The interesting thing about Gobbowl culture in Ankama media (and probably the aspect that most resembles irl football) is the fact that the interest it draws comes less from the sport itself and more from there being players the fans can idolise and obsess over.
Khan Karkass summed it up best: people don't come to matches to watch them play, they come to watch him.
Gobbowl fans care more about their favourite player than the sport itself. In fact, for the most part they care more about their favourite player putting on a show for them than them playing well.
And this is something that's been present in all iterations of the franchise, in the different eras (except for Waven, but the game's not quite there as far as I'm concerned).
Back in Wakfu season 1, there was Kriss Krass, who was massively popular, even when I seem to remember he didn't even play in the first division back then.
Moreover, his main flaw was being a complete showboat, but it was precisely because he knew his fans cared more about him putting on a good show than about the actual outcome of the game. I mean, the man held back from utterly cursbtomping the opposite team just so he could keep the game going for as long as possible and his fans wouldn't get bored!
Then season 2 introduced Maude as the Masked Gobbowler. In Brâkmar. Where women aren't even allowed to watch Gobbowl.
And, sure, one of the main reasons she hid her identity was precisely because if she was found out, the lightest sentence would be her being banned from ever playing again, with the highest sentence being... Well...
But that doesn't change the fact that Brâkmar holds their best player in such a high pedestal the Masked Gobbowler had a say in legal procedures and how to deal with the accused party of a trial. With no one, not even the Prince of Brâkmar, daring to refute.
And in the end, after Maude proved just how amazing her technique is by saving the city alongside Kriss from the Mmmmmporg's rampage, Brâkmar started treating having a girl as their best player as a badge of honour (if only because they thought it proved their superiority over Bonta).
And then we have the Dofus Era with Khan Karkass.
Khan, who was introduced looking for new team members with the sole purpose of making himself look better, because that's what the fans wanted. They wanted Khan. Everybody else was little more than a living prop meant to make him shine.
His fame was so great that you could say it overshadowed even Jashash's. Because even though the match was supposed to commemorate him and his sacrifice, what everyone really came to see was Khan play. Even the announcer gave so much more importance to Khan's presence over Jahash's feats.
And, again, the fans seemed to care much more about Khan as an icon than they did his actual skills. Now, don't get me wrong, Khan genuinely was a talented player, more importantly, one that recognised true talent. And Marilyn possessing his body and playing bad on purpose was a great factor in the fans' disillusionment over him during the climax.
However, it should be pointed out that what horrified them first was Marilyn shaving Khan's hair. Because that simple action shattered their ideal image of him. If they truly cared more about the sport, they wouldn't have even batted an eyelash.
(Again, this is a reflection of real life, where the moment a famous player makes a drastic change to their appearance, social media is already flowing with comments about it).
But no. They were horrified because they idolised Khan as a source of entertainment much more than they liked the actual sport, and his hair was his trademark. Getting rid of it was getting rid of what made Khan an object of envy and desire. And Marilyn, as fellow Khan Karkass Stan and scorned admirer, knew that. He knew it better than anyone. That's why he did it.
And I don't know wny I chose to fixate on this today and overanalyse a relatively small aspect of the franchise. I just guess this is all a neat piece of world building.
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