Laharl Returns

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Disgaea D2, a true Disgaea sequel, is on the way - Destructoid



Well, it seems he's served his time as a prinny and will be back in the lead for a proper sequel to the original game. I look forward to the inevitable port to a handheld.

[Aeni]

I actually missed the Etna + Laharl comedy duo (the straight man and the funny man) Laharl on his own doesn't strike me as anything worth getting out of my seat over.

[Firewind]

Nice to see the original trio back but. I loved Laharl and loved Flonne after her character development, but I can't help but feel that Etna's just going to take over the entire game. NI have a rather frightening obsession with shoving her down the playerbase's throat while other more interesting characters (like most of the Disgaea 2 cast) get sidelined by the writers trying to show how awesome they think she is.

For a character that gets such little development, NI really do love pushing her.

[Yygdrasil]

How can someone like Flonne? She's nothing but an airhead. In the subsequent games her character is a little less irritating and a little more fun (Here's lookin' at you Disgaea 4!) but she never held a candle to Laharl and Etna.

[Firewind]

Problem I have with Etna? Well other than Flonne being infinitely more useful than both Etna and Laharl in battle once you teach her some offensive spells? It's because Etna is frankly a massive dick.

Don't get me wrong, I liked her in the first game where she was actually likeable and her idiosyncrasies weren't completely overdone to the point where the horse is now three tins of dog food and a tube of glue. But because of the above the writers just push her well across the line.

It's not that her antics cross the line, it's that her antics, manipulation and downright abuse of the rest of the cast is just plain not funny, and amounts to little more than emotional torment and sadistic cruelty. She doesn't care who gets hurt in her amusement as long as it's funny and entire games have been based on her disproportionate retribution towards even the tiniest slights.

None of it is funny but the writers still keep forcing her down our throats anyway because "Oh look she has a sad backstory that we retconned into some Freudian slave crap because the original backstory didn't do anything to make her sympathetic!" or "Oh but she's a little girl that says snarky things so she must be funny!".

There is a difference between Sociopathic acts committed by an non-good character that are played for laughs and just not being funny. Post Disgaea 1 Etna is that guy in the gaming group that takes an Evil Campaign way too far.

[Yygdrasil]

Problem I have with Etna? Well other than Flonne being infinitely more useful than both Etna and Laharl in battle once you teach her some offensive spells? It's because Etna is frankly a massive dick.

Don't get me wrong, I liked her in the first game where she was actually likeable and her idiosyncrasies weren't completely overdone to the point where the horse is now three tins of dog food and a tube of glue. But because of the above the writers just push her well across the line.

It's not that her antics cross the line, it's that her antics, manipulation and downright abuse of the rest of the cast is just plain not funny, and amounts to little more than emotional torment and sadistic cruelty. She doesn't care who gets hurt in her amusement as long as it's funny and entire games have been based on her disproportionate retribution towards even the tiniest slights.

None of it is funny but the writers still keep forcing her down our throats anyway because "Oh look she has a sad backstory that we retconned into some Freudian slave crap because the original backstory didn't do anything to make her sympathetic!" or "Oh but she's a little girl that says snarky things so she must be funny!".

There is a difference between Sociopathic acts committed by an non-good character that are played for laughs and just not being funny. Post Disgaea 1 Etna is that guy in the gaming group that takes an Evil Campaign way too far.

So wait. What you're saying is that you don't like Etna due to her acting like a Demon?

[Firewind]

Flanderization - Television Tropes & Idioms

I was going to go with that but sure, why not?

EDIT: There's also Karma Houdini - Television Tropes & Idioms and God Mode Sue - Television Tropes & Idioms too though to be fair I do fully admit that the latter is highly subjective and IMO only really applies in Disgaea 2.

[Aeni]

Don't get me wrong ... I only like the Laharl + Etna combo. They have to be taken together. The original Japanese dialogue is definitely that of the traditional 2-man comedy routine (straight man/funny man) The translation ... leaves a lot to be desired. Trust me. At least it wasn't horrible as it was in Disgaea 3 (they must've hired some puto to do the translation for that one)