Case Study 1 - Fairy Tail
Not a game, obviously, but I always find it useful to delve into examples from other media too.
Fairy Tail is an anime about a guild of wizards of various magic types, who take on different jobs and tasks to earn money.
Fairy Tail is one of my favourite anime, largely because of the huge cast of unique characters which appear in the show. Of course, some are somewhat stereotypical and others are just plain wacky. However this is one of the reasons I find this to be a good example, because there are characters who, by plain sight, make you think one thing about them, whereas various story arcs reveal characteristics you may or may not expect from some of the characters.
Not a game, obviously, but I always find it useful to delve into examples from other media too.
Fairy Tail is an anime about a guild of wizards of various magic types, who take on different jobs and tasks to earn money.
Fairy Tail is one of my favourite anime, largely because of the huge cast of unique characters which appear in the show. Of course, some are somewhat stereotypical and others are just plain wacky. However this is one of the reasons I find this to be a good example, because there are characters who, by plain sight, make you think one thing about them, whereas various story arcs reveal characteristics you may or may not expect from some of the characters.
In fact, there are several characters I can call upon from Fairy Tail, however I want to discuss Mirajane Strauss, the 'poster girl' of the Fairy Tail guild:
She is a very feminine, attractive character, and her clothes, body language and voice all seem to back that up. Immediately one would think of Mira as a typical girl. She is even a model for the Sorcerer Magazine, and she appears to fit that 'girly' stereotype.
*SPOILER*
And yet, as the anime goes on , you learn that she is one of the guild's five S-Class wizards (S-Class being the most powerfully classed wizards in the guild, of which there obviously only five). That, for me personally, was surprising and struck me with curiosity since it wasn't what I was expecting of her.
Then, even more surprisingly, you learn that she is known as the 'She-Devil'. What could constitute that name for a girl like Mira? Well, this:
Mira uses a type of magic called 'Take-over Magic', using which she can physically take over the form of a demon, earning her the nickname 'She-devil'. In fact, she's regarded as the most fearsome of the wizards of Fairy Tail, something that you would definitely not automatically assume from her ordinary demeanor.
From her appearance, you also wouldn't expect to learn that she was particularly rebellious, almost bully-like, child and rather horrible to some of the others since she comes across as one of the nicest of the lot. This comes as part of character development, and interesting development at that since you are surprised by what is revealed about her as a character and the reason for her to become the airy woman she is when she is first introduced: family, a very familiar circumstance to almost anyone.
I think, because of her misleading physicality, that this offers more substance to Mirajane. She's a surprisingly 3D dimensional character in a medium that's prone to having little or poor character development. In this case, surprising the audience with an unexpected reveal works in her favour.
From her appearance, you also wouldn't expect to learn that she was particularly rebellious, almost bully-like, child and rather horrible to some of the others since she comes across as one of the nicest of the lot. This comes as part of character development, and interesting development at that since you are surprised by what is revealed about her as a character and the reason for her to become the airy woman she is when she is first introduced: family, a very familiar circumstance to almost anyone.
I think, because of her misleading physicality, that this offers more substance to Mirajane. She's a surprisingly 3D dimensional character in a medium that's prone to having little or poor character development. In this case, surprising the audience with an unexpected reveal works in her favour.
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