User blog:Valhern/Why do you like Ging?

(I posted this on tumblr but felt like posting it here too)

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Sometimes I’ve been seen people confused about how in the hell some people  -me being one of them- like Ging Freecss, and I’ll try to explain it to you.

But first of all, I want to clear something up:

I KNOW he is an ASSHOLE. A DOUCHE. A SELFISH JERK.

So don’t come to me with that, I’m pretty aware what he is. Now I’ll try to explain with as less as possible spoilers.

1. Characterization

Ging is NOT a good person, let alone a good father.

But yes, it’s part of what makes him a good character. Why? Well, he is the father of our protagonist, and mostly, the father of the shonen protagonist is a legendary hero or someone whose heroic will is carried out by his son, sometimes it’s also this badass and rough kind of dude, but also nice and heroic in it’s own way.

Ging is far away from this. He is not even close to this type of shonen father.

First of all, he abandoned his son not by the greater good, but for his own. He didn’t go on a legendary quest to save the world, he wanted to follow his dreams, and he couldn’t do it with Gon on his back, and most important, he couldn’t wait.

He could not wait. Precisely that. He is a pure self-centered person, he had his dreams, and nobody, not even his newborn son were enough to stop him. But it’s curious, ain’t it?

"Follow your dreams" is one of the most typical and clichéd phrases, and Ging is going by it. However, if you apply it on a character that is avoiding responsabilities and his duties as father, it doesn’t look that good… I like how that looks, the most simple trope in a shonen series makes you think that the character is a jerk.

And I’d also like to point out something really, REALLY important: Ging KNOWS he is a bad father. In the episode 38 (2011) he himself says he doesn’t want to see Gon, not because he doesn’t love him, but because he is too ashamed of himself as a father to see his son.

So, the story NEVER justifies Ging -if you read the manga you’ll know-, nor Ging does justify himself as a good person or a father. And I really really like how that looks.

2. Role as father

This one is complicated to explain. But I’ll try.

Even though Ging abandoned his son, it’s not like he never thought of him while he was on his never-ending adventure.

<p style="outline:none0px;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:rgba(0,0,0,0);margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:10px;font-size:15px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-family:'HelveticaNeue',HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:21px;">First-off, he didn’t leave Gon anywhere, he left him with Mito so she could take care of him.

<p style="outline:none0px;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:rgba(0,0,0,0);margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:10px;font-size:15px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-family:'HelveticaNeue',HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:21px;">Then, he and his friends colaborated in a pretty complicated game which was intended to be completed only by Gon, anyone else completing this game would have not been the same at all.

<p style="outline:none0px;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:rgba(0,0,0,0);margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:10px;font-size:15px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-family:'HelveticaNeue',HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:21px;">True enough, he put his son on danger several times for reasons that wouldn’t seem plausible to anyone. But you know what’s also true? His faith on Gon. He knew that Gon would pass the Hunter Exam, he knew that he would be able to learn Nen so he could start looking for Greed Island. And above else, he knew he’d live until the time they would see each other.

<p style="outline:none0px;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:rgba(0,0,0,0);margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:10px;font-size:15px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-family:'HelveticaNeue',HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:21px;">It’s complicated to see, but it is there, his faith on his son is really impressive, even though the means he tests it are totally questionable.

<p style="outline:none0px;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:rgba(0,0,0,0);margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:10px;font-size:15px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-family:'HelveticaNeue',HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:21px;">I think it’s like those things your parents never tell you and probably they hide it behind something else but their intention is there, and it’s important to acknowledge it. Apparently, Gon did when he set off to look for Ging.

<p style="outline:none0px;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:rgba(0,0,0,0);margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:10px;font-size:15px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-family:'HelveticaNeue',HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:21px;">My point is: Ging is NOT a good father, but he never forgot about his son and even though he put his own son to dangerous tests, he always had incredibly faith in him.

<p style="outline:none0px;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:rgba(0,0,0,0);margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:10px;font-size:15px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-family:'HelveticaNeue',HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:21px;">3. Gon and Ging

<p style="outline:none0px;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:rgba(0,0,0,0);margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:10px;font-size:15px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-family:'HelveticaNeue',HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:21px;">This might be difficult to explain too.

<p style="outline:none0px;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:rgba(0,0,0,0);margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:10px;font-size:15px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-family:'HelveticaNeue',HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:21px;">If Ging is the deconstruction of a shonen father, Gon is the deconstruction of a shonen protagonist. I’d like to point out that Gon has A LOT of Ging as well.

<p style="outline:none0px;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:rgba(0,0,0,0);margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:10px;font-size:15px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-family:'HelveticaNeue',HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:21px;">There are many similarites, but I’d like to go on just two: <p style="outline:none0px;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:rgba(0,0,0,0);margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:10px;font-size:15px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-family:'HelveticaNeue',HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:21px;">Yes, Gon got his innocent and ambigous morality, as well as his selfishness from daddy Ging. I’ll make it as brief as possible:
 * Ambigous morality
 * Selfishness

<p style="outline:none0px;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:rgba(0,0,0,0);margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:10px;font-size:15px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-family:'HelveticaNeue',HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:21px;">- Greed Island, in the dodgeball game against Razor. In this match Gon reveals to be too stubborn for his own good and those who are around him. He somehow is able to push everyone in the direction he wants to. This is pretty obvious with Killua, who even though he willingly accepted to almost lose his hands, it was Gon the one that made him do that. Yes, in this one Gon acknowledges his faith in Killua, but look a little further, and see the result of that faith, that leads us to:

<p style="outline:none0px;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:rgba(0,0,0,0);margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:10px;font-size:15px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-family:'HelveticaNeue',HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:21px;">- Chimera Ant arc. Many times in this arc Killua is shown having doubts about being Gon’s friend, it makes him sad thinking he is not worth being by Gon’s side, and a little after he realizes he is worth of having friends, Gon starts walking a path that never included Killua at all, something that excluded him, and yet, Killua -and many others- followed Gon in his selfish path of revenge and were ready to die with him if necessary.

<p style="outline:none0px;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:rgba(0,0,0,0);margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:10px;font-size:15px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-family:'HelveticaNeue',HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:21px;">The ambigous morality is pretty much obvious, I don’t believe I need to explain that.

<p style="outline:none0px;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:rgba(0,0,0,0);margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:10px;font-size:15px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-family:'HelveticaNeue',HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:21px;">My point is: Judge Ging, but remember to judge Gon as well.

<p style="outline:none0px;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:rgba(0,0,0,0);margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:10px;font-size:15px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-family:'HelveticaNeue',HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:21px;">4. Badass Motherfucker

<p style="outline:none0px;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:rgba(0,0,0,0);margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:10px;font-size:15px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-family:'HelveticaNeue',HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:21px;">Well, this is something nobody can argue about, I think. Even though it’s yet to be seen in the anime, you all should know that Ging is an extremely skilled and intelligent person, so far he is one of the smartest characters in the series. Remember that he thought up Greed Island and his message for Gon ten years before Gon could even heard it, and all of his plans went out smoothly (more or less).

<p style="outline:none0px;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:rgba(0,0,0,0);margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:10px;font-size:15px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-family:'HelveticaNeue',HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:21px;">He isn’t only a Double-Star Hunter (qualified for a Three-Star but too shy and stubborn to accept it), he is among the FIVE BEST NEN USERS in the world, stated by Netero himself.

<p style="outline:none0px;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:rgba(0,0,0,0);margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:10px;font-size:15px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-family:'HelveticaNeue',HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:21px;">Among other stuff he’s done, like riding on a monster that rides on another monster in a volcanic island, he’s been working as an archeologist, preserving and restoring ruins so everybody can see them, and many of his achievements are renowed among the world. He is a SCIENCE MAN, PEOPLE. AN IMPORTANT ONE.

<p style="outline:none0px;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:rgba(0,0,0,0);margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:10px;font-size:15px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-family:'HelveticaNeue',HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:21px;">He is simply one of the biggest badass in the series, and we haven’t seen everything yet.

<p style="outline:none0px;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:rgba(0,0,0,0);margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:10px;font-size:15px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-family:'HelveticaNeue',HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:21px;">______________________________________________________

<p style="outline:none0px;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:rgba(0,0,0,0);margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;font-size:15px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-family:'HelveticaNeue',HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:21px;">And that’s all of it, I hope I haven’t spoiled anything for anybody and made my OPINON clear, remember, I don’t try to make you like Ging, I’m trying to explain and want you to understand why do I -and some other people- like him. Thanks for reading.