gonna start this off by saying that i will be ranting? sharing my thoughts? about honorifics and such in this lil game
AKA a shrimpy attempt at making sense of Michael's and Lucifer's relationship
The term Older Brother has been thrown around here and there in WHB and it's important to know that PrettyBusy is a Korean company and they use that term in multiple ways than just being your actual literal blood-related older brother.
It's the norm in Asian countries to refer to elders with honorifics, not matter what your relation is to them, related or otherwise.
The honorific you're using also indicates your closeness to said person. If someone were to address a man as Older Brother, I would immediately assume that they are close to a certain degree, unless their body language or tone of voice says otherwise.
Most Asian countries are high context cultures, aka you can't just rely on a person's words alone in order to grasp the meaning of what they're trying to communicate. Gotta look at body language, tone, nonverbal cues, etc.
Now, in WHB, the term does pop up a couple of times and each time has a different meaning. Forgive me for this part, I am relying on my pathetic shrimpy memory so I might not have all the details.
The only literal blood-related older brother we have in the game WHO IS STILL ALIVE is Minhyeok's older brother. That's it. Pretty straightforward. I'm sorry my bbg Andrealphus but your bro is dead soooooo
Next we've got the seraphim.
This is where things get messy between them. Honorifics can be both a formality and an endearment. You can call someone "older brother" out of respect as their elder and have literally no affection towards them whatsoever OR you call them by that honorific with respect and affection (platonic or familial or otherwise)
So yeah, the Seraphs using hyung as a way to refer to Lucifer could be purely out of a heirarchy/title thing since there are ranks among angels. But it can also have a more personal meaning. Like actually considering Lucifer as their older brother OR they see him as a respectable older figure.
On the other hand, someone younger can call you "older brother" and it's practically nothing to you. It's a formality, a norm, a title. The only thing you take out of it is that they recognize/respect you enough to use an honorific.
The scenario that I'm getting at is that Micheal might just be addressing Lucifer with hyung either a.) as force of habit, b.) it's his preferred title to address him with instead of Sir, or c.) the kind of affection he had for him changed over the years (it might've started out as familial but changed into something different). Or it's all of the above.
Meanwhile, for Lucifer, he takes that title quite literally. The three seraphs are his brothers, as God said so. His Father gave him siblings and that's the only way he sees them as. It's his duty to care for and treat them like a brother should.
The argument of God being their creator and therefore it makes them actually related is lowkey questionable as fuck cuz God made the devils too. The entirety of Hell would be considered incestuous if you apply the same logic. It would also make Adam and Eve incestuous.
Different people can have different perspectives on what their relationship w the other is. Honorifics can be a way to further show that disparity. Same word but having different meanings between two people using them.
That difference in perspective can be a source of conflict, regardless if it's for shipping or if you just wanna complicate their situation further.
BEFORE YOU CALL ME AN INCEST LOVING FUCKER
dawg im asian. in high school, the lower years had crushes on their upperclassmen who are reffered to as "Older Brother/Sister"
yeah you wanna date that Older Brother from class 4-C who's great at guitar
yeah that Older Sister from 3-A looks so pretty and confident that you cant help but have a crush on her
yeah you can get your heart broken if that Older Brother you like only sees you as a younger sibling regardless of how close you and are how much you hint towards your romantic feelings for him
your Oppa, Noona, Unnie, Hyung, Onee-san, Onii-san, Ate, Kuya, etc don't have one and done meanings. it varies a lot and you cant just be narrowminded and take it at face value.
