Yu-Gi-Oh! Avatar
The Many Faces of Harold
Hi, guys, now that we're at least 100 episodes into Avatar, I just thought I'd take some time out to show you all the logic behind Avatar and the OC that it centers around. I guess I'll start off with my central original character: Harold Kumara.
Harold's personality is (if you haven't guessed it by now) based on me. My Father always told me 'write what you know.' And I know myself better than anyone. I've chosen his name because it's the name of my Grandfather. If Harold was actually part of the original Japanese version of the show, I believe his Japanese name would be Haruno (I even had an idea about a continuing running gag regarding the femininity of his name). If he was in the manga version, his origins would be really different. If you read episode 15 (The Rival Returns), you probably were already treated to a piece of Harold's origins, how he used to date Tea, but Tea, being Tea, wasn't interested in anything more than friendship. She introduced him to Yugi and Yugi kicked the butt of a video game thug. The whole slashing thing is very after-school-special, I know. My original idea was simply to make him a depressed moody goth. But I scratched that. If Kids-WB ever got a hand on my idea (which I pray to any and all deities out there they don't), they would water down or remove Harold's back story all together.
Which reminds me, I guess I should probably explain something now: I designed Avatar to be more than just another Yu-Gi-Oh! S.I. story. I actually wanted to fuse elements from both the Japanese and the American series. You see, to me, both versions of the series were good but had flaws to them. The American series had good dialogue but really watered down (of course I know they were making it for kids but still…). The Japanese series was a bit more realistic and logical, but the problem with that was that they didn't have their priorities straight. I mean if I was in Yugi's place, you know, having the souls of my friends threatened and trying to stop every evil villain trying to take over the world and the what not, I wouldn't go off into some crazy philosophy lesson (e.g. in the Japanese version of "Mime Control," Marik gives this big lecture using water as a metaphor which I, honestly, didn't get) or ethical discussion. But I also realized that one of the major plotlines of Yu-Gi-Oh was the Pharaoh's search for his name and origins, a plotline which is touched heavily during the Japanese Battle City story arc. So I tried to work that in at the same time using the whole world is in danger sort of thing.
I actually chose the name 'Avatar' for a reason. But rather than just tell you, I'd like you guys (and girls) to discover the reason for yourselves. Look up the word in a dictionary and you'll find out why, in fact, you might even figure out one of the major secrets of Avatar. Just make sure you don't confuse 'Avatar' with 'Aviator.' The only flying done here will be by the Duel Monsters.
I originally designed Harold's Battle City duels to be brief in that after he duels Yugi, you're only treated to glimpses of his Battle City duels at the end of each episode from the duel against Yugi to when he helps out by dueling Tea while under Marik's control. But seriously, what fun would that be? I wanted to give an essence into Harold's light attribute deck. As a side note, I've been trying to construct my own light attribute deck. I've used it in some actual duels but haven't been able to win yet. I chose Harold's central card to be Wingweaver because that was actually the very first Yu-Gi-Oh card I ever got. So of course I'm going to be partial to it.
And then there were the characters.
Way back when I was first designing Avatar, I was only going to have two original characters, Harold and Amara. But as Battle City became Noa's Arc, which became Battle City Finals and so-on, I realized that I wouldn't be able to make Harold's progress through the series fluid without adding other characters, hence the invention of the Four Horsemen (who will actually play a key role later).
Oh yeah, Kevin.
Kevin Hunter is actually the brainchild of Blue-Eyes White Knight (BEWK for short), who has been my muse ever since Avatar's inception (is that the word? Oh, who cares?). I have seen Kevin used in some other Yu-Gi-Oh! Stories and was intrigued by him, especially his father, Dr. Adam Hunter. Like all my characters in Avatar, I wanted to make him believable and not give him one of those pseudo-personalities you often see celebrities exhibit which brings me to my next point.
Yu-Gi-Oh! Avatar is like a summer blockbuster in more ways than one. At first, it was severely criticized and (I'll admit) it really cut me to the core. But then as the series went on, I actually started receiving compliments, even praise from reviewers (not just on but in Yu-Gi-Oh! fandom too). Hey, I bet even Shakespeare had his critics. I thank all of you who complimented it. I even thank those who criticized it, in that you only persuaded me to work harder on it. To all you future writers of fanfiction or otherwise, here's a piece of advice: take the criticism others gave you and use it to make your writing better. It worked for me.
Also like a Hollywood blockbuster, Avatar will come out in sequels. Each story arc will actually be a different story. What's the point you might ask? Just for clarity. Rather than compiling everything into one story, I want to make each arc a different story. Granted that it might mean I would have to take down some of my older stories but I think it's worth it. Plus I like writing synopses for them.
Of course, what good would a story be without a few surprises? While some things may seem odd or isolated, they'll actually all come together, especially towards the end of the series. In fact, that was one of my underlying themes for Avatar, to show that everything is (in one way or another) connected. So an event or explanation that might seem out of place during Duelist Kingdom (for example) would have significance later on. It's kind of like six degrees of separation but (fortunately) without Kevin Bacon.
So, some of you might be wondering what's in the future for the Avatar series? Well if I told you, then you wouldn't read, but expect this:
Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie: Avatar-ized. Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie was actually an enjoyable movie, especially visually. So I think I'll retell it using a few of my Avatar characters.
Actual original story arcs: The actual series, believe it or not, doesn't touch on a couple of things so I'm going to do what Kids-WB, FUNimation, and whoever else owns the Yu-Gi-Oh TV show just assumed we would understand.
Special guests: I always liked putting in characters even if it's just briefly. Two characters that you might not expect to see will make an appearance. But despite that, it's not a crossover. Just another mystery you'll have to figure out.
Speaking of mysteries, I think it's time to play a little mystery game with you guys. It (unfortunately) involves rereading the series. I want you to read between the lines and try to guess things like the origin of the Avatar Armlet or who the original Avatar was. Of course, I won't be influenced by any of the theories presented because I already know what I'm going to do. Hopefully, when the revelations come, you'll be pleasantly surprised or you'll say "I knew it" which works out for me either way.
Thank you for reading and reviewing and I hope you enjoy Avatar.
Phantom 1
