#monster analysis

[yellowbluemoonshine]

I just can't wrap my head around the narrative purpose of Nina. Her characterisation was lacking, she didn't leave any memorable impression I even forgot what she was about other than a leverage for Johan or a refuge in a way.

Her motives were not really mapped out well I feel like the author could've expanded on that more. It overall left a bad taste in my mouth.

What do you think?

About Nina;

I agree with you. I read a lot of Nina metas and i understand what she was supposed to symoblize (Nina; human, Tenma; God, Johan; Devil) but i think Tenma fits the role of human anyway and it doesnt work in Nina's case because she is not some random victim whom Johan killed her parents. She is her brother so her forgiving him at the end (especially when she already forgave other villains) doesnt work out as 'act of love'.

So the reason I think she isnt much memorable to you, thats because she is too similar to Tenma during the series.

They are good people who helps others

They investigate Johan separately but somehow at the same time.

They both project their inner monster on Johan so they think killing him will solve everything

Both use guns

Their interaction with Dieter is same

Everyone loves them

They are the only people Johan cares about and only people he lets them live Though Nina is different, her personality is more expressive and extrovert but this side of Nina is barely seen. Only at the beginning and ending. Tenma's character and ideals makes sense for his character because he is a doctor, also why he is obsessed with Johan but Nina as Johans sister, she couldve been different. More personal, more obsessive.

This is the problem with writing "good people". Her place in story is also mess and kinda replacable....yes, even though she is Johans sister. When i said replacable, i mean a lot of scenes were just there. Even if she wasnt there, nothing would change.

After not being able to meet her, Johan never go after her. He is more obsessed with Tenma, not Nina.

After escaping from her brother, she didnt need to meet Neonazis. Another character would stop the bomb and Tenma would see Johans writing anyway.

Her training from sugar man is just side character story, couldve been Tenma and same with meeting old cop. It couldve been Tenma who met the guy and nothing would change.

Even if Nina didnt come library, Tenma still wouldnt shot Johan. Her "dont shot him" scene with Nina has no build up and cringe. Johan didnt even interact with her at all in that scene and Nina also doesnt attempt to talk with her brother. She literally acts like random cop who suddenly appeared in the scene.

Other characters learnt "nameless monster" book, or 511 or the mansion etc on their own.

Nina remembering her flashbacks, or learning other book stories etc was important information only she knew but she never shared those informations with other characters. Its almost as its just written for audience to learn, to understand Johan.

Her interaction with Johan at broken house, that was meaningfull. That was only them after all but that scene didnt change anything for Johans plans. Johan was already remembering his memories and planning his suicide anyway. Only usefull information is that Nina found out Johan will kill himself but neither Nina and Tenma cared that information enough to do something different. Then at the end everyone find a way to find Franz's town.

At the end, another usefull and important flashback we get with Nina. Only Dr Gilleun heard this but its not like he did anything about it. Then Nina ran to Johan and told him she forgave him. Of course. Of course, it is important but its not impactfull (for audience) if Nina can forgave other characters. And once again, this doesnt stop Johan.

And no, Tenma wouldnt shot Johan even Nina didnt come. Even Nina didnt tell him to save Johan later, he would still save Johan. Literally any other character could say that.

And at the end, Nina lives her life again just a normal girl. Tenma is the one who is with Johan and his words 'You had a name' is what saves Johan at the end.

I am not saying she isnt important character. She is but as character, she didnt change things much, even though she shouldve as main heroine. She shouldve played more role that affects things around her, especially her interaction with Johan. But it didnt.

We could maybe say the same thing for Tenma or other characters but not really. There is already a certain role Tenma symbolize, humanity, saving lifes and most other characters are just side characters. But thats the thing. Nina isnt meant to be side character. She was supposed to be main heroine but even characters like Lunge and Eva, even they mess up or dont do much, they are still more memorable because their invidiuality shows itself. They affect the storyline in their own way.

I think we shouldve seen her inviduality more rather than her just going after on her own. I mean, on her own way, different than Tenma. Most importantly, i wish we shouldve seen her love for her brother, her family (Fortners) but her connection with them, our connection with people shows us who we are. Maybe she shouldve traveled with Tenma, then their connection would makes sense. And definitely we shouldve seen more about the her connection with Johan and her memories as Anna and after remembering, it does affect her so she shouldve done something to affect things around her as Nina, as heroine but none of these happenned.

So i understand why she can be forgotten because we dont see much of her really. And thats a shame. I wish she has done more, and more on her own way, more different than Tenma, more personal because its her brother but she acts like they are strangers so well. I think she isnt well written.

[critrolestats]

Monster Analysis: Warder

Thanks to @nqsoa​ for this art piece!

First Appearance: 3-50 Red Moon Rising

Armor Class 20

Speed 40 ft

Advantage on saving throws against magical effects

127 damage taken, 8 HDYWTDT by Laudna

Warders are huge, bulbous constructs that the Ruby Vanguard and Paragon’s Call have enlisted to aid them around the Tishtan Excavation. Presumably mass produced and mass distributed among the various entry points to the site, Warders can move heavy crates within their massive hollow forms, but also aid their allies in combat by throwing heavy cargo and unleashing a blast of fire in an area in front of it. (Like putting a flamethrower on a semitruck, we’re sure it seemed very cool at the time of design, though the implementation doesn’t exactly scream practical.)

Compared to the mage hunter golems guarding the Malleus Key (which were first seen in Campaign 2), the warders are designed not for a single concentrated purpose, but to take on many tasks at once, and none of them particularly well. If it’s any indication from the unsurprised Paragon’s Call driver who asked the party why it was down, they tend to break down often enough that they aren’t the most reliable of constructs. 

In spite of its limited demonstration of its abilities, the warder did serve as a warning to what Bells Hells can expect to face deeper into the excavation site. Although its total HP is relatively low, its armor class of 20 is much higher than what the party is used to facing. Bells Hells was able to keep the alarm from going up about their arrival, but even warm-up battles such as these in D&D can soften a party up quite a bit before they face much more menacing threats. That said, based on the conclusion of the episode, the warder’s hollow body and obedient brain may also serve as the party’s way in…

[poobtato]

Interesting that Johan wore a dress with the same pattern as his mother in the scene Anna was taken away.

True!

Although when I checked it again, she wasn't wearing the dress with that pattern when she gave Anna away, but she wore it in the current timeline when she talked with Tenma

They didn't use that pattern for her dress in the anime though, so maybe it's just Urasawa's preference for screen tone

But! If you wanna dig deep into it, the name 'Anna' didn't only belong to his sister, but also his mother's.

Johan and Anna had never had an identity of their own—they had to share an identity that also belongs to someone else.

That's the whole "I am you and you are me" thing

Nina eventually found an identity that truly belongs to her, but Johan had never found an identity that belongs to him, though he seems to have an attachment to the name 'Johan', since he kept going back to that name again and again despite being fully aware that it's a false name—not only because 'Johan' was the first name that was given to him, the name 'Johan' connects him with 'Anna'.

'Johan' was a name given to a little boy who has a twin sister named 'Anna', that's why he couldn't throw it away and kept going back to it—enough so that Richard could track his many many crimes back to him.

I'm sorry if I went off topic but it is an interesting point!

[poobtato]

Do you think Johan dressing up as Nina as an adult was just a disguise thing or a part of him seeing her as his ‘other self’?

First off: I'd like to apologize for taking my time to reply.

I don't know if this makes sense but I personally see it as his attempt to connect with his past and his memories.

You could say it's a part of his journey of self-discovery

Here's the thing: he didn't actually need to wear a disguise. He can easily make people trust him and manipulates people without altering his appearance. He's done it times and times again so why does he feel the need to dress up as a girl—as his sister to be precise?

I'd say it's because in that town, in his birthplace, that was the identity he lived with: the identity that he shares with his sister.

In that town, he was never a little boy. He was never his own person—he was his sister, quite literally.

He had no memory of that town as himself and the town had no memory of him as himself.

The connection he had with that town was under the identity he shared with his sister—and he was trying to find that connection, and thus he tried to pick up that identity again.

That's why he picked the name 'Anna Liebert'. Because 'Anna Liebert' was his sister, not 'Nina Fortner'.

'Anna Liebert' was a girl who had a twin brother named Johan, not 'Nina Fortner'.

'Anna Liebert' was the Identity that Nina threw away, it's an identity that connects her with him.

'Nina Fortner' is the sole daughter of Christianne and Erich Fortner. She had no brother nor any connection with him

I think at some point he was really contemplating whether or not he should just live under that identity—if he could just build a happy life as ‘Anna Liebert’ there. because unlike his other guises and fake identities, he went out of his way to make contact and be casually friendly to the people around him

Enough to leave an impression

but of course that’s not working, because he’ll never be seen as who he really is.

but then again, who IS he, really?

I don’t think Johan takes any enjoyment in the whole “I am you and you are me” thing.

that wasn’t him genuinely believing that he and Anna are the same person. that wasn’t him saying that Anna is just the same as he is. that was him viewing himself as Anna’s shadow, an expendable replacement—because the world had taught him so

Well at least that's my two cents

[critrolestats]

Monster Analysis: Cockatrices and Chimera

Thanks to @U1F0C7 for this art piece!

Cutting directly across the Hellcatch Valley once again, the Silver Sun presented Bells Hells a chance to interact with the local wildlife on the way to the Gloomed Jungles and Yios.

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[critrolestats]

Monster Analysis: Shade of Delilah Briarwood and the Corrupted Sun Tree

Thanks to @APixelTaurus for this art piece!

First Appearance 1-24 The Feast

Encounter Appearance 3-37 From the Boughs

Armor Class 16

Legendary Actions

Legendary Resistances

Speed 30 ft, 50 ft Flying

118 damage taken

60 damage buffer from Ward of the Corrupt

86 damage taken directly, 32 taken by Ward

An expert liar, a brilliant manipulator, an accomplished disciple of the Whispered One, a self-important archmage (redundant, we know), and one of the greatest necromancers in Exandrian history, Delilah Briarwood is responsible for breaking the world to have her desires met, not even slightly bothered by the generated trauma and body count caused by even a single step in her convoluted plans. To her, everyone else has always been a resource, and any who complain or resist are not upholding their purpose as tools to her self-imposed destiny. Decades have gone by since other legends have attempted to put her in her place. Now she is but a shade of her former self, which, unfortunately for those who would oppose her, is still saying something.

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[critrolestats]

Monster Analysis: Lingering Horrors

Thanks to @cpprcoyote​ for this art piece!

Encounter Appearance: 3-36 A Desperate Call

Armor Class 13-14

Speed 40 ft flying

Incorporeal Movement

Resistant to fire and nonmagical weapon damage

LH1: 80+unknown damage taken, 16 HDYWTDT by Ashton

LH2: 104 damage taken, 15 HDYWTDT by Ashton

Healed 23 damage

LH3: 107+unknown damage taken, 6 HDYWTDT by Fearne

Healed 38 damage

As Bells Hells dive into the nightmare pocket realm of safety Delilah set up in the event of her demise, the party’s projected spirits stumbled upon some of the haunting memories of Laudna and Delilah’s shared past. While some of these memories manifested as the stony, frozen-in-time terrain, a fragile statue to Laudna’s combined experiences with her necromantic captor, the party also came across a more mobile reenactment. Three undead entities rose from the ashes of one such memory, lingering horrors of Laudna’s traumatized past emerging to fill their void of living energy by draining it from the only available source.

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[critrolestats]

Monster Analysis: The Deathwish Run

Thanks to @lappuncheung for this art piece!

Now that we’ve covered both the rival racers as well as one of the course’s sentient threats, we can cover the encompassing encounter, the thrilling threat of the Deathwish Run itself.

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