28 Day Bubblegum Crisis Challenge, Day 8: Favorite Villain

Oh, Largo. Largo, Largo, Largo. So clearly a Roy Batty-wannabe, yet still so cool that I am willing to forgive your near plagiarism.

Via Destroy All Podcasts

Largo starts out as the rather blandly named Brian J. Mason, who is supposedly killed in the third episode, "Blow Up," and then comes back* unnamed (for a bit) in "Red Eyes," where he's plotting against the Knight Sabers. He later returns in Bubblegum Crash, despite apparently dying a second time in the main series, which just shows that an inexplicable hatred** of four women wearing hardsuits and fighting robots is enough to cheat death.
 
Really, the main reason that Largo reigns as the supreme baddie in this series is because he is the only one that Sylia actively fears. All of the others are barely notes in her ledger of defeated foes, but Largo seems to have a connection with her that manages to break through her steely facade. He also has a singular goal: to free boomers from human control, very much like Roy Batty from Blade Runner, and is more than willing to kill as many people as necessary to reach that end. He has autonomy, unlike a lot of the other boomers we'd seen in the series to that point***. The fact that he's Sylia's Whack-a-Mole just makes him that much scarier, kind of like an android Jason or something.

I feel like the character was sort of ruined by the reboot, although his death was significantly more poignant than in the original series. First of all, he keeps his blah name, and second, he essentially becomes a sniveling servant to the main Big Bad, Galatea. He's definitely creepier at the beginning with the same sallow skin and leering eyes, but the edge is completely missing. It's like they wanted the audience to be sympathetic with Mason near the end ... you know what? I'm getting a little ahead of myself. Day 12 is when I compare the two series, and I'd like to come back to this then.

Anyway, tune in tomorrow for my Least Favorite Villain!

< Day 7: Least Favorite Main Character  Day 9: Least Favorite Villain >

BACK TO CHALLENGE

* He was somehow able to download his brain into a boomer, which is something I still don't think will ever be possible, but whatever.
** When Three and I are watching a movie that he is having a very difficult time rationalizing, I wave my hands in front of him and say, "FAAAANTASSYYYY." It's really the only way that he can enjoy things like Bubblegum Crisis. It's not that the story isn't good or engaging, but if he has any problem with the physics or logic, he just looks at the screen and asks if we can watch a documentary. 
*** Other than the sexaroid boomers like Anri and Sylvie. You could argue for the boomers from the first episode, but they were functioning under orders from someone else, other than their own will.