A Question of Character(s)

I love a good character creator. I love spending time (more than some, less than others) making characters for adventures either new or familiar. What I think about most is who this person is going to be. In brand new games, my characters tend to start out as blank slates. Once I have some experience under my belt, future characters end up with backstories, ones that I formulate during the creation process. These stories range from simple to complex, but they remain in the back of my mind and usually shape the way I play the game. I can’t remember all the characters I’ve ever created, and try as I might to make each one unique, I’m sure if someone were to line them all up, there’d be plenty of similarities among them.

With all this story-making, it follows that I have a tendency to become attached to some characters, though such connections depend on just how much the game lets me play according to my head canon. It also depend on whatever character information is provided by the game. In games where pre-made backstories exist, such as in Mass Effect and Dragon Age, they help guide the routes my commanders and wardens take and the decisions they make. In game where created characters aren’t defined by more than a word or phrase—prisoner, wanderer, warrior—I decide their fates. With great power comes great responsibility, as they say, and I definitely take more care in crafting these characters lives than with those that already have lives, as it were.

All of this musing leads me to a question: do you ever have a hard time deleting characters you’ve created? I certainly do. I have a team of Neverwinter folks I simply can’t get rid of. I have a bunch of wastelanders in waiting. I have several Warriors of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Vestiges (Elder Scrolls Online), and a couple Los Santos residents (GTA Online), too. Each one means something to me, from being “firsts,” to fulfilling some sort of purpose (she’s my scruffy rogue, he’s my shining paladin), to servings as test cases (what if I play through this time as a complete maniac/saint?). Because of these attachments, which are of my own doing, it’s hard for me to simply chuck them aside. I just love them each equally!

On the flip side, however, it’s also hard for me to go back to them. It’s difficult for me to explain why, but it’s almost as if each character is meant to fill a role or meet a need. Once those roles have been fulfilled, or those needs have been met, then it’s time to move on. For example, I have four wonderful former residents of Vault 76 – my two-handed melee smasher, my one-handed melee cutter, my heavy weapon wielder in power armor, and my stealthy sniper. Except for my smasher, who’s a team character, the rest are about as perfect as I can make them. There’s no compulsion to play as them because I can’t take them any further; there’s nothing more I can learn from them. If I had the drive to go back to Fallout 76 today, I’d more than likely use up my fifth and final character slot with a new someone. I’d then be very sad in the future when that character’s time wanes and I’d have to say goodbye to someone to make things fresh again. Well, unless I were to start the game anew on another console, that is…

If one thing is making all this bubble to the surface now, it’s doggone Street Fighter 6, of all things. I really want to start over the world tour (to try maxing a character using only the game’s new Modern control scheme – a true challenge for my muscle memory!), but there’s only one custom character slot, and I simply can’t bring myself to delete mine. I worked so hard to max my fighter Petra that deleting her feels wrong, and frankly, painful! So, what, do I jump consoles, purchase that game again, and play through with a new character that way? (Not that I’ve ever done that before…*ahem Neverwinter ahem*) Believe me, I’ve thought about that. That’s just how connected I feel to some of the characters I create. Alas! What a problem to have.

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