As long as there have been stories, real or imagined, there have been emotions. From a good book to an enticing play, from simple word-of-mouth to the big screen, we’re spoilt for choice. More recently, we’ve been looking for those performances within our games, for there to be some agency and involvement that wasn’t necessarily there before.
And this becomes a problem.
When a story has nailed that level of emotional attachment on the head, it’s often the characters who stand at the pinnacle of players’ feelings toward the game, appearing sometimes lifelike in their behaviours. But it’s not every believable character we’re talking about here, no matter how excited we get about Joel and Ellie in The Last of Us. No, this is about love. From the awkward flirting and confident support of Garrus — and Kaidan’s underrated normalcy — in the Mass Effect series to Nathan and Elena in the Uncharted series, there’s a whole host of stories out there that revolve around or feature matters of the heart.
But all of these characters are fictional and boy, don’t we know it. So why on Earth would we become attached to them in the first place? Well it might sound wishy-washy, but it probably boils down to the sheer power of imagination. With videogame content even easier to envisage than words on a page, making the leap to pinning your emotions on how things seem rather than how you know them to be isn’t a big step. This may be easier for those with greater capacity for empathy, making it simple to fill in the gaps in a character’s outward personality with extrapolated feelings and behaviours.
From a simpler standpoint it can be governed by one thing: whether the character has any likeable or relatable qualities. If the character seems like someone you’d want to be with in real life, it’s not difficult for your mind to make that imaginative step. Likewise if the character’s story resonates with the experiences of the player, any interactions with them are likely to feel more personal and involving.
There is, however, an additional step to this — a step which turns interest into obsession and in some cases, attraction into love. In series with multiple titles, such as Mass Effect, and games which release in multiple instalments over a period of years, such as Star Wars: The Old Republic, absence really can make the heart grow fonder. Although the jury may be out on that phenomenon in real life, games have the added effect that there can be no interaction with their denizens outside of play. Over the course of waiting for the next title or expansion, players have time to replay it, discuss it and theorise about its future, all in anticipation of the next encounter with nothing concrete to tide the gap.
At this point we ought to mention that the following words contain spoilers and speculation for everything up to and including Star Wars: The Old Republic’s latest flashpoint expansion, Crisis on Umbara. In particular we will be discussing one character, the possibility of their imminent demise and whether the fanbase should be cheering for it rather than lamenting its shadow.
But with continuous expansions and series alike, there is almost always an end point — the point at which a character nears the end of their ‘useful’ life or the point at which the story arc reaches its conclusion.
For this case we’re going to look at a character called Theron Shan in BioWare’s Star Wars: The Old Republic. With a series of comics and a book all under his name, he’s far from a minor character, and has been an integral part of the story ever since 2014’s Shadow of Revan expansion. Over those three years and several more expansions he has become a faithful ally to many player characters and a romantic interest for some.
That is, until now. Theron has turned traitor in a truly dramatic fashion and set himself up alongside the enemy for forthcoming expansions. Even if theories and developer reassurances are true, that puts him in a tight spot as far as the player character is concerned. And amidst what seem to be completely unfounded* rumours that Troy Baker wants to discontinue his voicing of the character, a great deal of worry is spreading through Theron’s fans (who have even organised an in-game rally in his name).
There are three realistic paths that BioWare could take now that they’ve created this position. They could redeem him and return him to the player’s side, allowing room for further stories involving him. They could let the players choose whether to kill him or not, as they’ve done for previous traitors. That option would see all voice work end and Theron reduced to a non-story character, as there’s little point recording dialogue for less than the entire player base.
And this brings us to the third option — they could kill him off for everyone. In terms of emotional impact, this would be the hardest hitting, perhaps with a heroic (see: ‘idiotic’) sacrifice finishing Theron off for the good of the galaxy. The downside for BioWare is that the fans who love him will be up in arms, but should they be? Yes, losing him will be a kick in the teeth. Yes, it will mean the end of one of their best characters. But perhaps killing him off now would make him a Fawlty Towers rather than a Red Dwarf. Perhaps his story would fade and become weak if he stayed around too long.
The point is that stories are created for just that: story. Many people paid for it and it’s the story — sometimes in spite of the gameplay for those who would never normally play an MMO — that keeps them coming back. The Crisis on Umbara flashpoint was heartbreaking for those invested in the story. There was anger and upset and rage but amongst that, in between all the speculation and concern, some begrudgingly acknowledged that it was a good story. It was unexpected, even for those who suspected. It was drama. It was emotion.
And if killing Theron brings forth a better story than leaving him alive, provided it’s executed well, then surely that’s exactly what they’re paying for? Happy endings are boring. Perhaps Theron needs to take one for the team.
But what about you? Which characters have you grown attached to in games? Perhaps you grew alongside them on their journey and they mean more to you than a few lines of code. Let us know in the comments what you think of the need to let characters like them die gracefully — or what you thought of those that did.
* We couldn’t find any evidence to support it, but it doesn’t sound too unreasonable.
