Zamasu (Not Black) is very underrated...

[Master Xar]

From the perspective of him being a simple unsympathetic, petty, pure hate villain. Let me explain...

Plenty of people who criticize Zamasu and how he is as to being “unsympathetic” and that his motive is supposed to resonate with us without looking into how that actually works. That he you aren’t supposed to sympathize with him or like him or his goal.

From Zamasu’s entire motivation, I feel it had an appropriate amount nuance in the fact that his perspective is incredibly short-sighted and flawed. That his descent into killing mortals and doing all that there is a duality to him, his genuine hate for mortals and seeing them as a blight and the fact that he is a petty sociopath with clear mental health issues. He grows to hate Goku only because he bested him in a fight in front of barely an audience. He despises that a mortal even comes close to his power.

And while I feel they should have highlighted his mental issues more early on into his development as to not have people misinterpret that he is supposed to be a “Sympathetic Altruist” or “Sympathetic Extremist”

More the fact that he is a mentally unstable, twisted manchild with a petty excuse under “justice.” His psychotic facial expressions when he fights alone are great to show how batshit insane be actually is.

This contrasts in some cases with Goku Black, in the with his Saiyan body he has redeemable traits such as an honorable need to grow stronger, he doesn’t monologue and like to hear himself talk, his sense of “justice” excuse is far less so and he lets his true madness unfold in a face that’s not his and along with his saiyan instincts in his body go as well.

His charm from being that he doesn’t hold as many pretenses and just goes with it and just says “fuck it!” He is far more composed when beaten, competent and less petty. He has a charm to him and is far more likable.

Zamasu himself has been shown to have an incredibly high sense of self-entitlement and that it is his duty as a god despite being told by the far more experienced and the fact that he has this feeling of him in the likes to him “playing god” ironically even though he himself actually is a god in the “Zero Mortals Plan.” You feel he has no right to do this and that this is not the answer as to him only just deciding to kill plenty of mortals from judging only one race the babarians.

He is a complete hypocrite in the fact that he kills for a amusement as well under genuine sense of “Justice.” He blinds himself to his own hypocrisy with his sense of “justice.” He himself only admitting that he loves to hear himself talk, but feels it as his “godly right.”

Zamasu’s Fusion serves to show far more of how he is more zamasu than ever before. This is where both his arrogance and his mental issues come to a head, his pettiness as well. All that I found pretty well executed if it wasn’t rushed to hell I would have enjoyed it far more.

He is the edgey psychotic high-school shooter in the form of a god and I (personally, you can sympathize with his motive if you don’t view it as petty like I do) absolutely was rooting for Goku or someone else to wipe that smug grin off his damned face and shut up his monologues and I loved that feeling.

For me personally on that reason alone I give him just as many points as a villain

[dbgtFO]

Great post, well written.
I agree completely and tend to compare him to Frank Grimes from The Simpsons, who can have legitimate complaints about how shit his life has been growing up, but becomes unsympathetic, when he starts mocking Homer and the like after becoming increasingly annoyed at the absurdity of his existence.

[BrolyKale]

I couldn't agree more, he needs more love. I guess people love Black because he looks like Goku and acts pretty cool.

[Kokonoe]

So I actually don't like Goku Black at all and think he's a pretty lazily designed villain and uses deception to fool the audience when in other cases of body swaps, the character's kept their voice and would've been able to tell.

That said, Zamasu by his lonesome is much better written to me and I would've preferred if it was just him instead of edgelord Goku.

[Lord Beerus]

Awesome post. I've been longest proponent that Zamasu (on his own) is a wonderfully written character.

[SupremeKai25]

I don't see how Zamasu was petty. Zamasu is what you would call a "Morally Grey" character. He was neither good, nor completely evil. Zamasu wanted to bring about an era of everlasting peace and order throughout the cosmos, and at the same time he wanted to put an end to the petty violence of mortal kind. That, to me, is a most noble goal. In a multiverse ravaged by war and chaos, Zamasu wanted to restore the utopian world of Gods. A beautiful and peaceful world, unspoiled by the violence of mortal kind. That, to me, is a much more altruistic and compelling motivation than Goku's, who just wants to fight, and doesn't care about peace, nor order, nor justice. Zamasu himself clearly explains what drives him forward:

"You mortals are all alike, let astray by your ignorance. You think that's a revelation, that Goku's body will always be a part of me? Of course he will, such was my desire! You are mortals, Saiyans, yet you've gained divine power. You're stronger than most deities now. Thus those who created this cosmos have made something they could not control. And if one can't control a world, one can't be called a god of it, making Saiyans the ultimate symbol of the failure of the Kais. And so, by incorporating Goku's flesh into my being, I have assumed both the sins of mortal kind and the failure of divinity so they may never be repeated. That is the duty of a true god."

The senile Gods, satisfied with their secluded and higher existence, let mortal kind taint the original splendour of the cosmos and did NOTHING to stop them, even though they had the power to do so! That is a SIN. Imagine that you have the power to end evil, but do nothing at all, restrained by your laws. You are a criminal. How many billions of lives would have been saved had the Gods of Universe 7 done their job and controlled mortals? Many. The proud and arrogant Gods created Saiyans and gave them too much power, to the point that they could no longer control them. And if one cannot control the world, one cannot be called a God. Even Beerus is a criminal. Yes, He is a God of Destruction, officialy sworn to upholding the laws of the cosmos. And yet he does nothing, as Frieza is allowed to rebuild his empire of cruelty and murder, or as Bulma defied divine authority by insisting to keep working on her blasphemous Time Machine.

This is why Zamasu turned on his fellow Gods. Because they were incompetent and careless and let mortals grow beyond their reach. Because they were lazy fools who turned away from the many wars of mortal kind and ignored the laws of the Gods, thus following their whims and abusing their position of power for their own gains. In Zamasu's own words: "There is no longer a need for Supreme Kais or Gods of Destruction! I, Zamasu, will purify this world". A single God towering above the entire cosmos. A God who actually devotes himself to upholding order and peace. Thus, a world of everlasting peace and order. But Zamasu also hated how mortals had the arrogance to expand their power to the point that it defied their own creators. In Zamasu's mind, that was a sign of disrespect, as the creations were trying to rebel against their makers, and were thus abusing the gifts generously granted to them by the Gods for their own gains. Mortal kind was a flawed and malfunctioning creation. And the only way to fix it... Was by getting rid of it.

That is why Fused Zamasu came to be. Black and Zamasu always intented to fuse, but the circumstances had them fuse way earlier than planned. Zamasu always wanted to stain his flesh with mortality, so that he could forever imprint upon his being the flaws of mortal kind and the failures of Gods. This way, he would never forget the mistakes of the old world, in the new utopia that he was going to create after Project Zero Mortals had been completed. Needless to say, Fused Zamasu is my favourite incarnation of Zamasu.

[Vegeta_Sama]

I don't see how Zamasu was petty. Zamasu is what you would call a "Morally Grey" character. He was neither good, nor completely evil. Zamasu wanted to bring about an era of everlasting peace and order throughout the cosmos, and at the same time he wanted to put an end to the petty violence of mortal kind. That, to me, is a most noble goal. In a multiverse ravaged by war and chaos, Zamasu wanted to restore the utopian world of Gods. A beautiful and peaceful world, unspoiled by the violence of mortal kind. That, to me, is a much more altruistic and compelling motivation than Goku's, who just wants to fight, and doesn't care about peace, nor order, nor justice. Zamasu himself clearly explains what drives him forward:

"You mortals are all alike, let astray by your ignorance. You think that's a revelation, that Goku's body will always be a part of me? Of course he will, such was my desire! You are mortals, Saiyans, yet you've gained divine power. You're stronger than most deities now. Thus those who created this cosmos have made something they could not control. And if one can't control a world, one can't be called a god of it, making Saiyans the ultimate symbol of the failure of the Kais. And so, by incorporating Goku's flesh into my being, I have assumed both the sins of mortal kind and the failure of divinity so they may never be repeated. That is the duty of a true god."

The senile Gods, satisfied with their secluded and higher existence, let mortal kind taint the original splendour of the cosmos and did NOTHING to stop them, even though they had the power to do so! That is a SIN. Imagine that you have the power to end evil, but do nothing at all, restrained by your laws. You are a criminal. How many billions of lives would have been saved had the Gods of Universe 7 done their job and controlled mortals? Many. The proud and arrogant Gods created Saiyans and gave them too much power, to the point that they could no longer control them. And if one cannot control the world, one cannot be called a God. Even Beerus is a criminal. Yes, He is a God of Destruction, officialy sworn to upholding the laws of the cosmos. And yet he does nothing, as Frieza is allowed to rebuild his empire of cruelty and murder, or as Bulma defied divine authority by insisting to keep working on her blasphemous Time Machine.

This is why Zamasu turned on his fellow Gods. Because they were incompetent and careless and let mortals grow beyond their reach. Because they were lazy fools who turned away from the many wars of mortal kind and ignored the laws of the Gods, thus following their whims and abusing their position of power for their own gains. In Zamasu's own words: "There is no longer a need for Supreme Kais or Gods of Destruction! I, Zamasu, will purify this world". A single God towering above the entire cosmos. A God who actually devotes himself to upholding order and peace. Thus, a world of everlasting peace and order. But Zamasu also hated how mortals had the arrogance to expand their power to the point that it defied their own creators. In Zamasu's mind, that was a sign of disrespect, as the creations were trying to rebel against their makers, and were thus abusing the gifts generously granted to them by the Gods for their own gains. Mortal kind was a flawed and malfunctioning creation. And the only way to fix it... Was by getting rid of it.

That is why Fused Zamasu came to be. Black and Zamasu always intented to fuse, but the circumstances had them fuse way earlier than planned. Zamasu always wanted to stain his flesh with mortality, so that he could forever imprint upon his being the flaws of mortal kind and the failures of Gods. This way, he would never forget the mistakes of the old world, in the new utopia that he was going to create after Project Zero Mortals had been completed. Needless to say, Fused Zamasu is my favourite incarnation of Zamasu.

Jesus, you sound brainwashed. Do you actually believe this, or are you roleplaying? Because claiming that a murderous psychopath's goals are noble is really not something I see everyday

[SupremeKai25]

Jesus, you sound brainwashed. Do you actually believe this, or are you roleplaying? Because claiming that a murderous psychopath's goals are noble is really not something I see everyday

Do go on and tell me how Zeno and Beerus are actually better. Zeno erased 6 universes, TRILLIONS UPON TRILLIONS of innocent lives, because he was bored one day. Beerus destroyed half a planet, again many innocent people and cities, because he didn't like the food cooked on that planet. At least Zamasu had noble goals that drived him forward. Yes, because multiversal peace and everlasting order are noble intentions to which everyone should aspire. I love the hypcorisy of the writers. Zamasu is so evil and cruel, yet those aforementioned Gods are allied with the "good guys".

It looks as if your favourite character is Vegeta. What a fitting example of mortals using the gifts granted to them by the Gods -- reason, intellect, strength -- to ravage their own world, and cause countless acts of violence, murder and cruelty. You should know this very well. Behold why mortal kind, especially Saiyans, cannot be trusted, and why they are the epitome of violence and arrogance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n95Xxpb1oJE

Let's not even mention the scene in which Goku threatened to kill Shin, the Supreme Kai, his God. The one who gave him life, intellect, power in the first place. From a God's perspective, this should be unacceptable and unconceivable. The fact that only Zamasu was tired of the bullshit of mortal kind is the surprising thing.

[Vegeta_Sama]

Jesus, you sound brainwashed. Do you actually believe this, or are you roleplaying? Because claiming that a murderous psychopath's goals are noble is really not something I see everyday

Oh, And go on and tell me how Zeno and Beerus are actually better. Zeno erased 6 universes, TRILLIONS UPON TRILLIONS of innocent lives, because he was bored one day. Beerus destroyed half a planet, again many innocent people and cities, because he didn't like the food cooked on that planet. At least Zamasu had noble goals that drived him forward. Yes, because multiversal peace and everlasting order are noble intentions to which everyone should aspire. I love the hypcorisy of the writers. Zamasu is so evil and cruel, yet those aforementioned Gods are allied with the "good guys".

It looks as if your favourite character is Vegeta. What a fitting example of mortals using the gifts granted to them by the Gods -- reason, intellect, strength -- to ravage their own world, and cause countless acts of violence, murder and cruelty.

Well, I never said Beerus and Zeno were better, on this I agree, they are not the most morally correct people out there, they both have a fairly high victim count. But sorry, that second part of your post just sounds like fanatic bullshit, just because I like Vegeta, doesn't mean that I share his morality. Yeah, he murdered people back in the day, yeah that was pretty bad as well. What matters is that he's one of the few ones who realized what he was doing was shitty, and he turned a new leaf, unlike a certain Zamasu...

[SupremeKai25]

Jesus, you sound brainwashed. Do you actually believe this, or are you roleplaying? Because claiming that a murderous psychopath's goals are noble is really not something I see everyday

Oh, And go on and tell me how Zeno and Beerus are actually better. Zeno erased 6 universes, TRILLIONS UPON TRILLIONS of innocent lives, because he was bored one day. Beerus destroyed half a planet, again many innocent people and cities, because he didn't like the food cooked on that planet. At least Zamasu had noble goals that drived him forward. Yes, because multiversal peace and everlasting order are noble intentions to which everyone should aspire. I love the hypcorisy of the writers. Zamasu is so evil and cruel, yet those aforementioned Gods are allied with the "good guys".

It looks as if your favourite character is Vegeta. What a fitting example of mortals using the gifts granted to them by the Gods -- reason, intellect, strength -- to ravage their own world, and cause countless acts of violence, murder and cruelty.

Well, I never said Beerus and Zeno were better, on this I agree, they are not the most morally correct people out there, they both have a fairly high victim count. But sorry, that second part of your post just sounds like fanatic bullshit, just because I like Vegeta, doesn't mean that I share his morality. Yeah, he murdered people back in the day, yeah that was pretty bad as well. What matters is that he's one of the few ones who realized what he was doing was shitty, and he turned a new leaf, unlike a certain Zamasu...

Do note that I am not defending Zamasu's methods. If Zamasu hadn't been a sadistic and bloodthirsty murderer, he would have just used the Super Dragon Balls to wish for all mortals to cease to exist and spare them years of torment and suffering. What I am saying, Is that there is truth in Zamasu's beliefs. I mean, there are so many examples of mortals causing destruction and murder throughout the cosmos, and Gods simply overlooking them. Zamasu himself saw many examples of this scenario before going to Planet Babari.

Also, Zamasu indeed could have changed. But he didn't. And this can partly be blamed on his tragically useless master, Gowasu. Gowasu failed to convince Zamasu that mortal kind is not irredeemable. You have to admit that Gowasu was an awful teacher. Instead of showing Zamasu Universe 3, or New Namek. You know, places where mortals lived in peace and harmony with each other, and had used their God-given intellect to build splendid civilizations... He brought him to a planet inhabited by barbarians who barely advanced in a thousand years and kept repeating the same mistakes over, and over again, until they died. And thus, by killing each other, they threw away their lives, a sacred gift that had been given to them by the Gods. Gowasu failed to see that the doubt in Zamasu's heart had turned into hatred. And that his hatred had reached worrying levels. Perhaps, if Gowasu had not been such a naive and blind teacher, Zamasu could have changed his mindset. In the anime, at least (the manga of course took a different route), Zamasu was willing to change. To learn more about the nature of mortals, and the different roles of Supreme Kais and Gods of Destruction. This is also why Gowasu admitted that he, too, failed Zamasu. His role as a teacher was to change his opinion of mortals, and he failed.

The situation is not so black and white like in other arcs. There is no doubt that Frieza, Cell and Buu are pure evil who just want to cause pain and suffering for the rush it gives, or for fun. But Zamasu, as I said, is a morally grey character, and he had legit reasons for doing the things he did. Of course he wasn't a good guy, since he still murdered trillions, but that doesn't mean that he was pure evil. And, again, it is interesting how Goku is disgusted by Zamasu yet is all buddy and stuff with the guy who ended trillions of innocent lives from existence because he was bored one day.

[Vegeta_Sama]

Oh, And go on and tell me how Zeno and Beerus are actually better. Zeno erased 6 universes, TRILLIONS UPON TRILLIONS of innocent lives, because he was bored one day. Beerus destroyed half a planet, again many innocent people and cities, because he didn't like the food cooked on that planet. At least Zamasu had noble goals that drived him forward. Yes, because multiversal peace and everlasting order are noble intentions to which everyone should aspire. I love the hypcorisy of the writers. Zamasu is so evil and cruel, yet those aforementioned Gods are allied with the "good guys".

It looks as if your favourite character is Vegeta. What a fitting example of mortals using the gifts granted to them by the Gods -- reason, intellect, strength -- to ravage their own world, and cause countless acts of violence, murder and cruelty.

Well, I never said Beerus and Zeno were better, on this I agree, they are not the most morally correct people out there, they both have a fairly high victim count. But sorry, that second part of your post just sounds like fanatic bullshit, just because I like Vegeta, doesn't mean that I share his morality. Yeah, he murdered people back in the day, yeah that was pretty bad as well. What matters is that he's one of the few ones who realized what he was doing was shitty, and he turned a new leaf, unlike a certain Zamasu...

Do note that I am not defending Zamasu's methods. If Zamasu hadn't been a sadistic and bloodthirsty murderer, he would have just used the Super Dragon Balls to wish for all mortals to cease to exist. What I am saying, Is that there is truth in Zamasu's beliefs.

Also, Zamasu could have changed. But he didn't. And this can partly be blamed on his tragically useless master, Gowasu. Gowasu failed to convince Zamasu that mortal kind is not irredeemable. You have to admit that Gowasu was an awful teacher. Instead of showing Zamasu Universe 3, or New Namek. You know, places where mortals lived in peace and harmony with each other, and had used their God-given intellect to build splendid civilizations... He brought him to a planet inhabited by barbarians who barely advanced in a thousand years and kept repeating the same mistakes over, and over again, until they died. And thus, by killing each other, they threw away their lives, a gift that had been given to them by the Gods. Gowasu failed to see that the doubt in Zamasu's heart had turned into hatred. And that his hatred had reached worrying levels. Perhaps, if Gowasu had not been such a naive and blind teacher, Zamasu could have changed his mindset. In the anime, at least (the manga of course took a different route), Zamasu was willing to change. To learn more about the nature of mortals, and the different roles of Supreme Kais and Gods of Destruction.

This is also why Gowasu admitted that he, too, failed Zamasu. His role was to change his opinion of mortals, and he failed.

I agree on that, Gowasu showing him the Babari planet was a huge mistake, one he shouldn't have made, considering he knew about his disciple's feelings about mortals. He really pushed him over the edge into his path of darkness.

[Master Xar]

Great post, well written.
I agree completely and tend to compare him to Frank Grimes from The Simpsons, who can have legitimate complaints about how shit his life has been growing up, but becomes unsympathetic, when he starts mocking Homer and the like after becoming increasingly annoyed at the absurdity of his existence.

Agreed. I also feel (and yes while this show and manga has many problems...)


Seryu Ubiquitous from Akame Ga Kill... both have a lot in common with the fact that they have both been clearly broken and insane long into their legitimate complaints and reason to go for their vengeance, but are clearly too petty and mentally broken. Their justification being their blind sense of “justice” and killing evildoers/scum when they clearly get off on it and are hypocrites. I equally rooted for both to finally get killed.


Though Zamasu is in a slightly more sympathetic light since we see his descent more and that he is less unlikeable than her.

The more you show and nuance a villains reasons and charms, both in their developments, personality, and backstory the more they become sympathetic and likeable. And while that is a good villain in and of itself I loved this route too.

[Nia]

Part of the fun of Zamasu is that there's simply no other Dragon Ball villain like him. A villain who's actually partially right in his assessment (mortals are kinda stupid, violent nincompoops)? One who straight up monologues and admits he just likes the sound of his own voice? And one who doesn't break down and throw a temper tantrum when he's losing and instead simply redoubles his efforts with his partner? He was a breath of fresh air over the "MUWAHAHAHA" and "IT'S NOT FAIR! I'M THE STRONGEST!" type villains in the franchise.

And while I do agree he's great on his own, part of what really made him shine was him working together with Black. Both are pretty appealing villains on their own, but as a team, they have a dynamic we don't really see otherwise. Having villains who could be losing only to talk in such a way as to actually make the good guys believe they're losing is entertaining beyond all belief. I also like how the two of them were always going to fuse eventually to become 'one absolute god.' It comes across as Zamasu as having absolute faith in himself.
Makes you wonder if a "redeemed" Zamasu could have potentially prevented Future Zamasu from teaming with Black.

When he eventually becomes Merged Zamasu and becomes obsessed with just trying to kill Goku and the others, after dropping his ideals of justice, he still never fully loses that composure; he's so twisted by that point, he still believes he's right. And after his body is destroyed, he tries merging his will with the universe. That's dedication!

Slightly off-topic, but I love the way he's depicted in Xenoverse 2; when partnered with him during a certain mission (one of the Infinite Story DLC missions I believe?) he mentions that he doesn't trust any mortals, not even you, and that you're just a tool for him to use for his ambitions. Yet, he'll also say that he thinks you should become the new Kaioshin of Time simply because you're competent and that it's a one-time offer.

I think he might be the Dragon Ball equivelant of a Bond villain.

[Master Xar]

I don't see how Zamasu was petty. Zamasu is what you would call a "Morally Grey" character. He was neither good, nor completely evil. Zamasu wanted to bring about an era of everlasting peace and order throughout the cosmos, and at the same time he wanted to put an end to the petty violence of mortal kind. That, to me, is a most noble goal. In a multiverse ravaged by war and chaos, Zamasu wanted to restore the utopian world of Gods. A beautiful and peaceful world, unspoiled by the violence of mortal kind. That, to me, is a much more altruistic and compelling motivation than Goku's, who just wants to fight, and doesn't care about peace, nor order, nor justice. Zamasu himself clearly explains what drives him forward:

"You mortals are all alike, let astray by your ignorance. You think that's a revelation, that Goku's body will always be a part of me? Of course he will, such was my desire! You are mortals, Saiyans, yet you've gained divine power. You're stronger than most deities now. Thus those who created this cosmos have made something they could not control. And if one can't control a world, one can't be called a god of it, making Saiyans the ultimate symbol of the failure of the Kais. And so, by incorporating Goku's flesh into my being, I have assumed both the sins of mortal kind and the failure of divinity so they may never be repeated. That is the duty of a true god."

The senile Gods, satisfied with their secluded and higher existence, let mortal kind taint the original splendour of the cosmos and did NOTHING to stop them, even though they had the power to do so! That is a SIN. Imagine that you have the power to end evil, but do nothing at all, restrained by your laws. You are a criminal. How many billions of lives would have been saved had the Gods of Universe 7 done their job and controlled mortals? Many. The proud and arrogant Gods created Saiyans and gave them too much power, to the point that they could no longer control them. And if one cannot control the world, one cannot be called a God. Even Beerus is a criminal. Yes, He is a God of Destruction, officialy sworn to upholding the laws of the cosmos. And yet he does nothing, as Frieza is allowed to rebuild his empire of cruelty and murder, or as Bulma defied divine authority by insisting to keep working on her blasphemous Time Machine.

This is why Zamasu turned on his fellow Gods. Because they were incompetent and careless and let mortals grow beyond their reach. Because they were lazy fools who turned away from the many wars of mortal kind and ignored the laws of the Gods, thus following their whims and abusing their position of power for their own gains. In Zamasu's own words: "There is no longer a need for Supreme Kais or Gods of Destruction! I, Zamasu, will purify this world". A single God towering above the entire cosmos. A God who actually devotes himself to upholding order and peace. Thus, a world of everlasting peace and order. But Zamasu also hated how mortals had the arrogance to expand their power to the point that it defied their own creators. In Zamasu's mind, that was a sign of disrespect, as the creations were trying to rebel against their makers, and were thus abusing the gifts generously granted to them by the Gods for their own gains. Mortal kind was a flawed and malfunctioning creation. And the only way to fix it... Was by getting rid of it.

That is why Fused Zamasu came to be. Black and Zamasu always intented to fuse, but the circumstances had them fuse way earlier than planned. Zamasu always wanted to stain his flesh with mortality, so that he could forever imprint upon his being the flaws of mortal kind and the failures of Gods. This way, he would never forget the mistakes of the old world, in the new utopia that he was going to create after Project Zero Mortals had been completed. Needless to say, Fused Zamasu is my favourite incarnation of Zamasu.

Ah this is some good text.

While underneath all that hatred and insanity rested a Kai with logic. Supreme Kai and Old Kai are a shining example of idiot gods, they have and had no control over several situations like with a Buu and Beerus. Buu they lacked competent strength and let things get too out of hand. With Beerus and Goku they were knowledgeable enough to know that Beerus and Goku were about to destroy the entire universe and did nothing about it.

Then comes your text. With while he has great reasoning and logic, I will disagree a bit and say there is a side of him that is petty due to his entitlement and overt sense of retribution.
His methods and execution to correct them were wrong and his insanity blinded him to being reasonable, THAT is where his pettiness lies, his insanity and more twisted logic in the form of his bloodthirsty, murderous side that has little in the form of retribution.


It’s a shame really. He noticed the flaws in the Kai-GoD-Angel methods and could of have done it if he backed up a bit. He has massive potential both as a god and as power as Goku says it, but he completely sours it.

His body after getting blasted highlights this well, on one side a truly well designed god, but his monstrous nature, hypocrisy and pettiness holds him back and makes him little different outside of his knowledge. His ugliness and all his flaws in his form as savagery. In Goku Black, that ultimately impedes him from true ascension as a god.

[WittyUsername]

The big thing that holds Zamasu back in my eyes is that he’s a bit too similar to other Dragon Ball villains, in a sense. I’m fine with the idea of a villain who’s a psychotic and petty man child who loves to hear himself speak, but that’s kind of what Freeza, Cell and Super Buu (by that I mean the Buu who fought Vegetto, not Buu as he appears in Super) already were. It’s not really treading any new territory for the franchise, in my opinion.

I get the idea behind Zamasu, and I’m not saying he’s a bad villain, but I think he would’ve been more interesting if he was depicted as a more conflicted individual who’s often unsure as to whether or not what he’s doing is truly justice. As it stands, the only thing that really sets him apart from other Dragon Ball villains is the fact that he operates under the delusion that he’s the good guy.

[Bergamo]

The big thing that holds Zamasu back in my eyes is that he’s a bit too similar to other Dragon Ball villains, in a sense. I’m fine with the idea of a villain who’s a psychotic and petty man child who loves to hear himself speak, but that’s kind of what Freeza, Cell and Super Buu (by that I mean the Buu who fought Vegetto, not Buu as he appears in Super) already were. It’s not really treading any new territory for the franchise, in my opinion.

I get the idea behind Zamasu, and I’m not saying he’s a bad villain, but I think he would’ve been more interesting if he was depicted as a more conflicted individual who’s often unsure as to whether or not what he’s doing is truly justice. As it stands, the only thing that really sets him apart from other Dragon Ball villains is the fact that he operates under the delusion that he’s the good guy.

It's hard to be conflicted and murder billions of people. Besides, Black literally had a fake-out where they tried to make you believe he's feeling regretful for his actions. Saying that his delusion is the, "only thing that really sets him apart from other Dragon Ball villains," is like saying that Vegeta and Frieza are the same character because they both wanted to wish for eternal life. Villains have to be evil. It would be ridiculous to have a good-hearted villain for the sake of being different.

[WittyUsername]

The big thing that holds Zamasu back in my eyes is that he’s a bit too similar to other Dragon Ball villains, in a sense. I’m fine with the idea of a villain who’s a psychotic and petty man child who loves to hear himself speak, but that’s kind of what Freeza, Cell and Super Buu (by that I mean the Buu who fought Vegetto, not Buu as he appears in Super) already were. It’s not really treading any new territory for the franchise, in my opinion.

I get the idea behind Zamasu, and I’m not saying he’s a bad villain, but I think he would’ve been more interesting if he was depicted as a more conflicted individual who’s often unsure as to whether or not what he’s doing is truly justice. As it stands, the only thing that really sets him apart from other Dragon Ball villains is the fact that he operates under the delusion that he’s the good guy.

It's hard to be conflicted and murder billions of people. Besides, Black literally had a fake-out where they tried to make you believe he's feeling regretful for his actions. Saying that his delusion is the, "only thing that really sets him apart from other Dragon Ball villains," is like saying that Vegeta and Frieza are the same character because they both wanted to wish for eternal life. Villains have to be evil. It would be ridiculous to have a good-hearted villain for the sake of being different.

It is possible to have a fictional villain be an omnicidal maniac, while also giving him some vaguely humanizing qualities. A good example of this would be Thanos in the MCU.

[Bergamo]

The big thing that holds Zamasu back in my eyes is that he’s a bit too similar to other Dragon Ball villains, in a sense. I’m fine with the idea of a villain who’s a psychotic and petty man child who loves to hear himself speak, but that’s kind of what Freeza, Cell and Super Buu (by that I mean the Buu who fought Vegetto, not Buu as he appears in Super) already were. It’s not really treading any new territory for the franchise, in my opinion.

I get the idea behind Zamasu, and I’m not saying he’s a bad villain, but I think he would’ve been more interesting if he was depicted as a more conflicted individual who’s often unsure as to whether or not what he’s doing is truly justice. As it stands, the only thing that really sets him apart from other Dragon Ball villains is the fact that he operates under the delusion that he’s the good guy.

It's hard to be conflicted and murder billions of people. Besides, Black literally had a fake-out where they tried to make you believe he's feeling regretful for his actions. Saying that his delusion is the, "only thing that really sets him apart from other Dragon Ball villains," is like saying that Vegeta and Frieza are the same character because they both wanted to wish for eternal life. Villains have to be evil. It would be ridiculous to have a good-hearted villain for the sake of being different.

It is possible to have a fictional villain be an omnicidal maniac, while also giving him some vaguely humanizing qualities. A good example of this would be Thanos in the MCU.

Thanos plays a much different narrative role than Zamas. He is debatably the protagonist of Infinity War, as the movie showcases him on his "hero's" journey. At the end of the arc, it's still going to end with Goku punching Zamas in the face, and it's best if the show doesn't try to make us feel bad while it's happening.

[Master Xar]

The big thing that holds Zamasu back in my eyes is that he’s a bit too similar to other Dragon Ball villains, in a sense. I’m fine with the idea of a villain who’s a psychotic and petty man child who loves to hear himself speak, but that’s kind of what Freeza, Cell and Super Buu (by that I mean the Buu who fought Vegetto, not Buu as he appears in Super) already were. It’s not really treading any new territory for the franchise, in my opinion.

I get the idea behind Zamasu, and I’m not saying he’s a bad villain, but I think he would’ve been more interesting if he was depicted as a more conflicted individual who’s often unsure as to whether or not what he’s doing is truly justice. As it stands, the only thing that really sets him apart from other Dragon Ball villains is the fact that he operates under the delusion that he’s the good guy.

Eh... then it just kind of loses the fun and charm. Dragonball’s villains don’t need backstory or sympathetic motives that lead them to be who they are like most villains nowadays. It’s a problem I had with Hunter X Hunter and other franchises of the like. They make their villains too likable and sympathetic, I don’t much like to root for the main protagonists as much if at all when everyone is too relatable.

Dragonball’s villains... Zamasu was a breath of fresh air from all the mostly unfun, oversympathetic, freudian excuse villains of today that are just overabundant in Shonen. It’s good sometimes to have an simple, unsympathetic villain you just want to see get shit upon by the heroes.

And I don’t see it very fair to throw all the villains under one category of them being the same like that. They all have their differences and charms. I think you are a bit over-influenced that the villains need to regretful and sympathetic as to say they are a good villain and I feel it just isn’t Dragonball’s style. Zamasu is a fairly decent simple/complex villain in his unsympathetic duality and horrid actions.

[Miracles]

Uh Oh, somebody didn't like the truth of the theme of Zamasu. How humans are a problem of the world and need to be eradicated.
Zamasu was right, how humans corrupt and pervert what the gods has given them. He just went about it the wrong way.