Game Characters That Had Good Development?

[Moonface]

@Monocle: I just read up the plot of the game on Wikipedia to get a more in-depth grasp of it, and Luke's dedicated Wikipedia page really gives a good insight into how much his character changes as most of the reception to him has been polarized, starting with most people really hating him but then praised how his character develops. He's also apparently one of the most popular characters in all of the Tales series which I think says a lot considering how much of a dick he starts off as.

[Monocle]

@Moonface exactly! it's still my favorite Tales and I'm not sure what will usurp it. The change also feels natural. Doesn't feel like it's forced as a plot device. He makes a huge mistake, his depression and is abandoned by his friends, and then realizes he needs to change and takes the steps to change.

[Maniakkid25]

I'm gonna necro this thread to bring up an odd case of character development, because of how quickly it happens WITHOUT it being completely jarring! ...And it's also a development that, even just talking about it, succeeds in making me cry every time.

Dark Cloud 2 has a major villain named Gaspard. This is not a spoiler; he literally kills Monica's father in the prologue/tutorial combat scenario. Calling him a "villain" is really the ONLY way to describe him. And throughout the game, he's shown up and been a thorn on your side. In Chapter 3, he tries to blow up an important object, killing a character and setting up the plot for that chapter (Again, that death is not really a spoiler; it's right at the beginning of the chapter). In Chapter 4, he attacks an innocent village and you have to fend him off. In Chapter 5, he sets up a machine that restricts your building abilities, and you have to destroy it. And it's this chapter that we are focusing in on. The only thing you need to know before the spoilers start is that Max is on his journey in order to find his mother, and there's an evil dude named "Griffon" who is trying to destroy the future. Spoilers go here.

Spoilers for Chapter 5 of Dark Cloud 2

After you destroy the machine, he shows up in his flying ship, and you fight that, destroying it and sending it into the volcano. Monica, in her rage over her father's death, jumps on WHILE THE SHIP IS CRASHING, and Gaspard knocks her out, meaning Max has to venture down to the bottom on his own to rescue Monica. It's there that he finds Gaspard, and the two face off.

And then Gaspard asks Max why he fights.

Max, at this point, has found out where his mother is, and needs to fight Gaspard to protect her. He scoffs, and let's out a line that is nothing short of funny out of context:

"I had a mother, too, just like everyone else!"

No, seriously, I laughed when I first heard that. Nothing about that is not funny! ...but he doesn't stop. He keeps going.

Gaspard's father wasn't a human. Because of this, when his father died, the townsfolk of their home chased out him and his mother. So, him and his mother were forced to live on the streets, stealing food just to survive.

And then Gaspard's mother got sick.

The video I've embedded has the whole scene, but I've started it at where Gaspard's mother got sick, because I can't do it justice with words alone. If the embed time doesn't work, skip to 4:54.



"You must find something you want to protect. Even if it takes your whole life..." That was her last request of Gaspard before passing on. And in that moment, Gaspard hit his Despair Event Horizon. He saw her blood on Humanity's hands, and chose to become Griffon's right hand.

And yet...

Reviewing his own memories makes Gaspard realize something: none of this is what his mother asked of him. And in that moment, he makes his decision: he throws his sword down, and says "You must continue your journey. You mustn't give up now. [...] Farewell..." And walks away.

My favorite part about this turn is what he doesn't do. He doesn't ask them for forgiveness. He doesn't ask to join them. He says "I won't stop you anymore." It never makes you question why he did what he did before if this was in him; he admits that he has done nothing right. And he doesn't try to atone; he accepts what he's done, and moves on.

Griffon then forces him to fight you one last time.

After the fight, you then see him reunite with his mother, and he starts telling the story of his journey. And his Mother says the words that make me cry every time I hear them.

"You found it, Gaspard... You managed to find it..."

This is the moment you realize that he did finally do exactly what his mother asked. He found something worth trying to protect.

He found Max and Monica.

The reason why I say it happens quickly is because we are given this straight up in a 10-minute sequence, but I don't consider it jarring because nothing about it forces you to re-evaluate his actions. If anything, it makes you understand just how deep into the situation he's in. Before this point, one character says a quote that is poignant in this exact context: "[Griffon's Henchmen] sold their souls to the darkness." Seeing this scene every time makes me understand why that character says that.

No joke, I'm in tears right now writing this. And not, like, "single tear down the cheek" cry, but "snot leaking out, squealing and sobbing" cry. There are plenty of scenes that make me tear up in this game, but this sequence looms large over all the others. I don't know if I'll ever be able to see that scene, and not cry.

...And I pray to God I never will.