Surely you don't mean the pointless hand ornament? How dare! I mean, yes, pointless, but come on, it goes with the hair. ;-) (I... have actually looked for a hand ornament like that. Do not judge me. *g*)
Anyway: Wig Boy is my favorite antagonist, too! He is actually more competent and effective than it might seem from his over-the-top posing and pouting. He has Style. And he is absolutely, unflinchingly loyal to the end. I give him some credit for being willing to die for his hero and his cause, even if he did choose someone who absolutely did not deserve that kind of loyalty or sacrifice.
Clenched fist of emo.
LOL, yes! He is indeed very emo. In fact, his melodramatic emo ways honestly grew on me. ;-)
How different would his story have been if the Black-Cloaked Envoy had sat him down for a talk?
To me it seems likely that Zhu Jiu had psychopathy issues from the start, and Ye Zun only hooked into them rather than creating them wholesale. So at the point Zhu Jiu actually meets the Envoy, even a good long talk with him very likely would not have helped; he had decided that he was hard-done by at this point, and that he was not going to take it anymore, and had already started down a path he was not willing (or perhaps able) to diverge from. I'm pretty sure that no matter what the Envoy could have said and done at this point, it was already too late.
Now, if the Envoy had arrived on the scene earlier, before Zhu Jiu ever met Ye Zun. I think it was inevitable that he would find an ideology to seize on and become a violent radical in some way or another - but he might have found a different ideology and hero.
Say, if the Envoy had defended Zhu Jiu against his captain in some way, or said something in defence of the powerless Dixing people - perhaps that they are just as important and valuable as those with powers, and have just as much to contribute... maybe then, he'd have fixated on the Envoy instead of Ye Zun.
That would have been very interesting, because his basic personality would still not be any better than what we know, even though he's be earnestly trying to do what the Envoy wanted of him.
This ties into your other question a bit - Chu Shuzhi is just a much, much better man than Zhu Jiu in general, so even if they had both been loyal to the same man, they would still have been radically different in outlook, approach and morals. Sooner or later, the Envoy might have had to lock up Zhu Jiu no matter what, because of the collateral damage and general viciousness.
And of course, at some point being constantly corrected and reprimanded might well have caused Zhu Jiu to turn against the Envoy later on. He was never in that situation with Ye Zun, because Ye Zun rewarded his viciousness and he felt validated and important. He would not have felt validated if he'd been following the Envoy, and I think that would have made all the difference.
What made him decide that straggly purple hair and Final Fantasy accessories were a good look for him?
HE IS A FASHION ICON. Do not disrespect the emo!
Could he have been redeemed in the show timeline if he had lived?
I don't think so. He didn't want to be redeemed, and I don't think it was possible for him to let go of the notions he'd seized on at Ye Zun's coaxing.
Does Ya Qing regret his death once she has to work with the master of the Merit Brush?
Oh god yes. So much. He was annoying, sure, but he was still somewhat competent.
no subject
Surely you don't mean the pointless hand ornament? How dare! I mean, yes, pointless, but come on, it goes with the hair. ;-) (I... have actually looked for a hand ornament like that. Do not judge me. *g*)
Anyway: Wig Boy is my favorite antagonist, too! He is actually more competent and effective than it might seem from his over-the-top posing and pouting. He has Style. And he is absolutely, unflinchingly loyal to the end. I give him some credit for being willing to die for his hero and his cause, even if he did choose someone who absolutely did not deserve that kind of loyalty or sacrifice.
Clenched fist of emo.
LOL, yes! He is indeed very emo. In fact, his melodramatic emo ways honestly grew on me. ;-)
How different would his story have been if the Black-Cloaked Envoy had sat him down for a talk?
To me it seems likely that Zhu Jiu had psychopathy issues from the start, and Ye Zun only hooked into them rather than creating them wholesale. So at the point Zhu Jiu actually meets the Envoy, even a good long talk with him very likely would not have helped; he had decided that he was hard-done by at this point, and that he was not going to take it anymore, and had already started down a path he was not willing (or perhaps able) to diverge from. I'm pretty sure that no matter what the Envoy could have said and done at this point, it was already too late.
Now, if the Envoy had arrived on the scene earlier, before Zhu Jiu ever met Ye Zun. I think it was inevitable that he would find an ideology to seize on and become a violent radical in some way or another - but he might have found a different ideology and hero.
Say, if the Envoy had defended Zhu Jiu against his captain in some way, or said something in defence of the powerless Dixing people - perhaps that they are just as important and valuable as those with powers, and have just as much to contribute... maybe then, he'd have fixated on the Envoy instead of Ye Zun.
That would have been very interesting, because his basic personality would still not be any better than what we know, even though he's be earnestly trying to do what the Envoy wanted of him.
This ties into your other question a bit - Chu Shuzhi is just a much, much better man than Zhu Jiu in general, so even if they had both been loyal to the same man, they would still have been radically different in outlook, approach and morals. Sooner or later, the Envoy might have had to lock up Zhu Jiu no matter what, because of the collateral damage and general viciousness.
And of course, at some point being constantly corrected and reprimanded might well have caused Zhu Jiu to turn against the Envoy later on. He was never in that situation with Ye Zun, because Ye Zun rewarded his viciousness and he felt validated and important. He would not have felt validated if he'd been following the Envoy, and I think that would have made all the difference.
What made him decide that straggly purple hair and Final Fantasy accessories were a good look for him?
HE IS A FASHION ICON. Do not disrespect the emo!
Could he have been redeemed in the show timeline if he had lived?
I don't think so. He didn't want to be redeemed, and I don't think it was possible for him to let go of the notions he'd seized on at Ye Zun's coaxing.
Does Ya Qing regret his death once she has to work with the master of the Merit Brush?
Oh god yes. So much. He was annoying, sure, but he was still somewhat competent.