So I've been toying around with a book idea. Before you roll your eyes, don't worry, I'm sure nothing will come of it. But I was considering how to give my protagonist a dark history. I've been taught never to make a character perfect otherwise the audience won't be able to associate with them. So in that same vein, I figure the darker his past (ie murder), the more emotional baggage I can bring up later that he needs to address. But this got me thinking about some games I have played recently.
(spoilers ahead)
In The Last of Us, Ellie bears her heart to us, telling us that anyone she has ever known or loved has died. Seconds later, Joel makes her emotionally bite the curb basically saying "Too bad, we're going our separate ways" as soon as he drops her off at Tommy's. This was a WTF moment for me. Any sort of emotion at this point was me cheering for him to take to Ellie, but even though this decision was short-lived, it totally tore me away from liking Joel for a while.
Similar things can be said about most of Booker's interactions with Elizabeth for the first third of Bioshock Infinite.
I'm sure there are more examples, but to be honest I haven't played very many games as of late. I guess my question to you is - Do these moments cause you to dissociate with a character to the point of not caring about them or their decisions? Or do you feel that this sort of character development that clashes with the general viewer from time to time is healthy and adds depth to the character? I'm concerned if I go too far down with my character's dark history, nobody will want to cheer for him. I feel this might be one of the reasons they make characters with troubled pasts victims of circumstance instead, but I'd rather not use that stencil.
(spoilers ahead)
In The Last of Us, Ellie bears her heart to us, telling us that anyone she has ever known or loved has died. Seconds later, Joel makes her emotionally bite the curb basically saying "Too bad, we're going our separate ways" as soon as he drops her off at Tommy's. This was a WTF moment for me. Any sort of emotion at this point was me cheering for him to take to Ellie, but even though this decision was short-lived, it totally tore me away from liking Joel for a while.
Similar things can be said about most of Booker's interactions with Elizabeth for the first third of Bioshock Infinite.
I'm sure there are more examples, but to be honest I haven't played very many games as of late. I guess my question to you is - Do these moments cause you to dissociate with a character to the point of not caring about them or their decisions? Or do you feel that this sort of character development that clashes with the general viewer from time to time is healthy and adds depth to the character? I'm concerned if I go too far down with my character's dark history, nobody will want to cheer for him. I feel this might be one of the reasons they make characters with troubled pasts victims of circumstance instead, but I'd rather not use that stencil.