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The Three Heroes of Gaming
It must be very difficult to make a good game character. Obviously, there are a lot of different types of games, and in a lot of them, the characters are either nonexistent or irrelevant. But, in at least an equal number, the characters are very important. Just as it's often the characters themselves who draw audiences in to watch particular movies or television shows, or to read particular novels or comic books, well-conceived characters can have a tremendous effect on the quality and appeal of a game. We all know this to be true--but only a rare few of us are actually capable of creating memorable characters. People like to talk about innovative games, specifically referring to games that introduce new types of mechanics or gameplay elements. But I say there's a lot of innovating left to be done in terms of how game characters are portrayed.
The only difference between the protagonist of a game and the protagonist of a movie or a book is the fact that the game protagonist needs your help--to some extent, you get to control that character's actions and ultimately determine his or her success or failure. That's actually a very big difference, and game designers should strive to continue to learn how best to take advantage of it. They may move further toward this goal by first recognizing what sorts of game characters already exist. While there are countless different game characters, from furry cute ones to gritty mean ones, we could group them all into three different categories. Let's call them the persona, the avatar, and the empath. Let me explain how I distinguish between them.
 |  Solid Snake is a perfect example of a gaming persona. You can control his moves, but you have no influence on his story. |
The persona-style game character is the one who most resembles characters from films, television shows, or books. This is the character you often just watch. He or she is carefully designed, perhaps carefully written, and probably the focal point of the game's plot or action. Examples of gaming personas include Max Payne, Metal Gear Solid 2's Solid Snake, Lara Croft from the Tomb Raider series, mascot characters like Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog, and countless others, including almost all the characters found in Japanese role-playing games. At best, persona characters can be very endearing, but I also think they're in some ways inherently uninteresting. The interactive nature of games makes it so the characters portrayed in them can't (or shouldn't) just be presented the same way as in movies or on television. It's one thing to watch Vin Diesel or The Rock or whoever slug it out in the latest Hollywood extravaganza. But having no interaction with the hero of a game can often lead to frustrating results. I love the Metal Gear Solid games--but it's perfectly clear to me why some players are disappointed by having to sit and watch those games seemingly as often than actually play them. Gaming isn't for spectators.
|  Grand Theft Auto III's leading man is the prototypical gaming avatar. He has no name and no voice--he might as well be you. |
Opposite the persona-style game character, the avatar-style game character is the one who represents you. When you can personally define many aspects of the player character, and when you control that character however you see fit, you're controlling an avatar. Common examples of avatar-style characters can be found in online role-playing games like EverQuest, where you directly determine your character's appearance, name, and personality. That character basically is you, or a character you invent. Another good example of an avatar-style main character can be found in last year's Grand Theft Auto III. The game's protagonist never says a word, and you have tremendous control over his actions. You can read anything you want into him--he could be an above-the-law vigilante, a heartless killer, or a greedy crook, depending on how you opt to play the game and how you opt to perceive your own actions in it.
The avatar-type of game character is, perhaps, the most perplexing. On the one hand, when we talk about games that are highly immersive--a quality that many gamers desire in their games--we're often referring to the fact that they have an avatar-style main character. On the other hand, games that have avatar-style main characters and depict reprehensible subject matter are the ones that usually take a lot of flak from the mainstream press. First-person shooters like Counter-Strike are often reviled because they teach you how to shoot and kill people. Grand Theft Auto III got a bad rap in some circles because some thought it was a game about you killing cops and prostitutes. It's interesting that the imminent Grand Theft Auto: Vice City will feature a main character who is a clearly defined persona with his own name, voice, personality, and agenda, instead of the sort of avatar-style main character featured in GTAIII. You control the main character in GTA: Vice City, but you don't make up his mind. Now it's Tommy Vercetti doing the dirty work--your hands are clean.
|  Manny Calavera is an empath. He's his own man, and yet through certain gameplay sequences, you inexorably become a part of him. |
The empath-style game character is the rarest, most interesting type, combining the best elements of the persona and the avatar. My favorite example of this category is The Nameless One from Planescape: Torment. Torment is considered a classic RPG by most all those who've had the pleasure of playing it, largely on account of the game's superlative story and incredibly well-written main character. While you'd naturally uncover the amnesia-stricken Nameless One's identity and history over the course of the game, you'd also actually determine many aspects of the character's personality simply through your own actions. By playing Nameless in different fashions--namely, by being good or by being evil--you'd end up with a completely different character by the end of the game. Yet either way, you'd feel incredibly attached to him since you in fact determined his fate. The plot of Planescape: Torment might make for a pretty good fantasy novel. But it sure made for an outstanding game. By casting you as an active participant in a defined plot, Torment succeeds as an utterly unique work of fiction.
Combining a well-defined persona with an avatar-like model is extremely difficult to do from a design standpoint, which is why the empath is the least common type of character in gaming. But it's definitely the best. My favorite scene in the classic adventure game Grim Fandango involves first prattling off a nonsensical beat poem at open mic night--you actually choose what to say when, delivering ridiculous line after line until you decide to stop--and then watching in utter astonishment as the bar's owner, the smooth Olivia Ofrenda, delivers your poem incredibly well. She actually steals your poem word for word, and the same audience that booed you off the stage gives her a big ovation. It's an incredible moment that's unique to gaming and unique to every single person who's played that sequence in Grim Fandango. No two people will experience that scene exactly the same way.
This is what gaming is all about. Two people can watch a movie and interpret it differently. Two people can read a book and interpret it differently. But it's still the same damn movie and the same damn book. The greatest games actually adjust to "fit" the player, and no other medium can pull that off.
Game designers have an extremely difficult job to do already. But I'm suggesting that their jobs should get even harder. These days, not only do they have to come up with a great cast of characters, but they also need to figure out how to give you not just the best seat in the house, but the leading role as well.
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