KillJoys Character Series

[ABMorales787]

KillJoys Character Series​

There are many faces in the world of videogaming. Some are characters. Created for the purpose of a video game. Others are real people. Who we can touch and kick in the crotch should they anger us. In this thread, I will be documenting the history of many characters. Retelling their backstories, commenting on their up's and down and pointing out the achievements and characteristics that make these great characters stand out.


My first character will be Samus Aran of the Metroid franchise.

 

[Dave]

I am really looking forward to seeing what you give us here, KJ.

I know we discussed this before and I am steadfast in the belief that you will be able to gove us all something to talk about.

Now, with that being said, I have only played Metroid once and it was Metroid Prime. I never really got into it either and I must say that I have absolutely no idea who you are talking about in your post. However, I do think that there has to be something to this game that I am missing. People really like the series and I think that by doing something like this, I can start to get to grips with some of the characters from games that I have never played to any great extent.

You are correct though, there has been some excellent characters in the video games industry and I think that some of them deserve to be talked about in some great detail. Some have received cult acclaim and have become more than a protagonist of a game. I am very much looking forward to this. Good luck.

 

[Dagger Dias]

KillJoys Character Series​

There are many faces in the world of videogaming. Some are characters. Created for the purpose of a video game. Others are real people. Who we can touch and kick in the crotch should they anger us. In this thread, I will be documenting the history of many characters. Retelling their backstories, commenting on their up's and down and pointing out the achievements and characteristics that make these great characters stand out.


My first character will be Samus Aran of the Metroid franchise.

Hmmm, interesting. I'll be looking forward to reading what you have to say about Samus. I am only familiar with the older Metroid games. I played through the NES one way back in the day, parts of the gameboy one, also played the remake of the original on gameboy advance.... and of course the best of all, Super Metroid on the SNES! That game was awesome.

However, Metroid Prime was when I gave up on that series. I didn't like the direction that the series was going, and have not played a Metroid game since, so it will be interesting to see what you have to say about the stuff I was there for, but also the things from after I stopped playing that series. This could become an interesting thread and I like the idea.

 

[ABMorales787]

Debut:1986
Years Active: 1986-Present
Debut Game: Metroid

In Game History:
Samus' family was killed by the Zebesian Space Pirates, she would be adopted by a bird-like alien race of god-like intelligence known as the Chozos (Loosely means "Bird" in Japan). She was granted a Power Suit of amazing (Planet destroying) power as well as an infusion of their DNA. She would use these powers to become a bounty hunter as well as chase and exterminate the Space Pirates. In thge Metroid Prime trilogy she goes toe to toe against a highly evolved and mutated Metroid, who becomes her doppleganger. In Metroid Fusion her foes are the X Parasites, parasitic creatures capable of mimicry that join together with pieces of Samus' suit to create a second doppleganger (The SA-X).

Character Synopsis:
In her earlier games the objective was to eliminate the Space Pirates and the Metroids. A race of parasites capable of absorbing and generating energy. Little by little the games begin to have a more complex storyline. Going from just killing the Metroids to having to go against her superior's order to blow up a dangerous planet. She isn't as versatile as the other Nintendo produced character, but she has been a part of some of the most complex and unique games out there. She has been featured in a few styles of gaming, her original side-scrolling action/adventure games, first person shooters, fighting games and she was even featured in a pinball game... As the ball.

Up's:
*Many women in real life can be credited for breaking barriers for women. Women like Mother Theresa, Amelia Earhart and even WWE's Chyna, but none in the video game world. Before Samus debuted the only female lead character in a video game was... Mrs. Pacman, and even so, she was running away from ghosts. Samus was the first female character in a video game to act for her self and not need rescuing (Yeah, I'm talkin' to you Peach!). To this day you still see female characters be completely oblivious idiots or need of constant saving and if thats not the case, they are always useless flirts, but never Samus.

^Looks can fool ya.

*Her games have given birth to "speedrunning". This is the act of beating the game as fast as possible to get a better ending.

*Metroid and Super Metroid have been praised as some of the best action games out there. Not to mention the final boss battle against Mother Brain is also considered one of the best boss fights.

*Metroid Fusion has been praised for its music being so well adjusted to the mood. That SA-X Theme still freaks me out. Its story has also been praised for being so dark and unique. Something Nintendo hasn't been to high on recently.

Down's
*Metroid II. I believe it was big letdown because most games looked great on the GameBoy. However this game was the opposite. The game's dark atmosphere didn't go well with the colorless handheld.

*Believe it or not but inspite of its sucess here in America, the Metroid Prime trilogy didn't sell as well in Japan.

*Metroid Prime: Pinball. What was the point!?

Personal Thoughts:
Her games are always awesome (Except for Pinball). They are a joy to play and the most recent installments have had great storylines. My favorite game would have to be Metroid Fusion. Don't get me wrong, I loved the original and the SNES installments, but this one had a mood of fear. You were just trying to survive and there was always an obstacle in the way. Not to mention that infernal SA-X. Super Metroid was hard but just awesome. I'm not much of a fan of FPS games, but Metroid Prime really made me like. I haven't played the other 2 Prime games or Hunters and I haven't beaten Metroid 2. I can barely see.


Game History: (Game/Date/Consoles)
*Metroid/Metroid: Zero Mission (1986/2004) (NES, GBA, Wii/GBA)
*Metroid Prime/Trilogy/Pinball (2002/2009/2005) (Gamecube/Wii/DS)
*Metroid Prime: Hunters (2006) (DS)
*Metroid Prime 2: Echoes/Trilogy (2004/2009) (Gamecube/Wii)
*Metroid Prime3: Corruption/Trilogy (2007/2009) (Wii)
*Metroid II: Return Of Samus (1991) (Gameboy)
*Super Metroid (1994) (SNES, Wii)
*Metroid: Other M (Coming 2010) (Wii)
*Metroid: Fusion (2002) (GBA)

Non-Linear:
*Super Mario RPG
*Super Smash Bros.
*Kirby Super Star
*Galactic Pinball
*WarioWare series
*Super Smash Bros. Melee
*Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Last Thought: SA-X > Dark Samus

Any thought? Give me some feedback here.
Next time, my personal pick, Kain.

 

[Dagger Dias]

*Believe it or not but inspite of its sucess here in America, the Metroid Prime trilogy didn't sell as well in Japan.

I'm actually not surprised. I could not get into those no matter how hard I tried to like them. Perhaps the fans in Japan felt the same way. I have not played a Metroid game since those, other than a couple of replays of Super Metroid.

Any thought? Give me some feedback here.
Next time, my personal pick, Kain.

I think you did a good job on that. I never noticed that Samus was the quite possibly first "true" female hero in a video game, and that it could be argued that Metroid started the fad of trying to beat a game as fast as possible. I can see it now, but honestly never noticed before. I enjoyed reading your Samus post because it was well done. I'll be looking forward to the next one as well. Is the "Kain" you speak of the one from Final Fantasy 4? If so, I may add some info of my own in my reply to that one, because I know more about that game than anybody.

 

[ABMorales787]

Debut: 1996
Years Active: 1996-2004
Debut Gama: Legacy Of Kain: Blood Omen

In Game History:
Kain was a simple nobleman who was killed by a random group of assasins. He was mysteriously brought back to "life" as a vampire by Moebious, the guardian of Time. After exacting his revenge, Kain was adviced to head for the "Pillars Of Nosgoth". There he meets Ariel a specter and the former guardian of Balance. She tells Kain that he must return The Pillars to their original state by killing the remaining guardians who have become corrupt following Ariel's death. He see's a chance to go back in time and prevent the King of Nosgoth from falling to corruption by killing him. However, doing this changed history and ignited the human race to hunt and kill all vampires. Its apparent that this was Moebius' plan the whole time. After Kain defeats the last of the guardians, Ariel reveals she named a replacement as Balance guardian. Kain. At the end of the game he is left with a tought decision. Kill himself to save the land, or save himself and preserve the Vampire race. He chooses the latter, thus beginning the decaying of Nosgoth.

Soul Reaver:
Centuries have pasted and Kain rules the wasteland of Nosgoth unopposed. He raised 6 warrior priests as his lieutenants. Among them was Raziel, the oldest of them. Inexplicably grows wings thus surpassing Kain. In an apparent act of jealousy he rips Raziels wings and throws him to a lake. Raziel reawakens as a specter thanks to "The Elder God". An omnisentient being with a militant attitude. Raziel goes on a genocidal spree, killing his former "brothers" eventually facing Kain. Kain defeats Raziel and tries to execute him using the Soul Reaver (The equivalent of the Master Sword). However the sword breaks and Kain leaves laughing... As if he knew it would happen. Now with a cool spirit sword, Raziel fight Kain in a time travel chamber as Kain escapes through time.

Soul Reaver 2: The game mostly focuses on Raziel, however it seem's that Kain's purpose for killing Raziel was more than just jealousy. Raziel discovers the murderer of his past life as priest is actually himself, thus discovering he can alter his destiny, something nobody else can do, but see as a valueable comodity. He begins to be absorbed by the phisical form of the Soul Reaver, thus realizing the sword is actually himself.

Blood Omen 2: The events of the game were created by a time flux produced by Raziel killing his past self. It shows Kain's conquest of Nosgoth after Blood Omen 1 and his battle with the Hydians. A race of demons incarcerated by the Pillars of Nosgoth.

Defiance:
Kain continues his conquest through time, now seeking a way to alter the fate of Nosgoth and bring back its glory without killing the vampire race. The answer is find in Raziel, who the Elder God can not control due to his destiny being over. Kain now needs to find a way eliminate the Elder God, who has a crazy desire to force the Vampires to die and continue his "Wheel of Fate" religion. Things live and then they die (This sounds familiar). After Raziel becomes a part of the Soul Reaver, as it was supposed to be, Kain figth the Elder God and wins. However, a god can't be killed.

Character Synopsis:
Kain has had quite the complex life. He dies, he lives, he travels through time and is immortal. He also doomed his land. Now he want to fix it. Quite a complicated deal. His character is definitely an enigmatic one. One with more swerves than an NWO member. Its hard to tell his intentions until you really dig in to the storyline. Its like watching a movie. A truly unique series of games that have sadly gone down until its end.

Ups:
* Blood Omen and Soul Reaver are responsible for the great visual presentations we would see on the Playstation. Both games had great cinematics that would go uncontested for a while.

* Soul Reaver has been considered the Plastation's successful answer to Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Thats quite the complement.

* The overarching story surrounding Kain is something hard to match. Its like playing through a movie.

*Each game has a unique aspect of gameplay. With the Soul Reaver game's you have 2 world's. The phisical and Spectral realms.

Downs:
* Soul Reaver 2 deviated from the gameplay a bit too much and filled the game with too much cinematics.

* Blood Omen 2 was released seemingly as filler. Didn't offer anything new to the story, which is why people were buzzing about it so much.

* I mentioned the fact that there's 2 versions in each area. However as the series progressed the Spectral Reaml became blurrier and blurrier. Becoming basically unplayable.

Games:

Blood Omen: Legacy Of Kain (1996) (Playstation, PC, PSP)

Legacy Of Kain: Soul Reaver (1999) (Playstation, PC. PSP)

Legacy Of Kain: Soul Reaver 2 (2001) (Dreamcast, Playstation 2, PC)

Legacy Of Kain: Defiance (2003) (Playstation 2, PC)

Non-Linear:
Legacy Of Kain: Blood Omen 2 (2002) (Playstation 2, PC)


Last Thoughts:
I hate reading. I can barely read through my own Book This, but if it was ever made into a book... I still wouldn't read it. I would recommend it though. Its a great story Kain brings. It would make a great movie series too.

Legacy of Kain > Twilght... By a LONG shot.

 

[MasterShakeIz4Real]

The fact you chose Kain next, made me grin from ear to ear. Kain was the ultimate badass. I've played every Legacy of Kain game ever made, and not only are they difficult (well Soul Reaver 2 and Soul Revaer 1 were. the others were too easy) The storyline on those games were damn near perfect, and Kain as i said, was just too badass. The guy was the hero, then refused to sacrifice himself and became a fuckin king. Your words "Enigmatic Character" are the perfect choice to describe Kain. Agh! I'm goin' to play the first Soul Reaver now.

 

[ABMorales787]

As wrestling fans, there is always something about examining a tag team. Who will branch out to success? Who will be the traitor? Who deserves more?
The most well know cliché being the "Barbershop". Who Superkicks the other through the window.

Luigi and Mario can be compared to many other duos. Try the Green and Red Rangers. One got the chick and became the most recognized Ranger of all time, the other one kicked ass and did all the work. Green > Red to most Power Ranger fans.

The Hardy Boyz are another example. Jeff did all the crazy dives and flips, Matt cleaned up his act.

E&C. Edge rode the ladder of success all the way to 9 World Titles, while Christian has won 2. They aren't even recognized in his current line of work. Edge did not ride alone.

Mario and Luigi have been the same way. Luigi does all the work, Mario gets the credit. The difference between the Mario Bros. and Hardy Boyz being that Luigi doesn't get jealous, unlike Matt.

Funny tidbit about Luigi. He started out as a simple pallete swap of Mario. However it seemed as though this pallete swap was thinner and could jump higher. The designers decided to make him a separate character and thus Luigi came to be. Luigi is probably your best choice when it comes to choosing a partner. He never complains. While his brother is off in all sorts of games, he always plays second fiddle with no complaint. He is truly Nintendo's best hidden gem as his popularity is huge even though he's only had one game to himself. And even as the star, has to share the spotlight with his bro. (See Liugi's Mansion).

Character History:
There really isn't much diversity to his history. He spend's most of his time following his brother blindly on crazy adventures. Sometime's he's not even heard from (Mario 64). In Luigi's Mansion, he win a mansion but its haunted. Big bro Mario gets abducted by ghosts and rather than ditching his brother like a normal tag team, Luigi had to go save him. With a vacuum cleaner.( ) Aside of that, he hasn't been in other games where the plot revolves around him. For shame.

Character Synopsis:
He's way underrated. The guy has a huge cult following and he only has one game to claim as his own. What's it gonna take, Shigeru? A swarm of "smarks" flying to your building and chanting "Luigi"? He's become his own franchise and truly deserves some branching out from under his fat brother's shadow.

UP's:

* He's been a part of some of the most successful games, period.
* Starred in one of the Nintendo GameCube's first released Games, "Luigi's Mansion". FINALLY!
* Even though he's green, he's never envious.
* He is always portrayed as more athletic and faster than his bro.

DOWN's:
* There's only one game where he's the sole star. In all the other ones, he's either the co-star or the second choice.
* Has a selfish attention ****e for a brother.



Last Thought's:
Matt > Jeff, Christian > Edge, Red ? Green, Luigi > Mario. 4 LYFE!

 

[The Doctor]

Actually, Luigi has had at least one more game where he's the star: Mario Is Missing, an "edutainment" game for the Super NES.

I love Luigi. He's one of my favorite Mario characters, easily. I love his characterization, and his fluttery jump in Super Mario Bros. 2. He never gets the credit he deserves.

 

[Dagger Dias]

Your post about Luigi is the best one so far in this character series, I loved all the tag team comparisons! I like Luigi more than Mario too, so many of your comparisons made sense.... Doc's right though, Luigi has had 2 games where he was the star. Luigi's Mansion and Mario Is Missing.

I honestly never could get into Luigi's Mansion. This will give you guys something to laugh at.... I couldn't even get through the vaccuum training. The controls seemed impossible and after several failed attempts at figuring it out I got rid of the game.

As for Mario Is Missing.... that game was a bit of an embarrassment. Don't waste your time trying to find it unless you really want to see how cheesy it was. Luigi had to go to real world locations and (cringes) LEARN THINGS about real locations, after all were cleared, you saved Mario from Bowser in a rather anti-climactic scene. Oh, and there were also some pathetically easy bosses.

I always felt that Luigi deserved his own game, one that's about him and not saving Mario.... and not one with idiotic controls like Luigi's Mansion. (laugh all you want, I gave it multiple chances and couldn't figure it out for the life of me).... Something along the lines of the Mario Bros games but JUST LUIGI would have been fun. Also, that story Luigi tells in Paper Mario 2 should have been turned into a game called Paper Luigi, it would have sold really well! Luigi even had his own partners like Mario does that you could talk to when he was telling his story at various points in the game.

I also remember very long ago that someone had sent in a drawing to a game magazine of Luigi standing on top of a pile of video game heroes who he had beaten up and he says in a thought bubble "NOW can I have my own game?". It was hilarious. I believe this was before Smash Bros too, so ironically that was a tiny bit of a foreshadowing of things to come.

Anyways, great post about Luigi and I just thought I would throw my own two cents in. For a career of first being a green pallate swap of Mario, to being a constant sidekick, Luigi has done really well and deserves more than just two bad games as his own.