Why Equius Zahhak Is Criminally Underrated:A Homestuck Analysis

Why Equius Zahhak Is Criminally Underrated:A Homestuck Analysis

Out of all the Homestuck characters there’s one I feel like doesn't get the proper attention he deserves and that’s Equius Zahhak. Which I think is a damn shame because if you take time to analyze him Equius is an extremely compelling character and I hope to shed a spotlight on him.

First of all l understand why people don’t like Equius and why I think what people don’t like is exactly what makes his characterization interesting. Let’s get the obvious out of the way Equius is consistently characterized by his creepiness. He constantly engages in weird behavior. He constantly sweats has a weird fixation on the hemospectrum, and becomes a flustered mess whenever some uses as he put it “Foul Language". No doubt about it he is a strange loner with poor social skills and that’s part of what makes him work. Due his strange tendencies he is often underappreciated by his peers. For example him making Aradia bot having blue blood while it is creepy he saw it as a legitimate gift to Aradia. He has an extremely strong borderline obsessive respect for the hemospectrum so he made Aradia's blood blue to serve her and her greater agenda. His servitude is also a reason people don’t find him all that compelling .Equius by his very nature does not live for himself and that’s exactly why he’s interesting. Equius looks for the meaning to his own life from taking command from people of higher authority than him and even people with little authority over him. As a prime example Nepta who he has the closest relationship with with there interactions he still has a servant like role. He does whatever he thinks will make Nepta the most happy which if you stop and think about is not a normal relationship .I'm not suggesting that there relationship is parasitic or toxic in someway in fact quite the opposite this is just how he approach relationships. All of this show’s a fundamental truth about Equius as a character has no personal meaning to life.

Why does Equius life philosophy matter and how does it relate to the overall narrative? First we must tell an important truth about Equius: he has no personal meaning for life. This represented by his aspect Void. Void fundamentally represents emptiness and oblivion which is representative of Equius character .It’s not a stretch to say that Equius philosophy is Nihilistic or rather his lack of one .This is also why people widely seem to forget about Equius both in universe and out of universe but I think is nihilistic philosophy is fascinating. You may be wondering but Gamzee also is a nihilist and he’s far from underappreciated. The main difference is that despite him having no true purpose he still remains an active character. Gamzee when he’s sober he kills for no identifiable reason unlike someone like Eridan who has clear motives for killing people. When he’s stoned despite him talking a lot he isn’t very active. Much like his stoner persona he couldn’t care less about taking any direct action. What show this the most is that his advice for dealing with your problems is to simply slam a Faygo and wait for miracles. Gamzee is a character who just let’s things passively happen to him and doesn't concern himself with the bigger picture. He’s very similar to Equius in having a very passive approach to life whoever what cement’s Gamzee as a fan favorite and Equius as largely forgotten is whereas Gamzee doesn't care about the plot the plot doesn't care about Equius. Gamzee despite being mindless in his killings he still serves as a major threat so despite his passive mindset he still is an active character. Similarly due to stoned Gamzee’s social nature he becomes a relevant character simply because other characters listen to what he has to say even he doesn't have much to say. It make me sad to see such an interesting character be overshadowed by his very nature but alas that's just how it happen. But hopeful I help put some spotlight on an underappreciated character.