Fenix - Character Analysis

[LestersPetZergling]

http://starcraft.wikia.com/wiki/Jackson_Hauler

"He surface in the Confederate Marine Corps, having taken the identity of a non-commissioned officer named Jackson Hauler (and having murdered the real one). He used his memory-altering and mind control powers, along with some forgery, to make the substitution."

Apply this to Duran/Narud. Maybe he doesn't shapeshift. Also - 'mind control', thus it seems that poor DuGalle was being manipulated it seems...

[Turalyon]

Complex characters still make sense and follow a formula. It just takes a while to figure them out.

As I said, it can go both ways since your descriptions of what makes a complex character can be rightly criticised as being unnecessarily obtuse and faux-complex as well.

With your definition, I don't think characters like Hamlet can be considered complex

I don't think I actually offered my own definition of one initially. I think that all characters are potentially complex, it just depends on how well the characterisation, the setting and the plot is written/realised together which then hopefully encourages one to think more of character, therefore making them "complex". WoL does potentially have complex characters but the way everything is portrayed/presented in it doesn't really lend itself to being analysed too closely or to be thought more of than what it is.

Well call it applicable to BW or whatever but it's still there.

It's one thing to say something is applicable and another to say it's allegorical.

Well I'm more inclined to believe it's Duran since even their facial hair is similar.

Lolwut, that's all it takes to convince you? You do know that "similar" doesn't mean "the same" right?

That shapeshifter nonsense is too fantasy-esque and sounds more like something that was invented in SC2. In the original I presume he was just a master of disguise. He only says he has had many names throughout the millenia.

Not getting into semantics and geeky definitions here, but you do realise that sci-fi generally is fantastical by nature, right? We have alien bugs that can mutate and change forms already and highly advance aliens with technology bordering on magic and you get hung up on Duran not being a shape-shifter because it sounds like classic high-fantasy? Fine, consider his different look to be due to holographic images, mutation, surgery or some other sci-fi concept then.

As FT intimates, Duran is revealed to be an ancient alien. Why would he even look exactly like a dark-skinned human at all times (or even simply, at all)?

[LestersPetZergling]

I don't think I actually offered my own definition of one initially. I think that all characters are potentially complex, it just depends on how well the characterisation, the setting and the plot is written/realised together which then hopefully encourages one to think more of character, therefore making them "complex". WoL does potentially have complex characters but the way everything is portrayed/presented in it doesn't really lend itself to being analysed too closely or to be thought more of than what it is.

Yes, exactly. Tychus & Tosh (the best characters) were the most interesting and complex, but they were treated as UTTER jokes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6THWRV-vUyc

Lolwut, that's all it takes to convince you? You do know that "similar" doesn't mean "the same" right?

TSCR has quite a point though about Brood War and Othello, so don't rule it out. Even though the marine looks suspiciously like Warfield -- they even have the same weapon.

[TSCR]

Well a traditional storytelling rule is that everything should happen for a reason. This helps make a story concise. Despite BW having its flaws, it still was a concise story. There weren't random missions that didn't fit into the overarching narrative like you have in WoL.

Keeping that in mind, I'm more inclined to believe that the black marine is Duran rather than some random nobody. I mean if it were just some random nobody then it can raise questions like why have some random silent black marine that we never see again act so strangely on the battlefield and why have him mysteriously disappear? Why not just show him get ripped apart as well? The answer can either be Blizzard wanted to do something eerie or it was Duran and I like the second answer better so whatever.

Regarding Duran, I never really saw him as an alien but rather as a human with an extended life span thanks to his dark masters. He said he had countless names throughout the millennia so I thought that perhaps he was around since before Jesus and was guiding humanity into the Koprulu Sector or something. I find extended life spans to be more sci-fi than shapeshifting (or at least the kind of shapeshifting we get in HoTS). I also speculated he was the UED's source of information albeit the UED were unaware who he was because he was impersonating someone. The UED had plenty of knowledge and they were only lacking in 3 areas IIRC:

1. Kerrigan
2. Duran
3. Psi Disruptor

The UED didn't possess information of the above and I find it feasible that Duran (assuming he had somehow taken over their information gathering system) would not inform the UPL about them. I also speculated his plan was to draw Earth's greatest soldiers away so it'll be vulnerable to an invasion by Duran's dark masters or whoever (remember DuGalle was the UED's best admiral so his death was a blow to their overall strength).

Besides Blizzard actually does tend to borrow the framework of various storylines when writing their own stories. Did you know that the undead campaign in WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne was based on The Lord of the Ring: The Return of the King?

Even though the marine looks suspiciously like Warfield -- they even have the same weapon.

I like to believe that the SCV pilot in SC1 is Warfield They both have a lot in common

[Gradius]

I like to believe that the SCV pilot in SC1 is Warfield They both have a lot in common

They both pick their nose? :P

And Tychus is actually the guy on the front of the SC1 manual. Man, look at all this epic foreshadowing that we missed.

[Turalyon]

Despite BW having its flaws, it still was a concise story. There weren't random missions that didn't fit into the overarching narrative like you have in WoL.

This I agree on. The only mission to not feel necessary (narratively speaking) in BW was The Kel-Morian Combine because all it was about, at the end of the day, was getting resources. Despite all the variety in WoL and the barest of context and justification, a great number of missions in WoL ultimately boil down to not much more than gathering resources for some "final push", which we are led to believe to be Mengsk at first only to be baited and switched to Kerrigan toward the end.

Keeping that in mind, I'm more inclined to believe that the black marine is Duran rather than some random nobody. I mean if it were just some random nobody then it can raise questions like why have some random silent black marine that we never see again act so strangely on the battlefield and why have him mysteriously disappear? Why not just show him get ripped apart as well? The answer can either be Blizzard wanted to do something eerie or it was Duran and I like the second answer better so whatever.

This is an argument from ignorance which I'm surprised you are using because it is a fairly common fallacy to justify many of the WoL revelations (the Overmind being always a slave thing etc) as well. Why are you assuming that people would ask questions about the black guy? If the guy was a nobody, I can easily describe his behaviour as being one of "combat stress reaction" (shell shock) and/or that he's an apathetic badass who realises the effed up situation he's in no matter what he does so why not chill out to some tune before going? Why? Because people are different and do not always behave the same way. There's no secret agenda behind it as you're making it out to be.

The black guys is as non-descript and no more special than any other Terran we see in all other cinematics featuring hapless Terrans. Jjust because he's black and that we see no other black guys in Starcraft shouldn't make one take a flying leap that any black man you see is also going be the only black main character we do see. There's a word for that sort of thing...

Also, he doesn't just "disappear". It is implied he dies just like the white guy as they're right next to each other when the Zerglings converge on their trench from both sides. If you're so inclined to think along those lines, we actually don't see the white guy get ripped apart either, so that must mean he's some sort of special character too, right? Just like whether the likelihood of some random black guy's identity actually being Duran, the answer is no in both cases.

Regarding Duran, I never really saw him as an alien but rather as a human with an extended life span thanks to his dark masters. He said he had countless names throughout the millennia so I thought that perhaps he was around since before Jesus and was guiding humanity into the Koprulu Sector or something.

How does Duran know so much about Protoss and Zerg physiology and somehow gotten around to seeding the universe with Hybrids if he originated on Earth as a bonafide human? Why a human at all given that they are the youngest species and the most fickle of the three? There has to be a lot of fanoning and speculation to make this work (not to mention being restricted and wracked with inane conspiracy theories - that Sc2 is already a testament of how bad such a thing could be should emphasise that point). It's easier and makes more sense if he was "just an alien".

[LestersPetZergling]

Wait... I think there is something that points towards him being Duran. Do you notice how the Zerglings stop when they're pursuing the white-marine? Almost as if... he just entered the radius of a mini-Psi Disruptor?

[TSCR]

This is an argument from ignorance which I'm surprised you are using because it is a fairly common fallacy to justify many of the WoL revelations (the Overmind being always a slave thing etc) as well. Why are you assuming that people would ask questions about the black guy? If the guy was a nobody, I can easily describe his behaviour as being one of "combat stress reaction" (shell shock) and/or that he's an apathetic badass who realises the effed up situation he's in no matter what he does so why not chill out to some tune before going? Why? Because people are different and do not always behave the same way. There's no secret agenda behind it as you're making it out to be.

The black guys is as non-descript and no more special than any other Terran we see in all other cinematics featuring hapless Terrans. Jjust because he's black and that we see no other black guys in Starcraft shouldn't make one take a flying leap that any black man you see is also going be the only black main character we do see. There's a word for that sort of thing...

Also, he doesn't just "disappear". It is implied he dies just like the white guy as they're right next to each other when the Zerglings converge on their trench from both sides. If you're so inclined to think along those lines, we actually don't see the white guy get ripped apart either, so that must mean he's some sort of special character too, right? Just like whether the likelihood of some random black guy's identity actually being Duran, the answer is no in both cases.

Woops I didn't see him at the edge at the end due to the poor lighting so I thought he disappeared. So I'm probably wrong about him being Duran but there may still be slight chance he is.

How does Duran know so much about Protoss and Zerg physiology and somehow gotten around to seeding the universe with Hybrids if he originated on Earth as a bonafide human? Why a human at all given that they are the youngest species and the most fickle of the three? There has to be a lot of fanoning and speculation to make this work (not to mention being restricted and wracked with inane conspiracy theories - that Sc2 is already a testament of how bad such a thing could be should emphasise that point). It's easier and makes more sense if he was "just an alien"

His Dark Master?

I never really got the impression that Duran originated as anything other than a human. Although he was working with Kerrigan, he was believed to be an Infested Terran so he was presumably a regular Terran before joining the Swarm.

Besides keeping in mind that this was back when the word concise was actually applicable to StarCraft, I just didn't see Blizzard introducing another intelligent alien species and having to explain why its not included as the 4th race. So yeah I just see Duran as a modified human which fits in better with the sci-fi take on SC better than some shapeshifter.

[Gradius]

How did Duran know so much about protoss technology to begin with? And why didn't Kerrigan find this suspicious?

[TSCR]

How did Duran know so much about protoss technology to begin with? And why didn't Kerrigan find this suspicious?

I never got the impression that Duran ever revealed to Kerrigan that he had great knowledge of the Protoss?

The only great knowledge he seemed to display was when he was talking about the hybrids to Zeratul. Other than that he just seemed to be hypothesising IIRC.