Kun Lan's story (plot question, probably spoilers)
Hi! I found this site ages ago but this is the first time I've sat down and read through everything; good stuff. I have a question: sorry if this has already been answered on the forum or the site, I checked first but couldn't see it mentioned anywhere else and it's been a while since I've played through the game (need to do that again!). Anyway... do any of you have any thoughts on this conversation Kun Lan and Harman Smith have at the beginning of Smile? Script taken from http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/gamecube/file/562551/38404 : (Garcian proceeds into the Forbidden room, Kun Lan and Harman are playing chess) Kun Lan: Check. Harman: What a coincidence; check. This time, the game is mine. Kun Lan: Do you want to hear a story, Harman? Harman: Why not. Kun Lan: There once was a young man who had a promising future, the center back position was his to keep and no one could take that away from him. Any play was a fair play, nobody blew the whistle on him. Everybody loved him. Not to mention his campus sweetheart, oh she was something. They were the perfect couple. He graduated from Columbia with an MBA, his opportunity was infinite, he could do whatever he wanted with his life, but was he satisfied? No, every night he would cry, begging the Lord. Something deep within needed awakening. Then one day it happened, that moment where the subconscious rises to the surface. Well the way it triggered was very simple, it happened when his mother came onto him one night. (Garcian pans into view, standing in the doorway) As if the spirit of Jack the Ripper had taken over his body, he stabbed and stabbed until you couldn't tell who she was. You know what I think? An angel whispered into his ear. The angel gave him the extra courage he needed to give her the divine retribution she deserved. Harman: Sure she wasn't "the Hell's angel"? Kun Lan: I'm pretty sure she only had good intentions. Harman: You really are a villain. Kun Lan: I had nothing to do with it, but I must admit, my memory has become a bit "misty" these days. Harman: (Noticing Garcian) Huh? (Harman suddenly starts twitching violently and breathing heavily while Kun is laughing maniacally. Garcian stands stock still.) It seems pretty obvious that this is about Garcian, but I've been pondering the details. I do have one interpretation (for a fanfic I've been working on for aaages), but it's merely an interpretation that may be taking a few liberties (like the rest of the fanfic XD), and I'd be interested in hearing your opinions on this first. (I also need to go and do, you know, real life stuff right now. Stupid real life.)

This dialouge refers to the changing events in the story. Harman's "check" refers to his influence overcoming Kun's own ambitions. To further explain this, I'm gonna have to ask on the help of the great Drunken One... But the story Kun tells Harman is about Emir. Even though Emir had everything he could ask for in his life, he had a deep seeded urge to kill. This was awakened by the "Hell's Angel." This angel is most likely either Kun, or his influence since he has the God Hand (hahahaha, I can't help but smile at that...). When the two see "Garcian" standing there, they both freak out. Harman sees the threat he brings, while Kun is laughing at the carnage that will come about, since Garcian is slowly understanding who he really is (Emir Parkreiner). I'm sure my fellow posters will allow for fourther interpretation since I may have missed a detail or two.

Ah man, I was planning to neglect this place for the rest of the month. (Being xmas month & all.) I can't leave without at least answering this inquiry. I was originally going to copy & paste an answer that I wrote in an earlier post, but I can't find the thread. IMO I believe that Kun Lan isn't talking about Garcian Smith at all. Garcian Smith (EMir Parkreiner) was taken in by the United States government by the time he reached 13 yrs. old. SO there's no way that Emir could be the guy that Kun Lan was talking about. The way I see it. Kun Lan is just speaking a little parable about the difference in our perceptions of success & happiness. Kun Lan is referencing the turning point of some college kid's traumatic event that gave rise to the "killer instinct" from their inner sub conscious. What Kun is actually saying is that not all of us conform to social norms of acceptance, & popularity. That kid in Kun's parable had everything a successful man could ever dream of, but that kid was still unsatisfied with his life. A life devoid of meaning, because the young man in Kun Lan's parable can not attain happiness the same way a normal person does. Ask yourself this... doesn't that There once was a young man who had a promising future, the center back position was his to keep and no one could take that away from him. Any play was a fair play, nobody blew the whistle on him. Everybody loved him. Not to mention his campus sweetheart, oh she was something. They were the perfect couple. He graduated from Columbia with an MBA, his opportunity was infinite, he could do whatever he wanted with his life, sound exactly like what the modern media wants you to believe is the path to success, wealth & contentment? The young man in Kun's story was a star football/soccer player, he had a fine woman at his side & was also well educated. All though he supposedly had it all. He actually had nothing, because the modern media's perception of success doesn't coincide with that kid's senses. He finally finds the thrill of his life when he cut his mother to pieces. Some of us kill because it satisfies our sexual desires. Harman: "You sure it wasn't a hell's angel?" Kun Lan: "I'm sure she only had good intentions." One man's angel is another man's devil. Which means that the kid loves to kill, because he experiences the same spiritual/sexual release as a person who loves to copulate. (Except he's a killer. Instead of a philanderer.) To put it simply... I think Kun Lan is simply telling Harman about the killer instinct that dwells inside all of us. All we need is a trigger (like a traumatic event.) to release our killer instinct from the depths of our subconscious. A killer is not a man in black. A killer can be anybody. Your friend's, neighbor's, & closest relatives. We all have the potential to be murderers. All that is needed is for the right conditions to be met. This is exactly what Kun Lan is referring to when he said this Then one day it happened, that moment where the subconscious rises to the surface. Well the way it triggered was very simple, it happened when his mother came onto him one night. As if the spirit of Jack the Ripper had taken over his body, he stabbed and stabbed until you couldn't tell who she was. -------------------------- But the story Kun tells Harman is about Emir. Even though Emir had everything he could ask for in his life, he had a deep seeded urge to kill. This was awakened by the "Hell's Angel." This angel is most likely either Kun, or his influence since he has the God Hand (hahahaha, I can't help but smile at that...). How do we know that his story is about Emir? We know next to nothing about the original Emir (The one who's identity was stolen.), & our Emir (Garcian Smith) was fostered by a guy who claims to be Harman Smith after the Union Hotel incident. I feel that Kun Lan's story is more of a parable about morality. Like the type of parables you often hear about from the bible. There's just not enough information to automatically conclude that Kun was speaking about Emir. The events in the game about Garcian Smith/ Emir directly contradict the story that Kun Lan was telling. Hence why I feel it's just a parable detailing about how every body has the potential to become a killer.

Yeah, I get that now. I guess what I mean is how his parable is being used on Emir/Garcian as an example. Maybe...I guess... Well if you're out this month Topdrunkee, have a great Christmas, and enjoy the New Year's celebrations!

I think...
It's a parable too. And the Angel's not Kun Lan. Well, at least not directly. If she's a 'tangible' entity in the game at all and not just a symbol of the protagonist's awakening, then it's most obvious that she's the four-winged angel of Target: Angel, who in turn is most probably an instrument of Kun Lan, much like the Heaven's Smiles.

Re: I think...
I guess what I mean is how his parable is being used on Emir/Garcian as an example. How do we know that he's talking about Emir? Emir was taken in by Y. Harman when he was only a kid. The guy Kun Lan talks about sounds like a man in his early 20's. The story is just a parable. It doesn't seem to be relating to anybody in the game Killer 7. Kun Lan's story merely explains to you the rational of a fragmented mind's inner psyche & psychological make up, and what causes one to become a killer. It's a common theme that's even explored in No More Heroes. (Most of the conversations in NMH revolves around what a true killer is, and who are the real mentally disturbed sick fucks. I may link Linda to Y. Harman, but that's mainly because Y. Harman actually does reference her during his convos with Emir. With the Kun Lan scene we only assume that Kun Lan is talking about Emir, because Emir is the main character. It's typical video game logic. However I don't believe that video game logic works with that particular scene. Mainly because that guy in Kun Lan's story doesn't sound like Emir at all. Emir didn't become a killer, because his mom's a whore. Emir is a killer, because the Japanese government indoctrinated him in the ways of an assassin. The United States government later took Emir under their wing so they could utilize the weapon (Emir/Killer 7) for themselves. In short Emir is a killer, because he's a political pawn. The kid in Kun Lan's story sounded more like he had a revelation about himself. Kun Lan's story as a whole is just a justification that a psychopath makes in order to convince themselves that it's ok to murder as they please. This justification for murder is prolly the one thing about Kun's story that does relate to Emir. If she's a 'tangible' entity in the game at all and not just a symbol of the protagonist's awakening, then it's most obvious that she's the four-winged angel of Target: Angel, who in turn is most probably an instrument of Kun Lan, much like the Heaven's Smiles. Maybe, maybe not. Target Angel doesn't have much to do with the story of K7 at all. It's just the beginning of the game. (Killer 7's plot doesn't start until Target Sunset.) Much similar to how the original Case in Silver Case has almost nothing to do with the rest of the game. (The original case is more or less an extended epilogue of Moonlight Syndrome.) I was always under the assumption that the four wing angel was just a ruse, or an illusion. Kun Lan does call her his trick. By trick, I don't think he meant bitch. I think he meant trick as in magic trick. (LOL, at Harman for bringing up that Trix cereal crap.) Well if you're out this month Topdrunkee, have a great Christmas, and enjoy the New Year's celebrations! My Xmas sucked. People kept giving moi crappy ass clothes that I'd never wear. (WTF is bilabong? What kind of name brand is that shit?)

Hey partner, don't feel too bad. My christmas blew too, although I got a sweet white leather jacket, and the four dvd disc blade runner set. My new years was also shit, I was sick that entire week.

All I got was a rock.

I love you Lisker! Yeah, and I've never seen Blade Runner before, till now.

That's not quite the same at all. Dave is not a killer, nor do I think he's a maniac like Kun Lan/Garcian. Kun Lan's story is basically just a lie that killers tell themselves in order to justify the act of homicide. That's how people like them operate. They know how to manipulate, & spin stories that make them sound more chivalrous then they actually are. In effect it's a story that's meant to appeal to our ideals of compassion, repentance & sensitivity. Look at the many gamers who actually feel sorry for Garcian Smith. My question is why? He's a killer & he wouldn't hesitate to kill you or I. After Garcian killed you or I. A story would be spinned that makes his victims look like the bad guy. Look at how appalled Garcian gets when he realizes what he did at the Union Hotel. EMIR/GARCIAN DENIES THAT HE EVER KILLED ANYBODY. "No it wasn't me. It's all a misunderstanding." Any sense of compassion that Kun Lan or Garcian may want you to believe is just that. A lie of convenience. Killers like them use these lies so they can operate covertly in society. By manipulating our emotions against us. To them, the mere act of killing is pure bliss. That is heaven/paradise to them. People who kill for the "joy" of the act are psychologically different from you or I. That's why some people considered Emir Parkreiner a "demon". They don't mean that he's actually a demon as in one foretold by the bible. What they're implying is that his particular psychological make up can not possibly be human. As his mental vibrations/patterns tend to be more demonic, & less humane than most. BTW I've once heard that Dave Chappelle ran away, because he was in fear that somebody or some group (I don't know. It's not my life.) was going to kill him. http://www.blackvoices.com/black_entertainment/television_features_reviews_clips/featurecanvas/_a/dave-chappelle-does-oprah/20060203145209990001 the intricate conspiracy theory, which said that Dave feared for his life because a cabal of prominent African Americans (known as the "Dark Crusaders") including Jesse Jackson, Bill Cosby, Louis Farrakhan, Al Sharpton, Whoopi Goldberg, Bob Johnson, and Winfrey herself, put pressure on him to discontinue the show. This shit is fucking hilarious. Although it could be true, I guess. Who knows. Truth is often stranger than fiction. Fiction has to be logical. Where as some circumstances in truth can bend the fabrics of what we consider reality. Of course that reality we once knew could have been based off of fiction in the first place. Which would create a false sense of truth. Which is which? Who the fuck knows.