Villains Misunderstood - Scar (Fullmetal Alchemist)

[@Mangakamen]

If you enjoyed the content, please consider leaving a like, leaving a comment, and share the video on your socials to help share it around. Scar is an amazing character and there are so many people who misunderstand him and his story.

[@zeldapix7959]

I think the exact moment Scar's retribution becomes unjustified is when he chooses to pursue Edward. The only connection he has to war was the same that Winry did: The loss of Winry's parents. And that's SUCH a fascinating way for these two characters to meet: They are both aligned with, or, in Scar's case, directly responsible for a great tragedy in each other's lives. And I think it was meeting Winry that really began to sow the seeds of doubt in Scar's mind on whether or not his path of revenge was justified.

[@JoshtheOverlander]

I think it became unjustified when he murdered the Rockbells

[@zeldapix7959]

Oh yeah, there is NO defense for him murdering Winry's parents. I meant specifically his attacks on the State Alchemists, and I should've clarified that better. Mb!

[@HSuper_Lee]

Something I think about a lot with stories related to revenge is how often the avenger claims to be taking vengeance for all those that were wronged, but they rarely have a justification for that. What right does Scar have to say he's acting for all his people? What about all the others hurt by the military? If Scar kills those responsible, how do they get the satisfaction of vengeance? The problem of taking revenge is that, when you do, you simultaneously claim a right to something that you're then denying to everyone else. I think this is what separates the ideas of vengeance and justice. If done right, justice should give every person wronged the ability to level an accusation at their abuser so that, on a way, when the blade falls, it's wielded by the hand of everyone wronged by the criminal. Vengeance, on the other hand, is a purely selfish act because it denies the satisfaction of justice from every victim except the one wielding the blade.

[@TheGamingAngel18]

I’ve been seeing this far too often recently. That an anti-villain or villain is “in the right” for terrible actions because they were wronged in the past. It misses the point of compelling anti-villains, villains, and villains that might go through a redemption arc. Great video Kamen!

[@Toshineko]

Exactly. Just because a villain or anti-villain was wronged in the past, that doesn't mean any reasonable person should put up with what they have done. Being wronged is not a Get-Out-Of-Jail-Free card.

[@AugustusSinclairWhite]

It's an issue of people who're wrapped up in 'Ends Justify The Means' thinking IRL. Or worse, the people who put everything through a lens of privilege and oppression, who see anyone "punching up" as being completely justified in anything they do.

[@Shylunar64]

Excellent video. Scar was such a great complex antagonist. Hate breeds hate and his story truly symbolized it well. 10/10 video Kamen.

[@michami135]

I did have to pause around the 8 minute mark to wipe my eyes and get my breathing under control.

[@kingbash6466]

I think villains like Magneto, Scar, and most recently D-16/Megatron from TFO have this double edge sword to their complexity. On one hand, their stories regarding their upbringing and role in society is what makes them interesting and even sympathetic. On the other hand, this often lead to folks glorifying them as champions of the oppressed, and this is where you'll hear stuff like, "They did nothing wrong" or "They were completely in the right" because at that point, you're just hand waving the reason why they're considered antagonists in the first place.

[@thefanwithoutaface8105]

Huh, just realized something, Scar initially wears sunglasses, which obviously are to hide his eyes, but also thematically could be seen as a metaphor for how he is blinded by his hatred and refusal to see things outside of his perspective, this is in opposition to his brother who wore clear glasses and was open minded enough to research and even learn Alchemy despite how it went against his culture. Yeah I'm probably talking out of my ass but it's possible.

[@vinroycrossman-walker6465]

Perhaps, but an intriguing analysis nonetheless.

[@thefanwithoutaface8105]

It is kind of interesting how Scar is similar to Nagato from Naruto, both individuals who lost everything and everyone close to them as a result of war and became consumed with a desire for revenge and continuing the cycle of hatred. Main difference was Scar focused simply on Amestris, while Nagato sought to essentially remove war as a whole from the world, believing humanity was incapable of ending the cycle of hatred. In a way, Nagato is an example of what Scar could've become had he continued on his crusade.

[@thefanwithoutaface8105]

Something I always wished the anime explored was the revelation that had Scar not killed the Rockbells it's heavily implied Kimbly would've as he was ordered to since they were helping the Ishvalans. Meaning that they would've died regardless and Winry would simply now have to hate the same organization Edward and Alphonse belong to. Could've been an interesting conflict. Least Scar has the excuse he was delirious, suffering from bloodloss and shell shock and just watched both his parents get blown to hell and woke up in a strange place with his brother's arm attached to himself.

[@lisboah]

Honestly, Mustang killing them in the 2003 anime was more interesting.

[@Nyghtking]

The thing that typically makes villains who are "right" villains is the method they use. Like in the Magnito example, yes hes right that humans pose a danger to mutants, he's wrong in how he goes about it however with his mutant superiority rhetoric and the displays of his power, he is essentially painting himself as something that humans should want to fight against and the vary thing that would mobilize those individuals who would see mutants eliminated into rallying the masses against. He's right in his message but wrong in his methods.

[@thegreymortal9715]

The thoughts and sincerity that you express is what makes me respect you. Keep it up, MangaKamen. As for the topic, yeah. It's way too easy to wind up excusing the shitty things you do and justify yourself. It takes great strength and wisdom to admit that. Scar, as well as characters like Winrey, Miles, and Edward are characters people could adopt some real, golden wisdom from. Part of the key to being a better person is to recognize your flaws and potential for harm and evil and maintain responsibility for your actions and their consequences. "Man is neither angel nor brute. However, unfortunately, he who acts the angel, acts the brute." -Blaise Pascal

[@thefanwithoutaface8105]

Also Magneto wasn't right. He literally sent the entire planet back to the dark age, turned off every electrical device, including planes, cars, hospital equipment, power plants and the like all over the world, killing millions of people even if the show tries to make it seem like it's not a big deal because some humans attacked mutants. He sees all humans as evil and that they deserve to suffer, ironically making him no better than the Nazis who locked up in that camp when he was a child.

[@l.n.3372]

Magneto is vastly different depending on which media: comics, movies, TV shows, etc. He changes so much but some core aspects remain in tact. But it can be very difficult to compare each one as they can be drastically different. For example, the films (especially First Class) explore his past well yet it's obviously different from his comic book past. Also different is his relationship with Shaw which didn't exist in the comics either.

[@hkg7475]

Base-Breaking Character: Scar gets some of this over whether or not his redemption arc was actually deserved. There are those who like him for realizing the severity of his crimes and turning over a new leaf by saving Amestris from Father and beginning to rebuild Ishval, seeing his tragic backstory and Pet the Dog moments as making him worthy of redemption. However, there are those who hate him for being rather Easily Forgiven, even if Winry stated she didn't forgive him for killing her parents, and how he basically gets off scot-free for his actions of killing several alchemists. What do you guys think about Scar and his redemption arc?

[@l.n.3372]

I didn't think anybody disliked Scar or his arc. I've always seen him praised for his character development.

[@canisblack]

He's in many ways a mirror of Roy Mustang. We don't see the completion of his redemption arc. We see the BEGINNING. Because just like Roy he's going to spend the rest of his life trying to fix what he helped to break.

[@dariogaelreyes7534]

It still astounds me that people want to make a case that Scar's vengeful rampage was correct when a survivor of the very same genocide told him otherwise. Edit: btw I don't mean that his hatred wasn't justified. I mean his actions are undeniably counterintuitive and harmful

[@thefanwithoutaface8105]

Scar's reasoning makes a little more sense when you consider what happened to him. In addition to the war itself, he watched his entire family get slaughtered right in front of him by a juiced up Kimbly, woke up delirious and shell shocked from the experience, and discovered that his brother had not only also died but grafted his arm, which uses alchemy, something Scar hated, onto his body. He experienced some of the worst aspects of the War as a whole and was in the thick of it from start to finish, hence why his rage is so much more potent.

[@canisblack]

@@thefanwithoutaface8105 And yet his ENTIRE character arc in the manga (because I haven't watched either anime all the way through) is that no matter how understandable or sympathetic his backstory might be he made the wrong choices and nothing he did was excusable because of that.

[@mysticmind4563]

Instead of saying "(Villain) was in the right." In these moments, we should bring back the phrase "They have a point." It probably would allow the motive to be understood but not justified entirely.

[@thefanwithoutaface8105]

@@mysticmind4563 Is it even really accurate to call Scar a villain? I mean Mustang, Hawkeye and Armstrong by their own admission killed countless people in the war with Ishval, most of whom were likely civilians. Yes they were ordered to do it, but still.

[@LadyLeomon]

@@thefanwithoutaface8105Mustang and the others killed innocent civilians because they were “just following orders”, some of them like Armstrong knew it was wrong but still did it anyway. Scar starting killing in response BUT his wrath wasn’t solely directed at the actual killers, any justifications he had were rendered moot when he killed Winry’s parents, two people who stayed to offer aid and comfort, two people who never shed blood and could NOT defend themselves, in cold blood (and no, him mercy-killing poor Nina doesn’t make up for it)

[@bahesb2419]

Friendly requests for villains done right -Blackbeard(one piece) -Makima(Chainsaw man) -Absolute solver(murder drones) -Bob velseb(spooky month) -Bill cipher(gravity falls) -Emperor belos(owl house) -The culprit from persona 4 -The mastermind of danganronpa

[@thefanwithoutaface8105]

What about Toguro and Sensui from Yu Yu Hakusho?

[@VitezAndrei]

Glad to see a video about Scar from you. I hope you will one day talk about something like Katawa Shoujo, it was very well written characters.

[@Silver-Kaitou]

FMA vid from Kamen?! It's not my birthday yet. Jokes aside, great vid.

[@arctic7465]

When I considered the enormity of what was at stake and what i could do, I relented I accepted my only choice... I bought that shake weights you see on TV. 10 minutes a day every day! Can we have more FMA analysis?

[@helixwither2837]

Ngl I genuinely wouldn't mind if you made more FMA videos

[@squeethemog213]

I really enjoyed this one. Thank you for covering Scar. I look forward to whatever villain is next on the Misunderstood train. 🤩

[@KaiserShounen]

Not gonna touch on this vid since I need to rewatch Brotherhood. But Scar is a peak character no doubt

[@bahesb2419]

Fullmetal alchemist brotherhood is one of these animes that being every type of villain you like in the story and make them work well. Hate sink-shou Tucker and envy Cute but psycho-gluttony Affable evil- greed and kimblee Internal twist villain/villain with good publicity-wrath Femma fatale-lust Creepy child/pride Hidden villain/pure evil-Father Tragic villain/well intentioned extremist-Scar

[@lisboah]

Envy in the end comes off as pitiful, since his hatred and sadism were just him trying to hide his envy of humans.

[@blackchickiedee7]

Hmm, debatable, I wouldn't consider Greed nor Kimblee a villain, not technically. They kind of were doing their own thing and worked in ways that satisfied the dopamine part of their brain and had selfish motives. Greed was always wanting something but really wasn't going out of his way to harm others, and Kimblee went with the side that let him blow up stuff. Neither one of them really had a goal in the show. And sure, Greed later on said he wanted to rule the world but we find out that was really a facade. I'm not saying they're morally good, but I wouldn't label them as villains. One's like an anti-hero and the other is an antagonist

[@mysticmind4563]

One thing I would like to add. When Scar's brother began and progressed his research on alchemy and alchistry, his people were thinking of using this this knowledge as a form of payback and he could see the malice in them. Yes they were greatly slaughtered in this war, but it only proved that they all weren't above stooping to their enemies level either. Shows just how easy the cycle of hatred can continue. If not Scar, it would probably be some other Ishfalem for a different reason and by different means.

[@nobo6162]

"Who are you calling Short!"

[@MrDp115]

Sorry i meant midget

[@nekipeh7373]

Hey, i see anything with Fullmetal Alchemist, i click. I see anything with Scar, i watch and like. No matter how bad, that character getting spotlight is a win on its own. He is done solid in both series, especially BH, and i realy like him to the point of exploring most of his character, symbology and motives. The whole show deserves more love honestly

[@Bluesharky38]

Great job. The word really needs more videos like this, especially after the election where certain extremes and the concept of ‘those who don’t agree are the enemy” are being more hateful then ever. Thank you for making this, you’ve really made me rethink the concept of revenge and forgiveness for the better. Keep up the good work, your amazing :)

[@GAarcher]

*Man, I've just...60 episodes in a weekend...well, my favorite characters are: dog, markplier, "it's raining"*

[@Patty-Q]

In the details of the series, it is important that up up until this point, Scar used his arm just to destroy. To destroy is 2/3rds of Alchemy and some of the main through-line of the story overall. It took this long for him to realize that he can do more than destroy, break down the base and to build from what he leaned to do more.

[@gilgeaschwithkerk2344]

I think the idear that the villain is right is often just to simplify the idear, that a person can justified but still be wrong and that forgiveness is not something you get only because you redeem yourself. Some things can not be forgiven but it is still possible to live together without that forgivness. Sorry for my bad english, i am german.

[@videogamerzero1schannel]

This is a great video talking about a great series & one of the best uses of redemption for a villian now knowing that he was prepared to die but knows that even if he won't forgive himself of all the crimes will make the nation better to break away the cycle of revenge & it would be nice if you can talk about the series some more

[@thevgshow2723]

Probably worth mentioning that Bradley was Wrath the embodiment of Scar's primary sin, Wrath was happy with how things were going till Scar used Alchemy because I think he wanted to be justified in a way, like how Scar wanted to be shot by Winry so that what he was doing was justified as natural, Wrath wanted clean, pure hatred without complexity so that he could have a final battle between two simple killers but Scar denied it. Same way how what broke Envy wasn't Mustangs fire but the idea that people coluld grow and that he was jealous of that. What breaks the homonculi is compassion because they don't get it so they need humans to be worthless situation driven beasts to utify their flaws, too bad for them that humans can create and change but homonculi can't

[@legendarycryptid2629]

Gonna point this out since it's been an issue the whole stream: *_Every time I tried to type a message about how Bradley's legal first name is King, it never went through, EVEN ON PC. I don't know what KZbin's deal is with making it so some people can type out whatever they want while I can't get what I want out, but it needs to be fixed. There is NOTHING wrong or against the rules of pointing out someone's legal first name and how badass it is._* Anyways, More Fullmetal Alchemist videos please!

[@Mangakamen]

For some reason, this comment was held for review.

[@legendarycryptid2629]

@Mangakamen They know exactly what they're doing. Complete circus.

[@l.n.3372]

Just rewatched Brotherhood last month and that's when I finally realized that he wasn't both king and Fuhrer: king was his given name.

[@Nameless-ln5mr]

All this time, I thought King Bradley’s real name was “Russell Daniel Paul Blake Joseph Alan Eric Fred Orson Trevor Richard Charletons Christopher Benedict Garfield Polyurethane Nicholas Robert Theodore Skeet Michael Alvin Carter Bryce Jeffrey Marigold Peter Ethan Arin Papa Willie Nathaniel Orville- Robin Chuck Slippy Slappy Zippy Zappy Angel Eyes”! (It’s a joke! And a reference to one of the outtakes! The very same one with Scar’s “real name”!)

[@TankWink]

Oh my God it's so peak im literally scar'ing all over FMA brotherhood (I haven't finished watching it) Just finished watching, another reason to love FMA.

[@cynical_chai8922]

fma top 3 anime peak

[@Rabbitlord108]

This is a great character analysis. And MAN its been a long time since you talked about FMA. I think last time was when you talked about the garbage live action film (Correction FIRST live action film. Apparently there was a SECOND ONE I didn't know about until I did a search on KZbin)

[@WeebGuru6]

I agree with everything except it not being black and white it’s very simple actually along with scar represent the idea of atonement which is a major theme of the series

[@lynaras.673]

I need to get back to this series.

[@onilady1186]

This was a nice way to spend my lunch break , I'd love to hear your thoughts on Dimitri from fire emblem three houses

[@TerryB01]

Can you please do a comparison video of 2003 and Brotherhood FMA? See which versions were better from which. 2003 Envy is peak. Brotherhood is weaksauce. 2003 Envy would have smoked Mustang.

[@Mangakamen]

Only if this video does well.

[@l.n.3372]

Brotherhood Envy is peak. 2003 just whines a lot about Hohenheim and the Elric brothers. I also dislike how Hohenheim entire story is different in 2003. Brotherhood Envy has hatred and jealousy towards humans but it has nothing to do with Hohenheim or the Elric bros. His true form shown several times is a good reflection of his self loathing. I also like how he accepts that Ed, whom he looks down upon, is the one who understands his feelings.

[@ConstantinDOSSOU-vy1zo]

2003 Envy is a garbage character.

[@ConstantinDOSSOU-vy1zo]

And seriously how Mustang could lose against him ? Oh yes 2003 made him like he was fodder

[@TerryB01]

@@ConstantinDOSSOU-vy1zo 2003 Envy could fight and was smarter

[@Zephyrblaze456]

2:57 missed opportunity to say ready steady go like the op from the original anime lol

[@RenjiMaili]

I am sympathetic towards his position but the moment he targets people who had no hand in the events and those unrelated to them? Thats a hard thing to justify. If he just rolled out to cause misery to thf guilty and their loved ones I'd be completely down for it.

[@Dimumouto]

What does the guilty parties loved ones have to do with anything? Does Scar have the right to attack Hughes' wife and daughter? Since he was right alongside Mustang, Hawkeye, and Armstrong but didn't do anything to stop it.

[@BloodyEclipse756]

Scar is a very interesting character. Now I might be interested in Fullmetal Alchemist, but I can't guarantee that. Also "Who are you calling short!?"

[@shinkaiatsuya950]

Was Miles a better take on changing a syatem from the inside than Suzaku?

[@Mangakamen]

Yes. Cause he wasn't a hypocrite.

[@shinkaiatsuya950]

​@@Mangakamen and that's the correct answer xD

[@Phoenix_Blader_93]

definitely

[@Gensolink]

I don't think a villain should be 100% right. Do I think you can make them understandable ? Yes, because even the kindest people can be turned into monsters due to circumstances. Scar is an antagonist but through trials he evolves and bring up issues to the protagonists, allowing both him and them to walk a path that can make the world better.

[@ayrandabenoja5827]

me when I see people talking about fma and it isn't the funny talking dog:

[@nonome8206]

Scar says AAAA, All Alchemist Are Assholes

[@samuelrodriguez9801]

Actually, Scar and his brother used a combination of both Alchemy and Alkahestry.

[@samuelrodriguez9801]

I remember seeing a video of a holocaust survivor forgiving an Auschwitz guard.

[@KaiserShounen]

Do you know how I've gotten these scars?

[@DeadskyAg]

Who are you calling short?

[@FloofPuppy]

Who are you calling short?!

[@Realmidboss]

Who are you calling short ?!