# Characterisation in Games



## Dream Brother (Apr 20, 2013)

What are your favourite examples of characterisation in a game? I'm mainly thinking of characters that stood out to you as being particularly interesting and fleshed out, and/or if they made a big impact on you for a certain reason. I'm also thinking about the way the game actually delivers the character material, like cutscenes, interactive dialogue, etc.

I liked the characterisation in _Dragon Age: Origins_. (The detailed dialogue interaction as well as the actual personalities and relationships.) _Mass Effect 2_ also comes to mind. _Final Fantasy VI_ and _VII_ had some great character moments. Some of the _Metal Gear Solid_ games are definitely worth mentioning. In terms of recent releases, _Bioshock Infinite_ really surprised me with some interesting character work.


----------



## Krory (Apr 21, 2013)

I'm going to reply to this, swear it, but maybe tomorrow when I'm feeling more aware but this is a great thread idea (and it'd be nice to hear from people some more specifics).


----------



## Inuhanyou (Apr 21, 2013)

Kaine from NIER.

Among others of course, maybe i'll be back with a list


----------



## Krory (Apr 21, 2013)

I'll throw out one right now:

Mr. Scratch of _Alan Wake's American Nightmare_ was a great one, going through the areas and finding televisions that you can view that feature the evil doppelganger of Alan Wake doing depraved things (really just murder) as he taunts Alan. Using the actor Ilkka Villi (who was the model for Alan Wake) to portray Mr. Scratch in these scenes in person helped sell them as despite being a psychopath, he was so deliciously charming. Delivery of lines such as, "D'y'know the real difference between us? I'm not afraid to be the center of attention." to explaining to Alan about one of his hostages that he tortured for information, then telling him shortly before he kills the man, "This part? This part is just for kicks." or even his little dance while listening to _Happy Song_ by Poets of the Fall (all the while, one of his victims left barely alive attempts to reach a gun to defend himself before Mr. Scratch dances over and promptly stomps on his body to finish him) helps make Mr. Scratch a presentable and bizarrely likable villain. An example of one that isn't very fleshed-out but the performance alone makes him a very engaging character, in my opinion.


----------



## blackbird (Apr 21, 2013)

The "noir comic" cutscenes of Max Payne and Max Payne 2.

Apart from being beautifully executed in both writing and gritty visuals, this comic, in all its simplicity and apart from unfolding the actual plot, provides an excellent atmosphere for the game and a rare, genuine insight into the main character's personality.


----------



## OS (Apr 21, 2013)

Handsome Jack, when he talks to you on the radio or you pick up those recorders.


----------



## Patchouli (Apr 21, 2013)

Krory said:


> I'm going to reply to this, swear it, but maybe tomorrow when I'm feeling more aware but this is a great thread idea (and it'd be nice to hear from people some more specifics).



This.

I'm going to think on this a bit.


----------



## manwiththemachinegun (Apr 21, 2013)

Solid Snake is one of my all time favorite characters. He's not a simple muscle head commando. In fact, all of the characters in Metal Gear have tons of depth to them. 

Because even when saving the world, you have to laugh a little.


----------



## Raidou Kuzunoha (Apr 21, 2013)

blackbird said:


> The "noir comic" cutscenes of Max Payne and Max Payne 2.
> 
> Apart from being beautifully executed in both writing and gritty visuals, this comic, in all its simplicity and apart from unfolding the actual plot, provides an excellent atmosphere for the game and a rare, genuine insight into the main character's personality.



[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdIha5Dz07U[/YOUTUBE]


----------



## αshɘs (Apr 21, 2013)

The first cool Max Paynes were really cool, agreed.

I really enjoyed Cave Johnson in Portal 2. We never get in touch with him, only see pictures and hear voice recordings, but we go through a journey and learn the beginnings of Aperture Science, its glory and demise and of course we get to know its founder better. The way this dreamer millionaire obsessed with science descends into madness and eventually faces terminal illness. His lemons rant is probably famous at this point 

Bioshock handles characters well in general (and we never get to meet most of them). Andrew Ryan is one of the most charismatic characters and Sander Cohen is deliciously twisted.

Can't go past Planescape: Torment of course. Such a great cast.


----------



## Gaawa-chan (Apr 21, 2013)

Most of the games I thought of have already been named.  Here are some that haven't been:

Starcraft.

Tales of Symphonia has some very good characters.

Final Fantasy IX.

Emerald Dragon for the SNES.

Violinist of Hameln for the SNES.

The Megaman franchise from X onwards has some pretty good characterization.

I've heard that Fire Emblem has some good characters but I've never played the games so I can't say.  Same goes for FF Tactics.


----------



## Doom85 (Apr 21, 2013)

Some great examples to me: (ABC order)

Balthier (Final Fantasy XII) - he's what Han Solo would be like in a FF game. What's not to love?

Clementine (Walking Dead) - a sweet, charming little girl who also was really good at being helpful to the group but still grew over the course of the game through Lee's guidance. The game had quite a few good characters, but Clem was definitely the best

Elizabeth (Bioshock Infinite) - all the characters were great, but Elizabeth was definitely the best. It's not just the script that makes her shine, but Courtnee Draper's fantastic voice acting (originally, this was going to be her last VA work and she was going to law school, but the positive reception to her performance has her re-considering) and the high-level of animation that the character was given

Heather (Silent Hill 3) - yeah I know, most people will disagree immediately and say Silent Hill 2 is where the best characters are at (and don't get me wrong, I love 2 as well). But Heather is my favorite because she feels so unique from many of the other SH leads. Heather has more of a normal person's reaction to what Silent Hill would invoke, as much of her text from looking at things shows how freaked out she is at some of the things she's seeing, and she has a believable lack of impatience at some of the cryptic dialogue the Silent Hill natives often use. Her motivation for going to Silent Hill also works really well, and the "father-daughter" type of bond she forms with Douglas is great too. The VA also gave a stronger performance IMHO compared to the first two SH leads. For the record, Vincent came in a close second here, but due to more character development and focus I gave the win to Heather

Luke (Tales of the Abyss) - it's really hard to say anything about Luke without giving out way too many spoilers about the story. Just say that Luke goes through one of the biggest character developments I've ever seen in a video game. He does stumble at times, but the Luke at the end of the story has come a long way from the selfish jerk he is at the beginning

Sazh (Final Fantasy XIII) - yes, the character that many people only saw as a "black dude who's goofy and has an afro" stereotype. What I saw instead was a normal guy caught up in events way beyond what he was ever expecting to deal with (the "Arthur Dent" of the story, so to speak) who just wants to get his son back. There aren't many parent characters in FF (heck, in video games period) so Sazh stood out as a unique character who I cared about and often made me chuckle as he marvels and/or freaks out at things he was definitely not expecting to ever deal with in his life

Vivi (Final Fantasy IX) - lots of great characters in the game, but Vivi is definitely the best. He starts as an innocent kid who just wants to see a play, and winds up on an epic adventure where he learns to become braver and face difficult elements of life such as the meaning of life and death. Plus, as a Black Mage, his design kicks ass, it's basically a Jawa and a wizard combined, that's just awesome

The entire team (Persona 4) - okay, a bit of a cop-out here, but I'll explain why I didn't choose only one character. While Persona 3 also had some great characters, I felt Persona 4 did the best job of making me believe this was a group of teenagers who slowly began to team up and become the closest of friends. They'd argue, they'd have personal issues to overcome, but at the end of the day they were there for one another. And as for the ending:

*Spoiler*: __ 



I remember feeling very emotional when high school graduation came and it was time to say goodbye to many of my friends. Sure, I'd see a few regularly for a few more years and would run into a classmate on occasion, but it wasn't the same. Watching the MC get on that train and say goodbye to all his friends felt so similar, and it worked so well as a happy yet moving ending. Well done, Persona 4, well done.


----------



## Byrd (Apr 21, 2013)

Big Boss from the MGS series

Lee & Clementine from Walking Dead

Most of the cast from Chrono Trigger


----------



## Stringer (Apr 21, 2013)

Red Dead Redemption handled its characters pretty damn well, a good portion of the cast was interesting. It helped that the voice acting was excellent, I find that essential to deliver a good character-driven game. Though obviously John Marston stood out the most out of the bunch, he was very well fleshed-out.

The third game in the Prince of Persia trilogy, _The Two Thrones_, had great characterisation too. Added a lot more depth to the Prince’s personality, so I found his interactions with side characters during cutscenes that much more enjoyable.

I also recall liking both Gabriel and Bishop in Rainbow Six _Vegas 2_. I thought the last scene, which culminated with Gab's death after he explained the motives behind his treason was very well done.

There's probably a few others.


----------



## Stunna (Apr 21, 2013)

Doom85 said:


> The entire team (Persona 4) - okay, a bit of a cop-out here, but I'll explain why I didn't choose only one character. While Persona 3 also had some great characters, I felt Persona 4 did the best job of making me believe this was a group of teenagers who slowly began to team up and become the closest of friends. They'd argue, they'd have personal issues to overcome, but at the end of the day they were there for one another. And as for the ending:
> 
> *Spoiler*: __
> 
> ...


This is my favorite game, and the characters are one of the biggest reasons.


----------



## Naruto (Apr 22, 2013)

Kain from Legacy of Kain.

Some of the best written dialogue in the history of videogaming, and without a shadow of doubt the best voice acting in any videogame ever.

[YOUTUBE]nl0X_-qejD8[/YOUTUBE]


----------



## Comic Book Guy (Apr 22, 2013)

The Boss and her disciple/apprentice, Naked Snake in _Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater_.

I professionally presented on them at one of the world's biggest conferences, the Popular Culture + American Culture Association Conference, just this past March. Specifically, I examined the mother-child(-esque) bond and how it was when both mother and child are not only soldiers but also, the former raising the latter as both child and soldier.


----------



## Overwatch (Apr 22, 2013)

The most recent example I can think of is Far Cry 3-Jason Brody's evolution from a shivering daddy's boy to a one-man army is one of those rare examples of good main character development in videogames. And let's not forget the genuinely disturbing antagonists-the first meeting with Hoyt, where he casually blows up an entire freighter filled with hostages while explaining his business philosophy. 

And Vaas...well...being Vaas...


----------



## Krory (Apr 22, 2013)

Personal opinion: Didn't find Hoyt that interesting and the endings kind of put a shiv in any character development of Brody for me.


----------



## Jay Kay (Apr 22, 2013)

From my perspective, the n?1 is James Sunderland from Silent Hill 2 by a landslide.

Simply because of the fact that, not just is he a fascinating character, but the whole game is about him.
Every single little thing: every location, the way the environments look, all the dialogue, the fact that every other character in the game mirrors him, the mechanisms behind the multiple endings, etc etc.

The other thing that sets him apart for me is that a lot of it is done in an interactive storytelling way.
There are other characters that are just good out there, like Kain, Andrew Ryan etc. But those guys are presented in the same way a movie or a book would do it. James is 100% video game characterisation (or maybe 60%), and it's extremely well done.

The other character that's super high on my list is the lead of Shadow of the Colossus.
No other game in the history of gaming managed to make, me at least, connect with the playable character in the same way SotC did, and without even a single word uttered. Absolutely brilliant.

Honorable mention for the Prince and Farah from Sands of Time.


----------



## slickcat (Apr 22, 2013)

Raziel in legacy of kain series, honestly the narrative in that game was like a lullaby for me when i played that game. To me its simply untouched and a pinnacle story should strive for.  I feel its one of the reasons I like Lords of shadows because it attempted to emulate it but fell short.


----------



## wibisana (Apr 24, 2013)

Persona 4 I think. dont play much game


----------



## Agmaster (Apr 24, 2013)

I think (Xenogears)Miang's motivations were really complex, but still understandable.  This, despite how loopy the ending turns.

Raiden, but only in his MGS2 iteration.  The other iterations were entirely reactions to fans vocal responses.  

Solaire from Dark Souls, but that may be a bias from how amiable he is in such a cold world.  His journey, misguided or no, is really heavy.


----------



## Furious George (Apr 24, 2013)

slickcat said:


> Raziel in legacy of kain series



I see everything is in order here.


----------



## Tyrael (Apr 25, 2013)

Most games that have good characterisation tend to be populated with very well realised characters. Bioshock and Infinite are both filled with very subtly developed and complex characters. The Final Fantasy series (special shout-out to IX) also. I'd be hard pressed to name just one Legacy of Kain character with so many well-realised blighters running around.

There's one memorable exception:



Comic Book Guy said:


> The Boss and her disciple/apprentice, Naked Snake in _Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater_.
> 
> I professionally presented on them at one of the world's biggest conferences, the Popular Culture + American Culture Association Conference, just this past March. Specifically, I examined the mother-child(-esque) bond and how it was when both mother and child are not only soldiers but also, the former raising the latter as both child and soldier.



Honestly, although their relationship was complex and interesting, I wouldn't have called Naked Snake's characterisation all that great. Mostly, the game was filled with fairly one note chars, I found.

Boss, however, has stayed with me as character since. The way she was done was brilliant

*

Quick aside for you guys, to what extent would you say good character design is a part of characterisation?


----------



## James Bond (Apr 25, 2013)

Albert Wesker from Resident Evil series
Arthas Menethil from Warcraft/WoW

These two stick out to me more than any other character's I have come accross while playing games (I would've listed more from Warcraft as even though I don't play it anymore I still find the lore incredibly well written - for eg. Thrall).


----------



## Dream Brother (Apr 25, 2013)

In terms of some of the choices mentioned here, I still need to play _Chrono Trigger, Xenogears_, the _Legacy of Kain_ games and _Persona 4_. They all seem to be worth checking out. 



manwiththemachinegun said:


> Solid Snake is one of my all time favorite characters. He's not a simple muscle head commando. In fact, all of the characters in Metal Gear have tons of depth to them.
> 
> Because even when saving the world, you have to laugh a little.



I particularly liked the relationship between Snake and Otacon. I also thought that _Metal Gear Solid_ had some of the best antagonists I've come across in games -- Sniper Wolf and Psycho Mantis were very memorable. As others have already mentioned, the relationship between Snake and The Boss was also interesting in MGS3. 



> Can't go past Planescape: Torment of course. Such a great cast.



That game did have an interesting cast. I particularly liked Morte and Fall-From-Grace. I just wish there were more options to interact with them or see more of them somehow -- I feel like they had more potential than the game explored. I still need to finish the game, though, as I kept getting killed in The Fortress of Regrets. 



> Vivi (Final Fantasy IX) - lots of great characters in the game, but Vivi is definitely the best. He starts as an innocent kid who just wants to see a play, and winds up on an epic adventure where he learns to become braver and face difficult elements of life such as the meaning of life and death. Plus, as a Black Mage, his design kicks ass, it's basically a Jawa and a wizard combined, that's just awesome



I did think Vivi was the best character in that game. He had some good scenes.



> The Final Fantasy series (special shout-out to IX) also.



One thing that stands out to me about the older FF games is the way the music becomes an essential part of the characters and story. You can get a real sense of the characters' personality through the different tracks.


----------



## Comic Book Guy (Apr 25, 2013)

Tyrael said:


> Honestly, although their relationship was complex and interesting, I wouldn't have called Naked Snake's characterisation all that great. Mostly, the game was filled with fairly one note chars, I found.
> 
> Boss, however, has stayed with me as character since. The way she was done was brilliant



When speaking about Naked Snake, I include _Peace Walker_. It wasn't until the ending that he finally went by the name Big Boss. Naked Snake in _Peace Walker_ was what made me like him.

For the conference presentation I did, I limited myself to _Snake Eater_, due to time constraints and just focusing on the maternal-soldier bond between Naked Snake and The Boss.

We'll see how Big Boss's characterization will be in the upcoming MGS games.


----------



## Zaelapolopollo (Apr 25, 2013)

At times like this I wish I could grow a decent beard so i could rub it thoughtfully.

The Legacy of Kain has already been covered. 

When talking about Xenogears though it's hard to say which of its wonderful cast I would dub the best characterized.

Still, I'm gonna make my choice now and I'll spoiler it for Dream Brother's sake.


*Spoiler*: __ 






Now Ramsus might seem an odd choice as he's neither the main protagonist or antagonist of the game. I picked him for a couple reasons but first and foremost I chose him because he's pretty much the most straightforward important bad guy in Xenogears. Everyone else has machinations upon machinations and they'll spend several scenes offering vague foreshadowing or nebulous hints but Ramsus is pretty much right in your face in regards to what he's all about. As such I feel his characterization is done better than even someone like Grahf's (my favorite villain in the game) because while I may find Grahf more interesting, he isn't always being interesting. Who he actually is and why he's trying to do waht he's doing comes much later in the game than he does. It still works but I hope I made it clear why I picked Ramsus for this and not him.

First it's important to note that Kahr is the villain who changes the most over the course of the game...as far as we can see at least. In reality he didn't change at all but I'll get to that later.

I had the privilege to read a Let's Play of Xenogears a little over a year ago and many newcomers to the game posted their thoughts. Their collective thoughts upon Ramsus' introduction was that here was a respectable bad guy who seemed quite professional and had great promise for being a major antagonist. He was cool, confident and an all-around decent military commander. This is what you might call the self-acualized Kahran Ramsus.

And he doesn't stick around for very long. From the first time he sees our hero our cool, confident commander shows a crack in his demeanor. He starts to have nightmares and once he realizes who this person is, he charges headlong into battle to challenge him. Slowly but surely he starts to unravel until our composed officer begins defying orders to pursue his target. 

His descent is swift but well-written and paced. It doesn't feel too rapid or sudden ya know. Even then his fall from grace isn't quite done yet. After several defeats his obsession becomes all-consuming and  completely transforms the once proud commander into a man who wanders about surviving on anti-psychotic drugs while gibbering about our hero. 

But fear not! Poor Ramsus gets a powerup for his mech. With this newfound power he crushes our hero easily. His purpose, his drive, his very sanity, has been salvaged!

...then he is completely crushed in the rematch. 

It comes to the point where you don't even count Ramsus as a villain, even as he attacks random villages in crazed fits and tries to kill you. He's just too pathetic for words. Only all of this has been directly caused by the other villains who have literally been using him as a puppet since before he was born. His whole existence has been defined by their cruel control of everything he does, playing on all his psychological weaknesses until at last he's so broken that he'll do absolutely anything they request of him.

And this is why I feel Ramsus was the best-characterized of Xenogears. As much as i love Fei and Elly and Grahf and Miang, there are plenty of scenes with them that I could do without. With Ramsus, I felt he was always "on" and I can honestly say I've rarely felt so flat out sorry for a fictional character.


----------



## manwiththemachinegun (May 1, 2013)

Snake and Otacon are bros, and it's fun to see that develop. Especially since Snake is a hardened killer and Otacon is a total nerd. Yet by Big Shell they have an excellent working relationship and are true comrades. 

Snake and Meryl was neat because its not too often you see what SHOULD have been a cliche action romance play out realistically. Snake is dying by the time he meets Meryl again. You can see Meryl still cares about him, but he won't let her get close anymore because his duty comes first.


----------

