Naputaaku Appreciation Post

I love Magu-chan, God of Destruction. It’s a great, funny book that knows how to balance its comedic and dramatic elements perfectly. The premise of good, innocent kids teaching “evil gods” how to live is surprisingly effective, and the design and aesthetic really work for me. My favorite character is Naputaaku the Mad, and I’m going to explain why.

To start, some background for the uninitiated. The so-called gods of chaos are a group of elemental, immortal beings from time immemorial with various supernatural powers. Nine are known by the end of the series, with six of them holding a rank and three more “rankless beings.” They appeared on Earth long ago and were worshipped as gods, which they took to eagerly; as Magu-chan put it, honor and prestige are the most important things to immortals. A few hundred years ago, they were sealed away by the Holy Knights, and when revived at the beginning of the story, are left in a severely weakened, diminutive state, like little Pokémon. Naputaaku is the fifth pillar, ranked as second from the bottom in their society, and he has the power of madness. With his Frenzied Roar, he can assimilate another being’s mind into his madness, brainwashing them.

His design is really great. All the gods of chaos look like sea creatures, and Naputa is a starfish. He stands on his pointed feet, and his head is longer than his limbs, flowing like a limp noodle. On his chest is a black star, positioned upside down to his body; he has another on his back, positioned the same way as his body. His mouth is a jagged opening, with lips shaped like pointed teeth. Though it’s not always visible, his eye is located in the back of his mouth. I love those kinds of ridiculous details in fictional creatures, and it fits his madness theme to keep an eye where he eats. Overall, he has a simple design, and it’s really effective and emotive, and I like it most of all the designs in the book. Nosu Koshu comes close, but what you get out of the simplicity of Naputa does more for me.

As a character, he plays the role of the fool. He’s a god cast upon hard times who ends up working part time at a restaurant. When he was at full power, he had vast armies of humans in his cult, doing whatever he asked of them; now, he commands a hundred hermit crabs and a giant shark he’s afraid of. He has an ego inflated by his ambition and inferiority complex. He wants to prove he’s impressive and become first pillar in place of Magu-chan. He’s always overeager and runs before he can walk. The humor of his stories revolve around watching him trip and fall, constantly setting himself up for failure. It’s really funny, too. In most stories, he’d be consigned to bullying and belittling at every turn.

But Magu-chan, God of Destruction succeeds by recognizing that the situations the audience finds humorous are literal things that happen to the characters. Naputa isn’t put down as a loser, because no one in the book is that mean and cruel. They see him falling down, getting back up, and stumbling again, never resting until he achieves his goals. At every turn, he’s viewed by the rest of the cast as an honest, hardworking being who deserves to catch a break sometimes. He’s a fool and idiot for sure, the fool you wanna root for. Despite everything, Naputa always rises to the occasion and pursues his dreams with pride and purpose. Even Magu-chan, who constantly insults Naputa and jumps into contests to put Naputa down, isn’t bullying him. As he said the night of Muscar’s attack, he’s never underestimated Naputa. Under other circumstances, that could be viewed as a major insult, but it’s presented seriously. Naputa immediately makes good on that by disabling Muscar of Fate’s powers, a feat no one else could achieve. First pillar Mag Menuek of Destruction sees Naputaaku the Mad as a worthy rival, and he’s right to.

I seriously tear up every time I read this line: “Naputaaku the Mad is a fearsome god who can rend fate useless.” No matter what anyone says or does, Naputaaku will keep going, and he’ll succeed against every common sense reason he should fail. So let him fail time and time again. It’s madness to do the same thing over and over again and expect a different result, and madness is his domain.