- 12 - The Hanged Man -

hanged man meaning - Adaptability and flexiblity of mind.  Self-surrender.  Wisdom attained through sacrifice.  Renunciation and rebirth, coupled with a new spiritual awareness. 

hanged man reversed meaning - Enforced sacrifice or punishment.  Arrogance, wasted effort, resistence to spirituality, and preoccupation with either one's self or material goods. 

persona wielder - Baofu (it's a spoiler extravaganza)

Okay - whoever saw the reversed description of Hanged Man and instantly saw Baofu, raise your hand. Well, okay, not literally... but in a yummy mental way that lets me feel all right about myself. 

Anyhow, for about 99.5% of the game the ever-unloveable Karou Saga is exactly that.  Hanged Man reversed.  He's sacrificed a normal life to obtain revenge for Miki Asai's death.. but it's not a willing thing.  Not really.  He's too haunted by guilt for her slaying to do anything else - punishing himself more than anything.  I mean, c'mon... the lonerlyness and all that cliche "alcohol erases my past" yammering?  That does not a healthy person make.  Even though he was radically changed by the transformation from prosecutor to "revenge", the guy didn't really learn all that much from the whole brutal slaughter fiasco.  Both Saga's were arrogant, know-it-all hotshots without a care in the world except for points of physical appearance and personal gratification.

*shakes head*  Saga's been a bad, baaaaaaad boy.   And Odysseus, selfish perma-wandering cheating prick that he was, rather fits the whole unenlightened thing.  Though if you ask me, being cursed with the horrible taste to actually like that hideous goatee is punishment enough... 

Sooo.. does he get all better and huggable?  All signs really do point to yes, as with most of our main EP cast.. (well, with the exception of poor Katsuya, but we'll get to him later). Hooray for personal growth or character development or what have you.  At the very very minutestly minute end of the whole (bloody long, I might add) thing, Baofu gives Miki's ghost up.  Actually does start a new existance - with Ulala, no less.  And even though he's still the same hard-assed cynical jerk he was before, he's at least getting that clinging onto his long-dead mommy figure is probably not the best of plans.  One has to adapt with the times. 

Good for him.