Who is your MC?

General
21

*nods* I admit I have trouble being evil myself. My most villanous character in a CoG game was in Choice of romance (the second time I tried it). He was a cold and cunning villain who wanted to be king simply because he was bored and though it would be fun to have money and power. He was perfect up until the moment one of his schemes actually killed someone. (The previous king) Then he collapsed like the sponge he was and spent the other two thirds of the story trying to atone for his crime. He did that by working to protect the throne for the (now fatherless) princess while trying to keep his own family safe at the same time. Of course circumstances forced him to kill both the princess’s aunt and mother as well so my smooth criminal ended up turning into a sad sack of self loathing jello by the stories end.

And thats the last time I tried to be a bad guy…

Obviously we need mara and specter to give us lessons on how to be more villanous. Shall we start with the evil laugh?

22

MWUAHAHAHA *cough, choke, cough* …

23

Hehehehehe mweh *twirls end of villainous mustache between fingers*

24

I actually have a few.

Morigana Ito for the Hero Rise series. I’d like the picture her as inexperienced but still willing to fulfill her family’s legacy.
Arturo Ortiga for Sabers. A man of honour and intelligence, he’s the archetype of a knight.
Lin Daiyu for Tin Star. A celestial who’s mother forced her to become a “Doctor-Lawyer,” she grew bored and got caught up in rough events that sent her out east. Known for being able to headshot an outlaw at range with either rifle or pistol, it was also said she could charm a safe to open. Last seen heading south to visit a certain Countessa.

And then there’s my default MC, which I’ve used for Zombies, Deathless, Slammed and basically everything else: Amelia Black.

Brave, fearless, she’s always willing to talk to people first but will fight back if provoked. I’d class her as Neutral Good, not traditionally sticking to laws like Paladins but just willing to help people in her own way, she’s a natural protagonist for me.

I almost never stray to evil either. Don’t support the legion is New Vegas, never kill when given the chance in Dishonored and Bioshock 2 and I generally play a good two shoes in games like KOTOR, Walking Dead and Dragon Age.

Why?

Because when I play these games, in their dark, depressing worlds, I want to be that one spark of hope. A candle that could survive unlit in shadow, but I chose to light myself against an uncaring wind that could easily snuff me out. Call me naive, call me over moralistic but I believe that when given the chance to kill, to have all this power at my disposal, it’s harder to stay my hand than it is to pull the trigger.

That and I just like helping people. It’s in my nature. Some see mortality as a chain, but I see it as a path, one I gladly walk down.

“For you, Mercy was Victory. Always.” Eleanor Lamb. A quote I always carry around with me.

25

Hmm. Good question! :smiley:

I have lots of answers. :stuck_out_tongue:

The list of my MCs:

  1. Female, witty, outspoken, charming , sometimes a b***h- mostly ‘myself’ version, unless I have to do something else to get my favorite romance option ^^ I go for the name Cersei, mostly. ^^

  2. Male, kind-hearted, somewhat fearful, jolly, talkative - usually named Gareth xD Usually the one who forgives all the bad guys and gets royally…tricked by lots of people. Sometimes I play him straight, sometimes bi.

  3. Male, an asshole(there’s no other way of putting it), relies heavily on physical prowess, short-tempered, usually the one to throw a first punch and never the one to omit spitting a ‘go to hell’ or ‘fuck you’ at the dangerous guys :stuck_out_tongue: . Or lead an outright charge rather than bother with strategy.

He usually falls head over heels over some girl and is like a puppy at her feet by the end, though. I play him as capable - and only an idiot towards everyone because he thinks it’s what has to be done to survive. He always has some hidden trauma in his past and doesn’t really like all the violence as much as he lets on. Obviously, this is my favorite. I usually name him Dwayne or Adam. If he can be a soldier or a merc, I pick that option.

26

Oh, and I always just use my real name xD otherwise whenever my “in game” name is mentioned, I’m like, “Who? What? Oh, right…!”

27

I don’t play as myself, even though I can’t escape from the things I believe in, my values.

Every gamebook offers a character, which I accept as a MC and my assumption is that I play with him / her and I only make decisions on their behalf.

28

I tend to play the ruthless character who acts like the nice guy to everyone. Because I’m a bastard like that :smiley:

29

My primary concern in any type of game is scoring with as many people as possible. :stuck_out_tongue:
So any game that allows multiple partners at the same time gets a headstart on my like-meter. I usually tend to gravitate towards neutrality. Getting advantages where I can do so, if it doesn’t compromise my innermost morals. So yeah, very much like myself.

I’m always nice to animals. For instance, that scene in Mobile Armored Marine when you meet the dog, I just couldn’t play that any other way, I always take the puppy with me. But I’m also ruthless when it comes to betrayal and sworn enemies, in Heroes Project, taking out the Victons is my primary goal. As I couldn’t seem to juggle Black Magic and Lucky, nor convert Jenny. :((

As for my own little so far unnamed project, I try to keep that with me. That there should be no real dead ends or yardsticks hitting your fingers. If your skills are high enough you can get away with murder and non will be the wiser, and of course gather up a big harem who won’t get *too* jealous. :smiley:

30

I like to replay games and explore different pathways and stats, therefore I have a lot of MC’s, I’ve played my fovorite games with dozens of different MCs.

When playing for the first time, I usually select the top choices, just to see how it develops, sometimes I use a variation like taking the second or the last choice or alternating first and last etc.

After exploring the game with a couple of such MCs, I play it with an “avatar” MC, whose abilities and personality are as close to mine as the game allows. Sometimes, if I come around difficult choices, I replay the game with the “Avatar” trying out the various outcome sof these choices.

After having explored the game, I start creating “real” MCs, who are realistic inhabitants of the gameworld. I like the process of creating them and leading them through the game, making chocies that reflect their personality.

Sometimes I “reuse” certain MCs in various games, but I’ve noted that depending on the game, their “life” and outcome is completely differnt, and for some MC’s, it’s almost impossible to recreate them in other games.

31

This thread is interesting. I am amazed to see all the ways to play, some of them are “alien” to me but it is refreshing to think about all this.

@CitizenShawn “I think the challenging part is finding interesting ways to be “bad,” and not calling it “evil,” either. You can be totally anarchistic but be charitable, perhaps; don’t make the readers feel like they’re forced to made bad decisions every single time.” Oh my, this is so true!

@P0RT3R How? :stuck_out_tongue:

@From_Beginnings It was a nice try! No really, I liked this development of the MC.

@Samuel_H_Young How can you use your name? I have tried and it always feels wrong. I must be too self-conscious. ^^

Well, I guess there is an “idealistic” MC that comes around at least once in every game I play. Kind of the sort of character I would like to be in the given settings, even if I know there is no way I could survive half the things he/she is going through. As an example: a thief with high dexterity and cunning, able to convince everyone of everything and steal wondruous treasures in the blink of the eye. I don’t really care for the morality status because the Good/Evil conflict is lacking something for me (“What is normal for the spider is chaos for the fly”), and the Compassionate/Ruthless often leads to the same result. But as the main goal of this character is to never fail a quest, and most of the games I play tend to reward the “correct” choices, to do “the right things”. Yeah, I play a facking Mary Sue first. Always.
Then I begin to explore the story. I like to see every single thing in a game so I try to achieve this by creating coherent characters and let them live (this part is similar in many ways with some of @WulfyK’s post).

32

I don’t usually play as myself, but as what I’d want to be in said game. Such as in ZE I played the gun wielding hero who saves the day. But then I play as the Evil, friend abandoning , enemy torturing, animal abusing, zombie slaying, baby throwing, sarcastic, mother fu… well you get the point

33

Well, I play evil, but not psycho killer, many people mistake evils with a crazy easy gun without style brute force dudes. I hate that X(
I like subtlety, persuasion using lies carefully. Look your profit and try no one catch you … Betray bqckstab and poison break npcs hearts while whispering about a fake love and play your lute. Thats is a good Mara character.

34

Which MC was that?

35

I’m kind of surprised by how many people think of the protagonist in CoG games as being an avatar of themselves. I guess I have a lot of trouble imagining myself in the situations any fantasy or sci-fi protagonist gets into :wink:

I used to play a lot of parser-based interactive fiction, which encompasses lots of games that have done interesting things with the relationship between the player and MC. So I usually just roll with how much the game wants me to participate in characterizing the MC - whether that means filling in pretty much all of their personality in my own head or playing a well-defined character whose personality I just get to nudge a little in one direction or another.

Either way, I don’t think of the MC as being an extension of myself, although I do like to be able to sympathize with them. More like a collaborative effort between myself and the game’s author, I guess.

36

@aetheria and I’m surprised how many use only a few MCs.

37

@WulfyK A lot of people actually don’t replay these games like others. it surprised me to hear that considering how I replay even more linear CoG games but if this page has proven anything it is that there are a lot of different ways to play a CoG.

By the way, how many MCs do you usually use?

38

Well, I replay them a lot, but others Mc normally didn’t feel real. In the sense I don’t roleplay with them as I do with Mara and being sincere I get bored so easily playing goody goody that never end that plays

39

@From_Beginnings it hugely depends on the game, how many stats there are and how customizable the MC is. The game with most MCs that I have played is Choice of the Vampires with many dozens of differnt MCs and I’m sure I’ll create more, I think I create 10-20 MCs for an average game.

40

@poison_mara Psycho killer doesn’t refer to the methods used. It is just a reference to the actions taken. Someone who actively enjoys harming and killing other human beings is still a pscyhotic killer whether they run around with a gun, or carefully select their victims serial killer style. Your method is actually more evil mathematically speaking, since it makes you less likely to be discovered, which would allow people to try to stop you. Instead you remain hidden and are able to cause more evil overall. It also makes your victims suffer more before they die.