(Really Long) Analysis On Mira's Character

[Three Thousand Fish]

In terms of his character, I like him. I didn't, from what I recall, care about him much in Xenoverse 1, but I think he has some pleasantly surprising depth in Xenoverse 2! I mean, well, I think he has more depth in comparison to his development in Xenoverse 1 (which is arguably not present). I will proceed to provide my perspective in hopes of someone else providing theirs.
Disclaimer: I have completed the main story mode, and I will be including some spoilers that I personally believe will actually spoil moments that some may not have experienced.
And, y'know, I'll also be going through the story.

After the Frieza Saga, entering the Android Arc, Mira says he wants to simply "further his evolution" after PATROLLER and Future Gohan defeat the out-of-place Android 16. When those two and Trunks (who joined the fight) defeat Mira, he expresses frustration and a lack of understanding because he, who is "far stronger," should be able to beat the trio. Then he leaves. I think several villains have expressed this because they overestimate themselves, namely the confident Frieza and Cell; however, I believe there is a difference between Mira and the other villains. I'm about to explain.

In the Cell Saga, when... P (I'll just call PATROLLER "P" for short) and Trunks begin to fight Mira who is... near the Cell Games Arena, I think, Mira is curious as to why Trunks persistently fights Mira. He thought Trunks was aware of his, Mira's, superior power. But Trunks retorts he, as a dutiful Time Patroller, will fight those who distort time no matter what their power is; he will never give in. Mira states this as an interesting source of strength, calling Trunks "a curious one." That bit in bold type is important; Mira's understanding of fighting spirit begins to sprout. .

After the fun scene of Supreme Kai of Time wanting to throw a party for TokiToki's new time egg , a change in history occurs, showing us the Masked Saiyan giving Towa the Damage Energy Sucker 9000 (sorry), which Towa uses to augment Mira. In his thoughts, Mira says he does feel much more powerful, but he wonders why he feels suddenly anxious. "What is that strange, immeasurable power? Why do they posess it, and I do not?" I think he is referring to P and Trunks, and then notices the same strenght in the Masked Saiyan. Mira suspects he may even be stronger than when Towa apparently pumped him up with Demon Chaos Science Power or whatever she uses to make people turn purple. Joking aside, I think Masked Saiyan's/Bardock's Saiyan spirit is what does further augmentation of his power. Seems pretty obvious, I guess.
Mira also states the others, Trunks and P, frighten him. At least he's honest with himself. He is, after all, trying to understand what his lacking so that he may obtain it, become stronger, and fulfill his presumed life's purpose of becoming the strongest. Which I find sad. And deep.

In the God of Destruction Saga, when Mira appears to perhaps aide the Masked Saiyan, he immediately says: "I see you've grown stronger. Now show me everything you've got!" I'm pretty sure he wants to observe P to try to discern the source of their "immeasurable power". When Beerus, who Mira back-talked, asks if Mira wants to pick a fight with the God of Destruction, Mira states he couldn't care less about who Berrus is. Maybe Mira can sense Beerus having a lack fighting spirit. I wouldn't be surprised if he did; Beerus usually seems bored unless around food or upset by not being able to eat food. Mira is now dead-set on discovering this immense enegry he does not have. Because he must.

In Age ???, Mira appears to fight Trunks and P once again. He is tired of being interrupted and is resolute to "end this." So he's annoyed, but he still doesn't have the desirable power. Maybe he just wants to subdue Trunks and P so Towa can study them or something. Anyway, when Mira is close to defeat, Towa exclaims confusion and concern for Mira. Her "measurements" showed Mira to be stronger than Trunks and P, and he very well may be, but... "This is it..." Mira says to himself, "That unexplained power... I will overcome it and make it my own!" He's finally found the scent, and he is aspiring to chase the power down and consume it.
When Towa opens a portal to banish Trunks and P to the "space between dimensions", Mira announces that his battle is not yet finished. Although Towa wants to simply get rid of them, Mira is stubborn - it's in his face and tone. He doesn't want to go along with Towa's plan if it prevents him from procuring the amazing, mysterious enegry he has yearned for. Then there's the following scene in which Bardock traps Mira in a Full-Nelson, which, of course, Mira doesn't understand. But Bardock, the selfish little devil, is powered and pumped up by revenge. It is a personal spirit, not pride in his race or anything to do with his son, and thus he, "someone so weak," overpowers Mira. That's what I think is implied. . I think Mira catches on to this as he is pulled out of the dimension.

When Mira returns and P chases after him and Towa, Mira has finally found the secret. Towas is astonished, for she did not give him as much power as he has. It "far exceeds my calculations!" She exclaims. Mira explains he was in deep, rigorous ponderings about "what was missing." He figured it out, after fighting all of those underdogs. The size of the fight in those dogs was bigger than his. "It was fighting spirit," he states. "The will to stand up against foe without fear! A being like me born into incredible power is deprived of such spirit! I can no longer call myself the strongest, because this fight will take me beyond my limit and to a whole new level!"
I have not watched all of Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, or any of Dragon Ball Super (the concencus is that GT is an injustice, I think), but I have still never seen a villain with the same (or at least very similar) themes as Goku. They both believe they are not the strongest warrior, and they both believe they can still become stronger. They want to face stonger opponents to ultimately become more experienced and stronger. Granted, the two characters have different motivations for that aspiration, but a villain and Goku still are wise enough to know/believe there will be someone stronger in some way. "You're just what I needed. A weaker wouldn't do!" Mira, with noticeable fervency in his voice, tells P this during their fight.
When he begins to push his limits, as Towa shouts about, his (I guess this is a spoiler] "power limiter" begins to overheat, which could explode and destory the entire universe because high stakes are high. . But he is, apparently, enjoying his fight with P too much to hear her. He finally has what he was missing. But he is still a villain.
While I am cool with Mira gaining independence and "growing past" Towa's reasons for creating him, , he is now gluttonous for power, it seems. He wants to continue evolving. Personally, I find this to be quite interesting. Towa created him with the ultimate drive to evolve, apparently, and while he has learned he is not the strongest, the natural desire to continue growing stronger is still omnimportant, but he is now doing so on his own. That isnt much of a change, you may say, but he is now, I think, a greater villain. He is who he is, but he is now selfish. He will even absorb Towa, the being who created him and cared for him, so he can grow stronger. That's all he wants, it seems: To fight and grow stonger. Again, very similar to Goku's drive. All that said, I think Towa's last words, "You're nothing... but... a failure," to be vicious. Mira's only remaining desire once Goku appears is to win against P with his own capabilties. He respects P (for reasons varying with race) for their power, and he claims he must beat them.

When Mira begins to die, he reaches a kind of a resolution. ONCE AGAIN, SIMILAR TO GOKU, he wishes he could have battled more with P. He also wishes forgiveness from Towa. I don't know what exactly he is asking forgiveness for besides the obvious, which may be all he wants to be forgiven for, That, both his resolution and the regret is, once more, something I have not see in Dragon Ball villains. Mira himself played a great part in giving me a satisfying feeling when completing the story, which I liked a lot overall. I have always been irritated by the motivations of characters like "I'm evil and I must be evil because the world is black and white," but I, who tends to over-analyze things, find Mira to be starkly unique.
And those are my thoughts on Mira, founded by quotes. Please express anything you wish.
On another note, I feel obliged to mention I used a YouTube video of all the Xenoverse 2 cutscenes to, y'know, quote people and refresh myself on the story.
Thank you for reading this informal essay. I will not kid myself. This is an essay.
An essay I did not check spelling or grammatical errors, as much as I love both spelling and grammar. I believe there are eight spelling errors, according to Microsoft Word. Xenoverse 2 is a video game, after all.
Again, thank you for reading all of this. Whewph.

[Null_User]

Rather long. Probably much longer than even the creators of the character said about him. Anyway. Mira is Towa's version of an android. No idea if fully biological like Cell, but still something akin to an android. Made like that so Towa could control him. BUT, she made a mistake in giving him the opportunity to evolve and a mind to think (or a really advanced biological AI). Not the first time Towa had made design mistakes. The distorted time eggs are also incomplete products made by Towa, as Kai of time explains.

Anyway, TL:DR: Mira is an android (or at minimum, an artificial creation) who gained true sentience (a purpose), by being exposed to the world around him in the way he was exposed, by fighting.

[Ice Cold Yee Haw]

You did a great job with this, this was great to read
Thanks!

[Three Thousand Fish]

Hanuke původně napsal:

Rather long. Probably much longer than even the creators of the character said about him [...] BUT, she made a mistake in giving him the opportunity to evolve and a mind to think (or a really advanced biological AI). Not the first time Towa had made design mistakes. The distorted time eggs are also incomplete products made by Towa, as Kai of time explains.

Anyway, TL:DR: Mira is an android (or at minimum, an artificial creation) who gained true sentience (a purpose), by being exposed to the world around him in the way he was exposed, by fighting.

Ah, thank you much for giving your input! I find it very interesting, expecially that last sentence. And I apologize for being so rambly.

[Three Thousand Fish]

Cooly23 původně napsal:

You did a great job with this, this was great to read
Thanks!

And thank you for that compliment and for reading!

[Null_User]

The Total Package původně napsal:

Hanuke původně napsal:

Rather long. Probably much longer than even the creators of the character said about him [...] BUT, she made a mistake in giving him the opportunity to evolve and a mind to think (or a really advanced biological AI). Not the first time Towa had made design mistakes. The distorted time eggs are also incomplete products made by Towa, as Kai of time explains.

Anyway, TL:DR: Mira is an android (or at minimum, an artificial creation) who gained true sentience (a purpose), by being exposed to the world around him in the way he was exposed, by fighting.

Ah, thank you much for giving your input! I find it very interesting, expecially that last sentence. And I apologize for being so rambly.

Oh. I didn't mind the length. It was a good read. :)

[Uottafac]

Try to get the second ending (finish the fight in under 2 minutes iirc).

[SparkleDon]

Mira certainly is an interesting character. S'a shame you can't convince him to abandon the whole demon realm resurrection thing. Under different circumstances, he would've made a great ally.

Perhaps if he had more time, and less influence from Towa he might've had a change of heart at some point. Retaining his desire to continue getting stronger, but with less of a hostile intent.

Though I suppose being whatever he was, someone able to tinker with him would've had to try to keep him under control, for the censored reasons at the end.

Reminds me a lot of Android 16. Aside from the killing Goku thing, he was a really nice guy too. Even managed to resist his programming for a while to help out.

Good post. Nice read. +1

[Null_User]

Uottafac původně napsal:

Try to get the second ending (finish the fight in under 2 minutes iirc).

Oddly enough, I preferred the standard ending this time, and Mira's little monologue that is missing from the secret ending. If only it wasn't Goku there, but your previous cac, this would have been a true love letter for cac lovers. Missed opportunity... Oh well!

Sparkle původně napsal:

Mira certainly is an interesting character. S'a shame you can't convince him to abandon the whole demon realm resurrection thing. Under different circumstances, he would've made a great ally.

Perhaps if he had more time, and less influence from Towa he might've had a change of heart at some point. Retaining his desire to continue getting stronger, but with less of a hostile intent.

Though I suppose being whatever he was, someone able to tinker with him would've had to try to keep him under control, for the censored reasons at the end.

Reminds me a lot of Android 16. Aside from the killing Goku thing, he was a really nice guy too. Even managed to resist his programming for a while to help out.

Good post. Nice read. +1

OR have our cacs be able to switch sides and join him in his quest for strong opponents while destroying everything... Some men just want to watch the world burn. :)

[Jewbacca]

Hanuke původně napsal:

OR have our cacs be able to switch sides and join him in his quest for strong opponents while destroying everything... Some men just want to watch the world burn. :)

This is a quite interesting idea. I don't blame Towa for what she's doing. She wants to give more room for her people. As much as she is on the opposite side. She is NOT fully selfish, and not sure, that she is pure evil. A 6. race with a different story would be interesting. The Demon race with Mira as male and Towa as female for base. The CaC would seek out Towa, and offer his/her help to achieve the demon realms resurrection. The End Boss would be Future Trunks, and the XV1 CaC's potara fusion (used the Supreme kai of time potaras).

[Null_User]

Jewbacca původně napsal:

Hanuke původně napsal:

OR have our cacs be able to switch sides and join him in his quest for strong opponents while destroying everything... Some men just want to watch the world burn. :)

This is a quite interesting idea. I don't blame Towa for what she's doing. She wants to give more room for her people. As much as she is on the opposite side. She is NOT fully selfish, and not sure, that she is pure evil. A 6. race with a different story would be interesting. The Demon race with Mira as male and Towa as female for base. The CaC would seek out Towa, and offer his/her help to achieve the demon realms resurrection. The End Boss would be Future Trunks, and the XV1 CaC's potara fusion (used the Supreme kai of time potaras).

I've been thinking XV3 should have a Time Breaker path, with perhaps an opportunity or two to switch sides along the way (maybe through scripted events) ending with the cac obtaining a super villain transformation. And to leverage things, not allow a cac on one side switch to the other after advancing in the story far enough.

I know one of the big problems with this would be the mentor system. Good guys like Goku would out right refuse to train an obviously evil cac, unless trapped and put through some hypnosis, OR convinced that training said cac would grant him a strong opponent to fight against. Still, not all the good side mentors may agree to willingly train an evil cac. On the other side, this could make possible to separate the mentors. The good mentors for the good cacs, and the evil mentors for evil cacs, and since the game anyway keeps all skills saved regardless of which character learns them, people would still be able to grab them all. Only needing two characters minimum this time around for that task.

There's also the problem with skills like dark Mixer, that people want right now, and would want even more if they had access to an evil cac.

[Jewbacca]

Maybe make a 2 phase form like Hit's. 5 Ki bar each both consumed. First would be the dark form which gives the dark aura, and replace any charge skill slot with darkness mixer. While maintained you loose stamina, and ki slowly. Second is the super villain form. While maintained you loose ki and stamina faster, and keeps the darkness mixer. The other evil exclusive skills except the blue balls, and the saw should be regular super and ultimate attacks.

[SparkleDon]

The discussion for choices for being evil would be a nice way to change up the story a bit. I mean, I still play through the it despite it being the same thing in almost every game ever, but it'd be nice to have something different.

Hell, since all of the known Time Breaker villains are dead now, maybe we could even be the main villain. Gather dragon balls to bring back Towa, Mira, and Demigra, and then wage war on the Time Patrollers throughout time. Forcing other characters under your rule and turning them in to time breakers and such. Until eventually attacking the Time Nest directly. (Battle with 100 steadily increasing in power Time Patrollers?) In the end getting to fight the key protectors of Toki Toki, maybe with their own transformations / fusions or summat to make it a bit more interesting.

Maybe I'm still being too small minded though.

[Three Thousand Fish]

Sparkle původně napsal:

The discussion for choices for being evil would be a nice way to change up the story a bit. I mean, I still play through the it despite it being the same thing in almost every game ever, but it'd be nice to have something different.

But aren't the Xenoverse stories already quite different from the the canon stories?

Sparkle původně napsal:

Hell, since all of the known Time Breaker villains are dead now, maybe we could even be the main villain. Gather dragon balls to bring back Towa, Mira, and Demigra, and then wage war on the Time Patrollers throughout time. Forcing other characters under your rule and turning them in to time breakers and such. Until eventually attacking the Time Nest directly. (Battle with 100 steadily increasing in power Time Patrollers?) In the end getting to fight the key protectors of Toki Toki, maybe with their own transformations / fusions or summat to make it a bit more interesting.

Maybe I'm still being too small minded though.

That would certainly be a starkly different path to take. I think being in the Demon Realm (what's left of it, I should say) would be neat to see. Nonetheless, why would anyone want to revive Towa, Mira, and Demigra? I'm sure it would be fun and interesting to do so, but what character would, with logical reasoning, want to stir up all that chaos that comes with those three? There would be, I think, little reward and much destruction... which may be what tthe demons enjoy, granted... hmph. Anyway, I think you have some neat ideas.

[SparkleDon]

The Total Package původně napsal:

But aren't the Xenoverse stories already quite different from the the canon stories?

That would certainly be a starkly different path to take. I think being in the Demon Realm (what's left of it, I should say) would be neat to see. Nonetheless, why would anyone want to revive Towa, Mira, and Demigra? I'm sure it would be fun and interesting to do so, but what character would, with logical reasoning, want to stir up all that chaos that comes with those three? There would be, I think, little reward and much destruction... which may be what tthe demons enjoy, granted... hmph. Anyway, I think you have some neat ideas.

With the story bit, I'm referring to Xenoverse in particular, this being the second game, I worded that relatively poorly. Xenoverse 1 was a unique story compared to the normal, and Xenoverse 2 did a better job with the story than XV1 did imo, but at the same time, it also still felt like the same story as XV1 just slightly tweaked. A few of the battles got more serious, but then they kinda just shoe-horned the same oddity enemies in to everything and it got old. I think if they had utilized more of the movie characters, or even more canon villains they didn't use, it might've gotten less stale than seeing the same ones continually.

They may have been intentionally holding back if they're intending to make a third game. With the multiverse tournament coming up in the main series, they could almost base an entire game on that.

As for the motivation, your character may not necessarilly be familliar with Time Breaking, having three people who'd already been at it could be a handy tool. Also, if you're going evil, may as well deliver as much chaos as possible, you are after all aiming to conquor an entire dimension.