Yogurt_The_Cow
Farmer
Is Mr Qi evil? I want like a good long opinion/answer.
Is Mr Qi evil.
- Thread starter Yogurt_The_Cow
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Confused
Farmer
Bro is the definition of chaotic neutral.
And when I say chaotic neutral. I mean a true neutral. Mr. Qi can be malicious, but that's not all that's to his nature.
To Mr. Qi, life is truly a game. He hangs out in skull caverns, milking snakes. And will let you into his fancy, weird gambling club if you follow his goofy quest that involves beets and rainbow shells. But then he will beat your ass if you try to cheat at the game by accessing the summit early.
Mr. Qi just wants to make life fun, weird, and interesting. And he doesn't want you, as the player, to cheat or avoid exciting experiences. Like going through the skull caverns with staircases, he gets mad at you when you do that. He wants the player to really experience the game of Stardew Valley. And I can't help but respect him for it.
He's kind of my hero.
Also, off topic, but I like the headcanon that he's related to Morris, just for fun.
And when I say chaotic neutral. I mean a true neutral. Mr. Qi can be malicious, but that's not all that's to his nature.
To Mr. Qi, life is truly a game. He hangs out in skull caverns, milking snakes. And will let you into his fancy, weird gambling club if you follow his goofy quest that involves beets and rainbow shells. But then he will beat your ass if you try to cheat at the game by accessing the summit early.
Mr. Qi just wants to make life fun, weird, and interesting. And he doesn't want you, as the player, to cheat or avoid exciting experiences. Like going through the skull caverns with staircases, he gets mad at you when you do that. He wants the player to really experience the game of Stardew Valley. And I can't help but respect him for it.
He's kind of my hero.
FilthyGorilla
Local Legend
Honestly hard to determine, if you think of evil as outwardly malicious he's not really? But we don't really see much of him/any of his background, and his somewhat nice outward-facing personality may be a facade to those he says himself that he 'deems worthy', so it could be biased.
The closest thing to evil would probably be setting up a base on Ginger island and not really caring in any capacity for its inhabitants, but then again it isn't really his role? and he doesn't seem all too big on intervention. Another thing would be spying on all the valley but honestly idek what to think about that.
The closest thing to evil would probably be setting up a base on Ginger island and not really caring in any capacity for its inhabitants, but then again it isn't really his role? and he doesn't seem all too big on intervention. Another thing would be spying on all the valley but honestly idek what to think about that.
Lew Zealand
Helper
Evil? No he doesn't do anything to damage the Valley or anyone who lives in it. He doesn't interfere with anyone's life or try to alter their decisions. Even our Grandpa was friends with him at one point.
However he's no saint. He clearly enjoys playing games with you, leading you on long quests to see how far you can be tempted to your possible destruction in Skull Cavern. You could frame this as a rite of passage he thinks the Farmer is capable of doing, or you could frame it as some guy getting his jollies watching the Farmer stumble and fail so many times.
He's also running a Casino so is not bothered by taking advantage of people by exploiting a weakness for gambling. However he hardly lets anyone in there so perhaps he knows to keep people out who hurt themselves. And once you play long enough, you'll find at least the 1-armed bandits are really 1-armed Robin Hoods, eventually giving you more Qi Coins than you started with.
Ah but the Qi Coins, Mr. Qi's captive currency. You can't use his in-Casino money anywhere else and he takes your regular g in the first place to get you in the door. If you're patient and have a Deconstructor, you can realize some G profits but he knows that procedure is a pain in the butt. You're really there to trade his worthless coins at his company store for a few Warp Totems, Hardwood Fences or Magnet Lures. And only a few nowadays, he used to allow infinite trades but no more abusing that loophole!
And then there's the Walnut Room, where he works in cahoots with the Gangster Parrots on Ginger, both getting you to solve puzzles and dig through the sand for them because they're too lazy to do it themselves. Once opened though the challenges are just starting, though some are quite benevolent if insidious, like Qi's Kindness. Balanced with things like 50K in Junimo Kart or Qi's Crop of course. At least this time Qi gives you a few more interesting items to buy using his second captive currency.
He's really the world's most understandable Bond Villain. Not evil like from a movie, instead differently motivated. A few Secret Lairs, one on a remote island. Strange dress sense. Convoluted plans. Abusing and exaggerating economic concepts. Bolstering the Farmer's capability to make them a more 'worthy' adversary. Playing the Farmer like a puppet, while treating them superficially like a friend.
I fully expect the next Bond movie to feature a rather familiar sparkly bespectacled face.
However he's no saint. He clearly enjoys playing games with you, leading you on long quests to see how far you can be tempted to your possible destruction in Skull Cavern. You could frame this as a rite of passage he thinks the Farmer is capable of doing, or you could frame it as some guy getting his jollies watching the Farmer stumble and fail so many times.
He's also running a Casino so is not bothered by taking advantage of people by exploiting a weakness for gambling. However he hardly lets anyone in there so perhaps he knows to keep people out who hurt themselves. And once you play long enough, you'll find at least the 1-armed bandits are really 1-armed Robin Hoods, eventually giving you more Qi Coins than you started with.
Ah but the Qi Coins, Mr. Qi's captive currency. You can't use his in-Casino money anywhere else and he takes your regular g in the first place to get you in the door. If you're patient and have a Deconstructor, you can realize some G profits but he knows that procedure is a pain in the butt. You're really there to trade his worthless coins at his company store for a few Warp Totems, Hardwood Fences or Magnet Lures. And only a few nowadays, he used to allow infinite trades but no more abusing that loophole!
And then there's the Walnut Room, where he works in cahoots with the Gangster Parrots on Ginger, both getting you to solve puzzles and dig through the sand for them because they're too lazy to do it themselves. Once opened though the challenges are just starting, though some are quite benevolent if insidious, like Qi's Kindness. Balanced with things like 50K in Junimo Kart or Qi's Crop of course. At least this time Qi gives you a few more interesting items to buy using his second captive currency.
He's really the world's most understandable Bond Villain. Not evil like from a movie, instead differently motivated. A few Secret Lairs, one on a remote island. Strange dress sense. Convoluted plans. Abusing and exaggerating economic concepts. Bolstering the Farmer's capability to make them a more 'worthy' adversary. Playing the Farmer like a puppet, while treating them superficially like a friend.
I fully expect the next Bond movie to feature a rather familiar sparkly bespectacled face.
WorstDecorator
Sodbuster
if we'll adopt, for the sake of argument, the classic 3x3 Dungeons and Dragons alignment rubric, and try to graph Mr. Qi on it, I certainly don't see him anywhere on the "good" axis.
He would probably describe himself as True Neutral, as he seems to have appointed himself gamesmaster and/or referee over Pelican Town And Surrounding Environs, as well as our Farmer's life within it specifically.
I feel there's an argument to make for him being Lawful Neutral, as he has a particular philosophy and code that he consistently adheres to, however inscrutable that code might be to us. ("lawful" characters do not necessarily follow The Law Of The Land, though they often do, and they are quite capable of defying "The Law" if it conflicts with their personal code. I think Mr. Qi vibes with this read of "lawful" very much).
I don't think he's actually actively evil but I do get a certain amoral vibe from him, and there's often not a lot of difference between evil and just "amoral" to the people who happen to get in the way. Lawful Neutral to Lawful Evil is often a very short trip for a given character to take.
He would probably describe himself as True Neutral, as he seems to have appointed himself gamesmaster and/or referee over Pelican Town And Surrounding Environs, as well as our Farmer's life within it specifically.
I feel there's an argument to make for him being Lawful Neutral, as he has a particular philosophy and code that he consistently adheres to, however inscrutable that code might be to us. ("lawful" characters do not necessarily follow The Law Of The Land, though they often do, and they are quite capable of defying "The Law" if it conflicts with their personal code. I think Mr. Qi vibes with this read of "lawful" very much).
I don't think he's actually actively evil but I do get a certain amoral vibe from him, and there's often not a lot of difference between evil and just "amoral" to the people who happen to get in the way. Lawful Neutral to Lawful Evil is often a very short trip for a given character to take.
Hedgehogthe3rd
Farmer
Mr. Qi isn’t evil, more neutral. Everything he does is pushing you to your limits (not letting you cheat at perfection, making you get the extra walnuts, making sure you don’t skip through skull caverns with ladders), all to make sure you see all of the game. Though he isn’t perfect and abuses the creation of new currencies, he is not evil.