Captain Harlock's Best Stoic Faces # 1

Captain Harlock's #1 character trait is his stoicness. Anything could be happening - he is wounded, he is steering his ship through an asteroid belt, there is a space-battle going on around him, he is being insulted, he is captured, his loved ones are dying in his arms, or he's just crashed in his chair with a glass of wine or looking out at the Sea of Stars during times of peace - it doesn't matter: Harlock will not betray the inner workings of his heart, he will not give his enemies the satisfaction of a emotional reaction, his will not cave into pressure in front of his already panicked crew-mates. 90% of the time, at least. There are some noteworthy exceptions (already dealt with). Mostly, he just gives a light grimace and grits his teeth in the face of pain, rejection, insults, tragedy, loss, despair, and the knowledge that he will never have a true home or a normal life.

As someone who is very introverted and stoic, this aspect of Harlock is what made me a fan of him. When you're surround by chipper, drama-inducing, emotion-feeding extraverts and 'happy' people, it is very hard to find someone to relate to and with. I often feel more at home with Harlock on the Arcadia that I do when I'm in the 'real' world. For the introvert, experiencing strong emotions of any kind is a exausting and draining experience. I sometimes look at people who are throwing crying fits or screaming at each other or blubbering happily to EVERYBODY about the newest love-interest/fad/social achievement in their life and I am at a total loss as to how they can function that way. Sometimes I envy them. They have it very easy. No-one questions their behavior or method of expression. It is the norm. But those who desire to be alone, those who do not need others for validation, those to whom solitude is paradise, and who will open themselves up only to the most true and worthy of friends (who they can count off on one hand) - these people are considered weird and unstable - social-misfits at best, serial-killers in-waiting at worst. Why? But, wait, the true Stoic does not ask why, he just endures. He - or she, like Captain Harlock, turns his back on the pathetic, vain world of soul-consuming noise, distraction and empty pleasures, builds his own Arcadia of dreams and sets sail for the shore-less seas of his inner heart. Isolation and exile can be very painful burdens at times - and one does need a few soul-comrades to share the wonders of the journey (thus Harlock has Tochiro - both in life and death), but in the end, adrift among the countless stars, one can find some measure of peace (for there is no true lasting peace in this world) and a place one can call, for a time, home.

''The Sea of Stars is my Sea...''

I do not own any of these images - I am merely compiling them together for the enjoyment of other Harlock fans. Most of these images are from my personal collection and cannot be found easily online.