Japan makes cooler characters than everyone else...

[Inkidu]

Japan always makes cool stuff like insane fighting robots, planet-buster characters, guys with crazy hair and outfits, and over the top sword and gunplay.

Other countries like America always create guys with guns and gruff, low voices who don't do much cool stuff.

So How come Japan makes cooler stuff than the rest of us.. They made Power Rangers.. America made Halo Spartans.

Yeah, androgynous everything? Dude, opinion, worse than that badly supported opinion. I'm an English major all I do is opinion work, you've got to come up with better reasons than that. Deus Ex: Human Revolution looks freaking awesome.

Mass Effect, Gears of War, American McGee's: Alice, Assassin's Creed (Ezio looks awesome with a beard). For every example you chuck up I can come up with one. Think this out better next time.

 

[KaizokuouHasu]

Japan also makes the most incessantly annoying characters (Vanille from FFXIII comes to mind).

I agree. Japan goes both ways. I feel like it is safe to say that Japanese game developers don't play the safe cards, but try to be really creative. They also have wider demographics to cater to since Japan has probably got the largest supply in the world for fetishes. Westerns games developers try to stay more safe and stick to steroid/testosterone space marines and barbarians... and "hot" chicks. Oh! And American soldiers.

That said, I like Vanille! She has [Death], and she's hot! Why does no one hate on Hope? That little shit had me grinding my teeth to dust until the last 3 chapters of the game (when he suddenly did 999k damage all the time).

*growls*

 

[Corporal Yakob]

I fail to see how anyone could possibly think the Power Rangers are cooler then genetically engineered super soldiers-oh wait yes I do, its called an opinion just as it is my opinion that wacky super powered high school girls and angsty twats with stupid hair are much less cooler then Space Marines (40K).

 

[scorptatious]

I think you need to dig a bit deeper than the AAA titles when it comes to cool characters from American game companies. (Although I do like Master Chief)

Here are some examples of video games characters from American game companies who I think are cool:

Spoiler

Abe from the Oddworld series

Glitch from Metal Arms: Glitch in the System

The entire fucking cast from Team Fortress 2.

Sly Cooper from the Sly series.

 

[scorptatious]

What some consider to be cool, others consider to be stupid.

I mean come on, that's just silly. His hair is silly, his sword is stupid and the rest of his wardrobe doesn't make sense. (BTW, this is just a random picture)

Which one looks to be more awesome?
Which one would you take seriously?

Honestly, I'd choose Cloud. I never was into realistic looking characters. Which is one of the reasons I love video games, they provide an escape from reality.

Of course that's just my opinion, which is all and all very subjective. Just like the OP's.

 

[Hollock]

There is no country with objectively cooler characters or themes. What you're doing here is claiming that there are several different awesomely crazy random legit extreme to the max things that the best and brightest of Japan have to offer, and America just has 'guys with guns and gruff, low voices who don't do much cool stuff.'
now I will list off why what you said is cool, isn't always cool.
Giant robots aren't always cool, see Jet Jaguar.
"Plantet-Buster characters" are rarely cool, it's often boring to see one character who can just do anything he/she wants, and to know that they can't lose. See Ichigo from bleach.
Crazy hair and outfits are defiantly not cool. It's over the top and gaudy. See yugi moto
And having swords and guns doesn't instantly make something cooler. Not to mention that everyone uses swords and guns in their fiction. But I guess you're emphasizing on the 'over the top' aspect. Well to that I say that subtlety subdued actions are often cooler than epic gnarlyiness brah. I believe that the 'say what again' scene from pulp fiction is much cooler than oh say ichigo vs rukias brother ( sorry for picking on bleach so much).

But none of those traits are exclusive to Japan or America, so try not to think like they are.
And your examples could easily be flipped around.

Why does America have such cooler characters? We have guys like the man with no name, Jack Burton, Travis Bickle, Ellen Ripley, The Bride(kill bill), Robo cop. They're all super awesome with they're take no shit attitude, wise cracks, craziness, Robot suits, epic killing swordfightingness, and all japan has are emo highschoolers who smirk and and dance.

See Japan looks stupid there. Actually I look stupid there, but that's the point. Cool is subjective, and cool is from all over the world. Except Whales. HAHAAHA

 

[BlackSaint09]

Bullshit. Japanese heroes are nothing but the same five guys and gals thrown into terrible clothing and fucking ridiculous stunts that involve paper-thin storylines. I don't like Japanese character because they're all the same. At least the Spartans have some fucking personality under all the armor, Japanese characters are just loud douchebags and ridiculously hot chicks with bad haircuts.

Dude... Really? Im so sorry but that was so funny i lold. You have to be sarcastic!
Oh nevermind. Youre opinion is youre opinion and this thread may obviously annoy you if it differs from youre opinion so much... But really? I suppose "NOT RESEARCHING ANYTHING" is allowed when the original poster didnt probably research anything either.
But i still lold at youre comment.

 

[Sean Hollyman]

*Comes online and sees 8 messages in inbox*

OHMAN

 

[UmJammerSully]

I agree, they do make cool characters. I also disagree with your apparently thinking that other countries don't. After all, Japan didn't create Perry the Platypus.

Damn right Japan makes cool stuff.

So do American and European developers.

I like that way of thinking!

Every region has made great media and some downright awful stuff.

For anyone with an open mind, this should more or less signal the end of the thread.

This thread is just full of dumb generalizations.

No, not all Western characters are gruff-voiced, gun-toting bodybuilders.

No, not all Japanese characters are over-the-top, whiny, spiky-haired teenagers.

 

[BoredDragon]

Japan does make some cool things, but there are other things that Japan makes that make you go "wtf!?!"

watch the video in the link for some examples
http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/teamt/nash/wtfiwwy/29529-land-of-the-rising-dumb

 

[Baralak]

Also Power Rangers were originally based on a live-action Japanese Spiderman show, and all the adaptation to Power Rangers apparently did was add the "team" theme.

*Bzzt* Super Sentai started in 1975 with Himitsu Sentai Goranger (Secret Taskforce (5)Goranger). You're talking about the Toei (who does Sentai and Kamen Rider) made Spiderman from 1978 (3 years after Sentai started) who had a giant robo which got folded into Super Sentai in the 1979 series Battle Fever J and has become a staple since.

I applaud your backnowledge, then i must tell you i was talking about the show, not the genre.

And, as I posted earlier, Power Rangers started from Super Sentai's 1992 offering of Zyuranger, then adapted the mecha (and A suit) from Dairanger, then the mecha (and eventually suits) from Kakuranger, then Ohranger, Carranger, Megaranger, Gingaman, GoGoV, Timeranger, Gaoranger, Hurricaneger, Abaranger, Dekaranger, Magiranger, Boukenger, Gekiranger, Go-Onger and now Shinkenger. That is every single season of Power Rangers upto and including Power rangers Samurai this year.
Basically every single piece of Power Rangers has come from the Super Sentai source, with only a few things like the Battlizer (back in Space/Mega), Titanium ranger (Lightspeed/GoGoV) and spirit rangers (JF/Geki) being new to the show.

The genre is Tokusatsu (Special Effects), the show is Sentai and Power Rangers.

*begins slow clap*

Seriously, I think I love you.


OT: I have to say I prefer, on the whole, Eastern characters over Western ones. I'll happily take Bayonetta, Cloud and the like over Marcus Fenix or Master Chief.

Granted, I do love like, half of Marvel's cast of characters. Let me change that then, I'm split 50/50.

 

[Arqus_Zed]

Well, I think I have to agree that Japan has made more interesting game characters than America.
At least, when we talk about current trend big budget titles.

I blame America's hard-on for military stuff.

Battlefield, Call of Duty, Medal of Honor, Operation Flashpoint, Gears of War and whatnot.
No more Spyro, Crash, Jak, Vexx, Gerdy, Scaler, Kay, etc. No room for originality, surrealism and experimentation.

I don't know what's worse though: the endless stream of blandness - or the fact that there's an audience for it.

Not that ALL Japanese characters are better, oh hell no. But they did give us Bayonetta, Auron, Vivi Ornitier, Freya Crescent, Dante, Yuri Hyuga, Travis Touchdown, Amaterasu, Viewtiful Joe, etc. All the while America brought us... uhm... Kratos? Garrus Vakarian? Only characters I can remember at the moment... (Says something about the impact they leave, doesn't it?)

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

I agree, they do make cool characters. I also disagree with your apparently thinking that other countries don't. After all, Japan didn't create Perry the Platypus.

BAM!

Nor did Japan come up with this gem:


Japan and the other countries have different IP goldmines. No one is better than another in my opinion.

But hey, argue away...

Japan does make some cool things, but there are other things that Japan makes that make you go "wtf!?!"

watch the video in the link for some examples
http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/teamt/nash/wtfiwwy/29529-land-of-the-rising-dumb

I'm not falling for that "see how weird Japan is weird" trap again. I still need some brain bleach from the last time...

 

[ElNeroDiablo]

~epicness snip~

*begins slow clap*

Seriously, I think I love you.

Thank you, and I have only two things to say:
"ONORE DIKEADO!" and "Ten no michi o Iki, Subete o Tsukasadoru otoko."

 

[Turigamot]

What a silly thing to say, you weeaboo you.

 

[ElNeroDiablo]

What a silly thing to say, you weeaboo you.

*snrk* That the best attack you can come up with?
Excuse me whilst I crack up laughing.

 

[decaying dead]

well then clearly the only way to settle this is someone needs to make a fighting game pitting a list of american characters vs a list of japanese characters, hold a massive tournament, and whoever can beat the shit out of everyone else using which ever character from the side of their choosing takes the victory in this damn overplayed argument

 

[Weaver]

IMO, Japanese game characters (and I want to be clear, I'm only talking about games here) generally don't go below their one trait and the clothes they wear. Cathrine would be a great antithesis to this, but i digress.

For instance, look in the manual of a JRPG. What do you see under character descriptions? You see a picture of them, their blood type, body weight, favorite food, other bullshit; this is not character. This is a list of attributes that you're applying to what is otherwise a tabula rasa. Beyond that they just fall into the "emo hero" or "annoying, whiny sidekick" personality traits that are never explained, never resolved and never compounded upon. To me, these aren't characters.

Characters have to have story arcs, they have to be fully developed. I have to believe they are (or at least, could be) a real person. Despite much criticism of the game, Alan Wake did a pretty good job of this. Bioware generally sets up fairly simplistic arcs, but at least every character has one.

 

[Iwata]

Japan has a lot of cool stuff.

They also have hell of a lot more annoying things. One of them's the extremist elements of the fanbase.

 

[Turigamot]

What a silly thing to say, you weeaboo you.

*snrk* That the best attack you can come up with?
Excuse me whilst I crack up laughing.

*blink*

I'm sorry, but you seem to be under the impression that you were the subject of my post. Which you weren't. The OP said something silly. You can't present opinion as fact. These things are subjective.