I heard that Nomura said that there was supposed to be a lot more about Axel towards the end of the game, but it all had to be cut out for the same reason that the Roxas/Sora duel was just a cutscene and not an actual battle. Not enough time, not enough budget.
It's true that in the one cutscene where we see them interacting, Roxas doesn't seem to return the feelings Axel demonstrates for him -- or even show him any civility, technically. But I can't believe that Axel would have fallen quite so hard for him if Roxas was just a total unmitigated ass the whole time.
I think the most telling part is that Axel's not the one who claims they're best friends -- Namine is. Maybe Axel told her that and it stuck, but far more likely is that Namine, who knows Roxas the way she knows Sora, because Sora's heart "remembers" things that Roxas experienced, saw that in Roxas. The fact that she said that means that either A) Roxas felt that way, or B) an outside observer felt that way. Not just friends, but best friends, who stood together against others, against the world~~ So Roxas can't have acted like that all the time.
The canon evidence, honestly, points out exactly the dichotomy we're suggesting: that Roxas took him for granted. After Axel's death, Roxas finds the strength to command his Samurai again, drag Sora down into their heart, duel him. Roxas demands, "Why did [the keyblade] choose you," the same question he left OXIII to answer -- the question that started this whole chain of events. And the implied answer to that is "Because Sora's strength is his friends" -- an important plot point in the first game -- although it's never spoken aloud.
The reason why Roxas isn't strong enough to defeat Sora (and the reason why he left OXIII in the first place and started this chain of events) is because he never believed in Axel the way Axel believed in him.
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I heard that Nomura said that there was supposed to be a lot more about Axel towards the end of the game, but it all had to be cut out for the same reason that the Roxas/Sora duel was just a cutscene and not an actual battle. Not enough time, not enough budget.
It's true that in the one cutscene where we see them interacting, Roxas doesn't seem to return the feelings Axel demonstrates for him -- or even show him any civility, technically. But I can't believe that Axel would have fallen quite so hard for him if Roxas was just a total unmitigated ass the whole time.
I think the most telling part is that Axel's not the one who claims they're best friends -- Namine is. Maybe Axel told her that and it stuck, but far more likely is that Namine, who knows Roxas the way she knows Sora, because Sora's heart "remembers" things that Roxas experienced, saw that in Roxas. The fact that she said that means that either A) Roxas felt that way, or B) an outside observer felt that way. Not just friends, but best friends, who stood together against others, against the world~~ So Roxas can't have acted like that all the time.
The canon evidence, honestly, points out exactly the dichotomy we're suggesting: that Roxas took him for granted. After Axel's death, Roxas finds the strength to command his Samurai again, drag Sora down into their heart, duel him. Roxas demands, "Why did [the keyblade] choose you," the same question he left OXIII to answer -- the question that started this whole chain of events. And the implied answer to that is "Because Sora's strength is his friends" -- an important plot point in the first game -- although it's never spoken aloud.
The reason why Roxas isn't strong enough to defeat Sora (and the reason why he left OXIII in the first place and started this chain of events) is because he never believed in Axel the way Axel believed in him.
*they're the most tragic thing ever, weeps!*