your "alternate charachter interpretations"

[saintdane05]

Duke Nukem is gay.

No, really!

Look at the first game. Duke is a pink sweater wearing man, talking about how he can't get home to watch Opera. While not trying to enforce stereotypes, this is pretty typical of a homosexual man. Sometime between DN2 and DN 3d, he discovered his sexual preferences, and was horrified. He tried to set himself out to be a "real man", which to him, meant bulging muscles, beer, and strip clubs. This was a persona he set out for the rest of the planet to see. On the way, something unfortunate happened. The fantasy persona took over. The old Duke died a slow, painless death.

Yet, even still, his subconscious rings out from time to time. As a last ditch effort, he put up a picture of a man's chest, the last man he ever slept with, in his bathroom. Some think it is his own. Duke thinks so too, but looking at it makes him think of days long gone...

 

[AsurasEyes]

Caesar in New Vegas isn't a monster, it's just a role he accepts. He believes humanity works best when there's a quantifiable, mutual threat to tackle but with the Enclave essentially destroyed that threat no longer exists. By forming the Legion and encouraging their atrocities he's simultaneously giving a rallying cry to the best humanity has in that world and grouping its worst examples together in one mass.

That's why his target is the Hoover Damn, it's of vital importance for the NCR and the electricity it generates is also vital for rebuilding humanity. But it's near worthless for the Legion and their beliefs.

He encourages the use of melee and limited firearms against the NCR's professional armies because the loses will always be high on his side and the hapless monsters under his command see this as culling the weak, they stay and fight, more die.

The threat he poses can potentially form an alliance between the NCR, The BoS, The Boomers, The Strip Families, Enclave Remnants, The FotA and even the Khans. With these specialties working together the hope for civilized humanity is strengthened. The Legion has a massive spy network, there's no way Caesar couldn't know this was happening but he did nothing to stop it.

Sometimes you have to play the villain of the piece.

I would say something, but you have silenced me. This is beautiful.

 

[Alssadar]

The silent protagonist in all those FPS's really isn't silent.
He just doesn't like to talk much, and can often think of a good joke, but he thinks what he says might be out of place. He lacks the courage do what he thinks is right, and feels almost as if he is being controlled by someone else, playing into his self-doubt that he can do nothing right. He has a low self esteem and fears for his life, but as a "manly man" of his culture, he must suck it up and be quiet, as Sergeant yells at him one more time to do everything. He wishes he could be in greater terms of friendship with his fellows, but the only time he's really around them is when the bullets fly, and then they all seem the same.
He sometimes fears what he does, of how mechanical and price it is--how he guns down dozens of screaming soldiers without a second thought and of how he can simply shrug off bullets to the point of nigh invulnerability. He is scared what he can do, the destruction he can bring, the weapons he fields and the enemies he kills. God knows no fury, and he fears when the barrel is pointed at him.

He is a god of war. And he is afraid.

 

[Vault101]

I always kind of agreed with the Legion. Bureaucracy doesn?t make sense in a post apocalypse world.

no

just no

the Legion are not only fucking awful awful AWFUL people....but their not even better in terms of everything...you only have to LOOK at the different factions

 

[aegix drakan_v1legacy]

Here's one I have:

Spoiler: Marche of Final FAntasy Tactics Advance

Marche of FFTA:

Marche is the true villain of the game. His friends find a magic book that transforms Earth into a flawed, but still better than Earth world. Each of his friends gets what they wish for deep in their hearts (getting their family back, losing a feature they were mocked over, having a chance to actually have adventures, being able to WALK again, etc), and what does Marche (who doesn't have any major problems like some of his friends do) decide to do? LET'S JUST TURN THE WORLD BACK TO THE OLD WAY, EVEN IF MY FRIENDS ARE GOING TO SUFFER FOR IT. Why? Because this fantasy world isn't "real".

Granted, Ivalice wasn't perfect. There were corrupt asshole judges, the royal family was full of jerks, and there were criminal gangs and monsters. But most of these problems could have been FIXED. Ivalice is soooo much better than Earth. And yet he REFUSED to see the bigger picture, and didn't really try to put himself in the shoes of his friends who would lose so much more than him if the world went back. All because he didn't believe that Ivalice was "real", and thus it was all just escapism.

News Flash, Marche. That's a MASSIVE DICK MOVE. It's called EMPATHY, you dolt. You're a very nice guy already, so why the heck can't you empathize?!

...This character interpretation makes the game's "meh" story much much better.

Oh, and speak of the devil, someone else had the same idea!

Spoiler: Marche (FFTA

In Final Fantasy Tactics Advanced the player character Marche is an evil villain attempting to destroy the world who has deluded himself into thinking it would save everyone.

Yeah, that works too.

*side note: Since my DS is kinda on the fritz, I'm playing FFTA again on the bus, but with a self imposed challenge. Anyone that ends a battle dead I kick off my team. And I can't use revive magic or buy phoenix downs (although I CAN use ones I get as part of events/stealing). So far I've lost one character. ...my healer. ;_;*

 

[thesilentman]

Oh god. Winnie the Pooh becomes about ten times funnier if I see the characters differently. All of them. Back when I was immature, I made it get pretty (darkly) funny pretty fast. I'll come back if I can remember some of the funny personalities that I put onto some characters

Also, in real life, babies. It's funny to imagine what goes on in their heads while most of us go crazy over them. Hilarity ensues if the baby isn't crawling yet, but almost there.

 

[ImperialSunlight]

In The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Link is a political puppet used by the Hyrule royal family to eliminate all opposition to their authoritarian dictatorship. Under the pretense of destiny, and through the use of special effects, lies and hallucinogenic drugs (probably in the milk), Link is made to believe that Ganondorf is evil and that he must defend Hyrule from him. In truth, Ganondorf is a benevolent rebel seeking to free Hyrule from its oppressive monarchy. After Ganon is killed, Link is captured, blamed for the crime of murder and forced to go back in time as punishment.

Oh, and the Templars were right.

May the father of understanding guide us...

 

[thesilentman]

Oh god. Winnie the Pooh...

Winnie the Pooh is actually used quite a lot to show certain themes within philosophy.

there are a couple pretty famous books about it and specifically how it can be related to Taoism.

http://www.just-pooh.com/tao.html

It used to be one of my favorite shows as a kid. The fact that Taoism can be seen in Winnie the Pooh blows my mind.

-Noted as trivia and something to come back to-

 

[JEBWrench]

Now that I'm done being a dickish grammar nazi, I agree on the Amata thing. I also like to think in FO:NV, Lily isn't actually a schizophrenic at all, but rather is putting on an act so you let your guard down when she isn't growling. I think she secretly plans to kill you as well, so that's why I never take her anywhere.

I have to lightheartedly disagree.
1) She's a Nightkin, they're schizophrenic. The stealth boys cause it.

2) Her ending:

Spoiler

When she takes her medication and remembers her real grandchildren, and leaves to find them.

Also lighthearted: Mike Dawson never won the ring-toss game.

 

[Adept Mechanicus]

I have a theory that Finding Nemo took place entirely in Marlin's head as a PTSD-induced delusion based on his guilt over failing to save his wife.

 

[Ruedyn]

snip

I've never really used her long enough to get her ending. For the most part I stick with Raul, who is a complete boss who is capable of no wrong doing besides deathclaw homicide.

 

[Agayek]

oh? I havnt played the DLC...but if it comes some background to the courer then I definetly should (so no spoilers please)

Just so you're aware, Lonesome Road is all about the backstory of the Courier.

I won't spoil it, but suffice to say there's a lot of character building for the PC all throughout the thing. It's phenomenally well done. Definitely check it out if you haven't yet.

 

[Quazimofo]

Shylocke is not an evil, money-grubbing asshole. Shylocke is, without a doubt in my mind, the hero of the piece, fighting in vain against a system which hates and dehumanizes him simply because he's a jew, and Shylocke's eventual "Defeat" in a court of law when trying to extract his due is one of the greatest injustices in all of literature.

on the other hand, his own hatred drove him to his punishment, as he became what he hated in the end; a man who blamed another man for so many things, most of which he had little to do with or little power over, to the point where he was ready and willing to kill him in public. And on top of that, when his stubborn-ness in the literal interpretation of his "justice" was turned on him, he didn't even admit he was wrong, and tried to just wave it off like nothing happened.

in not 5 minutes, he managed to perfectly portray the entire world which was united against him and its modus operandi, thus becoming a monster. true, his punishment was a great injustice, but only because absolutely nothing was learned, and racism managed to ruin another man who had done nothing wrong before the world turned him into a temporary monster.

It is a cruel irony that justice was served, but on the wrong man, for the crimes of those who surrounded him.

Wow, where did that come from? i read that play once 3 years ago for 8th grade humanities, but that argument is still fresh in my mind.
Funny what stays with you.

 

[JEBWrench]

snip

Counter-snip

I can unashamedly say that I've played NV so many times I've seen a great many of the characters' endings. (Except Raul, because I missed him my first few playthroughs)

Which is a shame, because Raul is just great.

 

[Ruedyn]

THE SNIPPIEST SNIP OF THEM ALL

I love him, his outfit, weapon, quest (kind of), and the fact that he left his password and insults towards the mutants on the computer outside his cell. Also, he does not give a single fuck who you side with, which is nice because having Boone headshot my dumb arse for the 30th time with the Anti-Material rifle I gave him because I said the word 'Legion' without the words 'I hate' around it.

Now that I'm done fan-boying all over the place... Crap, I don't actually have another one right now....

 

[uzo]

I remember reading somewhere - possibly on the Escapist - someone's thinking of Read Dead Redemption / Grand Theft Horse. That someone suggested that all of John Marston's adventures were simply his son Jack's imagination. His dad's been gone for years, and the boy sits around reading books about cowboys and dastardly villains and gunfights - and he projects this onto his father.

When John returns, there really isn't very much 'super gun-toting cowboy' going on. John and Jack round up some cattle, ride around a bit, practice shooting, later John saves him from a bear (which any father would do in the situation), and all kindsa father-son stuff that they had missed out on over the years John was ((in prison?)) 'out catching bad guys'.

And then a bunch of government cronies come looking to arrest/kill John ... and spoiler city.

Is it such a stretch to believe that Jack, instead of remembering his father as a lawless murderer, chooses to believe his father was actually a misunderstood hero, set up for a fall by the evil - and mostly faceless - Federal Government?

The scary thing then is that Jack essentially and unwittingly follows in his father's footsteps - screaming 'I'm John Marston's boy!!' at strangers as he guns them down. Talk about daddy issues.

 

[Vault101]

Just so you're aware, Lonesome Road is all about the backstory of the Courier.

I won't spoil it, but suffice to say there's a lot of character building for the PC all throughout the thing. It's phenomenally well done. Definitely check it out if you haven't yet.

awsome...I always felt I would have liked some background for my courier...Ive been meaning to check out the NV DLC's but just havnt gotten round to it

 

[Terminate421]

The anime'd version of Yugioh 5D's is written and played by the same crew from Abridged, I never watched the original but hearing Jack shout "CARD GAMES ON MOTORCYCLES!" is enough for me to lose it.

 

[regalphantom]

Handsome Jack isn't a complete monster. An extremist? Yes. Unhinged? Yes. But his intentions are ultimately for the best, the taming of Pandora to make it safe for humanity, which ultimately means that in order to do so he has to deal with the roving bands of psychopaths inhabiting the planet, killing everyone who gets in their way. Along those lines, even though the people of Sanctuary are the 'good guys', they aren't necessarily good people, they are just comparitively nice to you. Zed goes around creating abominations and 'performing surgery' on people, Markus is a war-profitier who goes out of his way to create conflict, manipulate people, and would do just about anything for a profit. Brick likes to punch things and blow stuff up, Lilith is effectively a drug addict with super-powers, Axton is a glory hog and adrenaline junky with no conscious, all we know about Zero is that he's after a challenge and once killed a man because his buddy said it was impossible to get him to shut up. Angel even mentions that Sanctuary is only relatively safer than the rest of Pandora. It is entirely arguable that the only good characters in the game are Roland, Maya, and arguably Tannis and Mordecai. I'm not saying that what Jack is doing ingame is right, but there's more to the man than meets the eye, and sticking to the strictest ingame interpretation he somehow manages to be a complete monster while still being extremely sympathetic.

Spoiler

I mean, he just wants to keep his daughter safe after all

Deus Ex: Invisible War. The JC Denton/Helios hybrid doesn't want to create the 'perfect democracy', it wants to create the ultimate dictatorship with it at the head. The ending seen is an illusion to prevent the truth from getting out. The reason that the 'combined ending' canonically occurred in Deus Ex is because JC chose to merge with Helios before uncovering its true objectives, and caused the crash before the AI took complete control of his body. Also, the Illuminati are the good guys, as they truly have the best interests of society at large in heart, at least when compared to the other factions.

Additionally, Leo never escapes the Omar, he is fully converted, and used in an attempt to convince Alex to kill the leaders of the Illluminati, Templars, and JC Denton so they can seize control themselves.

Obi-Wan Kenobi arranged for Luke's Uncle and Aunt to be killed. If you think about it, it makes no sense for the Stormtroopers to destroy the farm, even if they knew the droids were purchased there, at least until AFTER Luke returns with them. Something was not right with the scenario.

Yes-Man is a figment of the Courier's imagination caused by the brain damage from where he has shot by Benny. He already had all the plans in place to take over New Vegas, however, the only way that he can remember the information is when Yes Man, the hallucination/dellusion, tells him.

The Wise One from the Golden Sun series is the ultimate antagonist, and has been manipulating all of the PC's for some unknown end. This includes initially setting Felix and Issac's parties against each other.