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As it's presented in today's mainstream media, I typically don't like the sensitive issue of politics, although I do take admiration in many politically-themed RPG stories and recurring themes in them, which I'll discuss in this editorial.
RPGs and Self-Defense
It seems that, without exception, RPG heroes support the right to keep and bear arms, whether swords, spears, daggers, bows and arrows, or actual firearms. In many instances, RPG heroes rebel against unjust governments, who would rather they didn't have those rights. Historically, dictatorships have regulated the right to keep and bear arms, as Adolf Hitler demonstrated when he proclaimed in 1936, "This year will go down in history! For the first time, a civilized nation has full gun registration! Our streets will be safer, our police more efficient, and the world will follow our lead into the future!" Many despots thus see the institution of government as immune to criticism or wrongdoing (a problem I see in most political debate today), and many RPG heroes would likely agree with V for Vendetta's maxim that "People shouldn't be afraid of their governments; governments should be afraid of their people."
RPGs and Pacifism
Though most RPG heroes see self-defense as a human right, some RPG protagonists, such as Vaan from Final Fantasy XII, are, in many respects, pacifists, pacifist warriors, or warrior pacifists. Vaan's pacifism, in part, is motivated by the death of his brother Reks, in the same way that Cindy Sheehan's anti-war activism is motivated by the death of one of her sons in Iraq. Another example of RPG pacifism appears in Growlanser II, where Maximilian considers himself a pacifist so he can possibly prevent wars from breaking out to begin with and thus prefers to enter politics over military service. Many religions, such as Hinduism and one of its most notable followers, Mahatma Gandhi, also see pacifism as important, and historically, Roman Catholic Popes such as John Paul II have been anti-war.
The Suikoden Series and Politics
Perhaps the most prevalent occurrence of political stories occurs in Konami's Suikoden franchise, whose first installment focuses on Tir McDohl's taking the reigns of a rebel band to overthrow the Scarlet Moon Empire. Although some see this as just another instance of overthrowing an "evil" empire, the Scarlet Moon Empire itself is not inherently evil, as its leader, Emperor Barbarossa Rugner, is by no means an evil man, just somewhat corrupted by his love for the sorceress Windy, who seeks the power of the True Runes such as Tir's Rune of Life and Death, or Souleater Rune. Perhaps one of the saddest events in RPG history (in my opinion) occurs when Tir is forced to duel his father, General Teo McDohl, simply because they are on opposite sides of the war. However, it is the destiny of the Souleater Rune to claim the lives of those close to its bearers, so Tir ultimately kills his father in the duel, who expresses unconditional love for his son by saying he's proud to have been surpassed by him, and bids his closest servants to join the rebellion against the Scarlet Moon Empire.
The first Suikoden sequel also continues the series' tradition of political stories, with mad Prince Luca Blight of the Kingdom of Highland, perhaps one of the best villains in the RPG genre, staging a massacre of the Highland Unicorn Brigade and blaming it on the City-States of Jowston so he can begin a war. As a child, Luca watched his mother the Queen get raped by bandits from Jowston, while his father the King abandoned him, and would thus have his fate and disposition set for him for life. Luca's sister, Jillia Blight, was conceived in the rape, whose life Luca would spare simply because she resembled their mother. Even when Luca Blight is dying, he refuses to atone for his misdeeds, as he evidently believes he has largely forfeited his right to atone, in the same way that Doctor Faustus did. I am certain that today, many politicians, on their deathbeds, would refuse to atone for their misdeeds, and instead gloat about their accomplishments, even negative ones.
Another interesting maxim from Suikoden II is Captain Rowd's statement that "If it's not found out, a lie becomes the truth." In modern politics, it has become increasing difficult to tell which politicians, whether rightist or leftist, are speaking sooth or bearing false witness, and the media, in most instances, adamantly refuses to verify anyone's claims. Politicians on both sides of the political spectrum, moreover, can endlessly rebut each other's claims. Thus, it will forever remain a mystery to the general public which politicians are honest and which are dishonest.
An idea from Suikoden II I really admire is the establishment by the protagonist, Riou, of an independent military not officially associated with the City-States of Jowston, whose chief goal is to fight for freedom against the tyrannical Kingdom of Highland. I would absolutely love to see an independent world military not affiliated with any country whose sole purpose would be to fight for freedom and democracy in our world, which in my opinion would have spared many headaches and lives in World War II, Vietnam, and the current War on Terrorism.
Political rivalry also plays a part in the story of Suikoden II. Before the game's time, Jowston and Highland fought a war, with its respective heroes being Genkaku and Han Cunningham, each of which respectively held the Bright Shield Rune and the Black Sword Rune, the two halves of the True Rune of Beginning. Although they are military opponents, Genkaku and Han are actually best friends, and even eat, drink, and laugh together between their respective military's camps. When a dispute over the town of Kyaro arises, however, King Agares Blight of Highland, Luca's more compassionate father, proposes that Genkaku and Han battle a duel to decide which nation would receive the village.
During the duel, however, Genkaku refuses to raise his blade against his friend Han, because he determined that his fellow soldiers had coated his sword with poison, and thus he refused to risk killing his best friend. Consequently, Han places his blade against Genkaku, wins the duel, and causes Kyaro to fall to Highland. Consequently, many painted Genkaku as a coward, a traitor to the City-States of Jowston. In my opinion, this symbolizes the capacity of many politicians to stand up to zealous members of their own ranks, which would in many respects cause them to be painted as traitors by those who are allegedly their allies. The inability by many politicians to stand up to extremists in their ranks, in my opinion, is one of the main problems in political debate today; as Albus Dumbledore stated, "It takes a great deal of courage to stand up against your enemies, and a great deal more to stand up to your friends."
Things become different, however, when Genkaku's adopted son Riou and his best friend Jowy respectively receive the Bright Shield Rune and Black Sword Rune, because, while Riou remains a loyal servant of the Dunan Army until the end, his best friend Jowy assassinates the mayor of one of the city-states to gain the trust of the Kingdom of Highland, and thus defects so he can hopefully destroy the nation from within. However, power seems to corrupt Jowy, as he soon becomes a bit of a rival to the hero, as demonstrated when he constantly tells him to quit as leader of the Dunan Army, to run away, that he can't win, that he should surrender, and so forth, in the fashion that the likes of Howard Dean insist that "we can't win" the War in Iraq.
Even when Luca Blight meets his demise, and Jowy becomes King of Highland, the fighting continues, and Jowy himself tells Riou something to the extent of "We're not friends anymore; we're enemies." It seems that in modern politics, members of both sides of the political spectrum believe that because they're on opposite sides of debate, they somehow have to abandon their own morality and dehumanize their antagonists; as Machiavelli noted, "Politics has nothing to do with morality." The concept of separation of church and state perhaps augments the notion that politicians should abandon their faith and morality in political debate. In 1996, Bob Dole said, "Bill Clinton is my opponent, not my enemy." Political rivalry, thus, need not be so vicious, and can actually be friendly, as demonstrated by Genkaku and Han Cunningham, and thus, people on both sides of war and politics can be respectful of each other's beliefs, like Teo McDohl is of his son's before their tragic duel.
Suikoden III further expands upon the political tradition of the series, this time by following the stories of three different protagonists on different sides of a war, including Hugo for Karaya, Geddoe for Harmonia, and Chris Lightfellow for the Zexen Federation. Although most of them fight at first, they ultimately reconcile their differences and unite against a common enemy, Luc the Masked Bishop, and thus, all their nations temporarily join together. Some expressed dismay that after the game's events, some of these factions regressed to fighting, although reaction to 9/11 was similar in that America was at first compassionate and united against a common enemy, the Taliban, yet afterward regressed to its bitter partisan disposition.
Suikoden IV, while its story is perhaps the weakest of the franchise, nonetheless continues the tradition of the series politically-themed stories. The protagonist, Lazlo En Kuldes, while banished for possession of the cursed Rune of Punishment, united the Island Nations against the expansionist Kooluk Empire, in possession of a nasty weapon of mass destruction. Its plot is in many respects similar to that of the original Star Wars, where rebels battle another Evil Empire and its own nasty weapon of mass destruction, the Death Star. Overall, while the fourth installment's story might not be the best of the franchise, and weapons of mass destruction might be difficult, if not impossible, to find in the soil of rogue nations, it still has a lot of artistic merit.
Suikoden V, however, has a much greater story of civil war in the Queendom of Falena. It seems at first that the protagonist, Prince Freyjadour Falenas, will be destined to battle his own mother, Queen Arshtat, who years ago incinerated the insurgent town of Lordlake with the power of the Sun Rune, but then the militant Godwin Faction assassinates most of the royal family (with Queen's Knight Georg Prime killing Queen Arshtat to prevent her from abusing the Sun Rune, for which she thanks him in her dying words), and thus, the Prince must rally an army to defeat the Godwins and defend his younger sister's crown. The best leaders, in my opinion, are those who have absolutely nothing to gain, as Prince Freyjadour lives in a nation ruled by the matriarchy, and thus cannot inherit his mother and sister's throne.
Overall, the Suikoden series, in my opinion, does an excellent job of creating in its installments a nice diversity of politically-themed stories that all take place in the same universe, no less. Although the Suikoden franchise seems to have gone under the radar lately, as demonstrated by the deficit of new installments and the gradual transition to the next generation of consoles, the future still holds strong potential for the franchise, as there are still many other mysteries that deserve revelation, such as the remaining 27 True Runes, the Sindar race, and so forth. Here's to hoping the sixth installment's story is every bit as solid as most of its predecessors'.
Other Political Themes in RPGs
While I see an overwhelming rightist bias in political RPG stories (I attribute this to Japan, unless I'm mistaken, being a fairly conservative country), there are certainly some RPGs with leftist themes, such as some installments of the Breath of Fire and Final Fantasy franchises. The chief focus of the second Breath of Fire, for instance, is a religion that's superficially appealing yet under the surface wicked. In the fifth installment, ecological disaster forces the human race's civilization far underground (and I would certainly like to see colonization of the underworld in case Armageddon or ecological disaster was imminent). As for the Final Fantasy franchise, its seventh installment focuses on a group of eco-terrorists battling the evil Shinra Corporation, draining the world's life force with its Mako power plants, and its twelfth installment focuses on a pacifist warrior, Vaan, motivated by the death of his brother Reks.
Conclusion
All in all, politics, whether rightist or leftist, can make for some superb stories in RPGs. While I don't take much admiration in modern politics, I do like the topic as presented in many RPGs such as Konami's Suikoden franchise, and would like to see many other RPG series accomplish the same with their stories. Politics could also possibly shatter tried-and-true RPG story concepts, and in my opinion, if RPG writers can't come up with their own stories, they can certainly look to politics for inspiration.
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