…On the Fifth Day of Blogmas

Hello readers and welcome to the Fifth Day of Blogmas as we join in with this fabulous Christmas sing-a-long, all brought to you by the fantastic mind of Athena from AmbiGaming.

So! What are we singing about today? Well…

On the 5th day of Christmas, the gamers said to me: Eight characters you love!

Lets sing!

On the 1st day of Christmas, the gamers said to me: What are 12 favorite gaming memories?

On the 2nd day of Christmas, the gamers said to me: Tell us 11 games you love!

On the 3rd day of Christmas, the gamers said to me: What are 10 reasons you’d play a game

On the 4th day of Christmas, the gamers said to me: Give us 9 games on your to-play list

On the 5th day of Christmas, the gamers said to me: 8 characters you love!

Just 8?! Sheesh! This is hard because there are so many that I love. I may not play that many games but in the games I do play the characters are probably the thing that sticks with me the most after the game is finished. Sometimes these characters feel like friends and you miss them once the game is done, sometimes they teach you life lessons and sometimes they make you laugh or cry. Some are silly, some serious, but whatever the reasons for me including these characters, they all mean a great deal to me!

*Contains swearing and spoilers*

1. Elaine Marley (Monkey Island series) – Monkey Island was one of, if not the first ‘story’ game I played and although it didn’t take me long to fall in love with the games’ protagonist Guybrush, after meeting Elaine my affections immediately shifted. Whilst Guybrush is kinda sappy, Elaine is strong and independent. She is after all the Governor of the Tri-Island area. She has to put up with a lot, from being kidnapped to being constantly romantically pursued by idiot pirates, but her ability to keep a cool head and deal with all of this on her own (despite what Guybrush may think) has always stuck with me. She is one cool lady!
2. Dante (Devil May Cry series) – Dante is a really stylish dude who just so happens to be the son of Sparda, a demon who rebelled against the demon world in order to save humanity. Dante can frequently be seen kicking demon ass and protecting humans, but what I really love about him are the little details, like how he really likes Strawberry Sunday and how he chills out with his feet on his desk eating pizza. His over the top taunts sometimes stray from cool to slightly embarrassing, but that just makes me like him all the more. Oh and his coat. I like his coat.
3. Rita Mordio (Tales of Vesperia) – Rita is a child prodigy and self-proclaimed ‘Genius Mage’ who studied in solitude in her laboratory before joining up with the rest of the games’ cast. Despite her genius, Rita is seen as a bit of an outcast and a weirdo because she maybe doesn’t have great social skills. She can be pretty aggressive and isn’t much of a talker, with travelling companion Karol usually bearing the brunt of her wrath, but throughout the game she learns to work with others and is shown how her work, when combined with the knowledge of others, can help them save their decaying world. She’s also scared of dogs which is something I can relate to.
4. Nanaki (Final Fantasy VII) – He’s a lion. A lion that talks like a gentlemen. What more do you need really? But it is Nanaki’s background that I find so captivating, from his captivity as an experimental test subject to the story of his homeland and his father, to him looking out over the landscape at the very end of the game, there is a beauty and a tragedy to him that I find utterly compelling.
5. Mòrag Ladair (Xenoblade Chronicles 2) – Mòrag is the Special Inquisitor of the Empire of Mor Ardain. She is both feared and respected as the empire’s strongest fighter. Although she can be quite cold and intimidating, I love her strength and her calmness and resolve to protect the empire. She is certainly a serious character, but occasionally displays a wry humour, and although she rarely shows it, her love for her younger brother – the Emporer Niall – reveals her to be a more complex and compassionate character than it may at first appear, and thus she becomes a very sympathetic and relatable character in my eyes.
6. Reyn (Xenoblade Chronicles) – I was originally going to pick Melia Antiqua as my Xenoblade Chronicles character, but somehow that made me sad because it meant I wouldn’t be including Reyn. Reyn is your classic big dumb soldier character. He is brawny, always dives right into battle and often says stupid things.  He is also kind, loyal and a rare source of laughter for his travelling companions. Although he is often mocked by the other members of the party for his outbursts, you get the impression that he would do anything for his best friend Shulk, and his constant attempts to impress Sharla are super cute. Whilst many of the things he comes out with are ridiculous, they are also often hilarious, good examples being “It’s Reyn time!”, “There’s no rainbow without Reyn, baby!” and the adorable “Good thing I’m here! No? Anyone??”
7. Moira Burton (Resident Evil: Revelations 2) – Moira, daughter of Resident Evil stalwart Barry Burton, becomes unintentionally embroiled in the events of Revelations 2, when she finds herself trapped on a weird island with Claire Redfield. They must work together to escape but Moira is young and inexperienced, not to mention that she refuses to use a gun after a childhood trauma. Despite this, Moira is tenacious. She is rebellious, determined and absolutely will not give up. She understands that she needs the help of Claire, and later the friendly Zombie survivor Evgeny and she proclaims “I swear to God I’m gonna survive the fuck out of this”. And so, with many more well placed F-bombs, Moira overcomes her deep rooted fears and, er, gets the fuck off the island! She may be young and coarse but she shows us that those things don’t matter – that she can’t be written off just because she lacks experience.
8. Oerba Yun Fang (Final Fantasy XIII trilogy) – Strong, sharp-tongued and determined, Fang is a formidable warrior. Just as with several of the other characters on this list, I appreciate her strength and even more so her attitude, but I also love Fang because she is driven in all she does by a desire to protect her best friend, Vanille. She is devoted to her cause, even going so far as to go behind Vanille’s back to protect her. She is a genuine friend to both Vanille and the series’ main character Lightning, and despite the party’s initial misgivings about her, her force of personality wins through. If you fancy a deeper delve into Fang’s character it just so happens I’ve written about her, and the other ladies of Final Fantasy XIII before, so go and have a look!

So, what do you think? Do any of these characters make your ‘Top 8’? Let me know who you would pick below, and make sure you head on over to AmbiGaming to check out Athena’s list and find out all the other wonderful bloggers who are getting involved with this festive sing-song!

Thanks for reading,

Pix1001 x