May, the month of Characters:
This is sort of a personal project for me since Video Game
Growing Pains is not just a blog about the industry and how change can help,
but also a personal blog looking at my journey through the world of gaming as
it stands. And, inspired by the works of Doug Walker and the Blisteredthumbs.net Characters With Character panel, I
decided that I would do a bit of reflection on characters that mean a lot to me. May is going to be the month of characters,
with 4 separate lists about characters I think truly make gaming wonderful, or
deplorable, and the reasons why.
Hopefully, people can use these characters as baseline comparisons when
crafting their own heroes or villains.
Or they can just enjoy the list.
So, let's start with a few heroes.
Here are the 10 heroes I most admire, in no particular order.
Top 10 heroes I admire:
Many people would argue that there aren't enough heroes in
the world. I say it's all about where
you look. In gaming, while we do stray
too far sometimes into the generic RPG hero, the fun but ultimately flat
platformer heroes, or the often morally bankrupt heroes of shooters, there are
times when heroes are born that can move you.
And this is a tribute to the heroes who've moved me the most in my
life. Needless to say, there will be
spoilers.
SPOILER WARNING!!!
Cloud Strife (Final Fantasy 7)
A lot of people will sigh or roll their eyes at this
inclusion, but Cloud Strife, as both an image and as a character, moved me when
I was a kid. He was different from other
heroes. Larger than life with his five
foot tall buster sword and his hardened persona, which seemed self serving but
which ultimately did what was right, Cloud was different from the RPG heroes
I'd grown up with. Underneath the more
gritty persona, however, Cloud was an engaging character who, for me at least,
embodied courage. True, most of the game
sees him chasing after his rival, Sephiroth, for answers, only to be revealed
to be a puppet in a greater plot and a failed clone of Sephiroth, but it is how
he deals with these situations that makes me say he is courageous. Cloud will not hesitate to fight for his
friends, even if the odds are stacked against him and even if his magic has
been stolen. But more than that, Cloud,
with the help of his childhood friend Tifa, has to come to terms with the fact
that he was, and is, a failure. He
identified himself as a member of Soldier, an elite group of warriors, when he
repressed the fact that he actually failed to gain entry into Soldier and it
was a friend of his, Zach, who became a Soldier. He even inadvertently caused Zach's death,
because Zach died trying to protect him.
Cloud had to accept his own weakness in order to get beyond it. To truly become himself and not a copy of
Zach or Sephiroth. But even before this
realization, Cloud showed boundless courage when trying to save those around
him. Before the main game started, it is
revealed that Sephiroth burned Cloud's home down and that no one, not even
Zach, could stop him. Sephiroth was
truly a monster, capable of slaughtering dragons and other giant beasts with
his bare hands. But after seeing
everything he loved in flames, Cloud took Zach's fallen sword and fought
Sephiroth, managing to defeat him and toss him aside, though he fell
unconscious from his own wounds. He did
this partly out of revenge, but Tifa and Zach had been injured and would have
been killed if Sephiroth was not stopped.
So, for their sakes, Cloud fought him.
Even against a monster like that, Cloud didn't turn away when it came
time to protect others. This is
especially important because Cloud knows by the end of the game that there may
not be any way to save the world.
Sephiroth is trying to drop a meteor onto the planet and even if he is
defeated, it may not stop. But for those
he cares about and those who have fallen before him, Cloud does not give
up. However, grim determination isn't
all there is to Cloud. Throughout the
game, he's shown to have a softer side, one more open to humor and wackiness,
such as crossdressing or participating in plays, and even though he deals with
some self loathing throughout his growth as a character, he always faces his
fears and fights for those who cannot protect themselves. Now, Cloud's been interpreted many different
ways, from the boring emo character to nothing more than a tool of the plot,
but I disagree. The first time I played
Final Fantasy 7, I saw courage in his actions.
And I cannot help but admire the strength he wields in facing his inner
demons.
 |
| Swathed in black and wielding a giant sword, this warrior's piercing eyes are full of courage. |
Fei Fong Wong (Xenogears)
Kindness, madness, denial, and self loathing. These four words describe the four unique
personalities that exist within Fei Fong Wong.
Truly a remarkable character in his own right, Fei has dissociative personality
disorder, giving him, at the start of the game, three split personalities. Near the end of the game, Fei splits himself even
further when he realizes some of the atrocities he's unwittingly committed as
some of his other personas, giving him four personalities. But, on his own, Fei is one of the nicest
people in gaming. A martial artist and a
painter of sorts, he trains only for self advancement, until war comes to his
tiny village, leaving a stranded giant robot and enemy troops coming up around
him. Fei takes the robot and pilots
it...only to destroy half the village in an uncontrolled burst of energy,
killing two of his oldest friends and ostracizing him from the other villagers. After which, he sets out on a self imposed
exile, accompanied only by an old friend and his self loathing. Fei is a character with boundless capacity
for good, but who fears his own power, especially after what happened to his
village. And with good reason. Dwelling within Fei is a destructive split personality
that can rip humans and robots alike to shreds with his bare hands. You see, when Fei was a boy he had terrible
experiments performed on him, in which his child self went into hiding in the
back of his mind, cherishing the good memories, and leaving only a bitter husk
of anger behind. When he was finally
subdued and freed from those who would use him, Fei contracted amnesia and,
because of that, his current persona of the kind and dedicated martial artist
became dominant. And for Fei to come to
terms with all this is one hell of a trial.
Fei meets reliable friends who are fighting for independence, salvation,
or just basic human rights along the way and despite his quirks and how
dangerous he proves to be, they all care for him, helping Fei to cope with and
accept his nature. He even falls in love
with Elly, a young woman who caused the calamity in his village by stealing the
robot in the first place. She too is
afraid, but more so of weakness, failure, and a loss of control. They meet in a forest shortly after Fei
leaves his village and end up strangely close, despite Fei's frustration and
anger and Elly's bravado. The next time
they meet, Elly's been drugged up on a performance enhancer which increases
aggression. It's up to Fei to save her,
having experienced his own form of lost control and knowing what it can do to
yourself and others, Fei is able to snap Elly out of her blood rage. Fei understands pain and is able to empathize
and help others better because of it. By
the end of the game, it is even revealed that he and Elly have been brought
together through reincarnation countless times throughout history, only to be
separated by tragedy each time. Once Fei
is able to merge his separate personas into one, he is able to save Elly from
being absorbed by a psychic entity which takes her over and return to their
home planet together, thus breaking the cycle of tragedy. Even though he only wanted a peaceful life,
Fei's empathy, kindness, will, strength, and his drive to save others helped
change the world, freeing it from a corrupt nation lording over it and helping
to establish global peace after a calamity.
Fei Fong Wong is unbelievably complex and nuanced, but at heart, he's just
a man trying to help others and do what's right.
 |
| His own worst enemy, despite the earth shattering power he wields, this man's kindness is his true strength. |
Lenneth Valkyrie (Valkyrie Profile)
Valkyries are choosers of the slain in Norse mythology, who
ride down to humans who die worthy deaths in battle and take them to Valhalla to feast and fight for all eternity. Lenneth is a different kind of valkyrie. She serves Odin, the all-father, at first,
but has an unbelievable capacity to empathize with mortals about the situations
revolving their deaths. More than once,
she is asked by these mortals to take their lives so that others might be
saved, thus earning her approval. Lenneth
also cannot abide people profaning the dead or attempting to use dark power to
hurt others and will strike them down if she sees them. Why does a god have such empathy? Because when Lenneth is not choosing the
slain, she lives as a human, bereft of her divine memories, to experience life
as they live. This is where the story gets
interesting. Fearing Lenneth might rebel
against the gods for the sake of humans, or that she would be unable to do her
job, Odin sealed her memories and used her as a tool. But at one point, Lenneth's memories are
awakened by a man she knew as a human, after he has been killed by a traitor to
the gods named Loki. This sends Lenneth
into shock and leads Odin to try and put her back to sleep, awakening her
crueler sister, Hrist, and nearly destroying Lenneth in the process. Ironically, her empathy for humans is a two
way streak, as those she has chosen from the dead to be her allies save her and
help restore her to power, with some assistance from a sorcerer who has been
stalking her. Together, she is able to
rise above Odin and is given the ability to create and protect. A plot by Loki disrupts the balance of
Asgard, leaving Odin dead and his toadies in a panic. Lenneth walks through them and fights Loki,
for revenge and to protect others. Loki
causes the end of the world, but with her new power, Lenneth causes the world
to be reborn, and protects all the living souls within it. Lenneth's story is not merely one of love,
but also one of rising above patriarchal bonds.
Odin decides what is best for Lenneth, but like many in power, his obstinance
and assurance that he is correct blinds him.
The other two valkyrie under his command are treated just as
carelessly. Lenneth's younger sister
Silmeria is imprisoned for being too empathetic to humans and her elder sister
Hrist is cruel to them, using humans as tools, like Odin. Lenneth finds the balance between the two and
ultimately proves wiser than Odin by putting her faith in humanity rather than
power or sacred objects. What amuses me
most, however, is that while Odin claims himself to be lord of the gods, father
of all, etc. etc. Lenneth and her sisters, when combining their power, can
change fate, making them his superior. A
patriarchal figure suppressing a woman out of fear only to have the tables
turned on him? Deliciously ironic. Lenneth shows detachment at first, but grows
to love and respect her human allies as she tries to understand their sometimes
irrational actions. In the end, she is
rewarded by being reunited with the man Loki slew, who she now realizes she
loves. Lenneth is an admirable female
figure in her own right, made all the more impressive by her boundless ability
to care for others and her wisdom in dealing with the trials thrown her way.
 |
| Chooser of the slain, her empathy and wisdom allowed her to stand above even the gods. |
Chrono (Chrono Trigger)
Chrono is not deep at all.
He's another silent RPG protagonist.
Yet, that doesn't mean he has no character. Chrono has a unique look, tons of reliable
friends, and a loving family life, all while being skilled with the katana. And when one of his friends is sent back to
the past and stranded by a time machine, Chrono embarks on a journey to save
her. In so doing, he discovers that
several hundred years after he will die, the world will be destroyed by an
intergalactic entity called Lavos. Even
though he need not fear it, Chrono sees the devastation and the hopelessness
that engulfs the world after Lavos appears and, with his faithful friends,
decides to fight against this evil, even if the odds are stacked against
them. Chrono cares about helping others
no matter the time or the place because he is a good hearted soul. He's also very lucky, too. At one point in the game, Chrono is outright
slain and wiped from existence by Lavos.
However, his friends go back in time to the moment of his death and swap
his body out for a cheap clone they were able to find, effectively defying fate
to save him. With Chrono back to life,
he is not shaken by fear or the realization of what very nearly could have
happened to him, but redoubles his efforts to save others from Lavos's power. Along the way, he and one of his friends,
Marle, develop a close bond. Eventually,
they fall in love. Marle was the one who
saved Chrono, after all. Chrono is an
avatar of the player to some degree, but even if silent, he still maintains a
unique personality through his body language and the actions he chooses to
take. I suppose what I love most about
this character is his perseverance.
Despite the odds, Chrono never gives up and will fight on. Even after dying, his memory inspires the
others and eventually ends up having him resurrected. He may not say much, but for the sake of his
friends and for the sake of people everywhere, Chrono will travel to the ends
of time itself, fight dinosaurs, robots, and monsters, and do it all while
having the time of his life. Chrono
never gives up.
 |
| A timeless hero, he shall traverse the ancient past and the far off future to protect the innocent. Even in death, he perseveres. |
NiGHTS (Nights into Dreams)
What could be more admirable than a character who embodies
dreams and protects others from nightmares?
Nights is a spirit who was originally created to cause nightmares, but
broke free of his master's control to enjoy and protect pleasant dreams. Dreams are hope. Nightmares are despair. And when children in despair come to the
world of dreams, Nights can help them to find their own strength. Courage gives Nights power and with that
power, Nights helps children recover control of their dreams. Nights is hope in despair. Neither male nor female, Nights is a fragment
of dreams and imagination that is playful, free spirited, and perhaps most
interestingly, vulnerable. Nights is
unable to fight the nightmares without the aid of children who doubt. Because courage is not something that can be
taken from you in the world of dreams.
Even if hope is lost, courage remains.
And it is the courage of children that grants Nights the power to
fight. Nights helps people find the
strength within themselves, the strength they always had but were unable to
see. That's why I can't help but admire
Nights. Nights fosters self improvement
and hope in people, showing them that if they believe and keep moving forward,
then they can face their fears, their doubts, and all the horrors of the real
world and their nightmares. Through
Nights, we realize our own power.
 |
| The playful dreamer offers hope in despair, showing us the strength within ourselves. |
Terra Branford (Final Fantasy 6)
Terra's one of my favorite characters ever. I first met her when I was just a child,
playing Final Fantasy 6, so part of this is nostalgia. But there's more to it than that. Terra is a character who goes through a
remarkable journey and immense personal growth to overcome a lifetime of
slavery and oppression. You see, Terra
was taken from her parents as a baby, raised by a totalitarian empire that saw
her as only a weapon, and made to kill and slaughter against her will. When she is freed from their control, she is
horrified at her actions. Terra is a
warrior with great power, but underneath it all is a scared girl who wants to
understand who and what she is. The
child of a magical being called an esper and a human, Terra begins without the
ability to control her vast stores of power and is a danger to those around
her. But through her friends, she is
able to find joy and acceptance, even learning to make peace with her two
different lineages. Terra, despite
doubting herself, decides to fight for others, joining a resistance movement to
fight the empire at first, and when the world is destroyed, Terra devotes
herself to raising and protecting children in a tiny village. The children even give her the strength to
fight to save the world in the end.
Terra acts as a mother without children, seeking to find meaning in her
own life. That's why I admire her. Even with all her doubts, even with being
horrified at her actions, and even with being torn by her very blood, she
always finds a way to fight. To protect. Her kindness and innocence coupled with her
immense power juxtapose nicely with the Kefka, the main villain, who is cruel, self
serving, insane, and in possession of godlike power. When the Kefka asks her what the point of
life is, why people live, even when all that remains for them is pain, Terra has
finally found the answer. We take pride
in our small victories. In kindness. In protecting others. In hope.
We find our own reason to live.
Terra knows these struggles more than anyone else, being born into
slavery and having to discover her own purpose for being alive. Once the game ends and Kefka is dead, Terra
too starts to die, as magic and the espers which spawned her cannot exist
without Kefka's power. However, she
chooses life and embraces humanity fully, remembering that she has found her
reason to live and will continue to exist, even without magic.
 |
| The girl struggles with her two lineages, but ultimately finds her reason to live. Armed with this reason, she fights to save the world. |
Vyse (Skies of Arcadia)
Everyone loves pirates because of their swashbuckling spirit. The search for adventure, the exploration,
the threat of the unknown, the magic...it's why even today we look back
nostalgically at pirates and the age of exploration. Vyse takes that to the next level. He's a sky pirate. In a world made up of islands and continents
which float in an ocean of clouds and air rather than water, he soars the skies
with his trusty crew of pirates seeking adventure and fortune. However, Vyse is no Blackbeard. Vyse is a kind, noble individual. He's a member of the blue rogues, a group of
pirates who are noticeable for sparing the innocent, only robbing the rich, and
basically being good hearted people. He
saved a girl named Fina when she was in trouble and together with his childhood
friend, Aika, they go out of their way to help Fina recover six ancient
artifacts to prevent an evil empire from taking over the world. Along the course of his journey, Vyse gets
stuck working for an old sailor and a ladies man, is forced to sneak into a
prison to save his family and friends, and is wrongfully accused of being a
thief and a villain. However, he never
loses his good nature, his humor, or his sense of wonder. No one is bound by their circumstances
according to Vyse. He strikes out on his
own with naught but his friends for support and he frequently encourages others
to do the same. He shows an old sea
captain that revenge may not be the answer.
He offers a young prince the chance to do what he believes is right
rather than what is expected. He even
convinces several of his enemies to pursue their true goals, be it love, honor,
or to become pirates themselves. Vyse
defines freedom and choice. Everywhere he goes, he finds undiscovered lands and
treasures and visits ruins and people who were lost or isolated from the rest
of the world. In fact, the wonder of
exploration and his friends are why he goes out of his way to save the
world. Vyse's ultimate goal is to have
his own pirate ship and sail the endless skies.
And he can't do that if the world's destroyed. He wants to see everything that he can and
experience as much of the world as possible.
Vyse is a strong fighter, a reliable friend, and a capable captain, but
above all else, he's an explorer, charting the skies of Arcadia, free as a bird.
 |
| The pirate flies free as a bird through the skies of Arcadia, ever seeking new treasures to discover. |
Naija (Aquaria)
There is something wondrous about Naija. Every new vista she sees and strange sight
she encounters causes her to gasp at the beauty around her. Naija is a girl who loves to explore and the
thrill of unknown waters washing over her fins is what constantly pushes her
forward. Naija is interesting because
she still retains a sense of child-like wonder and awe at the world despite
having to learn to fend for herself, frequently killing others for meat or
power in order to survive the dangerous waters of Aquaria. Even though she must kill to survive and find
answers as to why she is alone, she never forgets to stop and smell the kelp
flowers or ride a seahorse for fun, or sun herself on the beach. Even love is all about exploring and
experiencing new things to her, which leads her to fall for a human diver named
Li. These feelings of wonder are
precious to Naija and she protects them ferociously, dolling out punishment to
those who would defile the world or harm her love. I find something unbelievably beautiful about
this creature who started out young and fragile, only to become hardened and
tough, while still being able to be moved by the beauty of the world around
her. This is especially true,
considering that her mother stole her memories from her. The one complaint I have about Naija is that
her story is not complete. We only know
half and may only ever know half. It's a
bit depressing. Still, for the half we
do know, Naija is someone I admire because of her ability to be moved by all
that she sees. The wonder of exploration
is Naija in a nutshell.
 |
| The child of the sea truly knows she is alive when uncharted waters wash over her fins and new vistas appear before her. |
Gwendolyn (Odin Sphere)
When people say games are inherently misogynist, Gwendolyn
is the character I point to that breaks that rule in every way possible. Gwendolyn is a valkyrie, a warrior woman
whose greatest joy is battle and whose greatest fear is marriage and
subjugation by a man. Despite this, she
is a respectful daughter and will do anything to make her father, Odin, happy,
even if it means she must suffer. While
this could make people think she's a straw feminist with daddy issues,
Gwendolyn comes off as surprisingly human, questioning her own motives and
thinking some pretty horrible thoughts from time to time. When she meets her much more beloved half
sister, for example, she thinks, "If she's dead, I'll be daddy's favorite. I'll be all he has left." However when faced with the chance to let her
sister die at the hands of one of her father's generals, she slaughters the
general and frees her sister, telling her to run. And when her father confronts her about her
actions, she accepts his punishment, believing she has done what was right in
protecting the child he loved. At first,
Gwendolyn never strays from her duty, doing all that she can to grant her
father victory in his war with the fairies, even going so far as to betray the
trust of someone who loves her. However,
she is not blind to what happens around her and starts to learn that duty is not
all there is to life. Slowly, she starts
to change, following her heart rather than her duty as a soldier or a daughter
or even as a wife. She always tries to
do the right thing and in the case of saving her sister, her father enchanted
her to love her bitterest enemy, the shadow knight, Oswald, as punishment for
her betrayal. Only...Odin didn't. He didn't enchant her and counted on her
loyalty so that he could get a special ring the knight had bequeathed her as an
engagement gift. Gwendolyn didn't know
and out of respect for her father, she retrieved the ring for him and saved him
from being killed by a traitor. When she
realized afterwards that Oswald killed the king of the dragons to get that
ring, which he gave to her as an engagement present, she started to wonder
about her feelings and sought to protect Oswald. She saved him from being slain by another
dragon and when her ring was stolen from her father, she fought through a small
army to get it back. When Oswald learned
she had given it away, he fell into despair because he knew that she was not
enchanted to love him and had tried to win her love through his devotion and
actions. As soon as he learned of
Gwendolyn's betrayal, however, he felt that she had chosen not to love him and
died from sadness. Gwendolyn refused to
accept this and went into the netherworld itself to retrieve him, killing the
queen of the netherworld to save her husband and standing up to her father, at
last, for herself and for the sake of her love.
Gwendolyn is a character who is very human. She is conflicted about her choices quite
often and ultimately ends up hurting people she loves. However, she accepts her mistakes and tries
to make amends. She is strong willed,
refusing Oswald's advances at first, even though she believed she had no
choice, and strong in body, routinely battling dragons and huge beasts. She's a romantic and loyal to her dear
friends. Gwendolyn moved me for being
exactly the kind of female protagonist I wanted. Strong and capable, but not just a man with
breasts...she was flawed and human, facing very real concerns about being a
woman, such as the fear of childbirth and subjugation in a male dominated
world. She and Oswald made a good pair
in that regard, as he would never treat her as an object. I suppose what I admire most is the love
Gwendolyn and Oswald share, even though they grew up as enemies. They respect and care for one another because
of all that they have gone through to be together.
 |
| The valkyrie faithfully does her duty, until love makes her realize her true duty is to her heart. |
Yuri Hyuga (Shadow Hearts)
Poor, poor, Yuri. He's suffered all his life, lost his mother,
father, his lover, his friends, his soul, and eventually his life. Yet, for all that, he's pretty bad ass. Yuri is sarcastic, snarky, and lives everyday
with purpose, whether that means getting into a fight for fun or just trying to
make the voices in his head quiet down.
He's an honest and kind young man underneath the tough street punk that
was born out of his mother's death. In
fact, if it weren't for his ability to fuse with demons as a harmonixer, he might
well be the star of a dozen different action movies. Yuri is cursed by his demonic powers and is
filled with malice that must constantly be purified, lest he lose his
soul. He doesn't really know compassion
till he meets his beloved, Alice,
and she gives her life to save his.
Despite the loss, Yuri continues forward, protecting her grave and any
people he finds with his power. Yuri
even goes so far as to try and revive her from the dead with his friend, Roger
Bacon. It fails and all he's left with is
Alice saying
she loves him before she dies once again.
Depressingly tragic, Yuri never lets his misfortune get him down too
much. While he laments Alice's death, he has friends he can depend
on, even among the enemy, and tries to make the most of his time, which is
sadly limited due to a curse. When all
is said and done, though, Yuri manages to defy fate and return to the moment he
first met Alice,
this time, sure that he can save her.
Yuri is a survivor. He keeps on
moving no matter what is thrown his way and will protect those who can't
protect themselves. This attitude earns
him the respect of his friends and enemies alike. No one is too high and mighty for Yuri, who
isn't above smacking a god with his brass knuckled fists for causing trouble. What I find most endearing about Yuri though
is his romantic streak. Never having
known love besides his mother, he cares so deeply for Alice that he seeks to revive her from the
dead. And when that fails, he defies
fate in order to try one more time. Yuri
Hyuga. He makes even fate quake with
fear.
 |
| The harmonixer is without fear. For his love, he will stand against fate itself and emerge triumphant. |
Well, that's the top 10 characters I admire, in no particular order. These heroes are my favorite amongst all the hundreds of games I've played. Tune in next week for my top 10 villains I love to Hate.
