Quote:
Originally posted by Dyne
Well, the protagonist goes one way and the antagonist goes against the protagonist's beliefs? That's all there is to it. In a game like SA2 you played as Dr. Robotnik, and he possesses all the right characteristics of "true blue" antagonist, yet he wasn't really the main one. He just didn't think in the same path as Sonic. And then Sonic felt like a little evil minor-antagonist. Funny in that way, huh?
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That's what I'm trying to disagree with. Take, for example, a certain movie about the Western Front in World War I (quite possibly names, The Western Front, heh)... it portrayed Germans as "good guys". That is, they were the main characters... so you felt more sympathy for them.
I believe that being a protagonist does not guarantee that the character is a hero. I'm not saying that the Germans were not heroic, because they were indeed quite courageous at times... but by such thought, I'd have to assume that the American and French forces were all deep down evil... especially those evil American bastards who ended the war! *shakes a fist* ... heh
What I believe to make a good hero or a good villain are much more based on action reaction rather than, "Hey, I'm the protagonist of the game, so have fun playing as me while I kick turtles."
Hero:
Lead by his self conscience rather than other's beliefs so that he/she may accomplish a goal that will ultimately be beneficial for the majority. Persistance, working against greater odds, possessing great skills... all are qualities of a great hero.
All great heroes have to have had great conflicts. The best of men shines through the worst of times. The bigger the conflict, the bigger the hero... if he does indeed succeed. Take, for example, Neo in The Matrix. He's a candidate for a great hero because the odds of his success are extremely low, yet he somehow prevailed. It took great skill, will, and endurance to defeat the agents and... the Matrix itself.
My nomination for one of the greatest heroes ever is Jowy from Suikoden 2. While you don't ever play as him, I find him even more heroic than the main character.
SPOILERS... ABOUT SUIKODEN 2...
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Basically, Both Jowy and the main character are in the same situation as members of a corrupt empire. They both flee and are both put into the same situation. The Hero (Riou) goes to the City-State of Jowston which is fighting against the Empire... while Jowy goes to the Empire and gets a high spot in leadership. Jowy leads a few great victories against the City-State, which you... as the hero, want to win. Right now, Jowy looks like a villain.
However, after setting up the head of the Empire (Luca Blight), Jowy becomes King. Instead of surrendering, Jowy continues the war for the morale of his troops... to keep faith in his nation and continue economic growth. Eventually, he is killed in battle against Riou (in which he does not try to fight back...) therefor ending the war and uniting the two nations under peaceful, yet acceptable means.
Jowy sacraficed himself after doing the impossible... I find that rather heroic. Riou, on the other hand, united a crippled nation and rose to victory against the Empire. Another great hero.
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End of Spoiler
And now that I'm done boring you, it's time for Villains!
Villain:
Great villains pose great threats to the well-being of the majority. They cause mass destruction for the purpose of gaining more power, higher status, and greater posessions. They kill mercelessly, make false promises, or are just plainly the root of all evil (i.e. Profound Darkness or Diablo).
I'll take Luca Blight from Suikoden 2 as yet another example...
MORE SPOILERS...
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Luca Blight's father, the elderly King of an Empire, was well respected (of course). However, Luca did not appreciate the peaceful times.
The Blight family were holders of the Beast rune, which had the power to summon a massive wolf guardian. As well, it could easily be the source of mass destruction... were it ever to be used in such a way.
One night, Luca lead an attack on a youth batallion (Riou and Jowy are members of the batallion) under the control of his Empire. He disquised his troops as those from the City-State of Jowston, therefor starting a war.
Luca then leads armies against the City-State, corrupts nearby Knighthoods, and slays his generals when they prove ineffective. When Jowy is captured, he proves to have a good plan of taking the capital of the City-State. When successful, Luca decides to marry his sister off to Jowy for his services... therefor somehow making him a part of the family.
Luca has Jowy poison his father in a ceremony that admits members of the family. After inheriting the throne, Luca goes on a rampage basically, burning the villages that he passes through. Then, he transforms the capital into basically a feeding ground for the rune, in which the locals are consumed by the beast.
Finally, Luca is defeated by nearly 100 elite soldiers lead by Riou and organized by the master tactician Shu. It was an ambush to begin with... because word got out from Jowy about a night attack.
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END SPOILER
Basically, villains need to be a little more cunning and ruthless than Bowser, and heroes need to be quite a bit more resourceful and courageous than Sonic the Hedgehog.