User blog:BigBadSquid/PE Proposal: Snake of Clearing Eyes



Happy 2020 Villains Wiki. Have I got a good one to start the year off.

What's the Work?
The Kagerou Project is a series that originated from Vocaloid (Hatsune Miku and all your other moe software waifus) about a group of teenagers who have magical powers that they produce from their eyes, rather it is petrification through sight or making yourself invisible to vision. These powers are actually fragments of gorgon snakes, spread by a monster called Azami to protect them from an evil entity that seeks to claim these fragments for its own benefit. Meet the Snake of Clearing Eyes.

I will be focusing on the anime adaptation of the franchise, Mekakucity Actors.

Who is the Snake of Clearing Eyes? What has it done?
Yes, the villain of the series is a snake. JUST a simple snake, nothing else. But hey, there's a leech, caterpillar, and kitty cat approved, so I don't see why not.

Anyways, the snake wasn't just born regularly, it came from the hair of the gorgon Azami, where it became the largest by "eating" on her desires, which were created when she birthed her daughter Shion, born between her and a normal human. After the husband was killed by the residents, Azami's despair to keep Shion safe made her susceptible to the snake, who manipulated her into granting her daughter freedom at the cost of escaping from Azami's head and create a dimension called the Heat Haze, where the black snakes thrive by feeding off Azami's immortal despairs.

Now free from its master, the snake went on a spree to feed off as much despair as possible to sustain its immortality, throwing all of our main characters into a time loop that resets itself after it tricks Mary, Shion's daughter, into rewriting the world that "she created" to make her into the next.

Here's a list of all the BS this dirty reptile commits.
 * Kenjirou Tateyama was a proud father and teacher. After his wife Ayaka died in a landslide, the snake makes a lying promise to him to bring Ayaka back to life. Instead, it possesses him to spread misery to his students and children, normally by killing them through harsh manners. Kenjirou's consciousness is still inside his body as the snake possesses him, begging to be let out.
 * Ayano Tateyama, Kenjirou's daughter, was a kindhearted girl who treated her friends and adopted siblings with love and respect. After discovering her father's possession of the snake and the snake fragments that grant her and her friends the special powers, she jumps from the school roof to prevent the snake from claiming her piece. However, her suicide was in vain as the snake had a backup plan that didn't involve her share.
 * Marry Kozakura is arguably the most involved with the snake's plans. As I said earlier, she was Shion's daughter, making her Azami's granddaughter. In a flashback, we learn that Marry and Shion were "killed" by humans for being gorgons. Instead, their consciousnesses were taken to Heat Haze for the snakes to feed off their despair as well. As the Snake of Clearing Eyes mocks Azami for having her "wish" granted to be reunited with her family, she uses the rest of her energy to give Marry her special power to bring her back to life. Due to her only being a fourth of a gorgon, she tries her best to be a normal girl who lives a happy life with her friends. The snake's plan is to commit horrible atrocities heinous enough to bring out Marry's gorgon side to rewrite the time loop, normally by killing her friends in front of her. Only she remembers the events of the previous loops, driving her paranoid.
 * Shuuya Kano, one of Ayano's adopted brothers, was once killed when he tried to protect his mother from robbers. The snake brings him back to life only if he assists it with its plans, which he does unexpectedly. Witnessing Ayano's suicide, the snake as Kenjirou mocks him for failing to save yet another loved one. He's then ordered to continue assisting the snake or risk everyone else he loves to die before he himself. It's only until Ayano's ghost appears and encourages him to do what's right before he has a change of heart.
 * Takane Enomoto, one of Kenjirou's students, suffered from, which the snake as Kenjirou takes to advantage. After her friend and only classmate, Haruka Kokonose, dies from his weak heart condition, Kenjirou kills her with poison. Her spirit is taken to the Heat Haze, where she is cursed to only exist through technology monitors as Ene.
 * Speaking of Haruka Kokonose, he was also revived from death through the Heat Haze, where his spirit lives on in the form of Konoha, a cyborg-like being. In the last episode, Konoha takes a fatal shot to the chest from snake possessed Kenjirou, which it then transfers over to his body to use his powers to throw the Mekakushi Dan gang around, laughing sadistically to drive Marry into her gorgon-state. As it does so, Konoha is still alive within his possessed body, screaming for the snake to stop hurting his friends.
 * Hibya Amamiya is a boy from the country who came over to the city with his friend Hiyori. During his stay, the snake puts him through his own time loop where Hiyori dies at the end of every day by being hit by a van. Despite all of his efforts, Hiyori keeps dying until he himself takes her place before the van hits him, breaking the loop at the cost of almost his life.
 * Shintaro Kisaragi, while not encountering the snake until the end of the story, is driven into depression by Ayano's suicide, which the snake mocks him forwardly during the final battle.

Mitigating Factors
No mitigating features. Period. This snake is as evil as it can be, showing severe sadism in toying with Marry and her friends, showing no sympathy for anything it causes. In the case of wishes seen by Kenjirou, the snake cares nothing about his sorrow and is only interested in using him to bring suffering to his students and family while feeding on his despair. Case in point, the other snakes that came from Azari are still portrayed using animal instincts, but the Snake of Clearing Eyes developed a clear consciousness to manipulate everyone it meets and enjoys causing as much misery as possible.

Heinous Standards
Kagerou Project is normally a comedic story that throws the characters into silly situations, but this snake isn't one of them. Every time it shows up, everything is taken pure dead seriously. In the case of other villains, there are the robbers that killed Shuuya and his mother, and the terrorists that Shintaro and Ene fooled during a robbery. The Snake of Clearing Eyes goes far beyond that by killing innocent characters left and right, putting them in a time loop that they can't escape from, and tricks a girl into committing suicide while mocking her mourning family. The second half is much darker and serious than the upbeat first, but all of it, directly and indirectly, is the fault of this sinister snake.

Final Verdict
Sounds like a keeper.