Death of the Hero

& why modern games want you to be an NPC

By David Roberts, Creative Director

We have felt it, and we have seen it. Yet only recently has the enormity of this issue really made itself known to me. Throughout my video game journey I have consistently taken the roles of individuals who “the fate of the world, rests on their shoulders.” From Cloud Strife, Solid Snake, Raziel, Lara Croft, James Bond, to the very real veterans of WWII, and larger-than-life personalities such as Tiger Woods and Tony Hawk. Today, we are inundated with blank-slates and create a character menus for avatars that likely wouldn’t last basic training, never mind a confrontation with the hordes of the apocalypse. We have gone from “it could be no one but this specific person with this specific set of skills and experiences” to “it could be anyone, it could be you.” And not in the Alan Moore Killing Joke “one bad day away” scenario, no. Much more sinister than that. Modern media would have you believe that you, yes you, have the moral fortitude and endurance to overcome situations that would break any normal person. This creates a dichotomy where if it could be anyone, then the deed means nothing. Worse than that yet, it introduces freedom of self above all else, the inverse of the traditional reluctant hero. Where once the greatest stories and the greatest heroes were forged by a necessity for personal sacrifice, modern fables flatten all cost and highlight only irrefutable moral authority.

This is easily quantified by looking at society in general and who makes games. Most creators are from affluent to semi affluent families and nations, clearly so if they can pursue an artistic career and purchase the necessary equipment. The drive for the creator to voice thier dissatisfaction with the status quo has gone, replaced by a self-congratulatory need. Those of us who have experienced life in all its ugliness are few and far between, and many men are societally forced into physical labour. Where once a large section of the male demographic had served in the military, it has been replaced with men and women who want the perks of the platform without the weight of responsibility. Which leaves me with Banshee Interactive. If no one else is writing our story, then I must.

Video games have been emasculated, and what the media has yet to grasp is how that affects women. Whilst Jin Sakai grapples with the need to cut throats in the dark, Atsu is cheered for doing so and putting an end to the “bad men.” Joel must live with the memory of Sarah, and the weight of Tess’ last request, yet Abby is presented as masculine, and morally superior delivering swift and final justice for Joel’s choice at the end of Part One. This is not only damaging for the male player base with public, major, dissatisfaction, but sends the incorrect message to young women — that existing is enough. Lara Croft on the other hand is an exceptional intelligent woman who had every tool at her disposal to become that person, including the guidance of her father. Even the rebooted trilogy shows the cost of her personal endurance and the destructive obsession that comes with it. Lara never tries to be male, yet she is consistently competent. The backlash regarding Pragmata is the boiling point for resentment, and understandable to a degree with current events. But it leads me back to my point, if we allow the greater media to paint men as predatory and of low emotional and/or ethical value, it not only destroys an entire genders morale, but lowers the opposing standard for women, LGBTQ, and “allies.”

It is also worth noting that aside from some genre and pulp titles, a male protagonists sexuality is almost never the driving cause of their story or forefront in their personality. This is abundantly obvious in Final Fantasy XVI, with Clive and Dion. This also stands true for the female cast where Benedikta uses her sexuality as a personality trait, not as a gendered trait, Anabella on the other hand uses her lineage in a similar way whilst Jill’s gender is almost irrelevant to he guilt in her deeds and faith in Clive. There has been recent uproar regarding Bayonetta and Hideki Kamiya, where the Western fandom has cited Bayonetta as a “Queer Icon” to the displeasure of the creator. I do believe (though intensely disagree) that a creator looses any ownership over creation the moment it goes public, what is problematic is that certain demographics expect others to accommodate, yet hold no respect for traditional values that many cultures still hold as primary. This includes myself, my domiciliary, and my targeted location for incorporation.

This specific issue is abundant in video games as play as we know it is a biological release of endorphins for activities that promote survival, that’s fight, flight, and reproduction. Now the endorphin is more potent than the actual need for any, including in many instances in the West — reproduction. That is not the case in the East where birthdates have come to a crawl. Stellar Blade to Pragmata, they did not come from a vacuum, despite sitting at opposite ends of the reproduction spectrum. Both titles tackle the core subject matter, that modern media wants you to be an NPC regardless of gender. Stellar Blade should be praised as pro-feminine. Eve is a beautiful, ideological, competent, protagonist and in any other society would be considered as a model for women to aspire to. Instead modern media berates Eve as “unobtainable” figure or “unrealistic” beauty standards. Whilst not once mentioning Adam. Pragmata should be heralded as how a healthy father-daughter dynamic should function, yet media would rather perpetuate a more sinister narrative despite only weeks prior Capcom’s other title Resident Evil requiem puts Grace in a very similar role to Hugh. It is not that they want strong, pro-female or even pro-queer representation, but the elimination of the endurance that makes a person (regardless of preferences) morally erudite.

This hit me hard over the past few months of R&D, even with Eastern titles such as Nioh forsaking "a stranger in a strange land” William (Adams) for Body Type A or B, Dynasty Warriors Origins replacing equally flawed (and equally important to the modern world) Cao Cao and Lui Bei with The Wanderer, it occurred to me that this is not a coincidence. This is overlap with a growing trend from the West, where even narratively-led games have neutered the protagonists actual agency over the story such as in God of War Ragnarök. Banshee Interactive believes in the traditional values of family, equal opportunities, and equality. Banshee Interactive refuses to pander to any demographic, and abhors flattened moral equity. With the male population increasingly denied legitimate outlets for biological necessities — the reward for hunting, gathering and protecting something larger than themselves — our story is being told by the loudest voices; the toxic, bitter, masculinity and the media who will repeat ad-nauseum the predators and parasites.