Death row
Hi all,
I've been thinking a bit about the numerous characters dying throughout ToMI. This is really a drastic change from the older games. Sure, lots of people are dead in earlier games (being ghosts, zombies and whatnot), but as far as I can recall no-one actually died in the course of the first three games (well, except for a few pirates and carnival-guests during cutscenes in CoMI). I haven't actually finished EMI, but I understand
Now, in ToMI, we have
It seems to me that many of them died unnecessarily, and story-wise with little or no foreshadowing. What's up with that? It's not that I mind characters dying in games if it serves the story, but this seems excessive for a Monkey Island game.
I've been thinking a bit about the numerous characters dying throughout ToMI. This is really a drastic change from the older games. Sure, lots of people are dead in earlier games (being ghosts, zombies and whatnot), but as far as I can recall no-one actually died in the course of the first three games (well, except for a few pirates and carnival-guests during cutscenes in CoMI). I haven't actually finished EMI, but I understand
Herman Toothrot
is supposed to die.Now, in ToMI, we have
McGillicutty, Nipperkin, Noogie, Morgan, De Singe and a number of other characters. At first I thought "oh, they're building up a cast for the Land of the Dead". But most of them weren't there.
It seems to me that many of them died unnecessarily, and story-wise with little or no foreshadowing. What's up with that? It's not that I mind characters dying in games if it serves the story, but this seems excessive for a Monkey Island game.
Sign in to comment in this discussion.
Comments
Also, now that I think of it, didn't the voodoo lady kill Nipperkin? By accident, anyway. That's kind of a weird move for her. Or did LeChuck cause her shack to burn down? I never really got what was supposed to be going on with that plotline.
I must try that with Morgan's poster. BTW, her demise was one of the few that made sense in the end. Poor Noogie just *poof* vanished.
Oh, and I'd be really sorry if Largo was dead. He is to date my favourite minor villain (pun intended!). As for Wally and Ozzie, well, that's EMI...
I absolutely see what you mean, but the fact remains that it did not happen this much in all the earlier games together.
I'm all for upping LeChuck's evilness (I actually thought he felt rather lame in the first TMI episode).
EMI is still Monkey Island. And Wally isn't in EMI. Last we see him he's in the Carnival of the Damned in CMI, there's nothing to indicate that he died.
He doesn't die, he just tells a lie, right?
Oh, I thought there might be something more definite in EMI. As far as I'm concerned, he's alive until proven dead (and perhaps not even then
All of this notwithstanding, am I really the only one finding the increased mortality rate striking?
The violent aspects were always more toned down before, weren't they? I don't see the point of killing off a bunch of characters if it doesn't make any difference story-wise. Not even with the intention of making the setting "darker" or more pirate-like.
All that aside, I really liked the darker tone in Tales, in comparison to the other games.
Hope this post makes any sense.
Noogie did die. You can look at his gravestone in RotPG. It says something about the brotherhood. He is by Santinos.
Generic Pirate Jerks from a previous episode that apparently died. Wait, what? Just like the Vacaylians being able to reattach limbs, this seems like a case of foreshadowing not ending up in the final game for some reason. I could be wrong, but the theory at least SOUNDS solid.
It's probably a little goofy, but I like the idea of Guybrush having to puzzle his way out of his own insecurities. He has always been beat up and picked on by everyone, and for ages he had strong resolve and sort of walked over all that stuff (usually with a choice comeback), but as the series went on, it seemed like Guybrush (and Elaine, and the text on the back of the boxes, and the fans) started to believe all the NPCs who had been saying for 20 years that Guybrush was a useless failure. Maybe credit gets stolen, maybe the outcome isn't always so black and white, but Guybrush generally ends up succeeding to some degree. I don't think playing as a failure is all that fun, but playing as someone who knows deep down that despite what everyone else says, they are good at what they do and they have worth, is interesting. I don't think that at the end of Tales Guybrush is any great hero, or is more renowned (or nowned) than he was before, but I think it's been reaffirmed to him, via a little trial by fire, that at least to himself, he has worth.
Oh, yeah. Wow, I'm really not my usual bright self today. :rolleyes: I KNEW that, but I was really unsure after Leviathan. And Nipperkin and McGillicutty, their deaths are mentioned in RotPG, aren't they? Someone says LeChuck killed them if I recall correctly. Which feels a bit out of place in MI, but still makes sort of sense in context.
Yeah, I thought the same thing. There was more than one thread about this between Trial and RotPG. So if I may adjust my earlier statement a bit: More than anyone, Noogie's death stands out as unnecessary. Wouldn't surprise me if they had something planned that didn't make it into the final cut.
I suppose the idea of seeing these characters again was more of an expectation I made for myself, rather than any real foreshadowing. But the characters that died didn't really get a satisfying end to their "arc", other than(quite ironically) Morgan. Noogie was pronounced dead in a bit of side-dialog that people apparently can easily miss, as was Nipperkin, and DeSinge's death ended up feeling a bit hurried to me as well. As if it was a box to be checked off to fill a future(undead) cast, rather than some form of dramatic event. He kind of bungled his way into a somewhat dramatically flat cartoon death scene, the music didn't do anything there either, and kind of left me wondering "Wait, is that it for him?"
Oh, and McGillicutty felt like he served his purpose by the time he died, for some reason, but I suppose I had him lumped in with the others when I concocted my theories.
By the way, sorry for criticizing your "to your face"(or, well, the internet equivalent). It just sort of happened.
Except there were no new characters anyway! Why no new characters, Telltale?! =P
By the way, Jake, thanks for taking the time to post about this. I always like it when devs talk about their own games, intents, discarded storylines etc.
Bull! Tim "The Thief" Thiefman. Galeb. Franklin.
Galeb and the Ferryman and the dog were all 100% reuse free characters!
They were made with Guybrush's fine leather jackets.
porcelain
I love that idea by the way, facing his insecurities. I never thought about it that way before.