YMMV / Rebel Geniuses

• Complete Monster: Ugalino, the Big Bad of Rebel Genius, was once Pietro's student until he made a Tulpa, a Golem-like creature with destructive capabilities. Rather than learn humility from being expelled, Ugalino used his Tulpa, which he named "Zanobius," to be a living weapon. He tries to paint himself as meaning well, but he used Zanobius to murder countless people, including Ozo's wife and daughter, regardless of whether or not it furthers his goals. He ripped his Genius Ciro's gem out of his head so that he could use its magic capabilities without needing to perform an act of art, which is shown to physically and psychologically damage Geniuses. When getting information out of Duke Oberta on the Creator's Compass, he repays him by having Zanobius slaughter almost everybody in his castle. With the information Oberta gave him, he went to Baldasarre's villa and he threatens Baldasarre's wife, prompting Enzio to tell him, and he then abducts Enzio so that he could lead them to the Compass. When the first location turned out to be an illusion, he uses Enzio as a sacrifice for a ritual that could lead him to the true location. Zanobius, who had developed a bond with Enzio during his captivity, stops Ugalino, only for him to be subjected to Mind Rape. When Ugalino catches up to Giacomo, he orders Zanobius to kill him and his friends, but Zanobius tries to rebel again, causing Ugalino—not for the first time—to give him Laser-Guided Amnesia. With Zanobius loyal to him again, he threatens to kill Aaminah if Giacomo didn't give him the Compass, and only lets them live because he found out Giacomo was a Tulpa and hoped to use him as a weapon. With the Compass in his possession, he intended to assassinate Nerezza, not caring who got killed in the crossfire.
• Genius Bonus:
  • Real Italian words and phrases are used frequently throughout the book, as real artistic terminology and techniques.
  • The idea of Sacred Geometry is actually a real thing.
• Heartwarming Moments: Aaminah telling Giacomo that she doesn't care that he's a Tulpa before hugging him.
• Jerkass Woobie: Ozo's prejudice against the Tulpas comes from losing his wife and daughter.
• Moral Event Horizon:
  • It's hard to say when Ugalino did. Somewhere between killing Ozo's family and using Enzio as a sacrifice so that he could find the Creator's Compass.
  • Nerezza crosses it so often, it's practically her front door. However, the earliest one was murdering her father because she didn't like how he was running the empire.

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