Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann Characters: Simon

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (Or TTGL from now on) is a story of rebellion and triumph, and focuses on making the rebels in question sympathetic first before really showing that the oppressors need to be rebelled against. This is in contrast to, say, the Original Star Wars movies where we are introduced first to the evil Empire, and show them to be cruel and militaristic. In TTGL, we are introduced to Simon and his living conditions: he lives deep underground in a bland colorless world where death is inevitable. In fact, before he meets Kamina he doesn’t even consider trying to move forward in life. The village in which he grows up respects his ability to dig, but the villagers seem to distance themselves from him. He is also an orphan, and has no real family of his own, save Kamina.

                In the case of Yoko and the Littner village, they were forced to move to the surface or die. It wasn’t even a question of progression or moving to a better life, it was just the only choice. They had to come to the surface and become sort of a military in order to fight off the Ganmen attacks.  It wasn’t until Kamina and Simon showed that the battle could be escalated and humanity could triumph that anybody else even considered fighting back. This shows pretty accurately how people deal with most situations like this; they’d rather not create waves, they would rather adapt and survive than move towards a better life…until inspired by exceptional people.

                

Simon:

                Simon starts a lonely young boy with a passion. Having lost his parents to an earthquake, it’s not hard to imagine that his focus became digging to avoid a similar fate. One could say that digging up the dirt that trapped them gives him a sense of comfort; his ability to drill and dig gives him a sense of conquering something that seems enormous and inevitable. Simon has experienced a great deal of loss early in his life, and it has caused him to be secluded and a little awkward around other people. It is easy to see how Kamina may have been drawn to Simon as a person. Both of them are orphans, both of them are passionate, but while Kamina is a great presence and a natural leader, Simon has an actual skill. This causes Kamina to respect him a great deal, and he sees in Simon the person that he eventually becomes. Simon, being a young man with practically no experience, has no taste for battle. He is easily intimidated, and would much rather run away than face his problems alone. It is through Kamina that Simon eventually starts to believe in himself. This is shown positively in episode 7, when Simon figures out a way to defeat the Dai-ganzan much more effectively than Kamina’s more direct approach.

                Simon looks up to Kamina as a brother/father/friend. Kamina shows Simon how to be outgoing and courageous, and how to inspire people. He shows Simon that things are worth fighting for, even to the death. Kamina considers them partners, and draws just as much inspiration from Simon, but we’ll get to that later. When asked about Kamina, Simon describes him as “Strong, Big, and Kind.” These are likely the qualities about Kamina that Simon wishes to see in himself, and eventually what Simon becomes.

At first, the show kind of feels like this. Kamina overshadowing Simon.

                Being lonely, it’s not much of a stretch for Simon to develop a crush on Yoko. He is 14 when the show begins and that’s when things start to get tough for guys as far as puberty goes, and Yoko always treated Simon better than the girls of his village (though that’s honestly not saying much, but we’ll get there). When Simon sees Kamina and Yoko kissing, it creates a big hole in his heart that he can’t really deal with. It is probably confusing in a lot of respects, because he already might feel inferior when compared to Kamina, and Yoko ‘choosing’ him might confirm some of those feelings; in addition, he might be afraid that Kamina will forget about him through his feelings for Yoko, but that is just speculation. Sadly, it is this confusion and other ugly feelings that cause the greatest tragedy in a life filled to the brim with it: Kamina’s death.

*sniffle*

                One of the most powerful shots in the show is directly after the battle with Thymylph, where it is raining so heavily that everything is obscured. We see everyone bowing their heads in sadness and shock, except Simon. He is on the ground, his mouth open in a soundless scream of sorrow and loss. Even the Gurren Lagann appears to be crying. Simon deals with his grief with anger at first, taking out all of the enemy Ganmen forces alone. This is surprising for Simon, who never appeared to be aggressive; the exception is when it came to friends and family. In an earlier episode, we see Simon actively charge the Ganmen for causing the tremors that made the ceiling crush his parents. Similarly, given the means to avenge Kamina, Simon lashes out at the enemies aggressively and zealously. He also believes that now that Kamina is gone, he needs to fill his shoes. He tries to be Kamina instead of Simon, which is the exact opposite of the advice that Kamina always gave him. At one point, he lashes out against Rossiu. He attacks him for believing in gods that turned out to be false; and if gods did exist, why would they let Kamina die? Eventually, it all becomes too much, and Simon loses control. He flees during a battle into a giant ravine. It is here that he meets the other most important person in his life: Nia Teppelin.

                If not for Nia, Simon may never have truly understood what Kamina had always been trying to tell him. Nia, who is very empathetic for a person raised by Lord Genome (We’ll get there), tries to help Simon deal with his grief. She recognizes Simon’s bravery, and wants to show him the person that Kamina always believed in. When Simon sees the danger in Nia’s confrontation with Adiane, he is the first to charge to save her, even without Lagann. When the Dai-Gurren Brigade is captured by Guame, long after everyone has given up, Simon continues to dig for freedom. It is during this that Kamina’s words finally ring true for Simon: “Don’t believe in me, who believes in you. Don’t believe in you, who believes in me. Believe in the you who believes in yourself.”

f*** yes. f*** yes forever.

                It is here that Simon becomes the person Kamina always believed in, the first time Gurren Lagann properly appears since Kamina’s death, and when Simon really becomes the main character of the show. He says, more to himself than anybody else, that he is not Kamina, but Kamina will always live within him, and the Dai-Gurren Brigade. He adopts Kamina’s catch-phrase, and Kamina’s legacy: The Giga Drill Break(er). After this, Simon is formally proclaimed to be the leader of the Dai-Gurren Brigade, having officially won their respect. In the first movie, Yoko comes forward and apologizes for not having more faith in Simon, like Kamina did. The Dai-Gurren Brigade eventually find themselves at the capital, where all their enemies are waiting. Simon easily defeats Viral, and challenges Lord Genome to one on one combat. Lord Genome has the upper hand at first, and Rossiu begins to lose faith. But Simon, showing how much he has progressed from the boy from the village, tells him to believe in himself. Rossiu is inspired to take the initiative in the battle, allowing Simon to attempt to take control of the Lazengann.

                When the battle comes down to hand to hand combat and Simon is clearly outmatched, he never gives up or tries to run away despite being beat down. With Nia’s support, Simon is able to defeat Lord Genome, and overthrow their supressors.

We come back to Simon ten years later, he has become supreme leader. Now, being an illiterate village person from underground, it’s pretty obvious that Simon isn't entirely cut out for his duties. We can even see that he is frustrated with how he some things are being treated, especially with Rossiu’s attitude towards Viral. In love, however, Simon is really come to his own. He proposes to Nia, and she accepts (eventually). Of course, nothing good can ever happen to Simon. When Kiyoh’s daughter is born, Lord Genome’s prophecy comes to fruition, and the first Mugann attacks. Simon is told not to engage, but when the Gurapearl force is shown to be ineffective, Simon comes to their aid. Simon defeats the Mugann, but causes widespread destruction throughout the city.

Eventually, Simon learns that Nia has been brainwashed and has become the messenger’s for the Anti-spirals. She tells him that Nia is gone forever, and now the Anti-Spirals will destroy their civilization for progressing too much. Simon and the Government are blamed for the current state of things, and demand a solution. They call for someone to be held responsible, and Rossiu uses Simon as a scapegoat. He is tried and found guilty, impeached, and sentenced to death. During all of this, Simon hardly defends himself at all. Simon, at this point, is probably more concerned about Nia and sees this as an acceptable alternative if it will help. Viral challenges Simon for this in prison, telling him that he is weaker than Kamina for losing his people and his ‘woman’. Simon defends himself against Viral’s attacks, and eventually they are both stopped by the guards.

In the movie, Lagann-hen, Simon shows Viral his mastery over Spiral Power is now comparable to Lord Genomes by conjuring a small energy drill in his palm in a similar manner to the Spiral King. As soon as this happens, Nia comes to tell Simon that Rossiu’s plan to move the citizens to outer space when the moon crashes won’t work; there is an ambush waiting in space for them. Simon tries to reason with Nia, but Nia persists that there is no Nia anymore. She is about to kill Simon when Viral breaks out of his cell to defend him, obviously now respectful of Simon and his position. Nia is stopped by Yoko, and she retreats for now.

Man and Beast

Immediately, without question or anything, Simon goes to defend the people and Rossiu, even allying with Viral and asking him to pilot Gurren Lagann with him. Simon hasn’t lost hope at all, and is willing to fight against the legion of Anti-Spirals. He doesn’t blame Rossiu for anything, and is eager to defeat the Anti-spirals like he defeated the beastmen before. When Rossiu realizes that everything he did was more or less in vain, he finds himself in a state of despair. Simon eventually breaks him out of this state just like Kamina did with him ten years ago: by punching him in the face really hard.

                

When it comes to assaulting the Anti-Spirals, Simon assumes his place as the heart of the Dai-Gurren brigade. Despite the harrowing odds, Simon is able to keep the crew together even when things seem bleakest. When Kittan goes out to destroy the despair-factory-ocean-machine, he takes Simon’s drill as good luck. With it, he is able to use the last moments of his life and all of his willpower to assume Simon’s attack and destroy it. With his great sacrifice, Simon is granted a renewed vigor, and they are able to continue their assault.

                The Anti-Spirals changed the nature of the battle by trapping the Dai-Gurren Brigade’s mind in an impossible-to-escape mental labyrinth. Simon’s vision is being reunited with Kamina, using his drill for personal wealth. The vision is shallow and empty, and shows a false Kamina. Simon himself begins to notice something wrong, when he gets a bit more help from the real Kamina himself. Now, there is a train of thought that says that the Kamina that appears here is a manifestation of Simon’s psyche, so it is Simon breaking himself out of the labyrinth. By the rules of the Labyrinth, as long as you are self-aware, you are trapped forever. Thus, I think it more ‘likely’ that the Kamina that Simon sees is actually Kamina. This is supported later, when Kamina is shown with the rest of the fallen members of the Dai-Gurren Brigade in the chest that Simon found Nia in. ((It should be noted that in the Movie, only Kittan dies, and he himself shows up in Simon’s dream, further supporting my point.)) Kamina also shows himself in Yoko’s subconscious, and while it could be argued that Kamina was also very important to Yoko, I find it unlikely that Yoko’s ability to resist would ALSO take the form of Kamina.

Kamina himself notes that Simon has grown taller than him. *sniffle again*

                Simon and the Dai-Gurren Brigade eventually triumph over the Anti-Spirals, but Simon learns that their triumph means that he will lose Nia forever. When it happens, the others suggest that he use his Spiral Power to revive her. He declines, saying that he is not god and should not play with the dead. The exact reason he gives is that the dead will start to crowd and overshadow the living, but I wonder if he is afraid of becoming the twisted Tyrant that Lord Genome became.

                

Simon’s character is the one with the most change, and it is also the one that exemplifies the show most: You may not like him at first, seeing him as whiney and weak, but he comes into his own over time. It is heartening to see him become the person that Kamina saw in him. It is interesting to see a boy become a person to be admired over time, which is kind of rare in storytelling. Most people start admirable, but Simon had to go through a lot to get there. He started a dirty villager, and became a revolutionary savior.