An NPC you truly hate with passion

[Enla]

Lyse and Minfillia, and for nearly the exact same reasons to be perfectly frank. They're both written to be 'strong' or at least the narrative is written in such a way that makes it clear that's how the writers want us to perceive them; and yet they're both anything but. Minfillia at the very least is acknowledged as 'waifu' bait and shunted off screen as of this current patch cycle, but Lyse has all the hallmarks of a strong character while constantly being undermined. They both come off as cognitively dissonant characters. Minfillia supposedly the most useful of the Scions who still doesn't know what a linkpearl is bloody used for; and Lyse who literally has all her character defining moments legitimately stolen or retracted for the sake of the plot. I cannot stand characters who regress in intelligence or worth simply because the plot demands it, and they both are constant offenders of this in spite of the story /never/ acknowledging it.

Lyse especially is a dual offender in this regard. Her story arc during the Steppes was interesting and you could see the beginnings of growth slowly taking root, and yet all of it was retracted the second we shifted focus back to Ala Mhigo. Suddenly she was the leader of the Resistance for little more reason than she /had/ no reason, aside from plot convenience; and yet not two missions later she was regulated back to a common foot soldier once the invasion took place. Thancred, Raubahn, and even /Pippin/ and /HIEN/ were more pivotal to the reclamation of Ala Mhigo than she was. Hell she was taking orders /FROM/ Raubahn instead of collaborating with him like an equal. It just left one hella bad taste in my mouth when after Shinryu was beaten she strutted around like she was hot shit when she literally did /nothing/; just followed the Warrior of Light around like a lost puppy.

I also quite hate the fact that I've encountered no small amount of backlash for pointing these things out either. I've been called misogynistic for not worshiping the ground either of them walk upon and it's done little to help my hatred. I love strong characters and can even appreciate weak ones, but I /cannot/ stand characters who I'm told are strong but the writing makes them anything but regardless of their gender.