Hi, I've been really enjoying reading your Mukuro HC, particularly about how his past has shaped him! If it's not too much to ask, I'd love to know your thoughts about how Mukuro has changed throughout the series and how he might have continued to change after the series. Thank you! :)
Of course, with pleasure!
I’m afraid this post is going to be long, I hope it doesn’t matter.
To see how Mukuro has changed throughout the series, let’s start with his first appearance until we get to the last one, ready?
What kind of Mukuro we have in Kokuyo Arc?
We have our first serious antagonist, a wanted horrible criminal from the mafia. A person who didn’t hesitate to hurt innocents students to achieve his goal: get the attention of the candidate to Vongola Decimo to fall into his trap.
In the Hidden Bullet story “Mukuro, Illusion” it is seen that Mukuro has no resentment in bringing chaos to the Kokuyo school, and using for this an “honorable” student of it (destroying his psyche in the process). After that, we have the Kokuyo Arc, when Mukuro begins a persecution against Namimori’s students (in the manga he is wilder, because he removes their teeth).
We have a Mukuro who utilizes Lancia, Chikusa and Ken with no regrets. Even when Chikusa appears before him injured, he only gives him a glance; even if the two are so bad they can’t move, he possessed them and utilized their bodies to fight. We have a Mukuro who breaks Futa’s mind. If you ask me, this is the most savage and cruel Mukuro we have a long the series: a Mukuro who is full of hatred.
But, we have too that “exhausted” Mukuro that Lancia says he can see in the CD Drama “Mukuro Beyond Darkness”. That Mukuro who is tired of everything and that can’t see any hope in the world or himself.
We have a Mukuro that is the boss of the Kokuyo Gang, not their comrade, not their friend. He saves them, yes, he protected them up to a point, but not entirely concerned with their well-being. At this point, for him they are his tools to achieve his goal of annihilating the mafia, so he has to prevent something from happening to them because he sees them as useful. And it is curious because he doesn’t want to be like the mafia, but he puts himself in a condition similar to the Estraneo leaders: he is in charge of Ken and Chikusa and utilizes them, just shows a little more of “humanity” toward them.
And isn’t it something so ironic, tired and tiring at the same time? He wants to destroy the mafia, but it is too powerful. He doesn’t like the mafia, but he is like them. And people remain the same, without interest, without helping to change something, they usually cooperate to the state of that rotten world thanks to their ambitions. It is a crossroads, there is no answer. And the world goes on, without giving him any salvation. He hates everything because he doesn’t see any hope.
In his battle with Tsuna, Mukuro sees something that he had not seen before: the power of determination, the power of life, a small hope. In that kid who is Tsuna, in that innocent child who battles for their friends, Mukuro finds a view totally new to him, a path opens. Because there is the proof, Tsuna is the proof, people can be different. It could exist a way to exit that crossroad that his life is. And he decided to try to follow it.
And it is not like I ship 6927 to said that, in “Mukuro Beyond Darkness”, our precious illusionist admit it. That Tsuna actually helps him to see that flame of life.
With that little hope, Mukuro started to change.
We receive a great surprise when we learn that Mukuro is the mist guardian. But just not that, we learn that he saved Chrome, and he let Vindice capture him to save Ken and Chikusa. Think a little about it, the Mukuro from Kokuyo Arc would have been able to do that? That Mukuro who doesn’t care about the injuries in Ken and Chikusa bodies? That Mukuro who doesn’t care about breaking a poor student life?
This is the moment when we begin to see how Mukuro is affected by his fight against Tsuna. We are seeing a Mukuro who begins to worry about his own, who, although it was for his benefit, saved a girl and in fact worries that she is fine. A Mukuro who agreed to become the mist guardian, so that Iemitsu would protect Chikusa and Ken, who agreed to be part of a mafia family for the Kokuyo Gang to be ok. A Mukuro who let Viper escape although he may well have been mad at his fight. He alerts Lancia to the danger of a possible Varia trap in the Sky battle, so that Lancia can help. Can you believe it? He indirectly helped Tsuna and the others. He helped them.
And this is shocking. Even if it’s to be able to get closer to Tsuna and get his body, it doesn’t take away the fact that his actions are very different from what he had done before.
In the CD Drama “Let’s meet in a nightmare”, Mukuro actually plays and annoys Tsuna inside Tsuna’s own dreams, making fun of him, but with no really hostile intentions.
And why this change? What happened?
The thing that happened, is Tsuna shows him that exists another choice. He shows him that there is hope, that there is something more in the world than pain, death, and betrayal. That people can be more and the world is not as rotten as he thought it was. The weight on him is still there, but now it is lighter, and it is no longer all darkness, there is a small, clinking light. And he decided to try that path. Thus, it can be said that part of his true personality begins to emerge: that playful but proud Mukuro that we see in the following arcs.
His fight against Tsuna was like a shock therapy for him.
We don’t see much of Mukuro in this arc, at least until the end. However, we note that Mukuro helps Vongola quite a bit, although of course, we are never told directly.
He steals information from Millefiore, he saves them so they can escape with Uni. He also helps in the final battle against Byakuran. And more importantly, we see that Mukuro has a student: Fran.
Are you telling me that that person who was like a monster, who didn’t care about anything, and who used others now has a student? That he was in charge of teaching, educating, and caring for him? Yes, he has. And this is another great change.
Fran is a very important person if we want to analyze Mukuro’s development. Because yes, Mukuro can complain about Fran, he can pretend that he threatens him with his trident and that he can’t stand him, but the reality is the opposite. Mukuro cares about Fran, more than anyone in the Kokuyo Gang if you ask me. Just the fact he decided to teach him means a lot, means he had the patience to do it, the patience to try to understand how Fran is so that he can teach him properly. That means he was able to live with another person, to interact with him and develop a bond. That he was able to worry about someone (even if only in the educational sense) and forget for a few moments his terrible past.
Mukuro, here, is more human. Now, he is not just a monster, he slowly is becoming an actual human, with all the emotions and contradictions that we, humans, have.
Anime arcs: Arcobaleno and First Generation trials.
Yes, just a mention for these.
I know these arcs are exclusively from the anime, but they too help to see a little more of Mukuro.
In the Arcobaleno trials, Mukuro is even more playful. He admits he just wants to funny a little with Hibari and Tsuna because he is bored inside Vendicare. He actually stops when Tsuna asks him to do it. And surprisingly, he gets well with Tsuna and Hibari himself. He tells Tsuna that, although he doesn’t know what is happening, to take care of Chrome.
You know what that means? That he actually trust Tsuna. Now he isn’t only freer, psychologically speaking, but he is beginning to develop more positive human emotions, such as trust. Of course, he never going to admit it, but is happening.
In Daemon’s trials, he even rescues Kyoko, Haru and Uni. Daemon asks him why someone of his caliber cares about such simple people and saves them, which Mukuro completely denies doing something like that, but Daemon smiles and asks if his words are really true. And Daemon is an even more powerful master of deception than Mukuro, so he was able to see the truth in that moment.
What does that mean? Just think, Mukuro actually saved other people besides the Kokuyo Gang. Saved. By his own decision.
Inheritance Ceremony Arc.
Thanks to Daemon, we see a lot of Mukuro development and true feelings here.
Mukuro appears when Demon provokes him by causing a crash in Chrome’s organs. Mukuro mentions that of course he will be worried that someone plays with his toys, and there we have that Daemon’s ironic smile again, Daemon who was always one step ahead of everything and in fact, is like Daemon is mocking him and says with his smile: “Of course, if you think is for that.”
He fights with him, and mentions something important: That Mukuro considers the Kokuyo Gang as valuable people to him.
Even if Mukuro denies it and attacks Daemon’s illusions, there is something to analyze: He actually looks quite surprised when he sees Daemon’s illusions of his Gang, and angry too. It is not a normal anger, it is more like “how dare you use them against me” anger. To demonstrate that he still remains the same as before, he attacks them without hesitation and cruelly, but it must be borne in mind that Mukuro’s own pride and strengths were at stake, and that, in fact, he is completely sure that they are illusions and not the real ones.
Daemon never actually fights seriously, he just wants to entertain Mukuro until he reaches his body, he just wants to distract Mukuro so much so that he doesn’t notice his real plan. And what better way to do it than to make him face a reality of which he himself is not fully aware? The reality that, he changed, he now is more human and he now is capable for care for other people. Mukuro gets angry when he face that reality, and ignores Daemon’s other action, perfect for Spade.
Let’s notice that Mukuro has the memories of the Future. Memories of the future, for those who obtained them, is a strange way of living that alternate future and learning from it, as if they were real experiences of their own. And, what kind of Mukuro we have in the Future Arc? Yes, a more human Mukuro.
Unconsciously, he made those memories of his and advanced further as a human, which is why he is shocked and so angry at Daemon’s words and actions.
The Curse of the Rainbow Arc
Finally, an arc with more Mukuro’s participation since Kokuyo Arc!
Here, we see a Mukuro who is actually human. Incredibly human. It is a totally contrast to Kokuyo Arc; we have a free Mukuro yes, but his psychology has changed a lot since it, and now, we are capable of seeing him interact and live with that new change he passed through the other arcs.
We see a Mukuro who coexists with all the members of Kokuyo plus Verde, a Mukuro who takes care of Fran and teaches him to use illusions, a Mukuro who abandons Chrome because he wants her to become strong, a Mukuro who is worried about Ken and Chikusa, a Mukuro who praises Chrome bravery at the end, a Mukuro who protects Fran and cares about his health, a Mukuro who works alongside the Vongola.
A Mukuro that is angry and dissapointed of himself just for the possibility he is being taken advantage of Fran. A Mukuro who is fearful by the Vindice. A Mukuro who fights side by side with Hibari.
A Mukuro who is angry by Fran’s jokes, a Mukuro that can smile or laugh.
Compare this final Mukuro to the first Mukuro. It is a lot of difference, isn’t it? We stared with a monster, we finished with a human. And this did not happen overnight, in every arch, no matter how small his participation was, it showed how Mukuro moved forward to stop being that macabre specter and start to become a person. So so subtle that not even we fully realized when it happened.
And this beautiful, because now, seeing the interactions he has with the Kokuyo Gang, we notice something: They are no more boss and faithful subordinates, they are becoming a real family because of everything they lived (includes that experience of the Future).
The Mukuro after the series. My personal opinion.
Now now, considering all of these, I think that Mukuro will be able to continue advancing in his emotional state and become more human (in the positive sense of the word).
He is not alone anymore to carry that horrible weight of his past and the cruelty of the world, he has now all the Kokuyo Gang and Vongola. Yes, Vongola, because he is the mist guardian, he never dejected the tittle and actually wears the Vongola Gear. And, just saying, in Chrome’s soliloquy in the battle against Vindice, when she thinks of the things Mukuro likes, Vongola is there. Vongola is there! So, Mukuro actually belongs to Vongola, not only in the title, but somehow he considered himself as part of, although he will never admit it (at least not so easy). In Vongola terms, Mukuro is like Hibari: yes, he is part but he just appears when necessary or when he wants.
I really think that with the time, and with Tsuna’s help, he will be able to get along with the other guardians (Yamamoto already considers him as one of them. One of his dreams is for all the guardians to play a baseball game, although he knows it will be somewhat difficult with Mukuro and Hibari together. Yamamoto thinks of Mukuro as a guardian and part of the family -cries-).
Surely he wouldn’t be there all the time, but he will be there when necessary, or even just when he feels like playing and bother the others for a while (let’s not forget “Let’s meet in a nightmare” please). And I like to think the guardians could see him as one of them too (praise Yamamoto to be the first doing that). He surely will have still problems with his past and all of it, but he knows it exists other forms and options, cruelty and death are not the only one.
He always going to be the untouchable and mysterious mist, but now, with a family and surely happier.
Uh, I’m doubting if putting images since it is already somewhat long. I’m going to think about it, maybe later I’ll edit the post with some images of the manga. But for now, that is all.
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