Under Johan Liebert’s skin: a terrified exercise of empathy
Well I wanted to make a more elabored and intellectual post about this masterpiece that is “Monster”. But since a lot of Lotor stans are hopeless and upset I thought it would be a good timing to introduce you guys to the most well written antagonist I ever seen and how the author give a proper and very human treatment to him.
It is Johan Liebert, antagonist of Monster and the true personification of the evil (not kidding)
I don’t wanna ruin anyone expirence of the story but spoilers are necessaries
Johan was literal create to be a anti christ and a kind of new Hitler (but with a sinister simphatic aura in him), what worked, cause the evil organization (nazis) created a perfect monster. Johan don’t have any super power, but bring death, darkness and cruelty for anyone who he meet. And the same time he is so lethal he is, for some reason, a person that inspire admiration and calm (he is calm, handsome and charismatic all the damn time). He could easy make follows and appear almost like a God. But all those talents are meanless to him, because Johan’s capacity to empathy and feel emotions were stole from him.
He can make a collection of allies and yet, be incapable to create any type of emocional conection with anyone. There is a exception, but we will talk about her later. This condition prevent him to move on and take a step to cure his childhood traumas. Other important detail is that Johan isn’t even his real name, he and his twin sister are just nameless children of a experiment. Don’t have a name, a identity is a important issue that will guide Johan to self destruction and move the whole trama. The people who adore him and serve him just do that cause he reminds them someone dear, só Johan is totally aware people love a ideia of him instead of himself.
The only two people who actually know him, they are the protagonist, that save him and paid for it, and his twin sister Anna. Johan apparently still have a little of connection with Anna, and she is probably the only caracter who bring some humanity in this monstrous figure. But in a point of story even her turn against him and think he is a monster who have to be stopped (for very good reasons). The confirmation of the horror of Anna by him is a impact factor to him since it show the complete loneliness that consume him.
The emptiness and a meanless existence are a constant in his dead look. A life of despair don’t affect him and his a acts are motives for pure indiferance, for him the cruelty know no limits (even children are in danger with him). He knows he can break even the most kind person and he try to do so with the protagonist and his sister.
But even when it is so clear there is no hope for him and he is just monster, so far away from human compression, the narrative don’t pick the easy way! Johan was the personification of the evil and for that we just know him as caracter and who is the man behind this hole is unknown.
And ever after all Anna sincerely forgive him, prove the incondicional love between siblings. Johan could be loved, even being the way he is, this make him realize that maybe he can do it too. Is it that can turn him in human again?
In the end Johan get the lost fraternal affection, a ultimate proof that his view of the world was wrong and his true name. The manga don’t dare give a solucion to Johan arc, his fate is unknown but the pierces of the puzzle imply the birth of human and death of monster. To good writers anyone is beyond redeemption.
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