by
Jack Emmert, Chief Creative Officer for style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"
href="http://www.champions-online.com/">Cryptic Studios



Why do some superheroes succeed where others fail?



When you skim through the pantheons of both Marvel and DC,
you’ll see dozens of popular characters who are practically
synonymous with their parent company. Superman. Batman. Wonder Woman.
Green Lantern. Flash. Spider-Man. Wolverine. Captain America. Thor.
Hulk. I could keep going, but I think that just about any comic book
reader acknowledges that both major comic publishers have created
modern-day mythological characters as their IP bulwarks.

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Why is it that some
superheroes work while others fail?

Some of these characters boast monthly books that have run continuously
for decades (Fantastic Four) or in some cases several different titles
(Superman, Spider-Man). Yet others of seemingly high importance
struggle for sales high enough to justify a monthly book. Thor has been
rebooted recently. Wonder Woman has had several different series.
Aquaman is practically a punch line. Why do some heroes succeed where
others don’t?



I think all of this comes down to the actual personality of the hero.
Readers, especially comic readers (I’ll get to that), must
identify with the heroes they follow. If someone can’t
identify with the character on some meaningful level, there’s
no way he or she will pick up a comic starring that character every
month. The consumer becomes disinterested.



Let’s take a look at the heroes that work. Batman.
He’s all about vengeance. And who hasn’t felt that
burning need to get even? He represents our id, unfettered of its ego,
as it rages against all foes. Superman. I feel like I’m from
outer space. If people only knew the real me, they’d see
I’m awesome. Spider-Man works just the same way.
He’s classic wish fulfillment for geeks. Underneath all of my
seemingly docile looks, I’m really super capable. You just
don’t know what I’m capable of.



I think characters with failed titles tend to fall into categories
where it’s very, very hard to identify with them. Aquaman.
Well, he’s a king of an underwater kingdom. OK, interesting
– but how does that relate to me? Hawkman. A reincarnated
Egyptian stuck in a relationship for eternity. I’m sure many
of us have felt like we were in inescapable relationships, but I
don’t think we want to read about one every month! Iron Man.
Really rich guy. Totally smart. Gets all the women he wants. None of
these elements exactly strike a chord with the common man.



I mentioned earlier that comic book readers especially need to identify
with their characters. This isn’t true in novels, movies or
even short-lived mini-series. In those cases, the story itself, rather
than the character, can intrigue its reader. In a monthly comic, where
the primary constant is the central character, a reader must feel some
sort of kinship. If the readers don’t feel any sort of
connection, there’s no reason to stick around.

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Champions Online
hopes to communicate the personality of a NPC even with only a small
amount of text to work with.

Watchmen, perhaps one of the most influential comics of our time,
featured some of the most intriguing characters ever created. But think
about the nihilistic Rorschach – could he support a monthly
series? There is no doubt he was incredibly cool within the confines of
Watchmen, but could I really identify with someone like that for any
extent of time?



How does this relate to Champions Online? This theory of character is
very important in our dialogue. A MMORPG has much fewer lines of
dialogue to develop its characters than a novel or comic book. Every
single word is precious; every verb, noun, adjective, adverb must
create a better understanding of a character’s motivation and
personality.



When hiring for our writing position, all of the applicants had to take
a test. One of the questions was:

We wanted to find someone who could, in a few words, deftly communicate
the difference between the insane archvillain and the arrogant one.
Most applicants were readily able to demonstrate that the one was sane
and the other wasn’t, but very few illuminated the underlying
motivations of each.



One could simply say that an insane villain has no motivation;
that’s the reason he’s insane! I think that the
definition of insanity is a little different; there’s logic
present, but it’s completely skewed from reality.

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Emmert hopes to
emulate some of the extraordinary writers found in the comic book
industry.

I think of the excellent Killing Joke, where suddenly I understood the
Joker as a real person for the first time. Or even of the more recent
Green Goblin issues in Ultimate Spider-Man. Brian Michael Bendis
brilliantly juxtaposed the same conversation from two different points
of view: Spider-Man and the Green Goblin. In one issue, you see
Spider-Man trying to speak with Green Goblin, but clearly Osborn is
just plain crazy. In the next issue, you see the world through
Goblin’s eyes and suddenly all of his murmuring makes perfect
sense.



This was the sort of magic that I was looking for in a writer, and that
I found in writer John Layman. Someone who could create a sense of
character that could resonate with a player through a few of lines of
dialogue. Admittedly, people often dismiss NPC’s as mere
mission givers and don’t pay much attention to the text.
Well, I’m currently swept up by Bioware’s awesome
Mass Effect. And I’ll tell you that I loathe listening to or
reading dialogue, but I’m paying attention to every word in
this game.



I’ll let you guys be the judge of how we do. But I wanted to
give you a glimpse of how we’re approaching things in href="http://www.champions-online.com/">Champions Online! 

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