23 July 2001
The long awaited (sure.. whatever... I know someone wanted to read this) next essay on GW characters by Shi-chan/Willow. (yes, I've not written since July 1st, here's something that popped out)
Author's notes: This is not a fic. This is an
essay-ish expressing my thoughts on the characters of
GW.
Warnings: Entirely my opinions. Don't like, don't
read.
Category: essay
Pairings: none (this is an essay remember)
Heero Yuy is the Japanese pilot of the Wing Gundam(s) [major 'duh' there]. At first glance, Heero is the typical sociopath. Aggressive toward others, antisocial. He appears to harbor no sexual preference nor an inclination toward feeling such yearnings.
Heero appears to attract a fair amount of attention, but also appears to dislike human contact, preferring to be on his own. He is liked by the Gundam pilots and Relena (and other main characters) but others seem repelled by his quiet and fierce nature.
Taken from the assumption that Heero was trained from early on in life to be the Perfect Soldier, I surmise that part of his training was to remove the need for feelings that were not necessary. Feelings like camaraderie and respect must have been deemed necessary and thus were left for Heero to feel. The mission is everything (he practically says this to Duo early on in the series), for it was what he was trained all his life (?) for. Heero's character is complicated and confusing. The cliche 'quiet, antisocial, mission-oriented' persona, which cliche, is most accurate though people often leave out his camaraderie with the other pilots (not so much a a camaraderie with Duo as more of an awe friendship... I will go into this more later in the essay)... his respect for Relena is also warped often enough, but not as neglected.
As for what his relationships with the other characters are (pairing wise, I guess):
Heero harbors a brotherly-type camaraderie with Trowa, they seem to understand one another on a very subtle level. Not exactly lover material, but close friends. (Much like Duo and Hilde.) I cannot see them getting all cozy with one another and falling in love; perhaps a quick fling, but nothing more.
Heero and Quatre's relationship is similar to Heero and Trowa's. Heero acts as a guide, a compelling force, for Quatre. He drives the boy to succeed where, if left to his own devices, Quatre would otherwise fail. Again, a brotherly-type relationship of camaraderie and respect.
With Wufei, Heero has a complete military type relationship. They act as though they are both on the same level and equals in a military situation (which they practically are) [ex. two PFCs working together to achieve the mission goal]. No special bond is present in the relationship, they both respect one another as equals but nothing more is visible. They do not seem likely to jump in the sack and wrestle for top (though I'm sure that's what they'd do if they decided on a romp in the hay).
Heero's relationship to Relena is more complicated (yes, I'm leaving Duo for last). He respects her and is driven to help her succeed in attaining her ideals. I see more of a sibling relationship with Relena (being a yaoi author), but an unbiased opinion is that she is one of the most likely for him to get together with. Given this, if they were to get together, Heero would be miserable. Relena is a spoilt child, rich and never needy... Heero on the other hand has lived through hardship. For one who has dealt with such things and seen how others live and striven to change things, it would be hard to relax and live in a life of luxury while others have not. He, in his restless misery, would make Relena miserable and that is why I see this relationship would not work. (In some perfect world where these things did not affect him, it might work out, but in the GW universe: no.)
I know there are Treize and Zechs, but those relationships with Heero are entirely unplausible. So we move right along to Duo.
Heero and Duo's relationship is by far the most complicated. Why? Because any number of things could be assumed/derived from the actions and words that run between the two of them. The obvious thing between them friendship; Heero seems awed by Duo in some way, perhaps in his idealism and enthusiasm for life that not even Relena can match. Heero is hard on the boy (yes, hard on him, but not hard-on ::grins::), fussing that Duo stands out. He doesn't exactly treat Duo as a friend, but more of a liability... Duo acts younger than his assumed 15 years, idealistic and loud like a child... But even though he treats him as such, he still calls on the braided American when he needs help (EW for example.. though whether he called Duo or they were together is still uncertain)... Comments between them that hint at 'more than just friends' can be found in nearly every conversation the two share... "I was counting on those skills"... "You stand out"... (yes I know, those could be taken as friends also, but I'm pulling things from memory that /could/ be yaoiness) his actions are even louder... going to kill Duo, but ends up rescuing him... Duo's rescue of him without orders to do so... them working together during EW... the 'one for one' punch in EW (yes, this is part of my theory... He was protecting Duo in an odd as hell way)... his eyes when they were going to New Edwards base (the anime 'love quiver' as it was called for FY)... and others.
Using Heero and Duo's relationship as an example in this section: what role would Heero take in a sexual relationship. My vote is for seme. Why? Because Heero seems to be the leader (though Quatre is the strategist, Heero is the brute strength in their team). People argue that he has a need to be commanded, dominated... I think this is not so, I think that with his life having been dominated that he would want some semblance of control... and this control he would take in his relationship. This coupled with my theory on Duo's take of 'a little pain for double the pleasure' makes for 1x2 to be most plausible in my view. I have tried to see 2x1, but I have yet to figure out why it would work. 1x2x1 is more plausible than straight out 2x1... but Heero would still be in the most dominant spot. Being a military student myself, I know that taking orders and being commanded (even for a long time to where you get used to it) does not make you needy of submission (being submissive)... it makes most people rebel (::nervous chuckle::) and seek a place of command themselves. Also pulling from my Duo essay, Duo would fear hurting someone... he would rather take pain than give it... and he would not let Heero (or any lover he cared for) know he was in pain because that would hurt them (ish... is this clear? if not I'll make an edit and clear this up).
So this is my take on the character of Heero Yuy... infinitely complex and not even nearly analyzed thoroughly, but there he is.
Owari.
(:./willow/pilot01)
