But she didn't just kill them she killed their families and their friends sparing only the children. After destroying that group she went on to target other humans after her friend Feng was dead. Sofia says as much. She did not limit herself to that group that is obvious. She killed far too many for that to be the case. She joined up with the demon queen and Sophia after fang's death and worked with them for centuries.
This. Putting aside that Feng was killed (a tragedy which was likely propagated by Kotone's bullshit, so y'know, now she's victim-blaming the people who probably saw Feng the way Kotone saw their family/friends) and further provoked her, how does someone justify going after the loved ones who likely aren't involved in the conflict either way? Are we okay with the wholesale slaughter of one side cause a few bad eggs did some really fucked up shit?
As awful as they are I did not imply all the mosters were awful just sofia and Kotone notice in my following response that you conveniently cut out I clarified this by stating that some of the ones we meet are not really bad at all. Way to put words into my mouth and grand stand though.
I will say it again, aside Kotone and Sophia, the monsters are either sex-crazed, over-enthusiastic interns, or just bored as Hell. I can't fault a lot of them for their behaviour. Hell, the manticore even shows remorse for getting you addicted to her venom and does her utmost to fix you, which is already more sincere a gesture than Kotone ever makes. The manticore even actively refuses to encourage or humour your desire to get addicted again iirc.
The other slaves she had are brought up with her and in some conversations with Sofia namely the one where you ask if she has any friends. There ultimate fate having their souls consumed is also elaborated here. You are not the first person she has done this to and I doubt you will be the last. In the conversation sofia brings up she broke heroes and villains alike just for the fun of it. She kept a retinue of mindbroken sex slaves ad when she got bored of them she sent them off to sofia to have their very souls devoured.
This is the part I get stuck on, and why I can't grasp how anyone can feel sympathy for Kotone. Okay, yeah, she suffered. I empathize, sympathize, moisturize that. It happened, she got her revenge, yadda-yadda. But, then, she went a step further and targeted likely interns who had no idea what was really going on, or the level of harm being caused by their superiors. Then, she went after the friends and family of those organizations, and left behind a lot of orphans. Did she have a moment of clarity afterwards and open an orphanage for said orphans? Nope! She continued her wholesale slaughter which likely resulted in a friend's death, and used that as an excuse to keep going.
At
NO POINT was Kotone ever attempting anything resembling remorse except that one time her and all the other monsters got slapped onto an island and told that they'll probably spend the rest of forever there as the training fodder to upstart heroes. And she's only likely showing any attempt at "changing" as an attempt to deceive the authorities so they might let her off the island.
Oh yes what a victim she had a handful of admittedly awful experiences and then inflicted far worse torments on thousands she lost a part of her soul sure but what of the hundreds she mind raped and broke for her onw amusment and then sent off to a fate worse than death? If anyone is messed up here it is you friend.
This right fucking here. She lost a portion of her power, a part of herself. She's also immortal from what we know of monsters, so unless she's somehow at risk of being murdered at any point, it's doubtful that she won't regain either that portion of her soul or her body over time. She was also cognizant of her actions, so I'm not buying that she was so enraged that she had no idea of how much bloodshed she was causing.
I don't know man I feel like your just deliberately going out of your way trying to have the worst possible interpretation of her character, like you mention that Sofia will reveal a lot of this stuff about her as if Kotone doesn't but she also tells you everything Sofia mentions herself so it's not like she's actually trying to keep it secret and the game is trying to cast doubt on whether she's telling the truth by only revealing it through Sofia. There's also the fact that you're conveniently ignoring the fact that Sofia herself says that she's certain Kotone regrets what she did in the past and also brings up that Kotone really wants to find a marriage partner, which implies she's not just fucking with you with her relationship stuff. Also be incredibly weird if Kotone is the one character's whose perk removal can't be trusted and would instead be only an a ploy where she only partly removed her control over you when it doesn't work that way for any other character perks.
Having a secondary character themselves tell you something about another person, and then that person admit that yeah, all of that shit is true, that's not being sincere. Kotone shouldn't need a prompt from an old war buddy to admit she'll dump you in a ditch the moment you stop being entertaining. Sophia tells you that she's certain that Kotone regrets her actions, but how often does Sophia even leave her dungeon? From our perspective, she's barely giving a damn about doing her job at this point. She probably only visits Kotone once every other decade, and that's only cause she gets bored enough to. It's not hard to take at face value what someone who barely manages to entertain you says. As for sincerely wanting a marriage partner, that's a two-way street.
Kotone removing her perk as a "trust" gesture isn't weird if you understand even basic abuser psychology, which you clearly don't. Abusers will do things that seem sincere to regain your trust, rather than compel you. The gesture lasts for a short period, but it's generally long enough to re-establish their position in your life. At that point, you've allowed them permission to resume their behaviour, as bereft as I am to imply that the victim is at fault. Kotone doesn't even make it a condition of her romance path that the hypnosis stuff is bedroom-exclusive from that point forward, either.
She makes it a goddamn condition to attempt her romance route. I repeat, she
forces you to undergo the process and then complete the dungeon as-such. You cannot tell me that that is healthy behaviour for a relationship.
I'd think the fact that she only acts that way if you choose those very specific combination of options and will instead play up either the whole "I'm in control of your mind now, what are you going to do about it?" or the "prove your love/devotion as my slave" angles with any other combination shows that it's clearly meant to have resonated with her to a degree.
She shouldn't need it, though? Like, it's even written when you do attempt to break free any other way that you have no choice. She won't allow it, unless you specifically choose the option called "I trust you," which again, is likely your character speaking from desperation in a situation they have no control in. It's not romantic, it's not healthy, and it's frankly the kind of shit where most people with a shred of experience with healthy relationships would be like "stay the fuck out of my life!"
You're just repeating what I said? But like I said earlier the dialogue option with Sofia where she mentions how Kotone would mind control large numbers of people is immediately followed by the dialogue where Sofia says she's certain that Kotone regrets her past. This implies that not only does she regret her killings but that she also regrets how she mind controlled people to that degree where they were essentially already dead and that she doesn't really take anything farther with other adventures than the final session you take in the game anymore.
Given the context of what we come to learn of her, and the fact that Sophia has stopped giving literal fucks about anything, it's more likely she's heavily implying in that same context that Kotone regrets getting caught more than she does any of the shit she did. Kotone is still hypnotizing adventurers outside of the trials. Mika doesn't do that. Vili might have, except again, she technically qualifies as a trial herself. Even whatsherface who runs the main inn doesn't actually do anything untowards you without you requesting it. Kotone is the one who exclusively breaks the rules under the guise of "helping" except when you even call her out on it, she doesn't offer you the option of stopping it and undoing the damage like all the others. Even Vili, who technically follows the same logic, makes it known to you that there are consequences of engaging her beforehand.
So, yeah, no, Kotone is an abusive cunt who fulfills a fetish role, but otherwise deserves no sympathy.
