How would Ken Pontac handle characters like Shadow and Blaze?

[8ther]

Since Colors the writing in Sonic games have always been simplistic comical in tone plots on par with that of Saturday morning cartoons, let's say Sega were to make another Sonic adventure-est game where different characters are given their own scenario, say he would have to write a story for a serious character like Shadow or Blaze how would their personalization be handled? Did the cutscenes in Generations gave us any indication of they were handled?

[Soniman]

Generatoins just boiled all the characters down the their base personality traits so I don't think that would be a fair indication of how the characters would be handled. And Free Riders wasn't written by Pontac. So I really wouldn't know how they would handle the characters, though I would imagine Shadow's serious attitude would be played for laughs.

[Zaysho]

I don't think Generations is really a good example since they just adapted the Japanese script.

 

I'm not a fan of Pontac and Graff personally, so I don't want them writing more Sonic characters/stories, but I think as writers who know how to write for children's properties they'd do all right. The property has seen far less competent writing before them (then again, it's seen far better writing too). Provided they do a good bit of researching and are given an opportunity to write something more than a safe, episodic Saturday morning cartoon-esque adventure, I think they could do a decent job. I wasn't that into Lost World's story, but I think they at least did a decent job with Sonic and Eggman (Tails was too obnoxious for my tastes, and they didn't put any effort into making the Deadly Six interesting--and they had much more control over the story).

 

I'm not sure I'd trust them with some of my favorite characters (not that it's up to me or anything), though a "comically serious" interpretation (as per Shadow's portrayal in Free Riders) would be fun provided they don't mangle their personalities for the sake of a joke. My main concern is the characters being hollow stereotypes (Shadow in particular--I wouldn't want them to write him as a Vegeta knock-off), given how SEGA's treated them in the games the last few years.

[Diogenes]

Probably less dour, or at least more likely to have their dour moments interrupted or brushed off by other characters. But that said, it would be a mistake to consider the current writers only capable of writing simple comedy; I think SLoW showed, when they're given a proper amount of control of the story, they're capable of writing characters and scenes with more emotional range than the previous writers could (or were willing to, for whatever reason).

 

I think they could do the more serious characters justice, without falling into the trap of trying to make everything Very Serious And Mature.

[Dejimon11]

Why does everybody give Ken Pontact credit but not Warren Graff?

[Zaysho]

Why does everybody give Ken Pontact credit but not Warren Graff?

 

I figure because we hear more from Pontac than Graff. They're partners, but I really don't think Graff has commented on any of his work on Sonic, has he? I think Wikipedia just redirects a search for him to "Happy Tree Friends" or whatever it's called. Pontac, on the other hand, gets a lot of work in the animation field alone writing scripts for various shows/properties. Overall, he's more well known it would seem.

[Soniman]

Why does everybody give Ken Pontact credit but not Warren Graff?

 

Well when I say "Pontac" I say it as the "Team" of Ken and Warren, much easier for me personally.

[Kuzu]

I would really prefer it if they had some past writers collaborating with them so we can have something a lot more balanced in terms of plot. I don't hate their work, but some of their decisions with the characters and narrative kind of don't sit well with me.

[Ducktor Naldush]

I'm not  a fan of Ken and Warren, so I wouldn't actually be pleased with them writing the other characters. In my eyes, they already did enough damage to my idea of Tails, which I actually disliked in Lost World, alongside other factors in that game, like the pacing (which I think wasn't their fault only because they probably had a set number of cutscenes to work on) and the gross characterization of the Deadly Six, which, still in my eyes, are just Stereotype The Character. They'd probably play Shadow seriousness in a comedic manner, making him the comically serious of the group. Maybe that would be a good thing but...after Lost World I don't trust them anymore . Not too mention I find their way of bringing comedy to the game cringe-worthy, to say the least. "Baldy McNosehair" is still dull, stupid, and unfunny as it was the first time I heard it, maybe now more so than before.

Blaze? I have no idea. No, seriously, I don't know what they could do with her.

[Mando-Whirl-Wind]

I would see Blaze turning out as a rediculous over the top hero like an extreme version of wonder woman or miss marvel(classic),   OR turn into a decent but extreme joke of a hero like squirrel girl

[8ther]

Is Pontac the only writer for the Sonic series? Who wrote the story of Adventure, SA2, and Unleashed?

[FriendBot]

Is Pontac the only writer for the Sonic series? Who wrote the story of Adventure, SA2, and Unleashed?

 

Obiviously not, what makes you think so? Pontac and Graff started writng since Colors.

 

The following came from Wikipedia:

 

Adventure: Akinori Nishiyama

Adventure 2, Heroes: Shiro Maekawa

06: Shiro Maekawa, Kiyoko Yoshimura and Shun Nakamura

Unleashed: Kiyoko Yoshimura

Colors: Yasushi Otake along with Pontac and Graff

Generations: Pontac and Graff

Lost World: Harusama Nakajima along with Pontac and Graff

Shadow the Hedgehog, Rivals 1 and 2: Takashi Iizuka

Riders: Hiroshi Miyamoto

Riders: Zero Gravity: Masahiko Shirashi, Shiro Maekawa and Hiroshi Miyamoto

Free Riders: Takashi Iizuka, Eitaro Toyoda and Otake Yasushi

Chronicles: Jay Turner

Edited March 4, 2014 by SoniTH

[8ther]

I never said that he wrote for any game before Colors.

Why isn't Iizuka writing for the series anymore, isn't he like the head of Sonic Team what's stopping him from writing?

[SlickEvan]

Edit: Also I don't think they'd do a very well job considering their lack of research and umph or motivation you could say. In the interview found on YouTube he (Ken) didn't seem to enthralled. I don't know he just seemed passive to me. He seemed to lack passion. While he said he'd want to write bigger stories, his overall tone in the interview sounded idk... maybe it was just me. Plus after SLW I feel they'd write the characters pretty inorganic. While they TRIED to give Tails extra personality they also did it in way the broke the flow of the story. It was just unnatural. Idk I'm up late I'll revise this later.

Edited March 4, 2014 by Light the Hedgehog

[Blue Blood]

I never said that he wrote for any game before Colors.

Why isn't Iizuka writing for the series anymore, isn't he like the head of Sonic Team what's stopping him from writing?

 

He wrote ShTH and Zero Gravity. I'd be surprised if his colleagues didn't gag and lock him in cupboard when it comes to discussing new storylines now.

[Soniman]

He wrote ShTH and Zero Gravity. I'd be surprised if his colleagues didn't gag and lock him in cupboard when it comes to discussing new storylines now.

 

Oh my god I didn't know that, the alien shit from BOTH games makes so much more sense now

[JAiRO]

He wrote ShTH and Zero Gravity. I'd be surprised if his colleagues didn't gag and lock him in cupboard when it comes to discussing new storylines now.

 

His wackadoo teeth were intercepting alien transmissions, he's only serving his alien masters.

Nice try aliens, you can't kill Roger the Porcupine with just a few terribad games.

 

But seriously, that's really weird. I wonder if he's got any real say in Sonic projects anymore, or if he's little more than just a manager.

[FriendBot]

I never said that he wrote for any game before Colors.

Why isn't Iizuka writing for the series anymore, isn't he like the head of Sonic Team what's stopping him from writing?

 

Then what do you mean by how Pontac and Graff were the only writers for the seres?

 

Maybe because he doesn't feel like it. He probably already knows that it's not his thing.

[8ther]

Then what do you mean by how Pontac and Graff were the only writers for the seres?

 

I meant are they the only one still writing for the series.

[Agie]

I admit I'm not the biggest fan of the idea. Pontac and Graff aren't bad writers to me, but I'd want to be sure they'd have a good grasp on the two characters. Otherwise, I'd rather have a different writer handle these (and possibly other) characters, even if Pontac and Graff were to be the main writers.

[FriendBot]

I meant are they the only one still writing for the series.

 

Then yeah, looks like it but it seems that Sonic Team's writers are helping them as well. You've really got to word things better next time.

[SuperBrandon]

As Shadow and Blaze, are both serious characters I can see their attitudes used in a comedic way. I am not a big fan of Pontac and Graff,  altough I liked the Colors story altough it could ebcheesy with the jokes. Generations, did not have the greatest storyline. But, Lost World had it flaws in the storyline and , they made Sonic into a jerk and he was poorly written so was the story. But, Eggman was written well.

[kadybat]

I just want to see a game written by the Archie team. I'd read somewhere a few weeks ago that SEGA basically told Flynn he couldn't write for the games, and if that's at all true, it's a real shame.

I really liked the story in Unleashed and I wouldn't mind seeing Yoshimura come back, seeing as the last few games have kinda been bland to me, plot-wise. Less characters makes them feel more limited, especially since the side characters are rather one-dimensional when they've been used post-Unleashed.

[MegasonicZX]

As Shadow and Blaze, are both serious characters I can see their attitudes used in a comedic way. I am not a big fan of Pontac and Graff,  altough I liked the Colors story altough it could ebcheesy with the jokes. Generations, did not have the greatest storyline. But, Lost World had it flaws in the storyline and , they made Sonic into a jerk and he was poorly written so was the story. But, Eggman was written well.

But, but, but but but but but but but, how?

[Wittymations]

But, but, but but but but but but but, how?

Fiction is a strange animal. Heroes and villains really work on a credit system.

Villains earn points by doing evil things (unseeen torture and enslavement -- that's small payment), doing disgustingly awful things (acts akin to terrorism, seen torture, burning places to the ground, etc -- bigger payment), putting the hero to the test (biggest when the hero is having a hard time).

Villains spend it on losing to the hero, getting mocked and ridiculed by the hero, and being mocked and ridiculed in general.

Heroes earn points by being beat down, failing early on, and saving people in times that seem REALLY hopeless.

Heroes spend it on mocking the villain, beating the villain, foiling the villain.

Despite the fact that villains are evil and doing evil things, they have to be en getting the upperhand and doing things that, in the moment, actually make the viewer mad to warrant insults and cheapshots.

Take Colors, yeah. We know Eggman's harnessing energy and all that, but the aliens all seem rather fine besides that, there was like... maybe one scene that had any kind of emotional impact (the place where he harness them) but after that, it felt pretty ignored. So, when Sonic comes in throwing out insults, even though we know he's doing bad things, he still felt like the one getting bullied.

Again, that's for the reason it hardly feels like he's doing anything really evil.

When Sonic's constantly handed the upperhand all the time, Eggman begins to turn into a sympathetic villain. We feel more bad for the guy when we should be rooting against him. We should want to beat him, or look at him as a threat, but we don't.

Doesn't help that many previous titles punked him out over and over again. Many still feel scars from that. And we also had seen him be more threatening in the past. Today, it looks like Eggman's just a useless villain who couldn't evil his way out of a wet paper-bag and Sonic looks like a schoolyard bully.

Again, that's fiction. In the fictional world, you tend to want your villains to be an evil, threatening guy so the hero is justified when beating him. You tend to want to put your hero through hell, so when they come out on top, it feels rewarding.

Fiction is a strange animal. It's the only time you really want this. Fiction.