What is the main reason for rpg's using unrealistically young characters in games is

Most everyone agrees that the far majority of rpg's uses unrealistically young characters to in their games that act far more maturely and pull off tasks that people in real life their age could only dream about pulling off.

But what do you think is the main reason for the use of these young main characters. Since Japan is the place where most of these games come from is it just common place in their culture to create stories in which young people have the ability to rise to the occasion.

Or is it just that the people who make these games know what age-range the majority of their fan base encompasses and because of that they just create their games in a manner in which the majority of their fans can relate to.

Or do you think it is some other reason.


It's all well and good to have young people in their games. But sometimes I feel that when they allow these young characters to do unrealistic things for their ages it makes it a bit more difficult to get interested in the story and the characters.

It's to appeal to a demographic. People wanna see other people that they think are like themselves (just imagine all the people who say "OMG I'M LIKE CLOUD BECAUSE HE'S BADASS!"). Whether it be illogical, irrational, or just plain nonsense, what works, is what works. That which is unrealistic, is often the most interesting.

Just because one might find it uninteresting, doesn't mean other people feel the same way. There's something to be said about getting swept away in the narrative, and letting things run their course and enjoying it rather than picking it apart the entire time. Give it a chance, THEN pick it apart all you want.

EDIT: I forgot, there's also the concept of storytelling. A story is more interesting to tell as having a character who changed his/her personality due to an adventure. If you had a character that did not change or have some form of epiphany, then what is the point of the story?

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Or is it just that the people who make these games know what age-range the majority of their fan base encompasses and because of that they just create their games in a manner in which the majority of their fans can relate to.

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Yeah, pretty much. I don't see many 50 year olds interested in RPGs at least.

It certainly doesn't detract from the story at all. I've gotten used to it by now, and I won't let it ruin my enjoyment of a game for no reason.

Edit: And really, it's a Role-Playing Game. They don't all have to conform to reality.

No one wants to play as an old man in most cases. Well, with RPGs I guess.

I don't want to play as an old man. But I really don't want to play as a 15 year old brat either. Those kids know nothing of the world and really wouldn't make it. I like getting swept up too. But that sorta breaks the illusion. Probably the reason FF6 and 7 are my favorites. Mature characters, mature plot. Mature atmosphere. I'm tired of the coming of age stuff

If a game uses a young character it's:

1. Because it appeals to the demographic
2. They're still young and probably immature. Therefore, the character tends to mature over the course of the game, and by the end of the journey they will have "blossomed". Character development.

honestly, I don't even pay attention to how old they are, it makes no difference to me. Plus Cyan was my favorite character in FFVI and he was old, not quite as old as Strago, but still old.

You people must remember, humans only lived til their 30s/40s at one point (after they lived to be like 900... lol) many of the great warriors you hear about in the "ancient" times were 16-20, so yeah...

THE JACKEL

Actually if you pay attention to history channel stuff most warriors or great leaders were still in their 30's or mid to late twenties (even back in the day when people didn't live as long).

no, most of the generals, that doesn't mean the best fighters were.

THE JACKEL

It appeals to the age group playing RPG's.

Even given the demographic argument, I still think its utterly disgusting to have excessively young lead characters. The 'change' argument is weak; 'change' can occur in any human at any time, and there is no increased likelihood of it as you are young; if there is, then prove it to me. It's probably the main reason I've grown out of what kids call 'RPGs' these days and doesn't make me particularly care to go back.

I liked the way Xenogears set their group system up. In Xenogears even though the very central characters in the game were teenagers. The ones in the party who were making all the decisions were the older characters (although Citan was still pretty young to be playing the role he did (though it was acceptable)) and the teenagers in the group were pretty much just following their lead.

The only area in Xenogears that I thought was a little outlandish in regards to the age thing was that they made Maria as young as they did and she still was able to pilot that big gear. Though Maria was just a secondary character so it wasn't that big of a deal.

Personally... I think those ages were just slapped on there... Because I just had to look to make sure. I really didn't believe they were any younger than like 20. In fact I figured them to be 22+ (Fei and Elly at least). I guess its not really the age number, its the maturity and atmosphere... Xenogears was not made specifically to peddle to a 13-year-old demographic. Or even an 18-year old demographic. They did something right. But it wasn't slapping the number "18" on their main characters.

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Originally Posted by Sephex

No one wants to play as an old man in most cases. Well, with RPGs I guess.

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Ahem...

http://simon.deobald.org/ff4/chars/tellah1.jpg

http://simon.deobald.org/ff5/chars/galuf1.jpg

Old people can be awesome. And usually sport beards, which adds to their awesomeness.

I don't see why no old characters would be annoying, except possibly in FFVIII where there was noone at all to fill a 'wise' role. Young characters are easier to develop as has been said. Perhaps more importantly, the other benefit of old people mentioned - that they have more worldly knowledge, is useless for the player to relate to when they're exploring a new world completely. Auron and Lulu were great characters in FFX, but the fact that they kept quiet about so many things in the world until after Tidus had been there was strained enough. Imagine if they were the leads.

You're looking at the wrong angle. You're only considering a story that has character development as one of its key dynamics, instead of the plot around the main character. Which granted was there. But you don't always have to have huge changes in your character as the plot evolves. Part of an RPG is the adventure. If Auron or Lulu lead, most of what happened would have still happened. They followed the religious thing, and then rebelled against it. A teenage love story wasn't necissary to develop the plot.

Besides. Characters can change at any age, as was stated. The only example you're considering is a change in maturation. But people can change their point of view too. Wakka didn't grow up, but his character developed too. His wasn't a coming of age story. It was him casting off his ignorance and bias racism. He was an older character

I understand the whole target audience thing, and the development thing, but I still think RPG makers should branch out more. How many 15-17 year-old kids with spiky hair and swords can save the world?

I don't mind playing as a 15 year old even though I'm 20... I don't even 'feel' they are the age they are most of the time. But I still don't see why developers can't make adult characters sometimes. Games aren't just for teenagers in high school, and I plan to play them pretty much forever *shrug* I'll be 50+ and still playing RPGs myself.

I'm a huge fan of Xenosaga, and they keep all the development of other games even though 6 out of the 7 main characters are older than I am. They're 23, 27, 30, 35, and, uh, 4000 or so. The villains are older than I am too... and it still works out fine.

Anyway, it doesn't really bother me what age they are, but I don't think it would kill them to include more adults. I'm glad that FFXII has quite a few adults running around in it :up:

Sometimes these characters have incredibly ignorant behaviours befitting a young, inexperienced person. For example, it's a lot more believable for a 15 year old to not realize that a particular female is openly flirting with him than it would be for an older adult (who should have experienced something similar).

Besides, the story of David and Goliath is one of the most fascinating stories in history, and has been an infinite influence to many other stories. These 'coming of age' games are possibly made to 'influence' the younger people by showing them that you're not helpless because you're young. It's all about the motivation.

It's a lot easier (story wise) to form a child with Zero life experiences into a hero, than it is to change an adult with a lot of experiences and values into something different (i.e. FF4's Cecil). The result of a more drastic change like in FF4 may have a greater impact, but it is harder to write than just forming the experiences of someone who hasn't had any. Those sort of situations with adults will require a pretty extensive backstory in addition to the real story of the....story... if you want it to be any good. If nothing was explained about Cecil's past, he would have been a pretty dry character.

Kids in games (and anime) saving the world won't go away, and I think it's a very minor issue. I say we should be thankful when we have older heroes with extensive histories and such, as those are truly rich experiences.

Actually Vyk the young characters in Xenogears were actually intended to be that young and it wasn't just some number they decided to slap on after the game was finished.


At some point in the game they do actually go into how old Fei, Elly, Bart, Billy, and Margie are (and Maria as well).

Some of the other characters that they state how old they are during course of the game are Ramsus and Miang (there might be a few others but those are just the ones I can think off the top of my head).

But in anycase I liked what they did with the characters in Xenosaga. Most of the characters in that game (particularly the npc) are all in their 30's, 40's, and 50's (and most of the characters who look young are all robots).

The only unbelievable one in that series I have seen is that somehow Shion got to be a high ranking officer by the age of 21 or 22.

The odd amount of maturity in young people is possible. Just not very common. However, making a giant fire ball appear from your giant 1 handed sword and killing a giant poisonous snake is not, due to the lack of a giant poisonous snake and a giant 1 handed sword that spews giant fire balls. Anyway, they probably have such young characters because an old person in a video game probably can't relate as much to a young person as a young person in a video game can. But that's just what I think.

The odd amount of maturity in young people is possible yes. But it is not real possible for those young people to be high ranking military officers or some of the other positions that twenty year olds seem to possess in rpg's.

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Originally Posted by darkchrono

The odd amount of maturity in young people is possible yes. But it is not real possible for those young people to be high ranking military officers or some of the other positions that twenty year olds seem to possess in rpg's.

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It's possible to achieve a pretty high rank at a fairly early age in reality, but usually when it's someone very young it enforces that they are a prodigy of some sort.

I'm part of the military in my country, and we have Lieutenants who are in their very early 20s. At least in the British military system, you take a course so that you can become a Commissioned officer, so it's pretty 'easy'.
The highest possible rank in our military is 'Lieutenant Colonel', since we're sort of a 'spin-off' of the British Military.

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Originally Posted by Vyk

Personally... I think those ages were just slapped on there... Because I just had to look to make sure. I really didn't believe they were any younger than like 20. In fact I figured them to be 22+ (Fei and Elly at least). I guess its not really the age number, its the maturity and atmosphere... Xenogears was not made specifically to peddle to a 13-year-old demographic. Or even an 18-year old demographic. They did something right. But it wasn't slapping the number "18" on their main characters.

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anyone who played xenogears will realize the age of fei and elly really doesnt matter cuz of certain other factors playing into their personalities......

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Originally Posted by darkchrono

The odd amount of maturity in young people is possible yes. But it is not real possible for those young people to be high ranking military officers or some of the other positions that twenty year olds seem to possess in rpg's.

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It is a little strange to see 15 year old Billy as commander of the entire army. Anime and games are full of child prodigies that completed college and military school and became delta force super-commander by the age of 17 :lol: (Although, you mentioned Shion earlier, and she's head of the First R&D Division at 22 because Wilhelm needs her to be close to Kos-Mos for his plans and she's 'special' in some way :choc2: )

I guess to fully enjoy games with underage stars you must suspend disbelief just like you do for movies and such. Video game characters never react to the extreme situations they're in realistically, rather of age or not. Gotta make exceptions for the sake of plot and pacing and all.

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Originally Posted by Shion Strife

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Originally Posted by Vyk

Personally... I think those ages were just slapped on there... Because I just had to look to make sure. I really didn't believe they were any younger than like 20. In fact I figured them to be 22+ (Fei and Elly at least). I guess its not really the age number, its the maturity and atmosphere... Xenogears was not made specifically to peddle to a 13-year-old demographic. Or even an 18-year old demographic. They did something right. But it wasn't slapping the number "18" on their main characters.

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anyone who played xenogears will realize the age of fei and elly really doesnt matter cuz of certain other factors playing into their personalities......

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They don't keep that, they have to re-realize it. Though that is a really good point. I'm sure it helps their maturity in a subconcious manner.

You play young characters so that you can grow in their world with them and gain and understanding and viewpoint about their worlds at about a normal age that they would.

Also, a young character is pretty much a naive innocence. The only kind there is for a seed that will someday blossom into a hero. It is common for the protagonist to be 'not smart' and in need of guidence in a romance and tragity. Thus, a child is common cast.

Bipper