Why does so many people hate this character???

[Armagon]

58 minutes ago, DragonFlames said:

Sorry if this is a bit off-topic, but I have a hypothesis as to why so many people hate the Avatar characters in Fire Emblem. It's because they are supposed to be "us", the player. I think that, subconsciously, when our character acts in a certain way, we think that they should act like we would and are disappointed if they don't. And this subconscious thought is what partly determines our thoughts on the Avatar concept and how we judge its execution in a game.

So, easy fix: Have the Avatar be a silent protagonist and give us dialogue choices, like Etrian Odyssey or Persona. There you go.

Honestly, that hypothesis isn't that far from the truth. The Avatars are supposed to be "us" but it never is. They're too established to be Avatars. Another reason why people hate them so much is because the story is made in a way that puts the Avatar on some sort of pedestal. This is especially the case with Corrin. The Avatars aren't allowed to fuck up because "oh no, the player's feelings" and when they do fuck up, they just put a little band-aid on it.

Honestly, having the next FE Avatars be silent might be the way to go. I'm of the opinion that the more vague an Avatar is, the better they are. It's why Cross from Xenoblade Chronicles X is a shining example of how Avatars should be handled. Literally almost everything about Cross is customizable and it fits so well with what Xenoblade X is supposed to be. If Intelligent Systems wants to keep making Avatars, they need to learn from Monolith Soft (or just have Monolith Soft handle the Avatars from now on, that works too).

So, to repeat myself, for all the shit Kris gets, he's the most "Avatar" out of all the FE Avatars.

With all that said, i would prefer it if Intelligent Systems ditched Avatars. Like, i know i just said that they should learn from Monolith Soft when it comes to making Avatars but Cross only worked because Xenoblade X was never about the story and more about the gameplay, sidequests, and exploration. Put him in any other Xeno game and he just would not work. Avatars and silent protags work best when the game they are in isn't too story-focused. It's why Link works, because story isn't that important in Zelda. It's why the Harvest Moon/Rune Factory protags work, because it's story isn't important in those games (note: my knowledge of Harvest Moon/Rune Factory is limited, i've only played Rune Factory 4). But the story is important in Fire Emblem. Having the Avatar (or a silent protag) have an important role just brings down the whole thing. If the next Avatar was just some random guy with no real importance to the plot, both it and the story would be a lot better imo.