Hershel Layton is designed to be the perfect gentleman. This man is quiet, polite, respectful of everyone (especially ladies) and much prefers to use his brain to solve problems instead of his (canonically considerable) brawn. His main job is an archaeology professor. But at the slightest hint of his friends being in trouble or just something being dramatically impolite, Layton will drop what he can to help out.
And this is on top of his crappy backstory. He thinks his best friend dies and it's his fault, the love of his life dies in his arms (and after that finds her in the future were he solves one more case with her and then she goes back to die) He has someone chasing him for unknown reasons, Luke has to leave, and Emmy DOES NOT APPEAR in the chronologically later series.
And you know what? This guy keeps on smiling, keeps on trucking, saves the world/city on a repeated basis, and rarely raises his voice.
He's a huge breath of fresh air.
We live in a world where some of our greatest Video Game heroes are testosterone fueled anti heroes full of piss and vigor. They fight to get what they want, consider diplomacy a waste, and to save the world leave behind a swath of bodies.
This isn't Layton. We KNOW Layton's an excellent fencer, but the few times we've seen him use it, it's to save his life and others without hurting the person attacking him. He listens to everyone's problems and tries to solve them.
And through it, he's made some lasting changes. He's saved villages (And the city of London), he's rescued people not only from others but from their own hate. He's taken care of people who people have ignored. And, in turn, he asks for nothing. When the day is over, he thanks the people, goes home, and drinks some tea.
We need Layton. We need gentleman like this.We need characters who (if they were real) would sit down next to you, to let you cry into their shoulders, and as they console you, they help you up. They do not judge, they only listen and help. Someone who doesn't consider manners a weakness, instead the ability to care for everyone is a strength. A game where you have a loving teacher, not an angry sociopath. A character who's every celebration is for you as you rejoice in solving each brainteaser and when you fail they only offer help, but always just enough so you can solve the main part by yourself.
Riku: What are you making me choose now? DiZ: Between the road to light and the road to darkness. Riku: Neither suits me. I'm taking the middle road. DiZ: Do you mean the twilight road to nightfall? Riku: No. It's the road to dawn.
Sora, while the hero of Kingdom Hearts, is kind of blank, especially when compared to the around 5 people living in his heart. (Trust me, it makes slightly more sense in context)
Riku is much more complex. Riku is the could have been hero who followed the failures of his predecessors and found success.
For starters, Riku was selected by Terra to be the next Keyblade wielder. Terra ultimately let his anger take root in him and was taken over by Master Xehanort. So far, his true heart has not been discovered.
Riku, as he grew older, grew restless over his inability to experience the outside world. He knew it existed, when he met Terra he knew Terra wasn't from Destiny Islands immediately. And that knowledge that there WAS something outside his idyllic island life gnawed at him.
So, he decided to make a raft and leave. Or that's what he said. The night before Sora and Kairi planned on leaving with him, he opened up the Heart of the World to connect it to the Darkness so he could use it to travel. After all, he wasn't scared of the Darkness.
At this point, he mostly disappears from the first game until around mid to late game. What we DO see is Maleficent slowly seducing him to evil. Maleficent manipulates situations so it looks like Sora is ignoring Riku. She asks him to do little evil things for him in order for her to help him find Kairi. She gives him power over the Heartless. And this power he accepts. He never really revels in it, but he takes it as a necessary evil in order to find his friend Kairi. And it works, mostly. He kidnaps Jasmine, he uses the Heartless to attack Sora on Captain Hook's ship, and he does find Kairi.
So, he claims the keyblade back. It was supposed to be his, after all. He summons it from Sora and leaves Sora out in the open.
Sora, though, manages to summon the Keyblade back later. Riku loses and then Ansem comes, offering him power.
(start at 7:55)
Riku accepts, and mostly disappears for the rest of the game. Ansem has taken him over. Riku is somewhat aware of what is going on during the takeover. Ansem and Riku's voices overlap. Sometimes, especially when talking about Kairi, Riku's voice is stronger and overwhelms Ansem. When Ansem attempts to kill Kairi, Riku manages to physically hold him back for a short time. The only time his heart/soul appears after that, is when Sora is attempting to shut some doors to seal the Darkness away, but Riku would be trapped on the wrong side. Riku tells him to do it anyway, and to take care of Kairi.
Then Chain of Memories happened. In Chain of Memories, Riku is a playable character with his own story line. In it, Riku must grapple with his use of Darkness. Vexen makes a copy of him, Lexaeus tells him he should accept the Darkness so he can't be destroyed from the inside out, He has to face a clone of himself who revels in the darkness, and then Zexion tries to trick him to drown in either light or darkness. Of course, this is not counting Ansem constantly trying to use him as a vessel (and he's working independently of the Organization) and Ansem the Wise/DiZ imitating Ansem to try to get Riku to work for him.
Then Namine comes in to save him. She tells him that Riku is both Light and Dark, and while neither side can claim him, his path is wide open to do what he wishes, and he can use both to save every World. That's what he needed to hear. He manages to defeat Ansem's conciousness, seals him away himself, and goes off to save everything with King Mickey. (This is where his quote at the top of the page comes in.)
That's the plan anyway. 358/2 shows he had a lot of trouble with the plan. Ansem's heart continuted to bother him, so he left Mickey to travel the worlds by himself. He rejoined Ansem the Wise/DiZ. He half kidnapped half saved Namine. He covers his eyes with a blindfold. He stalks Xion to figure her out,and ends up becoming close with her. He helps her figure out what exactly she is, who she keeps on dreaming about, and what she is supposed to do. After she returns to Sora through Roxas (Sora's nobody. LONG story), Roxas challenges Riku. Roxas and Riku fight to a stand still, but Riku wins... by tapping so deep into Darkness he embraces Ansem in his heart. And by embracing Ansem, he turns into Ansem.
This is where Kingdom Hearts 2 picks up chronologically. Riku is sulking behind the scenes. He watches over Roxas in the digital world. When Sora wakes up, Riku keeps an eye on both him and Kairi. He fights Sora in the "Land of Dragons" for unknown reasons, he saves Kairi the first time Axel tries to kidnap her, but he generally stays out of the way until the last level.
In the last level, he finally managed to rescue Kairi and Namine, he helps Sora in a fight by holding off Heartless, he gives Kairi a keyblade, Kairi shows Sora that the Ansem:SoD who's been following them around is actually Riku after he tried to leave, and he protects the group after DiZ blows up a fake Kingdom Hearts (again, makes somewhat more sense in context)
The blowing up did have a good side effect, it gave him his body back. He fully reclaimed his identity as Riku. He helped Sora defeat Xemnas. He used some dark abilities to protect them, Sora gave him a keyblade to use, and while he is injured in the final battle, he doesn't fade. Instead, he finally manages to return home with a clear concious.
His story does NOT end there (In all seriousness, this has taken quite a chunk of time) After an undetermined amount of time, Riku has (FINALLY!) Cut his hair, and YenSid (as the only master currently in existence) offers to give him and Sora a Test of Mastery. There's a lot of dream craziness, but Riku finds himself being stalked by Ansem:SoD and Young Xehanort throughout the game. They begin by urging him to fall to the darkness. To accept his fate as Ansem:SoD's pawn. Riku, however, continually refuses. Then he runs into either the image of himself or Repliku. We're not given clear notice either way. As time goes on, Young Xehanort eventually appears to tell him Riku is no longer needed, especially because Riku is firmly set in such a way so he can not fully succumb to darkness or light. So Chernabog is to kill him.
After that, Riku FINALLY manages to track Sora down... and finds out he's been captured by the new Organization to be the Thirteenth Vessel for Master Xehanort. (Again, makes slightly more sense in context). Riku, of course, says that is a horrible idea and manages to mostly hold the possession off. Mostly, because after that point he can't wake him up.
As it turns out, Riku knew something was wrong from the beginning and became a dreameater for Sora's dream and protected him through that. So, to wake Sora up, he'd have to go BACK into the dream and defeat a shadow version of Sora wrapped up in Ven's armor then answer questions from Roxas, Ven, and Xion (while not knowing who Ven or Xion are) then finally making it back and finding out he's the new keyblade master.
(Deep breath) Okay, got all of that? Yeah, it's a bit of a doozy.
So, let's analyze all of this.
First off, Riku may value freedom highly, but he always valued his friends more. When he left, he did seem to want to talk his friends with him. When his friends are in danger, he will do anything to protect him. Kairi lost without a heart? He'll drown in darkness to get her back. Sora's currently drowning in darkness? He'll risk his life to wake him up. Random person who's in trouble in the world? He'll protect them. Mickey has a very high priority since the two are besties (and I can't show it here.) As for Xion? Well, he did all he could to save her, even when he knew he would forget her. Even though Xion had to go back to Sora, he still tried to find a way for her to exist separately from Sora at the same time. As of right now, it hasn't worked out but it still may in the future.
Second: When it comes to him falling to Darkness, he fully admits he was wrong but he not only tries to fix it but to keep people from following him. In other words, he may be a kind of anti Xehanort. He understands that what he did was wrong, even if he may end up becoming the most powerful and wise keyblade master because of it, and he is willing to sit down and explain why it worked for him but it wouldn't really work for anyone else.
Third: He's blunt. If something isn't going to work, he's going to say so and say why.
Fourth: He's very focused. When Shiki attempts to flirt with him, he doesn't know how to react and he freezes up. He wants to save Kairi, he WILL save Kairi. He wants to save Sora, he WILL save Sora and ignore all the other distractions, unless they are "The world will be destroyed" type of distractions. Those cross his path quite frequently.
Fifth: He's very compassionate. He knows what it's like to be wrong, to face the darkness, so when people face any sort of problems, he wants to sit down and talk it out. He wants to make sure they are okay before he moves on. He doesn't worry about anyone's pride, but he can tell when people need help and he'll reach out.
Sixth: He's focused on redemption. He knows he screwed up in KH1, and he's spends the rest of his time trying to fix it. It may not always be right, and it takes a while for him to get there, but he's always eying the possibility that he can do something to save the worlds and everyone in it. And if he gets redemption, then so can everyone.
Riku is one of my favorite characters, especially from Kingdom Hearts. Riku is complex, sympathetic, and caring. So, what will he do when the games start up again? Especially as he is know the universe's only Keyblade Master.
Marluxia, the (sort of) first Big Bad of the Organization. (Although, the Final Mixes throw a boss battle with Xemnas in KH1)
He is also a localizer's nightmare. He's got a giant pink scythe, a flower motif, and his frightening motif is based dramatically more in Japanese ideas then American ideas with no real way to explain them in text.
Marluxia is based on the ideas of Shinigami, the Japanese version of the Grim Reaper. However, the idea of the Grim Reaper didn't make it to Japan until around the 1800's (by which time the European and American ideas of the Grim Reaper were already firmly established) the Japanese ideas of Shinigami tend to be a bit... wide ranging.
The World Ends With You Shinigamis (they are called Reapers in the localization) are completely different from the Bleach Shinigamis which are, in turn, different from Death Note.
Examples: The World Ends With You:
Generic Reaper:
Bleach Shinigami:
Death Note
The flowers, on the other hand, are Cherry Blossoms. In Japanese mythology, Cherry Blossoms are connected with the fleetingness of life. So those flowers that accompany him everywhere? It's him saying "YOU ARE GOING TO DIE."
These subconscious cues are very important. These should be our ways to let the player know his motif and powers.
And, in cases like this, normally there would be text inserted to explain the powers. Unfortunately, there was no space to do it with Chain of Memories, so these cues are lost on non Japanese audiences.
When I started to pay attention to Bioshock, it was because of the moral issues presented in the story.
After I started to play the game, a character stood out to me. Doctor Brigid Tenenbaum. She's one of our main viewpoints throughout Rapture. She's a genius, she's a holocaust survivor, she caused the downfall of Rapture. She's working on fixing it.
We have a very flawed woman at the core of the Rapture story. And in those flaws she can explore every side of Rapture. Her backstory has her as a Holocaust survivor, but she was a bit more than that. She joined the Nazis because they offered her science and survival. Even though she was Jewish. Even though she was a woman. Even though she was trying to do genetics. And survive she did. She went along with experiments on her own people because she wanted to find out why people were the way they were. Smart, dumb, strong, weak, blond, brunette. What was genetics, how did it control who we were, and could it be changed?
And when she arrived in Rapture, it was for the same reason. Survival. A Jewish ex Nazi female scientists would NOT have done well in the world outside. The Jewish People weren't that well respected, and the fact that she was a female Ex Nazi scientist would have kept people from hiring her anyway. So, Andrew Ryan offers her another option. Survival. Survive in the underwater world of Rapture. Survive in a world where you can do your science no matter what and no one knows who you truly are. She accepts.
She arrives in Rapture and in a chance walk along the docks she discovers what will change Rapture forever. ADAM. She knows that there is a dock worker who had injured his hand in World War II. She knew that as of yesterday that man was still injured. She knows that today she is watching him play catch with the injured hand. He gives her a slug, and she begins her research. This is her way to survive here. In the world of Rapture, your life is dependent on how much and how hard you work. She doesn't run a shop, she doesn't work in a hospital. Her job is to do science. That may not always pay. Especially when you are a female scientist in the strange and new world of genetics. So, she goes to Frank Fontaine. The man with the money. The man with the ties. The black market man. More importantly, money is survival. It's her way to work in Rapture, otherwise, she'll be ignored and beaten by the masses again. Like always, she chooses survival.
And, eventually, chooses her own. She makes the discovery of several lifetimes. ADAM. Something that can rewrite anyone's genetic structure. Something that can fulfill her wildest dreams. It also causes physical degregation, insanity, increased rage, and addiction. She still goes through with it. She gets her money, Fontaine gives her protection. She, as always, SURVIVES. She survives at the cost of Rapture, at the cost of the little girls.
Yes, the Little Sisters. she creates them. ADAM is starting to run thin, the insanity is starting to break out so they have these ADAM filled bodies. And Tenenbaum figures out that putting the slug that creates ADAM into a young female hose will cause it to yield three times the ADAM when the host ingests it. It guarantees her job, so she tries to perfect it. She is probably involved in the Big Daddy side of it, where they turn political prisoners into mindless and ADAM drenched beasts. It guarantees her survival.
Until she spends just a BIT too much time around the Little Sisters. When she finds people who love her no matter what she's done. People who will probably die soon because of how she put survival before everything.
She changes then. Slowly, but significantly, she begins to unwind her ideology and begins to put the other children first.
Please understand that like all I've done, this... is an act of love."
Sofia Lamb is the villain of Bioshock 2. Much like Andrew Ryan, we never fight her. Unlike Andrew Ryan, her death is entirely due to our choices in the game. (See here for more information)
Sofia Lamb is never mentioned in Bioshock 1, but plays a large part in it's backstory. Before Rapture, she worked as a psychiatrist. She grew up under her father, a physician who believed in a "Triage" philosophy. Namely, things should be done for the greater good. Later on, she worked in Hiroshima as medical personnel during World War II. While she survived the bombings, her friends did not. Around this time Andrew Ryan came to her. She believed the world was going to Hell and was in the process of destroyingitself, so she accepted his offer and joined him in Rapture.
In Rapture, she began to make a name for herself. She offered free psychiatry sessions to the poor, intentionally lost poker games so the person with the most to gain got the money, and set up a place for artists to work. While these would normally be good things, things quickly escalated due to the interference of Andrew Ryan. Andrew Ryan believed that the harder you worked, the more you were rewarded. If you had trouble financially, it was your fault and you should suffer for it. In addition, he had no use for art. Andrew Ryan arranged debates to weaken her position. But in the increasingly stifling atmosphere of Rapture (due to Fontaine, the discovery of ADAM and it's side effects) Andrew Ryan instituted rules and methods that were increasingly draconian and betrayed his ideology. During this time, she took genetic material and had a daughter.
(watch Eleanor's Progress, but the other videos do explain her ideology.)
Her supporters began to organize into a religion, and since religion was illegal in Rapture, Ryan arrested her. He made evidence of her existence disappear, but the poor never forgot her.
In 1958, she escaped from the prison colony "Persephone" and used the confusion of the attack on Kashmir Restaurant to take back her daughter, Eleanor, who had turned into the first Little Sister. To do that, she had splicers sacrifice themselves so that Delta would be hit by a "Hypnotize Big Daddy" plasmid. She then ordered Delta to shoot herself in the head in front of Eleanor
Eleanor is taken back to Persephone and injected with ADAM so she can possess the entirety of Rapture in herself. Everyone's thoughts, memories, powers, Lamb believed that her daughter was the "Utopian" who could possess everyone within her. She would work only to help other people, she would be compelled to.
As Delta journeys through the game, he finds out things about Sofia Lamb. She murders anyone who attempts to flee Rapture. She uses both the Splicers, rogue Big Daddies, and Big Sisters as weapons. As long as their ADAM is returned to the cycle, she does not care about what happens to them. She kidnapped Mark Meltzer and turned him into a Big Daddy. She also kidnapped an unknown number of girls to become new Little Sisters once the old ones grew up and became crazy.
In the end, she smothers Eleanor because she knows that will slowly kill Delta (therefore he will be unable to revive) and then she detonates Persephone because she realized that she failed.
In the end of the game, Eleanor uses the freedom of choice that Delta gave her to either forgive Sofia, ignore her death, or actively murder her
What do we know?
1) She originally started out as a good person. "The Greater Good" is something that has been desired for years. She sincerely wanted to help people when she arrived in Rapture. Her ideas were good, but Rapture sickness gets to everybody and she very quickly went to the absolute extremes
2) She's uncaring. All Mark Meltzer wanted was to be with his daughter. All other people wanted was to escape. She denied all of these. She ordered Splicers to go on suicide missions to stop and/or control Delta. She turned Sinclair into an Alpha Big Daddy against his will. She suffocated Eleanor Lamb. She does not care about other people.
3) She does not care about choice. What Bioshock 2 emphasizes throughout it's gameplay and story is the ability for people to choose their fate. Mark Meltzer did not get much of a choice, but he still chose. Sofia Lamb eliminates all major choice from life. Instead of asking if Eleanor wanted to be the utopian, she forced it on her.
People often despise Sofia Lamb more then Andrew Ryan or Frank Fontaine. It's not due to love of capitalism. Instead, it is the horror at how she twists something so good and turns herself into a villain.
Kyle Hyde is the main character of Hotel Dusk, Room 215 and it's sequel The Last Window. (Spoilers ahead. I have not completed Last Window so I will only talk up to the point I completed) Both were DS games released by the now defunct company Cing. The games are animated via water color backgrounds and rotoscoped characters. The gameplay is very similar to Ace Attorney. There is a lot of reading, deducing, and a good amount of problem solving. However, while Ace Attorney takes place in a particularly zany court of law in the future, Kyle Hyde lives in a noirish 1970's Los Angeles. (The eponymous "Hotel Dusk" is a roadside Hotel.)
Kyle Hyde is a retired New York Police Detective. Several years ago, his partner, a man named Bradley, began to do some undercover work against a criminal organization called Nile. Bradley beings to act weird and Kyle finds out that Bradley is actually a dirty cop. Kyle chases Bradley down to the docks and then shoots him when Bradley wouldn't surrender. Bradley fell into the water and disappeared. Kyle was fired from the force and got a job working at Red Crown Delivery Services. It's a door to door salesman job with a side business of finding things that may not want to be found. It's not specifically illegal, but it's not promoted in their fliers either.
Years go by, and Kyle finds himself at Hotel Dusk. In one of those coincidences that only work in pieces of media, every single person in the Hotel has something to do with at least one other person. Some of those people deal with Bradley, others do not.
In the course of one night at Hotel Dusk, Kyle finally manages to find out what happened to Bradley. Nile had found out Bradley was an undercover cop and kidnapped his sister. If he didn't do what they said, then his sister would die. They killed her anyway. However, Bradley survived being shot at by Kyle and made his way around the US and eventually lures Kyle to Hotel Dusk in order for him to solve pretty much everything.
Which he does. In the space of one night, he reunites families, solves almost everything with Bradley (All Kyle knew when he entered was that Bradley was dirty, not why or what happened after) takes care of little girls who can't talk, and solves the mystery of an old painter that isn't really that old.
Then we get to Last Window. While Kyle has stopped searching for Bradley, he is in a complete funk. A forgotten job leads to Kyle yelling at his boss and Kyle being fired. He mopes, distrusts his neighbors, finds out his apartment is being sold in the upcoming weeks and someone personally gives him an order for something to find. Oh, and someone is snooping into his past.
Also, in the process of doing this, I realized exactly how much I forgot about Hotel Dusk.
What do we know about Kyle?
1) He needs a reason. Once Kyle lost his reason for living (searching for Bradley) he turned into a laze about. He was much more focused in Hotel Dusk then Last Window. When he has no reason to do anything, he falls apart. He just simply doesn't know what to do with himself.
2) He's clever. The puzzles he solves are an extension of the player themselves. And make no mistake, the puzzles can get tricky. And Kyle solves them. He also solves the plot focused puzzles. The ones about Bradley, Mila, his mysterious neighbors, all of them. He was also a detective before that. He knows how to solve problems.
3) He actually does care about the people around him. While he may not seem like the ideal candidate, he IS the person who solved several other people's problems and reunited families. Then there are the side incidents. He made a Christmas Tree for Melissa and Mila in Hotel Dusk. He got Helen and Martin to meet up (While not family, they did share a past) and he got Melissa's father to actually connect with her. And that's not mentioning him reuniting Dunner and his daughter.
Kyle Hyde is one of my favorite protagonists. Unfortunately, I can not do him justice. He can be a huge jerk, but underneath that facade is a very frustrated and very caring detective.
In a series full of nightmare inducing Disney villains, Darkness which can steal your heart and render you evil, Vanitas, and each hero has the very real chance of failing, Master Xehanort is easily one of the most terrifying things in the games. I've already gone over his costume, but I want to talk about HIM. (Spoilers, obviously)
Master Xehanort is the cause of everything that goes wrong in the Kingdom Hearts universe. At some point several years (probably decades) before the game begins, Master Xehanort and Master Eraqus were students together, in fact they consider each other like brothers. It was at this time Master Xehanort began to get interested in darkness and it's place in the universe. He disregarded his master's advice and began to travel without the armor that keyblade wielders use to protect themselves.
(Example: Ven's armor)
Xehanort and Eraqus both passed the exam and became Masters. But while Eraqus was allowed to take over as the main master and to teach at the Land of Departure, Xehanort was not allowed this privilege. He instead went off to travel and find himself.
Just before and during this time, he did a lot of research into Darkness, the worlds, and an incident known as the "Keyblade War" He eventually theorized that 'Kingdom Hearts' existed and should be brought out for the sake of the universe. To do THAT he needed a clash of light and darkness in order to make the X-blade (pronounced keyblade) which would summon Kingdom Hearts and he could unlock it. He would presumably gather that power for himself. He mentioned his plans to Master Eraqus but... it didn't go well.
(Yes, that's Spock and Luke Skywalker arguing)
The two split, Xehanort realized he was getting too old, took Ven in, and then proceeded to split him into Light and Dark (which created Vanitas). During this time, Eraqus took in Aqua and Terra, and then Birth By Sleep happened.
In Birth By Sleep, Master Xehanort appears in the beginning of the game. He drops Ven off on Destiny Islands to die, then the game cuts to years later. The next time he appears he manipulates Terra's Mark of Master Exam so Terra loses, proceeds to badmouth Eraqus to Terra before offering to be his new master and to teach him how Darkness can be used for good. At the same time, Vanitas has been sent to drive Ven out of the Land of Departure. Xehanort shows up a few other times to drive Terra to submit to darkness. He calls Vanitas his greatest mistake. He arranges his own kidnapping by Braig. And when Terra finally relents and willingly uses Darkness against his master, Master Xehanort kills Master Eraqus in front of Terra before disappearing.
Which means that Master Xehanort won at the end. He seduced Terra towards darkness, cultivated Terra's anger then took over Terra's mind and body, giving Master Xehanort a new body of his own. Vanitas and Ven did merge to make the X-blade in a clash of light and dark. Ven managed to break it back apart but he almost died in the process. Aqua saved Terranort before vanishing to the Realm of Darkness, but doing so caused the entire rest of the series to happen.
What do we know?
1) He's inquisitive and intelligent. The ENTIRETY of Kingdom Hearts so far started because Master Xehanort was curious about Kingdom Hearts and the Keyblade War. He also figured out Terra would be a good replacement body for him. He managed to reconstruct a large part of the history of the worlds, Kingdom Hearts, and the Keyblade War, all of which were considered lost to history. This is partly due to his ability to look at questionable sources, but considering how one of those sources was Maleficent and he not only survived meeting her but managed to set her up for Kingdom Hearts 1 does indicate his intelligence.
2) He's manipulative. Master Xehanort has been missing for ten years before Kingdom Hearts 1 starts. He almost succeeds with his plan during Kingdom Hearts 1, despite not actually being present. Kingdom Hearts is almost unlocked. In fact, it would have done so if not for the fact Sora (possibly because of Ven who is living inside his heart) managed to stop Ansem: Seeker of Darkness at the last minute. The entire plot of Kingdom Hearts 1 happened because ten years ago he talked to Maleficent about the Princesses of Heart. Then other parts happened because Ansem: Seeker of Darkness (who is more Master Xehanort then Terra) talked Riku into using Darkness. Did I mention that Ansem: Seeker of Darkness didn't have a body until Riku submitted to Darkness?
And that's not touching on Birth By Sleep. He goes through almost the entire game without using his weapon. The only time he uses it before the Keyblade Graveyard is when he kills Master Eraqus, and the act is hard to see while the Keyblade itself doesn't even appear. This means he manages to doom the entire universe while only lifting his weapon twice. He manipulated Maleficent, Braig (turning him into one of the most dangerous and knowledgeable Nobodies as Xigbar), Master Eraqus, possibly Vanitas (their relationship is... complicated and we don't get much insight into it), Terra, Ven, and Aqua. Even if VAT managed to stop the worst of it, they still are out of commission until Sora rescues them... 12 years later.
3) He's ruthless. He tried to destroy the universe, split Ven's heart, and killed someone he loved as a brother in order to restart the Keyblade War just to find out what happened.
4) He's charismatic. Maybe not quite as much as some other characters, but the fact is, the only person who knows that Master Xehanort is evil (Before he killed Master Eraqus) was Braig, who Master Xehanort had filled in on the entire plot.
I really can't wait until Master Xehanort returns. He's so utterly evil, but that is what makes him so terrifying and so much fun to watch. You want to strangle him, you KNOW he's the ultimate villain (partly from costumes, partly because the opening of the game used the Kingdom Hearts II FM ending which was the climax of Birth By Sleep) and yet you can not help but watch him destroy everything.
Our job is to find truth, no matter how painful it may be.
Miles Edgeworth is a critical part of the Ace Attorney franchise. (Because Ace Attorney Investigations 2 has not been localized for the west and the AAI series takes place after the main games, I will focus on the main games. As always, Spoilers ahead)
We meet Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth in case 1-2. (Turnabout Sisters) He explains that he has decisive evidence, has never lost a case, and he strives to find EVERY defendant guilty. Rumors persist of bribes to judges, doctored evidence, and back room deals so the defendants are always convicted. Several times in the series it's revealed he asked people to keep quiet on parts of what they saw or heard so it helps his case. You hate him with every fiber of your being.
The guilty will always lie, to avoid being found out. There's no way to
tell who is guilty and who is innocent! All that I can hope to do is get
every defendant declared "guilty"! So I make that my policy.
As such, he is the polar opposite of our cheerful and snarky Main Character, Defense Attorney Phoenix Wright, who believes in his clients no matter what. This is even more striking when it's revealed that Phoenix and Miles used to be friends.
Over the course of the game, we see him loosen up slightly. Wendy Oldbag gets him visibly flustered and he tells Will Powers that he (Edgeworth) is a fan. And then he is arrested for murder.
He refuses Phoenix's help a few times, but then we see the first true weakness. A minor earthquake hits while Phoenix and Miles are talking about the case. Phoenix and Maya are fine, but Miles is curled up in a fetal position on the floor. A little more digging into his past reveals that when he was young, he had been trapped in an elevator with his father(A defense attorney) and a baliff because an earthquake shut off the power. His father was shot in that elevator and Miles Edgeworth has spent every night after that dreaming that he shot his father. While it was eventually revealed that he did not commit the murder he was accused of, he then confessed to killing his father. Phoenix pulled out all the stops and managed to mount a case that proved not only was Miles innocent, but that the person who raised Miles after his father's death was guilty! ( I am hugely simplifying this case. Play it, please. I'm leaving out most of the DL-6, Yani Yogi, the reason why Miles doesn't believe Maya can summon the dead. There's just alot here that I can't talk about right now)
After this he only showed up in the final cases of games 2 and 3. Despite this, his presence is felt. Phoenix believes that he committed suicidein game 2 because he was ashamed of how the last few cases ended. This makes it even more amazing when it's revealed he's actually been living internationally and was the one who gave the key evidence in Phoenix's last trial. When he finally enters a court room again, he reveals what he is now fighting for, the truth.
He will find the truth, no matter what. He will use the truth to convict the guilty. And he will do it while remaining above the law. There is reason why his theme is "Great Revival"
So, what does all this tell about him?
He's human. While it may seem obvious, we can easily find these little chinks in his armor that show how human he is. He is terrified of Earthquakes (the AAI series expands this to elevators also) When he heard Phoenix was dying, he flew half way around the world to see him one last time and finish his case. (This turns out to be completely false. Phoenix and Miles share a grade school friend named "Larry Butz" and Larry has a tendency to exaggerate.). He's launched task forces to save Maya at least twice, and he is secretly a fan of the Steel Samurai (this was hinted at several times in the main series, but received more focus in AAI)
He's stubborn, but not stupid. Through out the series he's stuck to whatever he believes is true. He's believed Maya killed her sister, that he killed his father, and all defendants are guilty. (This last bit may be part of a guilt complex. He believes he killed his father, they already convicted his father's killer, so he prosecutes everyone else to make up for it) But when enough solid evidence comes to light that shows his ideas may be wrong, he rethinks the idea and chooses what he believes is the truth. It may be the old idea, but it can also be the new one.
He really does want to do the right thing. Living with prosecutors made him chose the prosecutor path over the defense path, but the right thing is what he wants to do. When he believes all defendants are guilty he pursues that path, but when he realizes he was wrong he adopts his new path and continues to follow it. He will fight tooth and nail for what he believes is the right thing to do. This has included randomly objecting to buy Phoenix time, having the defense call witnesses, BEING a defense attorney at least once, and stepping in to prosecute when his adopted sister was shot (she survived).
There is quite a few reasons why Miles Edgeworth a fan favorite character, and I've barely gone into any depth (and I've left AAI out of this analysis) Play the games, see why Miles is so great.
Post fifty already? Wow. Thank you for reading and commenting! (And if you don't comment, drop by and say hi! I don't bite!)
Anyway, Jade. Jade is from Beyond Good and Evil (Spoilers below)
She looks fairly normal (other then the green) Her job is somewhat normal (she takes care of orphaned children and is a freelance photographer. The game takes place in wartime, so orphaned children can be expected) When we meet Jade (the game does not open up on her, but she appears in a few minutes) she is meditating with a goat like child. Soon after, Aliens attack and she tries to run to the house to engage the shield. She makes it to the house, but she doesn't have enough money for electricity so she has to defend her house and her wards. These four things give us a good idea on what she is like. 1) She's peaceful (or at least tries to be) 2) she's cares for other people 3) She's broke 4) she can fight. Two and Three together tells us that she probably spends her money on items for the house and kids rather then herself.
The rest of the game is spent tracking down the Aliens responsible for attacking their planet and tying them to the people who are supposed to protect their planet. While tracking down mysteries and animals (she's a photographer and right now she is cataloging animals for pay) she keeps on getting... flashes. It's either memories or telepathy, but the voice keeps on calling someone "Shauni". Jade then uses that term as her code name. The voice tells her to surrender to the invaders. She refuses. The children she was watching get taken, her father figure gets captured, but she keeps on trucking. She works her way into secret base, rescues everyone she can find, and discovers something: She is Shauni. She is what the aliens were searching for. She is magic. Magic hasn't been brought up in the world of Beyond Good and Evil, it's all implied science. She is someone who is BEYOND it. She is implied to be a force, something that could be beyond good and evil.
But she isn't. She makes an honest wage, she has friends, she takes care of children, she has adopted family, she risks her life for the truth and she would prefer to be non violent. She wants to stop the invasion by people realizing what is going on, not by forcing them to an answer.
She could awaken limitless power, but she doesn't. She'd rather stay as a poor, honest, caring, peaceful woman then do anything else.
There is a reason why Mark was a late addition to the game... (Bioshock 2 Spoilers)
Mark Meltzer was created for the Bioshock ARG called "There's Something in the Sea" He was an unknown character at first, just someone filling in a map. The map has news paper clippings, photographs, and notes talking about the disappearances of several little girls who fit a certain profile.... ages 5 to 7 with dark hair. Late in phase one, we find out the person who filled in the map just lost his own daughter to the monster, and we find out his name is Mark Meltzer.
Mark is revealed over the story to be smart and dedicated. He's being threatened by a mysterious force over the story and as a result he loses his daughter, his wife, and his status. He has friends in odd places (such as the National UFO society) but by looking at unconventional data he managed to pull together a picture of the disappearances. Either as a threat or encouragement, the Big Sister who threatened him may be the one who is leaving him clues.
He receives a record, puzzle boxes, and drawings from a mysterious place underneath the sea. Above the sea, he finds information about people who just disappeared after world war two (such as Andrew Ryan, Dr. Suchong, Dr. Tenenbaum, Sander Cohen... the citizens of Rapture) and maybe where Rapture existed. The information and it's sources get more and more outlandish, but there can be no denying that the information fits. Eventually he makes his way into Rapture.
Once he arrives there, he gathers information about the Splicers and about his daughter.
We lose his audio diaries, but he fills in important pieces of the puzzle. And then we learn his fate.
So, what do we know about Mark?
He's incredibly loving. He was worried about a series of disappearances. He had nothing to do with the vanishings, but he looked into them anyway. When he lost his daughter to The Big Sister, he didn't give her up as dead, he looked even harder.
He's devoted and determined. Mark searched for months. He lived through revolts, mental institutions, assassination attempts, puzzles, Splicers, and Big Sisters in order to get Cindy (and the other girls) back. The only reason he stopped looking is because he found her. Which then lead to him being captured, but that is because relief dulled his senses.
He's human. Through the letters and phone calls we find out about a very devoted man. He has friends, family, interests... we don't see that in Rapture. People are usually very extreme and violent due to ADAM splicing, but he has none of that. He occasionally fights back in Self Defense. He doesn't have a madness mantra. We see him leaving his hat around his apartment, we hear him worry about money, we read about how he was tricked or how he went down the wrong path in his search, we notice how he keeps photos of his family around. We may not know all of his little quirks, but it is enough. We root for him because we see that he is, entirely, human.
He's clever. First, he manages to FIND Rapture, a city in the middle of the sea who's location has been hidden for years. The clues are scattered and obtuse, but Mark puts them together and actually discovers Rapture. Jack and Delta also found Rapture, but Jack was manipulated into finding Rapture and Delta's outside Rapture status is only hinted at in a conversation that calls him "Johnny Topside" Both Jack and Delta found Rapture years ago. Mark found it in 1968. The developers stated that the enemies of Bioshock 2 would be more powerful. Jack (the Player Character from the last game) would probably die if he entered into Rapture now. Jack, canonically, gets at least one splice and quite a few weapons. Mark has... a pistol. That's it. He has to think and plan his way through Rapture in order to avoid Splicers and find Cindy. And in that he gets about half way through Rapture and the only reason the Big Sister surprises him is because he's in shock from seeing Cindy.
And then we get right back to loving. Between losing his identity to protect Cindy or simply dying, he chooses to be with Cindy.
Not bad for a character who isn't supposed to exist.... Well, originally. During the "There's Something in the Sea" viral campaign, Irrational Games revealed Mark's address. People started to send him fan letters. The campaign became more interactive because of the support and Mark was put into the game, along with Cindy. (due to time constraints, Cindy's model doesn't have blond hair and a planned trophy for rescuing Cindy was cut) When Mark was put in, originally he was to follow Delta but the final product had it the other way around.
Mark is one of my favorite characters. He's loving, devoted, determined, and tragic. There's a reason why fans were devestated to find that Big Daddy they just killed was Mark, and the Sister is Cindy. He was something you don't see in Rapture and we loved him for it. He was a devoted, human, father.
Since Final Fantasy VI debuted on the PSN today, I thought I would analyze Terra (spoilers ahead) I should also note, she's not my favorite character, Cyan is. But, I'm saving Cyan for my birthday or something.
Well, Terra is (arguably) the lead character. And she's half human. I know she doesn't look like it, but she's half esper.
This is actually not only critical to the plot but to her personality. Esper's have great control over magic, but in doing so have very little emotions. While Terra can feel emotions, if she does so it is at the expense of her magic. Well, at least initially. Eventually she finds out that emotional disturbances end up disrupting her magic. Like making it ceasing to work.
Or turning her into this:
Which is why the Empire put her in a slave crown at the beginning of the game. She has immense power, but she's also very kind and can not work properly when under stress (like in battle).
So, if she doesn't like battle, why does she fight?
Because she has a reason. She wants to find out who she is, and she knows the empire doesn't want to share it. So, she joins up with Locke to find out... plus now that she's free she realized the Empire is in the wrong. But, she doesn't realize that anything is particularly odd with her, until she uses Magic in front of Edgar. Upon finding out that she is different, she looks to find out what she can do to "fix" her...
But instead, finds out that she can't understand love. She has no idea what it is, or how she should recognize it.
This search is a key part of her character. To quote her, "I want to know what love is NOW!" She wants to know how she's different, she wants to know why, she wants to fall in love.
And she does, but in a wonderful twist, it's not with a person...
Not any one person.
Instead, once they fail utterly and Kefka destroys the world, she takes over a small village and takes care of the kids. It is there she finds love. Not in one person, but in a village of children that would not have survived if she hadn't stepped in. And she couldn't use her magic until she realized that she loved her kids and she wanted to protect them.
It is also what allows her to survive after the end too.
Love motivates many of the characters in Final Fantasy VI. But, you'll have to play it to find out everyone else's love. (And don't forget to sleep in inns with Shadow)
This is one of my favorite games, and I really can't do an analysis of Terra well enough. She's a very confused young woman who, for all intents and purposes, woke up and had no idea who she is. She spends parts of the game trying to figure it out, only to find out she's not human, and, eventually, does find her purpose. In her new family in the town, and her friends who traipsed across an entire world to make sure no one would have to go through what she did ever again.
First: READ THIS COMIC http://www.thinkwithportals.com/comic/
Read it? Great! Meet Doug Rattmann. He's never physically appeared in a Portal game, but he has remained a key part of the game's mythology.
In Portal 1, you are there, doing your experiments for some unknown reasons, things are becoming dangerous, and then you find this room:
This is our first hint that something is VERY very wrong. While we knew things were wrong before, they weren't laid bare quite like this. The mysterious author continues to help through the rest of Portal, offering written tips on where to go and how to beat obstacles. He's the first to warn about the Companion Cube's demise (took it QUITE hard actually) and he gives his password for the players (not Chell) to find out more.
People really wanted him to return for Portal 2, and he did in his own way. But he also got his own comic which sets up Portal 2 and the backstory to Portal 1.
From it, we can see that Doug Rattmann is a Paranoid Schizophrenic. I think this is actually a key part to his survival. While everyone figured GLaDOS was murderous, he stayed with CONSTANT VIGILANCE and prepared accordingly. He couldn't leave, so he worked to save Chell.
And he continues in Portal 2... a bit. He's still around but he's abandoned his hints for beautiful, if absurd, murals.
And there IS some gibberish you can hear walls in the walls in his dens.
So, what can we tell about Doug?
He's devoted. HE's devoted to a cause (beat GLaDOS by any means necessary) and he's devoted to Chell (who he's never technically met) and he gives up the chance to escape in order to save Chell.
He is goal orientated. While he could have simply ran away, he instead stuck around to give Chell clues on how to beat GLaDOS.
He's clever, even while insane. GLaDOS knew he was in the lab, but she could never find him. Not only did he evade GLaDOS, he did so while crazy and in such a way he told Chell how to beat the puzzles. Not an easy task. And that's not counting the beans he ate while using old processors as a heatsink.
He has forethought. He hid his medicine in case he needed it later. His later dens are very hard to get into and are off the ground, so GLaDOS can't really access them. When Chell does access the, presumably he keeps her from entering again if he can.
(To go with the last two, he hacked computers so Chell was the first in the testing. Not only clever but full of forethought!)
And, he's unbelievably tragic. His best friend is a non existent cube, he watched every single member of work die, his sanity is constantly in question, he's injured his leg trying to save a woman he doesn't know, and even if he DOES escape, there is the Half Life battle above him.
I really can't do this character justice. He may never actually appear in Portal, but he is so important to the world that GLaDOS would have one a long time ago, if he didn't step up to the plate.
Blacker than a moonless night, hotter and more bitter than hell itself... That is coffee
I was going to do Miles Edgworth originally, but I'm missing a game of character development so...
time for another of my favorite Ace Attorney characters, Godot. (Spoilers below)
First, though, let's listen to his song (since it does a very good job of describing him)
So, when we listen to the song, we hear... regret. The song is sad, regretful, and yearning. A large clue into his character.
Godot is, in actuality, a man named Diego Armando. Around six years before his debut case, he was poisoned by a suspect. While he miraculously survived, he was forever altered. His nervous system had been damaged leaving him blind without the mask and his hair turned white. He woke up to the scent of coffee and found out his girlfriend (And fellow defense attorney), Mia Fey, had died in the intervening years.
Not really what you want to wake up too.
So, he becomes a prosecutor, starts trying to find a way to protect Mia's sister Maya and to punish Phoenix Wright who he holds responsible for Mia's death. (Phoenix actually has nothing to do with the deaths. He couldn't have known about the attempt on Mia's life and fought very hard to bring Mia's killer to justice. ) Godot's attempt to protect Maya was also tragic. But, I'll touch on that in a second.
When we fist meet him, he claims that he has never lost a case as a prosecutor... because it's his first case. He is shown to be obsessed with coffee, but there is always hints of a tragedy beneath his veneer. He mocks love, he insults everyone, he allows someone to trash Phoenix Wright's name, and when we meet him outside of the courtroom, he is alone.
While this is admittedly not unique to prosecutors, but when we do see him, the other prosecutors have established connections. Miles Edgeworth and Gumshoe have been established as Partners in Crimesolving before this point and the last case in game 3 only highlights that fact. Franziska von Karma has also shown a deep family connection to Miles Edgeworth at this point and willingly teams up with Phoenix Wright. Godot, instead, disappears for a while and when he does has no connections.
Another sense of tragedy is a brief moment in case 3. There is a large ketchup stain on an apron, but he can not see it, the first hint that even with the mask he can not see everything.
Case 5 is where it all comes together. His past is revealed, and when everyone figures out that he killed someone in order to protect Maya, he forces the case to continue until he is convicted. He knows he will probably die but he still continues.
He has a strong sense of right or wrong. I know it sounds cliche, but when dealing with the world of Ace Attorney, it's a good indicator of character. He woke up in a bad circumstance and really tried to make the best of it he could, he just went about it the wrong way. His obsession of coffee can indicate a fear of falling asleep again. He manages to work coffee metaphors into EVERYTHING. (And often throws his cups at Phoenix. This was actually referenced in Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3) He has has a large guilt complex. This complex got him to save Maya from an attempt on her life, but rather then doing the sensible thing (Namely calling the police and warning Maya straight on) He instead sets up a situation where she had a greater chance of being in danger. While it ultimately proves successful, the price was quite high and it causes his future execution and the death of Maya's mother. Even when he knows that this reveal will cause his death, he still moves forward. (Admittedly, how the law can be applied in the case is rather confusing, but the point remains. Death is an option and he fights for true justice)
And he still finds peace. Once Phoenix (regretfully) reveals that Godot is the killer, he starts to cry bloody tears. He Calls Phoenix by his actual name, and seems finally relieved that he knows that Mia's legacy is in safe hands, that he can admit to himself that Phoenix could not have stopped Mia's death, and that he now has something to talk to, even if it is only for a short time.
Godot is quite easily one of the more complex characters in Ace Attorney history. His Ace Attorney gimmicks are much more then that. Each line, each animation, sets up and expands on a character who's hints of tragedy are far more then what we would expect.
The Legend of Zelda series is known for many thing. It's known for challenging dungeons, a timeline that people have yet to figure out, unique characters and fantastic gameplay.
But these characters rarely evolve.
(Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess spoilers below)
When we meet Midna, she inspires fear, not confidence. Link has been captured, turned into a wolf, and is trapped inside a cell. When he wakes up, the first creature he (and the player) sees is Midna and her slasher smile waiting outside the cell. And that chain Link was having trouble with? She snaps it quickly. She very quickly makes it clear that she just wants some power that was taken from her and while she doesn't want to annihilate everything, if they lose some humans she's fine with that.
Plot goes on and we see her do something unknown to the Zelda series. Character Development.
By the time the third piece of fused shadow rolls around, she's seen enough of Link and his world to feel a bit sorry for him. When she is dying due to Zant, she begs Zelda to help Link and to ignore the fact she's dying. When they arrive at the desert, she openly shows affection for Link. (Which Link pays back later when he takes care of a fainted Midna after she used her abilities to open a pathway to Ganon)
In her world, Link is openly treated as an Equal. They now work as a team, not her ordering him around (though there is some of that, but it's due more towards Link ignorance then Midna exerting control)
When the time comes to take on Ganon, they are not only equals but a team tied together by hard work, sacrifice, and friendship. They know they could not do this on their own, and they embrace how they work much better as a team then on their own.
So, how does this come about? It's really simple. Human interaction.
Or, rather, Midna watching human interaction. She does most of the talking in the pair, but she spends her time watching Link interact with other people from the shadows. We know she's paying attention since she frequently comments on conversations and interactions. She sees how the humans are sincerely just trying to live their lives and how the Twili are manipulated by Zant. She knew of it to some extent before, she was banished from her rightful role as leader after all, but she does not allow revenge to consume her. This may be because she and Zelda have also known eachother for a while. Zelda, bearing the Triforce of Wisdom, assuredly must have talked to Midna about life and self sacrifice. We also see people sacrifice themselves for her. Link takes on Zant to save her, and Zelda transfers her triforce powers to Midna to save her life, even though she knows that she (Zelda) will probably die. While she okay with humans before Zelda's sacrifice, she is much more "human" after it... even if she doesn't lose her trademark snark.
Midna is easily my favorite Legend of Zelda character. I hope she can return some day.
