For one reason or another, there are a few familiar situations that crop up in video games again and again. Be it beyond us to question a successful formula, particularly when you consider the non-exhaustive long list of ideas that have been churned out throughout generations of consoles – ideas that have evolved from ‘navigate this ambiguously naked yellow blob through this maze’ to ‘make devastating, life-changing decisions that will shape the world and the people before you.’
The infamous pitfall of the trope is something that all entertainment mediums suffer from. Movie tropes include estranged family members and enormous explosions. Television tropes include identical twins and catchphrases. Musical tropes include basically any song by Kesha.
Some of those lurking in gaming could certainly stand to be shelved for a little while, however, because they’re about as fresh as that expired milk lurking in the fridge that you keep pushing for just “one more day.” Spoilers lie ahead! Including BioShock, Bloodborne, Prey and the shocking ending to Super Mario Bros 2. It’s hard to be coy when you’re talking about narratives, after all.
It was all a dream
You’ve just spent the last few hours guiding the protagonist to glory. You’ve overcome obstacles, bested enemies who stood in your way, always striving for victory. You deal the final, satisfying blow to the final boss, who erupts in a flurry of colorful flashes. The screen turns white, and…
Cue shot of the main character in bed. Subcon didn’t exist, Gehrman didn’t actually just decapitate you, and your surly next-door neighbor didn’t really try to kidnap your dog. So please don’t sock him one in the eye, it’ll make the next social gathering really awkward.
This is particularly displeasing in games with heavy morality decisions, and as a result, the twist at the end of Prey left a bit of a foul taste in a lot of players’ mouths. After the game is over and the credits have rolled, you wake up in a laboratory, where your presumed brother, Alex, reveals that you were, in fact, a Typhon test experiment using Morgan Yu’s memories. Your final choice is whether to form an alliance and take Alex’s hand, or lay waste to the entire room. As loathe as we are to adhere to unfair stereotypes of alien violence, he probably deserves to die for wasting your precious time.
Evil clones
As novel a concept as it may seem to have a rival that is equal to the hero in every way, it has been overplayed beyond belief. If it were a VHS tape, it would have tracking issues by now. And for you youngsters who don’t get that reference, it’s basically Despacito.
In Nintendo lore alone you have Wario, Waluigi, Blood Falcon, SA-X, Claus, Boshi, Wolf O’Donnell, Dark Link, Dark Samus, Dark Pit and doubtless other forgotten ones with the prefix of “Dark.” That doesn’t even include several one-off Mario clones that we have seen throughout the years; it seems as though everyone desperately desires to become a rotund plumber for some reason, and of all of the facsimiles, only Bob Hoskins made us smile.
Though sometimes wicked parallels can lead to hysterical outcomes like the perpetually shirtless Liquid Snake, you’re more often left feeling like you’ve seen it occur once or twice already. This is how abominations like Coldsteel the Hedgehog happen, people – so beware.
Oh no, they’re the bad guy!
Ronald Tobias lists revenge as one of the 20 master plots, and William Shakespeare had more betrayal than a Survivor marathon, and so too in gaming, are you incredibly likely to be double-crossed at least once or twice. It’s a useful trope that probably isn’t going away anytime soon, but a trope all the same.
The list of Judases is long, and in any title where narrative is a heavy element, you’ll no doubt be questioning the motives of your allies along the way, whether it’s Portal 2’s delightful Wheatley, or Fire Emblem Fates’ snot-nosed little brat Anthony.
A more interesting twist occurs when you get the double turn – a character who you assumed to have been deceptive ends up saving the day at the last moment. Harry Potter thought so much of Severus Snape’s sacrifice, he honored him by naming his son after him. Never mind the fact that Harry straight-up loathed Snape the whole time he knew him, it was still a nice gesture. Unless he really hates his son.
Old rivals team up
Often in life, you will have to work with people you don’t like. Sometimes a cohort in the office will rub you the wrong way, or you and a teammate just can’t see eye to eye. If you happen to be in a video game, it’ll no doubt become a plot element somewhere down the track. Often with hilarious results.
Gaming’s most famous mascots have teamed up with their sworn foes so often, they probably exchange Christmas cards by now. Mario has put aside his differences with Bowser no less than three times, and as for Sonic and Eggman? It’s almost an assured outcome in the final ending of any 3D Sonic title that they’ll use the “real super power of teamwork” when all is said and done.
In hindsight, the Sonic franchise is pretty much guilty of every trope on this list, and on multiple occasions, to boot. Anyone care to place a bet on how many of them crop up in Sonic Forces?
Stereotypical gender roles
In summary: you are man. You must save damsel because she is woman. You will celebrate with a kiss, and possibly some sort of baked good.
The amount of heroic knights who have rescued hapless beauties from the throes of danger over the years is fairly innumerable, a tired tradition that suggests that the best leading characters are courageous males, and their love interest is most likely buxom/voluptuous/petite/disturbingly coquettish. Even intriguing characters like Zelda ultimately need to be emancipated in the end.
Fortunately, the gaming industry as a whole is getting a lot better at introducing strong female role models like Aloy or Chell, women who don’t need saving, and are more than capable of handling matters themselves. However, there’s still a lot of work to be done in this department, even down to the character designs prevalent on video game covers. Basically, if your ‘armor’ doubles as a bikini, we’ve got some issues here. It’s not just a tired, misogynistic trope; it’s downright dangerous!
Published: Nov 3, 2017 09:33 am