An Unusually Grimm Radiant Retrospective
Among the many storytellers of fiction, folk tales and other assorted curios, there is no duo more synonymous with fairytales than Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm — more commonly known as the Brothers Grimm. During their lifetime, they established the foundation for folklore studies while collecting, editing and publishing the various tales they heard through word of mouth. With Jacob setting the template and Wilheim transcribing and editing the tales for publication, several of their collected stories would outlive their legacy long after their deaths with titles like Snow White, Hansel and Gretel, and yes, The Pied Piper of Hamelin among their anthologies.
While the stories themselves have endured through cultural osmosis and retellings through other authors, it goes to show that at the heart of every storyteller is passion, whether it be culture, academics, history, literature and so on. For the Grimms, that passion was brought to the forefront through language, starting with Jacob’s study of linguistics and subsequent and Wilheim’s interests in various religious, spiritual and mythological stories.
Like various writers before him, perhaps it’s no surprise that Tony Valente would look to the brothers and the various Grimms’ Fairy Tales for inspiration, for it is the credited source of one of Radiant’s most ambiguous figures, as well as the borrowed namesake of the literary brothers…
Radiant Memories is a collection of stories looking back at the Radiant universe and its 10 year anniversary. For more details, see below.
Greetings! (Habitual Illeism)
Radiant’s Grimm is a character that you either completely gel with on an aesthetic level or one that defies logic and common sense, even by series’ standards. He’s professional and blunt to a fault, yet poetic and capable of understanding beyond his personal objectives. He’s an experienced traveler and well versed with the various lands in Pharenos, but leaves very little room for personal inquiry, leaving more questions than answers about his true identity and past. As a sorcerer and infected, he’s a veteran fighter with a behemoth sword to match, except he’s terribly afraid of his own blood. Simply put, he’s a walking contradiction carried by his most consistent personality quirk — his speech mannerisms.
Illeism, or habitual illeism as I’ll be referring to it, is defined as the act of referring to oneself in third person rather than first person. In theory, most people shy away from speaking in third person because of its negative connotations (narcissism or self-ego, psychological disorders, self-deprecating behaviors, etc.). It’s usually implemented in fiction as an authorial style or choice because in practice, it sounds like this:
That being said, habitual illeism isn’t reserved solely for comic book figures and the colorful characters found in entertainment such as anime and manga. As research into the subject has deepened over the years, studies have shown that are benefits to this behavior such as wisdom, self-therapy, emotional regulation and confidence. Or as Ethan Kross, a psychologist at the University of Michigan wrote in a study conducted in 2014:
“Self-talk is a ubiquitous human phenomenon. We all have an internal monologue that we engage in from time to time. The current research demonstrates that small shifts in the language people use to refer to the self as they engage in this process consequentially influences their ability to regulate their thoughts feelings, and behavior under social stress, even for people who are dispositionally vulnerable to social anxiety.” — Self-Talk as a Regulatory Mechanism: How You Do It Matters | Ethan Kross
While I wouldn’t call Grimm a “socially anxious” figure, what I want to emphasize here is how his self-regulation — intentional or otherwise — unfolds in the story.
***Minor spoilers begin.***
Grimm’s introduction begins just before the start of the Rumble Town arc. As he overlooks the islet while narrating his intentions, the story presents him from the perspective of the outsider. For those who read my Hameline Retrospective, you’ll recognize this concept as the fear of the outsider, the overarching theme of this arc. Whereas figures like Konrad and Hameline directly tie into the town’s history and provide context into the various superstitions, old blood feuds and discrimination against a perceived threat, Grimm’s purpose for being in Rumble Town is more of an anomaly in the context of the main narrative — a disruptive force of nature, if you will.
When Grimm first encounters Seth, he pulls him through a 2nd story window only to probe him further with his concealed blade. In their second encounter, he sabotages the main party while out collecting Nemeses before returning to the graveyard as he lowers two unsuspecting witnesses into a coffin — implicating him as the probable suspect of the strange disappearances. Unlike every other major character in this arc that has at least some overall stake, Grimm’s involvement in the main plot is only parallel to their objectives. In other words, if you’ve been relying solely on knowledge and familiarity of shonen storytelling and tropes, then this is where the story doles out its first skill check in the form of affective forecasting.
Affective forecasting or hedonic forecasting is the process of predicting one’s future emotions. As laid out by social psychologists Daniel Gilbert and Timothy Wilson, this type of prediction is prone to human errors, often influenced or compromised by our own internal biases and tendencies to fill in the gaps, leading to an overestimation of said forecasts. For Rumble Town specifically, this applies on three levels: 1) the trio of Seth, Mélie and Doc who get caught up with their job of cleaning up the Nemeses and the reward money that they overlook some vital details in their run-ins with Grimm (his words specifically), 2) Grimm’s assumptions of their activities involving the Nemeses that he immediately assumes the worst when he spots them so close to the action and 3) the audience’s expectations.
In those early encounters, the story actually provides all the context needed to parse out Grimm’s intentions through his own mouth, but it takes until the third meeting with Seth for him to finally get across why he’s in town to begin with — information. Asking the exact same set of questions from their first meeting, it’s then they both realize they jumped the gun without verifying what they were after. Just before departing Rumble Town, it is revealed Grimm was sheltering witnesses who were unfortunate enough to become loose ends in Konrad’s machinations after discovering the truth. Back in Artemis following the aftermath, they confirm that it really was a huge misunderstanding on both sides, no one gets paid for the captured Nemeses and Grimm’s lead turned out to be dud in the end!
Though it sounds simple in hindsight on subsequent readings and viewings, these series of misfortunes set the table for them to work together, at least on a transactional level. Grimm’s running character flaw is that he operates on such a fundamentally different level from everyone else that his own self-awareness of his habits does not stop him from acting on his impulses. In fact, he doubles down, often causing people to distance themselves or doubt his intentions further! He moves and thinks at such an accelerated rate that it makes it impossible to gauge what his thoughts and actions will be in at any given moment, all of which can all be explained a little further down…
The Master of Misunderstandings (Shadow)
The word “shadow” tends to have a negative connotation through its association with darkness, negative emotions like regret, fear and gloom, as well as an element of danger or the unknown. Independently, these elements cannot define human behavior, ideals, or assign moral traits such as good or evil. But as explained in psychologist Carl Jung’s concept of the shadow, one of the four major archetypes that he used to define human behavior:
“The shadow exists as part of the unconscious mind and is composed of repressed ideas, weaknesses, desires, instincts, and shortcomings. [It] forms out of our attempts to adapt to cultural norms and expectations. It is this archetype that contains all of the things that are unacceptable not only to society, but also to one’s own personal morals and values. It might include things such as envy, greed, prejudice, hate, and aggression. Jung suggested that the shadow can appear in dreams or visions and may take a variety of forms. It might appear as a snake, a monster, a demon, a dragon, or some other dark, wild, or exotic figure.” — What Are the Jungian Archetypes? | Kendra Cherry, MSEd
Throughout the hero’s journey, it is not uncommon for characters to encounter a personification of their shadow somewhere in their story. The Hero’s Spirit (sometimes called the Hero’s Shade) in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, the Skull Knight in Berserk, or quite literally the shadows of the protagonists in Persona 4! Despite what their outward appearances would suggest and their proximity to “death” in their respective stories, each of these aids the hero through their experiences, acting as a sort of window to what they could become if they were to embrace their negative traits.
“This archetype is often described as the darker side of the psyche, representing wildness, chaos, and the unknown. These latent dispositions are present in all of us, Jung believed, although people sometimes deny this element of their own psyche and instead project it on to others.” — What Are the Jungian Archetypes? (Continued) | Kendra Cherry, MSEd
The shadow in each of these examples are further realized through The Hero’s Spirit regrets about his forgotten legacy and his descendants, the Skull Knight’s avarice in their previous life before taking on his current form and — ignoring the shadow’s initial impulse to kill their hosts in Persona 4 — the manifestation of the protagonists’ negative emotions through their respective shadows before becoming their inevitable strength upon acceptance. In non-Jungian terms, the shadow represents the unfavorable characteristics our heroes would rather reject and the opportunity to acknowledge those feelings via a proxy character, usually by guiding them in a different direction than they would have taken.
Returning to Radiant, my favorite episode that best exemplifies this is The Bringer of Calamity -Dullahan- from season 2. On its own, this episode is notable as our first real introduction to newcomer Ocoho, the world of the Sorcerer Knights and a taste at the powers that be in the nation of Cyfandir, which I covered in my Ocoho retrospective. While this is all important in the big picture storytelling, it’s in the story’s smaller moments that highlight Radiant’s approach to building characters outside of the main plot, whether it’s in the mundane and ordinary before segueing into the strange and fantastical.
With the Sorcerer Knights having cleared the field following Queen Boudica’s departure, Seth notices Grimm out in the distance, posing as a scarecrow. As Seth approaches him, slightly amused and bewildered how he can casually stand there virtually undetected, Grimm responds to his inquiry, leading to my favorite conversation between these two outcasts:
As the ever-encroaching power of the dark monitor begins to spread to Seth and conflicting thoughts and regrets about the journey begin to surface throughout the story, their frequent run-ins and conversations personify Grimm as the proxy to Seth’s shadow, or the character that represents his current predicament now that he’s made the decision to search for the Radiant alone — and what it could mean for his future. Even though Grimm clearly has ulterior motives — he follows Seth to Cyfandir without his knowledge or permission — like the previous three examples above, he plays a role in helping the hero rediscover themselves.
At the beginning of the Sorcerer Knight arc while following Seth to Cyfandir, Grimm comes to his rescue when the Merchant Barons corner him. Later that evening while treating his wounds, the two briefly reflect on their current trajectory when Grimm asks why he held back during the earlier encounter. Still shaken after Rumble Town, he quickly rebuttals after seeing firsthand what he became before Grimm attempts to recognize what’s bothering him. Just as their conversation reaches the height of its resolution, a brief pause fills the air. It isn’t long, but it’s enough for Seth to realize he might have brought up an unwanted memory from Grimm’s past. True to character, he simply changes the subject and advises Seth to get some rest, letting the audience’s imagination run wild.
When they meet up again in the farmlands and two have their private heart-to-heart, Grimm acknowledges his shortcomings and tendencies to misdirect — intentional or not. But while it works well for his line of work, he advises Seth not to follow his path, for he is already treading a difficult path the more he attempts to walk it alone. As the man himself best puts it: “Is this the kind of matter that you should trust to outside advice?” Acknowledging the irony of asking Grimm for social advice, Seth sets out on his next destination with the hopes of resolving at least one of his internal conflicts during his stay in Cyfandir. While the two don’t interact much beyond this point, Grimm continues to work behind the scenes, making his triumphant return to lend his aid once more just as the story enters its climatic finish.
Because Grimm is Grimm (Final Thoughts)
Seeing as we’ve reached the end, I’ll leave you with one more story, though this one is no fairy tale. As the Brothers Grimm grew their collection, their best practices would eventually fall to the wayside during their own preservation of said records. Like any good story, even history has a wicked sense of humor. In an ironic twist, it was Wilheim’s editing and reworking of certain folk tales through his interests that would break the first rule of their established methodology, much to the dismay of future historians and preservationists researching the original tales. But as Ronald Murphy wrote in The Owl, the Raven, and the Dove regarding Wilheim’s inspirations, the younger brother was a romanticist, describing folk lore as “fragments of ancient faith whose purpose was to awaken the feelings of the human heart.”
Radiant’s Grimm, in a sense, is the ultimate outsider of the story — reserved, indirect and intimidating given his outward appearance and unorthodox nature. Just as the brothers who sought out the fables and passed them down so that they may continue to inspire long after their demise, he fulfills much of the same purpose to those who would seek the bandaged sorcerer. It’s the primary reason he sticks around in Rumble Town to aid Seth and his party despite no longer having a purpose to stick around. Though he refuses to step in during the Domitor crisis, he honors his agreement after Mélie fulfilled her role by getting him within striking range for his spell. And even beyond Cyfandir when the circumstances change, he continues to watch over them in his own strange manner — sort of like Justice League Unlimited’s the Question except magic instead of conspiracies, but still likely to go through everyone’s trash.
For all the smoke and mirrors, Grimm’s misunderstandings and perpetual reservations of becoming close to the world only pushes Seth and friends to bring him closer to theirs, entrusting their faith to each other and awakening their senses towards becoming human. As an aspiring writer whose whole stick until this point has been overanalyzing media and trying to get to the heart of why I love doing so, perhaps that’s the most valuable trait of all. After all, what’s life without a little strangeness, writing without some madness(!), and the human heart without a little inner darkness to bring out the light in others?
In summary dear reader, why be boring when you can be Grimm?
Shhhh… (Resources)
1. A Century of Grimm’s Law | Hermann Collitz (Journal Article via JSTOR)
3. Illeism: The ancient trick to help you think more wisely | David Robson (BBC)
4. The Psychological Case for Talking in the Third Person | Theresa Fisher (MIC)
5. The Benefits of Talking About Yourself in the Third Person | Dave Roos (How Stuff Works)
6. The Psychology of Referring to Yourself in the Third Person | Chris Bourn (MEL Magazine via Medium)
9. Affective Forecasting: Predicting Your Emotions | CogniFit
10. What Are the Jungian Archetypes? | Kendra Cherry, MSEd (very well mind)
11. Hero’s Spirit | Zelda Wiki
12. The Fairytale Language of the Brothers Grimm | Chi Luu (JSTOR Daily)
All screenshots and media captured from my computer and phone using the original source, unless otherwise noted.
Dark Aether is a writer/contributor for TAY and AniTAY. You can check his main writings on Medium, archives at TAY2, or follow him on Twitter @TheGrimAether. Not Dead Yet.
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