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First, I want to do Axel. She's my favorite of the generation, and her design is so cool, and admittedly cute at times. To review her character, she's adamant that the zombie apocalypse will arrive, and she sure as hell has the attitude and mindset for it. She argues a lot with Ripper (which I enjoy a lot) and once tries to feed her team squirrels she caught in the break of dawn. She desires to be a team leader so much that she doesn't seem to grasp the concept of what being a good team leader is, let alone see the error of her ways. To back track on the squirrels, she's definitely unhinged from reality which, I have to admit, made me emotional about it a couple nights ago last week the time I started writing this analysis. She definitely has some funny moments, but her overall personality intrigued me to come up with head canons that could possibly explain how she was brought up.
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It's confirmed that she has 4 younger brothers (I name them Dominic, Sebastian, Thiago, and Gabriel) whom she can boss around, which helps explain her bossiness on the show. But I want to head canon that in her family, her dad, Enrique “Ricky” Gonzalez is a famous radio show host, and her mother, Nani Gonzalez, is a cook in Japan and used to be a missionary. Her dad wanted her to help him raise the little boys after their mother left the family when Axel was as young as 11, and it left her with the rough-and-tough nagging and convincing of her father and reckless little brothers. Axel had gotten the impression that she could help "be the boss" given the kids are kinda spoiled rich kids and she sees others as "below her". Her mother leaving really tore her apart because even though the former had mental health problems too, she was one of the only people in the whole world that Axel could easily open up to when things got tough. She would always listen thoughtfully, do her best to steer the kids in the right direction, and cheer them up with her quirks even though she was only around for not a full month each one.
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Both parents fiercely love their children very much, but with both being wealthy Catholics and having raised their kids to have the same faith and believe in deities they can't see at very young ages didn't help the family function well because the father struggles enough with his radio station job, and the mother, who worked as a missionary in Europe before cooking at a big restaurant in Japan, developed mental health problems after raising Axel which would follow 4 more kids. And it also got Axel growing up to believe in the zombie apocalypse because of being trained to believe in supernatural forces, and she and 2 of the oldest younger brothers watch shows like The Walking Dead, Sweet Home, and All of Us Are Dead very frequently. Both parents always believed that children of God should be fruitful and multiply, but they never listened to what they themselves really needed to accommodate their circumstances as often as they needed to. Ever since Axel's parents divorced, they had decided it was best if they were friends. Her mother now lives in Japan and met a very kind man whom she would later get remarried to. She only visits the family once/twice a year, and every time, Axel's day is lit up just like that. And ever since she left, she had been asked to leave the missionary group as the group felt it debilitated her mental health and left Catholicism, which also led to the rest of the family leaving the faith.
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So what really motivated Axel to believe in the zombie apocalypse in the first place? And why is she so mean? Although she grew up in a big, rich family of 7, her impressionable faith in Catholicism when she was an elegant-presenting little girl but a rough upbringing made her often scared of things that would unlikely happen to her. She feared hell and demons, being outcasted and looking weird to her peers, that others may watch her without her consent (her parents always made sure to respect their kids' privacy though), and most of all, getting sick because she never got to see her grandfather who died of the flu before she came to earth. He, being the grandfather on her dad's side of the family, is still survived by her grandmother on the same side of the family. Axel's grandmother on her mom's side had died of Alzheimer's disease when Axel was 13. Around the same time her grandmother died, her uncle on dad's side had died in the military from food poisoning. So with these deaths she had to grieve, Axel would start to debate on whether God was targeting her family for something because she actually didn't grow up in a community prone to sickness. So to avenge for her extended family and from watching zombie shows so much, she would start to change her identity by a good bit and train for a zombie apocalypse. She still has the high-spirited and cute traits of her pre-divorce self, but hides it with the tough mask because she's insecure about how others will see her given she was taught by her father to be a strong leader as the eldest child. As well as she still doesn't know how to navigate life post-divorce.
To theorize her attitude now, she had a partly absent mother who wasn't at the home every day to at least try to regulate the tension in the house because her dad doesn't have the mental discipline to be a famous radio host. Although he loves his family dearly and would give his everything to them, he's the type of socialite with a polarizing personality that depicts him as greedy, opportunistic, and inconsiderate. He often victimizes himself in situations that land him in trouble because he has that power status that is supposed to influence his audiences for "the greater good". But we can't never mention that he always looked out for others and always helped the community. Her mother was much kinder, but also very argumentative and entitled to a degree when she was married to Axel's dad because she felt like she was supposed to feel welcome when she came back into the country from her job, often complained about the messiness of the house, and called house meetings over some trivial things along with important things as well. She was on fire for her faith to where she was desperate for the Lord in an unhealthy obsession even though she and the family weren't fundamentalists or evangelicals in that sense, whereas Axel's dad was rather strong and adamant about his faith, but tried to keep that "God-fearing cool-guy" image in ways that got him a bad rep regarding his public appearances.
These actions from her parents were stayed prevalent to where Axel couldn't be a good role model for her younger brothers anymore as all this happened at very young ages. Her younger brothers often get in trouble at school and get recommended children's therapy, so she feels like she has to help dad be the mother since dad would be too stressed to raise the kids alone because he's getting therapy himself after having left the faith. On the bright side, her friends really took time to understand her and even relate, so they would talk hours on end about their parents and siblings as well as what they like as hobbies and go-to activities. During total drama, she trusted no one and didn't feel comfortable with anyone at first since they weren't her brothers whom she is closer to and cares about. However; she got eliminated early so this would give her time to reflect on her life and put herself in others' shoes to figure out why they seem more content with their lives. So after total drama, seeing her parents try to find answers and her friends having therapists themselves would motivate her to do the same and find her own awarenesses.
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Now to touch on present day Axel, after she left Total Drama, she would need to start looking for answers about her mental health. Her local friends back at home, which are her only peer friends, advise her to meet up with a therapist they themselves have and enjoy having. She struggles to see why she needs a therapist given her narcissistic traits on the show, but if her friends are showing growth from their personal issues, then she wouldn't want to be left behind in that case. Axel's therapist mostly advises her to discover activities that strengthen spiritual growth and gives her leadership tips for the future such as it being a privilege and how her reputation as a leader is very crucial to how she wants to guide others. She would go on to see a psychiatrist for a while and had gotten diagnosed with at least narcissistic personality disorder. Within and after these many visitations, she's started to wonder why others around her seemed so genuinely carefree in public and why they naturally have better attitudes. Now here are my predictions for Total Drama Island season 2. Axel befriends Nichelle, and they help to strengthen each other's weaknesses, with Nichelle helping Axel with her social skills, and Axel helping Nichelle with her physical strength in physically-demanding challenges. She goes on to make new friends on her team and gradually turn 1 or 2 enemies into at least acquaintances for whom she would start to have mutual respect.
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By this time, Nichelle and Axel would be at least considered close. They both share a handful of things such as hobbies and pleasures in common, which some are what Axel usually hides so much from others because of her desire to keep a take-no-prisoners mask on as mentioned earlier. Nichelle, as her new friend, is willing to consider what she wants at that moment, but also what she needs in order to grow. With Nichelle's commitment and Axel's interest in her, she begins to open up to the former whom she would trust the most when she wants to open up about something be it interests and/or background.
As this friendship blossoms, Axel finds herself with other teammates who want to get to know her as well, primarily Millie, Emma, Priya, and Damien, as well as Zee. Millie would probably want to ask Axel about her hobbies and what she does in spare time. Axel would debate in her head on whether she wants to mention her family's goings-on herself. Emma and Priya would be the type of people who wouldn't be instantly comfortable working with Axel given what Priya knows about her and what Emma could possibly have heard about her. Priya starts off as feeling mistrust towards her by thinking she's being fake to get through the game, but sees the change by learning from talking to others like Millie especially and Axel herself.
Damien would at first be wary of Axel at first and think she's insane given she cooked squirrels at 5 in the morning last season, but warms up to her later by trusting that she'll be a courageous leader and pretty cool person (if ever Priya gets eliminated and Axel stays longer to grow her character because I think Priya will be the leader of the new team if they have one). Zee and Axel could possibly form a friendship as well cause Axel starts to see him as the most carefree guy on the show and kinda aspires to be like him a little. Axel could probably also exercise how much she's genuine about her growth by taking 2 other friends to the final three with her without making a promise she can't keep. She's never manipulative or fake towards others from what I've seen.
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Axel would probably start developing some significant mutual respect for Ripper given that it's apparently confirmed that he's gonna be a changed man. Of course, she won't be interested in everyone, but I think if she just controls her temper and connects the source of her behaviors if not chooses to open up about herself to others, she will certainly make it far next season with a good number of buddies she can trust and turn to at any time. I hope she at least makes the merge, if not the semi-finals or finals. In the future, I would see her majoring into something like biomedical sciences and researching illnesses and pandemics as well as judging the legitimacy of theories pertaining to strong illnesses like COVID-19, SARS, AIDS, etc, or especially if there will ever be a zombie apocalypse.
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Now, Ripper and Axel are lip-locked as of episodes 5 and 6, and she’s shown some other sides to her indeed. She made the merge which was too fucking early, but I get it in a sense, it was for Chris to get back at MK. Unfortunately, she didn’t interact so so much with Nichelle, Millie, or Emma, but I look forward to see if she’ll interact more with Priya, Damien, or Zee though.
Update: Right now, I have her keeping up with Nichelle and Emma and them going to a college prep boarding school where you take art, theater, medicine, engineering, academic subjects, social sciences, computer sciences, business, etc. She wishes to be accepted into Jackson Med (I made it up) located in Chicago when she goes to college so she can train in biomedical sciences. This past summer after Total Drama, she auditioned for another reality TV program called The Girl-E Team (I made it up) where 12 girls from different walks life life come together and play games of team-building and experience as they stay 10 weeks in a mansion. There, she and the other girls also come to grow their character as women with therapy, sub-programs like driver’s ed, sex ed, finances that prepare them to be self-sufficient, etc., but of course, drama ensues which they have to overcome.
During her stay, she performs very well through friendship-blossoming and many arguments that sometimes result in some folks fist-fighting her and getting themselves kicked off the show, which all result in her being one of the most popular and respected girls on the show. One night, a new friend of hers dared her to drop at least a single, so after the 10 weeks, she drops a 3-track single album on December 6, in which one is a build up Wild West-esque rock rendition of Uprising by Muse. The numbers of streams pile up day after day because these people who listen to her songs are either Muse fans, TD fans, the Girl-E Team fans, 2 of 3 or all 3, or none and they’re there bc there’s a new artist.
Hobbies: kicking cardboard ass, hunting to feed others, going to the gym, listening to her many "guilty-pleasure playlists" on Spotify, singing to herself, writing poetry and song lyrics
Favorite music genres: alternative, rock, indie, some hip-hop, k-pop (tells no one about herself loving this genre), just any music that doesn't get played so much on the radio; she's not very into North America's favorite pop music, but if interests her, she'll listen.
Favorite artsits: Muse (favorite artist), U2, Avenge Sevenfold, Green Day, Incubus, Queen, Dave Matthews Band, Franz Ferdinand, Quarters of Change, Nicki Minaj (tells no one she's an active listener to her), Kanye West, J. Cole, Tyler the Creator, Kendrick Lamar, Rosalía (definitely), Stray Kids (favorite K-pop artist), older songs from BTS, IKON, ATEEZ, SEVENTEEN, some TXT, BLACKPINK, æspa, Taeyeon, Hyoyeon, BIBI, (G)-IDLE, Dreamcatcher, EVERGLOW, IVE, some TWICE, and some ITZY
Favorite TV shows: The Walking Dead, Fear the Walking Dead, Sweet Home, All of Us Are Dead, House M.D., Succession, Squid Game, Kakegurui, Kill la Kill
Favorite Movies: Oppenheimer, Nimona, Train to Busan and a couple other zombie movies, Psycho, The Birds, Who Framed Roger Rabbit (one hell of a guilty pleasure), To Kill a Mockingbird, The Godfather