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After having a conversation with a friend of mine on the subject of heroism in gaming, I started to ask myself the following question: what makes the perfect hero?
In Western RPGs, the player is often allowed to create their "perfect hero" through the use of various templates. As players, we have the ability to make our hero be of any shape, size, and profession; they can have distinctive features that makes them unique to each player. Since Western RPGs allow for more freedom and choice to what the player can do, there’s free reign in creating what we ourselves think is a "hero." Eastern RPGs, however, often do not have this type of free reign, so the protagonist that the gamer interacts with is someone who has been molded and placed into the hero role for a specific reason.
The majority of RPGs follow a Bildungsroman - better known as "the coming of age story." Heroes over the age of thirty, while uncommon in the past, are now finally resurfacing in the RPG world, at least in Western gaming, with games such as Mass Effect. In the East, however, it seems as though there is a preference for a younger hero, partly due to the desire to tell a "coming of age story." It is not too often in a JRPG that the protagonist is over the age of thirty. These younger heroes are often implemented to show gradual change from innocence to experience.
People love "coming of age" stories – they are something that people can connect with. If we love the hero, we want to see him or her succeed. We want to see how our hero triumphs over diversity and how they will succeed at saving the world. A good hero is someone the player sympathizes with. If one cannot sympathize with the hero, it makes the game and its plot very difficult to enjoy. A Bildungsroman allows the player to witness and shape how the hero moves from childhood traumas into adulthood.
There are many different hero archetypes. The Final Fantasy series is best known for having a wide range of different hero archetypes. Zidane of Final Fantasy IX was a rascal and a rogue, as well as comedic and charming, making him an atypical hero. Parallel Zidane a "Comedic" hero to the "Lone Wolf" hero, Squall Lionheart of Final Fantasy VIII and you see the differences between hero archetypes. While Zidane deals with things through the use of humor and a positive attitude, Squall believes that he can handle every situation on his own.
RPG heroes all embody different personality traits that we are able to connect with and support. Even though we may not like how a situation is handled, each hero’s strength lies within the desire to do ‘the right thing’. Why is it when we dislike or cannot sympathize with the protagonist that we still continue to play games? Think of a hero you disliked – can they be redeemed if there is the belief that every hero can be redeemable? If the hero is not redeemable according to the player, what might the reasons be?
More often than not, the "Tragic Hero" is by the far the most common of archetypes in RPGs. While they are more stereotypical, they are often the easiest to identify and invest in. These are the ‘coming of age’ heroes. These are the heroes who move from being naïve into becoming experienced. A perfect example is Ramza Beoulve of Final Fantasy Tactics. Ramza aspires to become a knight along side his best friend Delita, finds out that his family is involved in some dark and suspicious political activity, and rather than participate in his family’s activity, chooses to fight against his family’s honour only to become a heretic. He wants to save the people of his country, even if it means dishonoring his family’s name. By the end of the game, Ramza is no longer naïve in relation to his family, and he in fact gains experience and becomes wise to the political situations that have corrupted Ivalice.
Each of us has a hero archetype that we are drawn to. The types of heroes in RPGs that we involve ourselves with are characters we somehow relate to. The hero is someone you can love, flaws and all. To us, our "perfect hero" is far from perfect, but we cannot help but admire and love these for merely being who they are.
While it is impossible to create "the perfect hero," ask yourself: does the perfect hero not already exist?
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