by lackadaisicallexicon

Brief warning: this essay contains occasional reference to and one image of Sollux’s bloody injuries; protect yourself accordingly.

All the trolls are highly visible characters in the Homestuck fandom, even if some are more or less so than others; Karkat, Gamzee, and Eridan are among the most universally popular in art and fanfiction, but Sollux is certainly up there; as the troll representing my fellows of the Gemini sign, he has a massive symbolic load to carry, and praise be to Troll Jegus, he carries it.

Get it? Carries it? Because he’s got a bad habit of grievously wounding himself whilst carrying things?

Well, I’m getting ahead of myself. Sollux is absolutely steeped in thematic material, perhaps a nod to the themes of inevitability and adherence to systems inherent to the Doom aspect; even his name consists of “Castor” and “Pollux”, the twins supposedly represented in the Gemini constellation, with the S and P switched. His character arc’s fixation on duality is so gratuitous that even he notices it, whereas most other characters with occasional duality, like Gamzee, do not.

From having VISION TWOFOLD in two different colors, having two love interests on the polar opposite ends of the hemospectrum, having two dreamselves, and even occasionally being ½ dead, Sollux’s journey through numerologist hell has been a circuitous one, filled with tragedy and sacrifice for the greater good, hallmarks of both his character and those of the two (!) known Doom players.

But Sollux is much more than dying and the number two; much like his personality doppelganger, Dave Strider, he’s both self-aware and self-deprecating, neurotic in his speech and caustic even towards people he’s willing to give his life for. I wouldn’t call him a nice person—indeed, his initial placronym title was IIN2UFFERABLE PRIICK—but he’s bigger than the rude words and the air of arrogance. He’s a deeply caring person who, more than anything, just wants his friends to be safe.

He’s a brilliant hacker who nonetheless stooped to hardware tinkering and attached an F5 to Kanaya’s computer. He patched Terezi through to Doc Scratch to aid in her revenge on Vriska, even as he blamed himself for Aradia’s death. He took life and lost it, time and again, willingly or not, in the service of others, always suffering, but committed to Doom-fueled sacrifices for the greater cosmic good. He’s not selfless, but he’s as close to it as any of the trolls come. Even his frequently criticized attack on fan favorite Eridan Ampora was to prevent the latter from drawing the fatal attentions of Jack Noir, not to further a petty personal feud.

Of course, Sollux isn’t perfect. He’s stated to be bipolar, but his symptoms are more radical changes from sad and self-deprecating to a confident, smug douche than any manic-depressive cycle. It’s a nuance-deficient view of bipolar disorder, and seems to be just another, less amusing facet of the duality gimmick.

But, questionable mental illness status aside, Sollux is a psychic teen alien hacker with bichromatic eye lasers, 3D glasses, and no fucks left to give. What’s not to love?