In the spirit of the holiday season, I want to start a more fun conversation.
Who are your favorite characters and why? They can be from anything; movies, TV shows, video games, literature, etc.
Furthermore, did they exhibit any positive traits or skills that made you want to become a better person in the real world in some way? Did their actions help encourage you to want to learn a particular skill, become physically fitter, more resourceful, confident, etc?
I'll get things started (mine aren't in any particular order):
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Zero (Mega Man X): I like both Zero and X, but Zero's confident professionalism so to speak stood out to me. He's serious and intelligent, but he knows how to stay witty and sarcastic at the same time. In addition, he wants to defeat his destiny as a robot designed to commit evil and fight for good. In particular, I love how he's always working to better at protecting others but has to struggle with the realization that doesn't guarantee he'll be able to save those closest to him. That last example reminds me of something I've struggled with in my own life.
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Donatello (TMNT 2003): I love the arc Donnie undergoes in the '03 TMNT cartoon. He's extremely book-smart and; like myself, passionate about machines and technology. Nonetheless, he's open to acquiring new knowledge. Although he studies science and technology at an academic level, he does it out of a genuine love for the field. And he developed his intellect almost entirely on his own. He's great at staying cool and collected under pressure and thinking creatively and quickly in the same circumstances. Out of all the Turtles, he's probably the most pacifistic and diplomatic, but isn't above getting snarky occasionally. Finally, he can get annoyed by his family at times, but will still drop everything to help them and become deeply passionate about helping them.
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Niko Bellic (GTA IV): He may not be a popular choice here, but I loved playing through his story. Although he came from very little and doesn't have a great record of following the law, I think he proved to be so much more than that. Despite a horrible upbringing, Niko in GTA IV goes on to display a clear sense of honor and an ability to think more three-dimensionally than most of the game's other characters. I love how he goes through hell to protect Roman and everyone else he cares about even when their judgement (or lack thereof) gets them in trouble. I chose to take the story paths where he spares targets as I felt they were more consistent with his personality. Besides, who wouldn't admire a character that's agile, adaptable, and can operate any machine from a car to a helicopter?
All three of these characters partially inspired me to get physically fitter, think less impulsively, think about the consequences of my actions, open myself up to new knowledge/ideas, and become more analytical and confident. I became more inspired to treat others how I'd want to be treated and stand up for what's right even if it might not make me popular. Most important of all, following their adventures helped me realize that no matter how uncertain or hopeless I think life can look, there's always some way I can make it a little better.
Your turn.
Kamina and Simon (Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann): I have never seen a stronger example of brotherhood and brotherly love in fiction. This doesn't get into how incredible they both are individually as characters. Simon's story is inspirational, and Kamina's character is something incredible. As an older brother myself, he's the kind of older brother I want to be. I include them together because its impossible not to imo. Though I'd also include their relationships with Yoko and Nia respectively too. There's too many great messages packed into this anime to express in a post like this, I'd rather say to anyone to just go watch it. Its the most ambitious anime in history, and its definitely inspired me to work on myself as a person and not take the people around me for granted. Its a beautiful story.
Fenix (Starcraft): When I was a kid, this character was something new to me from a fictional standpoint. Someone so loyal, strong and full of conviction, literally wouldn't let death stop him from saving his people and his friends. Plus all his lines and quotes are badass and he was a fun unit to use in-game.
Hector (Fire Emblem): Similar reasons for why I like Fenix, but it was more of a full-on journey in Hector's case. I was a young adult when playing through Fire Emblem and seeing his journey was an experience. The way a man matures and tries to figure out his place in the world (especially when he doesn't necessarily fit into the molds of what society wants him to be) and what he values most, the conflicts and hardships that arise, the things that test him and the forces that seek to keep him away from what he needs to be and what he ought to be. Could also include Eliwood in here too since his friendship with Eliwood is key here and Eliwood's own journey is something great too.
Some (Very) honorable mentions: Estelle Bright from Trails in the Sky, Sanji from One Piece, Grovyle from PMD Explorers, Zeabolos from Trillion: God of Destruction, Lelouch from Code Geass, Meruem from Hunter x Hunter, Kenshiro (and Raoh and Toki) from Fist of the North Star, Hellsing Ultimate's main cast, Brenner from Advance Wars Days of Ruin, Cecil from FF4
All of these characters and stories have helped me in some way in my own life, but I try to get value out of the stories I go through, otherwise its just shallow entertainment.
The reason I'm even able to get value out of these characters in my own life is because I was raised by good people and have a strong moral foundation as a result. Its like if the land isn't suitable for growing, the seeds won't sprout, or if its just filled with weeds they'll just get choked out.
I've seen plenty of people who are fans of things I like but whose viewpoints and lessons they would've gained from these end up tainted, often because of their ideology or how they were raised or both and its a shame. None of the fictional things I like are a true replacement for an actual moral foundation (Though you can do a lot worse than things like Gurren Lagann as it still inspires things like self-improvement, but still).
Great choices. I'd love to play Advance Wars, Starcraft, and Fire Emblem in the future.
Starcraft's story is pretty good. A bit cheezy at times, but the Protoss characters are rather well done.
The game itself is fun.
If you're good at RTS, the campaing won't be difficult. ( ex: One early mission you're defending a position waiting extraction, I got bored/curious and wiped-out the map of all enemiy bases. But much later there are challenging base defenses. For the lulz you can try setting up a strong enough line to not get wiped-out and ending dialogs talk as if you are getting obliterated. That one was difficult for me. )
You can either torrent a CD image to mount on a virtual drive ( often mounting a virtual CD already works in recent computer. Otherwise easy to find a program for that online ), or download the "free version" with the annoying Blizzard launcher. I didn't like the new "free version" because they changed hotkeys and translations in the French version, making it worse and clash with the ( very good ) French dub.
Fenix may be from an old game, but it can still "throw down with the best of them", as the youths say.
It helps that Hector, unlike most Lords in the series until recently, was a brokenly overpowered unit at nearly all points of the story. The worst part of his story is that you have to wait a bunch more chapters to promote him over Eliwood's where he should be the first one you do.
Because that kills Eliwood's entire character arc (same with Roy and Eirika), the game portion undermines them horribly by how much of a literal fucking millstone they are on your army by being both god fucking awful units but also having to wait until every single other character is promoted multiple chapters ago before they get to to hope they can maybe catch up.
Game devs always need to learn that the story and game sections aren't separate and one can undermine the other.