Quote Originally Posted by Elladie View Post
I am pretty sure Hamlet would fail the Bechdel test.
There's a big difference between the Bechdel Test and the Edax test. The Bechdel Test was never intended to be a measure of the quality of a work, by the author's own admission. Its sole purpose is to illustrate a TREND in writing, in works both good and bad. The implication being that it's far more common to find a "Hamlet" in literature than a "Hamlette", as it were. What this trend actually means is up to interpretation; certainly there are no shortage of individuals quick to point out how it might relate to "the Patriarchy", or what have you.

The Edax Test is VERY MUCH intended to be a measure for the quality of a work, and stands by the principle that any work that utilizes a certain trope MUST BE BAD. That there is NO WAY to take that particular literary formula and construct an enjoyable and meaningful story from it.

I stand by the assertion that there is no trope that by its very nature cannot be written well, and thereby feel that the Edax Test is invalid. It was constructed on the fly to try to add legitimacy to Edax's dislike of a certain character, who does admittedly qualify as a not-very-compelling use of the trope.

While I haven't brought it up before, it may well be the case that NOT EVEN ZENOS qualifies for the Edax Test. Can Zenos progress the story if he kills the Warrior of Light? Certainly he could! In fact, we know exactly what he would do, if he were to overcome his worthy foe. It's the same thing he did when he overcame his tutor: Seek out a NEW worthy foe. In fact, wouldn't it be a hoot if he decided that a grand contender for the position of next-worthy-foe could well be the foes who've been giving his PREVIOUS worthy foe so much trouble? I could easily see Zenos taking his battle to the Ascians themselves - or if he felt truly ambitious, he might assist them in their plans so that he could take on Zodiark himself. There's always a bigger fish - but Zenos is not satisfied with that. The Hunt continues until he is the biggest fish of all.

One could argue, "Nuh uh, that won't happen, if Zenos won he'd do X!!!1!" until one is blue in the face - but we don't know. And we never will know, because, for obvious reasons, Zenos isn't gonna kill us. If this was a work of literature, however, and not an MMO, What Comes After would depend on the talents of the writer, not some arbitrary rule.