C!Techno being afraid to die but equally, if not more afraid of Phil dying hits so hard sometimes. The idea that Dying is the worst thing that could happen to you - except, god forbid, your best friend dying first. The idea that c!Techno’s main fear wasn’t necessarily dying, it was being left alone. So much so that while he was terrified of death, and did everything in his power to prevent his own death, he was willing to risk it over Phil’s life every. Single. Time.
He freaks out over every threat to Phil. Every baby zombie, the house arrest, all of doomsday. And the way Phil acts tells us Techno has always been like this - he takes Techno’s coddling as if he’s long since given up trying to prove to him that he can survive on his own, that he can hold his own in a fight - which Phil proves to us basically every fight he’s in. He takes the totem from Techno and keeps it in his hand because “I didn’t want you to get nervous”, he accepts his task as sideliner and chaos-causer, stays out of the main fray, keeps himself alive and unharmed over starting or winning a fight (with a player, that is.).
Phil isn’t as good at PVP as Techno is. I think we can all agree on that, and that Phil himself would say the same. But he’s not bad. Not even a little! Phil possesses a skill in fighting that I think most people lack - the ability to sense when to hit the bricks. Phil knows when a fight isn’t going his way, and he fucking dips. And he’s usually successful in disengaging from a fight as well - which is also a really important PVP skill. You can know when to leave and still not be able to (hi. Hi. I die in pvp a lot. You’ll never guess why.) Phil is also great with a bow, good with a shield, good with a sword, and for all intents and purposes, very proficient in every new fighting skill that one would need in a PVE setting, which is most of them. He’s worked with TNT, Withers, killed the dragon plenty, etc. he’s well able to fight.
But c!Techno is so, so terrified of being left alone in this world that he protects Phil from every threat he can, and some that he can’t. And C!Phil humors him, because let’s be real, the only other option would be to not be friends with the guy.
C!Techno is so scared to die. And he’s so much more petrified of doing it alone.
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I really hate to burst a lot of c!rivalsduo fans bubbles but like… c!Techno does not care about c!Dream. And c!Dream does not care about c!Techno. The fanart of Techno taking care of Dream post-prison is nice but so incredibly canon divergent. They’re not buddies. Techno owes Dream a favor and that’s literally it currently. They’re not hostile against each other, either mind you, because they have no reason to be. Whether or not it’s being used, Techno and Dream are the most power people in the server and they’re smart. Neither of them want to make the other an enemy.
They’re separate people who live very separate lives. They don’t team up out of any sort of camaraderie. They team up when their goals overlap. I say overlap for a reason here. They’ve never had the same endgoal. When it came to Doomsday, they both wanted L’Manburg gone but for different reasons. They each just needed each other’s respective power and resources for a common short term goal. Their long term goals do not currently align. Odds are, once Dream uses that favor, he won’t have anything to do with Techno unless they have a similar goal again. Dream’s got other fish to fry once he’s out of prison.
This is all analysis based off dreams escape from pandoras fault! More specifically the relationship between Dream and Techno and how Dream's actions might've irreversibly harmed their relationship down the line.
First and foremost, Techno's character is one who believes in fairness, reparation of debts, kindness, and the destruction of tyrannical forces, all coming together to make Techno willing to save Dream in the first place. Even so, Techno displayed an incredible amount of worry and care towards the other syndicate members, worrying and asking about Niki at several points, refusing again for Philza to join him in doing something extremely dangerous, and outright refusing to leave Ranboo behind and worrying about him vocally nearly the entire time.
Techno cares, he cares so very much, and his actions speak that tenfold in that he holds the entirety of the syndicate very close to him and that any attack or threat to them is something that he personally is upset and even angered by.
Which is why Dream's actions during the prison break just might've greatly soured and maybe even burned bridges between them some time in the future.
At first Dream went along with Techno saying they had to get Ranboo as well but as time went on he repeatedly suggested they leave him behind, come back to rescue him later, it's safer and smarter this way. All the way culminating in Dream refusing to step down or even help Techno in rescuing Ranboo from Sam, losing not only a canon life- but his last life. Everything about Techno's character is that he's not one to leave behind his debts or allies, but more than anything, he's willing to put his own safety and life in danger if it means saving the ones he truly cares for. Techno refused to leave the fight and was greatly distressed as to why Ranboo wasn't fighting back and taking off his armor, repeatedly asked Sam to back up, all at the same time of Dream telling him to run.
But that's simply not the person Techno is, he would sooner burn himself trying to save the ones he loves than letting them burn alive.
By refusing to not only help Techno talk Sam down, but also- repeatedly wanting to leave Ranboo behind, arguing with Sam and refusing to help Ranboo whatsoever, and Techno fighting Sam immediately after Ranboo's death and getting the picture of Michael- Dream made an incredibly bad call based on his own survival instinct and the belief of caring for nothing that he's drilled into himself. Maybe Dream couldn't have stopped Sam, maybe Ranboo would've died no matter what, but the fact that Dream didn't want to try and instead wanted to run away? That's the very antithesis of Techno's attitude towards those he loves.
The very antithesis of the attitude that Techno had when he rescued Dream himself and at no point did Techno try to throw Dream in harms way to make it easier or safer.
Only after fighting Sam for a bit did he leave and while Dream was ecstatic to be free, it's clear that Philza and Techno both were beginning to grieve and Techno was still in shock and didn't share the same happiness. Which resulted in Techno asking for the armor back despite Dream's belief that they were friends. And maybe they were! Maybe it was the beginning of their potential friendship! But by sacrificing someone that he was already friends with and that he loved? That sent a clear message to Techno, afterwards saying that Dream had to leave and that they weren't hiding, because Techno is mad and grieving.
Techno even said he wasn't bothering with hiding as his main enemy now is Sam, the person who held Ranboo hostage and killed him, the person who took his last life when Techno had no idea he was on his last life. Because Techno and Ranboo are friends, even family, and he's someone that only feels grief in the wake of repaying his own debt.
Not only that! But he actively goes into debt to Dream so that he might resurrect Ranboo! Because all that he's angry and upset- he's willing to put that aside and possibly put himself in even more danger if it means he can get Ranboo back.
Because Ranboo is part of the syndicate, he's part of Techno’s family and home.
Note: These are my own thoughts and beliefs. This isn’t meant to be hate or critical at all, but rather trying to figure out why Technoblade’s actions are harder for some people to understand. I’m always open to friendly discussion, as some people might have noticed things that I haven’t!
After completion note: This could be slightly hard to read due to my jumbled thoughts, and the sudden realization I had while working on this, but I tried to explain everything as best as I could! This is now not even c!Technoblade critical, but rather Minecraft critical /j
A quick lookover at the cast of the Dream SMP will definitely show how many unique characters there are within the story, and that’s only based on appearances. Diving deeper into each of them, they all have their own morals, backstories, and relationships that drive what they do.
There’s another factor that makes each of them unique too, and that’s how they tell their stories. Some are more reactionary, while others take time to work out their own feelings and thoughts. Imagine it as a scale:
While some characters are more introspective and express their feelings and motivations more through words (ex. Ranboo, Ghostbur), other characters share their own morals through their actions, be them extreme or subtle (ex. Sapnap, Dream). Of course, those aren’t the only two options, with the storytelling being a sliding line where there is a middle ground for some characters to display their own feelings through a combination of words and actions (ex. Jack and Tommy).
Now, this isn’t saying that Ranboo can’t act on his morals, or that Dream can’t use his words (we’ve all seen them do both very well). It’s more so a representation of the storytelling they’re most common with. All the ones who use words to express their feelings have backed it up with actions, and the ones who’ve acted on their thoughts have shared reflections on it with words. One way of storytelling is not better than the other, and it’s rather good to have multiple ways of seeing how characters react to situations through their common/preferred method of expression.
However, when it comes to Technoblade, he exists on the scale in a very weird way.
While he can appear on the scale, he doesn’t exactly fit within the similar boundaries of other characters. He acts, but rarely backs it up with almost any words. When he does use words, while they make sense, there’s too little to connect them to the full extent of what he does.
There’s another character who’s also in the same spot as Techno on the scale: Phil, who does tend to act in the same way Techno does, also having the same explaining gap as Techno.
So why do I understand Phil’s reasoning more than Techno?
It’s because of something else outside of words and actions, just rather character explanation. It’s an overlying trait.
Phil’s overlying trait is that he’s centuries old and has seen loved ones die. With this knowledge, it’s much easier to come to an understanding of where Phil’s own thoughts lie and why he acts the way he does. Of course this trait isn’t applicable to all his actions, but it allows us to bridge gaps between his disconnected actions and come to an understanding of why he might believe in specific ideals and morals.
Overlying traits can change though, Ranboo being an example of this. At the beginning, his trait was memory issues, which caused his feelings to be affected by his condition, and seek out those who he remembered to be good. It’s why he had the memory books, and why they were used to bridge parts of his own thinking and actions. Currently, his overlying trait has shifted to wanting peace. It’s through this why he takes his alliances and friends into consideration when making decisions, because all he wants in the end is the best result for everybody to benefit from.
Techno doesn’t appear to have a current overlying trait that originated from anywhere. “Destroy the government” could possibly be seen as this, but it’s more of an overlying statement than an overlying trait, something that’s rooted in mostly words rather than in a fact. “I’m a person too” could also be it, but that thought is rarely covered, with Techno currently leaning towards a more militaristic and authoritarian mindset.
At this point, there doesn’t seem to be a clear overlying trait for Techno’s character that connects his actions together. Techno rarely goes into his own mindset, rather acting upon what he believes in the moment without exploring it in a coherent way. With characters like him who don’t use their words for solid explanation, visuals are especially important to convey how a character is feeling outside of said words, which Techno tends to do.
Now, this isn’t Techno’s fault in being unable to convey his specific emotions to his audience. IRL limitations are in the way of that, such as cc!Techno streaming very infrequently. With cc!Ranboo, he streams every day, so there’s time for him to introspect and to do what he wants to do in terms of lore. Minecraft is also extremely limited in specific emotions of players, which is why crouching is the closest thing to conveying fear or playfulness, and the arm motion is used for waving or expressing anger.
For c!Techno, facial expressions would be the most useful tool in explaining his internal thoughts, but he can’t show them like how he could in animation or live-action. As seen in the content created by the fans, famous Technoblade scenes will have a wide variety of facial expressions, since that would be the visual focus of his character.
I believe the reason it’s so hard for people for understand Techno as well as they could, is because he doesn’t express his feelings through words or actions, but rather a third category: his expressions, which we are unable to see due to the limitations of the game.
Actions don’t always equal true feelings, and while words are important, they can be inconsistent with how one expresses them.
So while this is the more linear form that we can expect:
In reality, it’s actually more like this:
And with the third category, the previous linear form is rather inaccurate within itself. Yes, this makes things more complicated in terms of working out how each character can portray their own morals and ideals.
But isn’t that what Dream SMP is about? Absolute insanity wrapped in different perspectives that might not be as clear as they seem?
TLDR: Technoblade is hard for me (and possibly many others) to understand due to the most important factor of his storytelling, facial expressions, being limited to nonexistent within the game Dream SMP is set in.
(Thank you so much for reading this if you got this far! I really appreciate it!)
Ok so it seems like everyday or so now the fandom just decides to pick a new topic to debate to death and right now it’s techno’s overpowered-ness. And I just think we’re coming at this from the wrong angle.
Yes techno is so powerful because he prepares Plus is good at the game but no one asks why he prepares.
You might say “for battle” but mans was making a turtle farm to brew turtle master potions while he was in retirement. The very same retirement he also made a vault containing over 55 wither skulls, for “just in case.”
The fact of the matter is techno loves fighting. Whether it be because of the voices in his head demanding blood or something else entirely. He thrives off of war and conflict.
When he’s not in a directly in a conflict he’s preparing for one because he knows one is bound to show up eventually and he will get involved whether it be of his own volition or not.
But everyone else on the server? They aren’t preparing because it’s not when the next conflict happens but if. Their trying their best to just live peacefully and happily.
Why would the spend time grinding for what if’s, instead their making houses and other builds they can enjoy recreationally on a day to day basis.
And so when war breaks out and they start the grind that techno is perpetually stuck in, of course they are going to be unprepared.
Unless someone else on the server says fuck peace and enters the life of bloodshed techno lives, techno is allways going to be overpowered. There is no stopping it.
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Okay so I had a realization the other day. cc!Techno kept Carl around because of that one person who said they’d stop donating if Carl died, right?
Well, since YouTube memberships is canonically a religion that c!Techno canonically follows... wouldn’t that make Carl significant to c!Techno not just emotionally but also religiously?
...which then puts a whole new spin on every single time anyone’s ever kidnapped or threatened Carl to get back at c!Techno or try to get him to do something...
before you get out the pitchforks and torches, hear me out. nah, mans does not have a victim complex. there's something that fits a lot better and even matches up with shit the chat/the voices have said to him.
c!techno has a pretty intense god complex if you look at how his character behaves.
now, let me explain.
i'd like to preface this with saying c!techno? favorite dsmp character. absolutely hands down. c!ramboo is a close second along with c!wilbur. and i love c!techno and c!philza's dynamic to death. i just like picking characters apart and trying to understand them. so this might come off as critical, but it's more so me picking apart c!technoblade, getting inside his head, and understanding what makes him tic.
now that that's out of the way. c!techno's massive god complex.
the origin of him developing a god complex isn't far fetched. i mean, chat constantly spams blood for the blood god. after hearing that for years and years on end, especially on repeat for hours, there's no way in hell it wouldn't get to your head. and it might've had a slight brainwashing effect but i'll pin that analysis for another day
but, regardless, let's look at what a god complex is to see if the symptoms match up.
"A person having a God complex will always believe that he is perfection personified, and will expect to be treated that way, too. According to him, he will be forever incapable of ever making a mistake, and will never accept responsibility for anything that goes wrong. The rules embedded in society’s mindset will never be important for a person with this complex, as he’ll deem himself to be above these “petty” things of the mortal world." — Psychologenie
this already sounding familiar? sounds pretty similar to shit c!techno has said himself or actions he's taken during events in the smp.
let's dissect some of the character traits of a god complex.
"People having this complex are arrogant to the point that it becomes very annoying for others. These people believe they are the best at everything, and everyone else is très inferior to them." — Psychologenie
hmmmm. gee, this sounds an awful lot like how c!techno talks to c!tommy. if you took a shot for every single time c!techno called tommy useless you'd probably be dead. (please tumblr i'm begging you don't actually do that)
"This complex makes people very judgmental. They constantly scrutinize others’ actions, and label them as bad, or not up to the mark. They cannot stand from not judging everyone and everything apart from themselves, and this judgment is almost always negative." — Psychologenie
hmmmm. again, sounds an awful lot how c!techno talks to c!tommy.
"Similar to narcissists, people with a God complex are absolutely allergic to criticism. They cannot tolerate anything that even mildly contradicts their beliefs or actions." — Psychologenie
i've seen it brought up that c!techno doesn't really take responsibility for his actions. i agree, mans really does not and always excuses the shitty things he's done. he denies taking any responsibility when tommy confronts him about shooting tubbo and in the classic doomsday argument.
but the bit about not tolerating anything that even mildly contradicts their beliefs or actions matches up a lot more with how c!techno obliterates anyone who does not agree with his version of anarchy.
c!techno also does not have the fixed helpless attitude that comes with a victim complex (e.g. "i can't do anything about the bad things happening to me, so why bother trying?"). mans grinded enough wither skeletons to obliterate an entire server and still has some. he does not consider himself to be helpless in the slightest and is very hard working. he's also set a bunch of withers loose on the server multiple times when people didn't agree with him to get his way.
"These people feel the uncontrollable need to influence people, and any given situation. As a result, they are shrewd and manipulative, and feel free to “use” people as and when they please." — Psychologenie
now, this will make a lot of people think of dream. which, duh, mans obviously has a god complex. most of these traits easily apply to him.
c!techno equally shows this trait in my opinion. except instead of emotional manipulation, he uses physical violence to maintain his influence over people and any given situation. he uses his reputation to instill fear in people. think of him merely putting on his armor and tommy changing his mind about trying to attack him.
"More than often, people with this complex are those with a lot of power over others. They feel the ever-increasing need for more power, and to exercise that power in every way possible. They cannot bear to relinquish control, in any situation." — Psychologenie
again, look at c!techno's use of withers. look at the absolutely absurd amount of withers he has. look at the absurd amount of anything combat related he has. look at his reputation as one of the best fighters on the server. despite being an anarchist, c!techno very much relies on power and violence to communicate. one of his most iconic quotes from the dsmp highlights this.
"Tommy, the thing is, you're using words... but the thing about this world, Tommy, is that the only universal language is violence, and we've had that conversation. We've spoken that language in the pit. It's over, Tommy." — c!technoblade
another point i would like to bring up in my argument that techno has a god complex. take a look at this.
"Though people with the God complex seem so sure, and so in love with themselves, some experts suggests that they actually suffer from a low self-esteem, and are insecure about almost everything, which is why they constantly require attention and admiration from others around them." — Psychologenie
c!techno? low self esteem? abso-fucking-lutely. people typically get angry to cover up more sensitive and painful emotions, and to make them feel less weak. anger is used to cover up a weakness. so, if you look at what makes someone angry, you know where their sensitive spots are.
looking at the dsmp, what has made c!techno the most angry?
you can narrow it down to two things really.
people taking his stuff or showing little regard for his gifts/acts of service (i'd assume those are his love languages, fair enough)
people dehumanizing him
a post by @simplepotatofarmer covers this in depth, which i would highly recommend checking out, but for the sake of keeping this part brief.
the best example of c!techno getting angry at being dehumanized is this line from the doomsday argument: "I'M A PERSON, TOMMY!"
c!techno does not shout often. the fact he shouts this line at tommy speaks volumes about how deep the wound goes.
the reason c!techno gets so angry at being dehumanized is likely because he has been repeatedly dehumanized by others.
and as a result, deep down, he likely no longer views himself as worthy of being treated like a person. that's rock bottom in hell levels of low self esteem.
how would he go from low self esteem to developing a god complex when they seem to be polar opposites?
well, if you don't view yourself as being treated like a human, believing you deserve to be treated like a god is a far better alternative than accepting you feel like you should be treated like nothing.
honestly i think the most interesting thing about the dream smp is that there aren’t any like villains? if that makes sense
like don’t get me wrong. there are some fucked up people who have done some fucked up things. but the unique thing about the dream smp is that even those people who have done those things, because we saw what led them to that point, they aren’t truly evil or villains. just people who’ve been down a dark path and could redeem themselves if they wanted to put in the effort (but some of them don’t want to)
i think the biggest example of this is c!wilbur. both on here and twitter people LOVE to talk about how c!wilbur spiraled and became a villain. except...he didn’t. he was a man who succumbed to his own paranoia and felt trapped in a world where it felt like no one stood by his side, even though that wasn’t true. his actions weren’t justifiable but we, as the audience, can understand them because we saw exactly what led him to that point.Â
c!technoblade gets brought up a lot too and i truly don’t feel like he’s a villain like at all. he has skewed morals and sometimes slips into a very morally gray area but he is not evil and he never has been. he’s severely misunderstood, by both the fandom and the other characters.Â
the two big ones are c!dream and c!schlatt. c!schlatt is probably the closest thing we would assume to be a villain on the dsmp. but the important thing to remember is that we ONLY saw his presidency from a skewed point of view (wilbur & tommy, quackity etc.). none of the characters on the dsmp are reliable narrators and because schlatt didn’t stream, we never got to see his point of view. and i can’t truly say he was evil, he did some awful things and turned people against him, but was he a villain? hard to say when looking at it from a skewed point of view.Â
c!dream is, undoubtedly, the looming threat throughout the dsmp. but once again, we watched a man who wanted everyone to get along and be a family devolve and try to reach that goal through worse and worse ways. he is not a good person. he’s killed people, he’s abused people, he’s destroyed important monuments and he’s even in jail. i think that he is probably what most would consider the villain. and im somewhat inclined to agree but i also think it’s not fair to boil c!dream’s storyline down to just “he’s always been a villain and he always will be.” he is a man who wanted everyone to get along and attempted to do that through any means necessary. his power corrupted him and clouded his vision to the point of no return. but does that mean i think he couldn’t redeem himself if he tried? no.Â
the question is if he’s willing to try.Â
anyways, the dsmp reminds me a lot of ghibli films, in how there’s no true evil villain, just people trying to reach their goals or live life and sometimes they make mistakes. but i think you’ll find there are always subsets of this fandom where people make posts about all four of these people, either understanding their pov and sympathizing with them or analyzing their character and what led them to that point. its a very interesting storytelling medium and it gives us a new perspective about the idea of a villain in media
