[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by DezoPenguin

I'd say that Nanoha, as a teacher, believes in the "do as I say, not as I do" principle. On some level, she probably even realizes that she's psychologically incapable of doing less than her utmost.

That's not quite it. I think that Nanoha is willing to make personal sacrifices that she's not prepared to expect others to make. It's not a case of hypocrisy - it's more a matter of how Nanoha is willing to go all out and put her life on the line to a great degree, but she's not willing to expect Subaru or Teana (or any of her subordinates) to do the same to quite the same degree.

Well, she's never even once shown hesitation to blast the hell out of the enemy when talking didn't work. She'd just rather talk things out. And to be fair, she really does show fairly good judgment in deciding whom to talk to: Fate, Arf, Vita, and Reinforce (You don't see her, for example, asking Quattro to surrender nicely and hand Vivio back.). Given the ridiculous number of villains who reform in MGLN, getting to understand the enemy's motivations and convincing them that there would be a better way to mutually accomplish their goals isn't necessarily a bad plan.

Good point. Again, I'd actually go a bit farther.

Nanoha likes to feel out, so to speak, her enemies before taking decisive action against them. This is a bit risky, but she has enough faith in her Raising Heart weapon, in her automatic flash-steps, and in her friends and allies, to think that she can survive the risk.

Nanoha is a major risk-taker - she'll risk her life and villains getting away for the sake of her ideals. This is another way in which she is like Superman.

Nanoha sizes up her enemies - looks them in the eyes, reads their body language, evaluates their words, etc... and pretty reasonably judges from there how likely her enemies are at being reformed.

Fate's "sad eyes" and largely straightforward and non-taunting/non-abusive words gave Nanoha the correct impression of a young girl in a very painful situation who is being driven by that situation (and not by any inherent immoral nature within her) to engage in questionable acts. Nanoha could correctly tell that Fate really, really didn't want to have to go so far as to kill or severely maim Nanoha. She could also tell that Fate had a distinct good side to her.

It's not so much childishness as it is idealism. Nanoha never claims that force isn't necessary to defend innocents against those who refuse to listen to reason, but she's not going to be the one to fire the first shot.

Precisely. In my view, it's a prudent course for somebody with Nanoha's level of power to take - feel people out, and see if they can be talked down.

It's not so much about skill level--it's about her willingness, indeed eagerness, to accept the responsibility of what she was doing. Unlike other magical girl heroines, Nanoha never complains about having the way the job basically fell into her normal life, never "just wants to be normal," or any of it. She basically sees that now that she has power, she can do good things with it, and decides that she needs to do so rather than abrogate responsibility, even when she might be scared, confused, or just inexperienced.

Come to think of it, you never see any Nanoha protagonist whine about their fates. There is just no wangst in this series.

And this is where a great deal of the beauty and greatness of this anime comes from. In an era (since Shinji Ikari in NGE) of typically angst-filled anime main protagonists, Nanoha is, once again, a breath of fresh air. The very fact that Teana's rather mild emo moments gained such notoriety for awhile is testament to the fact that this anime franchise does not rely on angsting to provide good drama. That's great to see.

See previous comment. Quattro, followed by Jail, followed by Precia (because Precia is completely insane and insanity definitely affects the kind of moral function required for insanity). I think that the examples given (Gaiz = LE, Jail = NE, Quattro/Precia = CE) are well-chosen. Though I'd say Uno should be LE instead of NE, since she never shows any sign of backstabbing Jail or having any contradictory agenda. Not sure about Due; we don't get to see enough of her.

Good points. I had forgotten about Quattro when I suggested that Jail and Precia were the most evil of all the Nanoha characters. Quattro is indeed more evil than even them. However, Jail and Precia are more prominent, so... like yourself, I think that the evil slots were well-chosen.

Anyway, your lengthy multi-reply post was simply awesome.

An awful lot of great points, with maybe only one or two things that I might be somewhat in disagreement over. Your approach to Nanoha is very close to my own.

Nice talking to you.