The Devil May Cry but Not as Much as Devil May Cry Fans

I'm a little bit late on this one I feel, but there's something that has been bothering me recently. (Yes folks this is another video game post so if you're not a fan you might want to click away now) 

Last year a reboot to the much loved Devil May Cry franchise was released and it led to an interesting reaction from a lot of people. Most people tended to agree that the gameplay was at least pretty decent and in most places it was thought of as great, but did a lot of these same people like the game? No. Why? Because they changed the main character...okay.

The original protagonist of Devil May Cry was Dante, a half demon, half human devil hunter who was pretty flippant with most of his enemies. Basically Dante was an undeniable bad-ass who has a penchant for showing off, being arrogant and eating junk food (I hasten to point out for the hardened fans that yes Dante was a bit more serious in Devil May Cry 2, that's not really that important to what I'm talking about here because it's the bad ass who you all love so much and as far as I know Devil May Cry 2 was thought of as the worst of the original three games) and as such it's pretty easy to see why the character would be loved in video game circles.

This that pretty basic analysis of the original Dante (and I mean REEEEEALLY basic) I feel I've done enough preamble to begin talking about the new Dante. Firstly the main problem seem to have with new Dante (just gonna call him Dante from here on out. Also when I say main problem this is the one I heard the most and is by no means the only argument people have leveled at the character) is his hair. His old mop was pure white in keeping with his direct family, but now he sports a somewhat shorter hair cut with black hair, leading to a lot of fans calling him (brace yourself for this one)...emo.

For anyone who might have been in a coma for the past decade or so the whole 'emo' thing was style of clothing, music and life outlook that was characterized by darkness and self-deprecation. A decent amount of teenagers went through an 'emo' phase (myself included) usually through high-school where they grew their hair long, dyed it black and started straightening it.

The new Dante does have straight black hair, this is true, but why does this make him emo? He spends most of his time cracking wise and being overconfident, something which is completely at odds with what is classically thought of as 'emo', and I don't think that having any particular haircut should throw up red flags about someones character.

Okay so rant about the hair hate is over, now to actually examine everything else that actually makes the character a character. Firstly the other main argument against him as that he lost his bad ass edge in the latest installment, partially due to the new visual design of his icon red coat over a grotty looking wife beater.

Firstly I want to examine the fact that his personality doesn't seem that different for the most part. As with old Dante he treats many of his enemies very flippantly cracking wise and acting like they're nothing to him. So far it sounds pretty standard and for a while I couldn't really understand the complaint, he was powerful, he was arrogant and he sounded like he didn't give a shit, but then it occurred to me that the problem was that last part.

It harks back to the whole 'emo' point. As much as old Dante was a bad ass who treated his enemies like crap he actually cared about stuff, he is often sited as taking demon-hunting jobs for people without accepting payment because he knows the client is poor (occasionally leading to him being taken advantage of by people when they send him bills for damages he caused while on his free missions) meaning it's clear to tell that he cares about people and the world around him.

Modern Dante however? Well he acts like he doesn't give a crap about himself or the world around him, this is easily seen in the opening by the fact that he clearly drinks heavily, enjoys mindless/meaningless sex and doesn't seem to care about his appearance or surroundings. So this sounds a lot like an emo character, someone who cares little for themselves or the world around them and dresses in dark colors (you know, to match their SOOOOOUL)

So why do I still disagree with the whole 'emo' thing? Surely what I just said totally backs up the point that he's an emo character right? Well it might just do that, if it persisted beyond the first few missions. Examining Dante's life and what we know about it from the story it's easy to see why he wouldn't care for much in his life. He has never known his parents, he has lived alone and entirely for himself for most of his life because he has never had a family and this would almost certainly lead someone into a self-destructive spiral of alcohol, drugs and meaningless sex.

However, when Dante is presented with the chance to learn about his past and his family he jumps at the chance (Like seriously for someone who didn't care about much as soon as it was claimed Virgil was his brother he went along waaaay too easily) and from that point on he actually starts to have emotional depth and cares about the people he meets along the way. Yes it's true that the female character is almost certainly there just to be a token love interest but it's not her that I'm looking at here, the fact is that token or not she is the person that Dante starts to care about and wants to protect.

From that point on in the game he still acts arrogant, he still makes wise ass remarks to his enemies and still manages to kick a whole heaping helping of ass, but it is shown that now he has started on the path he is willing to go out of his way to help people. Even if the character tries to pretend he doesn't care or that he's only helping because there's something in it for him, by the end of the story (something I have no plan to ruin for you) it is clear that he does have morals, and does want to help and protect people.

As I've said many times before this is all my own opinion and there are probably a lot of people out there who will disagree with me about the reboot and the characters created therein but for the most point I think I've conveyed the reasons that I find the new character of Dante just as good as the old one and why I feel that the older fans are attempting to cling a little too hard to an older version of Dante who wouldn't have fit into the game that Ninja Theory where trying to make.


Post Post Rambling Follows:

I feel like I should really talk about a few things that I didn't really mention previously because I know that not all people who will be interested in the rest of the post will want to hear this.

I am mainly talking about the mop/wig joke. 

During the first level of DmC a mop head blows towards Dante and it lands on his head as he looks into a mirror that happens to be in front of him. With a cocky grin he quips "not in a million year" and promptly turns towards his giant enemy to shoot him in the face a little. 

A lot of people where annoyed by this joke, perhaps because they felt like the new developers were poking fun or taking the piss out of the old Dante and the old Devil May Cry series as a whole. Personally I don't think this is true, if anything it's a sly nod to the fact that Ninja Theory realized some people were going to hate the new design and where trying to show that they have a sense of humor about it. Also come on the jokes funny, seriously.

One more thing: (If you read that in the voice of Jackie Chan's Uncle from the animated series we are best friends now. Just saying) 

Okay so I need to mention that I feel bad for Ninja Theory. Their first major game was 'Enslaved: Odyssey to the West' which I personally would rate in my top 10 life experiences. Not my top 10 video games, but it was genuinely a game that when I was done with it I sat there and thought about it for at least half an hour. For anyone who doesn't play video games that doesn't happen very often and I feel like that is a major shame. 

Not only did that game bomb so they had to take reboot work, but now they've made a genuinely great gameplay based video game they've had huge backlash from butthurt Dante fans who hate the new look. -_- Seriously hoping that they catch a break soon. 

Why the New Doctor Who was Awesome if You're an Old Doctor Who Fan

(INB4 grammar complaints: I know that I didn't capitalize the name of the doctor despite the fact that since it's his name technically it's a proper noun and should be capitalized. Well this is my blog and I can do what I want so ner-ner-na-ner-ner) 


So for anyone who isn't a Doctor Who fan you may not know that the newest series of the show started recently...okay scratch that even if you don't give two craps about Doctor Who you probably know that it started recently because both the media and the internet have a tendency to go on about it somewhat.

Either way the new series has now begun and the general consensus of the new doctor is practically non-existent. Half of the fans love him and half of the fans hate him, but examining it from my personal, somewhat interesting point of view has lead me to the conclusion that the new doctor at least is absolutely amazing. 

Firstly I think I should explain why my own perspective on the series is a little odd. Partially it is due to the fact that my introduction to the doctor who series began not in 2005 with the release of the rebooted franchise but back when I was a young kid during conversations with my mother. Although she's not what you would call an avid fan of the old series she has seen every single episode of the Tom Baker series and a lot of the Sylvester McCoy series, and as such would often talk about it to me when I caught the name of the show in TV times while it was being re-run.

The conversation we had led me to seek out and watch a few episodes of the original series, finding nothing of particular interest to my then sugar fueled brain I promptly lost interest and forgot all about it. Fast forward to 2005 and the release of the new series being advertised in a gaming magazine led me to begin watching the show and attempting to watch through some of the older episodes.

With my newly matured (or at least less hyper) brain I really got into the series and once Eccleson was finished with his series I promptly sank a ridiculous amount of time into watching the original series. (for anyone interested I didn't watch tenant because at the time I was seeing how amazing some of the old doctors where and really if you've seen them you can understand why Tenant could not really compare) 

With this new found interest in the series I managed to watch a lot of the old episode and read a lot of the books that had been released since the series cancellation, dipping in and out of the newer series when I caught it on TV. Eventually I decided to just bite the bullet and watch the new series as well, as this was just as Matt Smith was taking over the role I had a lot of back tracking to do in regard to the newer series, but in the end I was all caught up and could really get stuck into the series again.

So there is my perspective on Doctor Who explained, albeit in a bit of an obtuse manor, but either way it done now so I'm hoping that it will go someway to explain why I feel the way I do about the new doctor.

So to begin my explanation I will examine one of the early scenes in the episode. Somewhere near the start the character Vastra is talking to Clara and has some interesting things to say about the doctor and his regenerations. A few key things that popped up during the conversation now follow:

"You thought he was young?"

"He looked like your dashing young gentleman friend, your lover even"

"You might as well flirt with a mountain range"

"He looked young, who do you think that was for?"

"me?"

"Everyone. I wore a veil as he wore a face, for the same reason"

"What reason?"

"For the oldest reason there is. To be accepted" 

  

 (For anyone who cannot tell green is Vastra and red is Clara)

(Before this goes any further I find it necessary to defend the following with the qualifier that it is all of course my own opinion and I am not trying to say that the messages I got from the conversation are the messages intended to be imparted, it is simply how I interpreted what I saw)

So, why exactly have I brought up this conversation ? Well firstly because it become infinity more interesting if you imagine that they are talking about the show instead of the person, and if you imagine that Vastra is addressing the new wave of fans instead of Clara. 

The first sentence could easily refer to the fact that most new fans either didn't know about the older series or didn't care, which is practically criminal. I'm not going to pretend that if you haven't seen the old series you shouldn't watch the new series, the new series was made specifically for new fans and will always be a separate entity. What I am saying is that to ignore the fact that there was 30 years of back story and character is only going to do a disservice to a character you're supposed to be a huge fan of. 

The next sentence primarily seems to refer to the modern trend for younger and more physically attractive doctors. In the old series the doctors character was almost always played by older men who could give off the air of someone who was very old and very wise, in the newer series they just about manage to sound like a high school nerd hoped up on sugar. Again I am not saying that the newer method for casting doctors is at all wrong and it might be perfect for the new load of fans that are interested in the show these days, just saying that it is hugely different to the way the doctor always used to be. 

The third sentence can pretty much be seen as pointing the finger at the almost rock star style adoration and sexual attraction that a lot of fans have towards the newer doctors. For the most parts his companions seem to have an attraction to the doctor, much like his fans, something that was never really a part of the older series. The doctors character was never supposed to be eye candy he was supposed to be your grandad, the wise old man who kept you safe and always seems to be saving the day. The idea of any of his companions being an object of attraction for the doctor was practically unthinkable, after all he was old enough to be their grandfather's, grandfather's grandfather. 

This last section is perhaps the most telling, this is to be directed at both the newer fans and at the returners who stuck with the show from the old series. Firstly it points out that the younger doctor was supposed to be for the younger fans, the newer fans responded positively to a younger, physically attractive doctor, so the show makers gave them what they want. 

The conversation also explains why this was done. The last sentence I copied above is aimed at the older fans, it is an attempt to explain to them that has they decided to not change the doctor, both the character and the physicality of him, then the series might not even be here for you to enjoy at all. Had they stuck rigidly to the old format then the show would possibly have dipped heavily in popularity and would have almost certainly been taken off the air again. I mean hell if that had happened it's possible they would have given up on trying to resurrect the show at all and we wouldn't have gotten any of the newer doctor who stuff we now have. 

So what does all of that mean overall? Well from the way the first episode seems to have been put together it seems to me that the shows creators are attempting to gently reintroduce elements of the older Doctor Who to the new series so that the older fans will have something of the old doctor back but the newer fans won't be turned off by an overload of heavy changes. 

A lot of people do not like the writing style of Steven Moffat, and honestly in places I can understand why, but whatever you think of how he writes the character it is apparent that he is at least trying to recapture the spirit that made the doctor such a hit in the first place. 

As for the new series I cannot say that is definitely going to be amazing, I mean even this episode had moments that seemed pulled right out of Moffat's darkest regions, but what I can say is that if they keep the new doctor the way he is I wouldn't be surprised to see a resurgence of older whovians returning to the series, and I don't see how that could be a bad thing.

Rugrats Feminist?

Okay so recently I was poking around buzzfeed as one is prone to doing when one is bored (aint I posh?) and noticed a post called '14 Forgotten Feminist Cartoons from the 90s' and saw that the thumbnail for the post was a picture of Charlotte Pickles from Rugrats.

Intrigued by this I clicked on it and read through the list, most of which was pretty agreeable, but in the number 1 spot was the aforementioned Charlotte Pickles. This puzzled me a little because she is not exactly a great character from the show, and if we're honest she is possibly the worst one of the bunch to have chosen for the number 1 spot on that list.

I can see why someone might choose her if I'm honest, she has a high profile job at a powerful company and is the main breadwinner for her family ( I know that her husband has a job as well but it's clear that she's the one who makes the most money if you watch the show) so at first glance she seems like a great pick; however if you closely examine what she's like it seems a little less tenable to keep her there.

Firstly because she totally ignored her child, seriously most of the time she's too busy on her phone to even listen to what her little girl is saying. Now I'm not saying that she should have a shitty job or no job at all so she can stay home and look after her child, that sort of attitude hasn't made sense since the 1940s and even then it was bloody stupid, but when she's not at the office she should at least be willing to make some time for her child.

I know that the parents in the rugrats weren't amazing, I mean the amount of time they lose their children in the show is a good enough indicator of that, but for the most part the parents in the show take a genuine interest in their children. Charlotte pickles would rather have her head in the business world than spend any amount of time with her daughter (In her defence Angelica's a little B*tch).

In my opinion Charlotte Pickles should not have been that number 1 spot, if anything it should have been Betty Deville, she ignored gender stereotypes by being the masculine half in her relationship, she doesn't take crap from anyone regardless of gender or station and manages to make time for her children without being a slave too them.

I know that it's never made clear in the show if she has a job or not (at least as far as I know) but having or not having a job doesn't make someone a good feminist character, her outspoken nature and unwillingness to let people walk all over her because she's a women is what makes her a decent feminist character. She defies stereotypes without letting her defiance of those stereotypes turn her into a token 'anti-stereotype' character

I know that Charlotte had her moments as both a feminist and a parent but for the most part she was obnoxious annoying and a downright horrible person, whereas Betty was strong, a great role model and managed to defy the common perception without letting that denial define here. If anyone from that series a good role model for young girls it was Betty.

(UPDATE: I just found out from the rugrats wiki that Betty was indeed the breadwinner for her family as her husband Howard stayed at home and looked after the house and kids, I was pretty confident of this already but it's nice to have it verified) 

The Modern Problem with Names

So there's a subject that I've been thinking about for a few years that I thought might interest a few people so I thought I'd post my mental ramblings here for the world (or more accurately the 50 or so people who read my blog) to see.

So the issue I've been thinking on is names, more specifically second names or surnames. Your second name shows the lineage of your family, or at least it does if you're a man, if you're a women you're 'supposed' to give up your maiden name when you get married. Apart from being grossly unfair on the 50% or so of the population born with female genitalia this also leaves the issue that family lines with even a single generation of all female children will instantly be broken.

Of course in our modern age not many women still elect to take their husband's name, a few do obviously but it's a lot more commonplace to find a husband and wife with different second names. While this solution is perfect for the husband and wife in a relationship it does somewhat make the second name of the children somewhat more difficult to deal with.

Most families tend to remedy this by double barrelling their child's name e.g. 'Wallace-Smith' or 'Williams-Burrow' which might seem like a fine solution. However the unforeseen problem here is that in a few generations of double barrelling our children's names will take around 4 days to say and will consist of about 50 second names as opposed to the single name that we are used to.

So is there a workable solution? where both sides of the marital divide are represented ? Where we don't end up having to omit 90% of our friend's name for fear of being trapped in a name loop? Well there is a solution that I've thought of that might not make people happy, but is at least a workable solution to he double barrelled problem.

My idea was to take the first half of one name and the second half of the other to form a new name based on the old one. Examples of this would be 'Wallith' (Wallace + Smith) or 'Willrow' (Williams-Burrow) and as you can see it is usually possible to fit the names together without too much difficulty.

Of course some may complain that this doesn't preserve lineage because the names change with every generation of the family, but I always feel like it's more important to preserve the feeling of the current family (i.e. the mother father and children) then it is to preserve the memory of a family history. If you want to keep your bloodline in memory forever then you can use the internet, or try killing a lot of people they'll probably remember your family name then.