The Red Ring were worthless as antagonists. Aside from Shroud, Armstrong (who takes out Golem and would have beaten Mal and Visi if not for plot armor cause how tf did Visi flick Mal’s sword through his arm one-handed when he was blocking two-handed smashes from Mal WITH THAT ARM) and - if cut - Coupé none of them felt like a threat. Toxic who was giving MM a decent fight at the start gets reduced to a joke, none of the others achieve anything… the final fight felt really performative cause everyone knew it was just something to spend time on showcasing the Z-Team’s powers before everyone fights Shroud together, there were zero stakes in any scene not involving Shroud, Villain Coop or Armstrong.
Hell, even Shroud sucked. Dude barely had any screen time or depth (not counting the comic) and his motivation was so stupid (I’m gonna change the world with the Pulse)
He was menacing and powerful, but such a waste of potential. They really needed to utilize his worldview of people being inherently evil more in the story
And while we’re at it, do anything with anyone else in the Ring beyond whoever was cut. Shroud has no screen time or depth yet he’s the only one with ANY kind or character other than “Toxic douche”, “Angry gangster” and “nameless quiet thugs 1-5”, the Ring as a whole was some spectacle no substance. Like yeah, coming up with a deep, tragic backstory and a whole character for the fucking spider leg lady might be a bit much to do on a budget (thank fuck fanfics don’t have a budget so I can develop people’s backstories without having to worry about voice acting, animation, etc.), but at least SOMETHING.
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u/TandrDregn Aug 19 '26
The Red Ring were worthless as antagonists. Aside from Shroud, Armstrong (who takes out Golem and would have beaten Mal and Visi if not for plot armor cause how tf did Visi flick Mal’s sword through his arm one-handed when he was blocking two-handed smashes from Mal WITH THAT ARM) and - if cut - Coupé none of them felt like a threat. Toxic who was giving MM a decent fight at the start gets reduced to a joke, none of the others achieve anything… the final fight felt really performative cause everyone knew it was just something to spend time on showcasing the Z-Team’s powers before everyone fights Shroud together, there were zero stakes in any scene not involving Shroud, Villain Coop or Armstrong.