An All Too Common Situation

by Uncle Pervy 

Submitted by:	uncleprvy@netzero.com (Uncle Pervy)
Spelling	2
Grammar	1
Coherency	3
Strength of Arguments	4
Presentation	3
Originality	3
Penalties	0
Total	16
Grade

The practice of taking hostages is a classic act of villainy. It forces the protagonist to make a choice between sacrificing the hostage or furthering the antagonist's desires. It is a simple way to check the hero's actions, for few protagonists will blindly sacrifice their friends or innocents without at least pausing to think about it.

Unfortunately, throughout the course of RPGs, this situation tends to follow a very predictable route. It starts when the antagonist kidnaps someone, generally the heroine, and demands for an artifact or service of some kind from the protagonist. The hostage begs the protagonist not to give in to antagonist, but the hero does so anyway.

Does this sound familiar? It has occurred in Final Fantasy IV, Grandia, Legend of Dragoon, Final Fantasy Tactics, Seiken Densetsu 3, and a number of other games. The problem is not that hostage situations occur. The problem is that nearly every time they play out almost exactly the same way! The girl gets captured, and the hero runs the risk of condemning millions of innocent people to tyranny or destruction simply to save that single person!

I first realized how bad the problem was when I played Grandia, and I predicted at exactly what point General Baal would kidnap Feena, and exactly how every detail of the hostage situation would play out. There were so many possible variables, and every one of them was ignored in favor of the stereotypical situation! However, for those with bad memories or who don't care about being spoiled, I shall recap the situation. Bear with me, it will be worthwhile later.

The hero's party is ambushed in some ancient ruins under a thriving desert metropolis, and the Garlyle Army captures Feena, the heroine and the main character's love interest. The General, Baal, takes her about the military's principal airship, Grandeur. She languishes there, as the hero, Justin, and his companions sneak onboard the ship and search for Feena and a way to destroy it. They inadvertently set off the self-destruct command, and Justin is separated from the party as the make their way through toward the control room. Justin then finds Baal and Feena waiting on an observation deck, and the stereotypical hostage situation plays out.

There are three factors that make the problem so terrible. The first is the choice of character who is taken hostage. Almost always, it is either the weakest character or the protagonist's love interest who is taken, and both descriptions often fit the same person. How come it is so seldom that we see any other character kidnapped? It is generally weak character, and almost always a female character who is taken hostage; one who always begs for the hero not to give in to the antagonist. It is kind of sexist, when you think about it, as it sends a message that women cannot protect themselves.

To stick with Grandia's example, think how interesting it would have been if Baal had kidnapped Justin instead of Feena. What if he had taken Rapp; imagine what a fuss Rapp would have created during the exchange! Or, Baal could have taken Gadwin or Sue. In their cases, it could have been possible that they would have severed their friendships with Justin if he complied with Baal's demands; Gadwin because of dishonor, Sue because of disgust.

The second factor is that the hero always gives up the artifact or complies with the villain's request with no more than a little arguing. When the protagonist accepts the offer, he never seems to truly consider the implications of his actions. Giving into the villain means that millions of people are now doomed if the villain cannot be stopped, but the hero never really thinks about that when he elects to comply and save a single person. Seldom do they try to assault the antagonist, or play upon his or her desire for the artifact or service. Why doesn't the hero reply to the antagonist's demand with a serious threat to destroy whatever the villain desires?

In Grandia, Justin had a number of options available to him. He knew that Baal was going to demand the Spirit Stone; the Garlyle forces had been trying to take it from him throughout the entire game. He could have hidden the stone beforehand, or tossed it outside of the Airship. Both would have thwarted Baal's desires, and could have sent him into a berserk, possibly suicidal rage. Justin could have then exploited that rage to lead Baal to his destruction.

Even if Justin lacked the foresight to predict what Baal wanted, he still had several options available to him as he faced the general. The most obvious is that Justin could have attacked Baal. A less risky plan would have been to simply run away. Baal would have left Feena behind to get the stone, leaving him open to an attack from the rear from the heroine or giving Justin an opportunity to use the self-destructing airship against the general.

What if Justin had decided not to give Baal the Spirit Stone? Almost certainly, Feena would have been killed. Baal probably would have then unleashed his full wrath upon Justin. If the player was given a choice in the decision, this could easily lead to an alternate ending; assuming one could survive Baal's onslaught.

There were many other actions Justin could have taken. He could have flung the Spirit stone through one of the deck's windows. He could have taunted Baal into doing something foolish. He could have fled, then tossed the stone into the Grandeur's engines. He could have even swallowed the stone; it was only about the size of his thumb; and dared Baal to take it! Admittingly, not all these plans are wise, but Justin was an impulsive character and not always prone to completely thinking thinks through.

The third factor is that the heroine never tries to escape or fight back. Never have I seen any real attempt by the kidnapped heroine to escape! They just submit gracefully to the antagonist, and patiently wait for the exchange. Nor do they put up any real resistance to being taken. Never do they try to fight the antagonist, or do anything to impede him.

In the case of Grandia, Feena never tries to escape Baal. She is an adventuress, of all things, a woman who has survived on her own outside of civilization regularly!. She knows how to defend herself, and is a relatively strong character! But she never makes an attempt to escape! Instead, she just submits and awaits whatever Baal has planned for her. Why did she not try to free herself? Even if the attempt fails and the rest of the scenario plays out the same way, it would have added something to the plot. If nothing else, it would mean had tried to take care of herself.

During the exchange, Feena could have made an attempt to wound or escape Baal. The general's attention was mostly focused on Justin, so Feena could have given Baal a swift elbow to the kidneys. If she was particularly sneaky she could have stabbed him; she has her weapons when she returns to the party, so the Garlyle forces must not have taken then. It is true that neither option would have done much to Baal, but she had no reason to suspect he was anything other than a normal human.

Despite all the examples above, the hostage scenario almost always follows the same course. The heroine or the weakest character is taken hostage. The hero meets the villain. The villain makes his demands. The hostage begs the hero not to accept, but the hero doesn't listen. The villain gets whatever he wants without much of a fight, and vanishes. I have targeted Grandia in particular, but similar alternatives exist in all hostage situations.

Admittingly, many of the alternative actions I suggested would force the plot to follow a different path, drastically different in some cases. That is why the hostage situations are so important! It is when the hero usually meets the villain face to face, and often the antagonist's plans ride upon the success of the exchange. It is a pivotal point in the story, and there should be a potential for it to go several ways. Stagnation of the hostage situation often means stagnation of the plot in general, as it often leads to the rest of the story following predictable lines as well.

Thankfully, some games have broken out of this stagnation. In Secret of Mana, Dyluck sacrifices himself to give the heroes a chance to defeat Thanatos. Ramirez simply butchers the heroes, burns their new home, and claims what he desires from them in Skies of Arcadia. Final Fantasy IX expands the hostage situation a little when Kuja captures all the hero's allies, and makes him choose four that will remain as hostages before going to do his bidding. Perhaps there is a light at the end of the tunnel, or perhaps these are simply brief reprieves before the old platitude returns in full force; as it was with Secret of Mana. Only time shall tell.

Notes:
A very good length editorial on a certainly original subject, ironically about a long-standing cliche. "Uncle Pervy" (who would surely win the best author name prize, were there one) neatly dissects hostage situations with the aid of Grandia and points out the stereotypes involved within. A very entertaining editorial indeed...

...but unfortunately, grammar errors push it below the A mark. Another editorial where careful proofreading could have pushed the mark up a grade or even two. Sadly, this editorial just drops down into the B category from grammar mistakes.