Character Discussion/Appreciation: Lafarga

[Mokonalord]

Out of all the original manga characters (excluding the Magic Knight families), I think Lafarga is the one with the least developed character in just about any given version of Magic Knight Rayearth. Yes, we know less about him than we do about Alcyone. Not that there isn't a character there, mind you, just that you have to dig a lot deeper into less info to figure it out. Well, as it turns out, that's my specialty. The Ascot character-mining came naturally, Caldina was a good warm-up, so now I think I'm ready to tackle some of Lafarga's character.

You know what non-Rayearth scene Lafarga brings to mind for me?  In the Doctor Who episode "Doomsday," there's a character, Yvonne Hartman, who, despite getting turned into a Cyberman, still manages to override the programming and take some other Cyberman down with her. The last words we hear from her are, "I did my duty for queen and country." (You can see that bit here) Now, just to clarify, Yvonne Hartman herself doesn't remind of Lafarga, just that one scene, that repeated "I did my duty for queen and country" as if it was the only thing keeping her going.

I feel like Lafarga is the character who believed in what Cephiro was the most, and as such, is the one that probably felt the most shocked and betrayed when everything fell apart. He probably knew Zagato and Emeraude personally, but likely didn't know about their feelings like Clef or Lantis did. He was devoted to protecting the pillar, to the point that he would face Zagato head on, to the point that Hikaru's mentioning of the Princess momentarily frees him from Zagato's control. So, given that much, how do you think such a devotedly patriotic heart is going to handle the news that Emeraude chose to do this? How is Lafarga going to take the realization that by trying to save her, he was actually fighting against her? The pillar system, this country, it's probably most, if not all, he's known and believed in his entire life, unlike Caldina, who's been all sorts of places. Also, unlike Ascot, the system was working very well for Lafarga personally, so he had no reason to really question the foundations. You know, stuff like this is why I think Mid Knight Skies is what needs to be written more than any other epic MKR idea I have (and believe me, there are tons).

Moving on, what else do we know about Lafarga? Well, he seems to bear a bit of a grudge against Lantis, understandably enough. Given the whole patriotic part, he's not gonna think too well of someone who left their country knowing a crisis was imminent. And, of course, him and Caldina are a thing. Would've been nice to get some more development on that in any version. I can think of loads of scenes that could be cut from the anime to make room for a few good flashback sequences showing what happened instead of the two of them just telling us in that one scene. It's just a matter of deciding what should be cut first, really.

Anyone else with Lafarga thoughts to share?

[Mokonalord]

Realized I neglected to mention another very important aspect of his character.

Lafarga is a swordsman. Not just a swordsman, but one who only fights by the sword. This, to me, implies that him not using magic is entirely a choice rather than any lack of ability. Would he be good with magic if he tried? I think he'd be generally proficient, a good well-rounded jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none magician. But, really, using the sword is where his talent lies, and he probably feels trying to cultivate any magic ability would only hinder that.

Just depositing another two cents into this fandom's bank.

[VKiera]

I'm going to mostly nod and agree with everything you put, I'll admit Lafarga isn't a character I've given a great deal of consideration to before (Sorry Lafarga!) and I'll also agree that he and by the same theory, Ferio, are capable of learning magic, they simply chose swordsmanship over the former. Maybe Cephiro is like my college, if you majored in the fine arts you were not allowed to have a minor, so you could focus solely on attaining your BFA. So maybe if you choose either swordsmanship or magic, you generally by default do not really dabble in anything else. Guess there must be special rules for Cails, humm Lantis?

Funny thing this made me think of though, was in the anime didn't Alcyone use a sword along with magic? So I guess in theory you can dabble in a secondary skill, but you have to be a master of both to attain Cail status?

Omg getting off topic, sorry Lafarga! >.<

I personally think he took his duty very seriously, but I don't think he severed under Princess Emeraude long enough for him to see and understand her relationship with Zagato that set off red flags for Lantis.

I also never really considered his animosity towards Lantis is season 2 to be from that fact that he left Cephiro and his position behind. I mean for real WTF would anyone have expected Lantis to do? Kill his brother? Help Clef send children turned knights to off the Princess and his brother? I mean, you can argue that Lafarga's grudge is from him leaving and not helping, but I personally always thought it was because he only came back just in time to be invaded by the country Lantis had spent so much time in. Oddly I wonder how they all knew where he'd been anyways? Lantis tell Clef and then Clef passed the information on to Lafarga and others? Lantis told people where he had been before they realized they were about to be invaded by Autozam? Would Lafarge had acted differently if Lantis had spent more of his time in another nation? IDK.