Level Grinderby ~XXVIIthAscension

Fan Art / Digital Art / Drawings / Other

Looking at Vriska's character from a glance, she seems to be a shallow bitch with no likability. However, if you have the patience to look, she's actually a very deeply written character.

The world that Homestuck exists in seems overtly RPG-ish. Even before entering Sburb, each of the characters' lives seem to be played out like an RPG. They receive their name upon introduction, their belongings are collected in an arbitrary inventory system, etc. And, of course, in an RPG world, Vriska is clearly a deconstruction of a hardcore RPG player. Let's look at various tropes she embodies:

She is very particular about level grinding.
_{When she is introduced, the narrator mentions that she has already reached her level cap. Not only is she the first character to be revealed to have accomplish this, but no one else accomplishes this until John Egbert does (and, of course, this is while he is under her instruction). As well, as soon as she is partnered with Tavros Nitram while playing Sgrub, she instantly pits Tavros into unreasonably challenging situations (making him walk up a flight of stairs while being paralyzed, fighting monumentally large amounts of monsters, etc.), paralleling the act in an RPG of pitting a weak character against very strong enemies to gain quick Experience Points. Imagine Tavros as a Level 6 Clefairy, and Vriska has sent him out against two Level 74 Tyrannitars. Doing things right, she would net him a gigantic EXP gain, thus making him less "useless" to her.}

She's obsessed with side-quests.
_{While partnered with Tavros, Vriska completely ignores any plot progress through Sgrub's main plot as long as there are side-quests and random treasure chests to open, which also explains her moderate association with piracy. This, of course, mirrors the RPG player who similarly ignores plot advancement for the sake of side-quest completion.}

She's savvy to RPG-style vehicle advancement.
_{Again, while being paired with Tavros, she very swiftly makes sure to transform his wheelchair into a hovercar. This mirrors RPGs like FINAL FANTASY or Pocket Monsters, that start you out with small things to keep you going, like a boat or a bicycle, and later move you up to something nice, like HM02 (Fly), or an airship.}

She discovers herself to be the biological descendant of a great and accomplished hero.
_{RPGs tend to play with the trope of having a main protagonist being somehow tied to someone prolific from the past. Vriska learning of her connection to Marquise Spinneret Mindfang leaves her to envision herself as a main protagonist, making her self-loving much deeper than Eridan's and Equius', which are mainly only tied to their social status.}

Those freaky bazillion-sided dice?
_{You know, those weird dice that people played RPGs with back before RPGs were video game storytelling mediums? This suggests that she was a fan of RPGs back during its tabletop era, which means the interest runs rather deep.}

She treats people with a rather low level of respect.
_{This mirrors two different RPG tropes. Firstly, her friends are mere NPCs and supporting party members to her. She doesn't really realize how significant their lives are because, as mentioned, they take a background role to her self-proclaimed main protagonist role. Secondly, the Trolls that she would feed to her Lusus gave her a sense of predator-esque-ness, going even further than her culture's admiration of conquest. Entire groups of people are mere food for her guardian. This, of course, paralleling the lowly random encounter. All those Slimes you've mowed through in DRAGON QUEST? All those Caterpie you've K.O.'d in Pocket Monsters? This is how she looks at members of her own race. This additional sense of supremacy could possibly explain her mind-controlling powers. Simply. she is so much above other people, she could likely compel them to kill themselves (which is also possible with certain abilities in other RPGs, as in some FINAL FANTASY titles.}

In a world where RPG-conventions are as important as Newtonian Laws, it would make sense that a savvy person live Vriska would be so dominant. She doesn't act like a bitch because she's a horrible person, she acts like a bitch because, throughout her entire life, she's been lead to believe that she's the greatest. But, of course, this is what leads her in to trouble. Spoiler Warning Ahead.

Her causing Jack Noir to be prototyped with Bec.
_{She states that her only reason for causing such a catastrophe was because she wanted to be responsible for creating him, and for destroying him. Such unnecessary lengths are similar to the idea of a Superboss in an RPG, an optional enemy that is generally much stronger than the Final Boss of the game, which may or may not have rewards that amount to more than bragging rights, depending on the game. She has laid the fate of her entire race into near certain death for the sake of her own pride in her power.}

Mr. Vanilla Milkshake
_{Not much to be said here, though this is mainly due to my lack of progress into the series. This being is an enigma to a cosmic extreme, and is blatantly hinted at being some sort of machination to a malevolent power of divine stature. Yet, despite being intelligent to realize this, she regards him as a lowly Team Rocket Grunt, lending herself into regrettable circumstances.}

She begins to regret killing Tavros.
_{After ascending to her new level cap within the God Tier, Vriska quickly impales Tavros out of sheer frustration. Finally out-living his useful-ness, he is now regarded as dead to her, despite accomplishing such a huge benefit for her. Shockingly enough, within her culture, it would have been perfectly justified, given the circumstances of the murder. However, Vriska still conveys a large sense of remorse during her conversation with John. Her contact his John's more compassionate demeanor has left her more understanding and sympathetic towards Tavros' lifestyle. At one time, she only valued strength, and saw Tavros as almost useless, and as something needed to be improved. But while being near John, she begins to see the opposite. She begins to see Tavros as more than a mere tool.}

As I have mentioned, I'm not caught up to the present, as far as series updates, so I'm not sure if she ever has a grand revelation of the fact that she's not truly a grand heroine, and is only marginally less vulnerable than the others, but I do know that she certainly is a tragic character. She lives her life believing to be larger than life, yet not only is this far from the truth, but this attitude actually makes her more of a target for bad circumstances.

---It's not as apparent, but I meant this illustration to be a bit of a nod to the Penninsula of Power from the original FINAL FANTASY, one of the most well-known Level Grinding spots in an RPG. As well, the head she's holding is supposed to be of the Troll enemy type, which is able to be found from that area.

---I also decided to use the Legacy Pen heavily in this piece, as a nod to Hussie's art style.

Vriska Serket, a character from Andrew Hussie's MS Paint Adventures: Homestuck, does not belong to me. I only created this image, along with this absurdly long literary analysis.

---Wow... Now that I look at it, this piece is really not very nice to look at. That's kind of pathetic, especially since I spent a good fraction of the day working on this. I suppose I'm glad that I didn't add my signature.

~mizu-mix Feb 10, 2013 Hobbyist Traditional Artist

^{!!!! this art is good what are you talking about!!
i really, really like it!!
your explanation of Vriska is quite amazing. she is a really well developed character, and things like this are needed to show that to people who are so quick to dismiss her.
plus its really cool to hear her described from your viewpoint.
very, very nice job. : D b}