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One mustn't forget that behind this face is one of anime's most sickening Pure Evils.
Yes, I know this guy is a non-hero. Yes, I know this guy is a Pure Evil Villain. And yes, I know my last proposal on a non-hero was a complete disaster. However, this time (unlike CatNap), I did actually watch the show before making this discussion. I also discussed his chances of him qualifying here with the user who made his page on the PE Wiki and she was fine with me discussing him as IA. This monster honestly reminds me of Griffith (which is kind of fitting as he's also PE). Furthermore, I'm only discussing the version from the Anime as the movie's version of Dios seems to be too much of a Conflicting Good to count and I haven't read either of the mangas.
What's The Work?[]
Revolutionary Girl Utena is an anime series about a teenager named Utena Tenjou who is a student at Ohtori Academy. She eventually finds herself in a tournament the prize is the docile Rose Bride Anthy Himemiya. Throughout the series, Utena and Anthy develop as characters with Anthy becoming more independent herself. The true mastermind of the tournament is only known as "End of The World", who turns out to be the subject of this proposal.
Who Is He?[]
Prince Dios, who would eventually be known as Akio Ohtori, is the main antagonist as well as the overarching protagonist of the series. Before his fall, Prince Dios was a beloved prince who had a prominent reputation for saving many damsels in distress. Eventually though, Dios would fall ill from being overworked with heroism which forced his sister Anthy to sacrifice herself to the Swords of Hatred to save him. Eventually, time would cause the prince to became Akio Ohtori, one of fiction's most sickening Pure Evils.
What Makes Him Admirable?[]
- As Prince Dios, he was actively saving countless women to the point where he eventually suffered an unknown illness for overworking himself too hard.
- Despite his sickness, Dios still wanted to help the damsels when a large crowd went to his and Anthy's hideout.
- Was initially grateful of Anthy's sacrifice to him.
Admirable Standards[]
Now something I should mention is that I'm only taking the candidate's actions as Prince Dios rather than Akio Ohtori since at that point, he is too much of a conflicting good to qualify with his "heroics" being purely pragmatism. That said, I still think his heroism as Prince Dios could allow him to pass as he was unambiguously heroic before his fall and didn't have any ulterior motives for saving people before becoming Akio. Moving on, I'll address the actual standards of the work.
The standards themselves are set by Utena and Anthy. For Utena, she easily stands out due to inspiring Anthy's redemption which prevented Akio's evil plans from succeeding. Anthy herself arguably passes as her redemption prevents Akio's power hungry goals and her standing up to him is treated as an admirable act by the work. Despite this, I still think Prince Dios manages to stand out. As the prince, Dios was outright stated to have rescued many women which is technically unique heroism as while Anthy and Utena pass for stopping Akio, they never directly save many lives themselves. This makes Dios the character to save the most lives directly. Furthermore, while Dios arguably has more resources with his power, I don't think this can be used as an argument for him failing as he has very little screen time as a Hero with only a few minutes unlike Anthy and Utena who have many episodes to pass. Furthermore, I don't think Dios fails the individual capacity as he was literally shown to have been dying from all his rescues so he definitely doesn't hold back his powers. This, alongside Dios' unique heroism of saving many damsels, is why I think he barely passes the standards.
Offscreen Heroism[]
So another concern that was brought up was the fact that we never directly see Dios' onscreen actions. However, I personally don't think this outright prevents him as there are many onscreen effects from his heroism. First of all, Dios was shown to be overworked from all his heroism despite his god-like powers. Second of all, there were around dozens of people who begged for Dios' help which proves that it was invaluable. Finally, his heroism was prominent enough that Anthy sacrificed herself to a horrific fate as the Rose Bride to ensure that he could rest. As a result, I feel Dios' heroism has enough onscreen effects on the plot for him to count here.
Now personally, I don't think Dios relies on Fridge Brilliance to pass the standards. While we don't get an exact number, the flashback clearly shows that dozens of people wanted and even begged for his help which proves that it was incredibly invaluable to the people. Furthermore, I doubt that the villagers would have hurt Anthy if Dios' help wasn't particularly important. From all this, it is clear that Dios saved a high number of women.
What Makes Him Inconsistent?[]
The fact that he is Pure Evil should make this obvious but I'll still explain. So after his sister's sacrifice, the former prince would infamously become the villainous "End Of The World". From then on, he would later allow his sister to continue suffering as the Rose Bride and never planned to free her, even trying to justify this to Utena by claiming that Anthy wanted it despite clearly manipulating her. As a villain, Akio commits many truly horrific and despicable crimes. He is shown to be sexually abusing his sister on a weekly basis. As the acting chairman of the school, Akio abuses his power to sexually prey upon the teenagers that inhabit the school. As "End Of The World", he hosts tournaments to exploit people at their lowest and passes Anthy around as a doll forced to obey her master. It's later revealed that he groomed Utena from the young age of 6 to support his plans which led to him molesting her in episode 33. By the end of the show, he has subverted all his redeeming qualities and his sympathetic past no longer holds up. He also still believes himself to be right and even tries to justify his actions to Utena to the point of even victim blaming her to avoid taking responsibility. Even after his own sister justly abandons him, Akio remains unrepentant of his crimes and still believes himself to be in the right despite all evidence to the contrary.
Verdict[]
In the end, I'll give an incredibly uncomfortable and weak yes to Prince Dios. Akio is truly one of the most sickening PEs I have ever witnessed in anime and I honestly don't care if he is approved. In fact, I personally consider him more repulsive than Griffith. However, I ultimately do think his heroism as Dios warranted a discussion here on this Wiki.