Usually, a main character has to have motivation. He or she has to feel like they’ve lived an entire life up to the starting events of a story. They have to feel like they’ve done some good and some bad, that they disagree or agree with things you may not, or believe in similar things you share. At the very least, even if they represent something wholly offensive to one’s ideas and way of life, they can at least be interesting. For example: “The Joker” is a reprehensible monster, but he’s so entertaining that I want to see what happens next.
Does anyone remember what the Master Chief is based off of? The guy is just shorthand for bible references. And that’s… fine. There are so many great characters who happen to be allegories for prophets from various religions, not just Christianity. Aslan, Luke Skywalker, heck, even Robocop was supposed to be Paul Verhoeven’s idea of an Americanized Jesus.
But Aslan, Luke Skywalker and Robocop all had something else to them. They had some emotional investment that made them more than just their source of inspiration. And that’s why they’re so memorable today. All of those guys didn’t stop at the allegory. Those characters developed in their own directions, grew in different ways. They all had different methods and ideas for what they wanted to accomplish, what they thought was right and wrong, and how they felt about themselves.
And that makes it a lot easier to care about them, and their struggles.
It’s no secret that the Halo series started out cribbing notes from various religions to instill artificial pathos into an average FPS game. Something to make it feel like it could be more than just an average FPS game. That’s because the first Halo is more like the last remnant of the Doom school of FPS than today’s cutscene-heavy modern-warfare games. Back then, you were lucky if the instruction manual had a synopsis for why you were Dirk Buttkick, fightin’ hell monsters on Jupiter. Back then, all you needed was the bare minimum of context. Applying some religious terminology was a clever way to instill weight where there was none, and it worked for the time.
That’s why the Master Chief is based on bible verses, that’s why the Halo theme is meant to sound like some religious ritual with its gregorian chants, and that’s why he fights a religious fanatical “Covenant”. In the time that game was made, that was good enough. That was all the context it needed to set itself apart from Quake IV.
But it’s not 2001 anymore. And I think, as the games have progressed, Bungie and 343 have realized that they need to do more. It’s okay to still HAVE that foundation, to still have that message and that allegory, but they can’t just use that as a crutch anymore. That’s why you hear the gregorian chant less, that’s why ODST and Reach were more about practical military squads than about Space Jesus. And that’s why, as a whole, it seems like the games want to be taken a little more seriously and try to give their characters deeper motivations than “It was in the Quran, so yeah”.
And hey, that’s great too! If any series has ever needed to be fleshed out, it’s the Halo series. This franchise has always felt like its’ potential has been left untapped.
But… for all that’s changed… The Master Chief hasn’t. The series has tried to evolve in new and more complex ways. It admits that it can’t be an uncomplicated creature forever. And yet, the most important part hasn’t evolved. He hasn’t grown into something new and interesting, or anything 3-dimensional. He’s still just Space Jesus.
Think of the type of person who is actually impressed with the Master Chief. People who are used to just worshipping a guy, without question, and never asking for character depth or flaws. Why would they? He’s Space Jesus. If he had flaws, he wouldn’t be Space Jesus. And his fans think that would make him less interesting, or less meaningful.
I say that is bull. I believe the more specific a character is about human nature, the more universal they become. A God-like figure is supposed to be for everyone, it’s part of their nature. And if that’s important to you, great! I have no problem with that, especially in Fiction! Heck, Fiction is the ideal playground for those ideas, for those big questions about who we are, where we’re going, and whether or not we’re alone in the universe.
But… The Master Chief is stuck in the late 90’s. He’s still just the Doom space marine, when everyone else has more than 12 polygons. Everyone else has problems, personal conflicts, quirks and flaws. But when the Master Chief shows up, he’s backlit and everyone stands in awe and “LOOK, THE SAVIOUR HAS ARRIVED” is the only reaction that happens. No one ever treats him like a person. No one ever distrusts him, no one ever criticizes or gets angry with him, and he never gets angry anymore.
Remember in the first game when he lost his temper? When he raised his voice? Why is it that in the game where he was supposed to be nothing more than Space Jesus, he was still more down-to-earth than in later installments, that claim to want to flesh him out more as a person?
I mean… to err is human, right? And I would rather play as a human being than a God. I can’t relate to a God. We don’t have anything in common. I can’t turn water to wine. I won’t live forever. I won’t save anyone, or bring them to a higher plane of understanding, all of the things a Saviour is supposed to do. That’s not interesting.
What’s interesting is if an ordinary, crappy individual managed to do something incredible, in spite of the odds being stacked against him. That is why ODST worked. It was about PEOPLE! Human beings who sometimes screw up, who sometimes say the wrong thing, or hurt people and themselves when they don’t mean to. People who sometimes trip under the weight of their power-armour, get into arguments, but do their best to help each other out.
I’m a huge nerd for the mythologies of the world, and I think what the Gods I’ve read about could do are interesting. But not the Gods themselves. Zeus did interesting things, turning into animals to court human women, hurling lightning bolts, etc. These were things that other Gods in the same pantheon couldn’t do. Fun times!
But Zeus himself? As a person? SNORE. The Master Chief can do interesting things… but he, as someone I’m supposed to connect with on an emotional level? Having a central protagonist who’s just good at everything and completely flawless is fine if that’s your religion, but for a video game? That’s boring.
Even Link from the Legend of Zelda at least has humble beginnings. Same with Jesus! Part of a prophet’s appeal is to resemble something the poor and downtrodden can relate to. But we’ve never seen the Chief’s personal trials, so who cares?
If 343 wants the Chief to be better, they don’t have to drop the allegory. But that can no longer be his defining trait. He has to grow up. The people who don’t want him to change are afraid of growing up to face human weakness.
I sympathize with those who can bleed. I pitied “Emile”. I empathized with “The Arbiter.” But I have no sympathy for a being incapable of understanding pain.
And that is why the Master Chief sucks.**