When video games started having more elaborate storylines, their lead heroes and heroines became more complex as well. It was an inevitable development, as solid characters are necessary to carry and move a plot forward, because the way it will develop depends heavily on their temperament, their mindset and their way of thinking. This complexity is depicted mainly through interactions and background stories - elements that are shown in cutscenes mostly and documents to which we have access during gameplay, and of course there is the lore of each game in which there is a lot more to discover about the leads and their character elements. Apart from that, however, one important feature is how the heroes and heroines are presented through several other activities that may or may not contribute to the development of the stories in which they are part. When it comes to this, many of them reveal their skills and talents, as well as their craftsmanship, their creativity and ingenuity. Quite a few times, their abilities are indications of a higher intelligence, often combined with adaptiveness and survival skills. Other times, they showcase their artistry which is usually highly impressive, albeit not directly obvious.

Sean Diaz, the young protagonist of Life Is Strange 2, is a very skilled and intuitive artist. Drawing helps him escape from the hard reality that he is forced to face, but it is also a means for him to document the world around him.

He is also a talented, trophy-winning runner, something that even his little brother Daniel acknowledges.

Ethan Winters is revealed to be quite the artist in Resident Evil: Village, judging from the drawings in his journal.

Evie Frye in Assassin's Creed: Syndicate proves that one of her many talents is drawing, as we can see an accurate portrait of her love interest, Henry Green, on the last page of her journal.

Chris Ericssen in The Adventures Of Captain Spirit is a gifted and imaginative young boy, who also has a blooming talent in drawing, sure to develop a lot as he gets older.

One of the most multi-skilled heroines is undoubtedly Jill Valentine: apart from her intelligence and combat mastery, she is also an excellent lockpicker, as seen in several instances, including the "Lost In Nightmares" adventure from Resident Evil 5.

She is very apt in chemistry too, as she can formulate a chemical mixture in seconds in the first Resident Evil game.

And she can play the piano like a virtuoso, with Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" being her absolute highlight, usually turning out to be an important step in solving puzzles, like in the "Lost In Nightmares" adventure.

Admittedly, however, when it comes to piano playing, she has a serious antagonist, none else than Jake Muller. Not only is Jake a super-talented pianist but he can pull off Chopin's "Étude Révolutionnaire", one of the most difficult pieces ever written for piano, while in the midst of a most stressful and dangerous situation in Resident Evil 6.

Jake is gifted not only in the artistic field but in extreme racing as well, if you consider the nearly super-humanly way in which he drives - or better, flies - the motorbike over rooftops. 

Billy Coen can also play the piano very well, as seen in Resident Evil 0.

Although we never have the chance to hear him in the act, Chris Redfield obviously plays the guitar, as there is one by his desk, below his jacket, inside the S.T.A.R.S., as seen in Resident Evil 2. Quite possibly he is playing by ear only, as in Resident Evil 1 it is stated that he cannot read music.

Chris is also an expert VTOL pilot, as we can see in Resident Evil 6.

Leon Kennedy is able to pilot an airplane in Resident Evil 6 (albeit with following instructions, but it still is a commendable feat) and even perform an emergency landing. Known for his high intelligence, Leon is famously able to carry out even the most demanding and challenging tasks.

Max Caulfield in Life Is Strange can play the guitar very well. She resorts to playing music when she wants to clear her mind and relax.

Ashley Graham can handle a huge vehicle quite well, both in the original Resident Evil 4 and its Remake. Her skill proves extremely useful in a particularly tough sequence in the story. 

Edward Kenway in Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag is able to alter Duncan Walpole's robe with a few cuts, rips and leather patches within minutes. This transformation marks also the moment when he leaves the fake Assassin persona behind and becomes the legendary pirate captain that we know and love.

He can also craft several fancy outfits from animal skins.

By the looks of it, he is also able to cut his own hair, judging from the charming unevenness of his locks.

Shay Cormac in Assassin's Creed: Rogue can also craft a few elaborate outfits from skins of animals around the Arctic territories.

Lara Croft can read and understand ancient languages and dialects, as seen in Rise Of The Tomb Raider. Partly thanks to her education, but mostly because she loves discovering new things and is very skilled in the learning process.

One of the most charming features of the heroes and heroines in contemporary video games is their realistic depiction in both appearance and character elements, and this of course includes their talents and skills. Their 3D dimension no longer limits their personality and attitude, as all their human characteristics and attributes add to their impressive abilities in the action field, resulting in them being seen as fully fledged individual beings with their own distinctive qualities and presence in the world of fiction.

 

NOTES 

1. Some of the characters mentioned in this article also have skills and talents that are essential to the stories and even are the stories themselves. I did not include those, as they are assigned as default attributes to the characters and they are among their important traits - ie, Max in Life Is Strange is a talented photographer, but this is one of her story's driving forces and essential to the plot; her story would not have developed the way it did without it. Same goes for her power to turn back time, and the gift of telekinesis that Daniel Diaz has in Life Is Strange 2. 

2. In some of the games included in the article, there are characters that are shown to have certain skills - ie, Cassidy in Life Is Strange 2 is a talented singer, and Finn in the same game is skilled in hairdressing and wood sculpting; such cases are not featured in the article because, albeit generally important in the stories where they appear, they are mainly supporting characters and we do not get to know much else about them.

The Gothic and Victorian Affinities of Contemporary Horror Games

In the dark and twisted world of the villains in horror games, of the powerful evil characters who pull the strings from the shadows until they eventually make their grand appearance, there is one very special category that usually stands out, that of the evil masterminds who share a strong and unhealthy attachment to the past of their families. Whether their ancestors were glorious or not, most of the times does not matter, as what these complex personalities do is to appear as living representations of their illustrious past, something that, however, rarely - if not at all - gives justice to their noble past. The environments in which these people live, corrupted both literally and metaphorically, are characterized by the presence of gothic and Victorian-era elements which further support the pomposity of their owners and, occasionally, their sadistic tendencies.

The now iconic Spencer Mansion in the very first Resident Evil and its subsequent remakes is one such memorable case. The vast, intimidating villa, with its hidden passages, secret corridors, locked rooms, secluded gardens and spooky basements, is a most characteristic example of an environment that essentially stars in the story where it appears, as the lead characters, Chris and Jill, find themselves trapped inside the house almost as soon as the game begins, with no obvious way out as the area just outside the main entrance is guarded by bloodthirsty dogs. All other exits seem to be locked and getting out requires a long and suspenseful search for keys, mutli-functional objects and puzzle solving, as well as battling dangerous enemies that roam the mansion's grounds. Everything in the villa is vintagey, including its decoration, furniture and other items, but its most creepy feature is the absence of any other human beings, except for our protagonists.

Somewhere in the twisting corridors of a nearly separate wing, there is a vitraux portrait of a girl who once used to live in that place. This was not many years ago, but the vitraux depicts a woman dressed like she comes from a very distant era, alluring to a nostalgic - significant for the house's once human inhabitants - Victorian style, something that matches the overall atmosphere of the mansion and reaches the limits of tragedy when it is revealed that Lisa, the beautiful girl of the portrait, now wanders around the countryside outside the villa in the form of a terrifying, mutated creature. 

Locked in his vast, mazey castle, Ramón Salazar of the original Resident Evil 4 is a sad remnant of his aristocratic and once distinguished family, contemplating the glory of his ancestors while doing very little to live up to their example. The whole area where the castle is located, together with the village close to it and several other installations, seems to be lost in time altogether: the houses look like they belong to at least half a century back and there are farming systems that are made of defunct materials; but it is in the castle grounds where the whole "lost-in-time" eery feeling is intensified, as the heavy, rich decoration comes to contrast with the corruption that runs in all its halls, creating a chilling, unsettling atmosphere.

Salazar himself likes to dress like a gentleman of centuries back, although his whole attitude is not gentlemanly at all. Just like his residence, his appearance as well is a huge guise, like an attempt to make the other people, whom he basically hates, see him like he would have liked to be: an esteemed aristocrat with an illustrious past and an even more impressive present. Instead, he is a caricature of all this, something that is mostly intensified by his nasty demeanor, his innate sadism and the fact that he never felt accepted by his family. 

This last element was not so evident in the original game, but it is of major importance in the recent remake, where Salazar is presented as much more cruel and sadistic, also carrying a stigma which, apparently, he was never able to get over: it is hinted that he may have been his mother's illegitimate son, if you take notice of certain things that he yells out during Leon's final battle with him, and the fact that there are a few portraits in the castle that may be confusing as to who exactly all these ancestors were and what their relationship to Ramón might have been. Setting aside the tragic aspect of this, as a fact it also relates to stories of the Victorian era, about illegitimate children and lost families.

Equally his revamped castle in the remake features extravagant objects and overwhelming decoration, always inspired by a past where Gothic and Victorian elements were prominent. Notably all the portraits that can be seen on the walls are of people that lived in past eras; and all the paintings depict dark and gloomy landscapes, and even disturbing, morbid scenes with a strong gothic element as well.

Alfred Ashford of Resident Evil: Code Veronica has some things in common with Ramón Salazar, albeit he is much more dangerous because, thanks to his rank as an army officer, he can additionally handle weapons excellently. Alfred appears dressed in an old-fashioned army uniform with a red jacket adorned with medals and white pants; we can't know for sure if the medals are his or belonged to his ancestors, but it is obvious that he too, just like Ramón, is a delusional, paranoid man who refuses to connect to reality as it is, something that has an explanation, since he may have always been marginally insane, but he completely lost his mind after the "death" of his beloved twin sister, Alexia.

Alfred lives in a lush vintage mansion which, in spite of its undeniable charm, is quite cold and eery, due to the gothic-like decoration which sometimes reaches the limits of grotesque and kitsch. There is too much gold all around, as well as huge, intimidating statues that mostly have negative or unpleasant connotations. Like Ramón's castle, the Ashford Mansion as well is a maze of twisting staircases, hidden passages, secret doors, lethal traps, complete with a well-concealed path to a secluded private manor, the Ashford palace, which used to be the residence of Alfred's family. Both villas share the same eery atmosphere, which makes wandering in their grounds a living nightmare.

When Alexia eventually wakes from her slumber and makes her appearance, we see her dressed in a luxurious but very vintage fashion, with a long purple dress, white silk gloves that go over her elbows and exquisite, precious jewellery, evoking the image of ladies in century-old portraits as well as heroines of Victorian novels and Romantic poetry.

Notably, as can be seen in the screenshot above, the family portrait behind her depicts the patriarch of the family, Alexander Ashford, Alexia herself and Alfred. All three are again dressed in a vintage fashion, and the overall style of the portrait is following guidelines of family portraits of the past.

James Marcus, the twisted scientist from Resident Evil Zero who experimented on his students in the most appalling ways, appears as a young man with long hair who is wearing a long, white gown, pretty similar to those worn by men in the distant past. Albeit operating in the mid-60ties mostly, Marcus has a fascination with the old times, something that is also evident from several objects found in his lab. It is notable that details on his outfit, specifically the shape of the collar, resembles leeches, which were part of his experiments before he became the terrifying Queen Leech himself.

Much less creepy in appearance, but quite unsettling as a personality, Donna Beneviento from Resident Evil: Village walks around dressed exactly like a mourning Victorian lady, a look that is preserved also in the huge portrait that decorates one of the walls of her old-fashioned residence. The house itself has several vintage objects, and even mechanisms that are not particularly modern (like the elevator leading to the basement the technology of which is rather old), but you could say that is more or less a typical village house which has not modernized itself enough yet. Donna herself, however, as a presence and appearance, is the exact incarnation of the gothic and Victorian affinities of horror games, maybe more than any other villain similar to her.

In the same spirit, the coach that the Duke can be seen driving near the end of the game, transporting Ethan to the altar to fight against Miranda and save Rose, looks eerily like a Victorian hearse, complete with its black horse and the lanterns to light the way in the darkness.

Taking place almost entirely inside an insane man's mind, The Evil Within is comprised of images that are mixtures of past and present, of memories and a distorted reality, and as such its environments defy any normal perception of how they truly are, if they even exist for real. Once trapped in Ruvik's twisted game, Sebastian constantly finds himself, scene after scene, in places that do not make sense, as they seem to be lost in time and space. Starting with the village where all the houses are old, derelict and deserted, including the narrow spaces with the vintage mirrors that work as passages back to the safe haven, nearly all the areas that Sebastian has to cross are a tangle of elements that could never co-exist in real time.

As the story approaches its tragic revelation, the environments become more and more unsettling and confusing, as Ruvik's memories get mixed with the memories of his victims, creating a nightmarish and nauseatic space where everything is messed up and which offers no obvious way out. Old buildings, vintage installations, objects from the past, all thrown together in places that seem to carry a significance for the people involved, yet all this is too blurred to even make sense. 

In the heart of all this, Ruvik's family mansion finally comes to the foreground, appearing as a compelling villa with both gothic and Victorian elements which of course come together with the unavoidable atmosphere of fear and disturbing mystery. Drowned in fog, in the center of a rotting garden, Ruvik's home turns out to be the beginning and the end of his life's tragedy.

But most of all, The Evil Within's Gothic and Victorian affinity is shown in the characters themselves: after Sebastian solves one of the phrenology puzzles in the secret room behind the fireplace in the bedroom of Ruvik's parents and gets back out in the room itself, he has a vision of Ruvik standing over the dead bodies of his mother and his father, whom he had just killed with his own hands. Both his parents are dressed in a fashion going centuries back.

And like in Donna Beneviento's case, the Victoriano family showcases all its Gothic and Victorian gloominess in the portrait that depicts its four members, dressed like they come straight out of a novel by Wilkie Collins or Charles Dickens.

This peculiar mix of past and present is one of the most charming elements of horror games, as its roots go back to classic thrillers, both of literature and cinematography. For the environments specifically, think about novels like Rebecca or Bleak House, where the mansions as ambiences play a major role in both the development of the stories and the overall feeling of uncertainty and fear. Such emblematic fictional settings are a constant point of reference in contemporary horror fiction, video games included; and so are their lead characters, equally protagonists and antagonists. As to why in video games it is always the villains who choose to present themselves as figures of the past, maybe it is because for most of them it is by default impossible to exist among people, as they all carry huge traumas that they cannot or are not willing to even try to heal, and their attachment to the old times keeps them secluded in a world of their own, while at the same time distinguishes them from the masses that they usually despise as well.

 

Julien Du Casse, A Campy Pirate

Unlike the other pirates that appear in Assassin's Creed: Black Flag who opt for a less flashy appearance, the French captain and Templar Julien Du Casse has a spectacular style that seems to match his all-over-the-place attitude and personality like a glove. His impressive red cape is the first thing that you notice, as well as his wide-brimmed hat that occasionally conceals his ice-blue eyes. 

For its part, his hat is adorned with a collection of feathers, which no doubt once belonged to exotic birds.

The way that Du Casse chooses to present himself looks like it is inspired by old tales of adventuring in faraway lands. He can be seen wearing a white shirt which is unbuttoned to his waist, where it is tied around with a wide sash similar to the one that Edward is wearing with several of his outfits. Du Casse has two leather belts over his sash, and a leather strap diagonally across his chest.

The lower part of his outfit consists of loose brown breeches, obviously made of expensive fabric, with golden buttons on the sides, and fancy ankle boots.

In spite of his vibrant appearance, however, Julien Du Casse is a cruel man, whose dark and sadistic personality may not be directly exposed in the game, but it is implied, sometimes more or occasionally less directly, as the story unfolds. As early as in memory Mr Walpole, I Presume?, which marks Edward's first encounter with Du Casse, the French captain, noticing that Edward doesn't carry a hidden blade, offers him a collection of several Assassin blades to choose from. When Edward innocently asks him where he found all these, Du Casse replies with a chillinly evil grin that he took them as souvenirs. Apparently having massacred previously their original owners. And it is not random that it is he who aids Governor Torres and his trusty bodyguard El Tiburon neutralize Edward and send him off as a prisoner with the Treasure Fleet after discovering that he cheated them by impersonating Duncan Walpole. Later when Edward and Mary discover his secret hideout in the forest of the Great Inagua in memory This Old Cove, Mary wonders what this place could be hiding; to which Edward replies that, knowing Du Casse, he could have an array of medieval torture machines and instruments. Then in memory Delirium, one of the visions that Edward has while heavily drunk is that of Du Casse interrogating an assassin whom he keeps tied and, apparently, has been torturing for hours. 

Du Casse's overall appearance looks like it is inspired by the pirate depicted in the painting "The Buccaneer Was a Picturesque Fellow" by Howard Pyle, which accompanied the painter's article "The Fate of A Treasure-Town" in Harper’s Monthly Magazine published in December 1905.  

Ιf you exclude the shoes, the rest of the outfit is pretty similar. Contrary to other pirates of Black Flag who were real historical figures, Julien Du Casse is a fictional character, but as a hero of fiction he is related to a real-life privateer, Jean-Baptiste Du Casse; Julien is his nephew in the game, and he used to fight alongside his uncle before becoming a mercenary and a slave trader - two activities that partly explain the sadistic nature that he is hinted to have in the game.