Is Harada being overused?

[Aomalle27]

He's in a ton of titles, ( bloodshot, harbinger, harbinger wars, XO and Unity) are they using him too much? I think more arch villains are needed ( Dr Eclipse anyone?), and Feneral Redacted is one that I believe could be developed, although I don't know after the events of A$A. Xaran from ET looks like she would make a great villainess, but there's a void of villains, and that puts too much exposure on a great character like Harada. I would say PRS is viable, but does director Kozol strike anyone as a super villain? Just something I'vebeen pondering. Plus, by my thinking, Harada's gotta be what, 72?! He doesn't have the prolonged life thing that Armstrong and Gilad have, ( although with the events of HarbingerWars and his encounter with Bloodshot, he might have the ability to regenerate, although I thought he transfused the manures into his minion, and then killed her.

[ShadowTuga]

Hmm...

He was originally in Harbinger which was a title that from the very beginning has been tied to Bloodshot, for Obvious reasons. Harbinger Wars was a mini-series of 4 issues that showed the culmination of last year's storylines for both books. It had to happen.

Since X-O appeared on Earth, and since VEI knows how to deal continuity, Harada HAD to do something. Hence, Unity And the X-O Manowar tie-in for the first arc.

No, I don't agree that he has been overused. I think Darque was more overused and he was on just one book.

[solidsteeze]

I feel like there are two lines of thought here. The first, "we need more villains". I completely agree that Harada seems to be the overarching "supervillain". However, in the context of the universe, doesn't that make sense? That is his character to be involved in all of these major world events. And maybe it is less obtrusive to those of us who don't pick up the entire line. However, I do see your point about the need for more negative focus to be shifted elsewhere.

That brings me to the other line of thought "there are no villains". This is my single favorite thing about the valiant stories and characters so far. There has been no pure evil and pure good, just characters interacting organically based on who they are. Sure it's hard to root for Harada due to his practices, but his goals are admirable. Now look at Aric, my favorite character. I understand he is acting entirely in character, but I see him making bad decisions and doing things I don't agree with. In fact, he is currently looking a bit villanous. So much so that Harada will be forming a team of "Heros" to take him down.

I completely get where you're coming from with the exposure, but as long as the creative teams continue pumping out character driven stories with an eye set not too far into the future, this universe will be compelling.

[Bone-A-Fach-ee]

Overused like Deadpool and Wolverine? Nope. IMO, Harada is being used very intelligently. As one of the wealthiest, most powerful men on the planet, with a huge superiority complex, and a need to poke his nose into everything, it makes perfect sense why he is involved in as many titles as he is. Not going to spell out his connection to everything, but it all makes sense. It's not gratuitous. Very well played by VEI.

[kjjohanson]

I've been looking at the core four (the first four titles launched, with the possible addition of Eternal Warrior and the certain edition of Unity) as one big epic a la Game of Thrones. Harada's part in the story is just split between different titles, but he's just as important a player as any of the other main characters, and is not overused. He appears as much as he has to to tell his part in the overall story.

[AnthonyF]

No, I don't think he's been overused.

He's a key character in the valiant universe. He's their version of Superman & Lex Luthor - a human trying to save the world from outside threats. In pre-Unity VH1, he was everywhere - X-O manowar, Solar, Harbinger. He was the main adversary to Solar for a while, was friends with Gilad, had an alliance with Aric.

But they left Harada out of UNITY, with Mothergod being the disposable bad guy. Re-reading Unity, I have to wonder why Solar didn't bring Harada too, because he wasn't any less stable than Peter and X-O.

[leonmallett]

I am another who thinks that thus far Harada's use has made sense and been in context.

I have not yet found *any* character in the burgeoning VU to be over-exposed for my own tastes so far. It may be that there are still so relatively few books that it is a self-limiting factor. Plus add in that VALIANT's bad guys are not necessarily like DC or Marvel bad guys (although some parallels exist of course); motivations are pretty clearly defined and arguably make more sense than big villains who have been around the big two for decades, who essentially are pretty much defined by a limited high concept, and perhaps lack real nuance, or at least when nuance is added, it is overturned with the next use.

[solidsteeze]

I am another who thinks that thus far Harada's use has made sense and been in context.

I have not yet found *any* character in the burgeoning to be over-exposed for my own tastes so far. It may be that there are still so relatively few books that it is a self-limiting factor. Plus add in that VALIANT's bad guys are not necessarily like DC or Marvel bad guys (although some parallels exist of course); motivations are pretty clearly defined and arguably make more sense than big villains who have been around the big two for decades, who essentially are pretty much defined by a limited high concept, and perhaps lack real nuance, or at least when nuance is added, it is overturned with the next use.

That last line is key. If characters are redefined constantly, they aren't really characters are they? Character growth is crucial, however changes with every arc are not growth. As long as the stories stay character driven, they will succeed. When characters are bent to fit stories, they will fail.

[MarkRoseHFX]

No.

any more questions?

[kjjohanson]

That last line is key. If characters are redefined constantly, they aren't really characters are they?

True, but each arc should include someone's character developing, even if it's not the main character.