Analyzing Gourry
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Much fanfiction, excepting some exceptional writers, seems to portray Gourry as little more than the forgetful retard, cutting any semblance of intellect down to a mere trickle and making him as shallow as possible. I have even read fans putting his physical prowess even below Lina's. During some point, perhaps from the dub, knowing how dubs sometimes tend to intensify some points in a translation and entirely lose others, although from what I've seen the slayers dub seems pretty good to me, Gourry has given many fans the impression of being totally ignorant in anything even the mundane and infallibly stupid in addition for being rather weak because of his lack of magic. I would like to convince you that although Gourry has his weaknesses; what you see in the series actually leads you to think that he has a certain depth that is not immediately apparent. Let me present to you my opinion and let us see if I can make a valid point.
Gourry's personality
I will start my discussion through a contrast between the personality of Gourry and Lina. I see Gourry and Lina as antitheses in personality. Lina is strong, pushy, persuasive, greedy, and definitely brazen, proud, and passionate although deep down she has a good heart. Gourry is absent minded, naïve, unthreatening, good-natured, and although he tends to not get in the he is honorable and kind. While Lina goes about making everyone aware of her presence and abilities, Gourry tends to keep things hidden until they are really needed. Consider this, although Lina earned her name as the Dra-mata and enemy of all who live (heh heh makes me laugh every time), Gourry was literally born with a heritage that would get him positive fame at any street corner. He is a descendant of the legendary swordsman of light, yet if you met him on a street corner you would just take him to be the gentle-hearted, unassuming pedestrian. Gourry is almost a culmination of the actual reality Lina's dream of a white prince on a horse, he is both patient and kind, looking out for others even though he gains no personal benefit. Lina on the other hand brings trouble wherever she goes, acting dangerous and at times manipulative. If trouble doesn't find her, she usually finds it, making enemies as she goes and is a justifiable reason why she needs a protector. But while Lina's always looking for an angle, Gourry is just living life. Even if Gourry had the ability to cast the Dragon Slave, he wouldn't tell anybody about it, and wouldn't use it until it was absolutely necessary, probably letting Lina handle it until he was absolutely needed to use it (although the dragon slave is not Gourry's style.) Remember when he first used the sword of light? He didn't take it out until it was absolutely necessary, and he didn't even explain why he was just holding a sword hilt. He didn't brag about his abilities either, even when he had just met Lina on the road. Gourry might be much cleverer than he seems, perhaps he even has a couple of more tricks up his sleeves. Gourry tends to use less force than his counterparts anyway, remember how he diced up the last bandit's clothes instead of killing him when he first met Lina? Gourry tends to slice weapons, clothes, and armor up while Lina tends to blow away entire cities, populations probably included.
Gourry's intelligence,
Gourry does a lot of things you could consider naïve, absentminded, and sometimes he acts as though he just doesn't have any common sense. . As for those qualities, I tend to think that is the result of his elven heritage, elves having a reputation for being absent-minded, naïve, and flighty. For those who haven't watched the first movie, Gourry is a descendant of Mellroune, an elf who Rowdy Gabriev marries. Yet, although elves tend to lack common sense in lieu of being overly good-natured, elves tend to be very sharp in other ways. Although it might seem blasphemous to suggest that Gourry is smarter than he looks; think back to when Xellos revealed he was a mazoku. Gourry had known that Xellos was a mazoku for a long time, he just didn't tell anybody. This suggests he can both figure out secrets, and keep them. Some fanfic authors of exceptional perception have (I have listed one at the end of this excerpt I found on fanfiction.net) come up with the explanation that Gourry noticed that Xellos only breathed while he talked. Yet, when Lina first talked about the story of the swordsman of light with Gourry he told her that he had heard the story many times, it's just he never played attention. Yet, he was observant enough to notice that something about Xellos just wasn't right. It just seems like Gourry doesn't pay attention to the same details that everyone else pays attention to. For instance, when someone talks to you typically concentrate on their words. Seems natural, right? Well what if instead of concentrating on their speech you instead tried to draw their face in your mind, and trace every line with focused attention? To say that you came away with more or less information would be a matter of opinion, but if you were truly concentrating solely on the visual information of their face instead of the audio information of their speech, it is doubtful you would clearly remember what they said but you would have a better understanding of the contours of their face. Well, although Gourry doesn't typically pay attention to the same things most people with common sense would pay attention to, he is still quite observant in his own way. Noticing how someone breathes and shifts their fingers while they talk instead of paying attention to how they talk is one example of the details Gourry observes. His attention is something obviously useful to a guard or warrior; he would be more likely to notice a surprise attack. Although Gourry's lack of attention seems to be less of a concern especially by the time of slayers try, during slayers try he doesn't really do anything you might consider stupid, but he's still naïve to a lot of what would be considered common knowledge and magical knowledge in the slayers world. He doesn't even mispronounce any new words or information in the subs to my knowledge, but I haven't watched them all in order at the time of this writing. One reason I assume he is called a jellyfish brain by Lina is most probably because of the wishy-washy nature of his attention (the comparison being to jellyfish are invertebrates) and his ability to take many things deserving seriousness without seriousness, remarking on an unwantingness to learn rather than an inability. He just seems to have a different scale rating important for things. Gourry doesn't seem to be interested much in topics on magic, but in a normal conversation talking about mundane things Gourry does just fine. Gourry notices when people are acting strangely, or when something doesn't seem to add up. He wasn't fooled by the overzealousness of the Shooting Star Warriors, the codgers he met in Slayers Try. In fact, in terms of mundane things Gourry seems to do just as well as Lina, excepting the occasional edge he might get by intimidating or trying to cheat someone. Gourry knows how to travel, barter, read, write, take care of his weapons, and navigate.. suggesting he has the normal functions of intelligence. All in all, Gourry seems to be able to take care of himself just as well as Lina; he was a successful mercenary and who knows what else (he wouldn't brag about or probably even bring it up unless asked specifically) before he met Lina, he even killed that demon threatening Sairaag which led to Syphiel developing a crush on him. The only details that Gourry seems to mix up are those of magical or mythical importance, and the ones he misses when he is paying attention to something else. The most probable reason he asks what someone, such as Lina, was talking about when she explained the latest legend or information etc. was he wasn't listening or concentrating closely rather than not being able to understand. Perhaps Gourry tends to daydream at inopportune times, or is distracted.. by other things.. He CAN look straight at a woman's bust and keep a straight face without blushing. That's his Achilles heel; he doesn't pay attention to things which interest him less and it can be quite irritating to others (especially to Lina.) On the other hand, perhaps, Gourry has done more things than what the reputation that precedes him protests.
Link concerning an explanation of Gourry's observant nature--- Eye-mine fanfic by Kaitrin
Gourry's abilities
As for Gourry's abilities, I am of the opinion that he is equal but different to Lina in combat ability. Although, he has nothing to take down Phbrizzo like Lina (really no one besides another mazoku lord or dragon lord has enough ability, Gaav let Lina hit him and it was the Lord of Nightmares who killed Phibrizzo) he would still stand a better chance against a different set of opponents. Even though Lina might be able to take down a Mazoku lord if he baits her, lets her cast her most powerful spell which takes a couple of minutes to recite, and then she manages to hit him before he can move out of the way or escape into subspace (remember technically Lina didn't kill Phbrizzo, the Lord of Nightmares did. the giga slave might not have even killed him. the ragna blade didn't kill Gaav who was less powerful than Phbrizzo.) Ironically, Lina wouldn't be able to take on what I call honest to goodness ruthless ninja assassins. Most of her powerful opponents let her hit them, amused by the image of a little girl trying to stop them. Admittedly, this works very well and is part of Lina's one-two combination, but a group of ruthless ninja assassins would rip her apart, because pride banter is included nowhere in their personality; they are pure quick efficiency. If attacked without warning, mercy, or chance to retaliate, by powerful metal weapon wielders, Lina would go down relatively easy. Gourry on the other hand would probably be the hardest to take down in that sort of situation due to his speed. Out of Zelgadiss, Amelia, Gourry, and Lina, Lina is the weakest in this sort of fight. Without the time to use magic, Lina has a blade but the best she can do really is cross swords, and do less than that against a very skilled swordsman. Zelgadiss has stone skin protection, great skill with a blade, and a highly tense and observant nature so he would do fine. Amelia would be only one notch above Lina because of her tendency to go into speeches, giving an opening, but on the other hand Amelia's fighting abilities including physical strength speed and stamina seem to be much higher than Lina's and more like her father's. Gourry, who can literally hit hundreds of objects out of the air before they impact him and slice the clothing off someone without scratching them, would be the most difficult fight for a group of assassins. In essence, while Lina is a destroyer type combatant who literally wipes entire armies with one blow in addition to creating huge collateral damage or at the very least the building she is in, Gourry is a protector type combatant who can delay or take out and enemy without killing his opponent in most cases, and keeping collateral damage to a minimum in the most severe cases, although he would probably have a harder time of taking out a huge frontal assault force. And as ridiculous as it may sound, combined with a powerful weapon, Gourry is the most powerful out of the slayers, excluding Filia and Xellos. Although Gourry has no chance against the most powerful mazoku just like most every other mortal in the slayers world, in a mortal to mortal fight, with the sword of light, Gourry would be able to take on the other mortal slayers and win, even including Martina and Zangulus. Consider the Slayers Next episode where Gourry fights the other slayers. Gourry promptly wipes the floor with his comrades, and almost kills Lina; if he hadn't stopped himself for that critical moment while he held his sword in the killing position above Lina then Lina would be certainly be dead. (although it is possible that Phbrizzo allowed Gourry to stop himself momentarily so he would not kill Lina, because letting Lina die would have not served his purposes; Gourry was probably possessed just like Lina had been earlier when she had come into contact with an evil ghost during the original Slayers episode where Amelia wanted to learn the dragon slave, except the spiritual possession he was under probably included more control than just his emotional state) Gourry, amazingly managed to survive the ragna blade at full power (something that did a great deal more damage to Gaav, a mazoku lord, than Gourry), and that was only after he was stopped by a blow from Zangulus, a highly proficient swordsman. Even the hit he suffered from the ragna blade was basically only enough to cut his armor, and he managed to avoid it without personal injury except for the pressure of being forced back against a rock from the resulting explosion the nexus of energies created when they clashed. As for the abilities he showed during the fight, such as the ability to resonate the sword of light with many different spells, redirect them, and use the sword of light as a beam weapon, it is certain he could already do those things; it was just the command by Phbrizzo to show no mercy and the natural intensity of the fight that made him use those abilities. It just isn't in Gourry's nature to use full force at first; he tends to try to keep most of his skills hidden until he really really needs to use them. For instance, Gourry didn't use the actual sword of light until he met a mazoku, and he didn't try to resonate, capture, and redirect any spells until he was given no choice at the end of the fight with Zangulus (who he didn't kill, another aspect of his nature of trying to hurt others the least he needs to in order to win.) He had even dodged about for a while trying to avoid the attack of the howling sword when fighting against Zangulus and fought in less destructive ways in earlier fights against Zangulus, instead of using an ability he obviously had known about for a long time. We just won't ever know how many tricks Gourry has until he uses them.
Synopsis
Gourry may be absent-minded, naïve, and lacking in common sense, but he isn't stupid. Dumb, sometimes, but not stupid. Being dumb means you lack knowledge, while stupidity refers to an inability to understand. Sometimes he doesn't pay attention, care, or take things seriously, but then again he notices the little things other characters miss while they are too busy concentrating on the big details. For the most part, Gourry is content to let other people handle those details. What does Shabranigdo have to do with being a good swordsman? Gourry probably wouldn't put much effort in remembering him at first. Do you see my point? On the other hand, he frequently shows us that he knows how to speak properly, talk intelligently, and even analyze information in clever ways, especially if it pertains to something that interests him such as swordsmanship. In some ways, Gourry reminds me of Caramon Majere from the Dragonlance series. Certainly, Gourry's undeniable genius at swordplay remarks on his ability to learn proficiently and it makes you wonder about his past. Just how did he become such a great swordsman? Skill does not grow on trees. What is the depth of the past he has almost entirely remained secretive of..? Perhaps, Gourry has proficiencies that we haven't even imagined; although he doesn't seem to have any interest whatsoever in magic, perhaps, if you stuck him in a restaurant and forced him to cook for one reason or another, you might find out he makes a world class chef.. He DOES like to eat.
Much fanfiction, excepting some exceptional writers, seems to portray Gourry as little more than the forgetful retard, cutting any semblance of intellect down to a mere trickle and making him as shallow as possible. I have even read fans putting his physical prowess even below Lina's. During some point, perhaps from the dub, knowing how dubs sometimes tend to intensify some points in a translation and entirely lose others, although from what I've seen the slayers dub seems pretty good to me, Gourry has given many fans the impression of being totally ignorant in anything even the mundane and infallibly stupid in addition for being rather weak because of his lack of magic. I would like to convince you that although Gourry has his weaknesses; what you see in the series actually leads you to think that he has a certain depth that is not immediately apparent. Let me present to you my opinion and let us see if I can make a valid point.
Gourry's personality
I will start my discussion through a contrast between the personality of Gourry and Lina. I see Gourry and Lina as antitheses in personality. Lina is strong, pushy, persuasive, greedy, and definitely brazen, proud, and passionate although deep down she has a good heart. Gourry is absent minded, naïve, unthreatening, good-natured, and although he tends to not get in the he is honorable and kind. While Lina goes about making everyone aware of her presence and abilities, Gourry tends to keep things hidden until they are really needed. Consider this, although Lina earned her name as the Dra-mata and enemy of all who live (heh heh makes me laugh every time), Gourry was literally born with a heritage that would get him positive fame at any street corner. He is a descendant of the legendary swordsman of light, yet if you met him on a street corner you would just take him to be the gentle-hearted, unassuming pedestrian. Gourry is almost a culmination of the actual reality Lina's dream of a white prince on a horse, he is both patient and kind, looking out for others even though he gains no personal benefit. Lina on the other hand brings trouble wherever she goes, acting dangerous and at times manipulative. If trouble doesn't find her, she usually finds it, making enemies as she goes and is a justifiable reason why she needs a protector. But while Lina's always looking for an angle, Gourry is just living life. Even if Gourry had the ability to cast the Dragon Slave, he wouldn't tell anybody about it, and wouldn't use it until it was absolutely necessary, probably letting Lina handle it until he was absolutely needed to use it (although the dragon slave is not Gourry's style.) Remember when he first used the sword of light? He didn't take it out until it was absolutely necessary, and he didn't even explain why he was just holding a sword hilt. He didn't brag about his abilities either, even when he had just met Lina on the road. Gourry might be much cleverer than he seems, perhaps he even has a couple of more tricks up his sleeves. Gourry tends to use less force than his counterparts anyway, remember how he diced up the last bandit's clothes instead of killing him when he first met Lina? Gourry tends to slice weapons, clothes, and armor up while Lina tends to blow away entire cities, populations probably included.
Gourry's intelligence,
Gourry does a lot of things you could consider naïve, absentminded, and sometimes he acts as though he just doesn't have any common sense. . As for those qualities, I tend to think that is the result of his elven heritage, elves having a reputation for being absent-minded, naïve, and flighty. For those who haven't watched the first movie, Gourry is a descendant of Mellroune, an elf who Rowdy Gabriev marries. Yet, although elves tend to lack common sense in lieu of being overly good-natured, elves tend to be very sharp in other ways. Although it might seem blasphemous to suggest that Gourry is smarter than he looks; think back to when Xellos revealed he was a mazoku. Gourry had known that Xellos was a mazoku for a long time, he just didn't tell anybody. This suggests he can both figure out secrets, and keep them. Some fanfic authors of exceptional perception have (I have listed one at the end of this excerpt I found on fanfiction.net) come up with the explanation that Gourry noticed that Xellos only breathed while he talked. Yet, when Lina first talked about the story of the swordsman of light with Gourry he told her that he had heard the story many times, it's just he never played attention. Yet, he was observant enough to notice that something about Xellos just wasn't right. It just seems like Gourry doesn't pay attention to the same details that everyone else pays attention to. For instance, when someone talks to you typically concentrate on their words. Seems natural, right? Well what if instead of concentrating on their speech you instead tried to draw their face in your mind, and trace every line with focused attention? To say that you came away with more or less information would be a matter of opinion, but if you were truly concentrating solely on the visual information of their face instead of the audio information of their speech, it is doubtful you would clearly remember what they said but you would have a better understanding of the contours of their face. Well, although Gourry doesn't typically pay attention to the same things most people with common sense would pay attention to, he is still quite observant in his own way. Noticing how someone breathes and shifts their fingers while they talk instead of paying attention to how they talk is one example of the details Gourry observes. His attention is something obviously useful to a guard or warrior; he would be more likely to notice a surprise attack. Although Gourry's lack of attention seems to be less of a concern especially by the time of slayers try, during slayers try he doesn't really do anything you might consider stupid, but he's still naïve to a lot of what would be considered common knowledge and magical knowledge in the slayers world. He doesn't even mispronounce any new words or information in the subs to my knowledge, but I haven't watched them all in order at the time of this writing. One reason I assume he is called a jellyfish brain by Lina is most probably because of the wishy-washy nature of his attention (the comparison being to jellyfish are invertebrates) and his ability to take many things deserving seriousness without seriousness, remarking on an unwantingness to learn rather than an inability. He just seems to have a different scale rating important for things. Gourry doesn't seem to be interested much in topics on magic, but in a normal conversation talking about mundane things Gourry does just fine. Gourry notices when people are acting strangely, or when something doesn't seem to add up. He wasn't fooled by the overzealousness of the Shooting Star Warriors, the codgers he met in Slayers Try. In fact, in terms of mundane things Gourry seems to do just as well as Lina, excepting the occasional edge he might get by intimidating or trying to cheat someone. Gourry knows how to travel, barter, read, write, take care of his weapons, and navigate.. suggesting he has the normal functions of intelligence. All in all, Gourry seems to be able to take care of himself just as well as Lina; he was a successful mercenary and who knows what else (he wouldn't brag about or probably even bring it up unless asked specifically) before he met Lina, he even killed that demon threatening Sairaag which led to Syphiel developing a crush on him. The only details that Gourry seems to mix up are those of magical or mythical importance, and the ones he misses when he is paying attention to something else. The most probable reason he asks what someone, such as Lina, was talking about when she explained the latest legend or information etc. was he wasn't listening or concentrating closely rather than not being able to understand. Perhaps Gourry tends to daydream at inopportune times, or is distracted.. by other things.. He CAN look straight at a woman's bust and keep a straight face without blushing. That's his Achilles heel; he doesn't pay attention to things which interest him less and it can be quite irritating to others (especially to Lina.) On the other hand, perhaps, Gourry has done more things than what the reputation that precedes him protests.
Link concerning an explanation of Gourry's observant nature--- Eye-mine fanfic by Kaitrin
Gourry's abilities
As for Gourry's abilities, I am of the opinion that he is equal but different to Lina in combat ability. Although, he has nothing to take down Phbrizzo like Lina (really no one besides another mazoku lord or dragon lord has enough ability, Gaav let Lina hit him and it was the Lord of Nightmares who killed Phibrizzo) he would still stand a better chance against a different set of opponents. Even though Lina might be able to take down a Mazoku lord if he baits her, lets her cast her most powerful spell which takes a couple of minutes to recite, and then she manages to hit him before he can move out of the way or escape into subspace (remember technically Lina didn't kill Phbrizzo, the Lord of Nightmares did. the giga slave might not have even killed him. the ragna blade didn't kill Gaav who was less powerful than Phbrizzo.) Ironically, Lina wouldn't be able to take on what I call honest to goodness ruthless ninja assassins. Most of her powerful opponents let her hit them, amused by the image of a little girl trying to stop them. Admittedly, this works very well and is part of Lina's one-two combination, but a group of ruthless ninja assassins would rip her apart, because pride banter is included nowhere in their personality; they are pure quick efficiency. If attacked without warning, mercy, or chance to retaliate, by powerful metal weapon wielders, Lina would go down relatively easy. Gourry on the other hand would probably be the hardest to take down in that sort of situation due to his speed. Out of Zelgadiss, Amelia, Gourry, and Lina, Lina is the weakest in this sort of fight. Without the time to use magic, Lina has a blade but the best she can do really is cross swords, and do less than that against a very skilled swordsman. Zelgadiss has stone skin protection, great skill with a blade, and a highly tense and observant nature so he would do fine. Amelia would be only one notch above Lina because of her tendency to go into speeches, giving an opening, but on the other hand Amelia's fighting abilities including physical strength speed and stamina seem to be much higher than Lina's and more like her father's. Gourry, who can literally hit hundreds of objects out of the air before they impact him and slice the clothing off someone without scratching them, would be the most difficult fight for a group of assassins. In essence, while Lina is a destroyer type combatant who literally wipes entire armies with one blow in addition to creating huge collateral damage or at the very least the building she is in, Gourry is a protector type combatant who can delay or take out and enemy without killing his opponent in most cases, and keeping collateral damage to a minimum in the most severe cases, although he would probably have a harder time of taking out a huge frontal assault force. And as ridiculous as it may sound, combined with a powerful weapon, Gourry is the most powerful out of the slayers, excluding Filia and Xellos. Although Gourry has no chance against the most powerful mazoku just like most every other mortal in the slayers world, in a mortal to mortal fight, with the sword of light, Gourry would be able to take on the other mortal slayers and win, even including Martina and Zangulus. Consider the Slayers Next episode where Gourry fights the other slayers. Gourry promptly wipes the floor with his comrades, and almost kills Lina; if he hadn't stopped himself for that critical moment while he held his sword in the killing position above Lina then Lina would be certainly be dead. (although it is possible that Phbrizzo allowed Gourry to stop himself momentarily so he would not kill Lina, because letting Lina die would have not served his purposes; Gourry was probably possessed just like Lina had been earlier when she had come into contact with an evil ghost during the original Slayers episode where Amelia wanted to learn the dragon slave, except the spiritual possession he was under probably included more control than just his emotional state) Gourry, amazingly managed to survive the ragna blade at full power (something that did a great deal more damage to Gaav, a mazoku lord, than Gourry), and that was only after he was stopped by a blow from Zangulus, a highly proficient swordsman. Even the hit he suffered from the ragna blade was basically only enough to cut his armor, and he managed to avoid it without personal injury except for the pressure of being forced back against a rock from the resulting explosion the nexus of energies created when they clashed. As for the abilities he showed during the fight, such as the ability to resonate the sword of light with many different spells, redirect them, and use the sword of light as a beam weapon, it is certain he could already do those things; it was just the command by Phbrizzo to show no mercy and the natural intensity of the fight that made him use those abilities. It just isn't in Gourry's nature to use full force at first; he tends to try to keep most of his skills hidden until he really really needs to use them. For instance, Gourry didn't use the actual sword of light until he met a mazoku, and he didn't try to resonate, capture, and redirect any spells until he was given no choice at the end of the fight with Zangulus (who he didn't kill, another aspect of his nature of trying to hurt others the least he needs to in order to win.) He had even dodged about for a while trying to avoid the attack of the howling sword when fighting against Zangulus and fought in less destructive ways in earlier fights against Zangulus, instead of using an ability he obviously had known about for a long time. We just won't ever know how many tricks Gourry has until he uses them.
Synopsis
Gourry may be absent-minded, naïve, and lacking in common sense, but he isn't stupid. Dumb, sometimes, but not stupid. Being dumb means you lack knowledge, while stupidity refers to an inability to understand. Sometimes he doesn't pay attention, care, or take things seriously, but then again he notices the little things other characters miss while they are too busy concentrating on the big details. For the most part, Gourry is content to let other people handle those details. What does Shabranigdo have to do with being a good swordsman? Gourry probably wouldn't put much effort in remembering him at first. Do you see my point? On the other hand, he frequently shows us that he knows how to speak properly, talk intelligently, and even analyze information in clever ways, especially if it pertains to something that interests him such as swordsmanship. In some ways, Gourry reminds me of Caramon Majere from the Dragonlance series. Certainly, Gourry's undeniable genius at swordplay remarks on his ability to learn proficiently and it makes you wonder about his past. Just how did he become such a great swordsman? Skill does not grow on trees. What is the depth of the past he has almost entirely remained secretive of..? Perhaps, Gourry has proficiencies that we haven't even imagined; although he doesn't seem to have any interest whatsoever in magic, perhaps, if you stuck him in a restaurant and forced him to cook for one reason or another, you might find out he makes a world class chef.. He DOES like to eat.