YMMV / The Ballad of Edgardo

• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • The Mods. Were they in cahoots with their toxic playerbase out to ruin Edgardo and A Guy Called Squid's day? Were they just slaves to PR, since they only really go after the duo when enough people whine about them? Or were they actively looking for a reason to shut the Forum down after growing tired from the sheer toxicity it was generating and were secretly using the Edgardo situation to give them a reason to do so? After all, according to Goldnharl, such toxicity had been going on long before Edgardo joined and, if they wanted to, they could have just pulled a Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies on him and A Guy Called Squid, and they don't even attempt an Obvious Rule Patch once Edgardo figures out how to break the game with his ability...
  • While fighting Edgardo and A Guy Called Squid, Goldnharl stands with his back to the cliff face, right on the edge, and doesn't even attempt to dodge Edgardo's Megaton Punch. Was it just the glaring tactical blunder that it appeared to be, of Goldnharl thinking he was so invincible that it wouldn't matter what hit him? Or, knowing 1) his sense of honor and fair play, and 2) how exhausted he was with the forums that he was ready to call it quits no matter how he died, did he deliberately leave himself open in the hopes that a Worthy Opponent could take advantage of this and Goldnharl could finally find the ending he so craved? Or did he make a genuine mistake, recognize it in time to correct it, and simply not care enough to save himself? It should be noted that Edgardo suplexed Goldnharl into that position (and himself out of it), but did Goldnharl not have time to reposition, or did he expect to kill Edgardo and Squid before they could capitalize on their advantage, or did he genuinely believe they had no way of inflicting enough damage on him to knock him back that last, fatal step?
• Catharsis Factor: Anyone who's ever participated in online roleplaying with a hostile, immature community and players who abuse their abilities at the expense of everyone else will find it hard not to cheer when Edgardo gives Xer0 and his cronies their well-deserved comeuppance.
• Designated Hero: Every PC on the Forum that isn't Edgardo, A Guy Called Squid, or even Goldnharl. The only reason they're considered 'heroes' at all is because they fight the shadows (something which we never actually see them doing, mind you); other than that, they're near full-blown sociopaths. The first thing they do is mock Edgardo for not being a ridiculous edgelord level character, nearly kill him for it, then when he tries to pickpocket a potion to heal himself Xer0 kills him for it and, after being revived, blocks off his access to near every town and then sends an assassin after him and A Guy Called Squid for daring to defend themselves from people attempting to kill them. Keep in mind; these were supposed to be the good guys before Edgardo joined. And according to A Guy Called Squid and Goldnharl, this kind of stuff had been going on long before he joined.
• Designated Villain: Edgardo is this in-universe to most of the forum. If you listen to everyone else, Edgardo is the bad guy for the heinous crime of trying to defend himself against Lightning Sword Guy, an obscenely overpowered jerk who attacked Edgardo just because he had a goofy name, and then for stealing a health potion to try and save his own life. When Lightning Sword Guy attacks Edgardo a second time with even less provocation, he gets punched into atoms for his overconfidence. Everyone else starts calling Edgardo a "brutal murderer" and baying for his blood.
• Fridge Brilliance: Assuming Khaine the "shadowmancer" was literally punched into the sun, it would certainly be the worst place for him to end up in, as his shadow powers can't possibly work in a place where there is only light. Alternatively, Edgardo showed him the other heart that had no darkness within it (the heart of the sun).
• Game-Breaker:
  • As the OP eventually figured out, his supposedly 'useless' ability soon proved extremely effective thanks to an oversight in the setting. 'Overflowing Spirit' removes the cap of spirit energy the character uses; however, as a Necessary Drawback, the character can only use Raw Spirit, a Non-Elemental attack that does jack all damage but can't be blocked, pierces armor and can be infused to a stat to temporarily boost its effectiveness. This means Edgardo basically can't do anything outside of staggering enemies, and that's only if he's built up enough spirit energy... However, Haven, a hard-to-reach town, has the benefit of recharging a character's spirit energy to the cap. Since Edgardo has no cap, this means Haven gives him infinite spirit energy which, combined with the benefits of Raw Spirit, lets him One-Hit Kill everything, including the ridiculous min-max'd Xer0.
  • And although this doesn't get brought up in the tale proper, Edgardo gains the ability to teleport thanks to his saved up level up points. Teleporting costs spirit which, thanks to Haven, he has an infinite supply of. Normally the effects of Haven would only last a day once the player steps out of it, but there's nothing that could stop Edgardo from teleporting back to Haven just before the effect runs out and recharging his infinite spirit buff.
  • Another aspect that Edgardo overlooked was that Raw Spirit could be used to temporarily raise a stat, at the expense of costing more Spirit the higher the stat got. Again, Edgardo had infinite Spirit, so theoretically all of his stats could have become infinite too, turning him into an utterly invincible Lightning Bruiser who, contrary to what he believed, actually might have been able to defeat the army of players hunting him down. And if things somehow got too dicey, he could always just teleport away to recuperate, dipping back into Haven for just a few moments every day to refresh the buff it gives him.
• Heartwarming Moments: The narrator can make fun of it all he wants, but the bond that develops between him and A Guy Called Squid really is quite moving. Despite everything the community does to hurt them, the two of them help each other on and refuse to give up, give in, or stay behind, no matter what. Anyone who's ever struck up a friendship with another anonymous player online, especially if you Never Got to Say Goodbye, can really appreciate how rare and awesome that friendship must have been.
• Ho Yay: Lampshaded for laughs by the narrator:
  In the middle of town square, Edgardo and A Guy Called Squid shared a sweaty, shirtless, muscley, manly hug for all the world to see. It was super homo.
  Actually we just had to be touching so I could teleport us both but shut up.
• Memetic Badass: The title character has developed this reputation lately. Unsurprising, since he basically has the same powers as Saitama.
• Tear Jerker: A subtle one, but the fact that Edgardo and A Guy Named Squid never exchanged contact information before the forums collapsed is rather saddening. After the incredible adventure they shared, they'll probably never see each-other again.
• Too Bleak, Stopped Caring: What the Forum had become before Edgardo arrived. The "heroes" are monsters, the mods are Jerkass Gods, and the most powerful character is an arrogant, tyrannical bully. On the other side is the shadows that are trying to consume the world. No one even tried to be good. But Edgardo was having none of that.

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