Since the Approved Evil Navigation template no longer exists, this is the best you're gonna get. :-3
Here's one that I've been looking at for a while. We've already approved Embryo, so that makes my job easier.
What's the Work[]
Cross Ange is a Mecha anime and manga about people having technologically advanced material in their DNA called Mana that grants them special powers. Various global problems such as pollution, poverty, and war are things of the past. But those born without Mana (Norma) live at the bottom of society who have no rights of their own, people see them as monsters rather than humans. The Norma are sent to military facilities to pilot mechs against alien invading dragons as cannon fodder. It's a very weird series and it's never exactly explained why there are only women Norma. Must be for "that audience" who like skimpy feminine outfits.
Anyways, we follow Princess Angelise of Misurugi who is revealed to be a Norma and sent to Arzenal to fight the dragons against her will. The one behind her reveal being leaked was her brother, Prince Julio.
Who is Julio and what he has done[]
The eldest son to King Jurai and Queen Sophia of Misurugi, Julio is one of the more fanatical citizens against the Norma, as he sees them as nothing but mere trash in human skin. The reason? He once overheard his parents about hiding Ange's identity as a Norma. He's also a greedy power-hungry man who seeks to learn all knowledge of modern technology. So on the day of Ange's coronation no less, Julio performs a coup and reveals Ange's secret to the entire kingdom, causing her to be exiled. During the panic, Sophia is gunned down by Julio's men while attempting to protect her daughter. With Ange away, Julio takes the crown after executing his father for hiding Ange's secret and corrupts his younger sister, the innocent crippled Sylvia, that Ange was responsible for the deaths of their parents.
Still unsatisfied about his usurpation of the throne, his Holy Emperor Julio the First plans to restore the influence of the discredited royal household by spreading fake news of Sylvia being held hostage to make Ange escape from Arzenal to lure her to come to the Imperial Palace. She falls for it and Julio has her arrested. For his amusement, he attempts to break Ange even further by having her publicly humiliated by everyone in the empire and has Sylvia whip her since she still believes Ange killed their parents. Once the day that Ange was to be executed via hanging comes, Tusk (a worker for Arzenal) rescues her while Julio receives a scar on his face by a missed shuriken that Ange threw at him.
Going further down madness simply for Ange being still alive, Julio mishears Embryo's opinion of destroying the world to make a better one during a summit and decides to "purify all Norma". As in committing genocide by sending a complete military armada towards Arzenal. He tells his army not only to kill his sister, but to kill everyone that stands in their way, regardless if they even are a Norma or not. Even the Norma children on the base aren't safe from the massacre, but Julio doesn't care.
The assault ends when Ange flies her mech towards Julio's ship, gunning down all of his men who stand before her. She shoots Julio in the leg and threatens to shoot again if he refuses to call off the attack. Julio reveals his true cowardly ego and calls it off, beckoning his sister to spare his life. Ange decides to kill him anyway claiming that scum like him don't deserve to live, only for Embryo to block her attack and kill Julio himself so Ange wouldn't "stain her hands" with someone so lowly.
Mitigating Factors[]
It's explained that he hates both Norma and his sister simply because she got more attention from their parents than him. But considering that he shows no empathy for his mother being gunned down and hangs his father without remorse to take over the empire... and the fact that he has his men massacre an entire military base to kill his sister while leaving no witnesses including children... coincidence? I think NOT!!!
There's only one minor factor that comes into mind, and that's his relationship with his youngest sister, Sylvia. It's suggested that he may hold a soft spot for her; however, I think this can be nullified considering he uses her as a pawn for his plan to get revenge on Ange, showing no care if she comes out alive or not. Moreso, the first time we see Sylvia before Ange returns, something bad is happening to her offscreen and Julio raises no objection in helping her.
There's also Riza, Julio's aid who is really a dragon spy. Even though they once have sex and Julio calls her "mommy", nothing is shown or suggested that he has any true romantic interest in her.
Heinous Standards[]
Now, I do know that Embryo is technically the worst of the work since it's mostly his fault that the world is in the corrupt false utopia state it is, as he rejects his well-intended claims when it's revealed he destroyed the Earth multiple times through the dimensions and cares nothing about who will live or die when he merges the human and dragon world together by force, using only love through perversion and mind rape to make Ange his. However, where Julio stands is particularly that massacre that I mentioned beforehand. Embryo may be using Julio as a pawn for his rebirth masterplan, but Julio's action to commit genocide on the Norma and everyone else without powers was completely his own. Even Embryo kills Julio for not following his rules.
Compared to the other "villains" in Cross Ange, they all have at least one redeeming quality that Julio lacks.
- Jill, the commander of Arzenal, is a total bitch to her squadron and later the dragons when they team up, not caring at all when any of her minions hit the dust. But she's given a pretty tragic backstory where her formal squadron was killed off by Embryo and Jill herself became mind raped by him. Plus, even if she goes against her intentions, she still wants to win and kill Embryo.
- Same could be said about Riza, who follows Julio in all of his oppressive ways when it came to ruining Ange's coronation. But she is also against Embryo and wants him dead to save her race, even once attempting to poison Julio, or some other purple substance that temporally brainwashes him to summon a dragon portal above Arzenal. But the entire raid was his plan, and even Riza shows disgust when Julio has intentions to leave no survivors.
- Sylvia, Julio and Ange's younger sister, is manipulated by Julio into hating Ange, thinking she is to blame for the deaths of her parents, and later Julio. But once Riza reveals the truth about Julio killing her parents, she immediately regrets her past actions and tries to make up with Ange.
- The dragons themselves, while played as the monsters of the week for the first half of the series, are tragic former humans who were the results of Embryo's former sampling of a previous Earth who only travel to the new Earth to stop Embryo, attacking the Norma in their ships for they see them as a threat.
Verdict[]
Julio is a coward and pathetic king, but he's also a horrible human being who uses both oppression and cruel tactics to get what he wants. He's far limited than Embryo, who is essentially God, but he still shows himself as a hate-sinking unredeemable menace. I think he's a yes.
Yes: 6
No: 0
Undecided: 0
Final Score: +6
Verdict: Pure Evil