Okay guys thoughts about Hangman
Fellas I have recently contracted a brainworm and its contagious :3 Okay so I thought about this after seeing @kunizwuni's comparison between Nikola (from the nhht fanproject) and Hangman, the latter saying that he became an executioner because he had to for survival. But what if there was more?
I have a headcanon that hangman is very sympathetic to life, and that's probably already canon. I mean, we have seen his reaction to when beloved pets die in stories, no? I had a silly little thought or two about how in his childhood it was even more extreme then and that his abusive father tried to erase it, because how can someone so opposed to killing continue the family name? (This is where headcanons come in since we do not know a lot about the main narrators' lives) So then why is he an executioner?
I would say that part of the reason is survival, and trying to get approval of a harsh father, and being burdened with living up to his bloody name. Solely this would all point to him being forced to do his job, or being raised so selectively that it seems normal... but what if... what if he had agency in this decision.
Alright now its gonna get a little wack so buckle in, because I see a shining possibility of him having more layers to his morals, of his morals not being as white as snow-- I am not suggesting that he is a bad person, but that he has flaws. (I mean, that's what makes a character more interesting, no?) I've had a theory that maybe throughout his life...
he had become less sympathetic to humans.
ALRIGHT NOW HEAR ME OUTETH HEAR ME OUT. I think maybe even more things could have played into his decision of continuing to be an executioner, like a sense of duty, but anyway... This is where the word humane really loses its meaning, because we all know how diabolical humanity can be, so maybe he was a witness to it? Perhaps he sees animals as more innocent, since they were not given the 2-for-1 package of intelligence and wickedness? (I know that did not sound very poetic but I'm in my Spamton era okay) Oh, and wait, there's more. I feel like this can definitely play into his relationships with other people-- I still think he cares, since that should survive in his nature, but what if it is muted, or what if he is afraid of getting close to someone because it would ruin his image of them? I know there is nothing suggesting this in canon and that I am basically yapping at this point, but yapping is a favorite hobby of mine. :)
Oh wait and if I really wanted to, I could connect this back to Provost and how getting to know him could have helped him discover that humans are not completely terrible, who knows-- it could have changed him a little to find someone like himself. An executioner and a cold royal guard, both being more than their roles entail.
Anyway thx for reading and it would honestly be so awesome if we got more details about the narrators themselves in future nhht books, but I do have to keep in mind that it is still an educational series of comics for children.... golly we are so weird as a fandom I have realized that. Toodle-pip!
