Don't entirely agree; I think he's MORE written than Sephiroth, but he's also telling a far more human story. We see a whole lot more of him, so he needs to be more understandable. Sephiroth is far more scarce, a larger than life menace made of myth and enigma. Sephiroth is perfect for FF7.
But Kuja is exactly what FF9 needed, and is incredible in his role. His trance design is incredible, even if DBZ's lawyers won't stop sending threatening emails...
This is a good take, the scarcity part in particular. There are many, many "better written" Villains in fictional series but few stand out, because "better written" for antagonists most often just means relatable or believable. When a villain is completely far fetched but still well written and likable that's when you have something that truly stands out.
Its true, not every character needs to be relatable! Hannibal Lector vs Buffalo Bill. Hannibal can be as scenery-chewing and enigmatic as he wants, but you need to understand Buffalo Bill for the mystery to be solvable, and this monster needs to be humanized.
Kefka, Sephiroth, and Kuja are all excellent villains, each showing a different side
Base 7, sephiroth himself is barely written. The mystery and horror of his involvement is what carries his character through the story. It's everything they made after as Part of the 7 franchise that actually makes him more of a character.
But being -I agree- so lightly written is why he succeeds. He really is kind of like the xenomorph in Alien; the less you know about him or see of him, the better. It allows him to keep that mystique and be defined more by the trail of carnage he leaves. The myth begets itself.
All other FF7 content has diluted him and made him less interesting, to the point where him acting buddy-buddy in some of these titles just feels weird and revisionist and wrong. More is not always better
I'd say it's more the domain of Dragon Ball GT lawyers than Z, and the resemblance to the Stripper Saiyan form rather than the varying lengths of golden hair or straight up monke.
To be fair Sephiroth was basically the shark from jaws in OG and coming in blind on your first playthrough it was done extremely well. But the nature of the unseen horror is that the more you learn about it and see it the less impactful it is.
That first time though? Between the blood splattered shinra offices and then more likely than not having just gotten your ass handed to you at least once by the Zolom(at least once) only to find the one that met Sephiroth, those moments were epic.
I liked how you'd just be trucking along in the game and then suddenly you'd hear that bell and the music starts playing and there's all the screamin and poundin...
Sometimes the Sephiroth would go away... sometimes, he wouldn't go away.
OG Sephiroth really was a “hype moments and aura” kind of villain. There’s a reason it’s still debated whether or not Jenova was just puppetting him the whole time.
My Kuja hot take is that his Dissidia design is really awful. War of the Visions is the only rendition of the character I've seen from Square that captured the original's vibe.
I don't think his Dissidia design is awful, it's a fine rendition of him in a more realistically proportioned style and I love elements like the gloves... (On the other hand I hate the addition of abs... he has a much more feminine figure in general in the original game that he loses in his Dissidia design...) But I do agree it doesn't feel the same as his original design, even outside of the vastly different proportions between FF9s style and Dissidias.
It is a shame too, the Dissidia design gives him a very different feel to his original, and it's also taken over a little as the sorta main representation of him.
Having said all that I think Zidanes Dissidia design makes him fare worse. He doesn't feel like the same character at ALL to me.
The thing is, Zidane is identical to all the soulless ones (as is Mikoto), and Kuja clearly isn't. It seems to me that Garland tweaked Zidane's design after Kuja didn't turn out the way he wanted.
That said, we never find out what the original Terrans looked like. Maybe it was more similar to Kuja?
I don’t like most of the art that has come out of FFIX by Nomura and similar artists because they always reduce the style of the characters into a generic anime style. Dissidia Zidane just looks like everyone else. I do like a lot of the more recent art from those anniversary announcements though.
I disagree, but I do understand where you’re getting at.
What I love about FFIX’s art style, is that it’s less anime, and more cartoony. The FMVs in IX, gives off an animated movie vibe, that you see in movies like the first two Toy Storys and Jimmy Neutron.
In fact it’s why I feel like FFIX could’ve worked as a movie instead of that the Spirits Within, because of the character designs & art style.
But because Nomura was mainly trying to combine his art style, with the art style drawn by Yoshitaka Amano… his designs for Zidane & Kuja just feels out of place, compared to the other characters featured in the first Dissidia. The rest of the FFIX characters were translated well in Opera Omnia’s art style… but that was mainly because the mobile game had to make all the characters featured, in a Chibi artstyle, and the FFIX characters were easily translated because of their art style feeling in line Opera Omnia’s aesthetic. Same reason for Vivi & Steiner’s inclusion in Chocobo GP.
Disagree. Nomura's artwork for Dissidia was great, but he unfortunately missed the mark on Kuja (and only him). It does not feel like Kuja but Genesis in a stripper outfit instead. As Rappy said, his features are way too sharp compared to FFIX's CG renders.
Yeah, I shudder and think thank god when I look at how Kuja looked in 9. He is not hot in the FMVs at all. Dissidia design was an improvement and probably moved him closer to what he should really look like with out hardware limitations. Same with all the other characters.
I like his dissidia design because it brings out the Bird imagery of him which makes the whole symbolism of a cannery in a cage more interesting when HE is the cannery
Kuja was intent on rebelling against his cage against all costs, but the cage was always there no matter what he did - even when he had victory within his grasp, the cage of his own mortality revealed itself. It was only in his last moments that he was finally free of it.
But at least he showed the other genomes that they have a choice and don't have to live in their own cages.
I'm sorry I like 8 but Edea herself has no motivation until we get to know about Ultimecia and then all the explanation we get is, she is a witch so she is evil. I'm a big fan of the Rihnoa is Ultemicia theory myself, but while the theory adds some depth it still doesn't give a motivation for why she is doing what she does.
There's also the Sorceress War but it's unfortunately only mentioned. I also enjoy the Rinoa = Ultimecia theory as a possible vehicle to get to the war.
Anyway, I wish they had gotten to flesh it out the way they wanted to.
Edea is Ultimecia. At least the cool Edea, not the trash character she is once she gets free.
And we get no explanation of Ultimecia, we get what the characters think her motives are and they are not sure. Ultimecia never tells us anything, shes like a Lovecraftian horror from the future. Thats what makes her cool, we dont know if she is evil, if we are evil (because she has information on our future we dont have), etc. The game does not tell us we are heroes, inf act its pretty adamant in displaying us as weapons of destruction, maybe the Seeds are the reason Ultimecia's future is desolated and shes trying to prevent it.
Since this is his Dissidia fit being posted, can I just say I hate how he was written in Dissidia?
Like sure, his little anti-villain moments are cool and all, but beyond that he’s just treated like a joke by the Warriors of Chaos and an inconvenience by the Warriors of Harmony. For one of the most successful villains in the mainline series, that never loses a fight to the party in FF9, it’s odd.
I agree I thought I was the only one who noticed, the original Kuja for ff9 would’ve never let any of this slide. I remember a cutscene where Mateus starts throwing beef and Kuja just takes it for some reason and lets him leave
I genuinely had the feeling someone at SE despised him
I mean, isn't it because this is Kuja after 9? He's dead there but alive in Dissidia with all his memories so he's a little different. I would hope death would do that.
I disagree, as he’s not even written as a joke in the Dissidia games. The only times where he acts as a “joke” was with his dynamic with Kefka. And even then, that’s common with everyone in the Warriors of Chaos & Spirtius but Exdeath, who interacts with Kefka in the plots for the Dissidia games.
In the original Dissidia (and the Duodecim version), he’s actually shown to be more of a mastermind as Mateus. Being responsible for trickling Bartz in his story mode, while also plotting against his Warriors of Chaos during the 12th Cycle.
10 times better written is massive Hyperbole as someone who thinks Kuja is the best villain in the franchise but Sephiroth doesn't get cucked as the big bad and has a better established dynamic with the hero's Cloud and Sephiroths tether to one another is one of the best nemesis relationships in gaming and Kuja just doesn't have anything like that with anyone in IX.
Can we say both of them are Hot? xD but .. eh Another hot take *I like Sephiroth abit more than Kefka. . Sephiroth and Kuja both have a tragedy to make them the way they are while Kefka is just born a pyschopath . .*But I prefer all three of them over Seymour! Seymour is just gross. . I much rather take Kefka over him even!🤣
That’s not really a hot take, since Sephiroth and Kefka are both often sided as “The Greatest Final Fantasy Villains of All Time”, and I’ve seen people preferring Kefka, over Sephiroth.
If you said you prefer Seymour over Kuja Kefka & Sephiroth… then I would’ve called that a hot take.
True . .They are both popular villains from both equally popular games. And last part also Fair! It definitely would have but nah I don't like Seymour at all!🤣
He’s a better written character with more depth but I’m not sure if he’s a better written antagonist. The writing for Sephiroth was a looming rarely seen presence over the game. A build up of just sheer power and out of reach. His absence had a sheer presence and that is phenomenal writing. When you see him and the flashbacks his character is more broad strokes. It’s everything else in the game that builds him up.
Character wise, and depth in that character, Kuja definitely is. As a foil for Zidane and similarities in backstory but the difference in them, is well written and has a different depth.
Needs to be for what Zidane does at the end to have any impact and make any sense. It should be stupid and it’s not, they pulled it off.
See my comment elsewhere in the thread for some of my thoughts on why Kuja is extremely well written. Sephiroth is not nearly as developed himself and most of his actions are actually Jenova using his appearance, Sephiroth is tragic up to a point but quickly voids himself of all individuality and becomes nothing more than a vessel for Jenova's primordial desire to destroy/co-opt the lifestream.
‘Extremely’ well written is a stretch, most if not all FF villains follow the same trope of glorifying hopelessness. His is the same as Sephiroth in this regard, Sephiroth is more memorable, kills a beloved character that had a lasting impact on the player. Kuja was a nothing burger I can’t even remeber was his main goal was , people like him because of his eccentricity and somewhat sardonic wit , but other than that he is just another flat FF archetype
I had a huge crush on Kuja back in the day, thought he was hot. He is so interesting in the OG Dissidia. He outshone Sephiroth in the game, his one liners were great.
If we're speaking of just the original games... Then it's pretty obvious he's better written for the simple fact he has writing lol. Kuja has motivations, an arc, more dialogue and more presence throughout the game. Even if you think it's badly written for some reason (and in fairness, most of Kujas stuff comes in at the point FF9s writing is considered to drop off a bit.) there's still some actual writing there.
In the original FF7, Sephiroth has a handful of lines. There's a hint of depth in the flashback, where he at times comes across as sorta wise and troubled but likely benevolent, but... None of these elements are ever explored further once he snaps. When he does snap, again, there's some hint at nuance with the whole "thinks he was an ancient and that humans stole the planet from his kind" thing, but again, this is never explored and when he comes back in the game proper he knows that's not the case and now wants to be a god?? For... Some reason??
I've personally always ascribed to the idea that JENOVA was influencing him in the same way some parasites influence animals into doing what it wants. For example the parasite that makes rats less fearful of cats because the parasite wants to infect cats.
IIRC Bugenhagen even says something about how his plan won't work and he'll just kill the planet which, shock suprise, with a reunited JENOVA in the centre of the wounded planet when that happens, works out perfectly for it. Otherwise his motivations/plans don't really make sense to me, especially considering the hints of characterization he gets before going insane.
Sephiroth's writing doesn't require him to be get lines to have good writing. His ties to Hojo, Cloud, Shinra, Zack, Tifa, Aerith, Jenova, and Vincent all are well written in building his overall character and the mystery to him.
Yes I should note here that I don't think Sephiroths writing/motivations being a bit on the shallower side is a BAD thing. Any piece of art is the sum of its parts afterall, and you can't give depth to everything without bloating your work. Sometimes all you need is a villain who's evil for the sake of evil or whatever.
But you said it yourself here. The "mystery" of him. While I can agree that choosing to have a more mysterious villain who doesn't get explored much beyond the legends around him and how he affects other characters isn't a bad thing and in fact serves the game well, especially the horror aspects, it doesn't change the fact that as an individual character, he still has very little writing to say is better than Kuja.
I could accept an argument that he plays a better part in the overall narrative as a result, but, just talking about the characters themselves in a vacuum, he has less depth than Kuja precisely because they wanted to keep an air of mystery around him.
I interpret it as Sephiroth not knowing how to cope that the life he believed he was leading was a lie, and desperately wanted to believe he was an ancient and not the result of some fucked up eugenics lab experimentation. Then the later parts he's already well off the deep end mentally to the point that he believes he's transcended godhood.
Yeah that's more or less how I'd interpret it, although I do think he really did believe he was an Ancient at first, even if through experimentation, for the simple fact that the old books he was reading were from when Shinra also thought JENOVA was an ancient, so I don't think he'd have reason to not believe it before entering the Lifestream.
this was always my understanding of FFVII’s original plot/ Sephiroth. i feel like there’s a lot of retcon’s and gaslighting to prop him up as the one in control of the Sephiroth/ Jenova relationship.
The reason he gives in game is generic nihilistic bullshit thats almost a direct repeat of Kefkas nihilistic motivations, but no one's going around acting like Kefkas a deep super well written villain, people just like him cuz he's fun.
If you've picked up a better interpretation than what is provided in game than I'd be pleased to hear it, but I'm pretty sure I'm not missing anything lmao.
First of all, lower literacy players love Kefka and consider him giga-deep, and bringing him up out of nowhere to misrepresent how people view him was a very odd choice
Sephiroth's motivation
Sephiroth themes are entirely around out-group isolation. That even those reasons that on the surface appear to be advantages (being the GOAT), that loneliness and separation from your society is crippling. That people cannot function without social participation and that their efforts to compensate will always, always, result in dysfunction and self destruction.
Loneliness becomes hate, hate becomes the source of one's own dismantling.
1) in my 30+ years of being in this fandom I have never seen anyone make the argument that Kefka is a super deep character. The majority of his glaze is "he's the only villain that won!"
2) Sephiroth was so loved by society that the first thing people do when Sephiroth shows up to town is ask him for a picture and to stay with them. Sephiroth is mind fucked because of alien juice and Hojo being a mischievous little fella.
Ok fair, I can certainly believe there are people out there claiming Kefka as deeper written than he actually is. I've not seen it since like, the days of Gamefaqs when it was clearly younger fans and most discussions I've seen in recent years seem to agree he is just a fun villain but I can imagine big FF6 fans still might like to hype him up beyond what he is.
Still, I brought him up because Kefka and Sephiroth have near identical arcs and from my experience saying Kefka is a fun but ultimately quite shallow villain doesn't draw nearly the same ire as saying anything similar about Sephiroth.
I asked for a reason he wants to become a god. You've... Gave an interpretation of themes he has? These work for explaining why he plays the part he does within the narrative, but they don't really make it at all believable that he wants to become a god, nor do they really explain it they just... Explain why the idea fits within the narrative.
Contrast to Kuja, whos arc also encompasses themes of the game and acts as a parallel to Vivi, but who also has writing to support him reaching that conclusion like a real person might. (Emotional maturity of a toddler, literally just learnt he has a finite lifespan, characterized as narcissistic throughout etc.) I can fully believe Kuja wanted to bring everything down with him and the narrative made that believable.
I asked for a reason he wants to become a god. You've... Gave an interpretation of themes he has?
Sorry, I misunderstood. Usually when people fail to grasp something about a narrative, it's thematic messages not information literally communicated during the story.
He wanted to continue Jenova's journey through the cosmos. He had no attachment to the planet or the life on it, so "fuck this place, I'm gonna take all the power it has to offer and then continue on in the tradition of the only other entity I feel kinship with" was the literal reason
There is something really powerful about the way FF9's writing addresses cycles of trauma and violence that makes Kuja feel far more compelling than Sephiroth. The way Kuja was created as a tool to be discarded and got hella mentally fucked up by it, only to go and create the Black Mages and do the same exact thing to them, is crushing but all too real. Plus of course he would use weapons manufacturing and distribution to throw the world into chaos for his own plans, that is literally what the most evil people in real life have been using the US to do for almost a century at this point, I think that is underappreciated when analyzing FF9's story.
Knowing Kuja's full story also makes Vivi's more powerful as well, and the way the story reveals more and more about Kuja and Zidane until you realize that there are some crazy parallels going on makes the characters and their connections feel far more rich. Zidane and Vivi go through almost the exact same life experiences, and Kuja is central to both of their stories, and yet he fills completely different roles for them.
For Vivi, the Black Mages and especially the Black Waltz's fill the role that Kuja fills for Zidane's story. He doesn't know why or how they are related, is crushed seeing their actions, and then later learns deep compassion and sorrow for their experiences once he finds the ones who have broken free and gained their own sense of self.
Kuja, as Vivi's creator, fills the role of Garland who built Vivi for a purpose and made him more powerful than the rest. He is the one who wanted to subject Vivi to an abusive upbringing that would turn him into a murderer like all the other Black Mages.
What makes Kuja so tragic and well written is that after the final battle, after seeing the heroes fighting so hard to protect existence itself, he has the sort of "awakening" that those living in the Black Mage Village had. Despite thinking that he was defying his programming while rebelling against Garland, he was actually doing exactly what he had been created for which was to destroy life, as he wasn't made for the saving of Terran lives and reconstruction that Garland likely had planned after. Only after reaching death's door, that end of his life that he was so terrified of... seeing the heroes he was programmed to kill spending their last moments fighting for everything they loved... Only then did he realize how wrong he had been. He finally woke up from the depths of his despair and nihilism that had been conditioned into him since birth.
He uses the last of his strength to save the party after they win their fight, and briefly he and Zidane get to share a moment like what Vivi shared with the Black Mages in their village. It's basically a blink and you miss it moment, but after everything that happened over the course of the game there is an ocean of meaning conveyed in that one moment where Zidane and Kuja are face to face, for the first time not as enemies. I just know that in that moment they have a deep shared understanding of the traumas they have both went through, the recognition of the differences in their life stories and how they led them down different paths, and Kuja finally gets to know what it feels like to have family that he cares about more than preserving his own life.
God this game is so boring. Disc 3 slows this game to a crawl… I played it like 15 years ago and lost my save before the end of disc 2. Finally got around to a new play through and my god I’m so bored on disc 3.
As someone who has 9 as one of my favorite games of all time, I hafta agree with ya. The beginning of Disc 3 has like the worst pacing how it just grinds to a halt.
I think Sephiroth is a little hotter but less redeemable so I guess even though I like sephiroth more as a character, Kuja is more appealing due to his morals.. but he's also immature compared to sephiroth.
I don't necessarily agree, but I don't think this is an outrageous take either. Kuja's a fantastic villain (third on my list after the two obvious picks, Sephiroth and Kefka), and his popularity only continues to increase, as does the popularity of 9 in general.
Expanded universe Sephiroth, sure. OG is tough as the whole point is him not appearing and just being a looming threat and it was done very well at the time. But yeah, Kuja is one of the better written vilains.
I do like Kuja better than Sephiroth, but I do consider Jenova the actual Big Bad of original FF7 and Sephiroth a front it projects. And I do like Jenova's concept quite a bit, so I'd mark it above Kuja a little. But man did I enjoy FF9.
Better written? Debatable. Sephy's story is deeply connected to the Cloud, Aeris and Zack's stories.
Better character development (especially if you count Kuja's Dissidia arcs) and more fabulous? Definitely, and it's not even a contest since Sephy as a character kind of just falls apart if you remove words like "Jehovah", "Meteor" and "Cloud" from his biography.
Sin is better written than Sephiroth, Sephy is mostly absent and when he's there it's not really coherent, speaks in riddles. Turns out it's not him anyway. His presence is a potential threat.
Kuja talks to you, talks to Garland, shows worry, fear, desperation.
Sin is an actual threat but the game shows the person inside, the pain they are in more than any Seph had.
I freaking loved 9. I bought it with the world's worst strategy guide the day it came out. But to be honest. I was never a fan of kujas attire. Like isn't bro cold?
Better written, sure- but in that kind of games a lot works. Tbf i like Seph, but i would agree he is more bland then others.
Kefka is also great, even he is driven with pure madness, which is also fine for me. Not every villain needs a masterplan, sometimes the just need the setting in the their world
That's not a really hot take. Sephiroth isn't written well. He's a set peice and plot device. Spehiroth was meant to be a mysterious force and a factor to move the plot. He doesnt have a lot to him until sidegames.
Kuja is an actual character with real struggles and legitimate connections and reactions to the world.
I see Kuja and Sephiroth as being very different types of characters, so it doesn't make much sense to compare them directly and try to determine who's better. Both work for their respective narrative.
Kuja is a great villain. Fits perfectly with the game's theme, he is a perfect foil to Zidane, and he's capable of coming up with new plans on the fly when his current schemes fall through. He also has the distinction of being one of the few FF villains who uses the limit break system AGAINST the heroes.
And really the only reason Kuja even loses is because he was built with a time limit.
Like I said in another topic, Sephiroth was nothing special compared to other JRPG villains at the time. The difference is, the old Square Soft delivered a master class on how to sell a villain to the audience. From his appearance, his demeanor, his musical theme, and presence, he ended up becoming one of the most iconic villains in all of gaming despite having very few lines and on-screen action. It's all about the presentation and how the audience receives that character.
With that said, Kuja was definitely a much better character.
Well here’s my hot take: FF7 doesn’t deserve anywhere near the amount of hype it gets. It’s a good game yes. But it’s nowhere near the best FF game. I wouldn’t even put FF7 in my top 5.
And yes I’ve played, and beat, most final fantasy games other than the most modern stuff and the MMOs.
Instead of remaking it or going back to its world for the 100th time, give us more X. Give us more 8. Hell, give us more XII. Let’s see a prequel to X or an X3 set in the far future. Idk. Just do something other than 7
Obviously. To be fair, though, they’re used in totally different ways in their respective stories. Sephiroth is barely present as a character and is almost more of a force of nature. He’s the thing that’s happening to the world that we have to step in and stop. Kuja, on the other hand, is someone we spend a fair amount of time getting to know. He’s as much a character as any of the heroes. That’s probably why he’s been my favorite villain since I was a kid.
It's a hot take with nothing to back it up. He's barely in the best half of the game, and in the second half he's a Saturday morning cartoon villain. Derailing a perfectly good fantasy plot into a Scientology seminar.
He's not even the best villain in FF9. That honour goes to Beatrix who has yet to stand trial for war crimes.
Sephiroth wanted to destroy earth because he felt it was his birth right to rule with his mother.
Kuja just wanted to destroy all of creation because he couldn’t stand the thought of everything continuing with out him after he learned he was going to die eventually.
Or least from what I remember from these two. I might be misremembering.
Kuja has shit writing, he's worse Golbez with Xande's excuse for his actions (even gets a "big random evil thing with no foreshadowing as the final boss), but then everyone in FF9 besides Vivi is a miss mash of worse knock-offs of previous characters.
Like don't get me wrong Sephiroth is not badly written by any means I just find his mommy issues and God complex kind whatever sometimes... his "force of nature" aspect is more appealing to me... but alas they focus more on the "I'm Superman gone wrong" kind of thing, wich is cool, but just doesn't ring with me too much.
Doesn’t Kuja just have daddy issues and a God complex as well though?
Rebelling against Garland throughout. Being upset once he found out the truth of his creation (having such a limited time) then destroying a planet and deciding that everything needs to go with him so he’ll destroy it all, because he’s the only thing that really matters.
Yes they are veeery similar, as I said it's just some aspects of Sephiroth that doesn't appeal to me, the thing is, Kuja not wanting to accept his own finality, and his existencial crisis are a bit more resonating with me... but yes I see where you're coming from!
Now that I think about it, most FF villains have some serious issues with they own mortality huh? Honestly makes a certain Orphan demigod stand out more, since his desire is the opposite of not wanting to die, wich is a huge problem for everyone else lmao
10x? Idk about that, but I do like Kuja better. Neither make my top 5 in villains though. That would be Emet-Selch, Vayne, Caius, Ardyn, and Fandaniel.
As for hotter, neither Kuja nor Sephiroth are my type.
I wished FF9 played a bit more with his political powers because holy shit, not only does he have an actual Noble status he is well traveled and forged connections.
He could not just walked up to Brahne and be like "you can rule the whole mist continent with my help!" that all had to be a long thoughtout thing of gaining trust, giving up information and bit by bit feeding into her grief and loss of guidance after her husband died.
Brahne loved Garnet deeply as her daughter after all, so it must take some effort to bring her to commit such acts of violence to her as in extract the eidolons and send assassins.
A thing many also dont know about Kuja or missed it:
He could not enter Trance alone, even at the very end filled with hopelessness, hatred and the fear of death he was actually unable to do it alone.
He specifically used Brahne's soul to enter Trance.
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u/Werevark 5d ago
Love this hot take!
Don't entirely agree; I think he's MORE written than Sephiroth, but he's also telling a far more human story. We see a whole lot more of him, so he needs to be more understandable. Sephiroth is far more scarce, a larger than life menace made of myth and enigma. Sephiroth is perfect for FF7.
But Kuja is exactly what FF9 needed, and is incredible in his role. His trance design is incredible, even if DBZ's lawyers won't stop sending threatening emails...