I’ve said, quite a few times actually, that it’s not the characters themselves that make for compelling stories, but character relationships. This month’s Round Table asks you to explore a relationship within a game that you found compelling or memorable.

Characters. We love ‘em, or we hate ‘em. Final Fantasy 8 was forever ruined for me, thanks to Squall’s petty and pointless teenage bad mood. Some people feel the same about Cloud. Some people love Princess Peach, adore her in fact. Others despise her.

What defines a character is the way they relate to those around them. For me, a huge part of the attraction in playing through a game is to witness the redemption and change of a character. Heroes tend not to be redeemed. Even if they give up, become dispirited, we all know that they will return to save the day. But a character like Linebeck, he begins the game by taking people for what he can get. He finishes by taking up a sword and trying to face down Bellum. Okay, he fails to do much damage. But he tries.

Villains, on the other hand, aren’t that interesting. Sometimes they start good and turn bad, but usually they are pretty one dimensional. It seems an evil laugh has to mark a distinct lack of humanity. Sure, sometimes there’s a back-story, some mother issues, an endless war against the mushroom people. But all too often it’s just another boss fight. Villains are incapable of being nice to people. They don’t change their minds at the last minute.

The sub-villains though? Sometimes they discover they’ve been tricked all along. They find out they were wrong. They switch sides. They spy. The not-quite-trustworthy sidekicks? Hell, sometimes they just up and disappear right when you need them. Sometimes they steal all your materia. And then other times they charge in like the cavalry, last minute rescue from a hopeless situation.

Central characters rarely get to interact successfully with NPC’s. Either they are speechless, like Link, or they are forced into a certain mold by the players themselves. Usually, the relationships begin and end with the giving and receiving of information or quests.

Secondary characters, however, really get to shine. Let’s return to Linebeck. Link is just parachuted into the world, with no connections to anyone. Linebeck has a pissed-off ex, and his pissed-off ex has a sister who likes dressing up as a mermaid. Along comes a guy whose always wanted to meet a mermaid. Linebeck, who is part of the world, who is a connection with the people in the world, has provided us with a lead. He gives us a history, a presence within the game world, and he provides us - as friends of Linebeck - with an excuse to say things that we otherwise wouldn’t. Much as Ciela acts as a mouthpiece, so Linebeck is there as our rather unsavory uncle, introducing us to people who might be useful.

Games don’t really need Linebeck. Characters have little compunction in walking up to strangers and asking them random questions like “where am I?” and “why is everyone in ghost form?”. Equally, even the most heroic of characters has no problem with stealing anything that isn’t nailed down. We don’t need validation. But Linebeck kind of gives it to us anyway. He knows these people. He’s entitled to steal from them, or play matchmaker with them.

Entering a game is a bit like being the new person at a party. You don’t know anyone, and you can’t really just jump on a table and shout “Hey! Give me your gossip!” Once you know one person, though, you automatically have a topic of conversation for everyone else. You’ve got history. You understand more about the world, and how it fits together. You start to understand the relationships between people more.

What’s your take on the sidekick?

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 5th, 2008 at 8:38 pm and is filed under Game Design, Character Design, Editorial. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.