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Why I think Crimson from Helluva Boss sucks as a villain.
a year ago
General
After watching some clips of Crimson in Helluva Boss, I can confidently say that he's a terrible antagonist. Let's go over a few reasons why:
1. For a crime boss, he's pretty stupid. Crimson is probably the second most stupid antagonist in Helluva Boss, right behind Stella. The many things that leads me to conclude that Crimson isn't smart is the fact that he didn't check if Chez was telling the truth, the fact that he sent Moxxie and Chaz to do a heist with no getaway vehicle, no weapons, or anything to cover their faces.
Lastly, he got distracted by Fizzarolli's distraction song. Let's tackle these instances of stupidity one at the time, shall we? Crimson never bothered to check whether or not Chez was rich throughout Exes and Oohs because if Crimson did, then he would've killed Chaz right then and there. Despite being a crime lord, he almost got bamboozled by one of his former lackeys. That is just embarrassing. Like, all it took to convince Crimson that Chaz wasn't rich was Blitzo just telling him that. I wish I was kidding.
Apparently, Crimson is also gullible, as he will believe anything you tell him. The second instance is that Crimson couldn't even do a heist right. Crimson tasked Moxxie and Chaz to rob a bank, which again makes me question what exactly his mafia does. But when we look at the heist, we see that Moxxie and Chaz don't have weapons to defend themselves, they don't have a getaway vehicle, nor do they have masks to cover up their identity. And since there is law enforcement in hell, that has led to Moxxie getting caught and thrown to jail, and Chaz being likely the most wanted man.
Had Crimson planned out the heist in the first place, then Moxxie and Chaz would've succeeded, and Moxxie would've still be working under Crimson. But nope! Moxxie gets caught, Chaz gets away, all because Crimson wasn't intelligent enough to think all of that through for a heist.
Also, Crimson holding Fizzarolli hostage in Oops was stupid as well. If Crimson failed to contain Fizzarolli, and Fizzarolli escapes, then Crimson would have to worry about one of the Seven Deadly Sins coming after him. I didn't think crime bosses were this careless because if they were, then there would definitively be fewer crime lords on earth. (also, who smokes a cigar just to put it out?)
So, with that in mind, you'd think Crimson would do everything in his power to make sure Fizzarolli doesn't escape, right? Well, let's see what he does instead. Crimson walks out where he's holding Fizzarolli and Blitzo hostage. Off to a bad start, but hey, at he improves, right? He got distracted by Fizzarolli's singing instead of shooting Fizzarolli or at least restraining him. Are you kidding me?
You know, with the lack of intelligence Crimson has, it's pretty surprising that he's still alive, even more so surprising that he is still a crime lord.
2. Crimson is not threatening at all. I mean, when you think about it, Crimson isn't really a threat to the main cast. He's not physically strong, imposing, or intelligent, and his goons aren't better either. Just generic dumb and useless goons that get easily defeated. Why do I think he's weak, you may ask? Well, it's because he mainly relies on his goons to do the fighting for him. But when he's alone and is confronted with a violent individual, he backs off like the wimp that he is. There are two instances like this in Exes and Oohs.
When Mille was trying to kill Chaz and Chaz hid behind Crimson, Crimson tried to calm Millie down as if she were a rabid dog. After Crimson's goons are killed, way too easily, I might add, Crimson never tries to fight Millie himself.
Instead, he just gives up Moxxie to her and pouts like a big baby. Like, I know crime lords aren't supposed to be fighters and all, but they should've way more guts. Crimson does not have guts. Next, his goons are all weak and useless. Millie was able to kill a good handful of them in Exes and Oohs and with minimal difficulty, no less, thus, removing any tension from the scene, making the scene uninteresting. Another good amount of them were killed by Fizzarolli and Blitzo, the former isn't even a fighter at all, and yet, he still defeated the goons easily. Are all of his goons made out of paper mache or something? So, not only is Crimson physically weak, but his goons are also bad at killing people.
Couldn't they at least do some amount of damage to the main cast? Is Crimson running a mob? Or is he just running a club for insane sharks?
3. The tonal whiplash for this character makes it really difficult for me to take him seriously or not to take him seriously. Like, we were told that he's an intimidating villain, only for him to have dildos on his walls as trophies. I wish I was kidding. Due to this, I cannot find anything interesting about this character.
And lastly, Crimson had very little buildup in the series overall. Even then, saying that he had buildup is a bit of a stretch considering that the build up he had was a throwaway line Moxxie said in the first episode. ''Maybe like a bad dad, or a mob family. That's understandable.'' Crimson hasn't been hinted at, at all throughout the first season. For instance, the main protagonists and Stolas (and Octavia) go to Loo Loo Land. Which is an amusement park located in the Greed ring. Who lives in the Greed ring and is very infamous? Crimson does, and Crimson just happens to be infamous. Despite the physical similarity and the fact that Moxxie worked for Crimson for most of his life, nobody in Loo Loo Land pointed out that the fact that Moxxie was part of Crimson's mob or even looked similar to Crimson.
They just ignored him. Another example is in Truth Seekers, Moxxie goes into a bad hallucination due to the Truth Gas, yet the only person he sees in his hallucination is Blitzo. Not Crimson nor his mother. But if we were to believe that Crimson is important to Moxxie's life, then wouldn't he be included in his hallucination and not flashback? Just some food for thought.
Also, Crimson's design is mid as hell. Just some generic mafia design that doesn't stand out.
If you want a crime lord villain done right, look no further than Sir Crocodile from One Piece.
Here are a few things about Sir Crocodile that work:
1. Sir Crocodile had major buildup before the Alabasta arc. We even get glimpse of him in the shadow when Sanji was talking to him on the phone pretending to be a goon of his. It wasn't until the beginning of the Alabasta arc that we get to see who Sir Crocodile looked like. First, we got to see him fighting off the pirates, making him look like the hero to the people. In reality, this was to cover his tracks for his plan to orchestrate a civil war in Alabasta by taking away the rain and making it look like it was the king's fault. Princess Vivi even mentioned him before the Alabasta arc, explaining how big his organization was.
So as you can see, Sir Crocodile had a great buildup.
2. Sir Crocodile is extremely competent and threatening as a villain. Not only is he physically imposing, strong, powerful and intelligent, he also defeated Luffy, the main protagonist, pretty easily during their first battle. He also have really competent goons working for him, giving the heroes as much as a challenge to save Alabasta. Unlike Crimson, who is dumb enough to not even think through his heist plan, Crocodile really had everything together, and always seem to be in complete control, with his crowning achievement being that he always have backup plans FOR his backup plans.
To recap, the heroes tried to stop the civil war. Crocodile managed to crush that plan really easily, and so, when the heroes tried to stop the fighting, Crocodile had a plan for that. And when stopping the fighting didn't work, and they tried to stop the bomb instead, Crocodile had a plan for that too. If you really think about it, everything in the Alabasta arc had gone exactly the way he had planned. Plus, it took two losses for Luffy to finally defeat Crocodile, and also forces Luffy to use his brain to defeat him strategically.
So, to recap, Crocodile is physically imposing and powerful, able to take down Luffy instantly during their first battle. He managed to pull the strings in Alabasta without leaving any loose ends. He made sure to plan as many fail safes as humanly possible, and managed to foil the heroes' plans multiple times.
3. His design for a mafia pirate esque villain is awesome, with the outfit looking just like the Italian mob to make it stand out and to make him look influential.
So, in conclusion, Crimson is a terrible and incompetent villain. While I don't think Crimson needs to be exactly like Crocodile to be a good mafia antagonist, he still needs to be threatening at least. Crimson just isn't.
1. For a crime boss, he's pretty stupid. Crimson is probably the second most stupid antagonist in Helluva Boss, right behind Stella. The many things that leads me to conclude that Crimson isn't smart is the fact that he didn't check if Chez was telling the truth, the fact that he sent Moxxie and Chaz to do a heist with no getaway vehicle, no weapons, or anything to cover their faces.
Lastly, he got distracted by Fizzarolli's distraction song. Let's tackle these instances of stupidity one at the time, shall we? Crimson never bothered to check whether or not Chez was rich throughout Exes and Oohs because if Crimson did, then he would've killed Chaz right then and there. Despite being a crime lord, he almost got bamboozled by one of his former lackeys. That is just embarrassing. Like, all it took to convince Crimson that Chaz wasn't rich was Blitzo just telling him that. I wish I was kidding.
Apparently, Crimson is also gullible, as he will believe anything you tell him. The second instance is that Crimson couldn't even do a heist right. Crimson tasked Moxxie and Chaz to rob a bank, which again makes me question what exactly his mafia does. But when we look at the heist, we see that Moxxie and Chaz don't have weapons to defend themselves, they don't have a getaway vehicle, nor do they have masks to cover up their identity. And since there is law enforcement in hell, that has led to Moxxie getting caught and thrown to jail, and Chaz being likely the most wanted man.
Had Crimson planned out the heist in the first place, then Moxxie and Chaz would've succeeded, and Moxxie would've still be working under Crimson. But nope! Moxxie gets caught, Chaz gets away, all because Crimson wasn't intelligent enough to think all of that through for a heist.
Also, Crimson holding Fizzarolli hostage in Oops was stupid as well. If Crimson failed to contain Fizzarolli, and Fizzarolli escapes, then Crimson would have to worry about one of the Seven Deadly Sins coming after him. I didn't think crime bosses were this careless because if they were, then there would definitively be fewer crime lords on earth. (also, who smokes a cigar just to put it out?)
So, with that in mind, you'd think Crimson would do everything in his power to make sure Fizzarolli doesn't escape, right? Well, let's see what he does instead. Crimson walks out where he's holding Fizzarolli and Blitzo hostage. Off to a bad start, but hey, at he improves, right? He got distracted by Fizzarolli's singing instead of shooting Fizzarolli or at least restraining him. Are you kidding me?
You know, with the lack of intelligence Crimson has, it's pretty surprising that he's still alive, even more so surprising that he is still a crime lord.
2. Crimson is not threatening at all. I mean, when you think about it, Crimson isn't really a threat to the main cast. He's not physically strong, imposing, or intelligent, and his goons aren't better either. Just generic dumb and useless goons that get easily defeated. Why do I think he's weak, you may ask? Well, it's because he mainly relies on his goons to do the fighting for him. But when he's alone and is confronted with a violent individual, he backs off like the wimp that he is. There are two instances like this in Exes and Oohs.
When Mille was trying to kill Chaz and Chaz hid behind Crimson, Crimson tried to calm Millie down as if she were a rabid dog. After Crimson's goons are killed, way too easily, I might add, Crimson never tries to fight Millie himself.
Instead, he just gives up Moxxie to her and pouts like a big baby. Like, I know crime lords aren't supposed to be fighters and all, but they should've way more guts. Crimson does not have guts. Next, his goons are all weak and useless. Millie was able to kill a good handful of them in Exes and Oohs and with minimal difficulty, no less, thus, removing any tension from the scene, making the scene uninteresting. Another good amount of them were killed by Fizzarolli and Blitzo, the former isn't even a fighter at all, and yet, he still defeated the goons easily. Are all of his goons made out of paper mache or something? So, not only is Crimson physically weak, but his goons are also bad at killing people.
Couldn't they at least do some amount of damage to the main cast? Is Crimson running a mob? Or is he just running a club for insane sharks?
3. The tonal whiplash for this character makes it really difficult for me to take him seriously or not to take him seriously. Like, we were told that he's an intimidating villain, only for him to have dildos on his walls as trophies. I wish I was kidding. Due to this, I cannot find anything interesting about this character.
And lastly, Crimson had very little buildup in the series overall. Even then, saying that he had buildup is a bit of a stretch considering that the build up he had was a throwaway line Moxxie said in the first episode. ''Maybe like a bad dad, or a mob family. That's understandable.'' Crimson hasn't been hinted at, at all throughout the first season. For instance, the main protagonists and Stolas (and Octavia) go to Loo Loo Land. Which is an amusement park located in the Greed ring. Who lives in the Greed ring and is very infamous? Crimson does, and Crimson just happens to be infamous. Despite the physical similarity and the fact that Moxxie worked for Crimson for most of his life, nobody in Loo Loo Land pointed out that the fact that Moxxie was part of Crimson's mob or even looked similar to Crimson.
They just ignored him. Another example is in Truth Seekers, Moxxie goes into a bad hallucination due to the Truth Gas, yet the only person he sees in his hallucination is Blitzo. Not Crimson nor his mother. But if we were to believe that Crimson is important to Moxxie's life, then wouldn't he be included in his hallucination and not flashback? Just some food for thought.
Also, Crimson's design is mid as hell. Just some generic mafia design that doesn't stand out.
If you want a crime lord villain done right, look no further than Sir Crocodile from One Piece.
Here are a few things about Sir Crocodile that work:
1. Sir Crocodile had major buildup before the Alabasta arc. We even get glimpse of him in the shadow when Sanji was talking to him on the phone pretending to be a goon of his. It wasn't until the beginning of the Alabasta arc that we get to see who Sir Crocodile looked like. First, we got to see him fighting off the pirates, making him look like the hero to the people. In reality, this was to cover his tracks for his plan to orchestrate a civil war in Alabasta by taking away the rain and making it look like it was the king's fault. Princess Vivi even mentioned him before the Alabasta arc, explaining how big his organization was.
So as you can see, Sir Crocodile had a great buildup.
2. Sir Crocodile is extremely competent and threatening as a villain. Not only is he physically imposing, strong, powerful and intelligent, he also defeated Luffy, the main protagonist, pretty easily during their first battle. He also have really competent goons working for him, giving the heroes as much as a challenge to save Alabasta. Unlike Crimson, who is dumb enough to not even think through his heist plan, Crocodile really had everything together, and always seem to be in complete control, with his crowning achievement being that he always have backup plans FOR his backup plans.
To recap, the heroes tried to stop the civil war. Crocodile managed to crush that plan really easily, and so, when the heroes tried to stop the fighting, Crocodile had a plan for that. And when stopping the fighting didn't work, and they tried to stop the bomb instead, Crocodile had a plan for that too. If you really think about it, everything in the Alabasta arc had gone exactly the way he had planned. Plus, it took two losses for Luffy to finally defeat Crocodile, and also forces Luffy to use his brain to defeat him strategically.
So, to recap, Crocodile is physically imposing and powerful, able to take down Luffy instantly during their first battle. He managed to pull the strings in Alabasta without leaving any loose ends. He made sure to plan as many fail safes as humanly possible, and managed to foil the heroes' plans multiple times.
3. His design for a mafia pirate esque villain is awesome, with the outfit looking just like the Italian mob to make it stand out and to make him look influential.
So, in conclusion, Crimson is a terrible and incompetent villain. While I don't think Crimson needs to be exactly like Crocodile to be a good mafia antagonist, he still needs to be threatening at least. Crimson just isn't.
