With the influx of animu I have been watching, it’s becoming more and more obvious that the main (sometimes only) male character is a GIMP. Generic Iconic Male Protagonists are such a plague on the medium. Considering some of them are punching bags and outright gluttons for punishment that makes some other characters literal GIMPs like Keitaro (Love Hina), Saito (Zero no Tsukaima), and Sado (MM!) who is pretty much the ur-example of a merging of the two titles.
What makes a character a GIMP? Well, the easiest way to tell is the color scheme. Are the rest of the characters (read: hot bitches) colored more vibrantly than the main character? The current incarnation of the GIMP has black hair and black eyes. He kinda washes out compared to someone with aquamarine hair and ruby red eyes. Another observation is that all the women want him (including relatives and underage girls who have no comprehension of sex). One more thing is that the GIMP takes the position of being the only sane man in the story and the perpetual straight man. No matter how many hobbies you give him, you’ll still have a male equivalent to Bella Swan. Every time I see a GIMP, I have the urge to punch them in the face. You’d think the industry would out grow the need for such a lazy crutch but alas, it has become a staple. We dealt with the horror of Makoto Itou (School Days) and I figured that would be the end but it seems his jerkassery only increased the popularity of having a blandly colored dude surrounded by hot bitches with Technicolor hair and eyes.
In response to this, I’ll make my own GIMP only he won’t really be a GIMP because his family decided to conveniently move overseas and he’ll have a job, hobbies, and blackjack and hookers…
…I think I got lost here for a sec. Oh well. Off to make more guacamole!
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