Thread: Riful of the West, Evil? or just Misunderstood?

Very briefly speaking (since I have limited time before my bus gets here) does anyone think Riful isn't really all that evil at all? The way I see her, she's more like just there trying to survive than to go about destroying other creatures for the sheer fun of it. She doesn't even seem all that interested in world domination. All the action Riful took I think it was all towards her own survival instincts kicking in when people around her are being inconsiderate and rude to go poke their sticks in her domain/house/cave.

Riful is also not too unreasonable (to a degree) and she was patient enough to keep her promise to Clare by telling her about the current times, whats happened and some classified info she collected on her way. She also didn't kill Clare/Jean/Galatea on the spot when she could have just tortured all of them until they awakened to join her ranks. I think Riful just wants to live a quiet life holed up in her cave than to actively seek fights unless theres one right under her nose, begging her to go crush it.

Well, it seems to me than the 3 antediluvians (don't remember the good Claymore name ATM ) and the strong/ancient awakened beings in general are not really beast/yoma like, and their minds are way more humans than what the organisation likes to say.
So she is not really evil, but the same can be said with a handful of other strong awakened beings too

It's really hard to say what's "evil" in Claymore. I wouldn't go so far as to say Riful is a nice, innocent person, though, or anything along those lines. She may have a human sense of survival, but all that really means is she's smart enough to know that living is good, and if you want to keep living, it's good to be quiet. Still, she's said and done questionable things - the fact that she'd consider overthrowing another Abyssal One (even with the help of another) means that she certainly isn't content to just spend the rest of her life in her cave. Also, she tends to play with her prey, the weaker Claymore (making the new ones... damn, I can never remember their names... think they've won, and then attack them). Most of what she's said and done have been to her advantage. Additionally, she HAS tortured Claymore until they've awakened. It would also be to her advantage to treat the other Claymore (Clare and friends) fairly and with respect so that in the future, they're more likely to trust her over, say, Isley.

The way I see it is that. Since their awakening, their way of life has changed. They no longer live and die for the Organisation killing Yoma. They have a new life with new purposes and goals. It was said that the 3 powers were relatively dormant, only eating and sleeping (in Luciela's case, eating, eating and sleeping).

It was Isley and Priscilla that made everyone active, who knows for what purpose though. Riful's goal now is to beat Isley and claim more land (if you look at the way people act even in the real world, this isn't a foreign concept). Doing so she gathers allies of Awakened Beings, from her perspective (or a non-claymore/human one) this isn't an evil thing, it's cruel perhaps since her methods are questionable (but again, humans in todays society have done similar things) but it's just a means to an end.

From a Claymore perspective though, it's probably the complete opposite, and might be seen as an evil, coldhearted thing to do.

If you look at it long enough, I would go as far as to say nothing much has changed in Riful's personality, just that since her goals and life has changed so have her actions. I would say that all Awakened Beings are like this, at the very least the Abyssal Ones are.

I agree with the others that its hard to define "evil" in the Claymore world as it depends on whose perspectives we're taking a look from. If I'm to view it from Riful's point of view, she's definitely a misunderstood character more than evil.

Why is that so?
Like what Phantom Miria mentioned, she did keep her promises and did seem to be a negotiable character. She's willing to provide information to Clare provided Clare is willing to be her ally. She's even trying to make the other Claymores understand her intentions by explaining and conversing with them. To recruit more awakened beings can be seen as her determination to survive in the Claymore world as she has clear knowledge that Priscilla+Isley is able to run her down anytime. It's natural to want to stay alive.

However, her means may seem to be brutal from the Claymores or humans perspectives. Tortue is definitely a big no no regardless of which time zone one is living in. But to Riful, it can be seen as a way to gain more allies to aid or increase her chances of survivor (its not easy to walk around the claymore world and to look for more awakend friends you know). Specifically, she gets to choose who she wants to befriend if she chooses the tortue method. Hence, my opinion is that she's a misunderstood character more than an evil being.


PS: Do you guys want to copy some of the pictures from the old thread and to paste it into the images thread of this new section? I find the images posted by Phantom Miria in the old thread worthwhile to enter the gallery of this section.

I don't think Riful is misunderstood at all. Yes, by our standards, she's pretty bad; however, that doesn't mean that her methods are necessary for survival or that her honesty is a sign of a good person. Riful is one of three powerful beings that can use insane power, yet are involved in conflicts with each other. For her to survive this long means that she's probably quite devious and ruthless when she needs to be. She may be honest, but that hardly means that she's a good person at all. The way I see it, Riful is far more complex than we've been led to believe, and I doubt that anyone really knows the full extent of her hidden agenda. Something just isn't right about her.

Just want to add that Riful in comparison to the organization--we know more about what Riful's up to than what motives drive those 'good' guys. Since yoma existed in ancient times up to now, its probably true they want to protect humans from the yoma--but why they're ultimately doing it by using half-breeds, we just don't know. The greed thing just doesn't cut it. Is there a god/goddess structure we don't know about yet? (The twin goddess thing sounds pretty suspicious to me.)

I like it. Better than the usual black and white perspectives. How Riful is shown, she's got some 'good' in her. She cares for Duff her man in her weird way--Duff? Is name that right?--she's got manners (of a snake, brrr) is honest, and keeps her word. IMO right now she's not evil or misunderstood. She's just Riful, her own side.

well its hard to define evil. there are many gray areas in claymore.

i think Riful is at least not as evil as the man in black from the organisation (even though i understand their reasons to be strict, they've overdone it a little lately. They alwys tell that the only purpose is to protect humankind but they are the reason for the creation of an abysadyl one and they didnt learn from that mistake. they've done it again and if beth dies the next one is created. Although i believe that they captured raki so clare would join the north team and dies there)

In the end Riful kept her promises twice. first when Clare wanted to know about isely and she let Clare and the other 2 leave after they slayed Duff.
The second time was after ther 7 years even through she knew that Clare wouldnt become her ally.

Riful is very calm (she alyways stays cool in every situation), but i guess maybe she keeps a wicked plan in mind. I dont know if she would be satisfied with only Isley, Princella and Alice dead. Maybe she wants to make sure that she wont have any strong opponents in the future.
who knows. anyways shes misunderstood. for the time beeing i think she's desperate cuz Princilla could kill her anytime, so she tries to make allys.
I thinks that her only reason for now. (and i would like to see clare and riful fight side by side against isley and alice. they could build an great alliance if alliance wouldnt mean awakening to riful)