Weapons as Character

Playing Assassin's Creed last week really brought something to light for me.  Often, in games, we define characters by the weapons they use.  It's an interesting phenomenon.

In Assassin's Creed Syndicate the Frye Twins have different default weapons that give them a different feel from one another.  Evie has a cane sword and Jacob has a brass knuckle.  It immediately distinguishes them even though they're twins and mostly have the same skills.  They are quickly shown to have unique styles via their weapons.


When I was watching DareDevil the other week there were a few episodes that focused on how he started using his batons as weapons.  They end up becoming a defining part of his character.


Not to mention iconic characters like Cloud and Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII are also often defined by their weapons.  No one ever really thinks about Sephiroth without thinking about his super long Masamune sword.  And the image of Cloud with his Buster Sword is recognized by gamers everywhere.



It's interesting that we often choose to define our characters by their weapons but I suppose what we're really doing is defining them by the way they choose to fight.  It shows their style and their skills.

But really, the weapon someone chooses says something about them as a person.  I suppose that's why it's so often used as a shorthand for defining characters.

Comments

  1. Interesting idea. Never really thought about it before. But Bleach (the anime/manga) take it in a direction parallel to this--the weapons themselves have "souls", so to speak, that mesh with the wielder's own fighting style and personality. I'll have to think about this more as I watch more fighty stuff. :)

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    Replies
    1. I've never watched or read Bleach, but that's a really interesting concept.

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