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Character crossovers in gaming and media
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The hero pastiche has precedent in modern fiction: Monsters vs. Aliens. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. The Watchmen. These odd crossovers are especially popular in gaming because they are reflective of a typical player group.
 Courtesy Wikisource. |
For every vanilla Dungeons & Dragons campaign filled with elves and dwarves, there are modern gaming archetypes that draw on a rich background of myth, legend, and pop culture. Players want to play characters "just like [INSERT BLANK]" only with a tweak here and a twist there. Sometimes they don't even change the name or appearance of the character and simply want to play the character as he or she (or it) is represented in fiction, but placed in a different setting or context. And yet for all that, each of the characters generally fits a standard role.
The Hero: The character the audience is supposed to relate to. In a gaming group, this is usually the leader. Heroes don't necessarily have a specialization, unless its leadership. In fourth edition of Dungeons & Dragons, this role has been formalized as the Warlord. In third edition, it was usually the Paladin. In other games, this is the well-rounded character that can do a little bit of everything. His most defined trait is the fact that the other characters are willing to listen to him.
The Lancer: Everything the hero is not. This character is the anti-hero of sorts, although not so opposed to our hero that he won't be part of the team. If the hero is optimistic, the ancer is sarcastic. If the hero is friendly, the lancer is hostile. In role-playing games, characters that have a questionable reputation best play this role: rogues and warlocks.
The Smarty: The brilliant character who is weak in some other fashion. Less well-rounded than the others, this smart guy is usually less-defined and everything the Tank is not. In most fantasy role-playing games, this is inevitably the spell caster. In modern games, role is played by the hacker or inventor.
The Tank: Big. Dumb. Violent. Call him Fighter, call him Bruiser, but whatever he is he hurts people. He may be a gentle giant, unwilling to hurt people but capable of terrible violence, or he may just be a gun-toting bad ass. But whatever he is, nobody wants to mess with him.
The Chick: A pejorative term representing feminine qualities, the Chick is necessarily a woman. The Chick is the mediator, often considered the more reasonable of the ensemble. She inevitably serves as a flashpoint of tension for the other team members, be it romantically or simply because she doesn't fit in. In third-edition Dungeons & Dragons terms, the Bard usually plays this role.
What's interesting about character pastiches is that it doesn’t just create an ensemble cast, but attempts to fit each character with its own developed back-story into a cohesive team. Depending on the depth and scope of the character's background, this is no easy task – just ask Wolverine fans what they have to endure when he takes part in X-men missions. Taking a closer look at the aforementioned examples in the first paragraph, we find some interesting results:
In the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen comic, Mina Harker takes on the role of the Chick and acts as a source of tension amongst the other characters. Allan Quartermain is the provisional Hero, although the role is inverted, with Harker being the more heroic leader. Captain Nemo, an inventor of the Nautilus, is the Smarty. Hyde is most definitely a very scary Tank. And Hawley Griffin makes for a very dark Lancer, who ultimately betrays the League later.
In the Watchmen comic, Ozymandias is the Smarty, one of the smartest men on the planet. Rorschach is the Lancer, a dark Batman-esque character who fights crime despite being an outlaw. Silk Spectre is the Chick, almost exclusively a love interest for Doctor Manhattan. Doctor Manhattan is indubitably the Tank, a Superman-level character of incredible power.
In Monsters vs. Aliens, Dr. Cockroach is the Smarty, the Fly-like mad scientist. Missing Link, the has-been Creature who once terrorized the masses, is the bitter Lancer. Insectosaurus is the Tank…cause he's a titanic fuzzy caterpillar. Which is ironic, considering Ginormica is huge, and yet the movie managed to keep the Chick from being the most powerful character in the ensemble. Finally there's Bob. Bob is more of a comic relief character, almost useless until the very last act, wherein he concocts a plan – which, frighteningly enough, means he actually took on the Leader role. Run for your lives!
For more info:
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Movie Review
Monsters vs. Aliens Review
Who Games with the Watchmen?
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Movie Review
Monsters vs. Aliens Review
Who Games with the Watchmen?
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