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ultrajacket · 7 years

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Character Analysis: Velvet Crowe

I know I shouldn’t be adding more fuel to the whole Berseria discourse that’s been happening since it’s definitely been beaten to death like a dead horse. Yes, there is misogyny and sexism prevalent in the game. Yes, I agree that it’s quite irksome at times and it gets me annoyed at certain characters as well.

But put all that bullshit in a blender, shit on it, and pour it into the sewer and put it aside, then honestly, in my own personal opinion, Berseria has one of the strongest and memorable cast I’ve seen in a Tales game in a pretty long time. Plus, I’ve been itchin’ to do Berseria character analysis’ for awhile now.

I don’t speak for everyone or anyone other than myself for this one but I want to start off with how much I love Velvet.

I actually really disliked her in the beginning. She was just too damn edgy, hell bent, and fucking moody. She didn’t have much going for her other than her revenge and my first playthrough definitely had me cringing a helluva lot because of her.

But then that plot twist happened. You see her break and wane from what little mental stability she had. After all, the only thing that kept her sane was her revenge against Artorius. When she was shown the truth, when she faced it, looked Innominat straight in the eye, it destroyed her, reliving everything once again but this time knowing everything she knew and loved robbed her of her happiness.

She had everything she had ever known and loved taken away from her by someone she trusted. She was left to rot and die in prison. And I have no idea why people think Velvet would become some mentally stable person and steer to a path of righteousness the moment she bust outta prison? But she continued to spiral down this path of hate, spite, and revenge and if you want to chalk that up as bad writing, I personally find it refreshing.

This girl has been through so much. She was a normal village girl with hopes and dreams of a happy life but was then turned into a literal daemon to be used as a tool for someone else. Of course that deep rooted trauma is going end up as PTSD and I feel Berseria, surprisingly, handled that quite well.

I’m on my third playthrough right now and I got to the point where Velvet gives “Malak Number Two” a name. I don’t know how anyone can get infuriated by Velvet during that whole anime cut scene in Vortigern. Phi is literally about to plunge to uncertain death the way Laphicet did. She saw it with her own eyes, she relived that traumatic night again within that instant. She desperately tried to save Phi because she didn’t want the same mistakes to happen again.

Her revenge is obsessive and her projecting her dead brother onto someone else is problematic. But this is what makes her interesting as a character. She is so goal oriented that she’s willing to use anyone as tools to fulfill her own objectives. She’s a selfish character and even admits this.

But that moment she broke, hit rock bottom, she realized that even if the world and the people she loved turned on her, she still, absolutely truly loved them all. She realized and remembered how happy she used to be. All she wanted was happiness. But at that point, she was already too far in. She had to fix things but she did it in her own selfish yet selfless way. Velvet knew what needed to be done so that no one else has to suffer the way she did anymore.

And that’s why I legitimately love her? She surprised me so much the more was revealed. One can argue this is really shitty writing if you can’t relate to a character half way into a story but once shit hit the fan ¾ths into the game, that’s when you piece everything together. Velvet isn’t just some edgy one dimensional character for the sake of being 100% EDGE. It was all a gradual and manipulative process that drove her that way. And if you can actually sit down and let that all soak in, it becomes very heavy.

Although I can’t necessarily relate to that sort of PTSD with actual murder, I can relate to obsession or addiction to the point of self-destruction. The reason why I took nearly a 2~3 year hiatus off of tumblr was because of my anxiety and bad drinking habits. Alcohol was my obsession, my addiction. It made me feel happy, sociable, cleared my head from negative thoughts. But it messed me up to the point where I had to go to the hospital, go through therapy, and nearly tried ODing on my own medication because I couldn’t handle the withdrawals. But even before all that, a lot of my own traumas stem from my physically and sexually abusive father when I was growing up.

I apologize for getting real heavy here over a video game but this is why I love Velvet’s character so much. I personally found her really relatable ¾ths into the game when shit really hit the fan.

Velvet’s actually the vindictive woman I wish I could’ve been. I wish I could’ve at least stood up against my father all those years ago instead of letting those experiences hinder my own happiness even as a 26 year old adult.

But I’ll say it again, it’s just so beautiful Velvet literally weeps over how she used to be so happy, how she used to love everyone. I really struck a hard chord with me. But even if you’re broken, you have to stand up, rise against it all. You have to accept your ugliness in order to move on.

Everyone wants to be happy.

#tales of berseria #wordspit #GOMENASORRY FOR REAL OVERSHARING HOURS #i've actually been meaning to make a catch up post to what I've been doing these past 2? years #but a lot's happened #good and bad but i'm also happy i've gotten these experiences anyway #you can shit on my Berseria kids #but that ain't gonna invalidate my feelings on em #I honestly love each and every one of them??#if Berseria had been released during my real rock bottom point in life #this truly would've been the best Tales game I'd ever had play

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