Character Analysis- Snowe Vingerhut from Suikoden IV

There are plenty of characters in the Suikoden series that players simply adore, like the subject of my previous character analysis, Odessa Silverberg. But, there are also plenty of characters that are just plain hated, for a variety of reasons. Some of them are hated because it takes too much work to recruit them, only for the character him/herself to be mediocre at best. Others are hated because their voice acting is horrid, or their design is uninteresting, or they have zero personality. But today's character is not like that. He's hated for a different reason: his personality. This character is called Snowe Vingerhut.

Look at him. That's some sweet armor he's got there, isn't it? The fact that it didn't come with a helmet is beside the point, as none of the other main characters wear one either. That's plain stupid, but whatever. Acceptable breaks from reality. 

We shall begin with a brief description of why Snowe is so hated. He's a rich daddy's boy who has never put in an ounce of work into his life, betrayed his best friend, sold out his country, and worked for the enemy as a pirate hunter while his people suffered. I know what you're thinking, "what an ass". It is little wonder why he's so hated. But, a question: does he deserve the hate? Who is Snowe, really? What makes him tick? That's what we're going to look into today.

Snowe is the first character in the game to have any spoken lines. When we first meet him, he's clearly someone in command. His armor is of superior quality to the rest of his crew, so he must be in charge, right?

This is Snowe's introduction. A little context: Snowe is in charge of the ship, and they are under attack by an enemy ship. More context: This is a mock battle. There will be no casualties, and Snowe's allowed to take command specifically because it's a mock battle. Still, he looks cool enough.

Ah, that's the thing. See, Snowe, as well as the main character of Suikoden IV, Lazlo, are actually students of the Gaien Maritime Academy. This maritime battle? It's not real. Still, Snowe does take command well enough...at first. Although Snowe is clearly confident, perhaps too much, his ship is easily boarded by their teacher, Glen Cott. Glen scolds Snowe, saying that a captain should always be prepared, always alert. This is the game pretty much telling us that Snowe is someone who is, at this moment in his life, unfit for the responsibilities that come with authority. And that is where the main tragedy of Snowe's character comes into play...

The night of their graduation, Snowe is chosen to be the torchbearer for the Kindling Ceremony, a special ceremony where one representative of the graduating class goes up the street of Razril, the main city, and lights up the torches of the people that eagerly await their new protectors. I'm going to have to include a little head canon here (personal canon, or rather, something I consider to be canon) and say that the torchbearer is also (usually) the valedictorian for the graduate class. Snowe must have had impressive grades to be given this responsibility...or so it would seem. In fact, we later learn that Snowe's father practically owns the Razril chapter of the Gaien Knights, and no doubt used his influence to not only get Snowe to graduate (when Glen Cott, the guy actually in charge of the knights, knew he wasn't ready yet) but also to give him the highest grades (It is highly suggested that Snowe's capacity as a knight was inferior to his classmates). What we have here is someone who's been given an easy ride all his life...

...and he probably knows it, and knows it's not OK. On the Kindling Ceremony, Snowe allows his friend, Lazlo, to be the torchbearer. Snowe's justification is that he feels 'silly' being the center of attention. This is another hint from the game, stating that Snowe's very personality is one that's unfit for leadership. But I'm going to throw in another head canon here, and say that Snowe, at least subconsciously, knew that Lazlo, who has been praised repeatedly for his own hard work, deserved the honor more. More on this later.

The next day, Snowe and Lazlo are given their first official task: go check around the sea for pirates. After that little errand, they are given a second, more serious task: escort a trading ship from the island of Razril to the island of Iluya, located at the other side of the archipelago that Razril is geographically a part of. And here is where everything falls apart: Vince Vingerhut, the ruler of Razril, makes Snowe the captain of the ship. Surprise surprise, everything goes wrong. The ship is attacked by the notorious pirate Brandeau. Snowe panics, gets hit by a magical canon blast, and loses all feeling in his arm. It is up to Lazlo to take command, and boy does he ever. Lazlo fights off Brandeau, while Snowe flees, abandoning his crew and his friend.

When the man can't produce results, the boy produces excuses.

On that moment, the player's opinion of Snowe takes a giant dip, and with good reason. We see that Snowe is truly a coward and a charlatan, one unfit for the battlefield. We are also not inclined to excuse the boy because his pal, Lazlo, who is the same age, took control of the entire situation and actually managed to take control long enough for reinforcements to arrive. When the time came for Snowe to step up, he backed down and cried like a baby. When the time came for Lazlo to step up, he showed the world what he was made of. Lazlo was born to lead, Snowe was only bred for it.

When Glen Cott finds Snowe, he punches the boy so hard, he hits the floor. With all his excuses, all he does is anger the commander more and more. What little respect Snowe may have had from the commander had died that day. And also, from that day onward Snowe was seen by the rest of the Knights of Gaien as a wimpy kid who had no business wearing the armor. 

And in all honesty, they are right. Snowe was only a knight because his father forced him into their ranks. He wasn't ready, but he was still made a knight. But is it his fault? Not entirely. Snowe was given an easy ride through school, he was given accommodations. The school, and his father, are the ones at fault here for producing a cadet unfit for combat. This unfit cadet was then allowed to graduate alongside several other, more worthy cadets. Here, the school as well as the guy in charge of the Knights, Glen Cott, are the ones at fault for giving a diploma to someone who never earned it. None of this would be that bad if Snowe were allowed to get hands on, on the job experience before his capacity for leadership were tested, but his father put him in charge of a dangerous mission. A fresh graduate with zero combat experience, and whose only experience was one (seen) mock battle in school that he still showed he needed some work before he could be trusted with captaincy, was declared captain of a potentially dangerous mission into international waters. The commander and the governor here are all at fault, more than Snowe himself.

The next day, Razril is attacked by pirates. Again, Snowe is allowed to be in charge of a ship, though this time he's not alone. Several other ships are helping to defend the port city. However, Snowe gets a bit cocky, and after the enemy is driven off, he gives chase, putting his crew in danger. After he is pulled out, once more he gets punched out by Glen Cott.

Alright, I want to say something here. Snowe's a screw up, there's no doubt. But dude, as someone who has been trained in the science of teaching, I can tell you right now, Glen Cott sucks at the job. You do not hit your students to prove your point. You do not punch them when they screw up. And you do not give them a diploma when they are not ready to graduate.

After certain events, Glen Cott dies, consumed by the power of the Rune of Punishment. Alright, let me explain. The Rune of Punishment is a special rune that attaches itself to people. It is a powerful tool that allows the wielder to have powerful magics, but it also eats away your life force, eventually killing you. When it does, your entire body turns to ashes, and then the Rune just goes to someone else. Snowe and Lazlo both witness the event, but because Snowe did not know about the Rune, he does not understand what is happening. The only thing he sees is his friend wielding a new Rune, and his mentor turned to ashes.

"Ah-ah. I just died in your arms tonight! It must have been something you said. I shoulda walked away, I shoulda walked away!"

Long story short, Snowe blamed Lazlo for it, and everyone decided that being a moron was 'in' that season and believed him. Let's add some context here. Lazlo was a hard working cadet, honest, whom everyone knew and liked. Everyone knew he would never kill anyone, everyone knew he was a rising star. Snowe was a wimpy daddy's boy who ran away from trouble, was unfit to be a knight, and would have been kicked out of the Knights long ago if not for daddy. Also, the evidence was flimsy at best, with only Lazlo possessing the Rune of Punishment being the best evidence to link him with Glen's death. But the people in charge blamed Lazlo anyway. Why? Because the second in command happened to be Glen Cott's daughter, and she wanted to see someone, ANYONE, punished for her father's death.

Bitch, the only thing that is 'misplaced' is your judgement! You are in a position of power, and instead of being impartial and responsible, you have allowed your emotions and personal interests to cloud your judgement!

A little while later, Snowe is put in charge of the Razril chapter of the Knights of Gaien. And then the enemy nation of Kooluk attacks. What does Snowe do? He surrenders, duh. The thing is, Kooluk was not just expanding across the sea, but had already previously destroyed the city of Iluya, conquered the Kingdom of Obel, and was setting their sights on Nay and Na-Nal. Meanwhile, the reason Vince Vingerhut even owned the Razril Knights of Gaien was because Gaien itself cut Razril's defense budget. That's right, the Knights were privatized because the country that owned Razril no longer cared enough for the island to invest in its defense. Also Vince himself turned tail and fled, leaving Snowe in charge. Snowe was against a behemoth, armed with a rusty knife. It makes perfect sense for him to surrender. In return, Kooluk puts Snowe in charge of their Anti Piracy brigade. From Snowe's point of view, he is taking the best option available for his people, while receiving a new perky position that will allow him to make the seas safer for travel. But the reality is that Kooluk is setting him up as a scapegoat. If the people of Razril get angry at their treatment by Kooluk, they will see Snowe as the guy responsible for pretty much surrendering to these guys while he gets to cruise around in a swanky new job. In the point of view of the people, Snowe sold everyone out in favor of a new position that takes him far away from the island he betrayed.

After a skirmish with some pirates, including Lazlo who at that time was seeking allies to drive the Kooluk away from the Island Nations, Snowe is driven out of Razril by an angry mob. Snowe is hurt and angry. He did not intend for this to happen. But now daddy isn't around anymore. Daddy isn't there to put the mistakes under the rug. Snowe has to face the consequences of his actions by himself. And that's the keyword right there: by himself. Snowe has no one anymore. Everyone has abandoned Snowe. Well, only one person still believes in him: the friend he betrayed. But Snowe's pride will not let him accept this. In his mind, he is the wronged party, and he will get justice.

Snowe eventually turns to piracy. After some time he buys himself a ship and a crew with the money he has left, and attacks Razril. Unfortunately, Razril was at that time under Lazlo's protection, who had liberated the island the day before (literally) from the Kooluk. (He also ran the coward Vince from the island, with a lot of help from the angry islanders). After a sound defeat, once more Lazlo offers Snowe a spot in his new Island Liberation Navy. Once more, Snowe refuses. It is here that Snowe lets out his true feelings: Everyone loves Lazlo, but no one truly loves him.

Eventually, Snowe is thrown out of his own ship, and left adrift at sea. Slowly dying, he is luckily spotted by his friend, Lazlo.

Snowe has nothing. He is no one. He could be left to die at sea and no one would care. If he died that day, nothing would change. Lazlo could kill him at that moment. Snowe sold out Razril, betrayed his friend, and lost everything. Lazlo deserves to kill this smug asshole...

...and doesn't. He offers Snowe a chance to join his army. Snowe is in tears. He betrayed his best friend, the one person that cared for him the most, and for what? For what? In an astounding display of humility, Snowe accepts his powerlessness, his weakness, and his loyalty to Lazlo.

Who is Snowe? He was some rich daddy's boy who got an easy ride through life, but when daddy wouldn't help him anymore he had to come face to face with a painful truth. He's no one special, no one worth knowing. When he clung onto the idea that he was born to lead, an idea fed to him by the father that would abandon him the moment things got rough, life spiraled out of his control. He made mistakes, costly mistakes. He lacked vision, he lacked common sense. He was powerless, but believed himself to have power, because that's what everyone let him believe. When life gave him a reality check, he found himself unable to handle it.

When Snowe cast aside this facade, when he finally accepted his mistakes, life threw him a bone. His best friend, the one person to truly care for him, still accepted him. Snowe accepted his lot in life and dedicated himself to serving instead of leading. When Lazlo forgave Snowe, his Rune of Punishment entered the Forgiveness stage, allowing him to use the Rune without it taking away his lifeforce. Snowe, at that moment, helped fulfill his purpose in life, and helped Lazlo in his fight against the Kooluk. He never lead again, instead following the people who were fit to lead.

Snowe's story is a classic riches to rags tale. His shortcomings as a person are underscored, while his virtues are made more subtle until his moment of clarity. He was more than just a rich daddy's boy, he was a boy whose true potential was ignored in order to make him something he was not. Snowe was trained to be a leader, but that wasn't what he was born to do. Actually no. Snowe was trained to be a boss. Someone who is above people giving orders, not with them pointing at the right direction. Lazlo was a leader because that's what he did. Lazlo was the one in the front lines, always. Vince was sitting in his office, comfortably, while his underlings did all the work, and that is what he was grooming Snowe for. You can make the claim that Suikoden 4 is a story that studies what it means to be a leader, but I'll save that for another blog.

Snowe wasn't a bad guy, he was a guy who made bad decisions. He was immature, but his story is one of his immaturity being beaten out of him. Perhaps people hate him because, unlike Lazlo, they can't see past his mistakes.