u/InstructionOwn6705

I don't know about him, but in his shoes, with that viewpoint, losing in this type of duel would be truly humiliating.

Meanwhile, I have the impression that although Dooku's ability to hold his own against Yoda worried Sidious, he didn't learn much from it, which is partly why he later got his ass kicked by Windu.

Sure, only the absolute elite could have threatened him (as even three Jedi on the council fell in combat with him within 10 seconds), but I still feel like the guy overestimated himself. While this is perfectly natural for dark side users, Sidious didn't exactly make me feel like he underestimated his opponents.

Couldn't he have simply sparred regularly with Dooku to advance his swordsmanship?

This undoubtedly makes them feel more like a real threat. On the other hand, the fact that Maul (who can even fight a non serious Sidious) has trouble fighting them even with a support might cast doubt on his power.

And how do you see this?

I'm talking mainly about the visual aspect. In his male form, due to his resemblance to a certain guy, the fandom often memes him as Jackson, which makes him have a rather weak intimidation factor compared to, say, Kokushibo.

Honestly, I'd be happy if Gotouga decided to make Muzan the Demon Queen instead of the King. Mainly because there doesn't seem to be a female main villain in anime. Even among the side characters, they're quite a minority.

His armor has generally undergone modifications since A New Hope. A different arrangement of diodes in his life support devices, smooth gloves instead of corrugated ones, and a change in the surface of the armor plates from matte to glossy. What do you think of these changes?

Shen's devastated face at the beginning of the film, when he sees his parents' horror rather than admiration at the massacre of pandas he has committed, shows that their recognition has always been his motivation to some extent, not just a desire for domination and expansion.

This is even more evident here. Shen usually speaks with extraordinary calm and pride, confident in his position. However, here he clearly does so with hesitation. Despite what he says, his past is not indifferent to him. However, he believes he has gone too far to even consider changing his ways, and for this belief, he ultimately pays with his life, and consciously.

That's why I prefer Shen to Tai Lung. I sympathize with Tai Lung, but I prefer it when villains are more confident, reveling in their own villainy.

His story is tragic. He lost almost all of his siblings due to their mother's transformation into a demon, whom he had to kill himself. The icing on the cake was being called a murderer by his only remaining brother.

However, despite his love for him, he later treated that same brother like trash, humiliating him, denying their kinship, threatening him with death, and ultimately even trying to permanently mutilate him to make him leave the Corps.

Not to mention his methods during Pillar training. He was more ruthless and brutal than Iguro. I hardly even call it training, more like lashing out at others.

Of course, he could be reasonable and composed, especially because of his authority over Kagaya, but when he got angry, he really went crazy.

For someone with arguably the biggest ego in this universe, he seriously doesn't need much to be happy compared to other villains with much higher aspirations.

He doesn't have ambitions for conquest and power like Frieza.

He also doesn't have the thirst for knowledge like Orochimaru.

He also lacks the drive for combat and combat development that characterizes his subordinates.

I understand that for plot purposes, his role is to be the archetypal irredeemable evil, but it would have been nice if Gotoge had given him a bit more ambition.

Be that as it may, I have always been, and will always be, Muzan's greatest defender. However, I'm not a fanboy and I realize that his potential was largely wasted compared to the side villains, especially Kokushibo.

Maul's brother possessed greater potential than Ventress, making it even more difficult. Sidious's attitude toward Ventress was already uncompromising, let alone in this case.

This time, in my opinion, he wouldn't even order Dooku to get rid of his servant again, but would pay him a visit similar to Maul's on Mandalore.

By skewering Oppress with his lightsaber and giving Dooku a good kick in the ass.

How could Dooku have tried to avoid this?

She doesn't even try to escape. She's too terrified, and she knows Vader will catch up with her sooner or later. She was lucky he'd given her a quick death anyway. He could have just as easily taken her to his fortress, where she'd experience hell while still alive.

What was your reaction to Vader's entrance?

Whether Itachi loved Sasuke more than the village is beyond doubt. He was even willing to reveal Konoha's secret information to enemy nations if Danzou broke their agreement regarding his brother.

However, this was before the massacre he committed and before the trauma and guilt he experienced, which were clearly mixed with his concern for his brother.

It seems logical that he wanted Sasuke to become strong so he could defend himself. But traumatizing him to set him on this path logically meant that his brother, and the village, cared nothing else about him. Sam suffered incredibly, and years later, Itachi consciously pushed him even deeper into this mess, beating him to the bone and forcing him to relive his childhood trauma through genjutsu.

It's hard not to get the impression that his desire for self-flagellation was starting to quite strongly overwhelm his desire to protect Sasuke.