To start, take off the damn helmet. Then maybe, i dunno, have him save a baby lion that helps him kill aliens later on or something. Or have him captured, tortured for knowledge he doesn't have, and made to cry like people tend to do when tortured.
How would you make Masterchief a more compelling and flawed character?
- Thread starter lucky_sharm
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Of course, when the problem you are encountered with is "horde of rampaging aliens", there are only two effective solutions, shooting them in the face or singing jpop at them. And I doubt the Chief is cute enough to pull the latter off.Kharloth said:
Make it so he enjoys building bird houses in his spare time, or maybe even have more than three lines of dialogue in a game.
Eh, it's too easy to disappoint fans if you suddenly put a face to a character they used to project themselves onto (which is what people generally do when the main characters are mostly silent which is actually the point, though a lot you all seem to mistake this for having "no personality"). When there's "no personality," the player is free to imbue them with any number of traits based on their expectations. And it's not likely to be a character they don't like. So, it's a win-win for the writers and the players, as long as players like feeling like heroes themselves as they save pixelated humanity.
And if you think about it, if creators make a character that you don't like, don't you like playing the game less because of it?
And if you think about it, if creators make a character that you don't like, don't you like playing the game less because of it?
US army bomb disposal team in Iraq.Levitas1234 said:
It's intense... definately worth a watch.
I think they should have done what L.A Noire did when it came to giving back story and emotional baggage to a protagonist, which was showing brief flashbacks of his life before he became a Spartan in between missions. You'd be able to understand him better in spite of his lack of emotion.
Reveal backstory in which he came up against all the problems that result in being the last of a group of elite soldiers with so much artificial enhancement they practically qualify as living robots controlled by the military. Chemicals or no, at some point in life he must have faced a killer's guilt, a survivor's rage, and the smug feeling of superiority a Spartan gets over all other humans.
Have (some of) the next villains be attempts at a new (4th?) generation of Spartans who went insane, each of whom exemplifies those problems and lets it control their actions and personality. In the process of defeating them one by one, Chief explains his solution to each mental problem and how he conquered it before the first game. A bit Metal Gear-ish, yes. But a lot more interesting and individually dangerous to Chief than space Muslims.
Or y'know, just make him closer to the Chief from Arby n' the Chief. That'd be hilarious.
Have (some of) the next villains be attempts at a new (4th?) generation of Spartans who went insane, each of whom exemplifies those problems and lets it control their actions and personality. In the process of defeating them one by one, Chief explains his solution to each mental problem and how he conquered it before the first game. A bit Metal Gear-ish, yes. But a lot more interesting and individually dangerous to Chief than space Muslims.
Or y'know, just make him closer to the Chief from Arby n' the Chief. That'd be hilarious.
The biggest problem with all of this is that NONE of this is conveyed to the player at all in the games. You get absolutely nothing in terms of backstory or anything, really.SonicSoulstrike96 said:
He's perfect the way he is. He talks only when needed. Thats his personality
We don't need flawed characters just for something to be interesting.
The only character in the Halo franchise I didn't see much character for was "The Rookie" but he was there to simply "Be" the player. Kinda like Gordon Freeman.
Noble 6, believe it or not, had a character.
He is a Lone Wolf specialist spartan who obviously has something going on in his mind. Its reported on his file that he constantly will wonder off at times and come back the next day. Entire marine platoons are gone with the mission's he partakes in. He is also trained for just about any scenario, sniping, close range, demolitions, despite all spartans being trained for that, he spreads quite well, although, he shows his real specialties alone. He also is selfless, sacraficing his own life for the pillar of autumn, knowing full well he will die, not for Duty, but for human life.
Just because "the story isn't on the disk" doesn't make anyone a terrible character, they do not need to be flawed either to be great. Thats what makes the Spartans interesting, they are not flawed, but not generic.
We don't need flawed characters just for something to be interesting.
The only character in the Halo franchise I didn't see much character for was "The Rookie" but he was there to simply "Be" the player. Kinda like Gordon Freeman.
Noble 6, believe it or not, had a character.
He is a Lone Wolf specialist spartan who obviously has something going on in his mind. Its reported on his file that he constantly will wonder off at times and come back the next day. Entire marine platoons are gone with the mission's he partakes in. He is also trained for just about any scenario, sniping, close range, demolitions, despite all spartans being trained for that, he spreads quite well, although, he shows his real specialties alone. He also is selfless, sacraficing his own life for the pillar of autumn, knowing full well he will die, not for Duty, but for human life.
Just because "the story isn't on the disk" doesn't make anyone a terrible character, they do not need to be flawed either to be great. Thats what makes the Spartans interesting, they are not flawed, but not generic.
How to make a badass relatable:JWW said:
On topic, I think we are too far gone in the series to make any major overhauls or character flaw story arcs without majorly upsetting fans and the original character of the Chief in the first games (essentially completely stoic.)
Maybe a few scenes like this interspersed throughout the new announced trilogy, without making a big heroic scene of it, would be enough to show the humanity of the Chief shining through that big green helmet.
By having him occasionally comment about his love for bacon, and complaining about his face itching under his helmet.