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Message: <blockquote data-quote="WizarDru" data-source="post: 3734160" data-attributes="member: 151">Ah, OK.  You're describing a much different archetype than what specifically described.  Although again, that's not a uniquely anime archetype.  Heck, the characters you just described don't fit his description.  Sasuke doesn't wear trenchcoats and dress in black (he wears shorts, for heaven's sake), but he certainly does fit into the 'brooding, aloof loner' category.  Vegeta isn't a brooder, he's just a villain who ends up working with the good guys, not unlike Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer (and there's several such characters in DBZ).  Wolfwood spends half of his time as comic relief...he has a tragic past, but he's another archetype entirely: the-joker-who's-crying-on-the-inside.  He does wear black, but he's hardly brooding.  None of them sound at all like the Shadowcaster.  Heck, the only character who really fits the description I can think of is either from the live-action Sentai show, Kamen Rider or Condor Joe from Gatchaman....circa the 70s.  Now, what I think you're describing is the hero-rival archetype....and he appears a good number of times in anime, to be sure...but I wasn't arguing that.  Sasuke and Vegeta certainly are arch-rival characters during their initial appearances; Wolfwood isn't.  I can name a LOT of anime where there is a teammate/good-guy who starts off as a rival.  Heck, we could start as far back as Racer X from Speed Racer (aka Mach Go! Go! Go!).  But none of them say 'Shadowcaster', to me.(As for tailoring the characters to appeal to female readers....well, not so much.  While a lot of girls read Shonen Jump (it's actually the most popular manga book for girls, despite it's name), the titles they read are NOT the ones we're discussing.  The most popular series for female readers are not fighting action stories like Naruto or DBZ, but comedy or suspense like Prince of Tennis or Death Note.)</blockquote>

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