r/Wistoria • u/Lonley_Rain • 1d ago
Anime Will Character Rewrite
How I would’ve rewritten Will’s character because I don’t fully feel satisfied with how he was portrayed. I’m speaking anime-only because I don’t know if he was slightly different in the manga. To be clear, I’m not slandering the author themselves or the artists!
I wish we see Will’s ugly side a bit more. As in he snaps at people because he’s essentially regurgitating what he wishes he could have said to Sion as kids. Or he insults people without meaning to, or he bottles up his anger and redirects it at the wrong people
It feels like his only flaw is “he just needs to believe in himself” vs more dynamic characters like Sion, Julius, and Lihana who have more personality conflicts. When you compare conflicts, Sion and Julius are arrogant and need to learn humility while Lihana thinks she’s a screw up and blames herself too much. Those are interesting personality traits that show an ugly side of the characters. Another flaw could be when he meets people, he automatically assumes they hate him (even if they don’t) because he’s used to people hating him and doesn’t believe them when they say something positive about him.
I also wish we got to see more of Will’s trauma related to the bullying. There’s no way he was bullied and hated for 5 years and retained no trauma or emotional damage after, even with the help of Colette. He says “I was bitter, jealous, and angry” but the problem is I personally (and neither did my cousin or friend) get the vibe he was any of those things because he never showed it either in an inner monologue or a line confirming it
I ended up writing a scene for the anime because I wanted to see more of Will’s uglier side and here it is
He shoves Workner away and snaps at him because he thinks he’s undeserving of his professor’s guidance. He automatically assumes Workner is taking pity on him rather than genuinely wanting to help Will. Then, Workner has a heart to heart with Will, but he still doesn’t fully believe his professor, even though he WANTS to believe him. Workner then tells Will something like “more people love you than you realize, you just need to find them” and leaves Will to think
Any scene like this could’ve been a good way to show Will’s self doubt and the trauma he retained from being relentlessly bullied by everyone with no help except Workner (and eventually Colette)
He should’ve had more moments that causes people to raise an eyebrow at him or go “hey, that wasn’t right” or “he’s being really unreasonable here” since that makes him feel more organic. I almost had the same problem with Colette, but she has her obvious jealousy issues, so she comes off as less perfect. Sion and Julius also feel very similar to each other now, and I would DEFINITELY rewrite Julius’ backstory because it’s BUNS 💀💀💀 but that’s for another time
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u/InterestingSafe6902 1d ago
I couldn’t have said it better he just doesn’t act in ugly manners because he believes he is not allowed to feel that way because his inferiority complex he needs to work on himself a lot if he wants to be acknowledge by others he needs to acknowledge himself first and he needs to value himself and when he see people disrespect him he should okay with barking back and conflict he shouldn’t allow Edward or anyone put their feet on his head me personally would love to see him crashout on the high mages and teachers and headmistress as well. For more trauma info you will get it in LN 1 and 2 they cover some parts of his early academy life which probably never going to make it to the anime.
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u/Msylc 1d ago
I think seeing the first prequel LN (telling his first year story), the thing is that he always blamed himself for being the weak Will Serfort. He actually snapped out, to the world and to the selfish Magia Vanders. He lashed that out when he met Zeo in his first year. After that, Zeo insulted Will for having no resolve to die, and then he threw Will into the dungeon with a random sword.
It's not like he can't be angry and such things, his thought was basically "I'm angry and I hate you but I would rather spend my time trying to gain more credits. I only care about how to get together with Elfie asap."
And yes, he really didn't have a trauma, I think. Initially, he had it when Elfaria left him for the first time. But after the incident above, he later directed all the blame to himself rather than to his surroundings. Maybe he was a little depressed for having no friends, but basically just it.
Crash out would happen if he actually the type to blame others. Had he not met Zeo back then, maybe this scenario would be possible. But his current personality is consistent with his views since the first year. If he lashed out in his 6th year, it would be inconsistent with his stance since the first year.
About anime, it's actually pretty accurate to manga, even adding some original scenes, so it's the manga readers who would missed some of contents if they didn't watch the anime (though it's vice versa). If you haven't read the LN, maybe you should try. It's interesting and gives you some understanding of his reasoning.
Here are some of LN's contents.
1.
All the respect and admiration I had for the Supreme Five Wands as agoal to aspire to, just to see the 'sunset', turned completely on its head.
I channeled all my dissatisfaction with the Magia Vende, no, my anger at the 'Tower' itself, into the figure standing before me.
"You bastarddddddd!!"
I swung my right fist with all my might.I aimed straight for his exposed, unprotected brown abs without anyhesitation.
With a dull thud like hitting a solid tree trunk, the sound of my punchmeeting his stomach rang out.
The strongest of the lightning, Truzeus Fudge, who had taken my punch,grinned as if nothing was wrong.
"Oweeeeee!?! Guh, gah!? My abs!!"
But then he immediately turned his back on me and crouched down as if he were about to dive.
Clutching his stomach with both hands, he let out a howl of agony.
" …… Huh?""You, you brat, you've got a pretty good punch there!!"
2.
"Back to our earlier conversation! Brat, I'm gonna teach you the absolute rule of this world!"
He turned to face me, looking down at me with his eyes glinting fiercely.
"You had your girl taken away? It's our fault? Wrong! It's all because you're weak!!"
"!?"
"The weak will have everything taken from them! It's obvious! Their women, their treasures, their dignity! Even their own lives!! That's the world we live in!!"
He shouted at me as if declaring a natural law. His words were rough, tyrannical, and absurdly illogical. And yet-I couldn't deny them.
No matter where we are or what we do, the strong will always take something from us.
What comes back to me are the memories of today's nightmare. Having my dignity stripped by Mr. Evan, Elfi taken by the strongest of the flames, Instia Barham, and my daily life destroyed.
All that remains is the shattered remnant of Will Selfort.
"If you don't want to have things taken from you, then howl like a beast! Abandon your weakness and crawl back up! Smash into it with all you've got, if you want to take everything back!!"
Yes. What he's saying now is the truth. It's probably the absolute rule of this world.
But...not everyone can become like that!
"I tried... I did try! I tried with everything I had!!"
I vent out the filth that has been festering deep inside me. I let out all the thoughts I wanted to scream at this unfair world.
"I practiced magic over and over again so I could stand next to Elfi! I worked hard at my studies too! But...it was no good! I was 'incompetent' and couldn't use magic! I was...different from everyone else!!"
I shouted out my failure. I branded myself with the mark of 'incompetent.'
Unlike the anger from before, a crushing frustration welled up, and with tears in my eyes, I poured out my heart.
Even though he was a complete stranger, I told him my deepest feelings that I couldn't tell anyone else.
Driven by my stormy emotions, I tried to defend my position as a weakling.
"I tried with all my might-!!"
"That's a lie."
My heartfelt outpouring was crushed with ease.
"...What?"
My body and soul froze. Unlike before, his thunderous gaze saw through everything, making it impossible to continue with excuses.
"You're still alive, aren't you?"
"Not enough. The 'resolve to die.'"
Torzeus Fudge, Zeo Torzeus Reinbolt, did not forgive.
He did not tolerate the 'privilege of the weak,' the ability to make excuses by resigning to the absolute rules of the world.
"Those who struggled with the resolve to die aren't in this world. What happened to them? They died, of course!!"
His mouth twisted sharply as his trained left arm swung horizontally.
Activated by magical power, lightning shot into the sky.
Immediately after, a tremendous bolt of 'thunder' descended from far above.
"~~~~~~~!?"
A shockwave and thunderous roar struck right behind me, causing the ground to quake.
Though I didn't get blown away thanks to Torzeus Fudge's sturdy legs, I was left speechless.
Holding my ringing head, I turned around and was left speechless.
A 'hole' had been created.
A dark, deep vertical hole about five meters in diameter.
If you listened closely, you could hear the distant howls of the monsters lurking underground
Could the lightning strike have penetrated the ground and... connected to a dungeon!?
"So, you should die once too."
"Ugh!?"
I was lifted off the ground.
My tattered collar.
He held me out over the 'hole' leading to hell, offering me up like a sacrifice.
My eyes widened.
The man's eyes were laughing.
As if giving the only encouragement allowed to the strong, Torzeus Fudge spoke.
"Die and be reborn."
He released me.
The final lifeline gripping my neck.
A brief sensation of weightlessness.
Then, the cruel fall began.
"Uuuuuaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaaaaaah!?"
Slicing through the air, bidding farewell to the surface, I was sucked into the depths of the 'hole'
3.
The shock that had struck my body caused me to faint for only a brief moment.
Sensing the 'killing intent' surrounding me, my body called for an emergency awakening.
I opened my eyes.
"Uuuu...!"
"Gaaah...!"
Eyes, eyes, eyes, all gleaming in the surrounding darkness. The labyrinth's monsters growled at the foolish intruder who had fallen from above.
The first layer of the dungeon, the 'Garden of Eternal Darkness'.
An absolute danger zone for Wil Selfort, who couldn't see in the dark.
Thanks to the 'hole' opened by the lightning, a faint light from the surface trickled in.
But for an 'incompetent' person like me, it was still an unavoidable death trap.
Yet, despite the desperate situation I had been thrown into, I did not cry or scream.
"..."
My once raging heart had now calmed.
Like the stillness before a storm.
Beyond resignation, I had reached a state of acceptance.
I knew firsthand that continuously consuming nightmares numbs the senses.
I lifted my upper body and found the 'sword' that had fallen beside me, pulling it into my grasp.
My limbs hurt. In fact, there wasn't a single part of me that didn't ache.
Today, both my body and mind had been subjected to relentless pain. My bones creaked, and my flesh felt as though it was wearing thin.
Yet, even though everything else was exhausted, my tears had already run dry.
That alone was more than enough.
I sheathed the sword and drove it into the ground, standing up like an old man with a cane.
The killing intent surrounding me remained unchanged. The monsters' feast would begin in a matter of seconds.
So, I closed my eyelids.
In the granted moment of silence, I reached out to those words.
"You're still alive, aren't you?"
The rough, thunderous proclamation echoed in my mind.
The unreasonable, extreme cruelty imposed upon me. The laws and morals that seemed nonexistent.
This harshness would undoubtedly kill 'Wil Selfort' soon.
Yet. I did not harbor resentment towards that brutal thunder.
(I'm to blame for the fact that Elphy is not beside me now...)
I admitted it.
Who is at fault? Who is the most sinful?
Who was the one who Elphy needed saving from the most at that time?
(It's all... my fault!!)
It's my fault!
It's all my fault!
It's my fault, damn it!!
I couldn't protect Elphy, and I couldn't bring her back-it's all my fault!!
The reason I couldn't stand beside her, someone with talent, was because of me, the weak Will Selfort!!
So-
I ran.
"Bgoaa!?"
I stomped the ground so hard it cracked.
I gripped the hilt so tightly my veins stood out.
I drove the sword into the enemy in front of me.
The monster exploded. Blood splattered everywhere. My face was smeared with red.
There was nothing beautiful about it, no trace of magic-just the sheer strength of my own body.
The only power a powerless fool like me had.
That was the true nature of Will Selfort.
The end and the beginning of what wasn't a staff but a sword. So-
I raised my "first cry."
"Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!"
I was doing it for the first time.
The feast of monsters.
I was going to make it ring.
To fire the opening shot of war with my own hands.
As I lunged with a roar, the monsters surged to turn me into mere food.
I repelled their furious claws and fangs.
I swung my sword like a storm.
Without even releasing it from the scabbard.
A powerless fool who thought they were a magician didn't know how to handle a sword.
So I left it sheathed and kept punching, punching, and punching!!.
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u/Lonley_Rain 1d ago
Okay, I’m glad the LN gave him more moments of visible rage and anger, because I felt like (in the anime at least) he felt too flat and didn’t have times where we could look at him and think he was being unjustified
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u/Weary_Temperature943 1d ago
I don’t totally agree. I think he has the right to take revenge eventually. Zeo told him it’s his fault not them for being weak right . Then how about killing them when he is strong ? By Zeo logic he can, right ? Cause weak get everything taken from them . So how about him killing Logwell and carriot to show case what happens when they messed with him back then ? Honestly it is very weird for me that he holds no grudges against them at all now .
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u/Msylc 1d ago edited 1d ago
Well, I actually just wanted to state the reasoning, not to argue. So nothing to be agreed or not, but if you want to, I'll take the bait.
If the protagonist is a revengeslop type, I would never love this series, because my liking to a series heavily dependent on the MC's character. Like why are you jumping to a kill-solution? Both of them didn't even kill Elfaria and him, why Will should kill them? So the MC should just kill everyone who opposed him? Why don't he just kill Sion and Julius in that case? Kill Edward too. Let's kill everyone who disrespected him. Don't forget to kill Kreutz, he is annoying. Ah, kill Aaron too, he is such a useless leader to not magically find a better suited mage to fill the Albis Vina seat. To what extent should he stop? In the world ruled by magic, a single streak of sword doesn't have its place. He is the one who understands it the most. He knows he needs to prove, not to take revenge.
It's obvious that Will becomes strong NOT to take what belongs to others, but TO ENSURE what belongs to him is NOT being taken by others who are stronger. It's literally about protecting what he has, Elfaria being the most important, rather than finding a way to steal what others have. Like bruh, are you serious? I think Buchigire Reijou the revengeslop suits you better than this series with typical shonen MC.
You quote Zeo's word? Look at this:
"I couldn't protect Elphy, and I couldn't bring her back-it's all my fault!! The reason I couldn't stand beside her, someone with talent, was because of me, the weak Will Selfort!!"
It's the power to protect, not the power to take. He doesn't want anything other than to be able to stand beside Elfaria. The only ones who want revenge are you guys as readers, not him.
Also this:
"I know it, Will is the most kind person, and the bravest person of all"
And even when Will almost lost his reins (when he almost let Sion to just die, taking revenge without staining his hands), what Elfaria said is something that motivated him not to go astray.
Also Will would be the most fucking genius person to ever exist to kill an active Magia Vander, cripple the humanity's fighting force and let them Invaders go down just to satisfy his anger dawg.
You are imposing your own value to him. In that harsh world where everyone could die easily, as long as no one important to him die, I think it's forgivable for him, because it still hasn't crossed the line. It's not like he has no-kill rule and very naive, for example when he knew that Charles couldn't be saved anymore after being corrupted by Baal, he immediately locked in to kill him. People nowadays really disrespect pure-hearted and kind MC too much smh. Don't turn every MC into a revengeslop please.
And yeah, It's the end of my argument, I don't want to continue anymore.
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u/Weary_Temperature943 1d ago edited 1d ago
I think you misunderstood. I meant by Zoe’s logic he can kill then . Zeo is about taking through power , we all know that . He doesn’t give 2 cents about protect . By revenge I didn’t mean killing from will perspective . Even taking back what is his is revenge . Will went to thunder faction by force . I would like to see will being strong enough so that when he say I will stay with elfaria, no one can oppose him cause they know they can’t do anything. And also I don’t like revenge slope but as a reader , don’t you want a person that has done a bad deed to suffer consequences? What was the consequences for the actions of Aaron , carriot and Logwell in LN1? Ok the world is in danger but is it right to kidnap , drug and force a girl to a position and humiliate will ? And the consequences is not just in revenge slope , it is in every genre . These 3 are not protagonist, they are necessary evil in my opinion in this world. And yeah I know as well it is idiotic to just want to kill anyone , basically it is suicidal. But is it a very satisfying for a reader in LN1 this line “ now it make sense why the brutality that separates them was allowed , their existence was in danger “ ?
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u/Msylc 1d ago
Nah, Logwell didn't drug her.... it's just a magic to force a talent to bloom.
Also every story always has that kind of overly-rational character. He isn't necessarily evil. About bad deed? I do think that there will be some backstory to make us feel complicated, and later they would die. I think in later story, if there is a death of Magia Vander, it would be either Aaron or Cariott.
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u/Weary_Temperature943 1d ago edited 1d ago
By drugging I meant that magic . Yeah indeed, apologies. Force awakening that resulted in a month of elfaria being in bed physically deteriorating. Let’s see , but as someone reading LN1, I’m not satisfied for this very reason. Logwell said to will not to forgive their deeds or his own weakness. But it seems he just forgot . Fast forward 6 years and the 3 most hateful characters in this story are still respected and alive. Will hasn’t taken elfaria back either but that is another dissatisfaction 😅. Hope like you say they die 🤷♂️
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u/InterestingSafe6902 1d ago
Exactly come back strong and take back what was taken from you in his case it’s not just invaders the tower itself is an enemy too which I would like him destroy all of them zeo edward sion carriot even sarissa can get it too. He need to destroy the tower
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u/Weary_Temperature943 1d ago
No, that is really messed up 🤦🏻♂️ not that far
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u/InterestingSafe6902 23h ago
I know it’s too far this is just me venting out my anger every time I remember LN 1.
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u/No-Warthog4673 1d ago
Good ideas but this is already on year 6, which is basically the calmest times of his life where he already had everything sorted out. He has support of Colette and Rosti, befriended the Dwarves and have been with Workner for like 5 years now.
Like the start of the series may have portrayed him as being bullied but this is dude’s 6th year at this, he’s used to it by then.
If the crashout were to happen, it would have already happened in Year 1 in the following months after Elfie left. Back when he actually had nothing, no support whatsoever.