It’s time
for the next post of my list of favorite video game characters! Last time we had two AIs, one a philosophical
computer, the other a spunky and sassy girl. This time, we take a look at some characters
who may or may not be 100% right in the head.
Craziness and insanity are always interesting traits for a character to
have, and can have a big impact on their story and how they interact with the
world they’re in. A character who may
not be all there can spice things up by being unique, funny, or even
scary. So without further ado…
8.
Saavedro, from Myst III: Exile
“When I finally made it
back home and I saw…. I saw… it would have been better if I had died.”
Ah, the Myst
series. One of my favorite game
franchises ever, it’s one of the first game’s I played in my youth where I
truly felt immersed in the world and story.
The games have difficult puzzles, intricate and deep stories, and
awesome characters to boot. I had to
think for a while about my favorite character from this series. Atrus, the wise and methodical father who
creates links to other worlds? His
father Gehn, a power-hungry madman who treats those same worlds like garbage
and has enslaved or murdered countless people?
I finally decided on one of the series’ more obscure characters: The villain of Myst III, Saavedro.
At the
beginning of the game, you meet with Atrus and his wife Catherine in their new
home that he created for them after the events of the previous game (by the
way, the Myst series is mostly about creating other worlds by describing them
in magic books, at the end of which is a panel with which you can then
transport yourself to that world. Weird,
I know, but if I were to fully explain it we’d be here all day.) After talking to Atrus for a mere few
moments, this guy appears out of nowhere and lights the library on fire.
What a
jerk. It gets worse, he steals the new
linking book that Atrus has been working on, and without it he has no way of
getting back to the civilization that lives there. With no explanation whatsoever, Saavedro runs
off and locks himself in a tower, which of course requires some clever puzzle
solving to access. As you journey
through the game on a quest to retrieve the lost book, you slowly discover
Saavedro’s past. And let me tell
you, it’s not pretty. He’s one of the
saddest, most tragic characters I’ve ever seen in a game. Everything he had was taken away from him
(indirectly and through several misunderstandings, but that would be spoiling things)
by Atrus. His home world of Narayan was
engaged in a civil war, his wife and child died in front of him, and he was
then trapped on a different world for 20 years with nothing but his complete
and utter despair for company. Needless
to say, he’s gone a little bonkers.
Completely obsessed with revenge, Saavedro spent all of that time
planning to take everything from Atrus in the same way that everything was
taken from him.
Not only is
this character an awesome and interesting villain, he’s also very entertaining
to watch and listen to. The Myst series
uses live actors who are edited into the game, and Saavedro is played by Brad
Douriff, known for other awesome roles such as Grima from Lord of the Rings and Billy from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.
He pours tons of emotion into Saavedro and expertly conveys the mind
of someone who has spent the last two decades desperately and methodically
planning revenge. It really brings the
character to life, and despite the inevitable dark twists that Myst’s stories
are known for, you still look forward to seeing his next appearance. Near the end, where Saavedro goes completely
over the edge in the final world, there are some of the most intense and emotional
moments of any game I’ve played. Saavedro
is truly an awesome villain and is my favorite Myst character.
7.
Siegmeyer, from Dark Souls
“No worries! Adventuring is my life; I’m prepared for the
worst.”
Dark Souls,
the sequel to a game I have talked about before, Demon’s Souls (which will also
be later on the list!) is even more bone-crushingly difficult than its
predecessor. The story is also far more
complicated and in depth, and the world is sprawling and open rather than
segmented like in the first game. There
are many more characters to meet along the way, and several of them have their
own miniature storylines which the player can follow through and complete as an
aside to the main story. All of these
characters are awesome in their own unique way, but I still have a clear
favorite. This is yet another sad and
tragic story, in my opinion the saddest one in a game full of dark and depressing stories. There’s also a little bit of crazy in there
as well, in a much more subtle and ominous way.
Let’s go to the land of Lordran and meet the brave knight, Siegmeyer of
Catarina.
You first
meet the knight in shining onion armor near the beginning of the
game. Both of you are beings known as
Undead, which are able to die over and over again, but eventually they will become
Hollow, a mindless and soulless being that attacks all others. At first, he’s merely stumped as to how to
get past a gate, the very same gate that you must pass in order to
progress. He seems very happy and
content with life, often sitting down and trying to think his way through
problems, rather than fight. He loves
adventuring more than anything, and his bright personality stands out in the
dark world of Lordran. His boisterous
laugh never fails to make me smile and feel like adventuring. But, of course, there is far more to him than
meets the eye, and his jubilant personality and brave attitude disguise a very
different man, and not in the way you would expect. He never betrays you or tries to harm
you. He doesn’t “turn evil” or secretly
commit heinous acts. That wouldn’t be
sad enough. That wouldn’t scar you for
life.
After you
open the gate, it isn’t long before you meet him again. You find him several more times throughout
the game, and discover that him needing your help is a common trend. First he needs help getting past a boulder
trap, then there are enemies in his way, then he needs some antidote moss, it
goes on and on. Each time you talk to
him, he seems to be a little more hesitant to ask for your help. He always thanks you and promises to repay
you in the future, but it becomes obvious that he can’t seem to overcome his
fear of the danger that lies before him.
It injures his pride and stains his status as a proud knight to ask for
help, but he does so anyway. Despite his
fear, he is determined to keep adventuring, as though he’s trying to prove
himself to someone. Maybe himself? Regardless of the reason, he’s so determined
to keep going that he even abandoned his wife and daughter from Catarina in
order to pursue this life. But it’s
clear that he just doesn’t seem to be cut out for it. Physically, he’s very strong and a capable
fighter, but he can’t seem to get past his mental, or perhaps emotional,
barriers.
Siegmeyer’s journey,
in a way, directly mirrors the player’s.
You are both trying to get through this dark world and attain your separate
goals. Many people have pointed out that
Siegmeyer is similar to players who use walkthroughs and guides to help them
get through the game. You may get past
one thing, but then you won’t be prepared for the next thing, forcing you to
use it again, and again. As someone who
did have to use a few tips from the internet in order to get past certain
points, I can confirm that I felt the same guilt that Siegmeyer feels when he
asks you for help: The shame of not
being able to complete something on your own merit. For a proud man like Siegmeyer, there is no
greater pain for him then to be assisted through his journey, yet be unable to
help you in return. It turns out that his
contemplative nature and tendency to think rather than act stems from his
secret belief that he only needs to wait for his problems to be solved, a
belief which you caused. Even if the
player were able to offer some sort of condolence or words of comfort (which
they can’t) it would likely only make him feel worse. All of this catches up with him in one of the
final areas of the game, a dangerous temple of fire called Izalith.
Below
Siegmeyer is a pit of horrible demons, and he’s quite afraid to go down there
and face them himself. However, this time
he offers you assistance. He tells you of his plan to jump down and
distract the creatures while you make your escape. He assures you that as a strong knight, he
won’t be harmed. From here, you have two
choices. There is no way that he would
be able to kill the creatures by himself.
If you let him face them alone, he will die. But if you stand by him and help defeat them,
he will have suffered his final and greatest shame. He thanks you for saving him once again, but
there is no sincerity in his words: only
despair. And that’s the last time you
see him alive.
In the midst
of everything, his daughter, Sieglinde, has arrived in Lordran to deliver her
mother’s dying words to Siegmeyer. His
daughter’s bravery and ability to find him without even being Undead is the
final push that sends him over the edge.
Remember, the definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and
over while expecting a different result.
But Siegmeyer, so filled with despair and so desperate to prove himself
to the world, sets out on one last journey.
He goes to the most dangerous place in the world of Dark Souls: Ash Lake.
There, he engages in a hopeless fight against a giant hydra, despite
there being no chance for him to win.
And when an Undead dies one too many times, they become Hollow. His daughter finally manages to track him
down, but too late. They fight, and
Sieglinde is forced to kill her own father.
So ends the story of Siegmeyer, the bravest and yet most unfortunately
proud knight you will ever know.
So right now
you’re probably thinking I’m some kind of deranged sadist who loves watching
characters suffer, based on this post.
On the contrary, I felt absolutely horrible when I found Sieglinde
standing above her father’s hollowed corpse, crying and wishing that things
could have been different. I love this
character so much because his story so intricately illustrates the dynamic of
pride and despair, and what happens when you give in to it. Siegmeyer died doing what he loved,
adventuring on his own merit. Whether he
overcame his fear and proved his bravery or simply went completely insane and
charged to his death in a mad quest of self-fulfillment is entirely up to your
interpretation. Personally, I will
always remember Siegmeyer as an honest friend and a truly brave man. Because despite all of his fear, and knowing
that his adventures would eventually take his life, he never gave up. While he needed your help along the way,
perhaps it was still better than going home with his dreams unfulfilled and
never taking the journey at all.
That wraps
up these two characters, maybe next week we can read about some less depressing
ones. In addition to part 3, the Halloween
post will also be up, which I’m really looking forward to. I’m interested in what everyone else is doing
for Halloween, too! Post a comment about
your own favorite characters, or ask a question about these ones, since they
both come from games with very complicated and lengthy stories. Thanks for reading!
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