diluc is a spoiled, petty rich boy who grew up always getting what he wanted and that's actually very important to his character
i remembered this webtoon panel today and it got me thinking:
i think there's a tendency in fanon to make diluc out to be some sort of byronic hero (which he is) or tragic figure (which he is) or gentle giant (which he is) or grump with a heart of gold (which he is). and that's all valid because as previously discussed diluc is three characters in a trench coat
HOWEVER. there is one aspect that i think we're all missing, which is that diluc is a BRAT
like he's a trust fund baby! this guy grew up getting everything he ever wanted handed to him on a silver platter, either through his daddy's money or through his own innate aptitude. you can see it in how he talks to elzer above, and also how he talks to dottore:
this is a guy who can afford to be sassy because he has powerful innate combat aptitude and the unimaginably massive ragnvindr estate behind him, both of which protect him from the consequences and considerations that someone like jean would have to navigate
and i actually think this is a very very important part of his character arc because it ups the ante on his tragic 18th birthday and his character arc beyond that
here's the arc as i see it:
diluc is born as the only child to the affluent ragnvindr line. from birth he is coddled and spoiled rotten - we're told that crepus "wasn't stern by nature," and in the one instance we know of where diluc was actually punished, kaeya and adelinde finished off the task for him
a passionate and rambunctious kid, diluc benefits from incredible combat aptitude from a young age. this nets him a vision at age 10 and a captaincy at age 14, the age when most kids are still squires. his ascent is made easier by his second-in-command, who ensured he got through every challenge he faced smoothly
and because of all this, diluc grows up believing in a world of kindness and fairness and justice. because, well, why wouldn't he? unlike his counterpart kaeya, he's gotten everything he's ever wanted. he's never known what it feels like to be afraid, to be wronged, to be hurt, to be poor, to be wanting. he's never had to imagine a world that ISN'T kind and fair and just
...until, of course, his 18th birthday. because on that day, diluc loses more than a father and a brother - he loses his entire worldview
all of a sudden, the world that was so good and kind to him is violently flipped onto its head. the father he idolized is revealed to wield a destructive power. the brother he loved is revealed to be a traitor. the institution he's dedicated his entire life to is revealed to be fundamentally corrupt. his wealth, power, aptitude, and charm cannot save him. it is the first and greatest injustice of his life
given all that, is it any surprise he drops everything and goes on a rampage? is it any wonder he sells off his father's mansion and discards his vision and abandons the knights?
i don't think this is some random fit that he's throwing. i think this is diluc, who has gotten everything he's ever wanted, discarding everything he's ever wanted: his wealth (the mansion), his strength (the vision), and his clout (the knights). this is diluc casting off the worldview that has betrayed him and reconstructing it from the ground up
and this has implications for his arc beyond the manga and into the game!
bc if you view diluc as someone who never let his wealth, good looks, and aptitude get to his head - or if you prefer to see his manga personality as out of character given his game personality - then his arc in-game is like "guy who was traumatized but already pretty nice gets nicer through the power of friendship." which is fine, i guess?
but if you, like me, prefer the trust-fund-baby-diluc narrative, then it becomes not only a story of a guy working through his trauma but the story of a guy fighting against every instinct he has
cause like. there are tons of examples in the game where we see diluc tempted to throw a hissy fit. and sometimes he does! in early game especially, he's very grumpy all the time - i'm thinking specifically of the midsummer island adventure event:
Barbara: So… maybe this type of fish only comes out after dark?
Diluc: Or to put it another way, we're gonna be here all night… Hmph.
Kaeya: Captain Kaeya's on the case!
Diluc: Ugh...
Paimon: Master Diluc, aren't you interested in pirate treasure?
Diluc: Hardly. I'm more interested in peace and quiet.
Paimon: Paimon doesn't think you'll settle for nothing to do...
Diluc: Amuse yourselves however you see fit. I'm taking my leave.
kaeya even points out to us that he's acting like a child (even though kaeya himself is not the most reliable of narrators):
Kaeya: What's the matter? Diluc's scowl still bothering you?
Kaeya: He's has that expression on his face for years now. He internalizes a lot of his feelings.
Kaeya: So I'm afraid that his face is stuck like that. Just treat him like a big kid.
but! throughout the game, as he gets more opportunities for character growth, we see him slowly start to overcome his tendencies towards... well, towards being a baby
the example that comes most readily to mind is the same example i started this post with: namely, The Vase
in the manga, when kaeya first offers to buy him the vase, he throws a little fit and orders his butler to buy him a new one:
Kaeya: Hah! Your bro Kaeya shall be back with a new vase.
Diluc: You! Go buy a vase right now! I do not trust the taste of Sir Kaeya of Ordo Favonius.
later, when kaeya references the vase, he denies ever seeing it:
Diluc: I see no reason to cling to things that have outlived their purpose.
Kaeya: Is that so? Then I trust you were most swift indeed to part with a certain vase?
Diluc: Sorry, I have no recollection.
but after he has the chance to work on himself a little more, he becomes able to receive kaeya's jibes without rising to the bait:
Kaeya: Here, this is for you. I bought it for you in Sumeru, and it cost a veritable mountain of Mora.
Diluc: Thanks. Put it on the table.
Kaeya: That's it? No comment whatsoever?
Diluc: You want a comment? Okay then. This thing is very in line with your unique aesthetic tastes, much like that vase over there.
Diluc: Elzer, fetch a bottle of this year's newest batch from the warehouse. Or else someone will keep blathering on with endless excuses.
we see him get better at responding to kaeya's barbs (or at least ignoring them):
Kaeya: Wonderful. Always eager to help, and never forgets to return a favor. That's the Master Diluc I know.
Diluc: ...It's nearly dinner time. Would you care to stay for a meal?
he even gets kinder to his servants:
Diluc: Take some time off, Elzer. Don't put it off any longer. I'll handle the guild matters.
Diluc: It's important to take care of your health. You have to take it seriously.
and again, you could read this as his innate personality - i think it's a fair read to say that diluc has always been warm and big-hearted and this is just an extension of that
but i think it's much more interesting if we say that no, he actually is a bit of a brat - prone to hissy fits, used to getting his own way - and this new, more tempered approach is the result of a lot of work and intentionality on his part
i guess what i'm trying to say is that diluc wakes up every day and chooses to be kind even when he doesn't really know how. he chooses to break away from the privileges his upbringing has taught him are rightfully his, or to use them for the good of others. he chooses to try, and try again, even though he still trips up sometimes. and i think that's so much more compelling than if it all just came naturally to him
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y'all i finally figured out what's going on with diluc's tcg deck
a little while ago i made this post about mond trio playing tcg, because jean and kaeya's decks make sense but diluc's doesn't - he has razor and xiangling in his deck, neither of whom synergize with him, and no healer for some reason??
then i thought about it a little bit more and now i think diluc's deck is actually an excellent representation of his character: because tcg is a game that revolves around a team and diluc is a man who is used to fighting alone
ok let me explain
^ first things first! this is the diluc card. the diluc card is a hypercarry, which means you want him on the field as much as possible. there is nothing diluc wants more than to use his skill and use it often - and for good reason! if you use his skill 3 times in one round, it deals a total of 11 damage, which is insane if you consider that each character card only has 10 health. he can basically solo a character in one round!
there's just one problem. using diluc's skill 3 times requires a total of 9 dice... and you only get 8 dice per round
there are ways to get around this, and diluc's support cards are absolutely laser-focused on making sure he can use his skill. so much so, in fact, that he doesn't even have any cards that would let him heal himself?? more on that later
the point is: diluc needs all his dice to fuel his attacks. doing literally anything other than attacking (ex. swapping off or healing) would nerf his damage output. this deck is designed for one thing and one thing only: doing as much damage as possible in the shortest amount of time possible
okay now let's talk about his team comp. cause like *waves hands vaguely* what the heck is going on here, man.
^ diluc's teammates are razor (whom he's met like once in canon) and xiangling (whom he's met a grand total of zero times). most characters' tcg decks are comprised of other characters they at least vaguely know. but not diluc's
and this doesn't make sense from a gameplay perspective either. razor is also a hypercarry - he likes his field time as much as diluc does. and although xiangling is a sub-dps who does off-field damage with her burst, her element is the same as diluc's which means she can't trigger reactions with him. neither of them synergize very well with diluc
and i think that's intentional, because xiangling and razor synergize very well with each other. my theory is that these two cards are meant to serve as a kind of "second line of defense" and take over when diluc falls
because the one glaringly obvious issue with diluc's deck is this: he has no way to heal
there are a couple of different healing mechanics in tcg. the most obvious one is to have a healer (which diluc doesn't). the second most obvious one is to have food cards that heal (which diluc doesn't). the third most obvious one is to have location cards that heal (which diluc, you guessed it, doesn't)
if you play diluc as an on-field hypercarry, you'd probably want at least 1 of the above mechanics to, you know, keep him alive. but diluc doesn't have any. and i think that's intentional
because i think the diluc card in this deck is meant to burn brightly but very briefly. i think he's meant to do a ton of damage with his skill, tank the enemies' attacks without healing, and then die. and then xiangling and razor come along after him and finish off the remaining enemies - if there are any left standing
which... you know...
... is not a bad encapsulation of his character overall!
so, you know what, i owe diluc an apology. i was not familiar with his game. this tcg deck is awful if you want to play tcg in the intended way, but it perfectly fits his character and approach to life - because this deck is the deck of a man who only knows how to fight alone
despite being an old varka truther i’ve decided that i kind of like young varka
because let’s take a look at what he’s done for a second:
promoted diluc to cavalry captain at 14
made jean, at 17, investigate grievous acts of treason at the highest levels of the knights
left on an expedition without his logistics company, taking the cavalry but not its captain with him
and most recently: picked up a phone call while cornered on the battlefield
all this makes so much more sense if instead of being some grizzled older general with decades of battlefield experience, he’s Literally Just Some Guy in his 30s
like promoting diluc to cavalry captain at 14 makes more sense if varka himself was like 25 at the time. he was likely also promoted at 14 and didn’t see the issue. “let’s make this teenager captain of a company” probably sounds like a great idea if you yourself are barely out of college
reading through jean’s character stories today for jarch and this is SENDING me. who is asking jean “repress your feelings until you die” gunnhildr for relationship advice??
as much as i like interpretations of the "kaeya revealing his origins to jean" trope where jean is immediately accepting of his backstory
and as much as i like interpretations of the "kaeya revealing his origins to jean" trope where jean's feelings around duty and country make her react in anger or shock
i do think there is a secret third option where jean, hearing someone say he's from a civilization that's been wiped out for half a millennium and knowing that he has a penchant for making jokes she doesn't understand, goes "LMAO yeah and i'm from atlantis :) anything else you'd like to tell me" which surprises both of them and ends up buying them enough distance from feelings of betrayal/anger that it kind of accidentally ends up being a nonissue
toying with a jean & kaeya idea where jean gets doused with a truth serum - kaeya initially thinks it's HILARIOUS and he's like "waittt omg so tell me the truth... did you actually like diluc's bday present or were you just trying to spare his feelings"
but then as the day wears on he starts to be like "wait that was a crazy thing to say but you can't lie right now which means you actually believe that. do you know you hold some insanely warped views of yourself" and-
you know at this point let me just write it out for you
--
He does make a point of checking the windows once they're safely ensconced in Jean's quarters, though — this may be the best entertainment he's had in a while, but Lisa is correct that it could spell disaster for Mondstadt if any miscreants got their hands on the state secrets locked away in their Acting Grand Master's head.
Jean, meanwhile, hangs her cloak up and settles herself on the couch, mouth set in the slight downturn that is her only concession to emotion. "I'm sorry I'm such a burden," she says.
Kaeya snorts, throwing himself down next to her. "You think you're a burden?"
"Yes," Jean says, and it is only when she flushes red at her own answer that he remembers her inability to lie.
"Jean," he says, and then stops, weighing his words, as she averts her eyes. "You're not— I know you're saying that because you think it's true, but you're wrong."
Jean's shoulders go up, but she only presses her lips together and refuses to speak.
It takes some careful thinking to rephrase his next question into something that the truth serum won't oblige her to respond to. "I'd like to know why you think you're a burden."
Her mouth twists, but she does take a moment to contemplate her response instead of blurting it out, which means that his rephrasing has successfully circumvented the serum's compulsion. "I regret," she says finally, slowly, "that my ineptitude has cost not only a day of my time but a day of yours. I am sorry you were obliged to accompany me."
Kaeya snorts. "You think I'd be here if I didn't want to be?"
"Yes," Jean says again, and then snaps her mouth shut, looking miserable.
Kaeya winces at his own gaffe. "Sorry," he says. "I wouldn't, though. Be here if I didn't want to, that is."
That earns him a small smile, at least. "I am, as always, grateful for your company."
It's not that he'd thought Jean was lying about liking him, really, but nevertheless the serum-induced confirmation sets an embarrassingly warm feeling under his breastbone. "I can't think of a better way to spend an afternoon than locked in a room with my boss," he teases. "And that's no lie."
Jean glowers at him. "You are—" she starts, and then seems to run into a roadblock. She wrestles with herself for a moment, trying to force words over the alchemy stilling her tongue, before settling for: "Sometimes annoyingly glib."
Kaeya laughs, delighted. "Tell me about it. I'm glad it was you rather than I who ran afoul of the alchemists today. Barbatos knows I wouldn't be able to give up lying for an entire day."
"You do tend to stretch the truth," Jean says, her smile tilting fond.
"Unlike our illustrious Acting Grand Master, who has never told a lie in her life," Kaeya says, teasing.
Jean frowns. "That's not true."
"But you always try to be honest."
She looks mildly offended. "Of course. It's only right."
"I can't imagine you ever lying," Kaeya says contemplatively. "Like, what's the worst lie you've ever told?"
He registers his mistake as the words leave his mouth, but by that time it is too late.
"When I was 12 years old, I told Barbara that our parents wouldn't get divorced because they loved us too much," Jean says. She says it clearly, as if the lie has been on the tip of her tongue for a very long time, waiting to be confessed.
Neither of them speaks for a long moment as the words settle between them.
Then Kaeya curses softly. "I'm sorry, Jeanie. I shouldn't have asked."
Unlike with her previous answers, Jean doesn't look particularly flustered — the expression on her face is the expression of one who has accepted an unchangeable fact. "It's alright," she says quietly, and reaches out to place her hand on his.
"No, it's not," Kaeya says. "And— And that's not even a lie. You were a kid — you couldn't have known."
Jean smiles a little ruefully. "The fact that I believed it didn't make it any less a lie."
Kaeya frowns, flipping his hand up to catch hers. "That doesn't make any sense. Is that really what you think?"
Jean's stare can only be described as blank. "Of course."
"But," Kaeya says, baffled, "you were trying to reassure her. You weren't lying, you were— You were 12."
Jean raises an eyebrow. "Old enough not to make promises I couldn't keep. I should have been honest with her," she adds, when Kaeya fails to respond.
"Do you think that would have made things better?" Kaeya asks, before he can remember to reword his question.
Jean opens her mouth to say "yes," then closes it again. "I don't know," she admits quietly. "But at the very least I might have been able to forgive myself for it."
