Favorite / Least Favorite Characters

[Gradius]

SC1:
Favorite: Tassadar. A psionic badass who incinerated planets and conjured up enough energy to destroy a creature the size of a mountain. But he had a strict code of honor and was forced to sacrifice everything fighting for what he thought was right.

Least: Infested Kerrigan. Way too much focus on a non-zerg character that shouldn't even be that great because she's merely a terran zerg hybrid. Both races are supposed to be crappy psychics. Other than that, I'd actually pick the player-characters, but they're not even characters so I'm not sure they count...

BW:
Favorite: Zeratul. A tormented soul that found the strength to never shirk from his duty. And the voice-acting was on point. Dark Origins is one of my favorite levels in all of video games.

Least: Kerrigan. Don't get me wrong, Kerrigan was an enjoyable and highly original villain. But BW felt like "The Kerrigan Show" with other characters having to hold the idiot ball so that she succeeds at all times. And all other characters set the bar higher. For example, Dugalle and Stukov were highly competent military officers. But they had to hold the idiot ball..because of Kerrigan. That's why she gets my vote.

WoL:
Favorite: Horner. Possibly the one normal guy aboard the ship. I can relate to him, he's not a worthless crew member, and he hasn't done anything really stupid. That puts him above the rest in my book. I mean he's the only one who questioned attacking Valerian's ship. He's the only one who questioned the kill switch in Tychus's suit. Let's give the guy some credit, yes?

Least: Raynor. A Gary Stu type character who decimates the strongest armies in the sector from his one battlecruiser and tiny rebel army because he is "resourceful". Slaughters the Tal'Darim wholesale and steals their religious relics because he needs cash. Just a contemptible person that I'm expected to root for, yet can't, and a far cry from the SC1 character.

HoTS:
Favorite: Abathur. The most inhuman character in the game. THIS is a zerg character. Nuff said.

Least: Kerrigan. Same schtick as Raynor. Blizzard just sucks at writing protagonists. Destroys entire planets wholesale and kills millions of people in her petty quest for revenge against one guy. And yet again, Blizzard expects us to treat her as some sort of likable anti-hero that's done terrible things yet that we can still root for, as opposed to treating her as what she is: a blatant villain.

[Nissa]

Gradius, it seems like you judge your characters by the roles they serve storywise, rather than who they are. Not that that's a wrong thing to do, it's just interesting. In most cases, people's favorites or least favorites have an angle of some sort.

[Hawki]

Other than that, I'd actually pick the player-characters, but they're not even characters so I'm not sure they count...

I debated that in my list but decided to put them in. If a story uses a player character, I'll hold said character to similar standards as everyone else.

Here's the PC problem in SC1 though - I'm left to guess at their very motivations. Why does the magistrate defy Duke and send in militia? Why does the magistrate accept Mengsk's offer? Why does he side with Raynor at the end of the game? Why does the executor defy Aldaris? Come BW, why are player characters even needed? I also include them because there's been examples when a PC has been done right in the SC1 era - the original cerebrate is one, because its motivations are never called into question, and its lack of identity feels in sync with the nature of the zerg and cerebrates themselves (lack of individual identity, yet to earn the right to a name, etc.). Even the lieutenant from Loomings is a PC done right because they at least don't defy the norm, and are quite content to follow the Confederacy's orders.

Still, at the end of the day, none of them have any personality. I think my feelings on them kinda spilled over into when I've written for them, where I made the lieutenant a decent person when I novelized Loomings, but made the magistrate a selfish jackass when I gave him the same treatment.

[Nissa]

Dude, you can't do that to the magistrate. He's a cool guy, and Raynor's BFF. Jimmy doesn't hang out with people he doesn't like, if he can avoid it.

[Hawki]

Why? The magistrate has no personality, so it's my perogative to give him whatever personality I like.

At the end of the day, there's no evidence for the magistrate being a "cool guy," or "Raynor's BFF," or anything, because again, no personality. And Jimmy not hanging out with people he doesn't like? Okay...then I suppose SC1 (Mengsk, towards the end), BW (Mengsk, Kerrigan) and WoL (Valerian and Dominion by proxy) never happened.

[Nissa]

Why? The magistrate has no personality, so it's my perogative to give him whatever personality I like.

At the end of the day, there's no evidence for the magistrate being a "cool guy," or "Raynor's BFF," or anything, because again, no personality. And Jimmy not hanging out with people he doesn't like? Okay...then I suppose SC1 (Mengsk, towards the end), BW (Mengsk, Kerrigan) and WoL (Valerian and Dominion by proxy) never happened.

He's not hanging out with them. He's working with them on a temporary basis based on what he thinks is necessary. He doesn't want to be around them.

I do agree, though, WoL definitely never happened.

Seriously, though, when Raynor left Mengsk, his instinct was to contact the magistrate and say that they should escape the Sons of Korhal together. You don't do that for someone who isn't a friend or trusted colleague.

[Hawki]

Seriously, though, when Raynor left Mengsk, his instinct was to contact the magistrate and say that they should escape the Sons of Korhal together. You don't do that for someone who isn't a friend or trusted colleague.

Raynor, if anything, bullies the magistrate into coming along ("I'm gone, and you better come with me"). Yep. Such a wonderful friendship they've got there. And the magistrate didn't even bother to stick around anyway, so obviously whatever loyalty/friendship that may or may not have existed went out the airlock.

So yes. I made the magistrate a jackass when I wrote for him. When you're left with a rock, all you can do is sculpt it as you see fit.

[Nissa]

Raynor, if anything, bullies the magistrate into coming along ("I'm gone, and you better come with me"). Yep. Such a wonderful friendship they've got there. And the magistrate didn't even bother to stick around anyway, so obviously whatever loyalty/friendship that may or may not have existed went out the airlock.

So yes. I made the magistrate a jackass when I wrote for him. When you're left with a rock, all you can do is sculpt it as you see fit.

*rolls eyes* Understanding characters is a game of reading between the lines. The "you'd better come with me" was not a threat, but rather concern for someone who was in just as bad a situation as Raynor. That's childishly obvious. While you can add many possible details to the friendship between them, even later disagreement, you can't say that didn't get along throughout the Terran missions. Well, you can, but not without looking silly.

[Hawki]

Nissa, you can "read between the lines" all you want, but at the end of the day, there's no lines to read between. The times when Raynor addresses the magistrate is as follows:

Mission 2:

*"Hey, what's up, man? Got yer refugees tucked in nice and tight. Provided you can sidestep anymore surprises from our Confederate friends, and we can keep them away from those critters, they should have an easy time."

*"Damn! Listen, if we wait for Confederate reinforcements, that station's dust. I'll head out there now, do what I can. You send in some militia, and we'll save those folks. Trust me."

The magistrate agrees for...some reason. The reason is up to player interpretation.

Mission 3

"I got your message, Magistrate, and frankly I don't care what you have to say about Confederate regulations. You damn fringe world yokels are all alike, don't know where your loyalties lie. Y'all have a real good day now, y'hear?"

You can assume that the Raynor is personally concerned over Raynor's arrest, but again, no evidence. All we know is that he's protested over the arrest of the militiamen, Raynor himself is never mentioned.

Mission 4

"Hey, man. Arcturus' boys sprung me from the prison ship. Apparently, they're as frustrated with the Confederates as we are! I know their reputation, but they seem to be on the level. I think Arcturus wanted to speak with you..."

A.k.a. exposition. Maybe you can construte something from that, but it's quickly dropped anyway.

Mission 5

"Hey, man. Headquarters has begun analysis of the discs. They expect to have them decoded shortly. I hope whatever's on those discs is worth it."

Again, exposition.

Mission 10

That's right, mission 10. We've gone 5 missions without a case of Raynor addressing the commander. Why? Because by this point in the campaign we have four characters (Raynor, Kerrigan, Mengsk), so from an expositional standpoint there's no need for interaction between them (using the most generous term for "interaction"), and from a character standpoint, by this stage we're surrounded by actual characters. But moving on:

"I can't believe he actually left her down there! I'm gone, and you'd better come with me. There's no tellin' who Arcturus'll screw over next."

Yep, truly a great friendship. Screw what the magistrate might think. Kinda takes me back to mission 2...

To be fair, the point of this line is showing Raynor at his lowest. Kerrigan's dead, Mengsk's true spots are revealed, and he's taken part in genocide, not to mention the whole manipulation thing. From Raynor's standpoint, this is good writing. But again, the magistrate is nothing more than a literary tool - far better to express the motion than talk about (a.k.a. Raynor monologing).

And to end it:

Well, Commander, it looks like we're on our own. It's funny... It seems like yesterday Arcturus was the idealistic rebel crusader. Now he's the law, and we're the criminals. It kills me to know that we helped him achieve his goals of conquest.

Okay, maybe...MAYBE...you can construe something from this. This isn't exposition, or giving orders, it's Raynor venting its spleen. For one of the few times in the game, we're getting something that's purely in service of the character, and not of the plot (another reason I prefer WoL - far more of these moments). However, from a writing standpoint, it's obvious - it's fleshing out Raynor's character. You don't even need the magistrate at this point in time, because replace the commander with "well boys" (the Raiders), and every other line can remain the same (after all, they all played a role).

And then the magistrate is gone. I don't even need Queen of Blades to make insinuations about this, SC1 gives me stuff to work with. The magistrate is nowhere to be seen or mentioned after this, so either a) he left, b) he's dead, or c) is too minor to warrant a role.

So, what can we get from this? Well, every time Raynor speaks to the magistrate it's either to get him to do something (against standing orders I might add), or to act as exposition, with the sole exception of the final line, and even that is more about Raynor. You can "read between the lines" all you want, but at the end of the day, there's nothing solid to work with. If the writers wanted to show a character friendship, they would have made the magistrate an actual character (e.g. Kerrigan, where the friendship/romance between them is built up over time, and on display). Instead, the magistrate is mainly there for the sake of the plot, a vehicle to give information delivered to that becomes redundant by the middle of the campaign, when the characters can impart information to the player through dialogue between themselves.

[Nissa]

Any lack of detail on the developer's part is simply a way for the player to feel more "inside" the Starcraft world. I know he's a vehicle, the the fact of the matter is is that he spends most of the entire Terran missions with Raynor, and they talk as though they are at least close associates. Raynor's concern for his well-being at the end of those missions is proof enough the two got along well.

In other words, while their level of friendship is inestimable, it's clear that an association existed, and you're just putting a cranky attitude on the magistrate because you want to.