Is Zamasu Dragon Ball's first "tragic villain"?

[DBZAOTA482]

A tragic villain is well... a villain with a traumatic bakstory that's the driving force beyond their motives and ultimately leads to their downfall. Dragon Ball has had morally-gray villains before but all the anti-villains (Piccolo, the androids, Fat Boo) have reformed while all the outright villains (with the exception of Vegeta) with sympathetic backstories have commit actions and been killed off regardless of their backstory.

Zamasu is a hard case to figure out because he's doesn't exactly have a traumatic backstory. He doesn't even have no personal history with mortals... in fact, he pretty much just comes off as a pissed-off pretentious dickhead. The heroes don't really sympathize with him at all nor do they feel bad for killing him.

What do you guys think?

[Cipher]

What's Zamasu's tragedy? That he's a racist megalomaniac?

Fuck Zamasu.

[LightBing]

He's not a tragic villain, he's an asshole. What are his traumas? Did a human take away his candy when he was a baby Kaio? I don't think so...
Anyway, Commander is the first tragic villain of Dragon Ball. Actually, more of a parody of a tragic villain due to the silliness of it all.

[DragonBallFoodie]

I think that honor would go to Vegeta with his tragic past.

[Animelover5487]

Gowasu seems to pity him. He mourned for Present Zamasu when Beerus killed him, and called Merged Zamasu's monstrous form a reflection of his conflicting feelings toward mortals and inability to understand them. You could argue Zamasu was presented sympathetic during his first few episodes before we knew for sure he was Goku Black. Such as him falling down in despair in the opening, having a legitmate reason for questioning whether mortals should be protected due to there repeated cycle of fighting wars, etc. Even after he killed the Babarian he looked regretful and couldn't even look Gowasu in the eye when he gave him the Potara back. When it comes down to it though Zamasu's own sense of justice and purity override any potential sympathy he may have had. He can get behind mortals being foolish and barbaric but when these lower beings start having power that exceeds the gods and even have access to that same godly ki that's where he draws the line. He feels mortals should have never gotten to that point and desperately need to be cleansed to fix this mistake. He is incredibly selfish viewing his own justice above everything else which is why he kills all the gods since there "no inconvience" policy is a sin. Everything should bend towards him as his own ideals are the law and anyone who opposes them is executed. Ultimately, Zamasu is pretty much a subversion of a Tragic Villain.

[Cetra]

They are all tragic and to pity because they all suffer from a lot of psychological disorders.

[Zephyr]

I mean, it's tragic that he fell victim to black and white moral thinking, blind to the grey reality of it all. Wanting so bad to do what was right, but lacking in wisdom resulted in him rigidly refusing to modify what he thought that was. Had he taken the time to critically evaluate his own views and apply his ethical principles to himself, he likely would condemn what he actually ended up doing.

I think Freeza's more tragic, though. He gets bested, and is given the chance to improve; but through his own hubris he botches that chance, ultimately meeting his demise. Later, he comes back to life, and actually takes advantage of that chance; but it's far too late. He is no longer in favor with the gods.

[Baggie_Saiyan]

I liked how you summed it up. Zamasu AKA the pretentious dickhead! Loved how no one in the cast sympathised with him not even Goku I know some folks were worried about that but after #61 there was no chance in hell.

[Boo Machine]

I think he had the potential to be a tragic villain. But the way it played out, he was far from it.

If they cut down on the "I am a god" lines and gave him more "This is for the good of the universe and it's future" then I might believe it.

[ChronoTwigger]

In old D&D terms, Zamasu is the perfect Lawful Evil. Doing things for a greater idea, where his role is prominent and deleting everything standing against that new order. With no care for other needs, life or ideas. Uberfascist.

So, indeed, it's not tragic. It's tragic when he go totally insane after killing Gowasu and begin that bloodshed. Maybe you'll meant to spell "TRAGIC" in shakespearian sense: part of a tragedy.
In that given case, it's a perfect definition.

(CELL: neutral evil BUU: chaotic neutral Freeza: Chaotic evil).

[Lord Beerus]

He's far from tragic. Yeah, he had a pretty Black and Grey outlook of the world and had somewhat good intention and brought up valid points, but once he went off the deep end, boy howdy, did the very worst of him present itself very quickly. And he only got worse the longer the arc existed.

[HeroR]

I liked how you summed it up. Zamasu AKA the pretentious dickhead! Loved how no one in the cast sympathised with him not even Goku I know some folks were worried about that but after #61 there was no chance in hell.

Gowasu felt sympathy for him. As in, 'he's gone completely insane', kind of way.

[Yomi]

I did kinda feel sorry for him, but he was so far gone, by the time the arc ended.

Black, and Future Zamasu are just such callous, arrogant, narcissist, pieces of shit.
Any sadness or anger they feel is in response to their own incompetence, or weakness.

All the talk of the "absent, malevolent god" conundrum, was thrown out of the window. That's what I kind of liked about
the start of the arc, black was foreboding, quiet, and cloaked in justice, a dash of insane. Zamasu was angry, unsatisfied, and inquisitive.

When episode 56 roles around. They're just arrogant, spouting off about sins and how great their vision is.
Black was corrupted by his thirst for violence in a Saiyan body, and future Zamasu was corrupted by Black; and they never show that
interesting transition. They did show his inner turmoil, at the end vs Vegito/Trunks, but there just wasn't... enough depth there.

Then again, it's just dragon ball.

[Akyon]

I'm going to say Yes.
(Unless we count 18 and 17 who were kidnapped and turned into androids. They're technically the first)

Maybe it's weird to say but I totally understand Zamasu.
He's been alive for long enough to see countless mortal species do nothing but pointlessly start wars. He has doubts about mortals being able to ever change as a result.

He then meets Son Goku, who...well challenges him to a fight. Literally his first ever experience he has with a mortal is of Goku essentially acting violently towards him wanting to punch him. He discovers that Goku is strong enough to take down Gods. Now mortals are obtaining power that rival the only ones who can keep them in check and stop them from destroying the universe. NOT GOOD. If they were to turn on the Gods, who could stop them?

Gowasu attempts to curb this behaviour by showing Zamasu the Barbari. Zamasu, despite his doubts, still trusts there must be some truth to Gowasu's words...and then promptly realises they're savages. BUT NO MATTER! Gowasu is going to take him 1000 years into the future to prove mortals can change! But wait, no. They're still savages with slightly more advanced housing. When one of the Barbari attempt to attack him and Gowasu he snaps and takes a stand. He takes his first life, and seems shocked at having done so, before reassuring himself it was probably the best thing he could have done.

Zamasu becomes frustrated that the gods, who let's be real here, have the power to stop people who commit genocide(aka Frieza) but sit on their laurels. Whenever he suggests someone should stop these violent mortals he is berated because he is a god of creation, not destruction. Clearly Universe 10's God of Destruction isn't doing diddly squat either.

He realises that Gowasu, a man he previously respected, isn't going to do anything constructive to try and guide mortals and prevent them from being violent, and realises to do so he must become Kaioshin...which means he must kill Gowasu in order to achieve the goal of clearing up what he considers destructive towards the Gods creations.

Unfortunately in doing so he also waltzes right over the moral line, and becomes so unhinged. He becomes a true god, and his immortal body corrupts him. Now no one can stop him as he kills anyone who could be a threat.

He has become the thing he hated in the beginning; a war mongering savage. Unfortunately he is so out of his mind he cannot reflect on his hypocrisy and becomes further and further mentally unhinged.

I'd say he's pretty tragic, but I can't say I feel bad for him after he attacks the Gods as well; the very beings he wishes the mortals would be more like.

Really all of this could have been avoided had Gowasu had him meet some less violent races like the Namekians or the Yaradarats first. Instead Zamasu meets a battle hungry warrior race survivor in Goku, and a brutish dinosaur race cementing what he had always expected.

[Lionel]

Completely agree with Animelover and Akyon. You are what you hate. Adding on to the already detailed explanations, the flaws of ningen are deeply entrenched in their system of governance. The greatest martial power for the longest time was the Planet Trade Organisation, an illegitimate colonisation real estate enterprise who massacred whole villages for profit. Freeza was at the helm of this organisation. Jaco and the official sovereignty of the universe both knew of the PTO. Did they bother to make any attempt at curtailing their activities? Weakness in power doesn't equate to powerlessness -- tariffs, sanctions, mercenary incentivisation for those willing to change sides, weapons research (if Gero can create cyborgs who are stronger than the tyrant then surely the Galactic King can follow suit with all the resources at his disposal), ect. Isolate and starve Freeza out, if need be. Do they bother with trying to muster up a resistance? No. Their willingness to turn a blind eye to such blatant offences makes them just as corrupt as any individual species. What is it about the Galactic King and his posse that makes them worthy of being salvaged by the gods? At best, they're a tenuous figurehead used to maintain the illusion of order. Zamasu is right to distrust them and most of the species in the mortal universe. It's no justification for killing everyone who ever lived, though.

[Cipher]

*snip*

All of that would be somewhat understandable as a starting point for his extremism -- mortals really are violent, and Son Goku and others obtaining power that far surpasses most gods may have concerning implications on top of that -- but it's moot when you realize that gods and mortals are exactly the same as sapient beings, aware of and ruled by subjective experiences. So mortals with extreme power may pose a threat to gods; so what? There's nothing that makes one superior over the other except for ideas of inherent supremacy. The gods are simply tasked with jobs of creating and maintaining relative stability. Gowasu (badly) tries to impress this on him, but you have to be pretty morally compromised and narcissistic not to view that as self-evident truth.

There is, I suppose, the idea a mortal could become so powerful and ignorant/morally compromised that they ultimately threaten the existence and stability of the universe, which might be the most important thing for the Kaioshin to safeguard as creator/protector gods. So that's something, perhaps. Ultimately, though, it just serves to make Zamasu's demise more deliciously ironic, as he becomes one with the universe and ruins it to the extent it must be destroyed by a higher god. Gods basically destroy the universe twice over.

[Freeza9000]

I'd say he's tragic in a sense where Zamasu had all this potential to be an overseer that watches over life and potentially be a hero, but all that potential squandered in the end when he decides to kill everyone that he considers "evil" or "sinners". Not to mention, what he became at the last 2 episodes of this arc (Merged Zamasu's deformed look and non-physical form which is nothing but evil laughter). Especially when Gowasu remarked about Zamasu's deformed appearance being a representation of his emotions, it really proved how truly incorrigible Zamasu is as there's no turning back for him.