I find it fascinating that several people talk about Cyrus like he's not evil incarnate. Or that he's redeemable.
But nobody mentions Shapur.
Is it just because Cyrus has a sort of 'rugged handsomeness' while Shapur looks a bit like a weasel?
While I have no doubt his looks are a factor as to why some people like Cyrus, it's not the whole reason for me. I find his character very intriguing in that, yeah, he's obviously a bad guy, but also has certain qualities that mean he's not
just the bad guy, and most importantly, not a boring stereotype. He's got enough intelligence and common sense to still allow him a measure of clarity and context outside of simply being driven blindly, head-against-the-wall by his vision for the country. Any character that is open to suggestion, however small, has the ability to learn and grow.
Now, whether he will is another matter entirely. I'm not
counting on Cyrus redeeming himself, and considering what he's done I think it's well beyond the scope of this story/game to achieve anything close to redemption for the character even if it was possible. However, I think the more a person thinks beyond whatever fixed path they've come to believe or live by, the more complex and interesting they tend to become, and that makes for a good story. Some of the most interesting characters are ones who seem kinda stereotypical/boring and so are largely overlooked or written off at first, only to have some sort of revelation or event occur that turns them around for the better (think Jaime Lannister and Sansa Stark from Game of Thrones). It's not always enough to save them from their fate, but it's their journey and what we get from it that's the interesting part.
Frankly I really want to learn more about Cyrus in an intimate sense. I don't mean physically
(well, I'm not exactly opposed... heh), but rather mentally - to discover the deeper facets of his personality. He hasn't given Ashur the time of day, and perhaps he never will considering all the shit that's going down, but I would really like to get to know him somehow, and find out if there really is more beyond his fanaticism.
In my view (with what info the story has given me so far) Shapur is, by far, the lesser evil.
I also don't dispute this, and I'm not sure who would? I wasn't talking about who was the most evil, I was talking about who was the most interesting. When I wrote of the characters that interested me in my last post, I was going off of the characters that really left an impression and left me wanting more of them.
