The next Big Bad?
- Thread starter F. King Daniel
- Start date
Besides, Nero publicly reputed such a claim himself. "I do not speak for Romulus."
No thanks. With the way the books are coming out now we'd only get between 3-5 books in each series before they reset themselves again. I think the only reason they do that with the comics is because they have a ton different series all coming out once a month, so things become very complex very quickly. I just don't think Trek Lit is complex enough that something like that would really be viable.
Why? So that we can breathlessly await the new Star Trek crossover Countdown to Infinite Final Zero Hour Identity Crisis on 52 Infinite Earths?
Speaking for myself, I would find this mind-numbingly boring.
He refuted that with respect to the 23rd-century Romulus of his current timeframe. I don't see that as being incompatible with his speaking for Romulus of the ex-future.
Here's what the film establishes about Nero:
His title is Captain, though he is referred to as "prod" in one scene. His ship is "a simple mining vessel." According to Nero, "I chose a life of honest labor, to provide for myself and the wife who was expecting my child. I was off-planet, doing my job, while your Federation did nothing and allowed my people to burn while my planet broke in half."
It's true that prod was originally intended to mean "praetor," but if it isn't in the final version of the film, it doesn't count. There's no canonical evidence that prod is anything but the Romulan word for "captain" or "commander." Everything about the character onscreen tells a consistent story that he's just a working-class guy who saw his home and family get wiped out, blamed Spock and the Federation for it, and went on a vengeance spree over it.
His title is Captain, though he is referred to as "prod" in one scene. His ship is "a simple mining vessel." According to Nero, "I chose a life of honest labor, to provide for myself and the wife who was expecting my child. I was off-planet, doing my job, while your Federation did nothing and allowed my people to burn while my planet broke in half."
It's true that prod was originally intended to mean "praetor," but if it isn't in the final version of the film, it doesn't count. There's no canonical evidence that prod is anything but the Romulan word for "captain" or "commander." Everything about the character onscreen tells a consistent story that he's just a working-class guy who saw his home and family get wiped out, blamed Spock and the Federation for it, and went on a vengeance spree over it.
Honestly, it's a case of "too much." I don't think anything is added by making Nero the Head of the Mining Guild (which is the MOST sensible addition and it's not that sensible), the Praetor (wha?), or his ship powered up with Borg technology. The later actually makes the movie less cool because it's just FUNNER that Nero is wiping out the Federation with what amounts to the Exxon Valdez.
Yeah, and what's cool about Nero is his working-class personality. "Hi, Christopher, I'm Nero." That's just such an awesome departure from the pretentiousness and bombast of so many SF villains. It makes him more relatable. He's not a prince or a monarch, he's just a working guy who lost everything he loved.
I actually took Nero's greeting of Pike to be pretentious and mocking. "Hi Christopher, I'm Nero." That line is my favourite line in the entire film and I love the way Bana delivers it.
Seriously? That pretty much goes against one of biggest elements of long term stories. Part of the whole reason we follow characters for long periods of time is to witness their growth.
i always thought Nero's greeting was laughable. in fact, i think a lot of people when i saw it did laugh...
Killing the rightful Praetor and taking his stick in the aftermath of the supernova (as seen in Countdown), and thus being referred to as "Praetor" by a few members of his crew, takes absolutely nothing away from that.
I think characterization moving forward is something that is actually more or a double-edged sword than people think. Yes, it's great to see characters grow and change as well as their journeys. However, it is VERY easy to ruin characters and take away what was good about them.
I'll use one from a recent book. Ironically, of course, by his creator (who has the right to do this)
People become very emotionally invested in characters and hate when they are changed in a way they feel isn't organic or in a way that seriously hurts their investment. It's why shipping wars exists in other media. If you were really invested in Worf/Deanna Troi for some reason, Riker and Troi might bother the hell out of you.
It's human nature to want to have characters remain consistently the people you believe them to be.
I'll use one from a recent book. Ironically, of course, by his creator (who has the right to do this)
To quote a Vulcan proverb, "I ****ing *HATE* what they did with Xyon of Calhoun." I was really invested in the Kalinda/Xyon relationship and felt what they did to him was just plain vile. It left me feeling more than a little unhappy about the direction of the book series as a whole.
People become very emotionally invested in characters and hate when they are changed in a way they feel isn't organic or in a way that seriously hurts their investment. It's why shipping wars exists in other media. If you were really invested in Worf/Deanna Troi for some reason, Riker and Troi might bother the hell out of you.
It's human nature to want to have characters remain consistently the people you believe them to be.
And it's human nature for most people to become bored of them when they do stop changing.
