credits to @Chakikiii on X Xen's Nice rants , theories & observations ! main socmed .. married to Nice since 13.4.'25


ᵎᵎ These are all personal observations, I don't read the character wikis nor listen to other people's thoughts on Nice or tbhx. If there are any similarities in what I say to what someone else said, it's purely a coincidence. dashed underlines are links to either the official website or fanwiki major spoilers ahead


Update log + comments ..
 7. sep — episode 23 released
fear infected Nice confirmed (a theory of mine I was too drunk to write down)
added two more prompts to things I'll touch on soon (X ringmaster, Nice victimhood)
edited out some points from my Nice symbolism analysis
added log
 9. sep — added my take on Shand grooming Nice ...
⠀14. sep — finale aired
⠀28. sep — added niceling rant


Facts we know !
Nice works for Treeman, one of the four main hero agencies, led by Shang De. Shand personally picked Nice to make him a hero and later revealed it was all to avenge his son, Shang Chao.
Lin Ling works as an advert writer in Treeman, specifically for Nice and Xiao Yueqing (Moon).
Nice's best, and most likely the only genuine friend he has is Wreck, who is heavily implied to harbor feelings for Nice. The two were separated by the roles of 'hero' and 'villain' in Treeman's program, and were only allowed to see each other when fighting in front of an audience.

(more tba, I'm too lazy for canon...)


Xen's collection of theories !
001 . Proving and disproving the "Nice faked his death" theory
Since the release of episode 22, lots of people have been speculating that X helped Nice fake his suicide because of the similarity in Nice's and X's leaps. While it would be absurd for Nice to copy X in the way he jumped to his death, it's not unlikely because Nice is easily influenced(ep19-22), but I believe this was a choice simply for consistency instead of foreshadowing.
What I can't argue with is the last scene of the outro. It shows a hand in the position usually used to show a dead person, grasping a white feather. Doves are one of Nice's most iconic symbols, showing up in his official art, visuals, and suicide scene. It's highly unlikely that any character would be shown with dove feathers other than Nice, so this could indicate he's alive.
On the other hand, X's snapping is a cosmic event. His snaps are very much visible to the audience(nearly every appearance), not so much the characters(Queen vs X fight). Nice was shown dead; he fell and bled out right in front of us, the audience, and Lin Ling. X can't resurrect people, nor can he hide his powers from us. Nice's suicide happened—it wasn't interrupted
002 .


Xen's observations !
official key visual
In Nice's official arts, the motif of doves and the golden ratio is often present, with doves even being featured in his suicide scene. Doves symbolize purity, peace, and freedom, while the golden ratio represents perfection, all adjectives that can be applied to Nice. I believe the doves in his suicide symbolize freedom and new beginnings, as it was the moment he was finally free from Shand and the pressures of being a hero. Although subtle, in the background of this specific visual is what seems like church gates, which is tied to the dove motif—a primarily religious symbol. screencap of Rock showing Dragon Boy a mural of Zero, e22 A lot of his visuals feature him in this pose with his arms spread open. The same pose is how Zero(the first ever hero who also achieved godhood, and later wreaked havoc) is always portrayed. Despite having a signature pose—his finger guns—the artists still decided to portray him in the same way they do Zero.
Nice and Shand's relationship, despite being obviously manipulative and having a clear power imbalance, also seems like a case of grooming. Shand is shown puppeteering Nice since he was still a child, which could explain why Nice is so compliant to Shand's orders, but he's also uncomfortable and scared around the man. No matter how close or acquainted the two are, a boss should never touch his employee the way Shand did, especially because they've known each other since Nice was a child. Wikipedia's definition of sexual grooming
Even though it isn't confirmed, To be hero X already proved that heavy implications are, in most cases, canon. Nice shows every sign of getting groomed by Shand, so it's unfair to rule it out as a possibility and invalidate him as a victim. (I'm aware Nice isn't a real person, he has no personhood to be deprived of and no experiences to be invalidated, but what's depicted in his arcs and character is the reality of, unfortunately, a lot of people, and it's unfair to them to brush off what Nice is representing)
Nice has no control over his life, having been controlled and manipulated by Shand since childhood until his death. He had absolutely no say in any of the orders Shand gave him, doing everything to avoid being discarded(skyscraper scene, lab scene) or even abused(photoshoot scene). I believe his way of coping with doing such horrible acts—the ruins incident, nearly killing Ahu and trying to get impoverished citizens evicted—is to disassociate and pretend he's doing it willingly. It's obvious he's not in the right headspace in both those scenes, even seemingly in a trance with the way he responded to Professor Luo(saying "Nice" as an introduction where it makes no sense to say it that way).


Rants !
Despite not knowing eachother, Nice and LinLing are practically made for eachother.
Selfcest is a popular trope when there exist two separate characters resembling one, or two different versions of the same character, nicest/nicecest/niceling is no different. The ship started only as that trope, but now that the series has ended, it's become apparent that it's the best Nice ship—even better than my yumeship at times.
At first, nicest got popular because of the 'emotional support civilian' au, when we didn't know anything about Nice. (more tba, I'm experiencing brain fog and can't formulate sentences)


Wip and tba list !
ᯓ Nice's victimhood and how it makes him the most mischaracterized character in the series
ᯓ downfall and commission
ᯓ timeline
ᯓ everything about the ruins incident

Edit

Pub: 17 May 2022 13:39 UTC

Edit: 28 Sep 2025 13:26 UTC

Views: 1322