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If you were to be the parent of a RPG character, then most likely you would end up dead or widowed!
It is a common sight in RPGs for the characters to have only one parent present, or none at all. Usually
one or both of the parents have died before the start of the game, or actually die during the course of
events. This "theme" is seen in many different RPGs: In the Final Fantasy series, most of the characters
are parentless or are being raised by one parent. In Final Fantasy VII expecially, several of those single parents
are also then killed during the game. In Valkyrie Profile, Yumei's backstory focuses mainly on the deaths
of her parents. There are also less tragic examples, such as in Shining Force 2, where the main character
has a mother but his father's whereabouts are unknown. Still, the missing parent phenomenon is one that I
find quite interesting.
Why exactly do the parents of the characters end up dead? I think there are several reasons that this
occurs time and time again in RPGs. First, there is the instant pathos factor. One of the saddest things
in life is the lose of a parent or parents. If you want a character with a tragic backstory, you can instantly
have one by saying his parents died. To make it even more dramatic, you can have her parent die right there during
the game, leaving the character all alone in the world. Any player can sympathize with the characters over such a
tragic loss.
Next, the loss of parental figures in a character's life ultimately "frees" them from the authority and rules
that they would have been living under. For example, if Yuna's father or mother were still alive in FFX, I doubt
that they would have allowed her to be a summoner and taken on a pilgrimage. With the ages of RPG characters getting
younger and younger, there has to be some way for them to be able to go off on their own and do even the most
dangerous things, without reprimands from someone older than them. Thus, when a RPG parent dies, the young character
has to "grow up" quickly and is basically on their own, able to take on whatever quest they choose. It would be odd
to see RPG parents telling their teenage daughter or son that it would be fine for them to go fight evil in a far away
land instead of studying for their college exams.
Finally, since most RPGs are made in Japan, one can look at parental attitudes of that country. Japan is very
family orientated; it is a norm for the eldest son to take care of his parents even after he is married. The idea
of always being with your family is more present in Japan than the United States, for example, where families
often live several states apart. Although family closeness is rewarding, it also can bring about a feeling of
a loss of freedom, especially if you never get to live on your own. Perhaps the longing for this freedom is
reflected in RPGs, where the loss of a character's parents results in self reliance and no filial responsibilty.
The gamer can enjoy this through the character, without enduring the real loss of family.
Of course, maybe there is no underlying reason for RPG parents dying. Perhaps the creators of the games don't
want to waste story and graphics on extra characters. However, I do feel that the high occurence of these deaths
cannot merely be coincedental. If these parents were not important in the first place, why would they even appear
in the game? There are many games where the characters seem to have no family at all and this is never brought
into question. I would like to see more RPGs with parent/chld interaction, allowing for the characters to be fleshed
out even more, and for the younger characters to receive wisdom from their elders. And I would like to see this
without the parents or parents immediately dying afrerwards!
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