Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-23.243.83.197-20140707011600/@comment-5693502-20141219165137

172.249.15.246 wrote:

I believe Rachel really IS as bad as she seems... ...Which only makes her deserving of all the hate. Each to their own but I wouldn't call feigning disability "lazy" but rather I'd put that under the umbrella of being manipulative/deceitful. I mean, why exert yourself if you can do the exact same thing using an easier method ? She hasn't really needed to do anything herself because she's been deceitful and manipulative enough to get people to do it for her.

Again Rachel, like I said above, has manipulated and deceived her way up the Tower. Manipulation and deceit takes effort; the better you are at it, the less effort it looks like you're putting in. Regulars will climb the Tower any way they can to reach the top; Rachel's just been clever and cold-blooded enough to take an opportunity at a free pass up several Floors. Her wanting to be the heroine and seeing herself as doing nothing wrong is just a simple result of her own desire and ambition to achieve her dream(s); that's right, she does have her own desires that she'd been rabbiting on about long before she entered the Tower. The only thing that's "corrupt" is how Rachel plans on achieving said dream. And really, if anyone is to blame for her "corruption" most of that blame would fall upon Headon (and to a lesser extent FUG and Baam). The brilliant 1st Floor Guardian manipulated Rachel perfectly (though in her defence I'm sure Headon could quite easily manipulate other people in exactly the same fashion).

I've said this before but, just because Rachel hasn't shown any special abilities doesn't mean she doesn't have any special abilities. I actually enjoy the fact that another Irregular, who has not yet exhibited any special qualities, is able to possess such a "tower-shattering" position in the story. It massively subverts the whole "super-powered villain" tropes that almost every series has. No-one said you have to be overwhelmingly powerful, amazing in battle or even outwardly amazing to climb and conquer the Tower; sure it'll probably help loads on the way, but it's definitely not imperative. Evan Edrok is ranked around 100th out of all the inhabitants of the Tower; you telling me he got there using his fighting abilities alone ? I very strongly doubt it. In real life, who are the types of people that run the government ? The strongest, most physically capable people ? No. It's the intelligent, manipulative, deceitful bastards that run the government. The ones who have used others as well as their own powers to get where they are. For me, the same principles apply to Rachel. She's probably putting in a lot of (manipulative) effort behind the scenes to make her chances of achieving her goals higher.

I wouldn't call Baam charismatic by a long-shot, but he does have a quality about him that draws people towards him. And those that are repelled by this quality hate/fear him (e.g. Ho, Rachel etc). That's his version. Rachel isn't charismatic either but she also has a quality about her that affects others. Hers is a lot more intimidating from the looks of it but in effect it functions exactly the same as Baam's in my eyes. Many are repelled out of fear but those that aren't will join her. That's her version.

So you're right, Rachel is in effect the most irregular among all the Irregulars and that in itself is special. You could even go as far as to say she's the most unique Irregular that we know of. I enjoy these qualities in her character. Whether you wanna hate on her is up to you and whether you regard her as "evil" is also up to you. As for me, I can only hope she continues to be a thorn in Baam's side; one that he can't pull out.