Anyway rant done. I'm so sorry. I have even more thoughts but this post is long enough as it is.
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grabby hands. talk about oumaeda i don't think i fully grasp their potential/dynamic hehe
okay so I’ll keep this short as to not bore you with my ramblings but BASICALLY. Imo, kokichi and nagito are some of the most complex characters in the franchise and take a lot of understanding to fully grasp how they think. Nagito especially is very hard to understand, and the reason why I don’t ship him with anyone other than Kokichi and myself obviously (lol) is because they wouldn’t be able to fully attain that understanding. Kokichi is different, I truly believe that the way he acts/thinks, he truly could understand Nagito’s wonderful mind, and would actually want to. Plus, in S and UTDP they are flirting in EVERY SINGLE EVENT TOGETHER LMAOAOA
