[Schneizel]

o be a proper character foil, a character has to have traits in direct contrast to a principal character. I'm not sure I follow your reasoning - when did Lacus demonstrate trait in "direct contrast" to Fllay's?

... Like the entire series...?

I know you hate my one line replies like that, but seriously... off the top of my head, the entire series is the best short answer I can give you.

It starts off as very blatant: Lacus, the accepter of all, and Fllay, a tool of discrimination reflecting her fathers bias with the Earth Alliance. That scene contrasts them VERY well AND makes Lacus look like the "Good guy" because she isbeing so PEACEFUL AND HAPPY AND CUTE and Fllay is being SO MEAN AND CRUEL AND HISSY about her being a Coordinator. Then, the contrast gradually grows with a few peaks in the middle, until the very last episode when Fllay dies and only Kira notices and Lacus lives with her faction on top with a lot of people noticing her and her words. In a way, Fllay is this kind of forgotten person. This is characterized by her fathers death - people who say, "You were George Allster's daughter?" labeling her as that, and her mental deterioration from the manipulation of Kira to Klueze turning the manipulation and convinced her everyone thought she was dead (she thought she was forgotten to the people who she cared about thinking she was alive) as well as Kira only remembering her when he sees her lipstick on the floor (her existance is summarized by a thing of lipstick and not her herself). While Lacus remains the ever loud (loud as in... you know she's there...) evidence of power and strength, who has her control much firmer than Fllay. A big part where they are foils, and where you see them contrast, is how Lacus is able to control so much more fluidly than Fllay. Or more specifically, their manipulation of Kira. Kira makes them the same promise - I will carry your thoughts onto the battle field. And he does, and Lacus ultimately wins there. Lacus's victory of the manipulation of Kira contrasts Fllay's not-victory of the manipulation of Kira. Fllay might've "won" for a while, but Fllay lost her grip when she thought Kira was pitying her in the episode where he was trying to avoid asking his parents in ORB why they made him a Coordinator. He saw through her at that moment, got a little freaked out, and they parted ways. You could argue that Lacus was not manipulating Kira, but when you consider she also handed him a Gundam, I'd say you have a weak argument against the thought of her trying to manipulate something. It's like it's your birthday and you say, "Well, I MIGHT want this or that, but you know..." I mean, come on, how more obvious and not-vague can you be? She was ultimately manipulating Kira back into kind of a fighting spirit, to go rescue his friends, but at teh same time, she was instigating something. By giving Kira Freedom, she kind of instigated the end of the war. Fllay does too contribute to the instigation of the end of the war when she very willingly (and also very naive...) accepts the disk from Klueze and goes to deliver it to Azrael, thinking it would end the war. Obviously it doesn't: It just incites more flames and the firing of GENESIS, and that is another excellent point where they contrast. Fllay's attempt/effort to the end of the war lead to more destruction, while Lacus's attempt/effort to end it lead to the actual end. I find Fllay is a very realistic character, in her attributes of will to manipulate for somekind of "wrong" purpose, as well as her use of her body, and her kind of attention-y thing (ie: when she yelled out, "I'm here come get me, i have the key to end the war" etc etc), as well as her more crazed and desparate and demanding self when she threatens to kill Lacus and her ability to place guilt when she says it's all Kira's fault her father died. Her traits can be likened to things that real people do. Maybe not in the same way or teh same reason (... obviously), but those are things people do. And I find Meer to be the same kind of realism, same with Shinn. Notably, people who don't like Fllay, Meer, and Shinn, often name things things that make them realistic as things they dislike about those characters. Meer being "annoying" or "being a Lacus imposter" (refering to people criticizing her for being pathetic for doing it - she is displaying this fake fulfillment by doing it, and that is very, very real among a lot of people) seem to be big ones, and for Shinn, his bias and arrogance and kind of conformity as well as disregard for rules. I find those all to be... very normal. And... if Fllay is a realistic character, and her realism contrasts Lacus... then... well... that makes Lacus... rather unrealistic.