Establishing Character Moment/Video Games: Difference between revisions

* [[Asura's Wrath|COME ON!!!]] Asura stopping a Country sized finger with his fists and punching it back in the first Trailers of ''[[Asura's Wrath]]''.

* One simple intro establishes [[Sonic the Hedgehog]] as Sega's [[Mascot with Attitude]]. In the original ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog (video game)|Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' for the [[Sega Genesis]], a black screen fades into the game's logo, and Sonic pops into the logo and does his signature [[Giving Someone the Pointer Finger|finger wag]] at you.

* ''[[Halo (series)|Halo]]'' establishes John-117 as a badass by having him snark at Cortana while the ship is being boarded, he is being hunted, and they have just found an artificial ring world floating in space. Meanwhile, Johnson is established as a badass who will make you laugh by having him give what's known as the [[It Makes Sense in Context|Giant Hula-Hoop Speech]]. Gravemind is defined as an asshole by having him betray both the Arbiter and the Chief.

* Your first meeting with [[The Mole|Desther]] and [[Wide-Eyed Idealist|Fenthick]] in ''[[Neverwinter Nights]]'' quickly and clearly sums up the two, with Desther snapping at you for your incompetence at showing up too late to save the creatures and Fenthick apologizing for Desther's behavior and making excuses.

* Fawkes from ''[[Fallout 3]]'' is first introduced by talking to [[Word of God|him]] through a speaker. He seems nice and polite, despite the fact that he is a super mutant. He helps you for a while, then politely departs. His establishing character moment is later on when you find him jumping out of the side of an aircraft with a giant laser minigun screaming various battle cries...and he's ''still'' polite to you when you talk to him.

* Godot in ''[[Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney|Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney]]: Trials and Tribulations'' has one when he is first presented to the courtroom. He sips his coffee, throws out a coffee-related quip, and generally acts like he owns the place.

** Matt Engarde's {{spoiler|real}} appearance.

{{quote|'''Engarde''': {{spoiler|''(brushes back hair to show scars, smirks, holds up a brandy glass and swirls it menacingly)'' How do you do, Mr. Lawyer? I'm Matt Engarde.}}}}

* ''[[Fate/stay night|Fate Stay Night]]'' has the most deadly Servant Gilgamesh turn up, kill Caster and show clearly that he is [[Eviler Than Thou|even worse]]. And then he leaves because he thinks that Shirou's mansion (one of the biggest in town) is too low class a place for him to fight. Oh, and he refers to Saber as his property near constantly.

* The very first thing we see [[Armies Are Evil|Blackwatch]] do in ''[[Prototype (video game)|Prototype]]'' is save an innocent woman from a horde of Infected...only to kill the woman immediately afterwards. This is arguably meant to show that Blackwatch is willing to kill ''anyone'' with any contact with [[The Virus]], ''even if they're not even infected themselves.''

** A less violent but just as telling introduction comes in the very first line we ever hear Dana Mercer speak, which is "Let ''go'' of me, you goose-stepping motherfucker!"

* Rachel from the Xbox remake of ''[[Ninja Gaiden]]'' appears staring down a fiend larger than herself and [[One-Hit Kill|One Hit Killing]] it. This particular type of fiend is one that remains annoying even with later health and weapon upgrades. [[Cutscene Power to the Max]] or not, it nicely makes her out to be some [[Badass]] [[Action Girl]]...so it's funny how Ryu ends up having to save her repeatedly, eh? From the same title, Gamov shows himself by speaking up from a hitherto unseen corner, making some cryptic comments and then showing a capacity for [[Offscreen Teleportation]] that leaves our [[Ninja]] protagonist befuddled, clearly setting up his [[Mysterious Watcher]] role.

** Grunt is introduced by bursting out of his tank, demanding some kind of purpose. When he backs down, he notices that Shepard has had a gun to Grunt's chest the whole conversation, and he just laughs. That's Grunt right there.

*** It's also notable for showing the [[Undying Loyalty|enormous amount of respect]] he has for Shepard from the very beginning. It establishes that he WILL follow him/her into Hell itself.

** [[Cowboy Cop]] Garrus is introduced in the first game complaining to [[Da Chief]] about how the regulations are getting in the way of him arresting Saren.

*** If that wasn't enough, he gets another Establishing Character Moment a few minutes later, when Fist's thugs try to hold Dr. Michel hostage. He pops out of the other side of the room and deals a clean [[Boom! Headshot!|headshot]] to the thug holding Michel. Shepard can then either compliment his aim or [[What the Hell, Hero?|call him out for putting the doctor in danger if he missed]].

** Hawke's siblings, Bethany and Carver, are first introduced slaying Darkspawn, before going right back to ''arguing''. Bethany quickly shows herself to be diplomatic and introverted, while Carver is brash and argumentative.

* Minor villain Pascal Grentzer from ''[[Fire Emblem Elibe|Fire Emblem: The Blazing Sword]]'' asserts his status as perhaps the [[Complete Monster|vilest individual in the entire game]] when, upon being released from prison, he attempts an [[I Have You Now, My Pretty]] on his liberator...who happens to be a [[Dark Magical Girl]] [[Manipulative Bastard|Manipulative Bitch]] [[Hot Mom]] who could quite easily turn him inside-out with magic. She quickly asserts control over him, but what he would've done to anyone less willful is disturbingly clear...

* It takes most of ''[[Yggdra Union]]'' for Gulcasa to finally get one of these, but when he does it's very powerful. In the very short scene in question, a scout arrives to tell him that {{spoiler|his little sister Emilia}} is dead. He accepts the news and dismisses her rather than opting to [[Shoot the Messenger]]...and then once she's out of the room, he breaks down crying. Rather than rage against the Royal Army for their role in that character's death, Gulcasa [[It's All My Fault|blames himself for lacking the power to save her]]. And once he's managed to pull himself together, he goes right back to rallying his men to defend his capital from your attack. Each of these actions [[Blaze Union|has a story behind it]], but simply seeing them for what they are is enough to succinctly explain [[Nice Guy|what kind of person Gulcasa is outside of battle]].

* ''[[Golden Sun]]'' and the sequels have a large cast of characters, most of them flat. As a result, their characterization is established immediately upon meeting them, and there's not much development afterward.

** The comic book starts with her being caught trying to escape some Middle Eastern town under a burqa after stealing a necklace. Once she's caught and exposed, she makes a few jaunty quips while escaping in a hail of gunfire with an [[Indy Ploy]]. But for her butler arriving in a chopper, a bit late, she would've died. Acts like she doesn't need others, but she still does. That's about all you need to know if you haven't played the games.

* The opening to ''[[Left 4 Dead]]'' quickly establishes the dynamic between the four survivors. Bill [[Team Dad|leads the group through an alleyway]] using military handsigns, and specifically investigates the zombie remains in hopes of understanding them. Francis makes [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold|asshole remarks, and during a horde helps Zoe while quipping]]. Louis [[The Pollyanna|remains optimistic and hopeful]]. However, Zoe's [[Genre Savvy]] nature never comes up.

*** And, of course, Nick sums up every survivor in the ''[[Left 4 Dead]]'' franchise:

{{quote|'''Nick:''' [[Badass Boast|I have not...Come this far...To die NOW!]]}}

* In ''[[Star Fox 64]]'', almost immediately after gameplay begins, Slippy [[Leeroy Jenkins|flies out ahead of everyone else]] and an enemy fighter starts chasing him. This will happen quite often.

* Invoked intentionally with ''[[Team Fortress 2]]'' and the "Meet The Team" videos (minus the Pyro, whose video is lingering in [[Development Hell]]). You can learn everything you need to know about the individual classes by watching them.

** In the first game, in the middle of you getting a dubious and quite possibly suicidal mission briefing from Seth (who comments that "Power shifts quickly in the Brotherhood") Kane's hand appears in the corner of the screen holdinging a pistol, which he uses to blow Seth's brains out. Then he comments that "Yes, power shifts more quickly than some people think....", issues the player his orders, then [[Affably Evil|congratulates the player on his promotion]].

** On the GDI side of the same game, Kane's introduction involves the player getting a series of routine reports from various news agencies on various topics, and in the middle of the reports Kane suddenly hacks into his data stream, tells the player that his/ EVA unit cannot help him, that his army is penniless and emasculated, that he is doomed to failure, and that ''he knows where you live'' and implies he has assassins on the way to kill you. [[Affably Evil|Then he bids you a good day]].

'''Mikhail''': ''[smiling]'' I agree! }}

* ''[[Call of Duty: Modern Warfare|Modern Warfare]]'' makes sure we know where each of the primary villains sit.

** Vladimir Makarov in the second game has an ''entire mission'' serve as his establishing character moment. It starts with him and his cronies machinegunning an entire airport (and you have to follow and help him). It ends with Makarov casually turning and shooting you in the head, revealing he knew you were a spy the whole time.

* In [[Katawa Shoujo]]: