New Essay! **smile.**
Sep. 20th, 2004 04:33 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ladybug_archiveThis is also going up at Kyodai no Kokoro. I've decided to post all my musings about Marik and his Yami there. ^__^ The following is copyright by me and I will hunt you down if you steal!
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Today I will be attempting to compare the case of Marik and his Yami with that of Hikaru Shidou and Nova from Magic Knight Rayearth. Those of you familiar with the anime version of MKR will remember a strange, pink-haired character who appeared in the second season. She oddly resembled Hikaru and completely baffled everyone due to this fact. Unlike Hikaru, however, "Nova" was cruel, sadistic, and caused no end of trouble for Hikaru and the others. In one of the early episodes, she revealed a strange and quite disturbing fact.
"I hate everything you love," she told a dazed and injured Hikaru after a battle they had engaged in, "and because you hate yourself, I love you."
This so-called "love" for Hikaru doesn't at first seem to be a true form of caring, since she often tries to destroy everyone precious to Hikaru---Umi, Fuu, even the man she loves, Lantis---and also, Hikaru herself. Rather, it seems that instead of love, Nova has an unhealthy obsession with Hikaru and everything associated with her. There is a reason for this, as explained toward the end of the season. Nova is actually an entity Hikaru created the first time she and her friends were in Cephiro because of Hikaru's immense self-hatred for killing Princess Emeraude (even though it was the only thing she could do to save the land and it was what Emeraude wanted). Of course, there is the little detail that Nova seems to think that she would be doing Hikaru a favor by killing her and her loved ones and that Hikaru would be happy if it were done. This would most likely make her worlds apart from the destruction-loving Yami Marik, who most certainly isn't looking to do any "favors" for Marik and the others and definitely doesn't want to make them happy.
There are some differences between Nova and Yami Marik other than the reasons for their express "missions" in life---most notably, what became of them in the end---and Nova seems much more complex and fascinating compared to the one-dimensional and somewhat predictable Yami Marik, but on the surface they may indeed be two of a kind. They were both created by accident as dark entities of their creators, both are intent on making life miserable for their creators and all who are dear to them, and neither seems to care who gets hurt or killed as long as they get what they want.
Perhaps the biggest difference between them is why they were created. Yami Marik was created mainly out of hatred for others, especially the wicked Mr. Ishtar. Nova, as has been said, was created from self-hatred. But then again, can there truly be one without the other? If one is hating humanity so deeply that all they can feel at the moment is hate, how can they really feel any different about themselves than they do about others? And by the same token, if one is hating themself so acutely, can they truly show goodwill to others? The reasons for this duo's creation may not be so different after all.
The next strange and interesting question is: Does Yami Marik have the same unhealthy obsession (or something similar) with Marik that Nova has with Hikaru? This is never actually addressed in the anime. He certainly does have an obsession with hurting Marik and his siblings, especially Rishid, for if Rishid dies, Yami Marik is able to run scot-free in Marik's body. But as far as we know, he has never actually stated something along the lines of "Because you hate yourself, I love you." Marik most certainly must have hated himself, but it is hard to comprehend Yami Marik ever feeling anything that he would even call love, unless it is the love of hurting people. In the end he really wanted to destroy Marik so he would no longer have the boy's interference, so it would seem that this also makes him different from Nova.
What happens to each entity in the end is very different. Yami Marik, as we know, is destroyed by Marik when he is encouraged by Rishid not to give up hope. Though it is speculated that he actually was not really destroyed (as I believe, since to me I feel that he is the manifestation of true darkness), it is obvious that he does not remerge with Marik. Marik is a complete soul without his Yami, since he still has both a good and an evil side and his Yami was created from excess and unneeded hate. Therefore, now that Marik's mental strength has been renewed, Yami Marik can no longer inhabit his body to cause his destruction.
Nova, on the other hand, does remerge with Hikaru, as it is said that since they are part of each other, one is not complete without the other. If Nova is destroyed, part of Hikaru is destroyed as well, therefore the only solution for them is to remerge. Thank goodness this is not the case with Marik and his Yami.
In the end, Nova is actually an extremely misguided entity who actually does only wish to do what she believes Hikaru truly wants. Indeed she is very complex, especially compared to Yami Marik's one-dimensional "I want to kill everyone until I'm the only one left" motives. Nova fascinates me, as does Yami Marik to a certain extent. Mostly, in Yami Marik's case, I just love to prove that he's not Marik himself.
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Today I will be attempting to compare the case of Marik and his Yami with that of Hikaru Shidou and Nova from Magic Knight Rayearth. Those of you familiar with the anime version of MKR will remember a strange, pink-haired character who appeared in the second season. She oddly resembled Hikaru and completely baffled everyone due to this fact. Unlike Hikaru, however, "Nova" was cruel, sadistic, and caused no end of trouble for Hikaru and the others. In one of the early episodes, she revealed a strange and quite disturbing fact.
"I hate everything you love," she told a dazed and injured Hikaru after a battle they had engaged in, "and because you hate yourself, I love you."
This so-called "love" for Hikaru doesn't at first seem to be a true form of caring, since she often tries to destroy everyone precious to Hikaru---Umi, Fuu, even the man she loves, Lantis---and also, Hikaru herself. Rather, it seems that instead of love, Nova has an unhealthy obsession with Hikaru and everything associated with her. There is a reason for this, as explained toward the end of the season. Nova is actually an entity Hikaru created the first time she and her friends were in Cephiro because of Hikaru's immense self-hatred for killing Princess Emeraude (even though it was the only thing she could do to save the land and it was what Emeraude wanted). Of course, there is the little detail that Nova seems to think that she would be doing Hikaru a favor by killing her and her loved ones and that Hikaru would be happy if it were done. This would most likely make her worlds apart from the destruction-loving Yami Marik, who most certainly isn't looking to do any "favors" for Marik and the others and definitely doesn't want to make them happy.
There are some differences between Nova and Yami Marik other than the reasons for their express "missions" in life---most notably, what became of them in the end---and Nova seems much more complex and fascinating compared to the one-dimensional and somewhat predictable Yami Marik, but on the surface they may indeed be two of a kind. They were both created by accident as dark entities of their creators, both are intent on making life miserable for their creators and all who are dear to them, and neither seems to care who gets hurt or killed as long as they get what they want.
Perhaps the biggest difference between them is why they were created. Yami Marik was created mainly out of hatred for others, especially the wicked Mr. Ishtar. Nova, as has been said, was created from self-hatred. But then again, can there truly be one without the other? If one is hating humanity so deeply that all they can feel at the moment is hate, how can they really feel any different about themselves than they do about others? And by the same token, if one is hating themself so acutely, can they truly show goodwill to others? The reasons for this duo's creation may not be so different after all.
The next strange and interesting question is: Does Yami Marik have the same unhealthy obsession (or something similar) with Marik that Nova has with Hikaru? This is never actually addressed in the anime. He certainly does have an obsession with hurting Marik and his siblings, especially Rishid, for if Rishid dies, Yami Marik is able to run scot-free in Marik's body. But as far as we know, he has never actually stated something along the lines of "Because you hate yourself, I love you." Marik most certainly must have hated himself, but it is hard to comprehend Yami Marik ever feeling anything that he would even call love, unless it is the love of hurting people. In the end he really wanted to destroy Marik so he would no longer have the boy's interference, so it would seem that this also makes him different from Nova.
What happens to each entity in the end is very different. Yami Marik, as we know, is destroyed by Marik when he is encouraged by Rishid not to give up hope. Though it is speculated that he actually was not really destroyed (as I believe, since to me I feel that he is the manifestation of true darkness), it is obvious that he does not remerge with Marik. Marik is a complete soul without his Yami, since he still has both a good and an evil side and his Yami was created from excess and unneeded hate. Therefore, now that Marik's mental strength has been renewed, Yami Marik can no longer inhabit his body to cause his destruction.
Nova, on the other hand, does remerge with Hikaru, as it is said that since they are part of each other, one is not complete without the other. If Nova is destroyed, part of Hikaru is destroyed as well, therefore the only solution for them is to remerge. Thank goodness this is not the case with Marik and his Yami.
In the end, Nova is actually an extremely misguided entity who actually does only wish to do what she believes Hikaru truly wants. Indeed she is very complex, especially compared to Yami Marik's one-dimensional "I want to kill everyone until I'm the only one left" motives. Nova fascinates me, as does Yami Marik to a certain extent. Mostly, in Yami Marik's case, I just love to prove that he's not Marik himself.
