Analysis of the Tan Family

Before I start, pardon my grammar, English is not my native language so please bear with it. Another thing is that I am very new to Dance Central so I don’t know everything about it. All of my information is based on Dance Central 3 and 1 that I got after the third game came out. So here is my heavily condensed and summarized little analysis of two characters that seem to be the most interesting to me: Oblio and Dr. Tan.

Here is the main problem with Dr. Tan and Oblio’s relationship: the parent-child roles are reversed. Now the role reversal might not be obvious since Oblio still treats his father with respect. However, the first thing I noticed about Dr. Tan is how immature and childish he is compared to how mature Oblio is. Dr. Tan will pout and throw a tantrum like a little kid does whenever you are winning. When Oblio scolds him, he’ll look away in shame the way a toddler does when the parent disciplines. Parents are suppose to tell their children what is right and what is wrong and that is exactly what Oblio seems to be doing when he scolds his father (“what have you done?”). Considering the fact that Oblio basically tells the player that Dr. Tan is stubborn my guess is that this isn’t the first time Oblio has done this. Oblio disciplines and teaches but Dr. Tan is too proud to listen. This whole role reversal thing is probably terribly stressful and frustrating for both of them.

“Before I take over, would anyone like to see Oblio’s baby pictures? I got them here in my wallet”

Dr. Tan’s personality

It must be somewhat humiliating for an elderly Asian man to be treated like a child by his own son (even though is his own fault to begin with).  Some part of him probably resents Oblio a little for the way he treats him and for not supporting him the way a proper son should. Despite him commenting that he disapproves of any father-son bonding when you dance battle, this is just him being tsundere (“It’s not like I want to bond with my son or anything”). He wants to work with Oblio to fulfill his evil plans and get along as a happy family. You know, like the Glitterati.

                                     “AHHHHAHAHAHAHAHA”

This is one reason why he was willing to put Oblio under control. Because he wants to have authority and power over him, he wants Oblio to be obedient but at the same time he wishes Oblio would be proud of him. This is why Dr. Tan seemed upset and disappointed (“I did it for you”) when Oblio voices his disapproval.

Mrs. Tan

Another reason is because he probably is extremely lonely. This is pure speculation but considering the mother is not present and not even mentioned she either left her family or she is probably dead. Most likely the latter because if she left then Dr. Tan would be obsessing over her trying to find her the same way he tried to find Oblio and he would have found her. Also, if Mrs. Tan was alive she would have something to say to Dr. Tan about putting Oblio under mind control.

                                            Quoth the crow

Her death would be stressful for both of them not only because they love her (they probably did) but because it was probably her that kept Dr. Tan in check. And Dr. Tan was probably much more compliant towards his wife than towards his son (or perhaps Dr. Tan snapped after her death? Oh the tragedy!). Either way, Oblio probably felt that it was now his responsibility to look after Dr. Tan and keep him from being evil. Now with her gone, the only thing left for Dr. Tan is Oblio and this would lead to an unhealthy obsession with him because if Oblio is avoiding him and running away from him then he might as well be dead too. Putting him under control will ensure that Oblio would stay by his side because Dr. Tan is that desperate and he is not only obsessive but possessive.

                                              and how!

As for Oblio, I keep hearing he is antisocial. Maybe he is or maybe he isn’t; but if he is then he has a very good reason to be so. After all Dr. Tan did not hesitate to try to kill everyone (these people are probably the closest thing Oblio’s has to friends) by sending them to Jurassic Park. He is kind of yandere.

Some of the younger dancers are still traumatized by the “dinosaur incident”

AND

Poor Oblio’s backup dancer # 2, he never manage to confess his feelings.

If Oblio is feeling some angst is because he feels partly if not completely responsible for Dr. Tan’s actions which is a huge weight to carry on his shoulders. He probably feels like he has failed to keep Dr. Tan under control. Once he realized it was too late he probably ran away to try to warn somebody or get help in order to stop him. Poor Oblio, he seems like a nice, kind, caring, young man not at all like the I-hate-everyone type of person that some people seem to think he is like. If he didn’t care, he would have told you to go F yourself instead of cheering you on. As for my own personal opinion I think Oblio has 2 sides. Clearly if he is under a lot of stress he might not be the happy-go-lucky type of guy but I don’t think he is as antisocial as most people think. I mean he smiles a lot and I bet he has a fun side.

Oblio’s fun side

And Dr. Tan? Oblio is and will always be his greatest creation and he is all Dr. Tan has left but he needs to find himself a hobby that does not involve evil plans and realize that Oblio is a big boy now that needs his space and is perfectly capable of being on his own. I am sure he’ll visit every month and they can both talk about their love for Mrs. Tan, martial arts, crows, black nail polish, and dancing.