My, the recent discussions about Sasuke's motivations for his present status are popular! It makes one wonder about how a character's sad childhood (loss of a parent, abuse, being an outcast, etc.) justifies doing actions of a villainous nature. Sometimes it works, sometimes it does not. After all, losing a beloved parent or going through hard times didn't make Son Gohan, Naruto, Tenchi, or Ichigo into bad guys (And through Light Yagami, the lack of an unhappy childhood didn't help either). What are the degrees of understanding and criticism? When is it 'Oh, one can understand why he's doing it,' and not 'OMG, get over it!' ? Here's what I've gathered on justifiable actions, and Sasuke unfortunately doesn't belong in any of them.
-Victim is out on some crusade to protect others from a similar experience. He's not doing it out of some corrupt and selfish desire (at least not consciously) and is rather noble. Too bad his principles aren't quite in synch with certain other principles (killing people, suppressing free choice, etc.).
-The victim gains some nihilistic 'dog-eats-dog' mentality, with no comprehension of a different lifestyle. Saying 'Get over it!' to this character is impossible because he doesn't believe there is an upper boundary to get over to. Gaara from Naruto and Seijiro from Rurouni Kenshin have had nasty violent childhood, taking on a
-Victim is out on some crusade to protect others from a similar experience. He's not doing it out of some corrupt and selfish desire (at least not consciously) and is rather noble. Too bad his principles aren't quite in synch with certain other principles (killing people, suppressing free choice, etc.).
-The victim gains some nihilistic 'dog-eats-dog' mentality, with no comprehension of a different lifestyle. Saying 'Get over it!' to this character is impossible because he doesn't believe there is an upper boundary to get over to. Gaara from Naruto and Seijiro from Rurouni Kenshin have had nasty violent childhood, taking on a