Music for the ArticleThis Hero Never talks........................EVER!
this is done in many video games, the main hero doesn't seem to talk. The official explanation for this is that the main character is the player, and dialogue would either interfere with the player's train of thought or knock them out of the viewpoint of that character (compare the Featureless Protagonist). An aversion of this would be to allow the player to actually talk to the characters through a microphone or the AI be able to comprehend any text entered, but this is beyond current technology, except in online games where you're talking to other characters.
Some characters might be like this when under the player's control, but perfectly normal and talking characters as NPCs, or even just when they aren't the leader of the group. And some characters do talk when the player chooses how to answer a question.
Most of the time when somebody makes a cartoon of the game, odds are that it'll have the character dosen't speak and be treated like silent bob.
This can get very frustrating when the character has, for example, undergone an Involuntary or Emergency Transformation, and has allies who weren't there to see it. It's also hard to grow too fond of a Mime-Like Hero, since they don't show thoughts or feelings that can't be expressed with grunts, sighs, and body language. This is one thing when they're fighting all alone, without so much as a person to talk to, but when there are other characters around it's a different story, they all say something.
One fairly common variation of this is to suggest that the main character actually does speak, we just can't hear them or see their text boxes. However, the other characters in the game can, and we can sometimes infer what was said from their reactions. Another common variation used to compromise between immersion and characterization is to allow the player character to speak, but rarely.
How well you take this trait can often depend on how you approach video games in general. If you like to imagine you "are" the character, as the developers seem to expect, it could arguably increase immersion. On the other hand, many players prefer to imagine themselves in a role similar to that of a movie director; controlling the action without being a part of it. To them, having a Mine-Like Hero is like being saddled with a boring, wooden actor in the lead role.
If they Could Talk Here is what they would most likely say. Good morning, Arabia! I've had my coffee, read the paper, now it's time to get to work
. What a dump! Nobody lives like this except FRAT kids!
. This piece of jewerly is gonna buy me a castle by the sea. Hmm. And that golden statue is gonna buy me everything I need to turn a basement into a rec room. And with this golden orb...................I'm going to Disneyland.
. I am Captain Freeman of the Intergalactic House of Pancakes ordering you to open!
. That's the ceiling! WHERE IS MY HELMET?! What the heck?! Who are you? I don't wanna be a schizophrenic! Oh my man, this is crazy in a box with a side order of fries!
. I'm not in Crazy Land anymore! Man, that was weirder than the time I was awake for four days straight and thought my house was being invaded by frog people.
. Wow, that looks hot. I want some marshmallows. What the heck are you looking at? I don't have any marshmallows, and even if I did I wouldn't give any to you! They're mine! Everything's MINE!
. They know my name! This changes everything. I can't just waltz out of here now, I'm wanted! My beard betrayed me! They got an ID because I'm the only person here with facial hair! If I'd gone with that stupid Einstein hair, they wouldn't be able to pick me out from a line-up!
. Am I a hero? Eh, I don't know. I don't think it's heroic if the only person you're saving is yourself.
. This is not my finest hour, is it? Spending the night in a dumpster; getting dumped out of a sewer pipe face-first into a runoff puddle; waking up in the afternoon; I'm probably missing work; I'm lost in the desert; I have many unexplained bruises. They say you know when you've hit rock bottom, but I can't say any of this is completely unfamiliar. Except for being in the desert, that's kinda new.
. So, if I loose a life in this game, will reality slowly correct itself, or will the world just end?
. Is this a joke? They want me to jump from this height onto flat concrete? There must be a typo with the instructions or something that no one corrected. I could climb down, but they want me to hit that target. I'm not doing that, that's stupid! So... I guess I failed the "lemming" portion of the test, but hopefully that's not required to pass the whole course. Well, training's over! I think I'll get out of here and go take my lunch break. I'll just tell everyone I passed training. Nobody's going to check this.
. Can't even walk down the street of your own planet anymore! I remember the good old days when I didn't have to bring a lazer to work, my coworkers weren't space bugs, I had a salary, I wasn't wanted by the government...
. Did they just pop out of a box? Why were they in a box? That's Looney Tunes junk! ! Well, they caught me off guard, I'll give 'em that. I wonder if that was their idea or if it came from up the chain of command. Yeah, I can envision some ordering general ordering this, Yeah! Just put two soldiers in a box! When the enemy approaches they just jump out! It's brilliant!
. Besides seeming like a gift from the programmers, this sword gives me some food for thought. I may have to revise my theory about the Universe wanting me gone. If that was true, the sword would never have happened. Only most of the Universe wants me gone. There's some larger game going on here. I'm caught in the center of some cosmic politics.
Thu Apr 25, 2013 5:20 pm
