How Monkie Kid Made Villains Interesting Without Tragic Backstories

[@drugcartel24n7]

I can't believe they made so much effort for a toy company show. LMK is the best

[@theflingthing21]

I know right it’s a Lego show but it has better writing than like 90% of movies nowadays

[@boomgirlbucko]

It wasn't just made to advertise toys, it was made as a love letter to the creator of Journey to the West.

[@boomgirlbucko]

I love how they took such a minor insignificant demon from Journey to the West and turned her into a badass manipulator that left a huge impact on the main characters. My favorite types of villains are the ones that can make the heroes struggle, by not even doing anything. The ones that control the show from behind the scenes. (The antithesis to that would be Redson, who always makes his presence known and fights his own fights and isn't the brightest flame in the fire. Don't get me wrong, I love him, but he's definitely not my favorite villain archetype)

[@theflingthing21]

Yeah LBD is one of my favorite villains ever she’s up there with Azula and Tomura

[@Somti3]

When you mentioned the thing with Azure being shown as more of a hero, even though he is a bad person, and vice versa with MK it kinda made me realize why. They see themselves as that. Azure has his whole thing with being "the good guy", while MK in the very same season is beliving that he is "the bad guy". Anyway- amazing video!!

[@theflingthing21]

Yeah that’s true because MK is paranoid about turning evil and Azure fully believes he’s good I’m glad you liked the video the attention it’s been getting is making me think I should do more commentary videos in the future

[@Somti3]

@@theflingthing21 Do it!!! Your amazing at it- plus there isnt a lot of them with lego monkie kid commentaryes out there-

[@theflingthing21]

@@Somti3 alright I’ll make some more commentary since people seem to like it I’ll just have to once I have more I want to comment on

[@boonAlina]

I’m glad I’m not the only one that noticed that the Azure vs Mk fight really seemed like they had swapped roles. So much so that I wanted to make a Reddit post with a screenshot of Monkey MK and Demon Witch Luz and saying something like “Wait… Who’s the hero again?”

[@theflingthing21]

Yeah it was definitely a cool and interesting writing choice

[@mike16apha16]

this show took me by surprise was sort of forced into watching it but boy do i not regret it. Lady Bone Demon easily top 10 villains of all time for me

[@theflingthing21]

Oh yeah she’s my second favorite villain of all time just behind Tomura Shigaraki cuz he my comfort character but I do believe she’s better as a villain than he is

[@bowserbreaker2515]

I really like DBK. One, I do like the "I want to rule" character, as well as his ties to his family. As well as Steve Blum's killer performance. Spider-Queen was actually pretty lame, but she's an outlier. LBD did a fantastic job being a threat physically and mentally to MK. Azure Lion was just perfectly written in every aspect. Plus, Chris Sabat's acting was phenomenal. Macaque was also just perfect.

[@AttackWaffle]

You should definitely make more commentary videos! This was a fun warch and I really enjoyed your voice, points, and edititng :) On the more ranty side of me, oh my god you are so right. I LOVE the way lmk does their characters. I love how they both use archetypes and stray from them. Particularly when they flip expectetians, like the thing with Azure and MK you pointed out. My favorite thing they do that with is with Macaque and Wukong, where from what we can tell, despite Macaque being the villain, it was Wukong who was more of the toxic one in the past. Plus even just with giving side characters so puch personality. My favorite character is litterly Nezha when hes in only like 9 or 10 episodes - the s4 Special, and it's because he has so much personality. I love his style, his personality, his relationships with other characters, and so much more. I adore how they did the reverse expectations where "Nezhas not really a bad guy," but he, from everyone's pov aside from Wokong (cause its wokong) was a threat. Mk was *scared* of him when he first met him, and it slowly developed into learning more about him and how he's lowkey kind of a doof who is way to passinote about his job. That concludes my rant but I really hope you make more videos like this! :) 💜

[@theflingthing21]

Thanks so much I’m so glad you enjoyed my video I’ll definitely try to make more commentary videos in the future since a lot of people seemed to like this one

[@boomgirlbucko]

The villain that I think comes the closest to LBD is Emperor Belos from the Owl House. Cuz you mentioned that you haven't seen a villain that genuinely terrorizes the protag in a long time, well there he is. Not to mention they both have blue as their primary colors.

[@theflingthing21]

I’ve actually never seen Owl House it’s on my list tho I just need to find a place to watch it

[@Plexxis_SugarPom]

All of these takes were unfathomably real and I agree with them all. Good job man!

[@theflingthing21]

Thanks so much I’m glad you liked the video I’m wondering if I should do more commentary videos like this?

[@Plexxis_SugarPom]

@@theflingthing21 I enjoy commentary, so for me, I say yeah, but also if you feel this is the best for you, than totally go for it!

[@theflingthing21]

@@Plexxis_SugarPom Thanks so much I've been impressed with how well this video's doing so maybe I will do more commentary in the future

[@LostmyAkiwixxaccountsrry]

I love LBD i literally want her whole writing to myself

[@theflingthing21]

@@LostmyAkiwixxaccountsrry I know Monkie Kid is never gonna have another villain that good but they try and they do well

[@HusseinDaoun-vd5sy]

Nice video 👍

[@jamestolbert1856]

I feel bad for Spider Queen. She believed that it was her birthright to rule the surface and was manipulated by someone who would promise her the world

[@theflingthing21]

@@jamestolbert1856 yeah she’s a little bit of a broken villain

[@Sitaarahh]

Honestly I actually like that SQ is boring. One of my favorite things about her is that the story (and even SQ herself) acknowledges her as more of a device than a full blown character. She’s really compelling narratively despite being really bland as an actual character

[@theflingthing21]

Yeah exactly she's bland but it's still written in a way where it works because LBD is one of the best villains I've ever seen and there will never be another villain quite like her. I love how Monkie Kid still tries with their villains and still makes good villains despite the fact that they will never have a villain as good as LBD.

[@infiniteoctopaw]

Daddy Bull King is the goat. Tho I don't think he has a "redemption arc" more so he just shifts priorities of screen and they all just go home. Only then on getting involved with that plot to rescue each other. They never say "I'm sorry" they just chill out and go away. Which I'd honestly so refreshing. Only downside is we just don't get to see them enough. Aldi if you REALLY want backstory, they are all book characters. VERY different in the books, but there is lore like Peng is the half sibling of Buddha. And Spider Queen's chapter is Thee origin of the stock anime hotspring fanserve episode trope where the girls beat up the peeping sex-pest character and the audience claps. Only episode where Wukong isn't up for killing a demon cuz killing girl in the bath is bad, tho it didn't stop him from turning into a bird and stealing the spider sisters clothes so they wouldn't leave the hotspring. I only bring this up because I thought it was genuinely a very funny chapter. I see why she's eager to recover from that humiliation.

[@claudius3359]

'Because killing a girl in the bath is bad' sounds like a 'I have a strict moral code but nobody can figure out what it is' moment 😅 I seriously don't find this chapter funny,but Wukong's moral compass definitely is

[@jamestolbert1856]

The best villains are the ones with moral complexity and can manipulate the audience, maybe even scare them.

[@theflingthing21]

@@jamestolbert1856 yeah exactly

[@jamestolbert1856]

That and shes voiced by Kimberly Brooks. One of my favorite black voice actors

[@theflingthing21]

@@jamestolbert1856 ooh nice I don’t really know what else Kimberly Brooks is in

[@boomgirlbucko]

What did you think of Xiangliu?

[@theflingthing21]

@@boomgirlbucko never seen it

[@boomgirlbucko]

@@theflingthing21 That's the name of the villain from LMK season 5 😅

[@theflingthing21]

@@boomgirlbucko oh yeah he didn’t exist at the time I made this video but we didn’t get enough screen time with him for me to have a solid opinion but I’m very intrigued by the character I think his backstory is great and I can’t wait to see more of him

[@tinothetuna215]

Very well done video! Maybe work on speaking more pronounced but that’s just my critic ass talking

[@theflingthing21]

Fair point I did script this but sometimes my reading skills are bad so if I mispronounce words usually that’s why