Writer Awakened was going to use death-by-tournament for Ephraim in one 'fic we discussed via PM back in '09 or so. But, yes... I can so see that.
I never did get around to writing that fic, did I? XD Mainly because the whole "Writing Innes as antagonist instead of as stuffy ally" threw me off. I just couldn't figure a way to make his love for Eirika a primary motivation for his actions without it being stupidly melodramatic -_- The real answer is probably something closer to laziness.
Ephraim has a lot of the tenets of bravery and courage one usually associates with a hero (and definitely a spark of that male adolescent bravado) but I also think he shares a sort of moralistic naivete with most other FE heroes and heroines. Of course, part of that is how the characters are all written and the nature of the heroes of games like this; but honestly, I think at heart Ephraim has a lot more in common with his sister, and with, say Eliwood, than one would tend to think at first. He just shows it outwardly very differently. IMO.
But of course, we authors have always had a sick fascination with toppling cocky bastards and mighty colossi (see: 'Ozymandias') :P
Will the Conquer is a particularly interesting figure, what with the enduring French-English tensions after his Normans invaded, to the brutality of the Harrowing of the North, and eventually to his, as you mentioned, very ignominious death. I made a presentation on the Norman Conquest for a Medieval Lit class I took a few years back; he's one of those figures, I think, that exemplifies the idea that even the greatest heroes are villains to their enemies. Which is something I love to see when it pops up in FE.
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Date: 2011-06-09 05:50 pm (UTC)I never did get around to writing that fic, did I? XD Mainly because the whole "Writing Innes as antagonist instead of as stuffy ally" threw me off. I just couldn't figure a way to make his love for Eirika a primary motivation for his actions without it being stupidly melodramatic -_-
The real answer is probably something closer to laziness.Ephraim has a lot of the tenets of bravery and courage one usually associates with a hero (and definitely a spark of that male adolescent bravado) but I also think he shares a sort of moralistic naivete with most other FE heroes and heroines. Of course, part of that is how the characters are all written and the nature of the heroes of games like this; but honestly, I think at heart Ephraim has a lot more in common with his sister, and with, say Eliwood, than one would tend to think at first. He just shows it outwardly very differently. IMO.
But of course, we authors have always had a sick fascination with toppling cocky bastards and mighty colossi (see: 'Ozymandias') :P
Will the Conquer is a particularly interesting figure, what with the enduring French-English tensions after his Normans invaded, to the brutality of the Harrowing of the North, and eventually to his, as you mentioned, very ignominious death. I made a presentation on the Norman Conquest for a Medieval Lit class I took a few years back; he's one of those figures, I think, that exemplifies the idea that even the greatest heroes are villains to their enemies. Which is something I love to see when it pops up in FE.