#bg3 emperor

[notsohappynotsosad]

#bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #bg3 fanart #bg3 emperor #bg3 memes #bg3 wyll #ansur #balduran #bg3 astarion #bg3 gale

[littlemonday]

So much of the difference in player response to the Emperor vs. Raphael comes down to aesthetics.

I’ve been seeing a lot of fan posting of Raphael lately, which is honestly fine. I enjoy seeing fan creations on all the characters. But I feel like I need to address something that is, for me, rather glaring in the fandom. Raphael is a pretty popular character, while the Emperor gets so much hate posting I’ve had to block users and entire groups on other sites because it was so over the top. These characters are functionally quite similar in the game, but the disparity in how they’re each perceived couldn’t be more different.

Both characters need to form an alliance with the main character. Both characters need the main character to defeat the brain. Both characters are willing to manipulate the main character to meet their own ends. But, one character is a conventionally attractive middle aged man, and the other is a humanoid squid monster. (How many times have we all seen posts about how upset someone was when their hot dream guardian turned out to be the squid monster?)

Not only is Raphael conventionally attractive, but he stays that way when he reveals himself as a devil.The Emperor presents himself as someone the main character would trust, but when he’s finally revealed, he bears no resemblance to the facade he was wearing - a facade that he sincerely believed was necessary to keep himself safe and to win your trust. Raphael is quite literally the handsome devil. His ascended form barely makes an appearance, but even so that form is not alien. It’s devilish, but not alien, and “alien” unlike devilish, invokes a deeply discomforting fear of the unknown.

Raphael is all opulence and performance, wearing tailored clothing and living in a grandiose house that hides the horrors of what happens there until late into act 3. While the mind flayer colonies by comparison are grotesque organisms that look like the inside of a body, and the Emperor’s home is a bare bones cellar with the last remaining keepsakes of his former life. The chains he uses to hold his victims are right out in the open.

Raphael is like an old school campy Disney villain who tries to entertain you all while openly admitting that he wants you to come to him when you’re desperate and all hope is gone. And like those old Disney villains, he just enjoys being evil. He even comes with his own villain song that he sings. He enjoys your suffering. He’s openly playing with his food. The Emperor does try to seduce you, but mostly tries to appeal to your pragmatism and empathy. However, he doesn’t have Disney villain camp to help him out here. He embodies all the body horror and fear over the player's loss of humanity by virtue of him being a mind flayer. He does have a song, but most of us miss it on our first play through and don’t hear its tragic lyrics.

Raphael, and this one is perhaps the most frustrating to me, imprisoned and tortured Hope for years! He takes advantage of people, including orphans, and gets them to sign away their souls for eternal torment in exchange for something they desperately want or need in life. While the Emperor has that one infamous cutscene in which we see him enthrall Stelmane, but it comes on the heels of the player dehumanizing and provoking him. A lot of players will refer to this as a “call out” and a “mask off” moment, which is very disingenuous framing. It’s frustrating that so few players never seem to consider the deeper role their choices may play in triggering this scene: you treat him like an inhuman monster, and you get an inhuman monster. Players will complain all the time about how the Emperor manipulates you and lies about everything, but apparently in this one scene he’s suddenly being completely honest and not manipulating you? So many never consider the possibility of confirmation bias when it comes to this character.

As I said, this cutscene is an obvious threat, but I know that just because he’s threatening you, it doesn’t mean there’s no truth to what you’re seeing. However, it also doesn’t mean that this is somehow “the truth” as so many players seem to think it is. I’ll write more on this in another post, but there’s just not enough information in the game to make definitive conclusions on their relationship. And I bring this up because I don’t see anywhere near the outrage over Hope as I see over Stelmane.

Then there’s Ansur. The Emperor killed his love, Ansur, out of self defense (we know this from Ansur himself), and for a lot of players, this was what solidified their hatred for the Emperor, and they will endlessly hate post about it. Raphael, on the other hand, never killed any of his loves. But the reason he never killed any of his loves is because he’s never loved anyone. He’s incapable of it, and anyone he has killed was, at best, a mere tool for his use.

Which brings me to my next point, even though both characters are trying to manipulate you to their own ends, only the Emperor sees you as more than a means to an end. Raphael does not. In fact, I wrote a lot of words on this very topic.

I’ve had people tell me that they like Raphael more because he’s upfront with his intentions, while the Emperor isn’t. That’s not entirely true. The Emperor tells you he wants his freedom, even tells you the power he uses to protect you is power he’s stolen, but he goes to great lengths to hide his identity, where Raphael barely goes to any lengths at all. As I said, the Emperor sincerely believes he must do this to protect himself. He likes to puff his chest out, but he’s quite aware of his own vulnerability, so he lives a life in which he’s constantly hiding and disguising himself. He’s surviving, as he puts it in the end. Raphael is essentially a prince in the Hells who wields a lot of power, and whatever vulnerabilities he might have are well protected. Whatever difference this makes is not enough to justify the gulf in how much hate the Emperor receives versus how little Raphael does.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: this is not me saying that you have to like one character or dislike another. That’s personal, and I’m not going to waste time telling people how to feel. So please don’t take away from this that I want to see more hate posting about Raphael. I don’t! Please don’t hate post about any characters, and if you absolutely must, please don’t use character tags to do so. What I am saying is that there’s a clear double standard in this fandom, and I want more players to engage with this media in a way that is both empathetic and analytical. I think both of those things together can prevent a lot of toxicity.

#bg3 #the emperor #the emperor bg3 #bg3 emperor #baldurs gate 3 #bg3 spoilers #raphael #media criticism #not a hate post #fandoms

[fiddlehead-soup]

I feel like not enough people talk about how oddly provocative the Emperor's codpiece is like???? The...the shape? The positioning on their body? The placement of the illithid's mouth? There is so much to unpack here.

#baldur's gate 3 #bg3 emperor #baldurs gate #bg3 #the emperor

[kelsh]

I’ve finally finished a play through of BG3 so I think I am qualified to make these

Original images:

#bg3 #bg3 durge #bg3 astarion #bg3 raphael #bg3 emperor #bg3 shadowheart #bg3 wyll #bg3 mizora #bg3 zevlor #bg3 rolan #bg3 lakrissa #bg3 withers #bg3 arabella #myart #these are so fun to make #wonder if anyone’s made these yet

[rottenhoney0324]

Shut up

#baldur's gate 3 #bg3 #shadowheart #karlach #jaheira #gale dekarios #house of hope #bg3 emperor

[kikicolors]

my lisa frank princess 💗

#the armor is a horror to draw so i just made the crystals more abstract #baldur's gate 3 #the emperor #artists of tumblr #artists on tumblr #digital art #digital illustration #digital painting #my art #the emperor bg3 #bg3 emperor #balduran #larian studios #bg3 art #bg3 #bg3 spoilers #baldur's gate fanart #baldurs gate fanart #baldur's gate #baldurs gate 3 #baldur's gate iii #tarot card

[catsharky]

Hey Larian why can't I mention to anyone that the squid man tried to get in my (Ember's) pants? If that happened to me in real life I don't think I'd ever stop talking about it

#Ember voice: [laughing nervously] what the fuck? #also to be clear: The Emperor? smash #but Ember is in a committed relationship ok #bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #bg3 comic #baldur's gate 3 comic #bg3 astarion #bg3 emperor #act 3 spoilers #my tav #sharky's tav #tav: ember #oc: ember #sharky art

[olefireval]

Playing Baldur's Gate 3, especially The 3 Act feels like WAT

#baldur's gate 3 #bg3 #bg3 spoilers #bg3 emperor #enver gortash #orin the red #art #artists on tumblr #digital art #украрт

[diesvitae]

The Emperor each time Tav does something stupid.

#baldur's gate 3 #bg3 #the emperor #bg3 emperor #bg3 spoilers #bg3 art #mind flayer #illithid #dnd #dungeons & dragons #diesvitaeart

[lovetositinsilence]

power

available as print! here

#i actually made this just to test a new brush #it happened to be one of my best pieces #baldurs gate 3 #baldur's gate 3 #bg3 emperor #bg3 #bg3 fanart #bg3 tav #tav #fanart #my art

[notsohappynotsosad]

Have you reconsidered embracing ceremorphosis?

#baldur's gate 3 #bg3 #bg3 memes #illustration #artists on tumblr #baldur's gate 3 meme #bg3 emperor #the emperor #worm on a string #bg3 fanart

[inky-scrapyard]

I always wondered how the emperor kept an eye on us..

alternatively,

#baldur's gate 3 #bg3 spoilers #bg3 the emperor #mind flayer #illithid #the emperor #bg3 emperor #why is my tav a hoarder #art

[milleart]

some bg3 npcs i liked, in no particular order

#baldur's gate 3 #bg3 #kar'niss #sceleritas fel #true soul nere #barcus wroot #auntie ethel #lorroakan #ketheric thorm #orin the red #bg3 emperor #malus thorm #ghustil stornugoss #blurg bg3 #araj oblodra #bg3 rolan #omeluum #honorable mention to raphael and haarlep too #milleart

[wyrmwright]

Valentine's Day is around the corner so here are the #BG3 Villain-tines in all their glory ❤️🩸🗡️ Which Villain-tine are you hoping for?

#bg3 #baldurs gate 3 #raphael bg3 #orin the red #durge #the dark urge #gortash #enver gortash #ketheric thorm #kagha bg3 #the emperor #bg3 emperor #mizora bg3 #larian studios #bg3 fanart

[jeeaark]

I love Omeluum. But I don't think Omeluum likes Greygold.

The one time everything was going smoothly in the iron throne, was the one time Omuluum ditched teleported without Greygold i.e I fucked up. Do you know. Do you know how many nets Greygold had to dodge while heading back? Too. Too many.

Thankfully! Astarion, last lad around, stuck by the ladder just in casies. And, just in casies, Astarion continued to stay there while GG caught their breath by the ladder. Bat buddy wanted to make sure they both left at the same time. Heart-warming in retrospect!

Never heard squid buddy convey such- unrestrained choked up panic over Greygold's well-being. I was touched y'all.... Until I realized there's probably more than one reason why The Emperor would be so concerned, hueeeeh

#bg3 spoilers #bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #astarion #omeluum #bg3 emperor #the emperor bg3 #greygold #bg3 fanart #bg3 comic #the emperor cursing is funny because reasons #Greygold's superpower is bringing out the best or worst in mindflayers #A tribute to calling Omeluum Omulette for the longest of times ahahaha #Bat boy is becoming a bat man ohohoho #you know because he's such a big fan of the dark. the dark kn-*shot*

[entering--hyperspace]

Mansplain Manipulate Mindflayer

#bg3 #bg3 emperor #bg3 the emperor #bg3 edit #this is my fancam ill post it however many times I like