New Heroes
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You know, there was a survey a while back of the top heroic characters in film and who do you think was at the top of the pile?
Atticus Finch.
That's right, Atticus Finch. So perhaps a new hero or heroine would be someone who didn't have bulging muscles or big guns, but rather someone who stands up for what they believe in the face of adversity.
Atticus Finch.
That's right, Atticus Finch. So perhaps a new hero or heroine would be someone who didn't have bulging muscles or big guns, but rather someone who stands up for what they believe in the face of adversity.
I'm pretty tired of the one-liner-muttering, muscle packed Badass-Types. So, i'd like to play some regular, maybe even weak looking guy from time to time. The latter would also ramp up the tension in stealth games. Also, i'd like to see some April Ryan Type of Girls again.
In terms of character, i'd like to play for once a real asshole character. Ethan Thomas in Condemned 2 might be someone like that, but if not, some selfish sonofabitch who doesn't make heroic decisions would be kinda fun to play.
In terms of character, i'd like to play for once a real asshole character. Ethan Thomas in Condemned 2 might be someone like that, but if not, some selfish sonofabitch who doesn't make heroic decisions would be kinda fun to play.
Although I haven't played it, I like the idea of Beyond Good and Evil's Jade [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beyond_Good_%26_Evil_%28video_game%29]: a crusading journalist with a funky green theme.
Laharl from Disgaea!
We don't need real heroes, we need people who reflect the times: selfish, impulsive, but at least do the right thing when it's really-really (really) important.
But in all honesty I'd say we need more Gordon Freeman. (Note that I didn't make that plural.)
We don't need real heroes, we need people who reflect the times: selfish, impulsive, but at least do the right thing when it's really-really (really) important.
But in all honesty I'd say we need more Gordon Freeman. (Note that I didn't make that plural.)
http://www.gamesradar.com/us/ps3/game/news/article.jsp?articleId=2008010713371331058§ionId=1006&releaseId=20061114121621749053
I will name him...mega-destructo-chief-hunter-marine! (MDCHM for short)
Seriously though, a character that has extremely customizable looks and widely varied personality, with the basic ability to absorb defeated enemies and thus gain parts of them as parts of it's own body, likely looking like a lovecraftian monster towards the end of the game. He/She's a monster hunter, you see, who becomes a monster. Add Nietzche quotes liberally. The story writes itself!
...or not.
I will name him...mega-destructo-chief-hunter-marine! (MDCHM for short)
Seriously though, a character that has extremely customizable looks and widely varied personality, with the basic ability to absorb defeated enemies and thus gain parts of them as parts of it's own body, likely looking like a lovecraftian monster towards the end of the game. He/She's a monster hunter, you see, who becomes a monster. Add Nietzche quotes liberally. The story writes itself!
...or not.
Yes on Laharl.
Personality-wise, would be interesting to see Demyx the Hero (KH2). Guy who TRIES to sound hardcore and Dante-ish complete with cue cards he reads, but is in reality very new at this sort of thing and unsure of how to handle it. Demyx was a nut. 'Twas a shame to have to kill him.
It's also been a while since we saw a type I refer to as 'The Warrior of Anger', guy who is normally peaceful and easy-going until set off by certain events (bad guys hurting his friends, burning his beloved peasant village) into doing things perhaps more extremely than his friends/allies consider to be 'good'. Most recent version of this archetype I can remember is the Prince of Persia, but then he never had many allies around to be scared of what he is slowly becoming, with the exception of Farah. Killing every opponent they fought was also justified because they were all Sand Monsters and everyone knows killing Sand Monsters is okay. What about if the 'trigger event' is that he shows no mercy to anyone who calls him 'Coward' (shades of Marty McFly)?
I may have dallied longer on that second type than I wanted to, because I recently experienced the progression of that character's flaw myself in real life- getting so angry at someone you do something you are later astounded and terrified by. For a while, you scare yourself.
It's always nice to have a character you create via your own decisions (KotoR), but set archtypes can be fun as well, because you can never quite tell what they're going to do next. Fewer robots, please. They're harder to identify with.
Personality-wise, would be interesting to see Demyx the Hero (KH2). Guy who TRIES to sound hardcore and Dante-ish complete with cue cards he reads, but is in reality very new at this sort of thing and unsure of how to handle it. Demyx was a nut. 'Twas a shame to have to kill him.
It's also been a while since we saw a type I refer to as 'The Warrior of Anger', guy who is normally peaceful and easy-going until set off by certain events (bad guys hurting his friends, burning his beloved peasant village) into doing things perhaps more extremely than his friends/allies consider to be 'good'. Most recent version of this archetype I can remember is the Prince of Persia, but then he never had many allies around to be scared of what he is slowly becoming, with the exception of Farah. Killing every opponent they fought was also justified because they were all Sand Monsters and everyone knows killing Sand Monsters is okay. What about if the 'trigger event' is that he shows no mercy to anyone who calls him 'Coward' (shades of Marty McFly)?
I may have dallied longer on that second type than I wanted to, because I recently experienced the progression of that character's flaw myself in real life- getting so angry at someone you do something you are later astounded and terrified by. For a while, you scare yourself.
It's always nice to have a character you create via your own decisions (KotoR), but set archtypes can be fun as well, because you can never quite tell what they're going to do next. Fewer robots, please. They're harder to identify with.
It seems that Radical's upcoming game, Prototype [http://www.prototypegame.com/splash/] is similar to what you were envisioning, perhaps sans the character evolution. The player is a genetically-engineered monster that terrorizes a large city and eats other living beings, gaining their abilities and appearance in the process.propertyofcobra said:
To answer the thread's question, I'd like to submit Altaïr from Assassin's Creed. He is a well-designed character that evolves from an arrogant egotist into a wise and somewhat humble leader by the end of the game. Besides, an anachronistic, free-running medieval assassin is a good character concept.
I believe the Thread is about Creating a new Hero/Heroine, and I think I can pull that off.
"Merch N Dice", a cheapo Merchant who is thrown into a possition of importance through a series of incredibly unlikely events. He is being trained to be a Hero, whilst secretely trying to find a way out of the damn Training and going back to his miserable, humble lifestyle. He's always liked things to be as Boring as possible, he loathes excitement, which means it always follows him around. He has mousy hair, quite greasy skin, and constantly wears a torn, mud covered Raincoat he "Saved" from a Rubbish-Pile outside of the local Tavern. He is quite the packrat, and when in dire moments of danger he tries to possition himself behind a potential meat-shield nearby. He is, to put it blunty, an unlikely, but unwilling hero, who was thrown into his current possition by bad timing and bad choices of words. When faced with an array of magical weaponry, he'll take the most boring, small, easiy concealed one, having a weapon just puts you in further danger.
See? Not that hard to come up with a cowardly, weasel like character, the opposite of the ruggedly handsome muscle-bound, intelligent and witty young adults that swarm all over Games.
"Merch N Dice", a cheapo Merchant who is thrown into a possition of importance through a series of incredibly unlikely events. He is being trained to be a Hero, whilst secretely trying to find a way out of the damn Training and going back to his miserable, humble lifestyle. He's always liked things to be as Boring as possible, he loathes excitement, which means it always follows him around. He has mousy hair, quite greasy skin, and constantly wears a torn, mud covered Raincoat he "Saved" from a Rubbish-Pile outside of the local Tavern. He is quite the packrat, and when in dire moments of danger he tries to possition himself behind a potential meat-shield nearby. He is, to put it blunty, an unlikely, but unwilling hero, who was thrown into his current possition by bad timing and bad choices of words. When faced with an array of magical weaponry, he'll take the most boring, small, easiy concealed one, having a weapon just puts you in further danger.
See? Not that hard to come up with a cowardly, weasel like character, the opposite of the ruggedly handsome muscle-bound, intelligent and witty young adults that swarm all over Games.
My idea as a hero would be as follows. I'll admit I haven't played many story driven games, so this may have been done before.
A fighter who isn't that strong, or good at fighting, and is self-loathing because of his constant failures. Over the course of the game he trains harder and gets stronger, and his attitude toward himself changes. At the end of the story, after he single-handedly defeats the final boss, he's the greatest fighter in the world, and not only has he simply grown to respect himself more, he's a cocky, arrogant jackass.
I'd also like to see a protagonist character that's like MacBeth, in that in the end of the story, they're the villain (I guess you could include protagonists from games like Fable and KOTOR in this description).
Perhaps instead of having the whole "betraying the king" plot going for him, he gets more cynical as the story progresses, as the very people he fights to protect (namely, the general public) are revealed to be, for the most part, a bunch of selfish assholes (like the characters in The Witcher). In the end, he decides that they're not worth saving, and after defeating the final boss (who is also an asshole), goes on a crusade to rid the world of assholes (by killing them) only to be stopped by the other heroes in the story.
A fighter who isn't that strong, or good at fighting, and is self-loathing because of his constant failures. Over the course of the game he trains harder and gets stronger, and his attitude toward himself changes. At the end of the story, after he single-handedly defeats the final boss, he's the greatest fighter in the world, and not only has he simply grown to respect himself more, he's a cocky, arrogant jackass.
I'd also like to see a protagonist character that's like MacBeth, in that in the end of the story, they're the villain (I guess you could include protagonists from games like Fable and KOTOR in this description).
Perhaps instead of having the whole "betraying the king" plot going for him, he gets more cynical as the story progresses, as the very people he fights to protect (namely, the general public) are revealed to be, for the most part, a bunch of selfish assholes (like the characters in The Witcher). In the end, he decides that they're not worth saving, and after defeating the final boss (who is also an asshole), goes on a crusade to rid the world of assholes (by killing them) only to be stopped by the other heroes in the story.
"Do you know what my two favourite words are? Status quo. If nothing changes, then nothing can go wrong." Ben Harper, My Family.
For once, let's have the heroine be the loser. You know the type. Cowardly. Useless. Cynical. Only succeeds by accident, never actually becomes a better fighter or leader, just wants to go back to their old life where everything was where it should be. But unlike the usual way of handling this desire, where they go back to their normal life and now find it lacking (Which always seems to lead to a return to the adventuring life or a "Bad End" where they try to get back to their new life and fail, having lost that once-in-a-lifetime chance forever), they go back and instantly settle back into their normal, boring, safe routine, finally becoming content and happy as the heroes go on to either finish whatever quest they're on or die in the process.
"Everything in its proper place or not at all! Proper place! Proper place!" - Quell, Planescape: Torment.
For once, let's have the heroine be the loser. You know the type. Cowardly. Useless. Cynical. Only succeeds by accident, never actually becomes a better fighter or leader, just wants to go back to their old life where everything was where it should be. But unlike the usual way of handling this desire, where they go back to their normal life and now find it lacking (Which always seems to lead to a return to the adventuring life or a "Bad End" where they try to get back to their new life and fail, having lost that once-in-a-lifetime chance forever), they go back and instantly settle back into their normal, boring, safe routine, finally becoming content and happy as the heroes go on to either finish whatever quest they're on or die in the process.
"Everything in its proper place or not at all! Proper place! Proper place!" - Quell, Planescape: Torment.
How about someone who is good at fighting, but is unconfident? For a perfect example, see Demyx from KH2. He acted like such a wimp, but damn, that was a tough boss battle. The second one, of course.
My favorite kind of hero is an offshoot of the standard anti-hero. Through the entire story, they don't actually care about whatever villain/disaster/global threat is going on, and perhaps aren't even aware of it (though the player would be). They go about some unrelated personal agenda - perhaps a grand-scale adventure for purely selfish reasons, or something completely mundane that just keeps getting interrupted. And in the end the hero saves the world as an inadvertent side-effect of whatever they happened to be doing. Or they intentionally defeat the villain for a silly, petty reason ("Hey! That's my sandwich! You stole my sandwich! DIE!").
The only character I know of like this is Deadpool from Marvell comics, but even when he saved the world he was specifically out to save it.
The only character I know of like this is Deadpool from Marvell comics, but even when he saved the world he was specifically out to save it.
To be honest my character was Rincewind aswell... Well, you can't make a thread about new Heroes without getting Discworld fanatics.
The Bard, from the recent Bard's Tale remake. All he's after is money and women, and eventually ends up fighting one of the villains because the villain killed his pet dog. (He also personally causes most of the problems he ends up having to solve).Flionk said:
All that really does is move the POV character to that of the distressed damsel. That's not really too interesting. Rincewind works as a subversion when he's taking the place of someone who the normal story expects competence and heroism from. If you use that character type as someone who the audience expects it from, it's really just cliched and quite insulting to the audience.