Post by George Darling on Jan 1, 2009 14:26:05 GMT -8
No matter how you look at it, all forms of story telling and entertainment forms are frequently plagued by stereotypes. Animation, video games, books, comic books, movies, you name it; all of these are just riddled with clichés and stock characters. So you’re introduced to a dark-clad figure with ominous, glowing eyes – think he’s the hero of the story? How about the clean-cut, pretty-boy wielding a sword… could he be the villain? And how about those accursed clone characters… think they could be another hero? Well, most likely you’ve got yourself the villain, the hero and the angsty anti-hero (or just another villain villain) mirror image of one of the heroes.
But it’s not always like this. Sometimes character concepts go above and beyond to avoid shameless stereotypes and the writers introduce us to a character we wouldn’t normally expect. In a world where you can tell the hero or villain just by looking at them 9 out of 10 times, it makes that rare mold-breaker of a character all the more satisfying. In this article, I’ll aim to shed the light on the heroes and villains who dared to stray from the path of stock to carve a path less tread.
Get ready, because this is Collin’s:
#10 – Marx (Kirby Super Star – Milky Way Wishes)
For what little Kirby games have in the way of a story or plot, players really got a curve ball tossed there way when it came to Milky Way Wishes, a sub-game within the game ‘Kirby Super Star’ for the SNES. Sadly, a lot of the shock value for this character was lost mainly because his intro was so easily missed. The game plot intro, which marks his initial appearance, can only be seen if you allow the game to idle at the title screen for a few seconds. If you don’t do this, you won’t see Marx until the very end.
The Sun and the Moon are fighting, and cute little Marx with his big, expressive eyes, hopping from foot-to-foot on a ball, suggests to Kirby that he should collect astral power from surrounding planets to awaken the comet, Nova, whom can apparently grant wishes.
Seriously, if you looked at that adorable little blob with his jester hat and saw last-boss material then you would be… right. The entire ordeal was all a scheme to get Kirby to awaken Nova for him, at which time Marx takes the wish for himself (to conquer the world… of course…). Brimming with newfound power from his wish he then transformed into a form more suitable for a final conflict, and the rest is history.
#09 – Mario (Super Mario Bros.)
While Mario may raise a few eyebrows to have made this list, the fact of the matter is that to most he seems ‘normal’ merely because he’s so well-known in pop-culture. When you analyze him, however, you’ll find that he’s a fairly odd character.
Ditching the old stereotype of a ‘pretty-boy’ character, Mario seems anything but. He’s short, overweight, has a bulbous nose and a thick mustache that I can’t imagine was ever in style… anywhere. And, to top it all off, he wears a pair of denim overalls and his trademark hat with an ‘M’ stitched into it, making him look even more unique.
Apparently his profession is a plumber, though there isn’t a whole lot of in-game evidence to support this. Yes, he goes up and down pipes, but he also swims – does that make him a diver? He gets invincibility from Starman – does that make him an astrologist? My theory is that the Super Mario Bros. Super Show started the trend that he and his brother were plumbers, and it just stuck. His initial game, Donkey Kong, makes it seem more likely that he was originally a construction worker, as further endorsed by ‘Wrecking Crew’. But no matter which profession you side with, it only helps to further set him apart as a unique hero.
The reason Mario didn’t rank higher on this list is because, while his appearance and profession are quite unique, his position is pure stock. Defeating monsters and fire-breathing reptilians and rescuing the Princess is about as cliché as it gets.
#08 – Magus (Chrono Trigger)
Magus is truly an interesting character partly because the developers actually try and trick you with him. From the offset, the buildup before finally meeting Magus would have most anyone thinking he was the epitome of a stock villain.
He’s a dark sorcerer of the middle ages with immense magical power leading an army of monsters and demihumans to world conquest. Oh, sure – we haven’t all seen like 30+ characters like that before, right? The heroes grow convinced that Magus was the dark evil-doer responsible for summoning the game’s true antagonist, Lavos, who would appear hundreds of years later to turn the earth into a post-apocalyptic wasteland.
Upon meeting Magus for the first time, you’re in for quite a surprise. And the surprises continue to unravel as more insight into the character is revealed.
Magus, in fact, is quite opposed to Lavos – in fact, he wasn’t trying to awaken him, he was trying to keep him sleeping. Magus (born a regular, non-Fiendlord, boy by the name of Janus) was actually the prince of a magically-inclined, and soon to be lost, civilization where the queen (his mother) desired the power she imagined Lavos could grant her. Having awoken the alien deity, Lavos cast most everyone present (including Janus) into the stream of time, where they became lost in time. Janus wound up hundreds of years into the future, in the year 600 AD, where he was discovered and raised by demihumans as their messiah whom they felt would usher in a new world for them, thus growing up and becoming the Fiendlord known as Magus.
Magus isn’t particularly interested in conquering the world, and is only really interested in two things: finding his older sister, whom was also lost in time, and getting his revenge on Lavos, even if that means aiding the heroes to meet his own ends. For an antagonist to not only not be affiliated with the main villain, but to outright despise them even more than the heroes, was pretty uncommon in RPGs back when this game was first released. And the initially seemingly shallow character ‘Magus’ would surprise players everywhere as his fleshed-out background and motivation would reveal him to be probably one of the deepest and most memorable characters in the game.
Fooling audiences into thinking you’re a stock character only to pull a 180° and show that you have more depth than anyone gave you credit for? Bold, Magus. Touché.
#07 – Frog (Chrono Trigger)
Frog: an anthropomorphic, well… frog… knight hailing from the year 600 AD. In most any video game or animation known to man, such a character would serve one purpose: comic relief. It goes against all that is stereotyped to have a silly-looking animal buddy for any other purpose. But, as with Magus, the developers are out to fool you yet again.
Glenn was a young squire whose mentor was the legendary knight, Cyrus. Cyrus and Glenn challenged Magus (yup, the same guy mentioned earlier on) in an effort to thwart his impending war. Cyrus was killed by Magus in the confrontation which followed, but Magus had more devious plans for young Glenn. Using his magic, he transformed Glenn into a deformed, anthropomorphic frog and cast him off of a cliff and into the river below. An unconscious Glenn later awoke in his new form having washed ashore, and alongside him washed Cyrus’ Hero’s Medal – a reminder of the mentor and inspiration he had just watched die before his eyes.
Still feel like laughing?
As if this back-story wasn’t enough, it should be noted that Frog (it’s actually Lucca who dubs him this nickname… how ‘thoughtful’ of her – though luckily you, the player, can name him whatever you wish via a name entry option) really isn’t a very funny character at all. Though he is involved in a few jokes throughout the game and has one decidedly humorous victory pose, he’s rarely the comedian of the group. In fact, he’s moody, overly duty-bound, chivalrous and determined to avenge Cyrus. Furthermore, it’s implied that he admires a certain female monarch as more than just his royal overseer, as further confirmed by one of the game’s alternate endings.
Frog – silly name, silly appearance, yet the second most serious character in the game, second to Magus. He doesn’t tell jokes and he doesn’t get into awkward mishaps. He’s just a disgraced knight trying to avenge his friend and regain his dignity.
Not so funny, is he?
#06 – Quasimodo (Disney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame)
Quasimodo is an interesting character, indeed. He is frequently shelved into the same group as ‘B’ horror monsters such as the Phantom of the Opera or Frankenstein. And in some versions of the Hunchback of Notre Dame, he can be a bit ‘rowdy.’ But Disney’s version of him just has him as a stand-up guy who also, thankfully, retains his hearing.
In Disney’s version of this classic tale Quasimodo is a kind-hearted youth who just goes to show you that it’s what’s on the inside that counts. While the movie’s ending didn’t leave much happiness for Quasimodo aside from being accepted by the villagers, his acceptance of the love between his prospective crush and newfound friend seemed to insinuate that he had finally accepted that he was just too ugly to ever find any woman in her right mind who would love him for what’s on the inside.
Wait, what terrible closure!
Nevertheless, Quasi reassured audiences that it isn’t outward appearances that make someone a monster – it’s what’s in their heart – or, rather, what’s lacking there – which makes a true monster, earning our hunch-backed friend his rightful position on this list.
#05 – The Mad Hatter (Batman: The Animated Series)
Batman: The Animated Series is, in my opinion, one of the greatest animated series ever made. You wouldn’t find any Saturday morning cut-corners here – only well thought-out plots and surprisingly dark overtones considering it was a program aimed toward a young audience.
The Mad Hatter stands out as one of the more unique villains (though Clayface and Mr. Freeze were good candidates for this position) in the series. His motivation isn’t money, power or any of the other stereotypes associated with villains. He was just a normal (albeit eccentric) man who was kicked around until he snapped, and decided to kick back.
Jervis’ case is a sad one, making him a sympathetic villain. All he ever wanted was to be happy with the woman he loved, but poor Jervis’ lot foretold that that wasn’t in the cards for him. I think we’ve all, at one point, wondered what we would do if life’s constant let-downs and sucker punches caused us to reach a breaking point. Poor Jervis got his answer.
#04 – High Confessor Marcel Funebris (Final Fantasy Tactics (War of the Lions))
Minister Frollo of Disney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame was gunning for this slot, but when I considered it, Marcel Funebris, though not as well-known a character as Frollo, had the wicked Christian beat in the long run.
Final Fantasy Tactics, originally released for the Sony Playstation, is well-known among RPGers as being one of the most controversial RPGs ever conceived – especially for the time. Though outwardly the story and setting seem like your run-of-the-mill Final Fantasy adventure, it is brimming with controversial plots involving dirty politics, the corruption of organized religion, murder, treachery, rape, questioning the existence of God and a plethora of other disturbing and taboo topics all rolled into one of the most bold and daring tales ever spun by a video game.
How then would it surprise anyone as to how High Confessor Marcel, the game world’s equivalent to the Pope, is one of the primary antagonists? For a character that had very little screen time, only appearing in a small trace of cut-scenes, you’d be surprised just how blood-soaked this holy man’s hands really are. Playing as the puppeteer behind the War of the Lions, it was his scheming which set the war afoot – his ultimate goal? To cause so much bloodshed and strife that the people would rebuke the Crown and place their faith back into the Church of Glabados, elevating the church to the most supreme power in all of Ivalice – more powerful even than the Crown.
Frollo burned innocent people alive – but Marcel fueled a heated war which cost the lives of tens-of-thousands of people, not merely soldiers, but innocents, as well. And, unlike Frollo, Marcel knew what he was doing was for the sake of evil and that the church’s fundamentals were a fraud, and he chose that path, anyway.
When you think of a priest character, a kind, soft-hearted character comes to mind. Marcel showed all of us that priests are no different than anyone else. Like all people, they have the potential to become corrupt and wicked… all while praising the teachings of a higher power. What a dick…
#03 – Luther Lansfeld (Star Ocean: Till the End of Time)
Imagine if Kirby’s final boss was none other than Sakurai – or if Link had to go toe-to-toe with Miyamoto. While these situations seem laughable and improbable, that’s the general idea behind Star Ocean’s final boss: Luther the Creator.
While Luther isn’t an actual staff member who worked on Star Ocean 3 (Till the End of Time in the US), within the game world itself he is a game developer and leader of a software company who helped develop a MMORPG with the most advanced AI program ever implemented. When said AI became so advanced that the game characters began to unravel the mysteries of the programming which comprised the universe they existed in, as well as discovering information about the real world, Luther saw it as a flawed glitch in the programming, and decided to delete the game universe from the inside out.
Knowing of the existence of the ‘real world’ (known within the game as Four-Dimensional Space, like if a 2-D character discovered our world, 3-D space), a group of scientists within the game genetically engineered three people to counter the impending doom – someone who could connect the 3-D and 4-D universes, someone who could allow 3-D characters to exist within 4-D space and someone who had enough power to actually defend them all and fight back, if necessary.
By infiltrating the software company, the heroes find Luther is controlling the anti-virus programs destroying their universe from within the game itself, and they set-out to defeat him. So is Luther’s final dungeon a castle? A fortress? A military stronghold? Perish the thought. Luther protects himself within cyberspace, protected by a firewall to keep digital intruders out. With the help of another game programmer who sympathizes with their situation, the heroes manage to gain access to Luther, and defeat him (at least within the game world, though what happens to his physical body is up in the air even after the ending cut-scenes).
What made Luther such a unique antagonist was that he wasn’t a God, he wasn’t magical and he couldn’t even fight or command armies of warriors who could. He was simply a normal human being, like anyone else, who happened to have complete and utter control over the world in which the protagonists inhabited.
How often is a video game programmer a primary antagonist? I can only count one: and it’s Luther Lansfeld.
#02 – Gaston (Disney’s Beauty and the Beast)
If ever there was a true role-reversal of an antagonist, it’s Gaston, from Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. He’s handsome, strong and everyone loves him – everyone except for Belle, that is, who sees him for the cretin he truly is. The interesting aspect about Gaston is that, to almost everyone within the film, he is the hero. It’s really only the protagonists who know better.
That Gaston will go to such extreme and low depths to try and get what he wants makes him quite the despicable villain. He doesn’t have superpowers or table manners, but he proves to be manipulative and surprisingly resourceful despite his lack of overall intelligence, being a ‘muscle-headed’ sort of guy.
He’s willing to institutionalize an innocent old man, place countless villagers in harm’s way and murder an innocent Beast just to get what he wants. And, best of all, he looks so good while doing all of these misdeeds.
Gaston – bitch-slapping the image of folks like Prince Charming and Phillip and proving that being a popular pretty boy can often go to your head.
#01 – Popeye (Popeye the Sailor Man)
Who better to secure the number one spot than one of the oldest and most renowned of mold-breakers. Popeye truly is a one-of-a-kind protagonist, and you’d be hard-pressed to find any suitable comparison whom wasn’t in some way inspired by him to begin with.
For a hero, Popeye is quite possibly the most hideous protagonist conceived. He has a huge chin and nose, a gimp eye, disturbingly beefy forearms, is bald, is toothless and has a voice which sounds like he smokes tobacco constantly… which he does!
Popeye is a rather unpleasant character to behold, and yet he’s such a lovable character that who can honestly look away? He’s iconic even today despite the fact that his heyday has been over for longer than even the current age of the author writing this article (me). And why not? He’s a genuinely good character who starred in genuinely good animated shorts and comics which stand the test of time and remain entertaining even after over 70 years.
Popeye the Sailor Man; so hideous, and yet at the same time, so lovable. And my number one pick for a mold-breaker character.
You may not agree with this list; after all, it’s built upon the opinion of one individual. But whether you agree with some of my picks, all of them, or none of them at all, hopefully you enjoyed reading this article. It wasn’t easy narrowing it down to ten choices, and I just know that as soon as I make this article available to the public someone else I could have added to the list will come to mind. But it is fun to give credit where credit is due.
The fact that this list contains characters which are over 70 years old, as well as characters less than five years old, should go to show that creativity does still exist out there. Among a sea of character clones you’ve seen in countless tales before, it’s always nice to encounter a character that is not easily compared to any other character.
But it’s not always like this. Sometimes character concepts go above and beyond to avoid shameless stereotypes and the writers introduce us to a character we wouldn’t normally expect. In a world where you can tell the hero or villain just by looking at them 9 out of 10 times, it makes that rare mold-breaker of a character all the more satisfying. In this article, I’ll aim to shed the light on the heroes and villains who dared to stray from the path of stock to carve a path less tread.
Get ready, because this is Collin’s:
Top Ten Mold-Breaker Characters of Animation and Video Games
#10 – Marx (Kirby Super Star – Milky Way Wishes)
For what little Kirby games have in the way of a story or plot, players really got a curve ball tossed there way when it came to Milky Way Wishes, a sub-game within the game ‘Kirby Super Star’ for the SNES. Sadly, a lot of the shock value for this character was lost mainly because his intro was so easily missed. The game plot intro, which marks his initial appearance, can only be seen if you allow the game to idle at the title screen for a few seconds. If you don’t do this, you won’t see Marx until the very end.
The Sun and the Moon are fighting, and cute little Marx with his big, expressive eyes, hopping from foot-to-foot on a ball, suggests to Kirby that he should collect astral power from surrounding planets to awaken the comet, Nova, whom can apparently grant wishes.
Seriously, if you looked at that adorable little blob with his jester hat and saw last-boss material then you would be… right. The entire ordeal was all a scheme to get Kirby to awaken Nova for him, at which time Marx takes the wish for himself (to conquer the world… of course…). Brimming with newfound power from his wish he then transformed into a form more suitable for a final conflict, and the rest is history.
#09 – Mario (Super Mario Bros.)
While Mario may raise a few eyebrows to have made this list, the fact of the matter is that to most he seems ‘normal’ merely because he’s so well-known in pop-culture. When you analyze him, however, you’ll find that he’s a fairly odd character.
Ditching the old stereotype of a ‘pretty-boy’ character, Mario seems anything but. He’s short, overweight, has a bulbous nose and a thick mustache that I can’t imagine was ever in style… anywhere. And, to top it all off, he wears a pair of denim overalls and his trademark hat with an ‘M’ stitched into it, making him look even more unique.
Apparently his profession is a plumber, though there isn’t a whole lot of in-game evidence to support this. Yes, he goes up and down pipes, but he also swims – does that make him a diver? He gets invincibility from Starman – does that make him an astrologist? My theory is that the Super Mario Bros. Super Show started the trend that he and his brother were plumbers, and it just stuck. His initial game, Donkey Kong, makes it seem more likely that he was originally a construction worker, as further endorsed by ‘Wrecking Crew’. But no matter which profession you side with, it only helps to further set him apart as a unique hero.
The reason Mario didn’t rank higher on this list is because, while his appearance and profession are quite unique, his position is pure stock. Defeating monsters and fire-breathing reptilians and rescuing the Princess is about as cliché as it gets.
#08 – Magus (Chrono Trigger)
Magus is truly an interesting character partly because the developers actually try and trick you with him. From the offset, the buildup before finally meeting Magus would have most anyone thinking he was the epitome of a stock villain.
He’s a dark sorcerer of the middle ages with immense magical power leading an army of monsters and demihumans to world conquest. Oh, sure – we haven’t all seen like 30+ characters like that before, right? The heroes grow convinced that Magus was the dark evil-doer responsible for summoning the game’s true antagonist, Lavos, who would appear hundreds of years later to turn the earth into a post-apocalyptic wasteland.
Upon meeting Magus for the first time, you’re in for quite a surprise. And the surprises continue to unravel as more insight into the character is revealed.
Magus, in fact, is quite opposed to Lavos – in fact, he wasn’t trying to awaken him, he was trying to keep him sleeping. Magus (born a regular, non-Fiendlord, boy by the name of Janus) was actually the prince of a magically-inclined, and soon to be lost, civilization where the queen (his mother) desired the power she imagined Lavos could grant her. Having awoken the alien deity, Lavos cast most everyone present (including Janus) into the stream of time, where they became lost in time. Janus wound up hundreds of years into the future, in the year 600 AD, where he was discovered and raised by demihumans as their messiah whom they felt would usher in a new world for them, thus growing up and becoming the Fiendlord known as Magus.
Magus isn’t particularly interested in conquering the world, and is only really interested in two things: finding his older sister, whom was also lost in time, and getting his revenge on Lavos, even if that means aiding the heroes to meet his own ends. For an antagonist to not only not be affiliated with the main villain, but to outright despise them even more than the heroes, was pretty uncommon in RPGs back when this game was first released. And the initially seemingly shallow character ‘Magus’ would surprise players everywhere as his fleshed-out background and motivation would reveal him to be probably one of the deepest and most memorable characters in the game.
Fooling audiences into thinking you’re a stock character only to pull a 180° and show that you have more depth than anyone gave you credit for? Bold, Magus. Touché.
#07 – Frog (Chrono Trigger)
Frog: an anthropomorphic, well… frog… knight hailing from the year 600 AD. In most any video game or animation known to man, such a character would serve one purpose: comic relief. It goes against all that is stereotyped to have a silly-looking animal buddy for any other purpose. But, as with Magus, the developers are out to fool you yet again.
Glenn was a young squire whose mentor was the legendary knight, Cyrus. Cyrus and Glenn challenged Magus (yup, the same guy mentioned earlier on) in an effort to thwart his impending war. Cyrus was killed by Magus in the confrontation which followed, but Magus had more devious plans for young Glenn. Using his magic, he transformed Glenn into a deformed, anthropomorphic frog and cast him off of a cliff and into the river below. An unconscious Glenn later awoke in his new form having washed ashore, and alongside him washed Cyrus’ Hero’s Medal – a reminder of the mentor and inspiration he had just watched die before his eyes.
Still feel like laughing?
As if this back-story wasn’t enough, it should be noted that Frog (it’s actually Lucca who dubs him this nickname… how ‘thoughtful’ of her – though luckily you, the player, can name him whatever you wish via a name entry option) really isn’t a very funny character at all. Though he is involved in a few jokes throughout the game and has one decidedly humorous victory pose, he’s rarely the comedian of the group. In fact, he’s moody, overly duty-bound, chivalrous and determined to avenge Cyrus. Furthermore, it’s implied that he admires a certain female monarch as more than just his royal overseer, as further confirmed by one of the game’s alternate endings.
Frog – silly name, silly appearance, yet the second most serious character in the game, second to Magus. He doesn’t tell jokes and he doesn’t get into awkward mishaps. He’s just a disgraced knight trying to avenge his friend and regain his dignity.
Not so funny, is he?
#06 – Quasimodo (Disney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame)
Quasimodo is an interesting character, indeed. He is frequently shelved into the same group as ‘B’ horror monsters such as the Phantom of the Opera or Frankenstein. And in some versions of the Hunchback of Notre Dame, he can be a bit ‘rowdy.’ But Disney’s version of him just has him as a stand-up guy who also, thankfully, retains his hearing.
In Disney’s version of this classic tale Quasimodo is a kind-hearted youth who just goes to show you that it’s what’s on the inside that counts. While the movie’s ending didn’t leave much happiness for Quasimodo aside from being accepted by the villagers, his acceptance of the love between his prospective crush and newfound friend seemed to insinuate that he had finally accepted that he was just too ugly to ever find any woman in her right mind who would love him for what’s on the inside.
Wait, what terrible closure!
Nevertheless, Quasi reassured audiences that it isn’t outward appearances that make someone a monster – it’s what’s in their heart – or, rather, what’s lacking there – which makes a true monster, earning our hunch-backed friend his rightful position on this list.
#05 – The Mad Hatter (Batman: The Animated Series)
Batman: The Animated Series is, in my opinion, one of the greatest animated series ever made. You wouldn’t find any Saturday morning cut-corners here – only well thought-out plots and surprisingly dark overtones considering it was a program aimed toward a young audience.
The Mad Hatter stands out as one of the more unique villains (though Clayface and Mr. Freeze were good candidates for this position) in the series. His motivation isn’t money, power or any of the other stereotypes associated with villains. He was just a normal (albeit eccentric) man who was kicked around until he snapped, and decided to kick back.
Jervis’ case is a sad one, making him a sympathetic villain. All he ever wanted was to be happy with the woman he loved, but poor Jervis’ lot foretold that that wasn’t in the cards for him. I think we’ve all, at one point, wondered what we would do if life’s constant let-downs and sucker punches caused us to reach a breaking point. Poor Jervis got his answer.
#04 – High Confessor Marcel Funebris (Final Fantasy Tactics (War of the Lions))
Minister Frollo of Disney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame was gunning for this slot, but when I considered it, Marcel Funebris, though not as well-known a character as Frollo, had the wicked Christian beat in the long run.
Final Fantasy Tactics, originally released for the Sony Playstation, is well-known among RPGers as being one of the most controversial RPGs ever conceived – especially for the time. Though outwardly the story and setting seem like your run-of-the-mill Final Fantasy adventure, it is brimming with controversial plots involving dirty politics, the corruption of organized religion, murder, treachery, rape, questioning the existence of God and a plethora of other disturbing and taboo topics all rolled into one of the most bold and daring tales ever spun by a video game.
How then would it surprise anyone as to how High Confessor Marcel, the game world’s equivalent to the Pope, is one of the primary antagonists? For a character that had very little screen time, only appearing in a small trace of cut-scenes, you’d be surprised just how blood-soaked this holy man’s hands really are. Playing as the puppeteer behind the War of the Lions, it was his scheming which set the war afoot – his ultimate goal? To cause so much bloodshed and strife that the people would rebuke the Crown and place their faith back into the Church of Glabados, elevating the church to the most supreme power in all of Ivalice – more powerful even than the Crown.
Frollo burned innocent people alive – but Marcel fueled a heated war which cost the lives of tens-of-thousands of people, not merely soldiers, but innocents, as well. And, unlike Frollo, Marcel knew what he was doing was for the sake of evil and that the church’s fundamentals were a fraud, and he chose that path, anyway.
When you think of a priest character, a kind, soft-hearted character comes to mind. Marcel showed all of us that priests are no different than anyone else. Like all people, they have the potential to become corrupt and wicked… all while praising the teachings of a higher power. What a dick…
#03 – Luther Lansfeld (Star Ocean: Till the End of Time)
Imagine if Kirby’s final boss was none other than Sakurai – or if Link had to go toe-to-toe with Miyamoto. While these situations seem laughable and improbable, that’s the general idea behind Star Ocean’s final boss: Luther the Creator.
While Luther isn’t an actual staff member who worked on Star Ocean 3 (Till the End of Time in the US), within the game world itself he is a game developer and leader of a software company who helped develop a MMORPG with the most advanced AI program ever implemented. When said AI became so advanced that the game characters began to unravel the mysteries of the programming which comprised the universe they existed in, as well as discovering information about the real world, Luther saw it as a flawed glitch in the programming, and decided to delete the game universe from the inside out.
Knowing of the existence of the ‘real world’ (known within the game as Four-Dimensional Space, like if a 2-D character discovered our world, 3-D space), a group of scientists within the game genetically engineered three people to counter the impending doom – someone who could connect the 3-D and 4-D universes, someone who could allow 3-D characters to exist within 4-D space and someone who had enough power to actually defend them all and fight back, if necessary.
By infiltrating the software company, the heroes find Luther is controlling the anti-virus programs destroying their universe from within the game itself, and they set-out to defeat him. So is Luther’s final dungeon a castle? A fortress? A military stronghold? Perish the thought. Luther protects himself within cyberspace, protected by a firewall to keep digital intruders out. With the help of another game programmer who sympathizes with their situation, the heroes manage to gain access to Luther, and defeat him (at least within the game world, though what happens to his physical body is up in the air even after the ending cut-scenes).
What made Luther such a unique antagonist was that he wasn’t a God, he wasn’t magical and he couldn’t even fight or command armies of warriors who could. He was simply a normal human being, like anyone else, who happened to have complete and utter control over the world in which the protagonists inhabited.
How often is a video game programmer a primary antagonist? I can only count one: and it’s Luther Lansfeld.
#02 – Gaston (Disney’s Beauty and the Beast)
If ever there was a true role-reversal of an antagonist, it’s Gaston, from Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. He’s handsome, strong and everyone loves him – everyone except for Belle, that is, who sees him for the cretin he truly is. The interesting aspect about Gaston is that, to almost everyone within the film, he is the hero. It’s really only the protagonists who know better.
That Gaston will go to such extreme and low depths to try and get what he wants makes him quite the despicable villain. He doesn’t have superpowers or table manners, but he proves to be manipulative and surprisingly resourceful despite his lack of overall intelligence, being a ‘muscle-headed’ sort of guy.
He’s willing to institutionalize an innocent old man, place countless villagers in harm’s way and murder an innocent Beast just to get what he wants. And, best of all, he looks so good while doing all of these misdeeds.
Gaston – bitch-slapping the image of folks like Prince Charming and Phillip and proving that being a popular pretty boy can often go to your head.
#01 – Popeye (Popeye the Sailor Man)
Who better to secure the number one spot than one of the oldest and most renowned of mold-breakers. Popeye truly is a one-of-a-kind protagonist, and you’d be hard-pressed to find any suitable comparison whom wasn’t in some way inspired by him to begin with.
For a hero, Popeye is quite possibly the most hideous protagonist conceived. He has a huge chin and nose, a gimp eye, disturbingly beefy forearms, is bald, is toothless and has a voice which sounds like he smokes tobacco constantly… which he does!
Popeye is a rather unpleasant character to behold, and yet he’s such a lovable character that who can honestly look away? He’s iconic even today despite the fact that his heyday has been over for longer than even the current age of the author writing this article (me). And why not? He’s a genuinely good character who starred in genuinely good animated shorts and comics which stand the test of time and remain entertaining even after over 70 years.
Popeye the Sailor Man; so hideous, and yet at the same time, so lovable. And my number one pick for a mold-breaker character.
You may not agree with this list; after all, it’s built upon the opinion of one individual. But whether you agree with some of my picks, all of them, or none of them at all, hopefully you enjoyed reading this article. It wasn’t easy narrowing it down to ten choices, and I just know that as soon as I make this article available to the public someone else I could have added to the list will come to mind. But it is fun to give credit where credit is due.
The fact that this list contains characters which are over 70 years old, as well as characters less than five years old, should go to show that creativity does still exist out there. Among a sea of character clones you’ve seen in countless tales before, it’s always nice to encounter a character that is not easily compared to any other character.
