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Tower of God is categorized as a ‘chosen one’ story. A chosen one story has a potentially fatal flaw regarding the roles of characters. That is to say, the central tension of the story revolves around the main character. He is the one who is going to overcome the final challenge against the Dark One. This kind of plot has a great potential to make the roles of other characters uncertain in the climax and during other parts of the story. Side characters tend to be the main character’s backup dancers. From a reader’s point of view, their favorite characters might be isolated and narratively, they might lose their agenda and importance in a meta-sense. What consequential roles can they play? The storyline revolves around the destiny of the main character, the chosen one.
Many good stories are handled very well in this plot, but many are also ruined. I feel SIU is walking on edge on this matter. He has gone extreme in creating power levels and the power system in his story. The problem goes beyond the roles of Bam's friends- regulars. Bam will probably become equal to family heads before reaching the 134th floor. What will be the roles of other characters at the time? How can the likes of Yuri and Jinsung help him fight family heads? Nothing may stop Bam from annihilating an entire family. If two family heads decide to take him down together, who can help him except for another irregular?
One solution is to create other storylines that readers care about and build tension around them. Supporting characters might have their own dramatic thread alongside the main character’s. By creating and developing conflicts for them throughout the entire story, SIU might give them roles to play for the climax. In this scenario, they will have some agency.
One of the themes of the Tower of God is equality. How people born in the tower are seen by some mini-gods. The conflict comes from the protagonist's point of view, Bam, and his main opponents, Zahard, and family leaders. Bam doesn’t see his life as more important than other people's. Rey sees others as subjects of sacrifice for him and his goals. The final battle is not only about winning the physical conflict but also the spiritual one. Surely, it is quite possible that some of the irregulars will die and not change. It is also quite possible that some of them will change in the end.
In order for this change not to be seen as cheap and considered believable, tower-borns’ roles are essential. They need to show that they are not creatures, trifles, or worms. They should have integral roles in defeating the opposite side. This brings us to the second solution to the problem: many chosen ones.
I am not convinced that tower-borns can defeat irregulars, and I also believe the evidence is not conclusive. Narratively speaking, it would be a good idea if SIU could convincingly build a few other chosen ones for the final conflicts. However, this solution only justifies the roles of these few characters and excludes many other supporting characters. The roles of other characters might be similar and limited to what Lobadon is going to do: attacking the weakness of Gustang indirectly.
To sum up, regulars such as Khun and Rak are just the tip of the iceberg. It will be in the not-too-distant future that the roles of high rankers also need to be justified.
Many good stories are handled very well in this plot, but many are also ruined. I feel SIU is walking on edge on this matter. He has gone extreme in creating power levels and the power system in his story. The problem goes beyond the roles of Bam's friends- regulars. Bam will probably become equal to family heads before reaching the 134th floor. What will be the roles of other characters at the time? How can the likes of Yuri and Jinsung help him fight family heads? Nothing may stop Bam from annihilating an entire family. If two family heads decide to take him down together, who can help him except for another irregular?
One solution is to create other storylines that readers care about and build tension around them. Supporting characters might have their own dramatic thread alongside the main character’s. By creating and developing conflicts for them throughout the entire story, SIU might give them roles to play for the climax. In this scenario, they will have some agency.
One of the themes of the Tower of God is equality. How people born in the tower are seen by some mini-gods. The conflict comes from the protagonist's point of view, Bam, and his main opponents, Zahard, and family leaders. Bam doesn’t see his life as more important than other people's. Rey sees others as subjects of sacrifice for him and his goals. The final battle is not only about winning the physical conflict but also the spiritual one. Surely, it is quite possible that some of the irregulars will die and not change. It is also quite possible that some of them will change in the end.
In order for this change not to be seen as cheap and considered believable, tower-borns’ roles are essential. They need to show that they are not creatures, trifles, or worms. They should have integral roles in defeating the opposite side. This brings us to the second solution to the problem: many chosen ones.
I am not convinced that tower-borns can defeat irregulars, and I also believe the evidence is not conclusive. Narratively speaking, it would be a good idea if SIU could convincingly build a few other chosen ones for the final conflicts. However, this solution only justifies the roles of these few characters and excludes many other supporting characters. The roles of other characters might be similar and limited to what Lobadon is going to do: attacking the weakness of Gustang indirectly.
To sum up, regulars such as Khun and Rak are just the tip of the iceberg. It will be in the not-too-distant future that the roles of high rankers also need to be justified.
