Kamui's Personality

[Eveangaline]

Whatever it is I hope it's noticeably changed from when you were kidnapped, so hoshido units that knew you can be slightly sad.

[Sardonic]

In fact, the thing what annoys me the most in main characters is when they're given some stock "relatable" character trait, and it just makes them kinda whiny and entitled - I'm thinking Tidus in FFX, Harry Potter, maybe Naruto. Awakening didn't go down that road; the worst you can say about Robin is that they were a big dork.

But I like the dorky characters.

Well as long as Kamui isn't a loudmouthed idiot of a Lord, I think I can live with whatever personality, or lack thereof, s/he has. That said, I wouldn't be surprised if a rock had more personality than Kamui, who is probably going to be in the nice guy/nice girl mould...not that that trope is bad.

Personally, I can't really see Kamui as a self-insert because they have their own lines scripted into the story. It's the same for Robin in Awakening. They're not silent protagonists like Link in The Legend of Zelda, or even Adol Christin from Ys.

And when people say the siblings of the other faction are going to die by your hand, I'd imagine reasonable amounts of grief and internal turmoil on Kamui's part before and after The Decision or else it's just botched writing to me. Please no glossing over things really quickly like in Awakening (Robin not even batting an eyelash at the thought of patricide? I mean, Validar was clearly evil but Robin didn't even miss a beat with that decision).

[Venterqua]

Just because a character is your eyes into a world doesn't mean that character is you. Winston Smith is most definitely your "eyes" into the world of 1984 and a far more effective pair of eyes than Link's are into the world of Zelda, IMO, but he still has his own distinct personality and motivations.

That's not really comparable as you're crossing mediums along with narrative styles. Books have the advantage of delving far more into character development and story as a book's main goal is to tell a compelling story. Video games have that job along with balancing it with good gameplay. And while Winston is your eyes into 1984, they are still his eyes and come with their own personality and bias. I'd also argue that Link and self-inserts (not particularly the ones in FE) are more effective as you see the world as it is and are judging it based on your own interpretation and reactions that are not flavored by another's lens. That's the diff between self-inserts and protags, and Link, Robin and Kamui are indeed self-inserts. However, IS's self-inserts do have their own problems and are nowhere near perfect, but, for what they are, they're not bad.

But I like the dorky characters.

Well as long as Kamui isn't a loudmouthed idiot of a Lord, I think I can live with whatever personality, or lack thereof, s/he has. That said, I wouldn't be surprised if a rock had more personality than Kamui, who is probably going to be in the nice guy/nice girl mould...not that that trope is bad.

Personally, I can't really see Kamui as a self-insert because they have their own lines scripted into the story. It's the same for Robin in Awakening. They're not silent protagonists like Link in The Legend of Zelda, or even Adol Christin from Ys.

And when people say the siblings of the other faction are going to die by your hand, I'd imagine reasonable amounts of grief and internal turmoil on Kamui's part before and after The Decision or else it's just botched writing to me. Please no glossing over things really quickly like in Awakening (Robin not even batting an eyelash at the thought of patricide? I mean, Validar was clearly evil but Robin didn't even miss a beat with that decision).

Personally, I believe the only 'perfect' self-inserts are those you have complete control over and that's just impossible in a series like Fire Emblem as the story, plot and order of the formers are already predetermined. IS trying to balance a playable character that is also a self-insert in this particular series is a challenge and I give props to them for even trying. But yes there's an inherent dissonance between player and character that is near impossible to breach without the use of multiple endings/having the silent protag option.

I'm sure Kamui won't have that problem. In Robin's case, he has no memories of his father, learns his father only wants to use him to bring forth the apocalypse and that his father brain-washed him into killing his best-friend/lover in an alternate future and plans to do it again. Given the circumstances, Robin was definitely justified.

[Yunanuy]

• if your mortal enemy tries to pause the battle to monologue, you ignore them and continue fighting

This annoyed me to hell and back in Awakening, when Excellus teleported in to talk about himself. I would've striked that concubine down in a heartbeat.

[DRTJR]

My money is on Kamui being Loyal, father to his men type.

I would like a schemer that seemed like he/she is always confident in their plan and is one step ahead of his/her enemies.

[Mackc2]

My money is on Kamui being Loyal, father to his men type.

I would like a schemer that seemed like he/she is always confident in their plan and is one step ahead of his/her enemies.

You mean three steps ahead

[HeroMystic]

From what I remember, people kept praising Ike no matter what he did, which became incredibly tiresome and a reason for why I don't like the Tellius series that much.

I know this works for some people, but I really don't like self-insert characters. I can never feel like I'm the real character, and as a result a bland character becomes just that, bland and uninteresting; it becomes even worse when everyone loves the character for no real reason.

Ike got criticized and blasted in Path of Radiance a few times. but in Radiant Dawn he was pretty much god incarnate even from a gameplay perspective, so you'd be correct on the latter.

Bolded: For FE, and other JRPGs in general, I completely agree. These games are not good at making self-inserts, to the point where I no longer see them as self-inserts but rather characters you can influence by making them take different choices. Some games, like the FF series before they did away with name changes, doesn't even have dialogue choices. The best JRPG I've seen in recent time that attempt self-inserts is the Persona series, and even they got to the point where they stopped kidding themselves and made the silent protagonists into full-fleshed characters through movies and sub-plots.

The western RPGs tend to make self-inserts better because they're literally self-inserts with no known pre-determined history, unless the developers gave you the ability to make that history yourself (Props to FE12 for doing this). In that case, you can actually envision yourself as the main character as you're a blank slate, but even this has it's flaws in the form of action, as you never say/do what you actually want to say/do, but it actually gets pretty close.

Anyway, I feel it's best to not see Kamui as a blank avatar but rather a character you facilitate growth through choices you influence. That's what IS is going for anyway.

[Dragonrose120]

I don't why, but I kind of want Kamui to have different personalities like Morgan. The male can have a more normal personality while the female can be more playful and quirky, but maybe not as sadistic as Fem!Morgan.

[lysander]

The only JRPG series that handles self-inserts well or even decently is growlanser. And that's only because a lot of choices have 5 options and they change somewhat depending on what you've chosen in the past, to inform your character's personality based on 16 personality parameters. And even with all of that it's not always perfect, in terms of plot directing that people still have to trust you anyway even if you've been a major asshole and they technically hate you via the friendship checker--sometimes the dialogue still reflects this, other times not. The Devil Survivor series, which uses the same writers/general team, is also decent if less involved/complex.

I'd definitely want something closer to silent protagonist than not though. Like, I don't care if MU says some stuff but the majority of his dialogue/interactions should be focused on letting me learn more about what other characters are like/what's going on in other character's heads. Let everything about MU be left to the imagination as much as possible if it's not going to have a more involved decision system attached to it.

Edited June 1, 2015 by lysander

[Alazen]

The Third Route reveals Kamui the 3rd route has Kamui cares little about the other royals. Or at least, treats them all as an expendable priority.

The route has Kamui learn that even though he has been told that both kingdoms' royals are his family, that he has bonds with them, it's shown after assorted brutal battles... he doesn't (and maybe never did). And so, by the time he kills say, Sakura the only surprise is how easy it is.

Edited June 1, 2015 by Alazen