Are there any obvious parallels between strange Fake characters and Narita’s other characters?
I think this question would be better directed at someone who read Baccano and Vamp, but I guess I can work with some comparisons. This is overall a pretty superficial and shoehorned post, as Narita is good at making characters different where it matters, and FsF characters have intentional similarities to Nasu's characters rather than his own, but there are some patterns to found in Narita's general casts.
My Narita senses have been activated lol, though its been a long time since I've browsed through my Narita books+I haven't bought any recent volumes in a while to save money, so apologies if the following is vague/inaccurate. Unmarked spoilers, so be wary.
Ayaka's similarities to Anri has been covered, so let me skip to Richard. I've never really compared Richard to Narita's previous characters, but now that I think about it he reminds of Claire Stanfield from Baccano. Both are charismatic, eccentric, and talkative red-heads(?) who can pretty much do anything and have histories of violence. And Claire's relationship with his love interest Chane Laforet is quite similar to Richard's and Akaya's. Claire's courtship of Chane is similar to how Richard tries to be Ayaka's servant, but because both Chane and Ayaka have trust issues they are wary of the other's actions.
Tine… hmm… I can't think of a specific character she's similar to… I guess maybe Akane from DRRR? At least in the way they both have someone they admire (Akane originally her family, Tine to Gilgamesh), before sort of having that admiration shattered. I'm also reminded Ricardo in how serious they both act, but I don't remember anything else. Argh, my memory is rusty orz.
Skipping Gil and Wolf to go to Enkidu… I guess they remind me of Ennis from BCN. At least in how little they initially view themselves. Enkidu and Ennis were both "created" as tools: Enkidu as a mud doll to chain down Gilgamesh, and Ennis as an homunculus to serve Vol1's big bad. However, their first friendships were important beginnings in breaking out of the roles they were created for and becoming more "human." I'm also reminded of Vorona in their "mechanical" personalities, and how excited they get when fighting.
Tsubaki… She fits Narita's abused child character archetype, though that is probably more a reference to Sakura than any Narita character. I'm not sure why because their situations and personalities are not similar at all, but Ruri from drrr always first comes to mind. Hmm… Narita has a lot of children characters that went through torture/experimentation, but unlike Tsubaki they always feel kind of vindictive toward their abusers. Maybe Illness? I need to reread the ship arc.
Orlando has an easy comparison: Victor Talbot from Baccano. They both work for the government, Orlando as the police chief of Snowfield and Victor as the assistant director to the BOI (precursor to the FBI). Orlando is secretly a mage while Victor is an immortal. And despite knowing that what they do is not always good, ultimately they want to do what is just.
Dumas really reminds me of Ladd Russo even though they are very, very different. I've always speculated that if Fujiwara Keiji did not pass away, he would have been Dumas' VA. They are both boisterous and sort of hammy/dramatic. This leads to others to look down on them, but they are both actually more cunning than others assume. I can't put it into words, but Narita has stated Ladd is his favorite Baccano character and I feel a similar sort of love in Dumas. Not super relevant but when I compare them I always think of this scene.
Jester-pick a random DRRR character and they'll probably fit. I think of Shinra or Seiji on how they were "normal" until they met Celty and became obsessed with her, not caring about anything else. Jester wasn't really into the grail war until he met No Name, even abandoning his "principles" to mess with her.
No Name Assassin is easily comparable to Chane. Both extremely faithful to entities that don't really respect them back (No Name to the Hassan group, Chane to her father). Because of this they don't really have much self-preservation and would do anything for their source of loyalty. But despite their devotion, they still have their morals like unwilling to get innocents involved. But as they interact with others, they still maintain their original loyalty, but their worldview starts to grow beyond the narrow scope they were raised in. Hmm. The more I think about it, the more similarities I find. Well to cut this short, I do find No Name Assassin's relationship with Sigma to be less like Chane & Claire's, but more like Ruri & Kasuka due to their stoicism and Kasuka's emptiness.
For Flat and Jack, a long time ago I was trying to write a prediction of where their storylines would go, but deleted it since Thia kind of messed up my thoughts lol. Most people would immediately think of Elmer for Flat since they are both cheerful blondes with an alien mindset/sense of morality. They're both typical alien-morality Narita characters, but relationship-wise I strongly believe Flat and Jack is based on Jig and Troma from Narita's canceled Shounen Jump series, "Stealth Symphony." I was going to write a synopsis, but it got too long so just go read the manga lol. It's just 3 volumes since it was axed.
The focus of Jack and Troma's characters is that they both lack a sense of self: Jack due to not knowing their true identity and Troma due to being a invisible dragon. Though the way they try to deal with that emptiness is quite different.
Flat and Jig… I feel like Narita was repurposing some of Jig's story beats for Flat lol. Jig is originally introduced as a normal guy who unfortunately has had a device implanted onto him that causes harm to be rebounded on the attacker. He goes to the city to find a cure so he no longer has to fear accidentally hurting others. However, by the end of the story he acts more and more erratic, becoming a danger to everyone else. He is then killed right in front of Troma. It is revealed that the device's true purpose is to transform the user into the Black Dragon, thereby resurrecting the dragons' former leader and allowing the dragons to once again rule the world. However, before Jig completely lost his mind, he hired an assassin to kill him when the time comes. Though the circumstances differed, I was so sure Flat would die at some point because of the similarities between Jig/Troma and Flat/Jack.
Jig's death heavily impacted Troma and it is implied(? I don't really remember so take with a grain of salt) he takes some characteristics of Jig/is living through him or something. And I believe Jack will do something similar. Though of course, Narita is known for his reluctance to kill off characters. In an author's note he mentioned some future arcs he had planned which included an arc about resurrecting Jig. He didn't go into detail, but I feel like whatever he originally had planned will be repurposed for Flat/Jack. IDK where Thia fits into this.
This is getting too long so I'm going to end with Sigma. Hmm… my brain is getting too frazzled but in terms of emptiness and trying to figure out what they are I think of Kasuka. Though I feel like personality wise he is more similar to Polka in that they are both a bit stoic/serious and have the simple desire for a peaceful life.
This reminds me of when I wanted to make a Narita trope bingo chart. One day…
