I don't quite get why would "villainous" characters have to systematically be A) Caught or B) Escape law.
This seems to me to stem from a very black and white, goodey two shoes view of society and the world we live in, even if said world is Eorzea. No, especially if said world is Eorzea, which is supposed to be a violent, often unfair world.Â
Are we speaking about a psychopathic serial murderer? A voidsent summoning rotten thaumaturge? Well okay, sure. Nobody wants to be around such types. And those characters only exist as true opposites, antagonists for the sake of enhancing protagonists as said above.
But in the majority of case, what about a craven? A weak willed thief? Your run of the mill curthroat? A merc with grey morals? A ruthless bounty hunter? A crooked politician? Why would those have to automatically be subject to some kind of fate dooming them to be eventually ending their lives in prison or dead, or just evading whatever is supposed to be after them?
So, what about all those shades of grey? Why would someone like Lolorito (don't tell me he isn't portrayed a villainous character) would have to be doomed from the beginning?Â
It boils down to the view people tend to have on society and Eorzea. Or everything else for that matter. We are ingrained by movies, novels, books, stories, that most of the time "end well" with good endings. Well, the world isn't like that. Bad stuff happens. Bad guys don't always get "caught". Lots of petty crimes especially, get unnoticed, or even condoned by the society itself. The 5 Eorzean city states are perfect examples of that. The world is grey. People tending toward black aren't necessarily going to be doomed more than someone tending more to the white.
Pure evil characters as I said above? Yeah. Pure white knights might have troubles at times too by the way, but it's not always told because most people play good aligned characters, in stories that often have to end well for them. Those radical white knights tend to be more inconspicuous due to that, but otherwise, extremes tend to shorten the lives of their characters.
More generally, depending on the world you play in, you can place it on a scale ranging from dystopia to utopia. Naturally, good aligned characters would have a harder time in the former, while villains a harder time in the later. Eorzea is probably more on the side of good than bad, but it still remains pretty grey.
I'm saying that as someone that plays a character that is neither good nor bad. Especially not evil (very selfish and anarchist) but her views can vary a great deal from your common adventurer. It has placed me in positions where my character can get dogpiled on heavily by all the party or other characters because they all are good, brave eorzeans. You know, the common trope of playing a rogue in a party of paladins and clerics.
It can be tedious, and pretty demeaning to the character's image for other players since they are pitted against your character and can often see her/him as someone despicable that they don't like.
This vicious circle is incidentally one of the other reasons why most grey characters tend to die out, or just gather in specifically dark or grey FCs/groups.
This seems to me to stem from a very black and white, goodey two shoes view of society and the world we live in, even if said world is Eorzea. No, especially if said world is Eorzea, which is supposed to be a violent, often unfair world.Â
Are we speaking about a psychopathic serial murderer? A voidsent summoning rotten thaumaturge? Well okay, sure. Nobody wants to be around such types. And those characters only exist as true opposites, antagonists for the sake of enhancing protagonists as said above.
But in the majority of case, what about a craven? A weak willed thief? Your run of the mill curthroat? A merc with grey morals? A ruthless bounty hunter? A crooked politician? Why would those have to automatically be subject to some kind of fate dooming them to be eventually ending their lives in prison or dead, or just evading whatever is supposed to be after them?
So, what about all those shades of grey? Why would someone like Lolorito (don't tell me he isn't portrayed a villainous character) would have to be doomed from the beginning?Â
It boils down to the view people tend to have on society and Eorzea. Or everything else for that matter. We are ingrained by movies, novels, books, stories, that most of the time "end well" with good endings. Well, the world isn't like that. Bad stuff happens. Bad guys don't always get "caught". Lots of petty crimes especially, get unnoticed, or even condoned by the society itself. The 5 Eorzean city states are perfect examples of that. The world is grey. People tending toward black aren't necessarily going to be doomed more than someone tending more to the white.
Pure evil characters as I said above? Yeah. Pure white knights might have troubles at times too by the way, but it's not always told because most people play good aligned characters, in stories that often have to end well for them. Those radical white knights tend to be more inconspicuous due to that, but otherwise, extremes tend to shorten the lives of their characters.
More generally, depending on the world you play in, you can place it on a scale ranging from dystopia to utopia. Naturally, good aligned characters would have a harder time in the former, while villains a harder time in the later. Eorzea is probably more on the side of good than bad, but it still remains pretty grey.
I'm saying that as someone that plays a character that is neither good nor bad. Especially not evil (very selfish and anarchist) but her views can vary a great deal from your common adventurer. It has placed me in positions where my character can get dogpiled on heavily by all the party or other characters because they all are good, brave eorzeans. You know, the common trope of playing a rogue in a party of paladins and clerics.
It can be tedious, and pretty demeaning to the character's image for other players since they are pitted against your character and can often see her/him as someone despicable that they don't like.
This vicious circle is incidentally one of the other reasons why most grey characters tend to die out, or just gather in specifically dark or grey FCs/groups.
Balmung:Â Suen Shyu
