“Characters can be constructed:
Through description (what we see on screen) ...
Naturalistic (their appearance tells something about their inner self and personality...
Through their actions: ... for example resorting to sneaking past the enemy instead of murdering him in Metal Gear Solid.
Through their relationship to space ...
Through other characters views ...
Through a meaningful name”
(Egenfeldt-Nielsen, Smith, Tosca, 2008)
Using this template I constructed these two very individual and distinct characters.
Mara
I gave the character who grows up in Providence the name Mara (who in Buddhism is demon, who personifies unwholesome impulses and the death of spiritual life. A tempter who is known for distracting humans from spiritual practice by manipulating them to think bad things are good and distort their normal perception of things). I think the name is easy to identify and not too abstract while still being a unique name. The Buddhist demon i feel reflects the oriental culture Io is supposed to be influenced by and the traits of the demon i feel are appropriate for Mara’s reckless character. Her personality is supposed to be street smart so manipulation works well with her as she had to scrap and fend for herself as she grew up resulting in her being a tough independent woman who knows how to get what she wants even if it means getting into mischief. The relationship the demon has to death is also very appropriate as it reflects Mara's killer instinct and her trail of violence and death she leaves in her wake in progressing the narrative.
I described her relationship to the state of Providence by having her wear the yellow and white uniform the citizens are made to wear to show her allegiance, and her "relationship to space".
Her tattoos and fluorescent socks show she is punky and rebellious, and her boots express how she is from humble and harsh conditions. Her muscular build also reflects how she is physical, confident and not afraid of conflict. Her revealing outfit is to show how she is confident in using her feminine charm to manipulate to get what she wants. I feel i was able to capture a "Naturalistic" appearance for Mara as her looks support her character and place in the narrative.
Cypress
Cypress trees is a famous painting on a japanese folding screen Kano Eitoku (1543–1590), one of the most prominent patriarchs of the Kano school of Japanese painting. Again culturally this refers to the asian influence in the design of Io. Cypress is also a plant that symbolizes death, mourning, despair, and sorrow. The meaning of the plant corresponds to how Cypress developed in a rather depressing setting, sheltered and experimented on, resulting in her guarded personality. She too finds herself on a remorseless path of violence and death as she progresses the narrative. Cypress outift contrasts Mara's to emphasize her sheltered nature further and has her arms folded nearly all the time to reflect this in her posture. She contrasts with Mara further as she wears the white and blue of Synthesis, the white shows her innocence from being sheltered from the outside world from being stuck in labs, and the tints of black and blue suggest her personality is a cold dark mystery because she is so sheltered. She is much paler in comparison to Mara from being stuck inside the labs. Her mechanical arms shows the results of the experimenting they do to her. Cypress also has a much cleaner appearance to show her uniformity and suggest she follows orders and does what she is told.
Luban and Meziane explain how in a good game “the cast is not merely a a collection of comic book characters but indiviuals endowed with credible motivation and behaviour. The player is able to relate to the character he impersonates,” (Luban, Meziane, 2001).
To do this I took what aspects from the source narrative that defined these characters to highlight character traits to focus on that i think players will be able to relate to.
Identifiable features
Mara: players may identify with Mara as i believe everyone has a bit of rebellious nature in them whether they like to show it or not and i think Mara will allow player to unleash destruction and mayhem that they internally wish they could. Mara may also reflect those who are brought up in humble settings whether it be third world or poverty who are able to make something out of nothing. I think how she presents herself as having it all together in her confidence to hide the fact she is actually damaged is a really strong aspect that can be quite deep and personal to players, and allow them to relate to her character on an extremely emotional level [growing up on her own she did not develop a sense of empathy or understand the idea of love and care from another person]. The idea of putting on a facade whether it be to make others perceive you to be a certain way or for self reassurance, is a very relatable trait people can identify with.
Cypress: Players will identify with Cypress as everyone at one point or another has been told what to do despite not wanting to do it [doing chores, going to work/school]. Growing up with little to no free will, i think that Cypress has been deprived of choice and therefore the privilege of defining who she is as a person. This is a deep personal aspect i believe players can identify with as some people grew up being told what to do and what is right and wrong without being able to experience things for themselves and make their own judgement. i believe this fosters insecurity for people not being sure of what they think is right and wrong resulting them in not being able to define who they are as a person. Cypress path will be one of self discovery, and taking a risk to venture to the outside world to find out about her past, defining who she is as a person in the process.
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