Chaos, Talk To Fenris Fenrir (Ragnarok Manhwa)

This post is also known as "Chaos, why won't you talk to Fenris Fenrir?" and "What's so wrong with talking and asking questions?".

What are some of the many instances in Ragnarok: Into The Abyss manhwa that can make you say these possible titles? What can be so frustrating and even annoying with the lack of conversation between Chaos and Fenris Fenrir?

From reading the graphic novel, we know that Chaos does not remember his past, that he's missing memories of his past life as the god Balder. We know that Fenris knows about Balder's past since she was also there with him 1000 years ago.

As such, the question now is why won't the resident main character of this comic talk to the woman who knows about his past? Why can't Chaos ask her to tell him about his past, to help him regain his memories, to explain exactly what happened a thousand years ago?

What's so wrong with having Chaos ask these perfectly valid questions? You'd think he would have been interested in knowing the answers to these questions because it's about his past, which he has forgotten.

Doesn't he want to remember any of this? And what about the readers? The readers also need to know about these things and yet the graphic novel doesn't seem to care about that at all because we still haven't gotten a clear explanation.

We don't even know what's wrong with Chaos and why he doesn't want to ask Fenrir questions about all of this. There were so many instances in the manhwa wherein we could have been shown a scene that had Chaos asking Fenris questions and having the latter answer everything in the form of a flashback.

For instance, when the two first met in Volume 2, all the explanations were glossed over instead of being stated clearly. All we got was an annoying summary that didn't even tell us much at all. Rather than demanding answers and asking all sorts of questions, Chaos does nothing of the sort and the scene soon ends in favor of focusing on Sara Irine trying to destroy the city of Fayon.

Another scene in Volume 3 is even more frustrating than the aforementioned one. In this particular scene, we have Chaos and Fenris Fenrir talking alone before Frigg soon shows up.

Why didn't the protagonist take advantage of this opportunity and start asking Fenris all sorts of questions about his past, especially focusing on things that we, the readers, don't know yet?

Instead of getting satisfactory answers, all we got was a mere rehash of things that we already knew such as how Freya was the current ruler of Asgard.

The 2 also talked about Frigg being Balder's mother, but, considering the goddess soon shows up and could have explained all that herself, was it even necessary to talk about her? They could have talked about the many other things that needed to be explained.

Speaking of wasted opportunities, there's another scene like that in Volume 4 of the comic. This scene shows us Chaos in Prontera, currently alone and lost in thought. He was busy thinking about what Frigg had told him when they met as well as wondering about his past as Balder and his destiny.

He was wondering about the gap in his memories, knowing there were still many things that he did not know and could not recall. Instead of showing us this pretty pointless scene, why didn't the main character just go see Fenrir and ask her what she knows about his past because she clearly knows something?

If he really wants to remember all his forgotten memories, then why is he just standing there doing nothing?

He keeps wracking his brains for his lost past, but if he really can't remember by himself, then why won't he ask the woman who knows? Why can't he ask her to tell him more about his past as a god and what really happened a thousand years ago?

If you thought that scene was frustrating and even annoying, then you might not have seen this other scene from Volume 4.

With this particular scene, it really seems as if nothing could compare to it in terms of sheer frustration and annoyance. This might really be where you can scream the post title and where you might want to shake the main character just to ask him and get him to talk to Fenris already.

This is the part of the manhwa where Loki confronts Chaos. This is where we find out that the symbol on the back of Chaos' shirt means rain and that it is also a sign of the ancient Dragon Knights.

As expected, the main character himself and even Iris Irine don't know anything about this, but the awesome and cool Fenris Fenrir appears to know a lot about these Dragon Knights.

We are told that Chaos apparently has a connection to these knights just because he's wearing a shirt with their symbol on it. I know this is probably the case, but don't you think that the characters jumped to conclusions about all this way too easily?

Was it logical and believable that they should think that the main character was raised and trained by a Dragon Knight just because he's wearing the shirt he's wearing? Seriously? How would they even know for sure? I mean, where did Chaos even get his clothes anyway? For all anyone knows, he could have just found the shirt or bought it somewhere.

While that's certainly upsetting, what's more aggravating is what happens next. Chaos soon speaks up and says that Loki knows more about his past than anyone else and he wants answers from the assassin. He then keeps asking the guy to tell him more about his past.

Hello, Chaos, what could possibly be wrong with you? Do you think he might be blind or deaf or something? Because, really, why couldn't he ask Fenris Fenrir? Why won't he talk to her and ask her about this?

She was the one who was with Balder 1000 years ago and she was the one who just explained all about the Dragon Knights and made all these speculations.

She clearly knows about these things, so why isn't Chaos asking her? Huge sigh. How aggravating and frustrating, no? Let's just move on to Volume 8 before that particular scene irritates us further.

In Volume 8, the protagonists get separated from each other and it just so happens that Chaos and Fenris end up together while Iris, Lidia and Loki are somewhere else. The 2 could have taken that opportunity to talk to each other. Chaos should have asked Fenrir about his past and maybe we could have even gotten a flashback or two.

Instead all we get is a disappointing and pointless scene between the 2 as all the focus is placed on Lidia, Iris and Loki. That wouldn't have been so bad if we got some more plot out of it, but, regrettably, all we get is yet another pointless scene.

Sure, it's pretty funny, but it would still have been so much better if we got all our questions answered instead. Do you think Chaos should have spoken to Fenris Fenrir and asked her to tell him about his past? Do you think we should have gotten a flashback about what happened a thousand years ago?

*Notes:
- Image with added text was modified by Freya Yuki (CC:BY-SA) based on the image by lilie-morhiril, CC:BY-SA from deviantArt
- The 2 figures in the image that look as if they're talking or are about to have a conversation are meant to represent Chaos and Fenris Fenrir
- The rest of the pics are enlarged product images from Amazon.com; links shown above via Amazon's Native Shopping Ads widget

What's To Dislike About The Nameless Characters Of Ragnarok Manhwa?

There are a number of nameless characters in Ragnarok: Into The Abyss. What's wrong and what is there to dislike about some of these characters that appear in the manhwa?

There is actually nothing wrong with having minor, nameless and extra characters. These people add to the plot of the story and help to enhance it. There are a lot of times when it's necessary to have these characters show up to do a number of things that are essential to the plot (for example, they can be the owners of the inn that our resident protagonists will be staying at for a short while).

However, there are times when the appearance of these extras can be said to be pointless and useless and where these minor characters end up being unlikable. But why is that? What are some of the instances in the Ragnarok manhwa wherein we can see minor characters that aren't exactly likable?

For starters, let's take a look at one of the times when the comic introduced some nameless characters to us, seemingly for the sole purpose of dumping information on its readers.

This incident happens in Volume 2 wherein we meet some nameless soldiers whose sole purpose appears to be to talk with each other just to be able to dump some information on us, the readers. We get this one soldier who apparently doesn't know anything (so he has an excuse to ask questions or so it seems) and one of his superior officers tells him about the story of Surt.

We even get a mini flashback of sorts. This flashback itself makes this particular scene even more annoying and frustrating. Why? Because it shows that the comic is quite capable of giving us a flashback to tell us about what happened in the past.

And yet, for some unknown reason, the graphic novel refuses to give us a flashback about what happened a thousand years ago regarding Fenris Fenrir and Chaos.

Information about those 2 would certainly have been more preferable than getting information about Tanat and Surt because, seriously, who cares about the latter two?

We've never met them and it's hard to see what's so important about them that they even get a flashback when this is the only time they're ever mentioned.

After this, we hear no more about these 2 and it's like they never even existed. The same can be said for the two soldiers that were talking about this as, pretty much right after they dump all this information on us, they die.

This really strengthens the suspicion that their sole purpose (the reason why they were even introduced to us) was to tell us stuff (that we don't know, but that they should know) while also questioning the point and validity of this scene. After all, what will we have missed if this scene didn't exist and we just got straight to Loki's group, so we could get the plot moving?

Another example of being introduced to yet another nameless character as well as a pointless scene in the graphic novel is in Chapter 42 of Volume 5.

This is where we see some guy we don't know as he goes looking for Prontera's general.

He's shown asking and running around for a few pages until he finally comes across the general so he can tell the latter about the strange thing he could see in the sky (Himmelmez's fortress).

But, seriously, exactly what is the point of that scene? Why did we have to see all that? Why couldn't we skip straight to the guy reporting to the general? In fact, why was the focus even on this extra character in the first place? We don't know anything about him and he's not even one of the protagonists.

These guys are just minor characters that aren't really relevant to the story. Instead of focusing on these extras, the graphic novel should have been focusing on the plot and the main characters.

Chaos and the others are the ones that readers would like to know more about since they're the story's heroes. So, what do you think about all this? Do you think that these scenes could have been omitted from the manhwa?

Do you think that information shouldn't have been dumped on the readers by using nameless characters? Do you think that the focus of the comic's scenes should have been on the main characters and to the advancement of the story's plot?

*Notes:
- Image with added text was modified by Freya Yuki (CC:BY-SA) based on the image by hayashinomura (CC:BY-SA) from deviantArt
- Image is meant to represent the many nameless characters in the graphic novel
- The rest of the pics are enlarged product images from Amazon.com; links shown above via Amazon's Native Shopping Ads widget

Instances Of Deus Ex Machina In Ragnarok Manhwa

This post is also known as 'does Ragnarok: Into The Abyss love deus ex machina?'. What are some of the instances in the manhwa where we can see examples of possible deus ex machina?

Chapter 2 of Volume 1 is where we can find the first instance of a deus ex machina in said comic. In this particular chapter, we have Chaos and Iris Irine searching for a face mask.

How convenient is it that the face mask they're looking for suddenly shows up right where they are? Is this contrived or a mere coincidence?

It seems like deus ex machina actually. After all, we don't even know exactly where those 2 are, so how believable is it that the very thing they're looking for suddenly shows up right where they are? It's like the face mask just showed up, so they wouldn't have to go through the trouble of locating it or it just showed up because they had no idea where to find one.

Chapter 13 of Volume 2 has an even worse example. In this chapter, the battle in Fayon is still taking place and our heroes are apparently no match for Sara Irine and even Skurai.

The Valkyrie and the swordsman are winning or would have won the fight when, all of a sudden and seemingly coming from out of nowhere, Chaos suddenly remembers that he's Balder and is thus able to summon Nidhogg.

Seriously, is that really supposed to be believable? How can he just suddenly remember that he's really a god when he didn't even believe Fenris Fenrir when the latter was telling him about all of this earlier?

In this instance, it appears that the resident main character is the deus ex machina. It's like he just had to remember his past identity and that he has all this power because if this didn't happen, then the heroes would have lost.

Another example can be found in Chapter 38 of Volume 5. This is the part where Chaos, Loki and Skurai were engaged in a very long battle, which lasted for several chapters.

The swordsman had just left and now the protagonist and the assassin are about to resume their fight.

However, before anything more can transpire between those 2, guards of Prontera suddenly and conveniently show up to attempt to arrest the fighting duo.

It's like the guards just had to show up now in order to prevent the men from fighting anew. After all, if they were going to show up anyway, why is it that they're only appearing now?

This fight between the 3 men has been going on for a long while already and so many people had already gotten injured because of this. Furthermore, the trio weren't exactly being quiet during the battle. It didn't even seem like they cared how much noise they made or how much damage and destruction they caused to Prontera.

As such, are we really supposed to believe that the guards only found out about this fight just now? Couldn't they hear it from where they were? Didn't they see the hurt and panicked people? Wasn't there a single guard near where this fight was taking place?

Why is it that these soldiers showed up only now when so much has happened already? Why didn't they show up before the fight could really start? More than that though, another question that warrants being asked is exactly what is the point of this little interlude?

Why did the guards have to act as the deus ex machina and show up to prevent our resident main characters from continuing their fight? Is it that this is necessary because, if the guards don't show up, then Chaos will end up losing to Loki and there is no other way to prevent this other than to introduce a deus ex machina?

If that's not the reason, then what is? Why couldn't the 2 of them finish their fight and maybe clear up the misunderstanding between them?

This could have been a good opportunity for Loki to tell Chaos exactly why he wants to kill the latter. The hero could then tell the assassin that he's not the one responsible for what had happened to the Assassins' Guild.

We could have seen how Chaos would try to prove his innocence and whether or not Loki would believe him.

Then, perhaps, we could have even seen the assassin explain to the main character what he knows about the Dragon Knights. After all, the protagonist wants to know more about this and it appears to be relevant to the plot. Unfortunately, none of that happens.

What do you think of these scenes in the manhwa wherein we got what appeared to be deus ex machina? Do you think that these scenes could have and should have been done differently?

*Notes:
- Image with added text was modified by Freya Yuki (CC:BY-SA) based on the image by CoDLia (CC:BY-SA) from deviantArt
- Image is meant to represent Chaos who has the same messy and spiky hair as the figure in said image
- The rest of the pics are enlarged product images from Amazon.com; links shown above via Amazon's Native Shopping Ads widget