Finally figured out what's wrong with Harol's design
So – ever since Harol's design came out in the manhwa, it's been driving me crazy, and NOT in a good way.
The problem is this – I took one look at this guy and thought: "That's not Harol." And I couldn't get rid of the impression since then.
I couldn't pinpoint what was exactly wrong. There didn't seem to be anything particularly wrong... Only that there wasn't anything right about it. The design was definitely missing something.
When I pictured Harol before this moment, I kinda pictured him looking similar to Hilsman, except maybe younger? And a bit more rugged, with a some facial scars or something. A labcoat, maybe. Some bloodstainds. Definitely a more "soldier from the battlefield" look.
Remember: this character didn't show up to this meeting from a peaceful environment. The Whipper Kingdom's army canonically fought a very bloody battle immediately before this. There is no way he'd look this clean when showing up to meeting Cale, even if he DID try to clean up to meet foreign guests.
Finally, a discussion with someone on discord helped me realize what is exactly wrong here.
This Harol... looks every bit like the aristocratic world of mages that he hates.
Think about it. If this was Harol in the past – it would make sense. A scientist, working for the goverment. One of the intelligence class. A clean slate. But underneath, a rage at the abuse of power and human experiments would be boiling. A thirst for blood. And eventually... this clean-looking, civil man, would utterly SNAP, grab a freaking axe or something and start murdering magic users alongside many others, in an attempt to erase all of them from existence.
This Harol does not look like he went through that yet.
He doesn't look like a man who abandoned civility, who murdered aristocrats, who planned to do so to other mages in the future. This character does not look like he has blood on his hands, like he thought through brutal battles. He should have been stained, with a lot less polished hair, definitely stubble – don't tell me they bothered with such personal hygiene on a battlefield?? – and most importantly, a savage look under the thin vail of civility shown to Cale as a potential business partner.
If Harol looked like this later in the story – after he settled down, started rebuilding Whipper Kingdom, cooled down his bloodlust et cetera – he could have looked like this again. But at this point, it doesn't make sense at all. He has no excuse looking this clean. He's a human, not a Whale of a Dragon.
You see, Toonka wasn't supposed to be handsome in the book, but his design at least makes sense. It still feels right, because it's wild and aggressive. Not so with Harol.
So here's the problem. Harol's manhwa design doesn't reflect his current characterization. In fact, it goes directly against it. And I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who felt that way.
