Love in the Time of The Dinosaurs

(This was originally a response I made on Reddit, and I figured I'd share it here because I got way too emotional while writing this. It's been edited to remove any mention of the Reddit post I was responding to.)

I'm with two hated characters, and people always gang up on them without considering what they've been through. I've basically steered clear of their sources' fandoms because of it. The people that give you issues don't usually look at the bigger picture, so they don't care about any good qualities your F/O may have. Nor do they care about any past traumas your F/O has gone through-- unless they're the stereotypical, flawless protagonist, of course. (Because protagonists are sweet angels who can do no wrong./s)

Let me use my own F/Os as examples. First, let's start with Miguel O'Hara. (SPOILERS for Across the Spider-Verse and the Spider-Man 2099 comics ahead!) Miguel is, without a doubt, loved by most folks in the fandom-- albeit for primarily superficial reasons. However, there are vocal people who constantly bring up what he did to Miles. In Across the Spider-Verse, he trapped, threatened, and aggressively pursued Miles. He pinned the poor kid to a lunar train and slammed him into it multiple times. All because Miles wanted to save his own father from The Spot. Now, out of context, this scene makes him look like an irredeemable monster. However, if you take into account his source materials, then his reaction makes a lot more sense.

Miguel went through literal hell before that point in the movie. He was abused by his own parents, he was forced into working for Alchemax via being placed in a special school by his future employer, forced into a drug addiction by said employer, and his entire genetic code was scrambled by a disgruntled coworker. Long story short, his life was in ruin from the get go. Stack his traumatic loss on top of that, and you have one hell of a storm brewing under the surface. Miguel was a ticking bomb, and Miles happened to be the breaking point. He was in the right place at the wrong time. Now don’t get me wrong! The abuse and trauma Miguel suffered is by no means an excuse for his actions. He could have, and should have, handled the situation better. However, the people that decry him often fail to take into account how trauma can affect a person. They only look at the surface of the metaphorical pond, see the scum, and refuse to see the complex beauty that lies beneath. Now, let’s move on to the second and final example: Keigo Takami.

Keigo Takami, better known as Hawks, is most likely one of the most complex characters I’ve ever fallen for. Behind every smile– every witty remark is a deep, dark sea of turmoil. (SPOILERS for My Hero Academia ahead!) Much like Miguel, Keigo was a victim of abuse; his own parents were absolutely awful to him. His own mother gave him up to the Hero Public Safety Commission just so she could survive. From there, Keigo was trained to be a loyal pawn. And, amid the pressure to perform to expectation, swiftly climbed the ladder until he became number 3 on the popularity charts. Once All Might had retired, he became number 2. During the Metahuman Liberation arc, he was ordered to play double agent; an assignment that ultimately failed. The spiral began with Twice. He discovered that Hawks was a mole. And, knowing that his cover was about to be blown, Hawks killed him. Some folks in the fandom will have you think that Keigo killed Twice without hesitation. They’re wrong. He didn’t want to do it. He begged Twice to go quietly– to let the authorities take him in without incident. However, Twice refused, leaving the winged hero with no other option.

After the Twice incident, Hawks found himself fighting Dabi, who had known of his intentions all along. He lost that fight– Dabi nearly burned his wings off. My knowledge of the rest of MHA’s story is vague at best, thanks to spoilers floating around online. But, I do know that, sometime either during or after his encounter with Dabi, Hawks had his quirk stolen by All for One. This left him utterly powerless, but he still worked for the Commission– he’s still risking his life for those people. And I know why. Because they know who Keigo’s father is, and they’re holding it over his head. If he were to turn his back on them, they’d let that information slip out, ruining his career. He’s under an unfathomable amount of pressure, and some people don’t understand just how damaging that is. Top that pressure off with the trauma of having to kill against his will, and having to fight for his life, and you have a man who’s broken beyond belief. But no one in the show is privy to his inner storm because he hides his pain and anguish behind a glowing, radiant smile.

The fans that condemn Hawks do the same thing that some Spider-Verse fans do to Miguel: They only look at what’s on the surface, and they go no deeper. They see what they’ve done, and believe that they’re somehow irredeemable monsters. When, in fact, they’re just people– flawed, scared, traumatized people. They’re not the squeaky clean, lawful good heroes that the fandoms want them to be. And because of that, both Miguel and Keigo are condemned.