Alcyone: A hated character in MKR

[Antoinette Veronica]

I could see many people hate Alcyone. Why's that?
I hate her costume, but that's it. I like her actually.

Is it because she is seen as a rival for Emeraude?

[I edited the title to reflect who we're talking about. -suzanami]

[suzanami]

I actually wrote a short thing about why I can't stand her, which is here.  But I'll sum up here as well because okay I have Opinions About This.

She's basically a "Nice Guy".  Those men who are close friends with a woman, always listen to her problems, then get angry that she is not in love with them "because I'm a nice guy! she wanted a nice guy!"  No, he's not nice, he's a jerk for expecting her to love him just because he acts like a good friend to her.  He's self-absorbed because people love who they love and it's not something you just earn.

Alcyone is like that.  She throws herself on Zagato and makes a fool of herself.  She acts like if she does all these things for him, he'll love her if she "earns it".  She whines that he loves Emeraude and continues to let him be her sole motivation despite the fact that he has shown very obviously that he doesn't care about her.  She doesn't choose to continue to serve him just to be close to him because she loves him; she keeps whining and trying to earn his affections.

She's a shallow character.  Yes, okay, Zagato's motivations are based on love, too.  But not unrequited obsessing.  He wants to protect Emeraude and keep her alive.  Alcyone just wants the d.  I think they could have done much more with her character, considering how much time the anime had to expand on things, but she still has the motivation of her short-lived self in the manga.  She could have been made to be much more sympathetic.  Alcyone could?ve had a well-characterized arc in the anime where she debated whether or not it was worth it to continue serving a man, to continue betraying her country and teacher, when he did not return her love.  But nope.  I think they sort of tried that in MKR2?  But she was very obnoxious whenever she was on-screen, IMHO, even more than MKR1, and most people were already quite sick of her.

(As for her clothes, ehh.  She's designed to fit a trope that's kind of sexist.  She lusts after Zagato so she dresses "like a slut".)

Heh, I think the only character I've seen in the fandom that is a rival for Zagato's love is Innova, to be honest...

[Antoinette Veronica]

I expanded this character in my fic, and in my fic, she is much more.

I guess I could take some liberty, because there is little information about her in the manga and manga is my default canon.

[suzanami]

That's good!  Because like I said, it's kind of disappointing that she didn't get any expansion to her character in the anime!  There's so much that can be done if you're going with the manga canon.

[dinosaurjam]

I agree! Suz summed up why I dislike Alcyone in general, but at the core of it, I just wish she were a more developed character. Almost everyone else is so three-dimensional, and she's so flat. (Not literally, of course. Haw haw.) Being shallow is one thing, but she's just so one-dimensional, it makes me sad.

[LadyEmeraude]

I thought she was all right in the last few episodes of the second season but in the first season she annoyed me especially during the battles. Can't really explain it.

[milady]

I don't think Alcyone was ever a true rival for Emeraude because Zagato never cared about her.
I dislike Alcyone as much I dislike Emeraude, and both characters are even similar in some aspects. But at least Emeraude is an interesting complex character, Alcyone is just annoying. 

Anyway, Alcyone has no self respect and doesn't respect others feelings, and I dislike characters and real people like that a lot, also I know and had to deal with some girls (aka ex friends) like that in real life as well, and it was very frustrating. 

I agree, she could be much more, but I don't think she was bad written at all. Unfortunately people like that exists irl and Alcyone embodies this sexist shallow behavior perfectly.

[Mokonalord]

Yeah, as just about everybody has said in some way or another, Alcyone is just a flat character whose only character trait seems to be that she’s obsessed with a guy who’s not into her, and rather than fleshing her out, the anime just chose to double down on it.

Things they could’ve done to make her more interesting: Actually explain why or how she got to be so obsessed with Zagato. Like, we know she learned magic from Clef to protect Emeraude, is that how they met? Other than maybe thinking he’s good-looking, just what draws her to him enough that she wants to die with him? Did he ever do anything nice for her? Did someone else hurt her? Is this the latest in a string of bad relationships (or non-relationships) that just makes her give up hope for ever having a good one? Has she always had these kind of obsessive tendencies?

Still not my least favorite, though. That spot’s reserved by Sierra, for being a giant plot hole badly disguised as a character. Like, Alcyone might be one-note, but at least she’s remotely plausible.

[suzanami]

Like, we know she learned magic from Clef to protect Emeraude, is that how they met? Other than maybe thinking he's good-looking, just what draws her to him enough that she wants to die with him? Did he ever do anything nice for her? Did someone else hurt her? Is this the latest in a string of bad relationships (or non-relationships) that just makes her give up hope for ever having a good one? Has she always had these kind of obsessive tendencies?

there's some damn good fic in there, especially the first one.

[Ithil]

Yeah, as just about everybody has said in some way or another, Alcyone is just a flat character whose only character trait seems to be that she's obsessed with a guy who's not into her, and rather than fleshing her out, the anime just chose to double down on it.

Things they could've done to make her more interesting: Actually explain why or how she got to be so obsessed with Zagato. Like, we know she learned magic from Clef to protect Emeraude, is that how they met? Other than maybe thinking he's good-looking, just what draws her to him enough that she wants to die with him? Did he ever do anything nice for her? Did someone else hurt her? Is this the latest in a string of bad relationships (or non-relationships) that just makes her give up hope for ever having a good one? Has she always had these kind of obsessive tendencies?

Still not my least favorite, though. That spot's reserved by Sierra, for being a giant plot hole badly disguised as a character. Like, Alcyone might be one-note, but at least she's remotely plausible.

I completely agree.
Well, she is a shallow character, and that's quite disappointing, because I suppose that if she behaves like that, she must have a really tragic/troubled/creepy/very emotionally disturbed past. You can imagine a really depressing story behind her violence, her insane, unrequited love and her self-destructive behaviour.
I mean, why is she so obsessed with a man who clearly doesn't care about her? A man who is deeply in love with another woman to the point of destroying the entire world? Alcyone knows that, but nevertheless she tries uselessly and desperately to earn his attentions. She humiliates herself in vain. He treats her cruelly. In the manga, he kills her. I never disliked her, even when I was a child: I just feel sorry for her.
How did Alcyone and Zagato meet? Why is she fighting for him? Maybe she's convinced herself that even though he will never love her, at least he will admire her, and this is worth dying for. Maybe she has nothing else to live for. Maybe she's alone, she's been abandoned and she feels betrayed. She has lost something very important and she's blinded by rage and hate. Her magic is ice-based... and so is her heart.
Maybe Zagato saved her when she was in danger... And in that moment she has idealized him and clinged on to him, beacuse she was completely lost and thought that no one ever cared about her...
Moreover, what did happen between her and Clef?
Even though her dress is pretty awful (she is so beautiful in her evil/witchy way, though), I don't hate her. Because I think she's desperate, shattered and hopeless. And, most of all, she is alone.

On the contrary, Sierra is just nonsense.

[Down]

I don't hate her. She's exactly the same as Zagato, only difference is he actually violates the wishes of the person he cares for, she works towards what the person she cares for wants.

On that score I'm pretty certain she's winning.

She also at least in the manga never says anything about wanting Zagato to reciprocate her feelings, just that she wants to help him, because she loves him.

...................I mean on the one hand she's Zagato again and on the other hand she's Clef, except Clef is loyal to Emeraude's wishes and torn by it, and Alcione is loyal to Zagato's wishes and not torn by it. She puts the person she cares for before the rules.

She's a mirror to both of them, she's the dark side of Clef's devotion, she's the better side of Zagato's, and then there's Emeraude. Who throws the people away - even herself. At some point I'm going to actually sit down and write a fic which tries to pull that out and look at it,~ but probably I'll end up writing at least one of the Emeraude/Alcione fic first XDD

[VKiera]

A lot of what Suz said covered why I don't like Alcyone much. I suppose to be fair she's only in that one volume in the manga so it's hard to say too much about her. Was she in love with Zagato or the idea of him? Did she work under him for Emeraude for years and developed a huge love/admiration for him? Is she really trying to win his affection or is she happy with just serving him? It's hard to say. Though her anime only version gives the feeling she really is trying to win his affection, with apparently no idea he has eyes on for Emeraude until she over hears him tell Emeraude as much.

Bottom line, she's shallow, maybe if she had lived longer in the manga she could have had more to her. Like Caldina and Ascot get in season two. To be fair Lafarge gets about as much development as she does and about as much page time.

Her outfit never really bothered me I guess? She wants to dress sexy have at, Caldina sure does, no one calls her sluty for it.