It's a mental break up

i took a break from doing art to do some art

time for round 3 of the @need-him-pregnant-poll tournament and here's my propaganda for why you should vote for Aku rather than Gomez Addams: because Gomez would vote for Aku.

EDIT: Aku lost the poll, but with your help we got him from 15% to 39%, briefly peaking at 41%. And considering the competition that's something to be proud of. Well done, everyone.

Challenged 3 little gods to a fight and lost

But I think that's judging him by the ending of the story instead of by the events as they happen.

Aku's main objective wasn't simply to kill Jack. It was to make sure Jack could never return to the past. And... he actually succeeded.

For a thousand years. He didn't just throw Jack into the future and hope for the best. He systematically destroyed the time portals, until the last one was gone.

That moment broke Jack completely. By Season 5, Jack himself had accepted that he was trapped in the future. He had failed his life's mission and even contemplated ending his own life.

Objectively, that's not the work of an incompetent villain.

People often say, "But Jack won in the end."

Yes... because of Ashi.

And that's exactly the point. Aku had no idea Ashi even existed until the end of Season 5. He certainly couldn't predict that:

• The high priestess drank his essence and bore children

• one of the Daughters would reject her upbringing

• fall in love with Jack

• awaken a time-travel ability inherited from Aku himself

• and become the key to returning to the past.

Those were extraordinary, unforeseen events. Without Ashi, Jack had no known way back.

Aku certainly has flaws—he's arrogant, theatrical, talks too much, and sometimes lets his ego get in the way.

But calling him incompetent ignores one huge fact: For almost the entire story, his plan actually worked.

That's one of the reasons I find him such a fascinating villain. He's funny, over-the-top, sometimes ridiculous... but he's also a ruler who maintained his empire for a thousand years and came frighteningly close to achieving a permanent victory.

That's why I think the significance of the last time portal scene is often overlooked.

At that point, Jack simply couldn't return to the past anymore. Ashi—and everything that happened afterward—was completely unforeseen, and certainly not something Aku could reasonably have anticipated. 😅

I sometimes see people call him an incompetent cartoon villain because he talks too much, runs away, or sends henchmen after Jack.

talks too much

Do you know who talks too much? Jack. Aku escapes in ep 1 because Jack was bantering instead of killing him & Jack wins in the last ep by not stopping to talk.

When has talking too much ever caused a problem for Aku?

MAYBE the last ep? But his mistake is only 1/2 gloating before killing Jack; the other 1/2 is procrastinating the kill too long.

90% of the time he's "talking too much," he's talking to himself, at home, alone. When he's talking to somebody, he isn't distracted—he immediately reacts to threats and attacks. (He'll even cut himself off mid-evil laugh just because he thinks he might sense something amiss. Keen situational awareness.) He's never accidentally given away important info while monologuing. He's never lost a battle due to pausing to gloat. He's never had an enemy escape a trap because he was busy explaining his evil plan.

So in what way, exactly, does talking "too much" impact his competence as a villain?

runs away

THIS IS PROOF THAT AKU'S A SMART VILLAIN.

Outside Jack finding a portal (which you addressed), there's ONLY ONE WAY Aku can lose: if Jack stabs him a lot. That's it.

And so, Aku's most reasonable long-term strategy is... making sure Jack can't stab him a lot. Whether or not Aku wins against Jack, as long as he stays out of melee range, he'll never lose.

Plus, look at how their battles go. In all their fights, Aku only draws blood once. Jack's sword carves through Aku like a flamethrower through tissue paper. The one time Aku has the upper hand during a battle is when he's got Jack's sword.

Aku's not a bad fighter, as we see in Warrior Woman, Zombies, and Jack vs Aku. But his skills and powers are useless when Jack's pointing the sword at him. So like, what would happen if Aku kept fighting and DIDN'T run away?

He'd die. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

If somebody drops a 5 ton safe over your head, are you a coward if you step out of the way rather than try to catch it? Is catching it courageous and honorable? No. Catching it is stupid. Stepping out of the way is the absolute minimum threshold of common sense. Aku has common sense.

You know what an incompetent villain would do? "I'll fight him for I am unstoppable and all-powerful! He cannot possibly defeat me!" or some arrogant BS like that. Aku openly admits more than once that he can't beat the sword and that's why he won't fight it.

or sends henchmen after Jack.

(road work ahead voice) Uh, yeah? I sure hope he does. And the alternative is... what?

Here's the thing about henchmen: they're not Aku! And therefore, they're expendable! If you're playing chess and wanna take out the enemy queen, it's better to lose every single knight, bishop, rook, and pawn on the board than to lose the fucking king. If you lose the fucking king the game's over.

Once again, the fact that Aku sends other people after Jack—and in fact, immediately sets things up so that people will autonomously go after Jack—is proof that he's a reasonable and intelligent villain, not an incompetent one.

You know what an incompetent villain would do? "He's my nemesis! No one's allowed to kill him but me!" Aku does not give a shit who does it, he just wants the guy dead.

Yeah, I don’t know anymore.

So this official poster has been released for How To Train Your Dragon 3 and it has left me with… opinions. 

My first initial reaction was excitement! Oh hell yeah HTTYD 3 is coming out! I adored the first two! But then i saw…

SIIIIIGGGGGGGHHHHHHH I knew immediately that this was most likely a female night fury and fuck yeah shit fuck it is which is so disappointing. I could write a huge essay on how female characters are portrayed in media. I could write a massive blog about smurfette syndrome and how female characters are always just a pink, soft version of their male counterparts, or how female animal or anthro characters still have to fall into society’s beauty standards so we do crazy things like give ducks tits or large eyelashes. 

I COULD talk about why these things occur, and how this is a worrying reflection of how society views human females, that males are the default and females are the other… but I’m not going to do that TODAY.

Hi my name is India and not only do I have an animation degree, but I also have a degree in animal and veterinary science.

This design doesn’t just insult me as an animator. This design insults me as a scientist. 

Let’s begin. 

part twenty-eight previous/next