Month of Characters Follow up: What Makes a Good Character?

Following my month of characters, I thought I might give some context to the lists and discuss what makes a good character and how so many writers and designers end up screwing up potentially iconic characters.

            First, let's start with heroes.  There are two basic types of heroes in video gaming that are very common.  The first are heroes who we find admirable, personable, or otherwise likable.  They are our avatars, but they are not us.  They have their own character, their own arcs, and their own agenda.  What makes a good hero?  Well, for starters, they need vulnerability.  The story may suggest that the hero can never die, however a hero is only compelling if the illusion of failure is hinted at through fallacies and weaknesses that the hero possesses.  For example, a personable hero having specific emotional triggers, phobias, or personality flaws is very humanizing, as we can often recognize those within ourselves.  These are sometimes the hardest to pull off in video game characters convincingly, because while a tragic past is rather easy to concoct, it can be difficult to make a hero vulnerable and weak, but still admirable and strong. 

Kratos is just not a well designed character from a story standpoint.  He's angry before his tragedy, he's angry after his tragedy and his back story barely ever comes up.  As a character, he's just a ball of rage with no reason to be but to kill.

            Kratos from the God of War series is an excellent example of a hero who fails to be relatable.  While he does have a tragic past, his personality is all rage, sarcasm, cruelty, and disdain.  He never shows signs of human weakness during battle or even during much of the plot.  And when he does attempt to show some weakness, it feels contrived because the character has not been built to actually support that weakness.  It is being jammed in where it is not wanted.  On the flipside of that, we have Ness from the Earthbound/Mother series.  Despite being a largely silent protagonist, Ness has several humanizing factors to him through game design.  Over the course of the game, Ness can come down with a number of status ailments that make it clear that he is, in fact, still just a kid and not some immortal super being.  Ness can get homesick and need to call his mother for support.  Ness can get the flu or a cold and need medicine.  Ness can get sick from allergic reactions and need homeopathic healing.  These small touches show that Ness is in fact a kid and vulnerable to childhood maladies, both physical and psychological.  It provides a nice perspective, showing that for all the new age hippies or knife wielding thugs you can take down with your psychic powers, you do still need a cuddle from your mommy or a teddy bear to start the day.  Watching a character act human is so much more relatable than a tragic back story.  If you are going to give a character a tragic back story, have it directly relate to their character and their vulnerabilities.  Dante, in the original Devil May Cry on the Playstation 2, lost his mother to demons.  While a great deal of information is not given, it comes out that this was a momentous event for him that shook him, through the story.  He takes a job from a woman named Trish primarily because of her resemblance to his mother.  When she betrays him, it hits the devil hunter very hard and after she is killed, he sheds tears for her.  His past directly relates to his character development in the game and it shows that he is vulnerable to being deceived because of his past.

Despite his cocky attitude, Dante has a tragic backstory that actually affects how he decides to act in the game, causing him to both grow and show signs of vulnerability.  This makes him a far more well rounded character than Kratos or your average shooter character.

        The other type of character is a power fantasy character.  Largely, these characters are avatars for the human players, with little to no personality of their own, allowing players to feel strong by playing the role of these characters in the game.  While this can lead to some interesting political, religious, or philosophical commentary, too often it is used for somewhat...reprehensible dreams.  A power fantasy character done wrong is where the game is built around appealing to the most base instincts of the human psyche, things like the desire to fornicate, the desire for wealth or power, the desire to kill in order to feel strong.  Modern warfare shooters appeal to players by allowing them to fit the stereotypical soldier, a walking death machine who kills without remorse in the name of the greater good(in the narrative at least) without consequence.  God of War, while not strictly a power fulfillment game as Kratos isn't a blank slate, does allow players to have sex with random women without consequence, and actually rewards the act.  Sexual games in Japan are also catered towards this style of play, allowing gamers to take on a character they can put themselves into as they either woo or abuse women for their own enjoyment.  These kinds of games do, sadly, fill the power fantasy requirement of giving characters the ability to make themselves feel strong, virile, or well off, however the actions that give off these feelings are, in my opinion, tragically flawed and can at times promote unhealthy views towards different races, genders, or the world in general. 

Ninja Gaiden 3 is power fantasy done very poorly.  It outright forces you to do acts that are horrific, even if they are empowering, without any set of consequences...they even reward you for it.  The infamous scene of Ryu killing a begging soldier, being forced to kill a begging soldier, is a sign of how flawed the game approaches making players feel tough.

            So, how do you pull of power fantasy heroes?  Well, there are a few good ways to do this.  The first is to supplant some of the more base desires and hit the itch to explore.  Power fantasies aren't just about base instincts, they are about being able to do in a game what you cannot do in real life.  Crafting a world or an environment that fosters exploration and rewards it, not necessarily with money or items, but with sights and experiences they cannot see elsewhere really helps grant players a reward for their effort.  Dark Souls does this quite well.  Though the world may be bleak and lonely, it offers a unique experience where the very act of exploring allows players to see things they could never hope to see in the real world, be it giant monsters, or unforgettable sights, such as crawling through a huge tree to reach an acid lake at the bottom.  Another good way to do power fantasy characters is to make the hero generally a good guy.  This allows you to not only enjoy the world that's been crafted around you, but also it allows some of those baser instincts to be sated without some of the guilt.  Adol Christian, for example, is an explorer and a swordsman who frequently makes romantic acquaintances with beautiful women the world over.  However, Adol does not take advantage of their affections as he is a character who acts with honor.  Adol is silent, so the interactions of those around him give us context to this effect, making the players accept the lack of ability to take advantage of those around us.  Also, Adol is a skilled swordsman and the combat in the Ys games is fast and enjoyable, allowing players to feel good about defeating monsters and protecting the innocent, rather than killing other human beings for some vaguely defined hyper masculine idea of patriotism.  Above all else, power fantasy should be about freedom, though.  Freedom to explore, freedom to challenge conventions, freedom to do as you wish.  This may lead some players to running over hookers in Grand Theft Auto, but a good power fantasy game does show that your actions have negative consequences, such as increased notoriety score and the possibility of being arrested or killed, and that while it is possible for you to hurt others for your own enjoyment...it's not the wisest idea.  In this way, they can subtly guide the player to a more fulfilling experience.  Power fantasy characters use the world and our own human impulses to affect us, often without our realizing.

While often cited as a highly adult game, Grand Theft Auto actually does do power fantasy very well.  You can do horrific acts to people around you, but it comes with consequences, like being arrested or killed.  In contrast, if you act like a good citizen, the game actually will award you money for saving people.

            Now, for villains.  Once again, there are two main types of villains.  Tragic villains and despicable villains.  Before we go into that, however, let me just say that in many games, villains are much easier to make than heroes.  If you do not have a villain who looms over the party for much of the game, you merely have to create a character at the end who has ties to the characters or the game world, has a view that is horrific or unjust, and who has a good reason to fight the main characters.  Final Fantasy Legend is a good example of this, in my opinion.  There are six main villains.  The four who guard the main worlds, Ashura, and the Creator.  The four who guard the main worlds are using their power to oppress the peoples of their worlds and/or block the way up the tower, as the higher up characters get, the stronger they become and are therefore more of a threat to these villains.  We don't have much prior contact to them, but the facts that they act in a manner that is clearly evil, that they don't replace someone more interesting or who we've had an investment in, and that they have a reason to want to stop us justifies these actions.  Ashura and the Creator are very similar in this regard.  However, they make ingratiating offers of the player, showing that while they have views that may be unjust, they are not entirely unreasonable, feral, or evil for the sake of being evil.  This shows some depth and allows the players to feel as if they have made a real triumph in refusing the offers these two make.

Bowser is fine as a simple villain.  He opposes Mario and wants to rule the Mushroom Kingdom.  Simple and to the point.

            Now, that said, that kind of template only works for the most basic of villain.  Really interesting and memorable villains are those with nuance, who you develop an emotional attachment to, and who are iconic in their own right.  Tragic villains usually have a back story that is depressing or has altered their view points so that they are acting in a manner that seems evil, but which is justified to them.  Like characters with tragic back stories, for these villains to really succeed, you need to interweave their current actions with their past, otherwise they become stock villains.  Evoland is a game which charts the history of adventure and role playing games in a satirical fashion and the main villain, who comes out of nowhere, is revealed to have a tragic backstory of his race being hunted for some reason, despite never mentioning it, hinting at it, or showing and trace of bitterness or regret until the final battle.  This is the definition of a stock villain, and Evoland created him in that way to parody the RPG stock villains of past and future.  A tragic villain with some bite is one who knows that what they are doing may not be justifiable, but still believe it is best for them or those dear to them.  Kato from Shadow Hearts: Covenant is this kind of villain.  He carries himself with an air of melancholy and early on he and Yuri discuss the loss of his love.  This melancholy and reference to his tragic past carry on throughout the game through his interactions with his superiors, who he has contempt for, and his resurrection of his lost love, albeit without her memories.  In the end, Kato decides to try and alter fate for the sake of love.  While he recognizes all the people he can and likely will hurt through these actions, to him it is justified because of all that he has lost.  This is a really well defined villain that players feel for and grow attached to.  They are lucid, reasonable, likable even, and are not deluded about the course of actions they have chosen to take.  A good way to mess up writing a tragic villain, apart from a stock backstory that is only mentioned once for the sake of pathos, is to have them be unreasonable, petulant, and whiny about their tragedy.  I honestly believe that Luc, from the Suikoden series, is a rather poor villain because he not only does he have immense power, but he has fought on the side of justice before and has a stern, but loving teacher and girl friend.  He should be perfectly content with his life.  However, the source of his power, his "true rune" of wind, which grants him mastery over wind and eternal life, seems to cause him distress as he believes his destiny is not his own.  So, he seeks to free himself from this burden by destroying the true rune, in an experiment which could wipe out an entire country.  Really, this is like saying "Wah!  Wah!  My whole life, people have made choices for me, I never got to live MY life!"  The truth is, Luc HAS lived his life, has made choices, and even if it felt like his destiny was being controlled, it was still ultimately up to him.  We all have choices.  But this attitude makes him seem whiny and ungrateful.  A sharp contrast from his previous appearances.

Kato is an excellent tragic villain, having his tragic backstory shown in the original Shadow Hearts and explained fully in the sequel.  His back story affects his actions and he sees what he is doing as justified, even if he has to commit horrors to do it.

            Despicable villains can be a bit more fun than tragic villains, as they're not meant to be liked.  They are meant to be hated for their actions, which are still justified in their eyes.  Despicable villains do what makes them happy or what advances them without care for others, so they can be pretty shallow character wise.  However, their actions can speak great depths about the kind of person they are and give them some memorability.  Going back to Suikoden again, in Suikoden 2, Luca Blight is the main villain for most of the game.  He has his father poisoned and wages a bloody war across the country to spill as much blood as possible to empower the "beast" rune inscribed in his castle.  However, he really just likes killing.  Luca is a textbook case of an anti-social psychotic who gets enjoyment out of bloodshed.  Yet, he's not an impotent villain who just loves killing because it makes him feel big.  He's trained his whole life as a warrior and can hold his own, frequently taking part in the killing himself.  In fact, to bring Luca down it takes a squad of six soldiers against him, after he's been wounded, a barrage of arrows, and a final duel against the enemy commander while he is near death, bleeding out, and pumped full of holes.  This kind of villain is memorable because of how despicable he is.  Same for Kefka.  He's insane.  He wants power for his own sake, so that he can do as he pleases and takes great pleasure in causing suffering.  He's not afraid to fight on his own, but he's memorable for his quirky personality, something Luca was rather missing, and his unique visual appearance, resembling a harlequin.  Despicable villains can be well spoken or thoughtful as well, such as Grahf from Xenogears musing on the nature of human existence or on the darkness and evil which resides within us all, even though he freely kills his subordinates and wants to destroy all.  So, how do you destroy a good despicable villain?  Make their plan not make sense within the context of the world or for their character.  Barthandelus from Final Fantasy 13 is a good example.  Despite having a memorable look, his plan is very, very stupid.  He wants to reduce the entire world to nothing.  Now, you could argue that this is stupid, and I have, because he acts as a god, lives in luxury, and his children basically rule the world.  But, devil's advocate, let's say he's gone insane and wants to reduce the world to nothing.  Why doesn't he do it himself?  He is a god after all.  Why does he need to rely on proxies to do it for him?  And why does he think destroying the world will bring his creator/father back when there doesn't seem to be any evidence it will?  Why does he, if he wants himself to die to, fight and hound the players?  See, a despicable villain does not have to be terribly deep, but their plan needs to make sense from a certain perspective.  Luca likes killing, so he starts a war.  Simple.  Kefka wants power and is selfish, so he weasels his way into a position of power and then turns himself into a god of magic.  A bit contrived, but sensible.  Barthandelus wants to reduce the world to nothing, so he and his organization actively try and stop the people he manipulated into becoming the tools for the end of the world...wait, what?

Luca Blight is an excellent despicable villain who simply has a deep rooted need for slaughter.  He is absolutely reprehensible, but very memorable because, as he said, it took hundreds to bring him down, but he killed thousands with abject glee.

            Aside from a poorly realized master scheme, there are two final pratfalls to avoid when writing villains.  The first is comparison.  If you are going to have a really impressive villain in your game, one who follows the outlines set up above, you don't want to create something more impressive or more dangerous or more interesting than them.  This will leave the audience feeling cheated, as they invested time in believing your important villain was important, but then something bigger, cooler, and more evil comes along.  This is why you don't have a giant evil demon boss BEFORE you have your human trying to force people to act a certain way for the greater good.  The taste of the villain sours after you've had something bigger and more impressive.  Second is supplanting the main villain.  Especially with tragic villains, we, the audience, grow just as attached to the bastard we want taken down as we do to the heroes.  So, if we spend most of the game hating and fighting and preparing to fight one big villain, only to have him be replaced by a lamer, stupider, less powerful/intimidating villain, it will really sour the games taste.  Seymour Guado in Final Fantasy 10 should've been our final final boss, but he was replaced by Yu Yevon, who was barely alive to begin with.  Satan killed the Lord of Necromancers in Castlevania: Lords of Shadows because "Evil muahahahahaha!"  Look, I get that you want a twist, but you can do better.  Replacing an iconic villain like Vaz in Far Cry 3 will just make us call bull shit.  The only time when this can work is if you have a villain we are equally familiar with, either masquerading as a hero or hiding in the sidelines where we still know he exists but he's not the top priority, come out and one up our main villain.  The twist in the original Bioshock where Andrew Ryan is replaced is one of the more subtle and brilliant plot twists in modern gaming.  It can be done, but it takes finesse, proper scripting, and good pacing.  Not to be tried by amateurs and not to be used for shock value.  You will only piss off your audience if you throw in a twist just for the sake of having a twist.

Vaz is the face of evil in Far Cry 3...so why isn't he the final final boss?  Why waste such a good character?!

            And so, that's my follow up to the month of characters.  Aspiring designers, script writers, or storytellers, take notice.  I've given you the secret to making good heroes and villains on a silver platter.  It amazes me how, even to this day, poorly written characters just get a pass.  We, as gamers, demand better from our heroes and villains.  We want them to be memorable, but not for how bad they are.  So, I hope this has given a little bit of context to why I did the month of characters in May.

Month of Characters: Top 10 Villains I Hate For All The Wrong Reasons:

Well, anyone who knows me could probably guess that this was coming.  We have tons of great villains in games.  Well rounded villains who are relatable, lucid ones who are charming and brilliant, and the most scummy ones who you hate because of how evil they are.  However, here's the thing...when the story does it's job right, you hate the villain because that's the way it should be.  When the story screws up, you hate the villain because you want to smack the game designer and go "What were you thinking?!"  These are 10 villains I utterly despise, but for all the wrong reasons.  Needless to say, there will be spoilers.

SPOILER WARNING!!!

Satan(Castlevania Lords of Shadow)

I've talked about this one before, so do I really need to go on?  Satan as the final boss of a Castlevania game?!  I mean, c'mon...where's Dracula?!  But, for completeness sake, let me explain, again, why this is such a stupid decision.  First off, he's never been introduced, mentioned, or even hinted at throughout the 30+ hour game and we're supposed to care about fighting him at the end?  Bull crap.  I know lots of games sometimes do the fake out, where the main boss you've been fighting gets killed off and a new guy appears, but it does not make it any less stupid.  Also, if Satan is the head baddy, why would he kill one of the Lords of Shadow?  Because he kills the Lord of Necromancers right at the end of the game.  Finally, by killing the Lord of Necromancers, Satan ACCIDENTALLY SAVES YOUR LIFE.  Gabriel Belmont had been used and tricked by the Lord of Necromancers all game and had unwittingly come into contact with a possessed artifact that the Lord of Necromancers could use to kill him.  In fact, after you create the item you've been looking for the whole game, the God Mask, he uses the possessed artifact to start to kill Gabriel and take the mask as his own.  Then Satan kills him and suddenly, your possessed artifact no longer has a master, so bam, you're saved and you defeat Satan to win the game.  Evil would have won if the prince of darkness had butted out.  Just pathetic storytelling.  I mean, I was told for over 30 hours that the three Lords of Shadow were my opponents.  In fact, it's in the title!  Yet Satan comes out and just goes "Fooled ya!  I'm the final boss!"  That is just stupid to the utmost degree.

The unholy one is a banished servant of the divine.  He holds no power, despite believing himself deserving of greatness and is worth more pity than fear.

Geldoblame (Baten Kaitos series)

For most head scratching appearance, let's give it up for Emperor Geldoblame.  Throughout most of Baten Kaitos, he is manipulating powerful forces to gather together the pieces of an ancient god and use them to control the world.  Then he gets killed, betrayed by his partner who is smarter and more nihilistic than he is.  It was a satisfying end for the tyrant, out witted and with his ambitions in shambles.  Then, at the end of the game after the players have killed the elder god which was summoned and their homes which had been floating in the sky touch down on the earth, he appears again.  Geldoblame's giant head made of stone pops out of the ground and attacks the players in a battle they pretty much can't lose.  Why?  Why did this need to be here?  He had his moment, died for his hubris, but now we have to fight him again?  Why?!  Oh, so the whale can come here and restore the ocean or something, whatever, alright...it just feels wasteful and stupid.  Geldoblame was a decent villain...until he came back from the dead as a giant stone head.  Then I scratched my head and started hating him.

The emperor held great power and ambition, but was ultimately brought low by his own desires.  Despite that, he clung to life and the memory of the tyrant was replaced by the memory of a pitiful ghost who could not let go of his greed.

True form of King Allant (Demons Souls)

I hated Demons Souls.  For a lot of reasons.  But that aside, what annoyed me probably the most is the final boss, which is basically a slug-like form of King Allant, the man who unleashed catastrophe on his kingdom and basically started the game.  He sought power and unleashed a monster which merged with and ultimately corrupted him.  He's pathetically weak and can be slain in a single blow.  Now, I know why that is and I know why we should hate him.  We should hate him for his greed and arrogance and ultimately pity him, for in trying to gain power he doomed himself to a cursed half existence as a monster, alone in the chamber of the beast he made a deal with.  But really, I was so annoyed at all this.  I'd cursed, sweated, and struggled through the other dozen or so bosses, each a nightmare unto themselves, and my final battle was against the "False King" a truly wicked bastard who killed me a number of times before I dropped him.  And then I am told I must go fight the real monster, the mastermind behind the whole event, and it's just Allant after become a slug like monster?  What a freakin disappointment!  This, especially, after fighting my way through hundreds of lives to reach the ending.  Dark Souls, its sequel, has you fight the specter of a god who, despite having lost much of his power, can rip you apart if you're not careful.  Not the hardest boss in the game, but not easy, either.  A climactic battle is what players want, since it makes the ending we fought so hard for that much sweeter.  But for just being completely pathetic and ultimately leaving a bad taste in my mouth after such hard work, I hate King Allant.  He's the epitome of pathetic.

The hanged man was once a king.  However, his intense desire for power and his fear made him weak, pitiful, and ultimately destroyed him.  All that remains is a shell.  To slay him is a mercy.

Barthandelus (Final Fantasy 13)

I.  DESPISE.  Barthandelus.  He comes right out of nowhere, has motivations which are not only selfish, but utterly stupid, he's been spying on the party for most of the game, manipulating them, and wants them to destroy him and all of creation.  Why?  Because the creator of the Fal'cie went away and they're throwing a fit, so they want to call him back through mass genocide.  Worse is that Barthandelus kind of makes the entire story irrelevant, since the players are basically in the palm of his hand from the start and guided by him throughout the story.  However, this opens a huge number of plot holes.  How could he have predicted the players would be turned into L'cie with the power to destroy all of creation?  How could he have orchestrated it all when everyone's actions were a comedy of errors?  Why, if he wanted you to destroy him, do HIS soldiers try to corner and kill you for the first FORTY HOURS?!  I mean, what would have happened if we'd lost?  If YOUR soldiers actually cornered and killed us?  Did you ever think of that, Barthandelus?  For that matter, why doe HE fight the players?  He's basically a mechanical god, with immense power, yet he wants the players to kill him and destroy everything, right?  So, why does he fight?  Why not just lay down and take it?  The character is so bland, stupid, and frustratingly cliche.  Even if you forgive the plot holes, let's just examine the situation closely for one moment.  Despite watching over humanity for millenia, ruling them in luxury, and basically being worshipped as a god, Barthandelus wants the main party to set off the apocalypse by killing him just so he can call his creator back and "Start over".  Say that out loud for a moment.  Then, join me in saying, "Barthandelus, you are made of stupid."

The world ruled over all as a god since time immemorial.  However, even this was not enough for him.  He desired to return to nothing and start again, if only because he was bored, with no thought to those he would hurt or his children, which he would betray for his own petty desires.

The White Witch (Ni No Kuni)

This one is so easy it's kind of sad.  Ni No Kuni is subtitled "Wrath of the White Witch."  But despite the fact that the we see the witch "controlling things as a puppetmaster," she doesn't really do much and is pretty irrelevant to the story until the last...3-4 hours?  She runs a shadowy council and seems all intimidating and kills our hero Oliver's mom, but...she isn't the main villain.  Oliver and company don't even know she exists till she announces herself.  The main villain for most of the game is Shadar, the Dark Djinn, who has a much more tragic and satisfying backstory, far better reasons for being the villain, and a pay off at the end which is incredibly satisfying.  By the time I got to fight the White Witch, I felt like saying "Why are you here?  Bring back Shadar!"  She and her council are the final bosses, but they feel like they shouldn't even be in the game.  I mean, the plot could've been altered slightly to not include her and everything would've worked out fine.  Oh, White Witch...why do you even exist?

The priestess watched over the world from her gilded seat, unwilling to save it but more than willing to condemn it.  However, her vanity was such that she would not even rule it...instead giving that honor to her servant.  None know the priestess.  None care for the priestess.  The priestess need not be.

Maximillian (Growlanswer 2: The Sense of Justice)

Maximillian is actually a pretty interesting villain, but ultimately he feels shoved in at the last minute and has to be compared to the much more interesting monster named Gevas.  See, you meet Maximillian at the start of the game, you become friends, then, on a routine military expedition, you and he discover a cave with an ancient mask that he takes to go research.  Maximillian wants to rid the world of war and believes anything toward that goal is just.  At the end of the game, he finds that the mask is a subjugation artifact and that he can use it to mind control people into not fighting. And, for the sake of justice and free will, the player must stop him.  Here's the thing, though.  For most of the game, a character named Arrieta, with a dual personality, has acted as the main villain.  When cornered, she reveals herself to be possessed by Gevas, a world crushing monstrosity that the heroes of Growlanswer 1 fought and defeated.  Now it's returned and we have to fight it.  And after it's dead, we then go fight Maximillian.  To me, that just seems kinda pointless.  Not only did we defeat the ultimate evil, but we did it and the game didn't end...it only ends after we defeat Maximillian?  Lame.  Maximillian's plot and his final boss status seems kinda thrown in at the last moment, but they were alright.  They'd be fine if they didn't have to compare to Gevas, which we'd already beaten.  I hate this battle because the comparison just kills any tension, as Gevas was a far more final boss.

Judgement holds his answer as the truth above all others and will bring an end to the cycle of death and rebirth.  He seeks to end war, strife, and power, though his means be unjust.  The sad truth is that while he may judge, he holds no power compared to the vast will of the world.

Wilhelm (Xenosaga 3: Also Sprach Zarathustra)

Wilhelm is more baffling to me than hateful.  But, in a series with a ton of great villains, including the space pope, a man who blows his own head off, steps on it, then regenerates it, a body snatcher, and a space samurai, we have Wilhelm as the grand mastermind of some vaguely evil scheme.  Wilhelm is a CEO of a technology corporation in the far future, who looks to be about...age fifteen, tops, and has no emotions.  Or if he has them, he doesn't use them.  Wilhelm is boring.  And I have no idea why I'm fighting him, save that he's trying to...destroy the universe?  I guess?  And Wilhelm is the main villain.  He has private shock corps made up of better fallen villains.  He pisses me off because I have no reason to fight him, no reason to be invested, no reason to even care.  He's not even in the final battle.  He uses "The circle of Zarathustra" which I have no idea what its supposed to do, with a kid named Abel in the center, to try and kill the party.  Wilhelm seems about as bored as I am.  That's why I hate him.  The best thing a villain can be is memorable.  Some are memorable for good reasons, some for how lame or annoying they were, but they are still remembered.  The worst thing a villain can be is boring because no one will remember them.

The hermit does not indulge to enter the world.  He is content to stay back, emotionless, uninterested, holding his philosophy above all others.  There is nothing he has to say.  There is nothing he has to teach.  He may as well return to solitude.

Yu Yevon (Final Fantasy 10)

This villain is a thief.  As annoying and poncy as Seymour Guado was, he was still a pretty cruel, sadistic, nihilistic, evil villain, and fitting for the final boss role.  But no.  Instead, after fighting our way inside the colossal monster, SIN, which has rained untold destruction on the world, after putting Jecht to rest and outwitting the REAL villain, Seymour, we fight...a giant tick.  Yu Yevon was a summoner who formed the core of SIN by corrupting the summoned beasts, Aeons, and using them as an armor for its soul.  But Yu Yevon itself is nothing without the Aeons.  I doubt very much that its even capable of thought, much less malice.  It's a villain that was thrown into the final enemy slot because...I don't even know.  Players cannot lose the battles with Yu Yevon, no matter how weak they are.  What makes me so angry at this boss is that, despite how stupid he looked, Seymour was clearly the main villain.  And Square could have made him the final boss.  SIN was always a threat, yeah, but Yu Yevon wasn't really controlling it, just hiding inside it.  Yu Yevon is a pathetic waste of a boss, because he barely even exists and doesn't affect the story at all, save for stealing the final boss status from Seymour, who rightfully deserves it for all his dickish behavior.  Yu Yevon as a boss is a nonentity.  It's something that exists without reason.  That's even worse than being boring. 

The fool is a blind, deaf, idiot, dancing to his own tune, oblivious to the whims of others.  He may infuriate or annoy, but it matters not.  He is all sound and fury, ultimately accomplishing nothing, save for being a nuisance.

Xemnas (Kingdom Hearts 2)

Ultimately, I feel like miscasting was the downfall of Xemnas.  He's not really a bad villain, but he's so bland, generic, and boring that I can't help but yawn.  He uses his light saber swords, fights Sora and Riku, then disappears into nothingness, blah blah...we had so many other more interesting members of Organization 13 who could've taken the number 1 spot.  Saix was interesting and his relationship to Axel would've made him a moving final antagonist.  And his death, where he laments his lost heart and asks where it has gone is pretty heavy, for a villain dying.  If not him, why not Xigbar, who actually fought the original Keyblade masters in Birth by Sleep?  He seems more capable than Xemnas.  But no, Ansem's nobody had to be the final battle.  It depresses me because you do so many cool things in the battle, but Xemnas as a villain is so blah.  He's just there.  He doesn't make an impression like Xehanort did, doesn't have any really good lines and is constantly being one upped by his subordinates.  Xemnas.  So boring his battle almost killed me by putting me to sleep.

The nothingness holds no substance or value.  Merely a cheap copy of the truth, it has no reason to be here, save that it was recognized.  Though the idea of nothingness may intrigue others, it is without any lasting power.

Zachariah Comstock (Bioshock Infinite)

Originally, I had intended to include Demon King Malladus from Legend of Zelda: Spirit tracks...however, then I played Bioshock Infinite.  Literally the week before this post was to go up, I discovered one of the most frustrating and annoying villains I've ever seen in a video game.  Zachariah Comstock, the "prophet" of Columbia, a floating city in the sky.  I hate Comstock because, as a villain, I just want him to go away.  Not kill him, mind, I just want him to leave the story.  He is a loud, annoying, narcissistic, psychotically religious hypocrite with none of the charm and intellect of Andrew Ryan or the warped ideals of Sofia Lamb.  Comstock has NOTHING of value to say, but keeps going on and on about how he is the chosen one, how he will cleanse the sodom below, how everyone who is against him is against god, stock religious super villain nonsense.  And he seems so insecure, frequently building monuments the size of islands to his greatness when he cannot fight himself.  He's a frail old man who uses machines and his zealots, who are idiots for following him by the way, to do his dirty work for him.  At the best of times, he seems like he's using religion to his benefit, like any number of scam priests in stories.  At the worst of times, he seems pants on head insane, believing whole heartedly that stealing a baby from an alternate dimension, raising her in isolation, and frequently beating, torturing, maiming, and brainwashing her as an adult is somehow god's will and will save the world.  Comstock isn't compelling, intelligent, or even very well spoken.  He's an insane religious zealot with an inferiority complex.  Worse yet is that his character, when we learn the truth, makes absolutely no sense, as he actually didn't used to be Zachariah Comstock, but was another person.  A smart person.  A capable person.  A person who WASN'T pants on head insane.  Comstock ruined Bioshock Infinite for me.

The heirophant's arrogance knows no bounds.  He believes himself divinely blessed by god and will justify any atrocities in that name.  He says nothing of merit and is insecure in his own power.  Only a fool devoid of thought would follow his words.

            And there you have it.  These characters fail for a number of reasons, most relating to story and writing, sadly.  Any number of them could have been unforgettable main villains who embedded themselves in people's minds as amazing, well spoken, scary even, if they had a better script to work with or if the story was more refined.  Place Maximillion before the huge final boss battle...have Seymour Guado kill Yu Yevon and take his place inside SIN.  Have Satan at least HINTED at to some extent in the game.  Give Comstock ANYTHING interesting to discuss beyond how awesome it is to be a racist Catholic white man with a god complex.  These villains weren't brought low by our heroes.  They were brought low by the scriptwriters, the translators, and the story boarders who failed them.  Failed to make them compelling and instead opted for shock value or to cop out near the end of the game.

            There you have my month of characters.  Each of the character lists show an important aspect of the games industry, some that need to be focused on, like making compelling villains, admirable heroes, or great worlds to explore, and some that need to be stopped, such as making the villains so depressingly generic or unsatisfying.  Bear in mind, these characters are all just from my experience.  If you want, share in the comments some of your favorite heroes, villains, power fantasies, or characters you just can't stand and why.

Month of Characters: Top 10 Heroes I Wish I Were

Sometimes in games, we have power fantasies about the heroes we're playing.  We wish we could be him because he's so cool or we want to be strong like that one...it's escapist entertainment, so this is only normal.  For me though, I kind of respect certain heroes because I enjoy hearing their stories.  I don't want their stories to be my own.  However, other heroes I really wish I could be, just because their lives and their persona really gel with my own.  So, for those interested in power fantasy, here are the top 10 heroes I wish I could be.  Needless to say, there will be spoilers

SPOILER WARNING!!!

Kain (Legacy of Kain Series)

I love Kain.  He's a different kind of vampire who could just as easily be a villain instead of a hero, but his actions are carefully calculated to be of net gain to not only himself, but to the world.  Kain is arrogant, but wisely so.  He has enough power, wisdom, and foresight to allow himself to be a little confident.  What I love most about Kain is how Shakespearean he can be.  He is masterful with his language and very dramatic, using his words to great effect in both his musings and in arguing to justify his actions.  Having lived for thousands of years, he proves his intelligence not just through cunning but through philosophy, as he often waxes on what a king should do, condemn himself to death for the good of the world and in doing so destroy his race, or live, rule an empire in a dying world, and quietly await the end.  Kain believes that while fate may normally be immutable, there is always a better way, having long since set into motion a plan to cheat fate.  Kain is a vampiric messiah as well, being forever at odds with a being who aims to keep the world in an ignorant spiral of death and decay for his own profit.  Kain also never lies.  He can be cruel and wicked at times, as needs demand, but Kain will never go back on his word.  Those who betray him are damned by their own treachery, as Kain is still noble, at his core.  I wish I could be as commanding, confident, and intelligent as Kain.  Only someone truly amazing could aim to cheat fate and have both the courage and the audacity to move forward without hesitation.  Plus, he's a vampire.  That doesn't sparkle.  Bonus.

The Vampire has lived for countless ages.  He can afford arrogance, for it is juxtaposed by his cunning, his strength, and his drive.  Fate is his plaything.

Demi-Fiend (Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne)

The Demi-Fiend is an avatar for the human players in Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne.  He has his own look and powers and what have you, but he is mostly silent and his choices are made by the players.  Get used to those in this list.  So, why did I pick him?  Well, the Demi-Fiend is an amazing character.  He is caught up in the destruction and rebirth of the world and gets trapped in the inbetween world, partway between recreation, where a mysterious child implants a magatama, a demon worm, in him, transforming the normal school boy into a half human, half demon warrior.  His skin is grey and covered in pulsating tattoos and his eyes glow golden.  Only his shape even resembles human anymore.  Along with his new look, the Demi-Fiend is given new powers, such as breathing fire, causing great bursts of wind or ice to appear and the ability to heal and revive his friends.  Speaking of friends, the Demi-Fiend also gains the ability to talk to demons and by bargaining, begging, or threatening them, he can recruit them to fight for him.  This character would be amazing to be, for his insane level of power, quirky demon friends, and all the crazy sights he sees.  The Demi-Fiend travels around a Japan turned upside down by the end of the world, seeing its natural beauty turned horrific and fantastical.  An apartment complex turned into a demon prison?  Check.  A shopping mall inhabited by demons?  Check.  A palace to an unholy demon god?  Double check.  And all along the way the Demi-Fiend is hounded by fiends, monsters hunting him as a way of proving their mettle.  These include the four horsemen of the apocalypse, the whore of Babylon, and the trumpeter, among many others.  Once defeated, they can even serve the Demi-Fiend.  What I love perhaps most about the Demi-Fiend is he personifies choice.  With the world ended, he is given the choice of supporting some differing philosophies of how the world should be reborn, such as a world for each of us, survival of the fittest, or elitism.  Or, he can reject all these reasons and save the old world, recreating it just as it was before the cataclysm.  For all these reasons and more, I would love to be the Demi-Fiend.  Master of demons, who walks between two worlds, the chooser of destiny, he is the wild card planted in the middle of a battle between angels and demons.

The Halfbreed shows true power.  Not through strength or cunning, but through choice.  He holds the power to guide the world into a new age...or free it from its hidden oppressor. 

Dark Souls Hero (Dark Souls)

This is kinda cheating, if you think about it, but I like Dark Souls alot.  The fact that they let you make your own hero shouldn't be any room for its disqualification, because the reason I wish I was a hero in Dark Souls is based more around the world than the character.  First, there is the immortality.  Heroes in Dark Souls are undead and will always be reborn at a bonfire when they die.  While others may go insane, turn hollow, and attack people, as the hero, that will never happen to me.  Plus, I get to wield all sorts of amazing powers, from slinging spell bolts, tossing fireballs, and hurling lightning spears to healing myself, turning invisible, and casting clouds of poison out in front of me.  Perhaps the most attractive thing about Dark Souls though is it makes you feel like a hero.  Players face insurmountable odds, like dragons, gargoyles, giant demons, huge wolves, undead monsters, cursed spider women, etc. and these things can be many times our size.  But, the immortality, coupled with a few tricks discovered through experimentation, means we can inevitably find a way to win.  Nothing inflates your ego more than taking down a giant iron golem even after it's whooped your ass several times.  There are lots of beautiful places to visit and cool weapons to wield in Dark Souls.  It's kind of a fantasy for all of us who wish we could be Stallone or any other action hero.  In Dark Souls, we can be powerful.  It would be a lonely existence, but Dark Souls is a game about personal betterment and striving.  You can find friends if you so desire, but the goal is self improvement and making a choice to either cling to the past or move on to the future, and all the risks that entails.  Being a hero with all that power, all that potential, and immortality?  Sign me up!

The Undead face the world in abject despair, bereft of all hope...yet still they continue onwards.  Cursed with everlasting life, forever bound by pain, they will fell dragons and bring the gods low to find their destiny.

Link (LoZ Twilight Princess)

This might seem sort of like an odd choice, considering that Link is kind of another avatar for players, wears a green skirt, and spends alot of the game cleaning up a giant mess.  But Link is so much more than that, in my opinion.  Link is almost an adult, physically fit and attractive, has his own horse, and is gifted with lots of friends as a support group.  When twilight engulfs the land, rather than becoming a monster or being rendered helpless, he turns into a powerful wolf and meets Midna.  And right there are some huge reasons to want to be Link.  The wolf form is cool, but Midna really sells it.  Snarky and sarcastic, but also tender, helpful, and even vulnerable.  Midna's a friend like you seldom ever get in a Zelda game and I'd love to have a chance to be there for her.  But that aside, you also get a ton of cool tools to play with, from iron boots that magnetize to steel walls, to a skateboard like cog, to a rod which allows you to give life to ancient statues.  Link's amazingly versatile and also a master swordsman.  There's also the beautiful land of Hyrule to explore, with snow mountains for snow boarding, rivers for rafting, farms and mountains for sight seeing, and a bustling castle town, full of fun places to visit, like Agatha's bug palace, the local bar, and even a real life haunted house.  Games abound as well, such as hook shotting around a cage to collect rupees or holding onto a chicken as you use it to glide onto a platform.  Let's not forget that Link also gets to meet amazing people.  How many of you can say that you've sumo wrestled a goron or had hot pumpkin soup with a yeti?  Not many, I can bet.  Link himself is a great guy too, doing everything he can to help out his friends, especially Midna, since her kingdom was taken from her.  Who wouldn't want to be him?  A great world to explore, fun toys to play with, neat people to meet, and the best little side kick ever?  Yes, please!

The Hero never fights alone.  It is for his friends that he fights and it is his friends who give him the strength to battle.  The world is always more fun to explore with company.

Frederick Chopin (Eternal Sonata)

Eternal Sonata was an interesting title for featuring Frederick Francois Chopin in a fantasy dream world, which he created as he lay dying.  And honestly...that's kinda what I love about Frederick.  He knows who he is and where he is, but goes along with the dream anyway, since he has nothing else to do.  He sees amazing sights, meets people, makes friends, and shares his piano music with the world.  And when the time comes, he must fight his friends to give their world substance as he loses his hold on life.  In death, he is able to save one of his friends, Polka, and offer a brilliant epitaph in the form of his piano playing and words that postulate that life is what you make of it, just as a flower can be named for something depressing or something uplifting.  It is all about perception.  Frederick as a character doesn't go through much growth or leave too much of an impression, but I'd love to be him and explore the crazy, musical world he spends his last moments in.  His sacrifice and piano playing are especially moving and often I wish I could see the world as he came to.  Even in death, he found something beautiful worth believing in.  So beautiful, he asked the question, "Which of my worlds is real and which is truly the dream?"

The Dreamer revels in his fantasy.  Though he know the sun will rise and his dream fade, he clings to it...for it is beautiful and more real than any truth he could find in the world we know.

Hero (Dragon Quest 8)

Another hero who you have to give a name to.  I probably am cheating, seeing as a ton of these entries are silent protagonists, but the Hero of Dragon Quest 8 is someone I really wish I could be.  In a world where death basically means going back to the last church you stayed at with half your money, the Dragon Quest universe is just fun.  I'd be strong enough to fight monsters, but I might be too busy laughing as the Hero.  The monsters in this world are so smiley and happy and goofy.  Hero also loves and is loved by a cursed princess, who when cured is a knockout, and Hero frequently makes reliable friends.  He converts a bandit to be his vassal and cures a lecherous knight of his philandering ways...to a degree.  He's kind hearted and honest, loves his friends, his lord, his lady, and his pet mouse.  He's immune to curses of any kind and has supernatural powers...and he's also a dragon.  Did I forget to mention that?  The Hero is a bastard child born of a tryst between a female dragon and a prince.  He holds dragon's blood in his veins and is also a member of royalty.  Is there any reason to not want to be this guy?  Friends, safety, a beautiful world to explore, royalty, cool abilities...the Hero is someone I'd love to be.  And on top of all that, he's a great guy too.

The Knight holds the heart of a dragon and the soul of a saint, forever seeking sanctuary and solace for his lord and lady.  He does so with a smile and without need of thanks, for he is justice itself.

Rudy Roughknight (Wild Arms)

Rudy was one of my first big RPG characters and I loved his soft spoken demeanor, his skill with guns, called ARMS in the series, and how he did what was right, even if it meant that he was going to be ostracized or suffer for it.  It very much felt like Rudy and I were kindred.  Then it turned out Rudy was a cyborg.  So much for that.  Rudy, despite his differences, is beloved by his friends and plays the part of a true wild west gun slinging hero.  Perhaps one of the best scenes for me in the game is where he cuts off his own arm to prevent himself and his friends from being pulled into a death trap.  And this is how he's revealed to be a cyborg.  Rather than being freaked out, his friends pull out all the stops to find someone to help fix him and even the girl who liked him before still cares for him after knowing.  For being so somber and quiet, but so moving, strong, and stoic, I wish I could be Rudy.  I wish I could be a gun slinging hero with my friends close by my side.  Rudy was the outcast who was chased away for his power.  But despite that, he always held hope.  He went back and saved the people who hurt him, showing them what a true hero was, and when the final guardian of the world, the dragon Zephyr, the west wind of hope, was trapped, it was Rudy's artificial heart which saved him.  If I had even a fraction of Rudy's strength and hope, I could rule this world.  But I wouldn't.  Cause Rudy wouldn't.

The Gunslinger is ostracized for his beliefs and feared for his power.  Yet he never loses his pride or his principles.  His aim is sharp, his heart strong, and his spirit as free as the wind.

Adol Christian (Ys Series)

Adol Christian, or Adol the Red as he is sometimes called is quite possibly the ultimate adventurer.  He's saved the world eight times and each time he does, it seems like there's a beautiful maiden waiting for him to settle down and be her beloved.  But each time, Adol continues exploring, looking for new vistas to see and new challenges to face.  And a good thing to, since he's one of the few swordsmen who not only routinely battles gods and monsters seeking to destroy whole countries or the world, but who is also genuinely likable.  Despite being ruggedly attractive, Adol never comes off as a cheat or a player and there's an air of tragedy to his departing those who love him.  But part of his journey is knowing he can always come back to visit.  I'd love to be Adol.  Skilled with both blade and mind, a kind hearted soul, handsome to the point of ridiculousness, has an amazing roster of friends who will always look out for him, and gifted with wanderlust, which guarantees adventures for him for the foreseeable future, Adol Christian is the kind of wandering swordsman we all dreamed we could be since we were kids.  I adore Adol because he does all the things I'd want to do if I could just sling a sword on my back and head towards the horizon.

The Adventurer's greatest weakness is his wanderlust.  Forever seeking new quests and people to save, he is never still and always on the move.  Those he leaves behind mourn for his departure, but the adventure continues...and some day, he shall return.

Hyakkimaru (Blood Will Tell)

This is actually kind of an odd choice, all things considered.  Hyakkimaru has lived a terrible life, with his father selling his organs to demons before he was born.  He would have died as a babe if an advanced herbalist had not healed him, given him a new body, and installed weapons in his limbs to go hunt the demons who took his organs.  Hyakkimaru is the kind of bad ass we all wish we could be.  He's a Japanese samurai, in feudal era Japan, with detachable arms which hide blades, a machinegun in his elbow, a rocket launcher in his leg, and on top of all that, he's a master swordsman in his own right.  He takes down demons every day, some the size of mountains, and doesn't even blink.  What's more, though, is that Hyakkimaru is always experiencing new things.  His life starts out bad, but when he gets his eyes back, he sees the world for the first time.  When he gets his nose or ears, he can hear and smell.  When he gets his vocal cords, he marvels at the sounds he can make.  His life is always getting better.  Coupled with a rapscallion named Dororo who keeps him honest, Hyakkimaru is an interesting twist on the samurai archetype and one I wish I could be.  Also, interesting note, Dororo is actually a girl and full grown by the time the game ends.  What can a world weary samurai and his friend for years, now a full grown woman, do together, I wonder?

The Cripple is born without hope or a future.  His weakness shall become his strength as he plods forward against the tides of destiny.  He shall protect the weak and fight for his lost youth.  He shall be a samurai.

Sora (Kingdom Hearts)

Kingdom Hearts is a whimsical little series, where the magical world of Disney works hand in hand with the grittier, more mature Final Fantasy series.  At the heart of Kingdom Hearts is Sora.  This kid is like an adventurer's dream.  He grew up on a tropical island most of his life with his best friends, sought out adventure in a bigger world, and was gifted with the power to wield the Keyblade, the greatest weapon of all.  He is the bridge between worlds for other characters, a pure hearted, honest youth who's greatest goal is to save his friends, and despite all this, is one helluva fighter.  Whether soaring through space in a gummi ship or exploring the sands of the desert outside of Agrabah, Sora is like all our childhood dreams, fostered by movies and imagination, rolled together.  Partnered with the comedic pair of Donald Duck and Goofy, Sora is prepared for any situation, no matter how grim, because he knows he can count on his allies.  To the point where even if it goes against their mission, Donald and Goofy refuse to abandon their friend.  Sora's also extremely powerful, shown to not only be nimble enough to dodge around large enemies and use their strength and smaller foes to his advantage, but also strong enough to cleave through whole buildings with his Keyblade.  Face it, at one point in life we all wish we could pal around with the Disney gang and later on, gamers often wish they could meet the Final Fantasy crowd.  Sora gets to do all this and more.  To a child of any age seeking adventure, he's a dream come true.

The Keymaster holds the ultimate weapon.  He wields the key to the hearts of worlds.  He unlocks the hearts of his friends.  He restores the hearts of the fallen.  The true power he wields is kindness.

            And these are the power fantasies of a simple gamer.  Many of us wish to visit strange new worlds or take to the road with sword in hand and a song in our heart, but society has changed from the medieval settings or the wild west archetypes we see in movies.  You really can't get anywhere in the world without identification, money, and connections...it's not possible to really go wandering, as these heroes do.  Which is why they're so precious to me and why I'd like to be them.  I've lived my life vicariously through these heroes and would love a chance to see their worlds first hand.  If nothing else, these heroes and their worlds are just fun.  They're worth exploring more than once.  To me, that's the sign of a great game and a great character.  Someone we want to be in a world we can't help but revisit.