I have two Roman Empires. They surround Reuben and Gantu. (Third one is in the reblogs!)
My Roman Empire is how Reuben literally stopped being rude to everybody when Lilo gave him a name. A NAME. From the 65 episodes, all those insults he spewed out… that snarky attitude he gave everybody… all the hurt feelings he caused ended at this moment. You never see him being mean to Lilo, Gantu or Stitch ever again. He literally considers something as simple as being given a name affection.
He went the entire show without a name, just being called 625. Meanwhile, if not all, most of the other experiments had a name. Pretty sure it made Reuben feel that he was irrelevant, forgotten and most of all: failed. Perhaps that's ONE of the reasons he STAYED so rude throughout the show and like for half the Leroy and Stitch movie; the time he was simply a number?
My second Roman Empire is about how Gantu… this intimidating, strict, ruthless guy
...did not like being evil. He was seeking emotional validation.
"Am I good enough?" I can only imagine him asking himself that after hearing Hamsterviel, Reuben or his father's negative voice in his head. I don’t care if Reuben was “struggling too”, he still didn’t have to project so much.
When Gantu got vulnerable with Reuben in episode 28, he talked about how his father was very authoritarian and strict. He also talked about how his peers looked down on him. Can't imagine how bad he wanted to prove his daddy and peers wrong. He truly did try. It's awful because he even talks about how his life would have been better if he would have stuck with his girlfriend. Deep down, being the captain isn't what he wanted. He wanted to live a normal childhood. Sacrificed it, though, all for his dad.
His first attempt at being what his father pushed him to be was under the Grand Councilwoman. However, after the chaos he and stitch had, she fired him. This is why he had such a hate for stitch throughout the entire show. Not because of selfishness, not because he was evil, but because stitch ruined the pathway that gave him that sense of superiority and validation.
Throughout the show, no thanks to plot armor and gags and jokes, he is constantly failing to capture experiments AND is being ridiculed. It's by everybody- Lilo, Stitch, Reuben, random people. Sometimes it's physical, sometimes it's verbal. It definitely has an effect. Might as well be physical and verbal abuse because of how often and harsh it is.
It’s not normal to call yourself a failure because you don’t know where a street is.
There’s this episode where he prefers to be a guy named “Uncle Chester”. While he’s Chester, he doesn’t have to worry about Hamsterviel’s ruthlessness and doesn’t have to be bullied every single episode. He was delusional as Chester but at least he was happy. He pointed out how he was unhappier as Gantu.
But
There is nobody that affects him as much as Hamsterviel does.
I've ALWAYS been asking myself, "why doesn't he just squish Hamsterviel? Hamsterviel is all bark no bite!" Hamsterviel is the most demanding, controlling, manipulating, obnoxious, and most of all- DEGRADING boss that Gantu has had. However…
Could it be that he resorts to Hamsterviel and never hurts him because it's another chance to prove himself to a figure like his father?
He sees toxicity as another chance to prove himself. Doesn’t matter all the suffering he does.