Three gaming fandoms, four bashed characters
I know that the fandom for the PS3 game Heavenly Sword is an extremely small one. Alas, I have already seen character-bashing occur for pretty much every character (although I have yet to see anyone bashing Bohan, which I'm pretty thankful for). However, one of the characters I've seen bashed and/or misunderstood for the stupidest reasons is the crossbow-weilding and adorable-yet-deadly Kai.
In defence of Kai:
The fact that Kai behaves in a rather strange manner is an understatement. She may be 18 years old (according to the official website), yet she speaks/behaves in a very childlike manner and sees everything as a "game" (at least, up until a certain point close to the end of the game). The fact that she refers to her act of killing enemies with her crossbow as "Twing-Twang" is a big tip-off.
However, Kai is not "stupid" or "retarded" as you so claim.
If you'd played the game in its entirety, you would understand that Kai's behaviour is due to the fact that she is traumatised. She is repressing the memory of her mother being brutally murdered. She only fully remembers what happens when she discovers her mother's emaciated corpse cruelly displayed as a trophy, and that is when her behaviour shifts from carefree, mischievous and childlike to becoming somewhat darker and more coherant (after she's passed the obstacle of being utterly freaking terrified of her mother's killer). Her increased maturity is evidenced by her speech in the game's ending.
In short, Kai is suffering from trauma. Not "stupidity".
Also, she is not a "coward". WTF, fandom?! WTF?!
This is a girl who:
- Willingly puts herself in danger to help Nariko.
- Rescues a severely injured and defenceless Shen by shooting dead a bunch of guards who were rushing at him.
- Is able to single-handedly and gleefully take down dozens and dozens of guards with her trusty crossbow - whether they're at a distance, rushing directly at her in waves, can only be killed by being shot in the head, or whether she's hanging upside down, hundreds of feet in the air, using only her feet to hold herself in place.
- Eventually overcomes her fear of Flying Fox, her mother's killer, by shooting him in the head. While she's hanging by the neck and severely injured.
"Childlike" does not equal "cowardly". Seriously.
*******
Now for another tiny fandom, Clive Barker's Jericho. The bashing in this fandom isn't quite as vicious as I've seen in the Heavenly Sword fandom, but it still drives me batshit. Namely, of Cpl. Xavier Jones, and Sgt. Wilhelmina "Billie" Church.
In defence of Xavier Jones:
Okay, so he's not my favourite character. The first time I played through the game, he just didn't interest me very much. However, upon replaying the levels and paying more attention to him, he has grown on me a lot. He's probably the friendliest member of the Jericho Squad, he has a warm sense of humour in spite of all the horror he's up against, he's smart, and he's an all-round nice guy.
So, my question is this, oh fandom: Why do you hate Jones so much? Seriously, why?
So you think he's "boring" because he doesn't have a majorly huge backstory. Neither does Simone Cole, but I haven't many people bashing her (though it does exist, unfortunately). Is that really reason to hate him so much and call him all kinds of names under the sun? No it isn't.
Also, his supernatural abilities (the ability to "astral project" his consciousness into the bodies of other beings, such as far-off enemies or prisoners, and then, from their bodies, use telekinesis or pyrokenesis to manipulate nearby objects) are not "utterly useless". If you'd said "damn near useless in combat", then I'd agree with you. He is unable to control the body he projects himself into, but his powers are essential if you want to pass some parts of the game. If his powers are so crap, then the Squad would still be stuck in the World War II time slice, and that would be no good at all, would it?
His other ability, to act as a conduit for those who are unable to speak/speak in a different language, is essential to the freaking plot. You wouldn't know tons of what is going on, story-wise, if it wasn't for Jones and his powers.
Oh, and you bash him because he's "too intelligent". WTF. *headdesk* Again, Cole is also vastly intelligent, but I don't see you hating on her. As with Cole's intelligence, Jones' is essential, both to the Squad and to the player.
But the thing that really irritates me, is the way you seem to love it when Jones ultimately meets his maker at the end of the game, when both he and Cole are blown into tiny pieces by the Firstborn. Seriously. I've seen comments such as "Oh, Jones deserved to die, but why'd they have to kill Cole?", "ha ha, Jones died, thank god", and other, hateful comments. Why? What did he ever do to deserve that?
In defence of Billie Church:
Now, while Billie doesn't seem to get nearly as much hate as poor Jones, some fans have accused her of being a Mary-Sue, for these "reasons":
- She has a highly traumatic past.
- She's the only character to use a sword.
- She is the only character whose supernatural powers are required to defeat not one, but two boss characters, and she personally kills one of them in a cutscene.
- She's ninja-esque.
...Sorry, but these "reasons" do not make Church a Mary-Sue. Church is not a magical sparkly princess who has everyone falling at her feet from her sparkly awesomeness. She has flaws, as does every other character in the game.
I've also seen her being called a "slut" (a term I loathe anyway), due to both a) the age-old cry of "Her outfit is too revealing and her boobs are too big!" and b) she's dating a fellow squadmember, Frank Delgado. Yet, I don't see people bashing Delgado for dating Church, which just screams "double-standards" to me.
Oh, and they refer to her as an "emo kid"... because she cuts herself. However, I don't know if it ever occurred to them that she's a Blood Mage, and therefore has to spill her own blood to actually cast her spells? Buh?!
*******
Now for a bigger fandom: Soul Calibur.
In defence of Raphael Sorel:
He's a stupid French wanker! - Your dislike of him stems purely from the fact that he's French? I just... have no words. Racism, anyone?
He's a paedophile! - Can't a man care for a young girl without automatically being accused of being a paedo anymore? He loves Amy, yes. He adopted her because she helped him, and he came to care for her as the daughter he never had. In fact, she's the only person he feels any form of attachment to. This does not mean that he perves over her at every opportunity. (Admittedly, however - I love Raph/Amy fic, although I prefer it when it's written in the future, when she is older. Other people's preferences vary, which is fine by me. However, it just really, really gets to me that people decide to try and make him out as a canon paedophile just so they believe that they have a valid reason to bash him.)
He wears stupid, frilly, poncy clothes! - So you don't like his clothes. Your point is...? *loves the man's fashion sense, BTW*
He's quite obviously gay! So what if he is? Why would this matter?
*rubs temples* Eeesh.
Sorry if this post seems somewhat disjointed, but *uses the age-old excuse* I'm tired and need food.
In defence of Kai:
The fact that Kai behaves in a rather strange manner is an understatement. She may be 18 years old (according to the official website), yet she speaks/behaves in a very childlike manner and sees everything as a "game" (at least, up until a certain point close to the end of the game). The fact that she refers to her act of killing enemies with her crossbow as "Twing-Twang" is a big tip-off.
However, Kai is not "stupid" or "retarded" as you so claim.
If you'd played the game in its entirety, you would understand that Kai's behaviour is due to the fact that she is traumatised. She is repressing the memory of her mother being brutally murdered. She only fully remembers what happens when she discovers her mother's emaciated corpse cruelly displayed as a trophy, and that is when her behaviour shifts from carefree, mischievous and childlike to becoming somewhat darker and more coherant (after she's passed the obstacle of being utterly freaking terrified of her mother's killer). Her increased maturity is evidenced by her speech in the game's ending.
In short, Kai is suffering from trauma. Not "stupidity".
Also, she is not a "coward". WTF, fandom?! WTF?!
This is a girl who:
- Willingly puts herself in danger to help Nariko.
- Rescues a severely injured and defenceless Shen by shooting dead a bunch of guards who were rushing at him.
- Is able to single-handedly and gleefully take down dozens and dozens of guards with her trusty crossbow - whether they're at a distance, rushing directly at her in waves, can only be killed by being shot in the head, or whether she's hanging upside down, hundreds of feet in the air, using only her feet to hold herself in place.
- Eventually overcomes her fear of Flying Fox, her mother's killer, by shooting him in the head. While she's hanging by the neck and severely injured.
"Childlike" does not equal "cowardly". Seriously.
*******
Now for another tiny fandom, Clive Barker's Jericho. The bashing in this fandom isn't quite as vicious as I've seen in the Heavenly Sword fandom, but it still drives me batshit. Namely, of Cpl. Xavier Jones, and Sgt. Wilhelmina "Billie" Church.
In defence of Xavier Jones:
Okay, so he's not my favourite character. The first time I played through the game, he just didn't interest me very much. However, upon replaying the levels and paying more attention to him, he has grown on me a lot. He's probably the friendliest member of the Jericho Squad, he has a warm sense of humour in spite of all the horror he's up against, he's smart, and he's an all-round nice guy.
So, my question is this, oh fandom: Why do you hate Jones so much? Seriously, why?
So you think he's "boring" because he doesn't have a majorly huge backstory. Neither does Simone Cole, but I haven't many people bashing her (though it does exist, unfortunately). Is that really reason to hate him so much and call him all kinds of names under the sun? No it isn't.
Also, his supernatural abilities (the ability to "astral project" his consciousness into the bodies of other beings, such as far-off enemies or prisoners, and then, from their bodies, use telekinesis or pyrokenesis to manipulate nearby objects) are not "utterly useless". If you'd said "damn near useless in combat", then I'd agree with you. He is unable to control the body he projects himself into, but his powers are essential if you want to pass some parts of the game. If his powers are so crap, then the Squad would still be stuck in the World War II time slice, and that would be no good at all, would it?
His other ability, to act as a conduit for those who are unable to speak/speak in a different language, is essential to the freaking plot. You wouldn't know tons of what is going on, story-wise, if it wasn't for Jones and his powers.
Oh, and you bash him because he's "too intelligent". WTF. *headdesk* Again, Cole is also vastly intelligent, but I don't see you hating on her. As with Cole's intelligence, Jones' is essential, both to the Squad and to the player.
But the thing that really irritates me, is the way you seem to love it when Jones ultimately meets his maker at the end of the game, when both he and Cole are blown into tiny pieces by the Firstborn. Seriously. I've seen comments such as "Oh, Jones deserved to die, but why'd they have to kill Cole?", "ha ha, Jones died, thank god", and other, hateful comments. Why? What did he ever do to deserve that?
In defence of Billie Church:
Now, while Billie doesn't seem to get nearly as much hate as poor Jones, some fans have accused her of being a Mary-Sue, for these "reasons":
- She has a highly traumatic past.
- She's the only character to use a sword.
- She is the only character whose supernatural powers are required to defeat not one, but two boss characters, and she personally kills one of them in a cutscene.
- She's ninja-esque.
...Sorry, but these "reasons" do not make Church a Mary-Sue. Church is not a magical sparkly princess who has everyone falling at her feet from her sparkly awesomeness. She has flaws, as does every other character in the game.
I've also seen her being called a "slut" (a term I loathe anyway), due to both a) the age-old cry of "Her outfit is too revealing and her boobs are too big!" and b) she's dating a fellow squadmember, Frank Delgado. Yet, I don't see people bashing Delgado for dating Church, which just screams "double-standards" to me.
Oh, and they refer to her as an "emo kid"... because she cuts herself. However, I don't know if it ever occurred to them that she's a Blood Mage, and therefore has to spill her own blood to actually cast her spells? Buh?!
*******
Now for a bigger fandom: Soul Calibur.
In defence of Raphael Sorel:
He's a stupid French wanker! - Your dislike of him stems purely from the fact that he's French? I just... have no words. Racism, anyone?
He's a paedophile! - Can't a man care for a young girl without automatically being accused of being a paedo anymore? He loves Amy, yes. He adopted her because she helped him, and he came to care for her as the daughter he never had. In fact, she's the only person he feels any form of attachment to. This does not mean that he perves over her at every opportunity. (Admittedly, however - I love Raph/Amy fic, although I prefer it when it's written in the future, when she is older. Other people's preferences vary, which is fine by me. However, it just really, really gets to me that people decide to try and make him out as a canon paedophile just so they believe that they have a valid reason to bash him.)
He wears stupid, frilly, poncy clothes! - So you don't like his clothes. Your point is...? *loves the man's fashion sense, BTW*
He's quite obviously gay! So what if he is? Why would this matter?
*rubs temples* Eeesh.
Sorry if this post seems somewhat disjointed, but *uses the age-old excuse* I'm tired and need food.