Recently I've been seeing posts on the "Anime in which you didn't dislike a single character" thread of people saying they don't dislike any character in FMA. IMO I believe, unless you forgot about this guy, its hard not to dislike everyone in FMA. That particular thread is tricky because just because people say they don't dislike them doesn't mean they like them.
Aside from that thread, I am asking you a question whether or not you dislike Shou Tucker. I added a third option for those to explain if they don't like/dislike him. Otherwise Im curious why you like him.
*I just wanna see different views so sorry if I can't reply your thoughts intelligently..*
I did some research because I feel I don't really remember this character since it has been awhile since I watched FMA / Brotherhood. Plus, I was interested on thoughts of opposing those who dislike him. Here is a blog post concerning this issue. I personally never thought this way until I read it. For those who dislike him might change their mind after reading it. Personally, I still dislike him. Its abit long but heres the link(I also pasted the text in the spoiler).
[url]http://www.kanjiiz.wordpress.com/2010/08/09/the-secret-melancholy-of-shou-tucker[/url]
The Secret Melancholy of Shou Tucker
What is there to be said about the man known as Shou Tucker that hasn’t been said before? Not much, but there are some points that could be made about this controversial character. Shou Tucker for those who don’t know represents an actual problem that exists in modern day Japan. The idea of “work before your children” is something that becomes prevalent throughout your Japanese salary man. Tucker was a man who sacrificed his wife, daughter and dog in order to keep his job after failing to create a formula for creating the creatures known as chimera. Chimera are typically these bizarre, animal-human hyrbids.
The way I see Tucker is in a bit of a sympathetic light. He’s a guy who used his wife early on as a test subject to create a chimera capable of speech. After a long two years, which I assume was him showing some ethical restraint, couldn’t duplicate the results of his speaking chimera. I see the two years of him trying to duplicate his results without using human lives as an example that maybe Tucker isn’t as big an asshole as we thought. You also have to realize that if he hadn’t sacrificed Nina, that he would have probably died with her as well. He probably would have lost his job at Central and probably wouldn’t have been able to find a job again. He might as well have gambled and seen if he could continue to live as a normal and what I believe to be middle class lifestyle. This can also be applied to people who sell their children for money, but I found the outrage against this fictional character to be quite ridiculous.
One of the things that also brings some controversy is Edward’s hypocrisy towards Tucker. Ed views Tucker as a villain, when in reality Ed did the same thing. Albeit, Ed did his without actually realizing the consequences, but even if it was an accident, Ed should not be putting hatred towards people after realizing his actions caused the same thing.
I really wanted to just point out that in the end, Tucker is the only character that goes to hell. Barry the Chopper, who murdered several people and enjoyed every minute of it went to heaven. Kimblee a massive cynic who wanted to murder several people during the Ishvalan war went to heaven. Envy, one of the worst characters in the show who wanted everyone to turn on each other and kill each other went to heaven. I find the crimes that these characters did to be much more despicable than three murders committed by Tucker.
And who evers website that is should make a MAL account if they havnt yet... The person has so much to say.
Cool guy. He and Gendo Ikari would get along well.
What do you think you're piloting? Great Mazinger? Dangaioh? For Pete's sake, this isn't some robot cartoon whose main character is an autistic kid or some punk. - Kiichi Goto, Mobile Police Patlabor
Yes, you're right about that topic. It doesn't ask whether everybody liked the cast or not. Just that nobody was disliked. Thus, everybody who was not remembered or the viewer was apathetic about is essentially disregarded.
I'm not really sure why the spoiler contained heaven and hell. Last time I checked, there was no indication of such in the anime. Is it just a metaphor for that guy?
I think the spoiler is kind of flawed. Do consider that just because he might be a victim of his circumstance, just because we might feel sympathy, does not mean we cannot dislike him.
And I heard just about hypocrisy these days. It's an overused word in arguments that assumes human beings are rational and perfect. Why shouldn't Ed hate him just because he did something similar? Ed hated himself for doing it, and he regrets it dearly.
In the end, what happened to Tucker's family was a disaster. I dislike what he did to his family (not only did he do it once, but he did it again, there's not much room for second chances here). And since he was a minor character, that is pretty much all there is to it. Maybe he did understand the horrible stuff he did, maybe he would want to redeem himself. But the action he did was unacceptable, even in the circumstance. The only saving grace was that he was somewhat coerced to doing it, but it was more like he didn't think of any alternatives. And compared to some of the other characters, he wasn't forced to such a degree for me to feel sympathetic for his deplorable actions.
I don't like him, but I don't dislike the role he played in the show. He was meant to be cruel and desperate. It's thanks to him Ed, Al, Scar, Roy, Riza, Armstrong and even Hughes had a bit of development and emotional interactions.
If it weren't for him, I would never be the FMAB fan that I am today because episode 4 is when I was "won".
I like the thoughts especially from those who don't like him yet acknowledge the role of Tucker and respect him in somewhat way.
Still don't see a stronger argument of why you can consider liking him but I guess that might just be because people like him as he is and its hard to explain. Maybe people think killing your family for your own good is pretty badass.
Screw Tucker! HE USED HIS OWN DAUGHTER FOR SICK EXPERIMENTS! Who knows what else he did to that poor girl...
Then again, every story needs a mad scientist so he is an important character in the grand scheme of things... Especially how Ed's view of the military is darkened and their different views on science.
Plus it lead to that amazing sequence in the basement!
For me, Nina and Alexander are too innocent and likable for me to not dislike the loon (Tucker) who caused such pain to both.
As a tangent, this is also why I never fully liked Scar even after he mellows out a bit; while Scar does let go of his extreme hatred for Alchemists, in my mind there is no doubt that if he were to come across another "sin against god", he'd perform the same actions without understanding the situation first.
porkypink said: Still don't see a stronger argument of why you can consider liking him but I guess that might just be because people like him as he is and its hard to explain. Maybe people think killing your family for your own good is pretty badass.
I don't like him because of what he did to his family but I also don't dislike him because his introduction was done so well. Before they reveal what he did to Nina, the audience get to see how dedicated he is as a state alchemist (it's just that his dedication went into screwed path). He was written to be a mad scientist after all so I don't think he's a bad character.
i understand his motives and the pressure he was under, i have some sort of empathy for him.
but he fuckin killed his family for his own gain what the fuuuuck
the reason why he needed to pass that test was just so he could keep his family supported and together but just did the opposite by killing them, or at least, that’s how i interpret it.
im not really saying his actions are worse than kimblee’s, barry’s, envy’s, etc. but those guys we get to see for much longer than shou, and we’re able to learn more about them and see if they redeem themselves or not. shou isn’t as bad, but he’s interpreted that way by everyone because we only get to see this part of him.
also i hate envy
he’s a good well written character, and respect him that way, i just don’t LIKE him like a lot of others do. like his design though.
I mean I don't have any strong opinions about him, be it like or dislike. The guy was introduced and done with in an episode. There's not much to form an opinion about him. Though I think he could've at least put up a fight with Scar.
Loved his character. I think he has a truly sad backstory and I don't really get why people were sad over the daughter, wife, and dog. I get that it's messed up, but to cause such an uproar over 3 simple lives... c'mon now that's just silly. The man did it for research and I truly understand his cause and way of thinking. His mistake was having a family in the first place. I think he would have created a true name for himself if he wasn't held back by the prospect of family.