complex characters

while the characters are complex, soowon is the clear antagonist of the story. He is complex, but that doesn’t make him any less of a “villain” (for lack of better terms ig). I think it’s also important to note that people can hate complex characters. I acknowledge soowon’s complexity but I hate him and want him dead lmfao
Perception regarding characters is incredibly subjective, don’t get upset over people hating him just bc you don’t

i never said you're not allowed to hate him just because he's a complex character, i said i dislike the notion of fitting him into one simple category when there's so much history behind his actions and disregarding all he's done for the kingdom n its ppl, like ofc you're allowed to hate him he's hurt hak and yona so much but like u yourself mentioned perception is subjective so i don't hate him and i never blame the ppl who do (i just found the t/ns unnecessary)

Without wanting to start a War, if you look at it from everyone’s perspective other than Yona and Hak, Soowon is not really a villain.

King Il was an ineffective ruler, who had neglected his kingdom, in order to dedicate himself to his own beliefs. Although he was not evil in any sense, his pacifist philosophy, translated into a weakened kingdom, susceptible to invasion, famine, drugs and crime. Which is why throughout the whole story, the Author has shown that Soowon was welcomed as a hero by the whole kingdom and hardly anyone batted an eye for King Il’s death. A neglectful ruler who lets his people die is just as bad as a Tyrant who kills them himself.

Although, Yona was completely innocent in all that, in an impoverished land, when the Fire Tribe died of Famine, the Water Tribe fought with drug cartels and the neighboring kingdoms were constantly attacking, the People would hardly care about a Princess living in the lap of luxury while the whole kingdom falls apart.

Soowon has personally gone to manage all the most pressing issues that have been affecting the kingdom, and although he is always just one step behold Yona, this is an incredible mark of a good leader and something King Il refused to do in order to avoid conflict, in what I can only guess was a naive attempt at protecting Yona from her eventual March into battle, since he clearly always knew Yona was King Hiryu and would eventually be pulled into conflict.

So, although Soowon is clearly the villain to Yona and Hak, he could by no means be called the villain of the story, when his rise to power meant the unification and the revitalization of an entire kingdom, against the lives of a terrible ruler, his only daughter and her bodyguard.

That being sad, I love this story for its complexity and Yona and Hak Rule!!!

all of this!!!!!