But I believe that despair is more formidable than hope could ever be!

[ He looks as threatening as can be, in his poor condition-- he used to look state of the line, after all. ]

Humans can choose, you know? So someone with enough hope could definitely inspire the hopeless, but someone filled with despair could do damage past the point of all hope. In the game of tug-of-war, I think despair has an edge.