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mark_asphodelTurns out the Gen 2 girls are kinda difficult to rate, so let's detour through Gen 1.
Not all of them mind. Just some highlights.
Same rules as before.
Yer Lord:
The FE4 script gives us enough of an impression of Sigurd's inner life to let us know this guy is a good-hearted dim bulb. When he takes the initiative, it's usually a bad idea. When he goes into reactive mode, his reactions are usually wrong. The only thing that gets his army out of Chapter 3 in one piece is the offer of rescue from Queen Rahna-- and, surprisingly, Sigurd seems at his best in the following chapter while fighting on her behalf. But in Silesse, Rahna is Good People and the people against her are Bad People. It's simple. It's black and white, where the rest of the continent isn't. There is no room for ambiguity and complexity in Sigurd's world. Unintended consequences don't exist... until oops, they happen. Right will prevail... until it doesn't. People can be trusted right up until they murder everyone dear to you. And so on.
Verdict: Actually, his inner life seems clear enough. It's just not a particularly interesting place. If Sigurd had a richer inner life he might not've ended up so dramatically dead.
Clear Inner Life:
Lewyn:
Can we agree Lewyn has the best writing of any of the Gen1 playables? He has an actual, fully realized character arc that makes sense and feels plausible. Gen2 Lewyn is essentially static-- he's already transformed to the extent that he must, and except for maybe a stray tear over Tiltyu, he's not developing beyond what we already see. All the development is right there in Gen1, onscreen, as Lewyn goes from the kid who's running away from his responsibilities because he's afraid and the matured Forseti user who's decided to embrace his destiny.
Verdict: We've got the pieces to put together what's going on in Lewyn's head right up 'til Bad Shit comes down. Loves, hates, fears, uncertainties, and so on.
I'd also be inclined to put Quan&Ethlyn and maybe Azel into this category. With Q&E I think we have enough on them to see exactly WHY they ended up as they did, and in Azel's case I think the handful of conversations we get out of him communicate things well enough. And actually... Sylvia's not so bad once you get past the mistranslations.
Less Clear Inner Life:
Aideen: For the chick at the center of the action, there's a lot that doesn't make sense. Why did she think becoming a nun would lead her to Briggid? Has she really been carting around the Yewfelle for years? Does she really not let Midir just call her "Aideen" until well after they've married? How much does she really believe in her god(s)-- Claude sure seems more hardcore than she is. How does she feel about the utter ruin of her family? Skipping ahead to Gen 2, what's it like bringing up all those damn kids? Why does the script indicate she didn't even tell the kids their own father's name? (And I don't mean Lester's throwaway reference, I mean Lana's wtf conversation with Finn.)
Verdict: Aideen gives the impression that there's a lot beneath the surface of idealized pure loveliness. But maybe there isn't.
Other cases where the pieces aren't all quite there include Jamke, Claude, Briggid, and Ayra. From the other various authorized sources about Raquesis we can see that we're not getting a fully-realized picture of her in-game, either. Hell, one of the big takeaways about Raquie in Chapter 5 seems to be that she likes shota bait. :/
Gimmicky:
Dew's kinda cute, actually. Sucks for me as a unit every time, but his personality grew on me, there seem to be some hints of... something... in Chapter 5. But, basically, he's wise-cracking shota bait (see above).
Verdict: Fun to write, not very deep.
Other walking gimmicks include Arden. We can thank him for FE13's Kellam.Fuck.
Those Two Guys:
I already talked at length about Beowulf and Holyn, the guys who exist purely to make with Raquesis and Ayra and have next to zero relevance in the story. Of the two, Beowulf appears to be the deeper character. The designers certainly thought so!
Cipher:
Midayle: Let me quote fromsolmedes . "The way I see it, Midir's entire existence in-game and in-plot is wrapped so completely around Aideen that giving him anything beyond OH LADY AIDEEN~ automatically makes him headcanon instead of base canon."
Verdict: Cruel but fair, man.
Other offenders in this include Our Lady, Deirdre, whose inner life is... hell, you've got me. She loves Sigurd but not enough to take his concern for her well-being seriously. Whatever. What else is there to her besides one nice little scene with Ethlyn?
The Time-Skip Kiddies:
With Shanan, Oifaye, and Finn, we're intentionally only getting half the story. Shanan gets some real growth, or at least he fucks up bad and is sorry about it and then steps up to responsibility in Chapter 5. Oifaye has no development whatsoever until that same scene in Chapter 5. He's just there. And Finn actually has the first half of a development arc sketched out pretty well, especially when you take into account that the game bothers to remind us repeatedly about his offscreen exploits commanding half an army or some shit like that. From the Prologue to Chapter 5, he really did grow up... and then we get the actual payoff to his storyline come Chapter 9. Not bad.
Next time, we'll actually tackle the Gen 2 ladies.
Not all of them mind. Just some highlights.
Same rules as before.
Yer Lord:
The FE4 script gives us enough of an impression of Sigurd's inner life to let us know this guy is a good-hearted dim bulb. When he takes the initiative, it's usually a bad idea. When he goes into reactive mode, his reactions are usually wrong. The only thing that gets his army out of Chapter 3 in one piece is the offer of rescue from Queen Rahna-- and, surprisingly, Sigurd seems at his best in the following chapter while fighting on her behalf. But in Silesse, Rahna is Good People and the people against her are Bad People. It's simple. It's black and white, where the rest of the continent isn't. There is no room for ambiguity and complexity in Sigurd's world. Unintended consequences don't exist... until oops, they happen. Right will prevail... until it doesn't. People can be trusted right up until they murder everyone dear to you. And so on.
Verdict: Actually, his inner life seems clear enough. It's just not a particularly interesting place. If Sigurd had a richer inner life he might not've ended up so dramatically dead.
Clear Inner Life:
Lewyn:
Can we agree Lewyn has the best writing of any of the Gen1 playables? He has an actual, fully realized character arc that makes sense and feels plausible. Gen2 Lewyn is essentially static-- he's already transformed to the extent that he must, and except for maybe a stray tear over Tiltyu, he's not developing beyond what we already see. All the development is right there in Gen1, onscreen, as Lewyn goes from the kid who's running away from his responsibilities because he's afraid and the matured Forseti user who's decided to embrace his destiny.
Verdict: We've got the pieces to put together what's going on in Lewyn's head right up 'til Bad Shit comes down. Loves, hates, fears, uncertainties, and so on.
I'd also be inclined to put Quan&Ethlyn and maybe Azel into this category. With Q&E I think we have enough on them to see exactly WHY they ended up as they did, and in Azel's case I think the handful of conversations we get out of him communicate things well enough. And actually... Sylvia's not so bad once you get past the mistranslations.
Less Clear Inner Life:
Aideen: For the chick at the center of the action, there's a lot that doesn't make sense. Why did she think becoming a nun would lead her to Briggid? Has she really been carting around the Yewfelle for years? Does she really not let Midir just call her "Aideen" until well after they've married? How much does she really believe in her god(s)-- Claude sure seems more hardcore than she is. How does she feel about the utter ruin of her family? Skipping ahead to Gen 2, what's it like bringing up all those damn kids? Why does the script indicate she didn't even tell the kids their own father's name? (And I don't mean Lester's throwaway reference, I mean Lana's wtf conversation with Finn.)
Verdict: Aideen gives the impression that there's a lot beneath the surface of idealized pure loveliness. But maybe there isn't.
Other cases where the pieces aren't all quite there include Jamke, Claude, Briggid, and Ayra. From the other various authorized sources about Raquesis we can see that we're not getting a fully-realized picture of her in-game, either. Hell, one of the big takeaways about Raquie in Chapter 5 seems to be that she likes shota bait. :/
Gimmicky:
Dew's kinda cute, actually. Sucks for me as a unit every time, but his personality grew on me, there seem to be some hints of... something... in Chapter 5. But, basically, he's wise-cracking shota bait (see above).
Verdict: Fun to write, not very deep.
Other walking gimmicks include Arden. We can thank him for FE13's Kellam.
Those Two Guys:
I already talked at length about Beowulf and Holyn, the guys who exist purely to make with Raquesis and Ayra and have next to zero relevance in the story. Of the two, Beowulf appears to be the deeper character. The designers certainly thought so!
Cipher:
Midayle: Let me quote from
solmedes . "The way I see it, Midir's entire existence in-game and in-plot is wrapped so completely around Aideen that giving him anything beyond OH LADY AIDEEN~ automatically makes him headcanon instead of base canon." Verdict: Cruel but fair, man.
Other offenders in this include Our Lady, Deirdre, whose inner life is... hell, you've got me. She loves Sigurd but not enough to take his concern for her well-being seriously. Whatever. What else is there to her besides one nice little scene with Ethlyn?
The Time-Skip Kiddies:
With Shanan, Oifaye, and Finn, we're intentionally only getting half the story. Shanan gets some real growth, or at least he fucks up bad and is sorry about it and then steps up to responsibility in Chapter 5. Oifaye has no development whatsoever until that same scene in Chapter 5. He's just there. And Finn actually has the first half of a development arc sketched out pretty well, especially when you take into account that the game bothers to remind us repeatedly about his offscreen exploits commanding half an army or some shit like that. From the Prologue to Chapter 5, he really did grow up... and then we get the actual payoff to his storyline come Chapter 9. Not bad.
Next time, we'll actually tackle the Gen 2 ladies.
