Using a Large Cast of Characters

[RedFox99]

Now, for some of us, we aren't particularly fond of how much of the Sonic cast is pushed the side in recent games and it's not just that. Some anime (even decent ones like MHA) fall into the habit of underusing interesting characters, or some cases, writing them rather badly.

Now, it would be interesting to se what you guys think about this subject, and some cases of a huge cast of characters being used well.

[Blacklightning]

The thing about additional playable characters is that level design has to be built in mind for what the characters can do, not necessarily the other way around. Either that means building stages for one character and one character only, or building each stage in such a way that every single character has a unique way to interact with it using the abilities they have on hand. Both become exponentially more difficult and less practical the more characters you utilize in any given game, and that's not even getting into narrative integration or adding characters after the fact as DLC.

Now to an extent I wouldn't mind too much if characters were added by means of some non canon free mode where none of that stuff matters quite as much, or the story is altered slightly to suit the chosen character (ala Sonic 2 to S3&K) but the simple fact of the matter is there's a limit to how much of this stuff you can accomplish in a sensible manner in any given game, and characters absolutely should not just be shoved into a game for the sake of having more characters to play as. I thought we already had Sonic Worlds as a depressing case in point for that.

[RedFox99]

9 hours ago, Blacklightning said:

The thing about additional playable characters is that level design has to be built in mind for what the characters can do, not necessarily the other way around. Either that means building stages for one character and one character only, or building each stage in such a way that every single character has a unique way to interact with it using the abilities they have on hand. Both become exponentially more difficult and less practical the more characters you utilize in any given game, and that's not even getting into narrative integration or adding characters after the fact as DLC.

Now to an extent I wouldn't mind too much if characters were added by means of some non canon free mode where none of that stuff matters quite as much, or the story is altered slightly to suit the chosen character (ala Sonic 2 to S3&K) but the simple fact of the matter is there's a limit to how much of this stuff you can accomplish in a sensible manner in any given game, and characters absolutely should not just be shoved into a game for the sake of having more characters to play as. I thought we already had Sonic Worlds as a depressing case in point for that.

That's good point. What are your two-cents about a huge cast in non-video-game media, like comics or tv shows?

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

A huge cast in comics or shows has to focus more on coherency and focus.

Unlike games, they don’t have to worry about things like level design for their diversity, but at the same time they do have to be unique since no character is the same (barring cases where that’s a narrative point, like clones or robot duplicates, and sometimes even then).

It’s easier to do than games, but you still have your work cut out.

[MetalSkulkBane]

 I see few solutions

1 Just make them different. Sonic 3 & Advance series proved it's possible. Just take time and though. Granted, it's not full prove solution, but that way we can cover few characters/ only 2D games and for the rest...

2 Make characters that are pallet swaps/only slightly different from Sonic (like double jump for lesser speed or something). No shame in that, Mario and Megaman did that too. Shadow/Silver/Blaze or even Metal/Amy could easily be playable in boost formula.

In both options they can be part of the main story (ala Rush), have their own tiny campaigns (ala Shadow Forces) or just be unlockables without story. Depending on the resources/ willingness of the developers.

3 Boss fights. Like Shadow being optional/secret boss fight to unlock.

4 Radio on Forces was actually not a bad idea, it just requires competent writer. They could do other smaller roles, like Cream handling shop, or Team Chaotix giving hints etc. Unleashed Hub World would be so much better with tiny addition of Sonic Cast sprinkled around in each city, just saying.

5 Just give us more spin-offs. RPG game, fighting game, racing game, "WarioWare". I would say "character X get his own game", but at this moment it's far too unrealistic.

As for not-games, while there are still challenges, Flynn (writer in Archie/IDW) already proved it's mostly possible to do. Potential cartoon could take "Batman: Brave & Bold" route. Each episode being about sonic team-uping with one of his friends. Or not, there are plenty possibilities.

[tailsBOOM!]

I like using more characters.   Every character- whether you like them or not- has its own fans and fan communities- even, per se Omochao (Best I could find right now) and Elise.  Having more characters as a fan service should satisfy more fans than original games will without a diversity of characters.

[E-122-Psi]

Don't force them in people's faces and over shill them. Tails and Knuckles worked in their original games since, in spite of heavy promotion, they were an option. You still wanted to play a classic game as Sonic? Sure thing. Just these guys are here to offer a fresh extra game.

Since Adventure 2, the series got obsessed with making cooler and cooler headliners and then FORCING the players to use them. This sometimes came at the expense of the main plot as well. Sonic vs Eggman slowly became a side event for completely alien concepts to the franchise that didn't really compliment or develop their lore but were more just warping the series according to what was cool.

[RedFox99]

17 hours ago, E-122-Psi said:

Don't force them in people's faces and over shill them. Tails and Knuckles worked in their original games since, in spite of heavy promotion, they were an option. You still wanted to play a classic game as Sonic? Sure thing. Just these guys are here to offer a fresh extra game.

Since Adventure 2, the series got obsessed with making cooler and cooler headliners and then FORCING the players to use them. This sometimes came at the expense of the main plot as well. Sonic vs Eggman slowly became a side event for completely alien concepts to the franchise that didn't really compliment or develop their lore but were more just warping the series according to what was cool.

Maybe have them as an option after finishing the game's story (without doing the whole "having to use them to achieve the true ending") to have an expanded view of the plot.

[Osmium]

The following is about TV shows and not video games. 

I've heard that when one pitches a show, they'll ask you to describe and sell the characters to them rather than the premise or setting. This is because the best characters are universal. In other words, a good character should work in a good majority of settings; you should want to see how they react to their setting and to other characters. They should stand out and make any situation their own. 

A good example of this is Animals of Farthing Wood. The number of major characters here is in the double digits and they are all incredibly memorable and nearly all have some sort of fanbase of their own, even if small. This is because every character has a really distinctive personality, most being dicks. These aren't simple stereotype characters ala Loud House. This makes them only more vulnerable and more relatable in my opinion which is exactly what you needed for the show to work. From the smarmy Weasel; to the pompous, puffed-up, rude, but reliable Tawny Owl; to the increasingly senile Badger; to the uncompromising and sludgy Adder; to the whiny and wimpy Mr. Rabbit; to the self-important, impulsive, and blunt Mr. Hare. These weren't supposed to be friends either which makes the situation greater. The episodes knew how to give every animal their spotlight, as the major roles were held by Fox, Toad, Badger (in series 1 and first half of 2), and later Vixen and so you'd so them talk the most as they drove the plots, but then you'd see them talk to every other animal and all the others talking to each other throughout every episode. You got to see interactions between literally everybody with some really funky consequences which only made them more endearing. Every situation had you see the reactions of every single animal and so their ways were stuck with you even more. 

The show relied on having characters you needed to root for as that was part of its premise. And their odd and focused relationships help as we see them turn on one another but all (or should I say mostly all) triumph in the end. The pacing helps out too though as some episodes would have a specific number of animals in the larger roles (with all the others playing supplemental roles) so you get individual time with every single animal in some sense. It really did a good job of making you feel familiar with everyone, which only brought you down more 

Spoiler

when some died. 

So basically if you want a show with a large number of characters, you need very distinctive personalities that all stand out against each other, meaningful and plentiful interactions, situations that they shine off of, some time in the spotlight for all of them, and every one is featured enough to always be remembered well. There will of course be variables depending on what happens in what show.