Mother Zero

[Alexx]

Finally, a comic for the Jeff/Poo shippers!

But seriously, it's amazing what can happen with fans when the characters are pretty much wide open for interpretation. Technically Poo is the only one with some sort of story sequence. Even Ness just has "go defeat evil." Poo at least has some spiritual junk to deal with before he's...I dunno...worthy to fight evil? Paula is just caring, I guess, and Jeff....well ya know what? Jeff loves Poo! That's his angle now. From here on out.

Now it's time for fan games about Jeff and Poo's many children of SCIENCE. Calling it right now: The robot and the one with the sunglasses are gona be my powerhouses. Those sunglasses don't mess around.

[Fixxxer 117]

heh heh, Poo.

[Adol The Red]

I'm reminded of a phrase from a "scientific" show about people blowing stuff up. "Using science!"

Minimalism can be great for any fictional work, and especially for games. By not trying to shove every detail of a character down someones throat, you give them a chance to personalize that character a bit. Some people don't like that I guess, but I think it's great when used properly.

An interesting point on Bear's serious talk, I found the thing about each of us being an angel with one wing interesting because in Xenogears there is a religion founded on that very principal. In their cathedral there are two huge statues, each with one wing, and they're reaching toward one another. In the game this is about how people need to be flawed so that they can learn to rely on and care for one another (also one of the things cluing you in that behind all the awesome martial arts, cool mech fights, and struggles against tyranny, you are in fact playing a love story). Not to Bear's point, but I found it interesting.

As far as the actual point goes, I agree with how it was summed up.

[ThePaul]

I think the main argument against minimalism like that, is that you're making it harder for those with poor imaginations to enjoy the game. Not everyone is creative enough to fill in the details left out (or maybe they just don't want to). Plus, it is not easy to tell if it's an artistic choice, the , or just pure laziness.

Not that I really care one way or the other, as long as the game play is fun and/or the story is good (and a story I like to hear).

[Kerreth]

I just watched their entire back catalog, so, yeah. I was really bored at work. o.o

[Bear]

This comic was inspired a lot by Zac Gorman and his interpretations on Earthbound. Pie and I thought it a little odd that he would assume that there was a relationship between Ness and Paula, because there isn't any hint of it at all outside of the final line of dialogue from Jeff as he is about to leave, which is similar to what we put in frame 1.

In fact, since there is no hint to it, Pie and I both thought...why would Jeff assume there is something between them? At first we laughed at the idea that Paula would take offense, but we didn't want to depict her that way in the comic and thought it would be more funny if there was some weird love polygon between the cast. And yeah...a love connection with Jeff and Poo because...well...if it's left up to imagination, why not let them find happiness and build a family together? hehe

As Pei said in her blog post, it sort of boils down to the imagination and audience interpretation, but I guess for us we never really self-insert into characters that we don't create. We let the game tell us who these characters are; it's not like there has to be a dialogue to give you an idea of who a person is or how they act. I thought the episode of Extra Credits Kerreth linked to hit the nail on the head about Samus, for instance.

Also, another example of the silent mime that I feel is conveyed well is Crono. His sprite animations go a long way in telling us who he is. The other is when the characters who DO speak interact with him, such as when he is rescued by Marle. Witnessing the scene; the stunned and confused look on his face as Marle's emotions catch up to her as she embraces him make the scene feel so very real and palpable. It equates to one of the most powerful and memorable moments in gaming to me and I feel that you can have silent characters but there needs to be at least a hint of who they are throughout the game.

Or let us create our own characters! I love making my own characters through a creation engine and defining their personality, motives and backstory though imaginations. I will often reflect that in how I build their stats, skills and even what they will and won't do in game, which is always fun.

[Adol The Red]

It's funny there was a mention of silent characters and I didn't even bring up Adol Christin from Ys. He never talks on screen (except once). At most the narrator tells you "Adol introduced himself," or something like that. You get to know him based soley on his actions and the way people react to him. In Ys 6 there is a point when you get to choose an answer for a question, but since it's a little girl asking and one answer is bound to make her happy the choice is kind of obvious. Of course, to me he wouldn't have said anything different. He pretty much has an unquenchible thirst for adventure, and is recklessly brave. He wants to see what's there to see, and woe to whatever insanely powerful monster gets in the way. He will also run off to help people immediately. Or at least, that's how I play him and how I see him. The music plays another role. For instance, there's a point in Ys 2 where something terrible happens. This is in a smaller portion of the Shrine of Solomon that has its own song. When you get back into the regular part of the shrine the song has changed to something much faster, and is perfect for that feeling of wanting to tear apart every monster you see. This is perfect for the player, but I think it also helps convey how Adol is feeling at that moment.

They do their best to leave him sort of blank, but they can't help making him heroic. There's just something about the way he handles whatever is in front of him that appeals to me. I don't think he's even really trying to be a hero, he just wants to see what it's all about. Yet he constantly gets caught up in struggles very few could handle. Reading Bear's post, it makes me think of how much I've come to know about this character who is often portrayed as not much more than an avatar.

On a side note, there's sort of a thing in the games about all the girls he meets pretty much falling for him, but Adol is ever on the move and he's never shown to really think much about it. I've always found it interesting, though, that on his very first adventure he met Feena, and the only word I've ever seen him speak is her name just after they part ways. It makes me wonder if he ignores the others because he's caught up in her. Just a musing.

Also, in the first version of Ys 3 I guess he talked up a storm, but I believe another developer was in charge of that game, not sure. In the remake they put him back to silent, and I believe he's been silent in every other game.