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The Morality of AntiHeroes in Video
Games: Why it's Fun to be the 'Bad Guy'
by Katrina Filippidis on 04/19/19 09:36:00 am
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The following blog post, unless otherwise noted, was written by a member of Gamasutra’s community.
The thoughts and opinions expressed are those of the writer and not Gamasutra or its parent company.
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The Morality of AntiHeroes in Video Games: Why We Don't Always Like Being The 'Good Guy'
PRODUCTION
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April 21, 2019
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Deep Silver Volition
Lighting Artist You're an honesttogoodness, law abiding citizen. You don't lie, you don't steal, and you most certainly
Deep Silver FISHLABS don't kill. Like most people in society, you behave according to an ethical moral code which forbids any
Lead Combat Designer sort of reckless, deviant behavior. But when it comes to video games, that code is temporarily
(m/f/d)
deactivated, and another, largely contradictory set of rules emerges: As Kara, you stole the bus tickets
Deep Silver FISHLABS in Detroit: Become Human, and proceeded to lie about having found them. As Spyro the dragon, you
Senior 3D Artist (m/f/d) routinely set flocks of sheep on fire. And as Garrett the master thief, you picked pockets and swiped
valuables without a moment's hesitation. A curious observer might conclude that what's occurring here is
a form of cognitive dissonance which has little mental discomfort attached. In fact, a good majority of us
Latest Blogs enjoy these games tremendously. But why?
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Why is it fun to be the 'bad guy'?
April 21, 2019
1. The thrill of misconduct
Referencing Objects:
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"What is locked, can be opened. What is hidden, can be found. What is yours, can be mine."
Video game music
composer gives lecture
at the Library of
Morally gray protagonists are fun because of the chaos residing within them. They give us a chance to
Congress [2] indulge in our more destructive capacities without the guilt that would ordinarily follow were we
subscribing to a more virtuous, socially ordained set of ethics. It's not just liberating, it's exciting.
How I found my style on
YouTube
Showing And
Announcing We Are The
Through clever use of firstperson perspective and meaningful hand animations, Ion Storm's Thief:
Caretakers At PAX East Deadly Shadows convinces us we are accomplished criminals whenever we pick a lock. We are rewarded
At The Same Time for similarly dishonorable acts: stealing loot, resisting arrest, betraying the organization we're supposed
My thoughts on difficulty
to be working with, and neutralizing enemies (or knocking them unconscious) to clear the path ahead for
in games [6] easier, riskfree navigation. Further electrifying gameplay is the realization Garrett's actions aren't
for comedic purposes like the wonderful showman Bob Arno—they're for survival. And the ends usually
justify the means. That isn't to say games with lighthearted tones can't be equally intriguing; House
Press Releases House's upcoming avian sandbox Untitled Goose Game looks set to hit the mischiefmaking sweet spot.
April 21, 2019
Games Press 2. The paradox of dualism
Basebuilding puzzler "People will always believe in monsters. It's easier than accepting their own darkness."
"Puzzle Pelago" has...
HEROES & GENERALS Traditionally speaking, games prefer a clearly defined split between good and evil: benevolent plumbers
WWII and their koopa archnemeses, blue hedgehogs and wicked scientists, fairhaired heroes of time and
NOW ON DISCORD megalomaniac kings. Villains fall, heroes triumph. But Dr. Philip Zimbardo believes reality is far more
'Days Gone' Original complex. In his popular 2008 TED Talk, he says that the line between good and evil isn't fixed; it's
Soundtrack Available movable and permeable—even for the average joe.
Now
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One character who exemplifies this shift is military doctorturned bloodsucker Jonathan E. Reid.
Report a Problem In Vampyr, he has to grapple with the desire to murder the very innocents he once swore to protect, and
Dontnod is eager to amplify the conflict. As players, we are deliberately encouraged (though not forced)
Submit News to 'feed' on NPCs as a means of acquiring a huge XP reward. Unsurprisingly, the Life is
Strange developers include storyaltering consequences for succumbing to temptation, but humor
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players by leaving enough room for moral justification: vampires kill to survive. It is in their nature, just
Blogging Guidelines as it is in the nature of the scorpion to sting. Therefore, what ultimately draws us to Dr. Reid is his
paradoxical existence—he is both sinner and saint; one step shy of villain, yet not pure enough to be a
How We Work champion of good; a depraved beast that clings desperately to the last embers of its humanity. We can
show mercy for Dr. Reid's condition while simultaneously renouncing his sinful indulgence. Were he a
Advertise with Gamasutra typical hero—one whose morals never stray from the boulevard of integrity—the personal struggle to
resist evil would be comparatively nonexistent, and, arguably, less profound.
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3. The appeal of redemption
"I am no longer worthy of being an orc. May my ancestors forgive me."
Indie Games
Image credit: Cyanide Studio
Cyanide's Styx: Master of Shadows is ripe for analysis here: its central character Styx routinely slits
throats, snaps necks, poisons guards, and causes catastrophic environmental accidents, but we still love
the little bastard. We take solace in the fact his efforts prevent a more evil scheme from achieving
fruition, and in a way, this tells players they are still a moral octave above the real villains. But it begs the
question: Is there a limit to bad behavior players are willing to accept before it spills into unacceptable
territory? Dr. Krakowiak explains researchers haven't really found a definitive threshold:
"Viewers and players are motivated to enjoy the content they consume so they may continue to accept
increasingly heinous acts in order to maintain their levels of enjoyment. It is also complicated by the fact
that players or viewers can easily justify characters’ behaviors because of the fictional nature of
entertainment content. In other words, players may not feel bad about doing bad things in a video game
because they know that it is “just a game” and that no one really gets hurt by their actions."
4. The shock of rolereversal
"Be ever diligent, for thine enemies are a multitude, and sin never sleeps."
Another interesting phenomenon which occurs whenever we play as an antihero is the unexpected moral
180. And it is precisely because heroic protagonists are the default that this feels so startling. When
viewing the world from any given perspective, it is not us who is 'bad', but anybody around us who
attempts to derail our objectives. When Garrett is creeping through Saint Edgar's Church, every single
Hammerite guard suddenly becomes the villain; he is simply on a mission to 'acquire' a holy relic for the
Keepers; he is now 'good'. It is particularly important to mention that the interactive nature of gaming
only serves to accentuate immersion, and by extension, the degree with which we identify with Garrett:
the tactile 'click' as we snatch items; the hushed footsteps of nearby guards striking fear into our hearts;
the gentle depression of WASD keys required to sneak behind an NPC and subsequent adrenaline rush
when we successfully empty their pockets (or ghost by) without raising suspicion. All these sensory
elements combine, not just to reel us away from reality, but to quietly untie longheld assumptions about
whether immoral actions are truly indicative of an evil character—especially when that character is now
us.
Visiting the Dark Side
Games which let us play as a character who isn't required to uphold the laws of heroism are relatively
scarce. It is far more common to install a hero like Link, who we all know is in opposition to evil, or Lara
Croft, arbiter of justice in a world consumed by treacherous organizations and mythological
impossibilities. But when antiheroes enter the fray, they blur the schism between good and bad, leading
us to question whether they are just villains or heroes stuck in limbo. They slowly twist our moral
compass each time we inhabit them, inviting us to relish in the joys of anarchy, hold our breaths for
redemption, and urge us to reexamine a quote as old as time:
We're not so different, you and I.
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