User blog:Krayfish/DP Rant Part 2: Characters

Previous blog

Characters
While some retcons were made to the characters, such changes have not been implemented in this story. I will review the characters as they are seen in Dark Prophecy. At the moment, they are poorly balanced, and they try to steal the spotlight from one another.

Etah
Simply put, Etah is overpowered. As an immortal, invincible hero, the reality is that it’s way too hard to kill him. His power levels are highly imbalanced compared to the teams - he seems way too good at everything, and there’s not much room for the other characters to actually use their skills. Etah knows almost everything, has super strength, and ultra idealistic views. Not to mention, he seems just like the KMF condensed into one individual - the oldest, the most advanced and smartest out of everyone in the GSSOC. Etah can easily pass as an irredeemable godmodded Marty Stu, though Nra has fortunately announced changes to him.

As soon as possible, Etah’s new abilities need to be clearly defined as at the moment, the only new information about him is the blog.

Ahrganot
The old Ahrganot isn’t that bad of a character. Albeit, he has some cliches in his backstory, but his biggest problem is his angst. For an experienced, professional warrior, he has WAY too much, and his moping just goes on and on dragging the pace of every story he is in. One of Money Cushion’s earlier drafts was guilty of this. I know we are supposed to feel sorry for him, but that type of character just doesn’t fit. Fortunately, I’ve made some efforts to change him.

Tholker
Tholker suffers from being a stale, underdeveloped character. His personality is lacking, and he doesn’t really emerge as a character until the latter half of DP. Some of the comic relief is humorous, but it ultimately falls flat in an otherwise serious tone story. Fortunately, Suppy has made some efforts to change him.

Sol I Dor
Sol I Dor seems to be just kind of there. It’s as if he was just thrown in for the sake of it. His personality isn’t that strong and doesn’t seem particularly notable. The fact that he comes from a Planet of Hats race severely limits his potential development.

Galiana
Let’s face it. Galiana is a Mary Sue. She contains every cliche that I absolutely despise: destruction of hometown, death of parents, adopted to train by some foreign people, somehow getting into GSSOC at a remarkably young age. The whole Tokarthi thing only adds more. Apparently, she’s a Chosen One, but why her of all people? What did she do differently than everyone else? Why can’t someone more qualified serve as the Tokarthi’s chosen? Chosen Ones happen to be a pet peeve of mine, and granted, it can be done well occasionally (Link from The Legend of Zelda, for example). But unlike Link, everything is handed to Galiana on a silver platter from her training to her status at GSSOC. She doesn’t seem to have to work as hard as the other members to actually do great things.

And later on, it turns out that Galiana becomes immortal and lives on for the next 1.5 TRILLION years into the next universe. Honestly, is it really necessary for a human being to live that long? In fact, it’s not healthy because time is perceived to be faster as you get older. Realistically, Galiana would be begging to die long before she reached 1,000.

Also, the purple eyes need to be ditched. I know there’s some sort of genetic reason for it, but it’s an overall unnecessary detail that adds Sueness. Out of all the characters, Galiana needs the most work and deserves a complete restructuring. Everything from the Chosen One to the tragic past, to put it bluntly, should be scrapped if she’s going to play a major role in Dark Prophecy.

Enrico
I can see Enrico turning into a Marty Stu from the point he is introduced into the story. Like Galiana, he somehow gets special exceptions. In fact, why does he immediately join GSSOC? Shouldn’t he instead be subjected to therapy after having lived in Ashadra’s wastes for so long? Enrico adds nothing to the narrative and should have a different introduction altogether.

Infra
Infra isn’t terrible. He’s an attempt at a grey morality villain, but the execution fails. At the end of The Final Confrontation, he still comes across as the ultimate, evil villain. Overall, the writing device of “just as planned” is abused way too much. With the overall confusing plot of Dark Prophecy, his motives can become really hard to follow.