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Appearances are deceiving: Who can say what is good and what is evil?

"Good guys" and "bad guys"

We are used to separate fictional characters  into two groups: "good guys" and "bad guys". Most of the time it is easy to recognize them in Western  productions, where  roles tend to be well defined: the bad guy, usually a crazy freak, seeks to destroy the world for reasons unknown (after all, what is the use of taking over the world? All the money spent by bad guys in order to rule the world would give them as much power if it would be invested in a multinational company...). The typical  villain does not listen to reason, does not change his mind and does not repent. We think of him as a deformed, grotesque individual, clothed in black and sporting a maniacal laughter. He is the perfect opponent for the good guy, his archi-enemy in an endless fight in which, we all know, the good guy is always right and will win in the end. On the other hand, the good guy is handsome and wears white, the color of light. Loyal, strong, perfect, he saves the world (and the beautiful girl) because he was born for this. He can't go wrong, he does not change, he does not grow; After all, how can a god-chosen being, that has already been born perfect, get any better?

This clash between two completely opposite forces, good and evil, is known as manichaeism and has its roots in Persian religion, many years before Christ. Persians saw the world as the stage of an eternal fight between the gods of light (associated to good) and darkness (associated to evil). This Persian duality between light vs. shadows did not allow for a midway, for any patterns of Grey. One would belong either to one or to the other side. Victory of light (as good) upon darkness (as evil) was the only possible and desirable solution. Supernatural beings on both sides fought eternally against each other and mankind depended on them to be protected from evil, since it was something exterior and superior to man and could not be controlled by him.

Gemini Saga, from Saint Seiya, divided between "good" and "evil"

Such concept strongly influenced  judaic-christian philosophy, as one can easily see: the idea of a "ready made" savior, perfect, chosen by the gods and superior to normal men who would save mankind from evil left the domain of religion and entered literature, and thus the concept of hero was created. For the ancient Greek, a hero was a godlike man, capable of supernatural deeds. Later on, the literary hero was characterized by his physical and moral strength. Thus comic books created a generation of "superheroes", beings who are more than human, not anymore because of liaisons between gods and mortals, as in Greek mythology, but usually as a result from some scientific or genetic accident (for instance, Spiderman, Hulk and the X-Men) or engineered through  financial support  (as for Batman and Iron Man).

In manga and anime, on the other hand, there is a different emphasis: of course there are good guys and bad guys and good always triumphs in the end, but some deep differences must be considered: how is this  hero? How is the villain? And the most important question: what is good?

In the great majority of manga and anime the protagonist is someone normal (with a great potential, of course), which is "recruited" in a very involuntary way to be brought to a "hero condition". Sometimes his reasons are not at all noble: they can be completely egotistical (as for Seiya in Saint Seiya, who only submitted to Saori in order to meet his sister) or can arise from a complete lack of other options (as for the Gundam Wing boys, abandoned orphans trained to become terrorists). This often forces heroes to perform acts usually associated to villains (as for the assassins of Weiss Kreuz or the destructive fury of Akira). The anime/manga hero is usually someone snatched away from normal life and forced to evolve by sheer survival reasons. He is not born "ready" or "superhuman" and has difficulty in discovering his powers and possibilities. The message is that it can happen to any of us: a hero is not born a hero, he becomes one through circumstances and usually does not know why other people think he is better than they are. Maybe this comes from the Buddhist philosophy: according to that, anyone can achieve Enlightenment and become a superior being. There are no barriers between gods and men, anyone can achieve perfection through his effort, abnegation and persistence.

So, human characters in manga and anime are almost never quite good or evil (I am not thinking here of supernatural beings such as angels and demons, who act according to their natures). Even most villains have good reasons to act as they do: their hate can have been originated by childhood traumas (as is the case of Ikki, since we are talking about Saint Seiya, or of young Seta Soujirou in Rurouni Kenshin/Samurai X), by some past event that created an uncontrolled rage (as is the case of Makoto Shishio , also in Rurouni Kenshin) or even by excessive zeal in performing one's duties (again, an example from Saint Seiya: Gemini Saga wants to destroy the world in order to purify it and make it better). "To become evil" is not a privilege of erratic, senseless maniacs, individuals with inescapable genetic tendencies to evil. The "bad guys" are or were normal people, sometimes extremely well-intentioned, led by circumstances or misguided acts to act in a "wrong way" (let's wait and see what really caused Darth Vader to go over to the dark side of the Force...)

"May the force be with you"  (whichever one)

"The dark side of the force" in George Lucas' Star Wars illustrates very well that the frontiers between "villain" and "hero" are very tenuous. It is no wonder that Darth Vader is as much or even more a cult figure than Luke Skywalker (by the way, what a poetic surname!): he is closer to our daily reality: the little choices we make every day define our place in life and we are constantly in doubt about which way to take. And why does it happen, if we have been told more than a thousand times which way is the right and which is the wrong one by religion and schoolteachers? Just because, as I hinted above, there is really no clear-cut division. Everything is relative (even the absolute, some would say...), it depends on what you want to achieve and at which cost.
The "force" in Star Wars, the chi in many manga/anime, the Reiki of Yu Yu Hakusho and many others are just different names for a vital force that permeates the universe (mind you, not only human beings, but also every living being and maybe even inanimate ones). This is well shown in Dragonball Z, as Goku evokes this force to perform the Genkidama, a ball created from the energy of a planet or even a whole galaxy. Although Western science is very reluctant about such a notion, some experiments and facts (specially in Eastern cultures) strongly indicate that such a force is not only metaphorical. Anyway, this force is completely neutral: it is a potentiality that can be used at its wielder's will. The use one makes of it may then be considered "good" or "bad" by other people, but such judgement is always attached to a point of view.
Another thing to take into consideration is the dual nature of such a force. In the Tao Te Ching, one of the major works of Taoism (a Chinese philosophical current), we find the following passage :

We are only conscious of the beautiful
When we meet the ugly
We are only conscious of the good
When we know the bad
Therefore, Being and  Existing engender each other
Easy and difficult complete each other.
Great and small are complementary.
Tall and short make a whole
Sound and silence form harmony (...)

I have tried to translate it from Portuguese into English, since I do not have an English version of the book. This is poem 2, and maybe you know it with other words, but I think you got the idea. Opposites do not only attract each other, they also interact in order to build a whole. This is clearly illustrated by the Tei-Gi symbol, usually known as yin-yang:

This symbol is really composed of five elements: first comes the external circle, which stands for the emptiness, the absolute, the sum of all potentialities, still without a form.  It does not have a beginning or an end or even any special part, it just is.

Then we have two other elements: yin, the dark form, represents the passive principle, darkness, femininity, earth, heaviness, maintenance and preservation, and yang, the light form, standing for the active principle, light, masculinity, heaven, lightness, modification  and destruction.

Yin and Yang both complement and oppose each other: without both of them there would be no Tei-Gi. Notice that both seem to spin around, which accentuates the idea of a perpetual changing movement within a harmonious and complete whole. They are at the same time opposite and symmetrical, always mutating and alternating. Just as day follows night, the twin principles alternate inside everything in this universe: sometimes one is stronger than the other, then it is the other way round, but there is always at least a potentiality for both in every being.
There are also two other elements that usually go unnoticed: the small circles inside the yin and the yang. They are called small yin and small yang (what, really?) and their function is to remind us that duality exists also inside each principle. Everything that now is yang, for instance, still has a potentiality for yin that will grow and force it to change and vice-versa. Thus there is nothing that is completely active or passive, good or bad, right or wrong. The "dark side" of the force still keeps its bit of light and it allows Darth Vader to free himself from the emperor after his fight with Luke. In the same way, Luke had the "dark side" inside himself and could have embraced it. It was his choice not to.
 

The Gemini cloth in Saint Seiya has the mask of Janus,
the two-faced Greek god, as a symbol for 

So we will always have opposite forces in conflict, but none of these forces is good or bad by itself. Everyone is free to choose, as long as he accepts the consequences of the choice. "Egoistic" actions that only intend to use the vital force for one's sole benefit usually offend both gods and mankind, bringing about their wrath and the offender's ruin. This is the "evil" way, the "dark" side, condemned by society and that, although tempting, should be avoided if one does not intend to pay for one's deeds in a very hard way, sooner or later. That is what manga and anime try to convey to children (and adults as well) through the identification with the characters and the effects of catarsis, which I will explain later.

A good example that it is not so easy to draw a limit between good and evil, right and wrong, is the story of Capricorn Shura in Saint Seiya. Shura was so proud of being the most faithful knight of Athena's that he almost caused her death by refusing to listen to Sagittarius Aioros, as this latter was trying to save the baby Athena from Saga's plans. For many years Shura lived sure that he was a hero, a champion for good and justice, but during his fight against Shiryuu he was forced to find out that he was actually fighting against Athena. He could not stand remorse and tried to redeem himself by giving Shiryuu his golden clothe so that he could survive. He knows that would cost him his life, but after failing in his mission, Shura knows he can't go on and accepts the punishment for his hubris.

In Greek mythology (the basis for the plot in Saint Seiya) hubris is the name of the exaggerated feelings of self-confidence that frequently takes men to rebel against godly designs. This serious fault (sometimes even involuntary, as in Shura's case) brings about nemesis, the godly indignation and the consequent fall and destruction of that individual. In Shura's case we see that pride blinds one to the truth and that one must keep his eyes open for new facts and decide, in every occasion, what is right and what is wrong.

Bad to the bone

Cancer Deathmask, from Saint Seiya

Well, not every "bad guy" is really a "wronged good guy". Of course there are people in real life that are "bad to the bone" and the same happens in manga and anime, although they are usually secondary characters. These are the classic "villains", the ones who make us cheer when they get punished. A good example, since we are talking about Saint Seiya, is Cancer Deathmask.

Deathmask is convinced that the world belongs to the strong and that weak people should serve them or perish. He is glad to show his macabre trophies, spirits of those he killed, among which are even children. However, he is no demented villain. He is completely aware of his deeds and acts according to his convictions. He puts out his opinions in a very straight way: "winners are always right. After their victory, everything they did becomes right". He presents his thesis in a very cynical way, so that we hate him for that and hope for his downfall, but he does have a point. Very often we come to reason that the world history  we take for granted would be very different if it would have been written by the defeated people and factions. That which is a glorious victory for the winner may have been a terrible carnage for the defeated. It is interesting to notice how words like "revolution/coup" or "liberation/domination" can be ambiguous in certain situations, according to the faction that has our sympathy. Again, right and wrong, good and evil are two faces of the same coin.

Just as Deathmask we find many other "villains" who act like they do because they strongly believe they are better than others and that it gives them the right to act as they well want to. Deathmask thinks he is superior because of his strength; others think they are above good or evil because of their economic force (just as an example, we can think of the members of the Black Jack Club in Yu Yu Hakusho) and still others, especially women, do the same because of their beauty (but there are also androgynous characters that share this profile, such as Pisces Aphrodite, about whom we will talk later). Whatever reasons these "real villains" claim for their actions, they too are subjected to nemesis: they are not vanquished by the "good guys" just because good is more powerful than evil. Actually, Japanese bad guys are always very close to complete victory. They are usually as much or even stronger than the heroes and are only vanquished because their arrogance makes them careless. In the same way that tragic heroes fall in disgrace because of his hubris, villains too are defeated by it: Deathmask offends his golden cloth with his arrogance, the spirits of those he killed turn against him.  All this weakens him to the point that Shiryuu manages to defeat him, after his almost certain death in a  terrible fight. Just like that, Shishio Makoto is beating Kenshin badly until he forgets that he is not allowed to overstep his physical limits. It is not Kenshin that defeats him, he causes his defeat himself. Therefore, again there is no inborn difference between "good" and "bad" characters: both must be aware of their limits or they will suffer the consequences. Of course the moralizing spirit of manga and anime shows us that one should pursue justice and defend love and thus heroes and heroines always win in the end, but even they must find out what love looks like and where justice is.

Appearances are deceiving: beauty as Evil

Pisces Aphrodite, from  Saint Seiya

All of us have the tendency to associate good to beauty. Heroes are usually handsome or at least pleasant-looking. However, escaping the stereotype that beauty is something necessarily good, there are several characters in manga and anime that ally beauty to cruelty and death. When she first sees Zabon in Dragonball Z, Bulma says that someone so handsome can't be bad. She quickly discovers her mistake, not only because of Zabon's actions but also because he transforms into a disgusting reptile. But the exterior does not always depict the interior and that brings us a series of beautiful villains, male or female, as, for instance, Caldina in Rayearth and Pisces Aphrodite in Saint Seiya.
The figure of the femme fatale that seduces men and bring them to their ruin is already well known in the West. Something new are androgynous, delicate male characters whose beauty hides a black heart. Pisces Aphrodite is one of these characters (by the way, Aphrodite is the Greek name of Venus, godess of love and beauty). The Master of the Sanctuary himself says that one would expect Aphrodite to be harmless since he is so beautiful, but the truth is exactly the opposite. Aphrodite has pleasure in killing and does it with a weapon that hardly anybody would associate with death: he kills with roses.
Roses are usually associated to love and passion, especially red roses, that are Aphrodite's favorite weapon. His most lethal weapon, however, is a white rose, usually a symbol for peace, that acts like a vampire and sucks the blood of its victims to become red. Just as a vampire, it steals other people's lives to become a symbol of passion. Appearances are deceiving and again there is no right and wrong, safe and dangerous. We should not forget that the rose is in itself an ambiguous symbol, since although it is beautiful and perfumed it also has its thorns for a weapon. And is there something as clashing as the idea of an armed flower?

Rayearth and Catharsis

The most complete example of destroying clear limits between good and evil that I have ever seen in manga and anime is Rayearth. Without false modesty (ahem!), I must say that I am pretty experienced in plots from manga and anime, but Rayearth really deceived me to the end. If you, dear friend, have not yet watched the anime and intend to do it, maybe you should not read this. It will spoil your pleasure if you already know about the secret of Zagard and Princess Emerald. I myself watched the anime without much enthusiasm until the revelations started to gush with breath-taking intensity. But if you don't mind spoilers, let's take a look on that which makes Rayearth's conception so special.

The anime starts in a very usual way: three young girls are suddenly transported
  from modern  Tokyo to a fantasy land, Zephyr, where they find out that they were summoned in order to become Magic Knights and free princess Emerald., who had been imprisoned by her former first-minister, Zagard. The girls meet Guru Clef, who provides them with magic armors and explains that the princess is the "pillar of Zephyr", the person who magically sustains all that world and lends it the peace and perfection that reigned until then. Since the princess can not pray for the country anymore, it is desintegrating quickly and terrible monsters are terrorizing the people. The girls must make their armors evolve and wake three geniuses which will enable them to defeat Zagard, who is a great sorcerer and former pupil of Clef. Before this latter can say anything else, he is turned into stone by Zagard and the girls are on their own to find their way by their own forces.

Up to that, the only novelty of the anime is  being a "formation anime" for girls (see more about it in my page about Pikachu and the German concept of Bildungsroman): they must evolve by their own means before they can face their great opponent. Again we notice that the girls are not "heroines" in the sense that they are superhuman. They were chosen but we do not know why. Maybe any three girls would do, they will fulfill their destiny only if they learn to use they still unknown abilities.

During the anime, Lucy, Marine and Amy defeat Zagard's minions one by one and wake the geniuses, until Zagard is forced to oppose them in person. Only at that moment do we find out that Zagard has not kidnapped the princess out of cupidity or a wish for power or even because of any indecorous feeling for her: he did it because they fell in love and the pillar of Zephyr is not allowed to have any "egoistic" feelings. That is, the pillar does not own her own life; her only reason to exist is to pray for Zephyr's welfare. When she fell in love with Zagard, Emerald became incapable of living only for the others: she has now an individual feeling and that disqualifies her for being the pillar.
Well, what would you think of such a situation? Emerald would renounce the title, other pillar would be chosen and she and Zagard would live happy ever after, isn't it? Wrong! A new pillar can only be chosen after the death of the former one and thus the mission of the Magic Knights is really... TO KILL THE PRINCESS!

Of course, in retrospection, we can see the hints to the charade: Zagard is much to handsome to be really wicked (although manga/anime do not always follow  the tendency of "good looking heroes/bad looking villains", there is a certain difference in drawing between "very bad" villains and "not so bad" ones): Zagard never manhandle the princess or is rude to her. He is never really happy when his enemies are killed or defeated. It has never been told that the girls' only task was to defeat Zagard. A web of half-statements and a lot of presuppositions take us to believe it. But, in the end, who is really right? The Magic Knights or Zagard?

Zagard has kidnapped the princess because he does not accept the ways of Zephyr: why must only one person renounce to everything for the others to live happy and free of worries? Why must love, a feeling that all accept as positive and desirable, be punished with death? Why does he have to watch impotent the death of his beloved? Zagard rebels against a situation that, truth be said, every one of us would repudiate. Who would condemn him and call him a "villain", "ambitious" or "egotistical madman"?

And what about the Magic Knights? Lucy herself objects to the assassination of a poor girl in love because of her people's egotism. But, on the other hand, if the princess does not die, Zephyr will be destroyed. What is more important: life and happiness of one or two or life and happiness of many? (do not ask this question in Vulcan, if it is you life and happiness at stake...).  What should be protected, pure but individual love or duty for the group? Anyway it is wrong, any solution leads to a loss. There are no winners or losers: in life, happiness of one is the disgrace of another and one can't say who is right or wrong, who deserves suffering or not, it just comes. Right and wrong are sides of the same coin, valid for any of the parties. There is no right, pre-established way that will lead you to happiness. Choices must be made: Zagard made his and lost. The girls made theirs and won, but there is no glory in this situation. Just like Shura, the girls had the bitter experience of seeing that everything they took for right and just per se was not that right and just for everyone. And one must always keep that in mind.

The girls would never have been able to kill the princess in cold blood, so the mangaka (creator of the manga/anime) was forced to find a way to make the princess's death morally acceptable: when she see Zagard's death, the princess transforms into another being, furious and blinded by hate, that attacks the Knights and forces them to kill her in self-defense (it is also interesting to notice that  while the "normal" Emerald looks like a small girl, the being into which she transforms is an adult woman. Does it have something to do with the fact that she finally assumes her love for Zagard and suffers with his loss?..).
It is true that something of the princess still remains inside the new being and she detains it long enough to implore the Magic Knights to kill her. When these latter finally comply, she is at last free to reunite with Zagard in another world.
I must say that I cried a lot during this scene and cry again everytime I think of it: when I think of beings so imprisoned by their obligations that they only find a possibility of personal happiness in death; when I think of beings that suffered so much for something they had the right to from the beginning; when I think that their makeshift happy ending may be just metaphorical (for those who do not believe entirely in an afterlife) I get very sad and at the same time very happy that someone has presented the issue in such a delicate way. It is there for anyone to see, if you just have eyes for that.

This effect of bringing someone to tears about a fictional story was not achieved just by hoping that the public has a tendency for being a crybaby (what is definitely not my case!). This profound identification with characters and their disgrace is an effect denominated catharsis, typical from the theatrical gender called tragedy.

The story of Emerald and Zagard has much of Romeo and Julia. It has much to do with Shakespeare's tragedies and is totally based on the Greek models of classical tragedy and tragic hero. In classical tragedy we have the fight of a hero against the inexorability of a destiny determined by the gods. Later on, heroes started to fight against the forces of social environment and are frequently forced to choose between love and duty or honor, which drags them to an impasse that can't be solved without coming to disgrace and even death. "Tragedy is a fictional piece inspired by a serious concern with man's destiny - his relationship with the conjuncture that involves him and his place in the universe - that brings him to a final and impressive disgrace caused by an unforeseen or involuntary mistake. When watching a tragedy we identify ourselves with the suffering of these human beings that win our respect and sympathy and through this become better persons" through the catharsis.

Catharsis is a term that comes from the Greek kátharsis and means 'purification'. For Aristotle, tragedy would create in the public feelings of terror and mercy, leading to the purification of such feelings. By experiencing the hero's tragic situation while watching the play, the spectator would perceive that he too would sometimes experience such situations and would be freed of his anguish. Or, if he would never have experienced such feelings, he would have an opportunity of experiencing them in safety, would learn to fight them and would also be glad for being free of them (how many times did we not think "how good that it wasn't me"? - But it can really happen to anyone, you know...).

Such identification makes us cry when the lovers in Rayearth die; it makes us feel pity for Shura and forgive Saga because, after all, they are also just human, if very powerful, and therefore subject to failure. And if even heroes can fail, what about us?..

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