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The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Drayco90 — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 22:37:36 CST

The fifth game in Bethesda's multi-award winning The Elder Scrolls franchise, Skyrim was released with much fan fare on November 11, 2011 (11-11-11) for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and Microsoft Windows. Despite it's release in one of the heaviest release times of the generation, competing with Modern Warfare 3, Assassin's Creed: Revelations, Uncharted 3 and many more, Skyrim managed to garner more hype than any of the competition, winning multiple contests for "most anticipated game of the year" and was released to extensive sales and critical success. Skyrim follows in the footsteps of the last two games, Morrowind and Oblivion, as a wide-open sandbox format to contain an extensive RPG system with emphasis on the leveling of an arsenal of skill ranging from combat and weapons like One-Hand and Heavy Armor to more "job" skills like Alchemy and Smithing.

Due to the folding of the company that designed the engine Bethesda put to use in Oblivion and Fallout 3, a new engine from the ground-up needed to be developed. This new engine, the Creation Engine, is responsible for many of the new features present in the game, including more advanced AI on NPCs and higher detail quality on the visuals. With the aid of this new engine, many of the common criticisms about the previous Bethesda games were able to be addressed, from the hideous NPCs that repeated the same line of dialouge on loop to the strange placement of textures on some natural enviroments. Additionaly, Skyrim had a separate team of people working only on creating diverse numbers and layouts on dungeons, averting the problems of Oblivion's copy and paste caves and ruins. Skyrim also earned a great deal of praise for the soundtrack, composed by Jeremy Soule.

Plot

It's been 200 years since the Oblivion Crisis, and during that time the Empire has weakened greatly. The Altmer of the Sumerset Isle have joined together to form the Aldmiri Dominion, and their Thalmor agents waged a great war with the Empire that was won, forcing the Emprie to ban the worship of Talos and remain under the close scrutiny of their Thalmor overseers. Meanwhile, the Nords of Skyrim have split down the middle. The Stormcloaks, lead by Jarl Ulfric Stormcloak, want to see Skyrim freed of the Empire, something Ulfric was willing to murder the High King to ensure. Meanwhile, those loyal to the Imperials have risen to stop the Stormcloaks from running their government. During one of their many battles, an uninvolved third party- an adventurer trying to sneak across the border from Cyrodiil to Skyrim, is caught in the crossfire. The Imperials are victorious, and capture the rebels and third party alike- a party which includes Ulfric Stormcloak himself. Lead to the town of Helgen, the traitors are lined up to be executed, but as the innocent border-crosser is lead to the chopping block, the great Dragon Alduin the World Eater attacks. Having been unknown to the world for centuries, the dragon's arrival causes great panic, allowing the Prisoner to escape Helgen in the commotion.

The Prisoner travels through Riverwood to the major city Whiterun. Whiterun's ruler, Jarl Baalgruf the Greater, has remained neutral in the war, and has his court wizard, Farengar Secret-Fire, studying dragons. When the Prisoner reveals that the dragons have returned to the worl and destroyed Helgen, he is disturbed, and Farengar sends the Prisoner to seek out a dragon-stone from a nearby ruin. The Prisoner does so, along the way discovering something called a Word Wall, which teaches them a word in the language of the dragons. Upon returning to Whiterun, the Prisoner is sent off with the Jarl's bodyguard Irrileth to investigate a supposed dragon attack. When the dragon, Mirmulnir, attacks the band, the Prisoner is able to defeat it- absorbing it's soul in the process. The event makes it apparent that the prisoner is no mere escaped criminal- but a Dragonborn. The Dovahkiin. The Dovahkiin is summoned by the ancient order, the Greybeards, to come to High Hrothgar on top of the Throat of the World.

M'aiq the Liar

Drayco90 — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 01:58:47 CST

"Greetings! M'aiq knows many things. What is your interest? You seek knowledge. M'aiq has much. Some of it verified by actual facts!"

M'aiq the Liar alternatley spelled M'Aiq the Liar, is a Khajiit NPC from the Elder Scrolls franchise. He first appears in the Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind as an Easter Egg, and returned as in similar fashion in the Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. M'aiq's main purpose is to refrence features excluded or cut from the games that are a source of debate in the fanbase- such as why there are no children or mounted combat in the series, or why there are no horses in Morrowind. M'aiq often directly refrences the memes associated with the Elder Scrolls fan community, and as a result he has quickly become a fan-favorite character. M'aiq is likey to make a return appearance in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

History

The Elders Scrolls III: Morrowind

In Morrowind M'Aiq, as his name is spelt, is a level 5 Khajiit rouge who can be found on a small island southeast of Dragon Fel in the Sheogorad region. M'Aiq is an easter egg who is meant to comment on the various nonexistant content in Morrowind. True to his name, he often tells the players ridiculous ways to accomplish these features- such as tellling the player character they can become a Lich by combining a Dragon's tounge and a Lich heart cooked in the flesh of a well-ridden horse. There are no Dragons or Horses in Morrowind and while Liches were added in DLC, you could not loot their hearts. In this game M'Aiq has 54 health and 86 magika, and has a unique abillity called "M'Aiq's Water Walking" which allows M'Aiq to do exactly what you'd expect.

In addition to the above comment on becoming a Lich, M'Aiq can be asked about:

Dragons, which he claims are everywhere if you fly high enough and you can't see the ones on the ground because they are invisible. Emporer Crabs, which M'Aiq claims to have seen if you swim far enough, though you can not swim far enough to actually encounter them. Horses, which the Kajiit apparently loves to eat, which explains thier lack of appearance in the game. He also tells you that if you insist on riding something you can use the silt-striders or walk. Corpses, which apparently frighten M'Aiq, who addvises you not to toy with the undead. Multiplayer, which prompts M'Aiq to call you a coward and tells you to seek out the Argonian Im-Leet and the Nord Ralph the Uber. Dwemer, which M'Aiq claims were here, but they were either tall or short depending on your perspective. Naked Liches, which he asks you to warn him about so he can turn away when they appear. Nudity, is apparently something M'Aiq is fond of and tries to convince you "...here is an island you can reach filled with wonderful, naked, glistening bodies. It only appears when the moons are full, the rain falls, the seas run red, and it's M'Aiq's birthday." Climbing, which M'Aiq finds difficult. And finally Weresharks, which he claims are afraid of the water. M'Aiq has two additional dialouge options which arn't in-jokes or blantant lies- he tells you about the Shrine of Boethiah, which is part of the quest of the same name and Mudcrab Merchants, which are another easter egg located in the game, though they are not where he claims to have met them.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

By the Oblivion incident, M'aiq had gained 35 more levels, now becoming a level 40 Savant, also changing his class. Sometime before the assassination of Emporer Uriel Septim the Kajiit moved to Cyrodiil. He seems to have become a little odder since the last game, and has acquired a tendancy to seek out calipers in the game world, and will constantly collect them, 20 at a time, untill he can no longer carry anything. Ma'iq now has 246 health, 250 magika, is part of the "Creatures" faction and is always essiential, keeping him from dieing or being killed.

M'aiq has a speed of 100, and few players can keep up with him during his runs, and he is not hindered by invisible boundaries. He runs between Layawin and Anvil, where he stands outside for a few hours before taking off again, except at noon when he searches for Calipers. His only conversational choice is rumors, and he will make more comments like his role in Morrowind, though only one can be heard before he bolts.

The rumor option reveals jokes about Colovian fur helms, the helmet he wore in his original appearance, Fishy Sticks, a reference to the Elder Scrolls forums, claims the children ruin the fun for adults, commenting on the Elder Scroll's lack of kids, He thinks that Kajiits and Argonians are beautiful, a reference to the improved "beast people" designs, he thinks that throwing a person's weapons is foolish and wasteful, refrencing the forum complaint of lacking throwing daggers or shuriken, he also believes that crossbows are for idiots, another much desired forum weapon, he comments on the limited use of limbs in this game, and he is glad to have the new fast-travel system and compass, and claims that mounted combat is both a waste of a good horse and a meal. M'aiq comments on Morrowind's levitation feature which was cut from Oblivion, and that only "sick, sick people" would want to use nude mods. He still claims to have seen dragons, but now won't tell you where, and that he dosn't think building should be torn down, refrencing the lack of destruction physics, M'aiq also comments on the game's lack of Werewolves, which had to be removed from the game during development.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Despite there being over 200 years of history from the end of the Oblivion Crisis to the beginning of the Skyrim Rebellion and the Return of the Dragons, M'aiq the Liar is still as healthy as ever, and just happening to be in Skyrim during the events there. Of course, the return of the Dragons didn't surprise M'aiq, he always knew they were still here- just invisible when they were too close to the ground. There are a few possible explanations for M'aiq's survival- first, he claims that his father was named M'aiq, as was his father before that, possibly implying the name M'aiq is passed from family member to family member like a legacy title. He also claims that he was trapped in a soul gem once, which would allow him to survive the gap inbetween Oblivion and Skyrim, and amusingly considering his earliest rumors, make him a Lich. M'aiq is now an essential warrior, keeping him from being killed. Like in Oblivion, M'aiq wanders around the wilderness at incredible speeds, and can only speak of rumors, many of which refer to new features or memes on the Elder Scrolls forums.

In Skyrim, M'aiq now mentions that he always has two weapons, just in case one breaks, a reference to the lack of an item quality meter on items in Skyrim, he is saddened that he seems unable to find calipers, a reference to his behaviour in Oblivion where he always sought out calipers at noon and that the item is not back in Skyrim. M'aiq claims to hear many stories of war, but that few of them are true- likely a subtle jab at Modern Warfare 3 and Battlefield 3, which came out near Skyrim, and he continues the Bethesda trend of references to sweetrolls when he claims that he once burned his with dual spells, which he thinks are dangerous. M'aiq also throws some fire on the "Akatosh is Alduin" debate, by claiming that "Some say Alduin is Akatosh, some say M'aiq is a liar. Dont believe any of these things." showing support for the two being the same. The Khajiit also mentions the removal of endurance, mysticism and athletics skills, and makes reference to the new bounty system the tracks for each individual hold rather than universal.

Behind the Scenes

M'aiq is based on popular complaints and memes on Bethesda's forums, and has become extremley popular with the fandom. His appearance in Oblivion includes a few glitches- he may comment on rumors like a standard NPC, instead of giving a funny in-joke, he may comment on the Emporer's death, the Deadric worship increase in Skyrim, or even some nonsense about Mudcrabs. He may also crash when passing near the city of Kvatch, and his rumor concerning the Fishy Stick meme has no recording.

Appearances

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

Dragon Age: Origins

Drayco90 — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 23:57:00 CST

Bioware's return to form after the Mass Effect series had changed their formula, Dragon Age: Origins is both a classic RPG and a spiritual successor to one of the greatest RPGs of all time, Baldur's Gate. Released on the PC, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 on November 3rd, 2009, Dragon Age, like all Bioware RPGs, takes place in a rich world full of life and details that even the most thorough of gamer might miss. The player will step into the role of a Grey Warden, a legendary warrior with enhanced abilities that can survive extended combat with the monsterous Darkspawn, and are the only ones who can stop them from destroying everything.

Players will create their character from one of three races and one of three classes- Human, Dwarf and Elf with Warrior, Mage or Rogue. Based on these choices, the player will then be allowed to select one of six "Origin stories". These stories will introduce the character, the class, their motivations and a number of unique loot and equipment for each, though there are some restrictions- all mages will take the same origin, regardless of any other factor, and no Dwarf can be a mage. That said, the origins are Human Noble (Human warriors or rogues), Magi (all mages), Dalish Elf (Elf warriors/rogues), City Elf (Elf warrior/rogues), Dwarf Commoner or Dwarf Noble (any Dwarf). These Origins determine a number of character relationships- the Human Noble has a hate-filled rivalry with Arl Howe after their story, while the mage Jowan from the Magi origin returns as a semi-important character during a story quest.

Plot

While each of the six Orgins stories have a distinctly different approach and tale, they all end with the heroic leader of the Grey Wardens, Duncan recruiting the player into the Grey Wardens. Informing them of their duties along the way, the two journey to the ruins of an old fortress, Ostagar, where the current king of Ferelden, Cailan Theirin, is preparing to make a stand alongside the Wardens against their ancient foes, the Darkspawn. When the Darkspawn do come on the surface, they can only do so with the aid of an Archdemon, a corrupted Old God. The Archdemon will lead the horde across the world and destroy everything in an event called the Blight, if a Grey Warden isn't able to stop it. Also at the camp of Ostagar is Teyrn Loghain Mac Tir, the father-in-law to the king and leader of a back-up force of troops, vital to the battle plans. After meeting with the fellow Grey Warden candidates- Ser Jory and Daveth, and encountering the Grey Warden Alistair, the team must set out into the nearby Kokari Wilds, where they fight their way through numerous Darkspawn and wolves, before they can collect the Darkspawn blood needed for their Joining. They must also retrieve ancient Grey Warden documents, but the ruins where they were kept has long since fallen into ruin. Here they meet the mage, Morrigan, who claims that the building is no longer the Warden's, but that her mother Flemeth has kept them safe. After getting the documents back from Flemeth, they return to Ostagar, and begin the Joining. Daveth, first to drink, immediatly falls over dead, terrifying Ser Jory, who attempts to abandon the Wardens, but is silenced when Duncan stabs him through with his dagger. Finally the player drinks, and awakes later- a new Grey Warden.

Preparing for the battle at Ostagar, the Warden and Alistair are given their specific orders. When Cailan's forces charge the Darkspawn Horde, Loghain's men will stay back untill the two Grey Wardens light a signal fire from the top of the Tower of Ishal, signalling the reinforcements to join the battle. When the two reach the tower however, they are greeted by a guard who informs them that Darkspawn have already attack the tower. The Warden rallied the guards and along with Alistair (and their dog if the player is a Human Noble), began fighting through wave after wave of Darkspawn. Finally, they reached the top of the tower, where the encountered an Ogre. The fearsome beast took on all of them at once, and was only slain due to their teamwork and strategy. With the Ogre dead, the Warden was finally able to light the beacon, but when the flame went up, Loghain ordered his troops to retreat, leaving the king and the Wardens to the mercy of the Darkspawn. Without their much needed aid, the forces of the King are easily overwhelmed. Cailan himself is grabbed in the massive hands of an ogre, who crushes the life out of him and throws him harshly to the ground. Horrified, Duncan draws his blades and attack the giant, bringing it to the ground, but losing his weapons in it's hide. As he recovers, he is attacked by a Hurlock Vanguard, who strikes a killing blow. Watching from the tower with disgust, Alistair and the Warden are quickly overwhelmed by Darkspawn forces, and pass out.

The two awake in Flemeth's hut, where Morrigan claims that her mother rescued the two as soon as they passed out. Flemeth reminds the Warden and Alistair that they need to form an army, using the treaties of the Grey Wardens to recruit from the dwarves, elves, men and mages to fight off the Blight, and orders them to take Morrigan with them. Meanwhile, Loghain returns to the seat of government in Ferelden, Denerim, where news of Ostagar is heard. Loghain claims that it was the Grey Wardens who killed the King, and that he is taking over for his fallen son-in-law. This causes a split amongst the nobles, some of which doubt the conveniant story, and wories are raised that this could cause a civil war in the middle of a Blight. While the politicianssquabble, the Warden and friends arrive at Lothering, a small town not far from the exit of the Kokari Wilds. As a border town, Lothering is both a hive of people trying to escape the blight from already fallen areas, and one of the first places on the list of locations to next be under siege. The Warden knowing they can't save the town, can convince as many people as possible to head to Denerim, while strengthening the local defenses. They also meet Leliana, an Orlesian Chantry lay-sister who spent time as a bard. She helps the Warden fight off a group of Loghain's men at the local tavern who were trying to collect the Tyrn's new bounty on any surviving Wardens, and then decides to join the party as a vision from the Maker told her she needed to stop the Blight. Outside the Tavern, they meet Sten, a mighty Qunari warrior who has been imprisoned for the murder of an innocent family, a crime he does not deny. The Warden can choose to convince the Chantry to let him come with them, or pick the lock to his cage. Either way, the Qunari will join when he learns that the Warden is fighting the Blight. As the new team leaves Lothering behind them, they also meet traveling merchants Bohdan and his..."slow" son,Sandal, who they rescue from a horde of Darkspawn, and choose to follow the party and sell wares to them in gratitude.

Note: The actual events of the game after this point are chosen by the player- this page will try to create an open-ended summary detailing all the paths available, but should not be considered the "proper" order in which these events transpire- that's in the hands of the player.

When the Warden arrives at the Mage's Tower by Lake Calenhad, they see that it is in a state of utter chaos. A group of mages, lead by the ambitious Uldred, have turned to Blood Magic in hopes of overthrowing their fascist Templar overseers.Unfortunately, things seem to have gone horribly wrong, and many of these mages have already fallen victim to the possession of demons, attacking Mage and Templar alike. The Warden first meets with the elderly teacher, Wynne, a face remembered from the battle of Ostagar. Wynne has been using her magic to protect the younger students, but agrees to help the Warden try and retake the tower. She tells the Warden that they need to rescue First Enchanter Irving and his fellow elder mages, and can use the Litany of Adralla to stop Uldred's plans. After fighting through waves of demons, protecting innocent mages and trying (and failing) to save a Templar possessed by a Desire Demon, the Warden and company came upon the Sloth Demon. The Sloth Demon used it's powers to pull the Warden and each of the companions into The Fade, where they were shown their dream worlds, pacifying them. The Warden woke to find Duncan alive and well, revealing the war with the Darkspawn over, and won- but the Warden saw through the ruse and fought back, forcing the Sloth Demon to sick the false Grey Wardens on them. The Warden was triumphant, and began to explore around The Fade where they learned temporary shape-shifting and found the young mage Niall. Niall had previously attempted the same thing the Warden is now attempting, but has been the fodder for the Sloth Demon much longer, leaving him weak. He does tell the Warden how to succeed- scattered throughout The Fade are demons who serve a "lieutenant" type role to the Sloth Demon, and killing them will free their control on territories in the Fade. The Warden's time in the Fade was long, but they managed to slay each of the demons, and rescued each companion. Freed from it's tyranny, the Warden and company battled with the Sloth Demon and killed it, allowing them to return to the Tower. Niall was less fortunate, having been feasted on for so long by the Sloth Demon, his body was too damaged for him to return to it alive. He lived on in a sense, however- his dead body held the Litany of Adralla- which the Warden recovered.

With the one item that could save the First Enchanter in hand, the Warden pushed on through the tower, continuing the battle aganst more and more demons, mages and undead. As they neared the Harrowing Chambers, they came upon a magic barrier where the Templar Cullen was trapped within. The mages had put the barrier up, and tortured Cullen- turning him into a paranoid wreck with a hatred for all users of magic. When the Warden tried to reason with Cullen, he believed they were simply illusions sent to torment him- forcing the Warden into a rather long-winded attempt to calm him down. Once successful, Cullen delivered a warning and an ultimatum to the Warden- he revealed that Uldred was inside the Harrowing Chamber with all the remaining living mages whom he would force to either become Blood Mages, Abominations or both. He claims that all the mages within are a threat now, and should be wiped out to the last, forcing a choice on the Warden. If they agree with Cullen and slaughter the innocent mages then the Templar will be binded to the mages oath to the Wardens, and pledge troops to the Wardens cause, but Wynne will also need to be killed. If the player disagrees with Cullen, but is unable to protect the mages from Uldred, they will still bind he Templar to the Oath, but will keep Wynne. If the Warden disagrees with Cullen and saves the mages, then the Circle of Magi will see to it that they are ready to withhold their vows to the Wardens, and Wynne will accompany the Warden on their adventures, approving. Regardless of the decision made, the party will have to confront Uldred. When he sees the Warden invading his ceremony, he tries to convince them that he is in the right. Seeing the cause hopeless, he suddenly takes on the form of a Pride Demon, and attacks. As the Warden damages his health, he tries to turn the Circle Magi into reinforcements- requiring the Warden to use the Litany of Adralla to purify his dark magic and save the target. If the Warden fails in this, they are forced to kill one of the mages. After a long battle, Uldred is finally slain, and the Warden must discuss the matters of the Oaths to the Wardens held either by First Enchanter Irving, or Templar Cullen- a choice that will have lasting repercussions for all Thedas.

After the first of the "main quests" to be completed by the Warden, Loghain begins additional talks with Arl Rendon Howe. A large number of the politicians are refusing Teyrn Loghain's rule, and are rebeling- it seems that despite the Blight, there will still be a civil war after all. Loghain is also troubled by the news of one of the Grey Wardens having escaped Ostagar, but Howe assures him that everything is under control on that front- he has already hired an assassin from the Antivan Crows, Zevran Arainai. Zevran ambushes the Warden on The Long Road on the way to their next objective, attacking with a huge number of bandits and traps, but the Warden is unfazed and is able to cut down all of Zevran's back-up before bringing down Arainai himself. Before killing him, however, the Warden decides to hear him out, as Zevran reveals he wasn't exactly paid to keep silent. The assassin tells the Warden all about the Antivan Crows, Loghain's ploy to kill the Warden and other things, but then offers his services to the Wardens cause- revealing that the Crows would kill him for not completing the job anyway and that he never had that much loyalty from them. While Leliana approves of giving the elf assassin a second chance, Alistair is upset at the desperation of the recruitment- but the final choice is up to the Warden.

The Warden and party choose to go to Alistair's home, the town Redcliffe, where they hope Arl Eamon is willing to pledge his troops for the Wardens without a fight thanks to his realtionship with Alistair. Before they can enter the town, Alistair stops the Warden and reveals that he has been a bit misleading about his past- he's not just a bastard, but a royal bastard- his father was the king, but he was raised by Eamon and feels like the Arl is his real family. He confesses he didn't find it veryrelevantto the situation at hand, and that he didn't want to be treated differently because of it, an effect the fact has caused multiple times in the past. The Warden may point out that this technically makes Alistair the heir to the throne, as the fallen King Cailan Theirin was his brother, but the concept makes Alistair cringe. As they approach the town, they meet Tomas by the bridge, who warns them that the town is under attack. Some investigating later, including a reunion with Alistair's friend Bann Teagan, the team learn that the Arl is deathly sick, the town is under siege by an army of the undead every night and no word from the castle has been heard in days. The Warden quickly springs to work, rallying as many of the town as possible to lend a hand in the fighting, and with the combined power of the seasoned adventurers and the coordination of everyone working with the Militia, Redcliffe not only manages to survive the night, but is victorious over the undead warriors.

After the battle, the following morning, the Arlessa, Lady Isolde, was able to sneak out of the castle and come to talk to Teagan, revealing that the castle has fallen under an evil force, and specifically requests for the Bann to come with her back to the castle, alone. While he agrees to go with Isolde, he gives the Warden a secret path to sneak into the castle in order to regroup with him in case things go sour- a hidden path inside the Windmill on the outskirts of town that lead into the dungeons. When the party takes this path, they exit to find the mage Jowan trapped within. The blood mage (who the Warden might already know if they followed the Mage origin story) reveals that he was pretending to be a tutor for the Arl's young son, Connor, who has mystical talents but Isolde refused to let the Circle take him away from her. Using this position, Jowan poisoned Eamon, on orders from Loghain, whom had not been outed to Jowan as a traitor and that he promised to settle his trouble with the Circle of Magi. While Jowan claims to have had nothing to do with the undead, Isolde didn't believe him and had him tortured for information he didn't have. The Warden can then either free Jowan, who wants to do the right thing, kill the young mage, free him but tell him to run far away and never return or simply leave him in his cell. The Warden continued through the castle, fighting off hordes of undead before finally meeting with Teagan, who like Isolde, has become the simple puppet for a now possessed Connor. The Warden manages to break the curse on Teagan, but is confronted by a number of options on how to deal with the demon-controlled child.

Jowan, if saved but not banished, reveals that there is an advanced ritual that would allow a mage to enter The Fade and confront the demon controlling Connor, but with their current supplies at the castle it can only be done if someone gives their lives- a requirement Isolde tearfully agrees to do in order to save her son. However, if the Warden has already visited the Circle of Magi by this point, and did not side with the Templar, they can quickly set off for Lake Calenhad, where the can recruit First Enchanter Irving to aid in the resuce of the child. Either of these will allow the player to send someone into the Fade, where they must battle and kill the Desire Demon within...or make a deal with it, allowing it to stay for one of a few helpful options, including the Blood Magespecializationfor Mage characters. The Warden can also decide to kill Connor, an option which will have no alternatives if they already sacrificed the Circle of Magi in the tower and killed Jowan. Regardless of this choice, the undead siege is ended and, at the very least it appears, that Connor is no longer possessed. There is still the matter of curing Arl Eamon- which requires the recovery of the Urn of Sacred Ashes, a holy relic filled with the remains of Andraste herself.

After much searching, the party is able to track to location of the ashes to another small town, hidden away up in the mountains, called Haven. It quickly becomes apparent that Haven's citizens are hiding a dark secret, which is confirmed when the Warden discovers evidence of bloody rituals, and a dead guard from Redcliffe. The villagers are revealed to be part of a violent cult, and the Warden is forced to cut most of them down in an effort to save the scholar, Brother Genitivi, who's research notes were what brought the Warden to Haven to begin with. After rescuing Genitivi, the Warden is forced to fight through a massive ruin on the snow-capped mountains, which leads to a final confrontation with the Cult's leader, Kolgrim. Kolgrim is fine with the Warden taking some of the ashes for Eamon, but asks that they then destroy the holy relic. If the Warden refuses, they must fight and kill Kolgrim and his men. Once outside, the Warden sees the mountain is guarded by a sleeping High Dragon. The Warden can decide whether or not to fight it, but the choice has major consequences for the epilogue involving the urn. Regardless, the Warden enters the chambers, and must pass through a series of tests, including a trial by fire, riddles and personal interrogation- before finally reaching the Urn of Sacred Ashes. The Warden takes their pinch to cure Eamon, but then decides what to do with the relic. If they poison the ashes as per Kolgrim's wishes, they will be forced to fight and kill Wynne and/or Leliana. Finally, the Warden must decide Genitivi's fate, as he wishes to make the Urn's location public. Killing the scholar, either to bury or protect the ashes, is met with with negative reaction but ensures the ashes are kept safe (or defiled). Allowing him to go will provide more major repercussions, which can also tie into the fate of the High Dragon. Either way, the Warden returns to Redcliffe victorious, and heals the Arl, who pledges Redcliffe's knights and militia to the cause of the Warden.

Gameplay

-STUB: TO BE WRITTEN-

Reception

-STUB: TO BE WRITTEN-

Appearances

The Party

* The Hero of Ferelden
* Alistair Theirin
* "Barkspawn"
* Morrigan
* Leliana
* Sten of the Beresaad
* Oghren
* Wynne
* Zevran Arianni
* Loghain Mac Tir

ED-E (Fallout)

Drayco90 — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 19:07:50 CDT

There is no abstract available for this page revision.

Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3

Drayco90 — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 19:00:06 CDT

An updated rerelease of Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 includes all the content of the original game, but with 12 new playable characters, multiple new stages, more music tracks and extra unlockables, including at least two new costumes for every character. While all of this content was initially meant to be released as DLC, the string of natural disasters in Japan pushed back the schedule long beyond Capcom's standards, the company decided that it would be better off rereleasing the game as a whole, with a $20.00 discount from what it would have cost if the players had purchased the new features as Downloadable Content. The game launched again on November 15, 2011 in the United States and Japan, and on November 18, 2011 in Europe.

The game includes numerous updates to the HUD, including new designs for the health bars and Hyper Combo meters, and the X-Factor ability has been redisigned so that it can now be activated in the air, but has also been severley weakened due to complaints that it was overpowered in Fate of Two Worlds. As part of the hype building up to the game, Capcom created two alternate covers- one from Capcom's top artist Shinkiro, while the other features comic artist Mark Brooks. While it was voted which would be the "default" cover, it was also announced that it would be a double-sided cover, and the player could switch to which ever cover happened to suit their preference.

The game was released for both the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, and was a launch title for the Playstation Vita, a revolutionary move as the handheld not only had the complete console experience with all 50 playable character, stages, unlockables and sounds, but was also one of the only fighting games made available for the console on day one.

Plot

At this moment, it is unknown if Capcom will try and resurrect the cut-content story of the original Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds, though it is unlikely. As a result, there will be less information about a story involved than even the original, though one could assume it is the same.

Gameplay

Like the last three games in the Marvel vs. Capcom series, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is a fast-paced fighting game with an emphasis on flashy attacks that cover large percentages of the screen and a strong legacy. The game is playable by button-mashers, but a skilled player can easily counter-act it, and the strong competetive scene allows for a long life as players constantly evolve and adapt to create and deal with new strategies. Each character has gained new combos and attacks, as well as having some old classics tweaked for a new experience. The new design for X-Factor is slightly nerfed, now no longer doing an immense addition to damage, but it can now be activated in the air, opening new combo and countering abilities. There's a new appearance effect that is applied upon activation of the X-Factor, where the character suddenly becomes various shades of red and black, making it far easier to determine when a player is and isn't using the effect.
The three-character team dynamic remains the same, now further enhanced by the appearance of 12 new characters with unique skills, abilities and assit attacks. Ghost Rider, Hawkeye, Doctor Strange, Iron Fist, Nova and Rocket Raccoon are joining the battle for Marvel's roster, while the Capcom side is buffed by the appearance of Firebrand, fan-favorite Strider Hiryu, Nememsis T-type, Vergil, Phoenix Wright and Frank West, who is finally making his appearance after being removed from the original at the last second. The online multiplayer is also being improved in a notable way- outside the standard gametypes and matchmaking that Fate of Two Worlds had, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 includes a Spectator Mode for people hwo want to watch the matches they aren't playing while waiting in a lobby. This can add an additional layer of strategy, allowing the player to deeply examine the play style of their opponets and learn new tricks and combos with an individual character.

Every character has at least six costumes, most of which are references to past games or alternate appearances in the comics. Some characters that have not had the luxary of having numerous looks, like Nemesis and Albert Wesker, have more improvised appearances, like a nurse costume for Nemesis or a Gambit look for Weser, and a Kraven the Hunter costume for Mike Haggar. Other characters like Spider-Man have had a plethora of costumes, such as the Symbiote Suit and the Fantastic Four uniform.

Reception

-Game is not yet released-

Appearances

Playable Characters

Akuma
Albert Wesker
Amaterasu
Arthur
Captain America
Chris Redfield
Chun-Li
Crimson Viper
Dante
Deadpool
Doctor Doom
Doctor Strange
Dormammu
Felicia
Firebrand
Frank West
Ghost Rider
Hawkeye
Hulk
Hsien-Ko
Iron Fist
Iron Man
Jill Valentine
Magneto
Mike Haggar
MODOK
Morrigan Aensland
Nathan "Rad" Spencer
Nemesis T-Type
Nova
Phoenix
Phoenix Wright
Rocket Raccooon
Ryu
Sentinel
She-Hulk
Shuma-Gorath
Spider-Man
Strider Hiryu
Storm
Super-Skrull
Thor
Trish
Tron Bonne
Vergil
Viewtiful Joe
Wolverine
X-23
Zero

Games

Drayco90 — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 11:04:31 CDT

Dogmeat (Fallout)

Drayco90 — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 18:09:42 CDT

Dogmeat is a party member from the Fallout game series- for other uses see Dogmeat

Dogmeat is a Follower in the games Fallout and Fallout 2 by Interplay. Dogmeat is, as his name implies, a mangy dog. He is ferocious in combat, and can hit multiple times in a single turn before moving on, and can often take down lesser enemies like Raiders and Gangsters on his own, something most human companions have difficulty doing. Dogmeat is unique as he can not be given armor, weapons or use items, though the player can give him stimpacks to keep his health up. Due to his size it is rare that a player has to worry about harming him with friendly fire, making him, without a doubt, the most useful follower in the Fallout series. He would later have a descendant, also named Dogmeat, who would help the Lone Wanderer in Fallout 3.

History

Pre-Fallout

A couple of monthes before the events of the first Fallout game, Dogmeat was owned by someone in Junktown. After his owner was murdered by a traveling group of gangsters, Dogmeat fell into a depression. He also mated with another dog at somepoint, and begin a legacy that would continue for many years, and would include a female dog, also named Dogmeat, who would help the Lone Wanderer during Fallout 3.

Fallout

Dogmeat can be obtained in the quest "Solve Phil's Canine Conundrum" in Junktown. He is standing outside the house of Junktown resident Phil's "guarding" it, and the old man and his wife are too scared of the dog to make it go away. The Vault Dweller can recruit Dogmeat by giving him an Iguana-on-a-Stick or simply by wearing a leather jacket. Later in his memoirs, the Vault Dweller would claim that Dogmeat died during their attack on the Millitary Base. He ran afoul of an energy force field, presumabley burning to death in the beams. The Vault Dweller claimed to miss him dearly.

Non-Canon

Fallout 2

Years after the death of the Vault Dweller, Dogmeat traveled around the wasteland, eventually relocating to the Cafe of Broken Dreams in a random encounter. He can be recruited if the Chosen One removes whatever armor he happens to be wearing, showing him his Vault 13 Jumpsuit. Dogmeat is made even more obsenly powerful than the original Dogmeat in this game, leading to further belief that his appearance in this game is non-canon. He is also alligned with the New California Republic, and if the Choosen One dismisses him from the party with a low enough approval rating with the NCR, he may attack the group, forcing them to kill the dog.

Notes

Dogmeat is inspired by two famous dogs- Blood, a telepathic dog from the 1981 story "A Boy and His Dog" and the dog from the Mad Max film series. The name Dogmeat is given to Blood once early in the book by Vic, the main character, as a joke and Mad Max gives us Dogmeat's physical appearance. Dogmeat was originally named Dogsh*t and would have been found in the Hub, already owned by someone else, but this was changed in development. Dogmeat was also confirmed to not play a part in the original Fallout 3, project Van Buren.

Appearances

* Fallout
* Fallout 2

Clyde

Drayco90 — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 20:20:36 CDT

Clyde is a main villain from the Pacman franchise

Clyde is the infamous "black sheep" of the Pacman ghosts. Known in most circles as the Orange One, Clyde is the only ghost who does not activley pursue Pacman, and is the only one of the original ghosts not to follow the naming patern set by the others- Blinky, Inky and Pinky.

History

Pacman

Clyde is one of the four ghosts trying to stop Pac-Man from eating all the pellets in the maze from the original Pac-Man game. His given personallity in America is "Pokey" and in Japanesse it's translated to "Feigning Ignorance" (Otoboke). While the other ghosts try to either kill Pacman or trap him, Clyde only moves near him when Pac-Man is far away from him. At all other times, Clyde is moving away from Pac-Man, trying to avoid him. Oddly Clyde was replaced in Ms. Pac-Man and Jr. Pac-Man by Sue and Tim, who look and act exactly like him.

Pac-Man World Series

Pac-Man World "Clyde" appears in the Pac-Man World series, but he and Blinky have swapped names. Despite keeping the same characteristics, Clyde is described as the red leader ghost, and Blinky is the cowardly orange ghost. For continuities sake, we assume that this was simply and error and that the Orange ghost is actually Clyde. After Clyde and the other ghosts team up with Orson and kidnap Pac-Man's friends and family, Pac-Man arrives on Ghost Island to save them. Clyde retreats with the others.

Pac-Man World 2
Clyde and the other ghosts steal the Golden Fruit from Pac Land, thus bringing "Spooky" to the world. Clyde is the first boss of the game, fighting Pac-Man in a dried up lake while piloting a robotic frog. The orange ghost tried to defeat Pac-Man with the robot's spiked tounge weapon, but when Pac-Man butt-bounces on it, the robot takes massive damage. He also has a steel version of the tounge, but using it reveals another weakpoint in the frog's mouth, which Pac-Man rolls into, again damaging the robot. Clyde's defeat allows Pac-Man to scavange the Golden Cherry from his robot frog's remains. Clyde is the only ghost to pilot a unique vehicle, and he reappears with the other ghosts as the boss to stage 5.

Pac-Man World 3
Clyde, along with his friend and fellow ghost Inky, are captured by the evil Erwin, who plans to use them to power his machines. Their kidnapping forces Pac-Man to work with Blinky and Pinky to rescue them, and when Erwin tries to siphon off Clyde and Inky for his Teratron, they begin to argue about which of them get's to go first. Eventually the two ghosts are rescued by Pac-Man and his unlikely allies.

Pac-Man World Rally
On slightly better terms with Pac-Man after the events of the last game, Clyde and the other ghosts join in a race. In this game, Clyde is classified as a lightwieght driver, and he is featured in the Ghost Mansion stage. His appearance in the game is based on the animated series more than the games, even including his bowler hat from the show.

Ms. Pac-Man: Maze Madness

Clyde, and his fellow ghosts where recruited by the witch Mesmerelda to stop Ms. Pac-Man from collecting the four Gems of Virtue, which would allow her to defeat the witch. Clyde fails to defend his gem from Ms. Pac-Man, and she recovers it. After she collects all four, she defeats the Witch, and the ghosts are left without a job. Clyde is also playable in the Ghost Chase game mode, but he is limited to the fourth player.

Pac'n Roll

Clyde and the ghosts appear in Pac 'n Roll as enemy monsters. They team up with Golvis in order to get rid of Pac-Man in the past, but are eventually defeated. After the destruction of Golvis's UFO, he and the ghosts are trapped in the ocean on top of a piece of rubble. They watch Pac-Man on the television, and when Golvis asks to join in, Clyde comments there's no room for him. The ghosts then discover the reason Golvis was locked away before was because of his clumsiness.

Pac-Man Party

Clyde appears as a playable character in Pac-Man Party. His look has been drastically altered, appearing as a large, blob-like ghost. His look is based off of his depiction from the proposed Pac-Man 3-D animated series. In the game, Clyde aids Blinky, Pinky, and Inky in their attempt to steal cookies from Pac-Man. Often, Clyde ended up getting left behind by the other Ghosts. His mother is also mentioned in the game, apparently noteworthy for her baking ability.

Notes

Clyde is often referred to as "the other ghost" or the "retarded ghost", and tends to get the least respect from the fans- though this view has recently increased his popularity in the franchise. He appeared in the Pac-Man cartoon, oddly enough, as the leader that all the other ghosts followed. His design was changed and he was given a bowler hat for the cartoon, a design that would later work it's way into Pac-Man World: Rally and Pac-Man Party.

Appearances

* Pac-Man
* Super Pac-Man
* Pac-Land
* Pac-Mania
* Wolfenstein 3D (Cameo)
* Pac-Attack
* Pac-in-Time
* Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures
* Pac-Man World Namco Museum 64
* Ms. Pac-Man: Maze Madness
* Ridge Racer V (Cameo)
* Ms. Pac-Man: Quest for the Golden Maze
* Pac-Man World 2
* Pac-Man Vs. Pac-Pix
* Pac-Man Pinball
* Pac'n Roll
* Pac-Man World 3
* Pac-Man World Rally
* Pac-Man Championship Edition
* Namco Museum Remix
* We Cheer (Cameo)
* We Cheer 2 (Cameo)
* Pac-Man Party
* Pac-Man Championship Edition DX
* Pac-Man Plus
* Mr. and Mrs. Pac-Man
* Pac & Pal

Scorpion (Mortal Kombat)

Drayco90 — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 20:00:08 CDT

Scorpion is a major character from the Mortal Kombat franchise. Apparently he wants you over there.

"This is where I was reborn... this is where you will PAY!"

Originally Hanzo Hasashi, the man who would one day become Scorpion was one of the best warriors in the Shirai Ryu Ninja Clan, who bestowed the nickname Scorpion unto him out of respect for his fighting skills and talent for assassinations. Hasashi became a ninja to better take care of his wife and son, but after their deaths at the hands of their rival Lin Kuei clan, Scorpion vowed revenge.

Now, Scorpion is a black and yellow garbed, hell-spawned spectre, inexorably seeking vengeance against those responsible for the destruction of his clan and the death of his family. Despite the fact that Scorpion has previously allied himself with the forces of evil (when promised either a means of resurrection on or the chance to inflict his wrath against those who butchered his clan), he is not inherently evil. In fact, Scorpion has, at times, indirectly assisted the game's protagonists, although his reasons for doing so always ultimately serve to benefit his own motives.

History

Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero

"I am Scorpion. You killed me in cold blood!"
Scorpion was hired by the wizard Quan Chi to find a scroll in the Himalayas, but unknown to him another ninja, of the Lin Kuei, was also hired to find the scroll: Sub-Zero. Believing him to be evil, Sub-Zero fought Scorpion, and used his ice blade to decapate the rival ninja. Transported to the Netherrealm, Scorpion and Sub-Zero would fight once more, again resulting in his defeat. This time he was presented with a choice- he could return to earth for revenge or he could spend an eternity in Hell. Scorpion returned to take vengenace on the man who killed him, but returned to discover his family and the Shirai Ryu clan butchered.

Mortal Kom bat

"GET OVER HERE!"

Two years after his death, Scorpion entered the Mortal Kombat tournament in order to kill Sub-Zero. While he was forced to wait through the tournament processes he would finally catch the Lin Kuei Ninja off guard shortly after Goro's defeat at the hands of Liu Kang. The undead ninja brutally beat Sub-Zero before finally burning him to death. After completing his task, Scorpion returned to the Netherrealm immediatly in a blast of fire and ash.

Many of the techniques used by Scorpion here would carry over for the rest of his life (lives?), such as his infamous spear, hellfire casting and the "toasty" fatality, where he revealed his skull face to his foe before lighting them ablaze.

Mortal Kombat II

"GET OVER HERE!"

As he resided in the Netherrealm, word reached Scorpion that a new tournament was to take place in Outworld, and that Sub-Zero was participating in the fight. Feeling cheated and angry that his killer was once more roaming the land alive, Scorpion returned and followed the Lin Kuei to the tournament. He soon learned that this Sub-Zero was not his killer, but rather his killer's younger brother. To atone for slaying his kin, Scorpion vowed to protect Sub-Zero instead. But Sub-Zero would never know this, or the reason behind it.

Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3

"GET OVER HERE!"

After Shao Khan's invasion of Earthrealm released him, Scorpion returned with renewed life. While he tried to remain neutral but was eventually recruited by the emporer of Outworld. His alliance with Shao Khan quickly ended when he learned that Sub-Zero was one of the warriors defending Earthrealm, making them enemies, and he turned on the Emporer, aiding the warriors of Earthrealm in the final battle against Shao Khan and his forces. With the defeat of the emporer of Outworld, Earth returned to normal- including the Netherrealm, where Scorpion was returned to.

Mortal Kombat 4/ Mortal Kombat Gold

"GET OVER HERE!"

Unable to rest in piece, Scorpion is approached by the powerul wizard Quan Chi once again, this time to reveal that the murderer of his wife and son was the current Sub-Zero. This new information filled Scorpion with rage, and he set off to kill the Lin Kuei warrior. During their confrontation, Sub-Zero claimed this fact was false, only to be confirmed by Quan Chi himself, who revealed it was actually he who had killed Scorpion's family. The sorcerer attempted to transport Scorpion back to the Netherrealm. Thinking quickly, the spectre ran towards the sorcerer, taking Quan Chi with him.

Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance

"GET OVER HERE!"

For as long as Scorpion resided in the Netherrealm his powers increased, whereas Quan Chi's decreased. Thus, Scorpion spent the whole time between Mortal Kombat 4 and Deadly Alliance hunting, torturing and brutally beating the sorcerer. Desperate, Quan Chi allied himself with two deadly Oni, demons that reside in the Neatherrealm. His allies, Drahmin and Moloch tried to keep Scorpion at bay. While they fought multiple times, Quan Chi escaped the Netherrealm.

Tracking his families killer back to Earthrealm, Scorpion followed Quan Chi to the palace of Shang Tsung. Arriving in the palace expecting to find the sorcerer, Scorpion was instead ambushed by Oni Drahmin and Moloch. They brutally beat him before casting him into the Soulnado, believing it would finally kill the ninja.

During this timeframe, Scorpion began to wield dual "ninja swords", which he used to slice enemies from a medium distance during his hunt for the sorcerer Quan Chi. He also adopted two diffrent styles of fighting- Hapkido, which focused more on kicks and an open hand approach, and Pi Gua which was more dangerous and used his spear much more.

Mortal Kombat: Deception

"GET OVER HERE!"

While he was certain to be ripped apart by Quan Chi and Shang Tsung's "soulnado", Scorpion managed to escape into the void, where he encountered the fabeled Elder Gods, whom he never believed existed. The experience forever changed the ninja. While he was with the Elder Gods he witnessed the death of Raiden and Onaga, the Dragon King's, re-appearance. Scorpion was given immense powers and made the champion of the Elder Gods, and was sent on a mission- Onaga had to die before he could unmake all the realms. He accepted on one condition- the Gods revive his fallen kin. At some point during his mission he batteled Shujinko in the name of the Elder Gods and lost. He finally cornered the Dragon King at Nexus where he murdered him.

Mortal Kombat: Armageddon

"GET OVER HERE!"

With Onaga the Dragon King dead, the Elder Gods followed up on their promise to return his clan to life- they brought back the Shirai Ryu clan as hellspawned warriors, the same as Scorpion. Enraged at what he perceived as their betrayal, Scorpion vowed to gain vengeance on the Elder Gods by removing the two things crucial to their plans to prevent Armageddon - the Edenian brothers Taven and Daegon.

During Taven's final march to confront his brother, he was assaulted by the hellspawn Shirai Ryu. While the half-god defeated the undead ninja with little difficulty, he was slowed down, allowing Scorpion to use his powers to summon massive flaming skulls to fight him. Taven continues to fight off Scorpion's minions, eventually confronting the ninja himself. Scorpion and Taven's fight was brutal, but in the end Taven won and Scorpion was left defeated.

In his ending, Scorpion defeated the massive flaming monster Blaze. As the warrior's fire extinguished, the Shirai Ryu clan was fully restored to life. Vowing alliegence to the new master of their ninja clan, Scorpion is reunited with his wife and son. Unfortunatly, Quan Chi appears and kidnaps Scorpion's child, leaving the warrior enraged. He ordered the Shirai Ryu to chase down rhe treacherous sorcerer, refusing to give up untill his son was returned to him.

Mortal Kombat VS DC Universe

"GET OVER HERE!"

Scorpion first strikes during a battle between Liu Kang and Sub-Zero, interrupting their battle. While Scorpion is being beaten by the Earthrealm champion, he suddenly is switched places with the superhero the Flash in the DC Universe. Weakened from his fight and the transportation he is confronted and captured by Batman, who takes him to the Batcave for study.

Scorpion escaped and later brought Sub-Zero to the Netherrealm and the two battle, freeing Quan Chi. Quan Chi sent Sub-Zero back to warn Raiden that alliances needed to be formed to stop the world merging, and then he sent Scorpion to look for the Princess Kitana. Scorpion went to Gotham, where he confronted the Joker who foolishly tried to take on the ninja spectre and was thrashed by him. Not finding the princess there, Scorpion ventured to Wonder Woman's Island. She wished him gone and refused his prescense, causing the two to fight, eventually leaving Scorpion the victor.

Scorpion then went to Metropolis, where he was met by Superman. Annoyed with the Man of Steel, Scorpion turned out to have an advantage due to Superman's weakness from magic. After the fight, an enraged Kitana appeared and Scorpion, with no other choice, beat her unconscious. Quan Chi then appeared and ordered Scorpion to take her to Raiden. Awake, Kitana informed all the Kombatants of the being known as Dark Khan, who was the focal point of the worlds merging.

Scorpion teamed up with Shang Tsung and Baraka to take on Captain Marvel in the Netherealm only to be defeated. Scorpion was then forced to work with Sub-Zero, and they made their way to the Wu Shi Academy, where he confronted Lex Luthor and Catwoman. Though Sub-Zero froze Catwoman in place, he and Scorpion both were defeated by Luthor. In the final battle against the D.C. heroes, Scorpion managed to defeat The Flash before he himself fell. Scorpion returned to his own dimension shortly after Superman and Raiden defeated Dark Khan, with minimal injury.

Mortal Kombat (2011)

Voiced by Ed Boon

"To Hell with your clan."
"No! To Hell with YOU!" - Scorpion does not take Bi-Han's disrespect well...

After Raiden was unable to prevent the Armageddon, he sent images of his past to himself in an alternate timeline during the era of the first Mortal Kombat tournament, hoping he could prevent the events from unfolding poorly once again. One of the earliest images the appears in Raiden's mind is that of Scorpion murdering Bi-Han, the first Sub-Zero and his rebirth as Noob Saibot, which Raiden decides must be stopped. During the first tournament of Mortal Kombat, Scorpion demanded that he be allowed to fight Sub-Zero, but the arrogant and brash Shaolin Monk Kung Lao challenged the undead ninja instead. Scorpion easily defeated the Monk, but showed mercy by sparring his life. Shang Tsung then ordered him to fight Nightwolf, who attempts to redirect Scorpion's rage to no avai before being knocked out of the tournament. Shang Tsung was impressed by Scorpion's skill, and decided he would get his fight with Sub-Zero soon enough. Raiden appears and tells Scorpion that he must not kill Sub-Zero, and manages to begin convincing Scorpion that if he spares the Lin Kuei warrior, the thunder god can appeal to have the Shirai Ryu brought back by the Elder Gods.

When Scorpion enetered the palace, he began to be harassed by the Lin Kuei assassins Cyrax and Sektor, who felt that Scorpion's brazen demands for Sub-Zero were misplaced and that he would join his clan. Scorpion kept his calm, claiming that his clan may once more walk the earth, which provoked a push from Cyrax. Shang Tsung decided that Scorpion would fight the two, and Scorpion quickly curbstomped both of them in a two-on-one battle. Just as he finished them off, Sub-Zero entered the palace, showing great disrespect for the memory of the Shirai Ryu, which made Scorpion snap and drag Sub-Zero to the Netherrealm, where he began to violently beat the Lin Kuei. After his victory, Scorpion hesitated to kill Sub-Zero because of Raiden's promise, but Quan Chi made his appearance, showing Scorpion a fabricated past where Sub-Zero and the Lin Kuei butchered everyone in Scorpion's clan, including women and children. Despite Sub-Zero's protests that they were lies, Scorpion lost his temper and burned the flesh from Sub-Zero's bones before ripping his skull and spine out and shattering it on the floor of the palace. Scorpion hung his head in shame for not having the self-control to save his clan, and teleported away, though he returned briefly near the tournament's end just long enough so he and Quan Chi could be bested by Liu Kang.

During the second Mortal Kombat tournament ran by Shao Kahn, Scorpion encountered Sub-Zero again, discovering it to be the younger brother of the Lin Kuei he had already killed. Scorpion decided it was meaningless to him, and that Sub-Zero didn't have an honor worth remembering. The two fought, but Sub-Zero began to gain the upper hand and eventually defeated Scorpion, preparing to kill the ninja. Scorpion was saved when cyber Lin Kuei appeared and teleported Sub-Zero away to undergo the process to become a Cyber Ninja, removing his personality to turn him into a robotic slave. Seeing his chance, Scorpion escaped back to the Netherrealm where he continued to serve Quan Chi. When Shao Kahn launched his invasion of Earthrealm, Raiden came to talk with Quan Chi, but was forced to go through Scorpion to do so. The dissapointed thunder god remarked on his dissapproval of his servitude to the sorcerer and quickly defeated the ninja before he teleported away as Quan Chi made his appearance to hear Raiden out.

In Scorpion's non-canon ending, he returns to the ruins of the civilization of the Shirai Ryu, where he is greeted by the spirits of his ancestors. They inform their only remaining member of the true events that occured when they fell and who was truly responsible- Quan Chi. Scorpion hunted the sorcerer down and fought him, only gaining the upper hand when his clan's spirits grabbed Quan Chi and immobilized him, allowing Scorpion to kill him, finally avenging the deaths of his clan and relieving him of the burden that not even the slaying of Shao Kahn could provide.

Notes

Series creator Ed Boon has made it no secret that Scorpion is his favorite character in the series, and he provides the character's voice himself. Scorpion's line "GET OVER HERE" is one of the most iconic sounds in gaming history, and has remained since the original game. Scorpion appears in the first Mortal Kombat film, portrayed by Chris Casamassa. He works for Shang Tsung and the forces of Outworld, and he faces off against Johnny Cage. The two have a hard fight, and eventually Scorpion attempts to perform his "toasty" fatality, pulling off his mask to breath hellfire, but Cage dodges and kills the ninja. Oddly his spear was changed from a simple blade on a string to an organic snake-like creature that exits his arm through a slit in his wrist. Casamassa returns for the role of Scorpion during the TV show Mortal Kombat: Konquest. The seductive Vorpax guided Shang Tsung to a hidden recess in Outworld's cobalt mines which held a mystical emperor scorpion called the Scorpio. Shang Tsung unleashed the warrior soul trapped within it, which possessed Takeda, a guard for the Reyland family. Kung Lao was forced to fight the warrior and sent him to Hell once Scorpion killed his love, Jen Reyland. Scorpion was later resurrected by Shao Kahn, and built an organization of assassins for the Emperor, of whom Siro's brother was briefly a member. His last known deed was a reluctant partnership with the Lin Kuei to kill Kung Lao. It dissolved with the deaths of people close to him and Sub-Zero, and the two warriors ferociously battled each other to a draw, before the intervention of Kung Lao forced Scorpion to flee. He employed the living hand creature from the films rather than a spear. He briefly reappeared in the film's sequel, this time played by J. J. Perry, where he kidnaps Kitana after fighting Sub-Zero to a draw. Scorpion was to return in the third Mortal Kombat film, the role reprised by Casamassa, but the movie's place in development hell has likely left this film cancelled.

Scorpion appears in the second episode of the cartoon Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm, entitled Sting of the Scorpion. He leads an army of undead warriors and ninjas to invade and conquer Earthrealm, and is confronted by Sub-Zero. He defeats his rival, but is in turn defeated by the champion of Earthrealm- Liu Kang. After he is defeated Scorpion is returned to "the land of souls". He also appears in the comic series, published by Malibu Comics. Despite the game's portrayl of Scorpion being neutral, Scorpion is presented as a force for great evil in the comics. He is killed by Kitana who prevents him from executing an uncouncious Sub-Zero.

Scorpion had two action figures, one based on his appearance in Mortal Kombat: Deception, which came with his two swords and spear. The figure was reworked into a Reptile and Noob Saibot figure later on. He also had a comic-con exclusive version of the figure, representing his "Toasty" fatality, with an unmasked head and keeps all the accessories from the original.

Appearances

* Mortal Kombat
* Mortal Kombat II
* Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3
* Mortal Kombat Trilogy
* Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero
* Mortal Kombat 4
* Mortal Kombat Gold
* Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance
* Mortal Kombat: Deception
* Mortal Kombat: Unchained
* Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks
* Mortal Kombat: Armageddon
* Mortal Kombat VS DC Universe
* Mortal Kombat (2011)
* Mortal Kombat (Film)
* Mortal Kombat: Annihillation (Film)
* Mortal Kombat: The Journey Begins (Animated Film)
* Mortal Kombat: Konquest
* Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm (One Episode)
* Mortal Kombat Comic
* Mortal Kombat (The Novelization) (non-canon)

Characters

Drayco90 — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 19:00:07 CDT

Urdnot Wrex

Drayco90 — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 18:59:06 CDT

Urdnot Wrex is a major character and party member in the Mass Effect franchise.

"Anyone who fights us is either stupid or on Saren's payroll. Killing the latter is buisiness. Killing the former...is a favor to the galaxy."

Born on the krogan homeworld of Tuchanka, Urdnot Wrex managed to survive birth as he was before the effects of the Genophage, but unlike so many of his people before and after him, Wrex actually cared about the long term prospect for his people. While he attempted to unify the various tribes of the Krogan people under a single banner to help reduce the chances of stillborns and stop pointless casualties in meaningless conflicts, Wrex had a difficult time. When he finally began to get the younger generations attention, the older generations began to condemn him, and his own father attempted to kill him on sacred ground, forcing Wrex to kill him in self-defense while his dream shattered around him. Bitter and turned cynical, Wrex gave up on his goals and set off to find work as a mercenary.

Despite his rough exterior and past, Wrex has a strong sense of sarcastic humor that he often used to belittle those around him. His mindset was very focused on Renegade, and he prefered which ever solution to a problem allowed the most fighting and the easiest work, and wasn't the smartest, but at the end of the day Wrex was an immensly loyal companion, and would even consider a Paragon Shepard one of his closest friends in the years he followed the Commander.

History

Mass Effect

Voiced by Steven Barr
"Make no mistake. Tell Fist I will kill him."
"Wrex, do you want us to arrest you?"
"I want you to try."- Wrex and the C-Sec Officer

Wrex found himself on one of the luckiest missions in his life when he was hired by the Shadow Broker to assassinate Fist, the owner of the Citadel nightclub Chora's Den. During his initial attempt to bypass Fist's guard, Wrex encountered Commander Shepard, who had just returned to find evidence of Saren's corruption to the Counci. When the Commander met with Garrus Vakarian, the turian told Shepard about a krogan mercenary that was stuck in the C-Sec Headquarters, and Shepard went to investigate, where Wrex agreed to help deal with Fist, claiming that the enemy of his enemy was a friend. After Wrex executed Fist during an all out assault of Chora's Den, Wrex helped Shepard track down Tali'Zorrah nar Rayya before she could give her evidence convicting Saren to Saren's agents in a fake deal. After saving her, the two of them decided to join the Normandy as full time squad members. During their adventures together, Wrex illuminated Shepard on the plight of the krogan people and his own personal history, including his past attempts to unify his people and his conflict with his father.

Wrex had a suit of ancestral armor worn by his grandfather before him that had been lost when it was stolen by turian warriors after the disasterous Krogan Rebellions, and it caused him no small amount of grief to think about the only relic of his family he cared about in the hands of the enemy. After Shepard's missions of Feros, Noveria and the Artimis Tau Cluster, Wrex discovered that the armor was now in the possession of a turian pirate and krogan artifact collector Tonn Actus. Wrex and Shepard tracked down Actus to the planet Tuntau, located in the Argos Rho cluster, where one of the turian's many bases were located. The two stormed the base, shooting down and crushing all of Tonn's guards and automated defenses before breaking into the facility proper where Wrex and Actus exchanged words, before blowing the pirate's brains out. With his family armor restored to him, Wrex could finally concentrate fully on the mission proper and rewarding Shepard with his deepest respect.

When the crew arrived on the planet Virmire to regroup with a salarian STG squad that had infiltrated the Saren-controlled planet, the team discovered that Saren was working on a cure for the Genophage on the planet, with the intention of using a massive krogan army to strike down all for the Reapers. Shepard agreed with the STG that the facility had to be destroyed, enraging Wrex who felt that his people deserved a cure no matter the cost. Wrex stormed off to the beach, where Shepard followed and forced a confrontation with the krogan. While Wrex admited that Shepard had done more for him than his family, he knew that his people were dying and that Saren could fix that, and that the line between friend and foe was beginning to blur from his perspective. Depending on Shepard's allignment and charm/intimidate stat, Wrex can either be talked down when Shepard points out that Saren's krogan would just be mindless slaves, not real warriors and that the victory over the genophage would be a hollow one, or Shepard was forced to gun down his friend on the beach, or have Ashley Williams do it for him. If Shepard manages to spare Wrex, he will continue to loyally follow Shepard from Virmire to the Mu Relay, which lead to the dead Prothean world Illos, where they would meet Virgil and activate the relay to return to the Citadel to stop Sovereign and Saren from bringing the Repears through the massive relay that the Citadel really is and killing everyone. Wrex and Shepard managed to kill Saren, but the turian's body was taken direct control of by Sovereign, who stripped it down to it's robotic componets and attacked again. Wrex helped to stop the Sovereign-Saren and as a result, kept the Reaper from gaining control of the Citadel, effectivley delaying the arrival for years.

Mass Effect 2

Voiced by Steven Barr

"Speak when spoken to, Uvenk! I'll drag your clan to glory whether it likes it or not."

After stopping Sovereign during the Battle of the Citadel, Wrex continued to serve alongside Shepard and the crew of the Normandy, but left sometime before they were attacked by an unknown ship. The ship used advanced technology that made the state of the art Normandy look obsolete, and it quickly began to shred the ship apart, killing Navigator Pressley. Shepard forced most of the crew to escape the ship before they could be harmed, but the Commander was less fortunate when Joker refused to abandon the Normandy. Shepard forced the pilot to move, and while he managed to get to the escape pod with Shepard's help, Shepard was critically wounded before joining him, and drifted into space before crashing into the side of a frozen planet, dead. After two years of research, Cerberus was able to revive the Commander through the Lazarus project, and sent Shepard across the galaxy on a mission to stop the Collector's from kidnapping human colonies.

Shepard's quest eventually lead to Tuchanka where, assuming he wasn't killed on Virmire, Shepard was greeted by an incredibly jovial Wrex. Wrex revealed that after the end of the Normandy, he returned to his home and used the aftermath of the destruction of the cure on Virmire to take power and begin to unify the krogan clans under the rule of Clan Urdnot, so he could increase his species chances for surviving the genophage. However, just as before, Wrex was drawing flak from other clans that felt his blatant steamrolling of ancient traditions to be disgraceful, and he faced a great deal of opposition. He helped point Shepard in the direction of Mordin Solus' past student, Malleon, who was working with the Blood Pack to fix the genophage through incredibly distasteful and violent means. He also helped Shepard when Grunt began to suffer anxiety and confused emotions, revealing that Grunt needed to go through his Rite of Passage. Shepard and Grunt fought various species of deadly animals native to Tuchanka, culminating in a battle with a Thresher Maw, where the objective was simply to survive. Killing the creature, Shepard and Grunt gained a great deal of fame as it was something no one had pulled off sense Wrex's own Rite. When Grunt's Rite was completed, Gatatog Uvenk and his kraant appear. Having already been opposed to Wrex's unification and allowing Shepard in their culture, Uvenk believes that Grunt would make an excellent weapon against Wrex, but Grunt would hear none of it, and he killed them. Wrex was greatly impressed by his fellow krogan's accomplishments, and happily accepts Shepard's new ally into clan Urdnot.

If Wrex was killed on Virmire, Shepard will instead be greeted by Wrex's broodbrother Urdnot Wreav, who is far less hospitable to the Alliance soldier, claiming that the Commander had become an "enemy to all krogan".

Mass Effect 3

Voiced by Steven Barr

Wrex has been confirmed to make a return appearance in Mass Effect 3, assuming he wasn't killed on Virmire, though he is the only party member from the first game who isn't returning as a possible squad member for this one.

Notes

Wrex is one of Mass Effect's most popular charcers due in no small part to his gordian-knot-cutting-bluntness and dry sense of sarcastic humor, and lead to him being awarded a "Best Sidekick of the Year" award from the Official Xbox Magazine. Wrex spawned a mini-meme in the Mass Effect community from his dialouge tree- "Wrex." "Shepard." "I should go." was one of the more popular Mass Effect memes during the first game, but slowly began to decrease in steam after the second game's release, though it still pops up in places.

Appearances

* Mass Effect
** Mass Effect: Bring Down the Sky
** Mass Effect: Pinnacle Station
* Mass Effect 2
* Mass Effect 3

Frank West

Drayco90 — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 21:59:58 CDT

Frank West is a main character in the Dead Rising franchise. He's the one who's covered wars y'know.

"It's Frank. Frank West. Remember the name, 'cause the whole world's gonna know it in three days when I get the scoop."

Frank West is an average American civilian, working as a freelance photographer and photojournalist. Frank has little actual care for the plights of others, and most of his actions are relativly selfish in nature, though when he is pressed Frank is willing to go to extreme lengths to complete his goals, even if it means fighting an entire army of zombies single-handedly with a wooden baseball bat and a park bench. Frank cares only for getting a big scoop so he can become famous around the world.

Despite his many human flaws, Fank West ultimatley desires to do the right thing and is willing to help save and protect the lives of others, even at the risk of his "big scoop". He has a history of covering wars, explaining his profeciency with firearms, and seems to have watched a large number of professional wrestling shows as he tends to rely on the moves he sees from them when he is forced into hand-to-hand combat.

History

Dead Rising

Voiced by T. J. Rotolo
"I've covered wars, y'know"

Frank hired a helicopter pilot named Ed DeLuca to take him into the small Colorado town Willamette and, which has become mysteriously quarantined by the military, and then come pick him back up 72 hours later. As they approach the helipad at the roof of the mall in the center of town, a squad of military helicopters attacked, knocking most of Frank's camera equipment down into the streets below, surely broken on impact. Otis was forced to turn around, but at the last second Frank lept from the chopper, landing on the roof hard. In an effort to protect his camera, he used his leg to cushion the blow, nearly breaking it and causing him to start walking with a limp for the remainder of the event. Also on the roof was the mysterious Carlito, who informed him that he had arrived in Hell. Frank went down the stairs to find a group of people traped in the mall as well, constructing a baracade. Looking outstide, Frank was horrified and confused to see that the mall was under assault by zombies, and he rushed to grab more items to hold the door shut, though not before shooting a few pictures of it. When he reached the few remaining wood and park benches not being used in the baracade already, he met Dr. Russel Barnaby, who seemed either crazed, dillusional or both, but Frank couldn't help him as he was on the other side of a locked gate. He also met a mysterious hispanic woman, but before he could interact with her he was accused of spending his time "oogling pretty ladies" and told to help.

An elderly woman saw that her beloved dog was trapped on the other otherside of the baracades with the zombies and she flew into hysterics, ripping through the defences and tearing open the doors. She was quickly devoured by the undead, and the zombies spread throughout Enterance Plaza. Brad Garrison appeared at the top of the stairs and shouted at the people to get there for help. Frank, armed with only some broken pieces of wood and a camera, and hampered by his leg, fought his way through the zombies to reach Brad, though he was the only one who managed to get to safety. He met with Otis, a janitor who gives Frank a map of the mall an a phone so they can stay in contact, and Brad's government agent partner Jessie McCarney. West decides that he's still going to get his "scoop of a lifetime" and sets out to find a way back into the mall. As he prepares to enter Paradise Plaza, Jessie startles him, and he nearly bashes her head in with a fire extinguisher. She twists her ankle as a result, and is unable to do her job, asking Frank to help. She hands him her gun, and tells him to go meet up with Brad in the Food Court.

When Frank arrives in the Food Court, he is immediatly pinned down by machine gun fire from Carlito along with Brad. Nevertheless, the two managed to get up to Carlito's position and hurt him, forcing him to flee. The two pushed their way through to Enterance Plaza, where they raised the gates and attempted to bring Dr. Barnaby back with them to the security room, but he refused. The two meet with Carlito again when he kidnaps Barnaby, forcing Brad and Frank to confront him before he feeds the old man to a crowd of zombies. Though they save the old man, and return him to the security room, Brad is injured in the fight and needs medicine to deal with the wound. Frank heads to the Mall's supermarket, where he meets Steven, the manager who snapped when the zombies arrived. He uses his deadly weaponized shopping cart and shotgun, and has the mysterious hispanic woman in the cart, who also showed up to get medicine. Frank fights and kills Steven, taking the key to his backroom and getting his much-needed medicine, though when he offers to help the mysterious woman she gets angry at him and runs away.

Brad begins his recovery, and Barnaby wakes up, but he refuses to talk with Frank around, stereotyping him as a typical paparazzi. Frank decides to find a source of his own when he sees the hispanic woman on the cameras. He tracks her down, but she attacks him on her motorcycle, forcing him to fight her. He is able to defeat her despite her vehicle, and pins her to the ground, demanding information. She tells him that she is Isabela Keyes, the younger sister of Carlito, and that the zombies originate from a small mexican town, Santa Cabeza. She tells him that Carlito wants the public to know what's going on and why, and tells him that she will bring the two together for an interview at a rendezvous point. Hours later, while Frank is waiting in the small secluded room, when Isabela bursts through the doors, attacked by a zombie. Frank kills the zombie, and discovers that she has been dangerously wounded by a gunshot wound from her brother.

Frank helps Isabela and decides to carry her to the Security Room for help. When he gets her there, Brad wants to interrogate her, but she tells him that he should direct his questions to the leader of the Santa Cabeza Research Facillity: Dr. Russel Barnaby. Just as she reveals this, a newly zombified Barnaby attacks Jessie. While they knock him off her, he uses his last grips of humanity to tell them that the zombies were an accidental result of experiments to reproduce more cattle to increase the rate they can produce meat in America, then he gives into the infection, forcing Brad to kill him. Isabela tells Frank and the others that Carlito wants to blow up the mall, sending the zombie virus airborn and spread across America, but she crafts a plan to disarm the bombs- sending Frank into the tunnels. While Frank is attacked by Carlito once again, he manages to stop the van he was using to try and run him down, and Carlito fless, allowing Frank to succeed in stopping the bombs. Meanwhile, Carlito attacks Brad, and they exchange crippling gunshots before Carlito dumps him into a room filled with zombies. Frank finds the wounded and turning Brad, who begs him not to tell Jessie he was infected. Frank sadly takes Brad's pistol, and mercy kills him.

Frank and Isabela make it to Carlito's Hideout, but she cannot crack his password to discover if he has any further plans. Frank discovers that Carlito is trapped in the Underground Tunnels by the butcher Larry Chiang, and quickly goes to rescue him to get his password. When he arrives, he finds that the butcher has also gone insane, and is killing humans to cut them up because zombie meat is "no good". Frank fights and kills Larry, before freeing Carlito, but it is too late- the wounds are fatal. In his final moments, he gives Frank a locket to give to Isabela, which reminds her of an old saying which turns out to be the password, allowing her to open the landlines. With these open, Jessie is able to call for backup. Sadly when she next calls Frank, she tells him that the military will kill everyone and destroy everything in order to keep what happened quiet, and when they arrive to interogate her she also turns into a zombie due to her injuries from Barnaby's attack. She kills the two officers while Otis takes all 50 of the human survivors Frank discovered and rescued to safety in a helicopter, leaving Frank a note that if they ever met again, he owed West a drink. While Frank managed to fight through the army to the Security Room, he found only zombie Jessie left, and was forced to kill her. Frank, determined still to make it out alive, despite being abandoned, forced to kill his allies, still limping and low on camera film as well as being a victim for both the zombies and the army, climbs to the roof, and is rewarded to see Ed DeLuca's return. Frank signals him down, and Ed turns the helicopter to pick him up. Frank uses his camera zoom to watch Ed in the cockpit, as a zombie rises from behind him and attacks, killing the pilot and causing him to crash in the clock tower in the park. Horrified, Frank falls to his knees as the zombies begin to close in around him.

Isabela abruptly appears to save Frank, although she diagnoses with a bleak condition; Frank is infected with the parasite, and will turn into a zombie unless he procures the items requested by Isabela. Once Frank has acquired the necessary items, Isabela creates a temporary potion to delay the effects of zombification. The excess inoculation is used by Isabela to fashion a zombie repellent potion. She also reveals something horrible she found on Carlito’s computer: Carlito has used the same potion to temporarily preserve infected orphans spread across the country, basically making them zombie time bombs.

With no reason to stay in the mall any longer, Frank and Isabela decide to head out through the tunnels opened when Ed crashed into the clock tower. When they reach through to the otherside, they are encountered by more military, lead by the commander of the clean-up operation at both Willamette and Santa Cabeza, Brock Mason. Brock makes his way towards Isabela and Frank inside of a large Army Tank; Frank commandeers the Humvee while Isabela manipulates the machine gun mounted on the back. Brock eventually knocks over the Humvee and stops the Tank to fight Frank in fair battle, rather than blow him to bits. Frank engages Brock in hand-to-hand combat, as the zombies begin to crowd around them. As Isabela regains consciousness, she evades the zombies and makes her stand on top of the crashed Humvee. Frank eventually knocks the Military Commander into the massive zombie crowd, and Brock is eaten alive while faintly smiling. Surrounded by the masses of the undead, Frank gets on his knees and yells as the game ends. In the credits it states that Frank and Isabela were able to escape and survive (likely using the tank that Brock arrived in). After escaping the zombie infested town, they were able to spread the story of what really happened at Willamette and acknowledge those who died at Santa Cabeza.

Dead Rising 2: Case West

Voiced by T. J. Rotolo

"You're pretty high-strung for a guy who's covered wars" -Chuck Greene

After clearing his name and stopping the zombies in Fortune City, ex-motocross expert Chuck Greene was almost bested by the hands of a freshly-zombified Tyrone King, the host of the infamous cable show "Terror is Reality" where contestants kill zombies in gruesome and humiliating ways. Luckily for Chuck, Frank West made his timely arrival, rescuing him from certain death. While he was initially unwilling to work along side Greene after hearing the news reports that Chuck had been the one to cause the zombie outbreak to begin with, he gets a tip from a source of his that there is something he needs to see in a Phenotran facility, and he decides to bring Chuck along for the ride after he tells him about Rebecca Chang's death at the hands of the Phenotrans. Frank and Chuck arrive at the facility, crawling with zombies, and decide to work together to fight off the hordes and rescue the Phenotran workers, and to uncover who Frank's mysterious source is.

Frank spends most of his time wielding a baseball bat, and unless the player is playing co-op so someone else can play as Frank, he will not use any other weapons or switch outfits. He has also updated his camera so it's no longer running on film and requiring constant mateinance.

Frank and Chuck managed to fight their way through the facility and found the president of the Phenotrans, Marian Mallon, who claims that there has always been a cure for the zombies outside the temporary Zombrex they are already producing, but that they won't release it because it would take away too much money. She also reveals that Isabela is being forced to work for them after the Willemette incident. The commander of the Phenotran guards, Harjit Singh, appeared, wielding two impact hammers, he smacks Isabela across the room, knocking her out, and engages Frank and Chuck.

The three's fight is constantly peppered with the arrival of additional security forces, but they are all killed by the duo, and they eventually bring down Harjit, causing him to stumble back and fall into a tank of queens, which begin stinging him all over from the inside and out. Marian takes Isabela and activates the self-destruct on the facility, forcing Chuck and Frank to retreat.

As the two stand outside the burning wreckage of the Phenotran Facility, Chuck wonders about the cure Marian mentioned, believing he could finally make his daughter safe, but Frank warns him it could've been a lie. Just then, West's watch begins beeping signaling his need for Zombrex. Chuck takes a pack of the temporary antidote and hands it to him, telling him that "the world needs Frank West".

Dead Rising 2: Off the Record

Voiced by T. J. Rotolo
"The Fortune City Incident- people always ask me about it. 'Why didn't you cover it?' 'Why didn't you break the story?' 'Why weren't you there Frank?' Well I wasn't. Chuck Greene was. He broke the story, uncovered the conspiracy, became a hero, got famous. The next question people always ask me is 'Well if you were there what would you have done different. My answer? Everything."

After his constant questions about the Fortune City Incident and his meeting with Chuck Greene, Frank decides to simply reimagine the events of the Outbreak there with himself in Chuck's shoes. Among the additions he makes are the decision to transform part of Fortune City into a theme park for children called "Uranus Zone", which he is very enthusiastic about, and to replace the Motorcycle challenge from Terror is Reality to a wrestling match between himself and a few large zombies.

In this retelling, Frank become a massive icon, publishing his own best-selling book and getting his own talk show, but soon his fifteen minutes of fame dries up, and he agrees to make an appearance on Terror is Reality with Tyrone King, but after the match feels he has lost his dignity, and decides to use his prize money to get out of town. However, Frank spots TK and Brandon Whittaker exchanging mysterious gifts and talking about their plans with his camera, and they spot him and attack. During the ensuing fight, the zombies are freed and the Fortune City Incident begins. Armed with his trusty camera and whatever items he can find in Fortune City, Frank West must go once more into the brink to discover the conspiracy laying deep under everything and to save all the survivors that he can, as well as search for Zombrex to keep himself from turning into one of the undead horrors he must now fight.

Tatsunoku vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars

Voiced by T. J. Rotolo
"I've covered wars, y'know"

Frank West was confirmed to be a hidden character in the American rerelease of Tatsunoku vs. Capcom: Super Stars, appearing for the player only after they have cleared Arcade Mode with three other characters from the Capcom side.

In his ending, after saving reality the Tatsunoku heroes are dismayed that Frank has to return home now, and Joe the Condor told him they were sure they would have been good friends. Frank however, tells everyone they're forgetting something- telling them all to gather around. A few days later, Frank West has arrived in Willamette for the first time, and has just meet with Brad and Jessie. During his alone time in the Security Room, Frank had been spending some time staring at an image saved on his camera, prompting Jessie to ask if it was important to him. He tells her it's his best work, but he has lead the team to believe it comes from a halloween party, though they remark he seems to fit in with the costumed people surprisingly well. They ask if he has a name for the picture, and the camera zooms out to show Frank happily smiling with his Tatsunoku friends and decides to name the photo "Ultimate All-Stars" and swears to frame it if he can get out of Willamette alive.

Each of his hyper combos refer to something from Dead Rising. First, his "Real Mega Buster" combo has him put on his Mega Man suit and use the Mega Buster unlocked in the original game for earning the zombie genocider achievement to unleash a massive blast of energy for a 21 hit combo. In his "Dead Rising" attack, he grabs the enemy and performs a massive spinning throw before hitting the falling enemy with a powerful baseball bat swing that sends them flying. In his Level Three Hyper Combo, Frank forces his enemy to put on a servbot helmet, then rams them through a horde of zombies, killing them and finally leaping up and slamming the enemy into the ground creating a powerful shockwave.

Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3

While Frank West was barely cut from the original Marvel vs Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds, despite making an appearance in the Episode 2 trailer as the (slightly obscured) helicopter pilot with Chun Li who was rescued from Dr. Doom by Captain America, and despite having his shadow appear at the beginning of a couple different trailers for the game, he finally makes his Marvel fighting debut in the game's updated re-release, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3.

Notes

Frank West has quickly become one of the most popular characters in the Capcom staple, becoming one of their icons and even being the faceman for his own meme- "I've Covered Wars, y'know" has skyrocketed up in meme status over the years since the release of the first Dead Rising and has been acknowledged by Capcom multiple times. In Dead Rising 2 one of the achievements/trophies is titled "He Hasn't Covered Wars" and at one point, Chuck asks reporter Rebecca Chang if she's ever covered wars. In Dead Rising 2: Case West, Frank's description in his journal is "He's covered wars, y'know" and Chuck remarks on how high-strung he is for "a guy who's covered wars". In one of the trailers for Dead Rising 2: Off the Record, Frank lists covering wars up with meeting the president as things he's done other than fight zombies.
Frank West was designed to be something on an anti-thesis to most Japanese game developer's main characters who are made to be as "pretty" and good-natured as possible. Frank was designed to be seen as normal and plain, like your average person. He has no real athletic skill, and in fact has difficulty moving around grocery aisles, and has no special powers or nakama. Frank doesn't even have strong loyal ties like most Japanese characters, being loyal only to the scoop. This approach seems to have turned out for the best, as Frank has become an icon overseas, espicially in America. Frank was voted the third manliest man in gaming by Screwattack. West's popularity was so great, that Capcom has gone on record claiming they want to put Frank West in everything because "Americans love goddam Frank West". So far, Frank has made an appearance as a downloadable character in Lost Planet: Extreme Conditions wearing both his Mega Man suit and without it, and returns for the Second game. He was slated to make an appearance in Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds, and could even be seen in the Episode 2 trailer, but was cut from the game along with Dr. Octopus due to complications with some of his moves. Frank was moved to a DLC spot, but the 2011 Tsunami in Japan forced development so far back, it was more cost effective to simply re-release the game with all the DLC characters added in for a reduced price, and Frank finally got his roster seat in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. While not a Capcom game, Left 4 Dead 2: The Passing includes a final memoir from Frank on the wall of a safehouse amongst other grafitti, where he warns Otis he can't make it because the zombies are too fast, there's no helicopter and his camera is dead, an homage to the differences between the zombies in the two games.

Appearances

* Dead Rising
* Dead Rising: Chop 'Till You Drop
* Dead Rising 2 (Mentioned Only)
* Dead Rising 2: Case West
* Dead Rising 2: Off the Record
* Tatsunoku vs. Capcom: All Stars
* Lost Planet: Extreme Conditions (DLC)
* Lost Planet 2
* Left 4 Dead 2: The Passing (Mentioned Only)
* Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3
* Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds (Cut Content)

Sir Arthur (Capcom)

Drayco90 — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 12:03:31 CDT

Sir Arthur is a main character from the Ghosts 'n Goblins series, and a recurring Capcom character.

"A knight from a foreign land?... Huzzah!"

A brave and heroic knight, Sir Arthur is a proud warrior and a strong supporter of the forces of good and chivalry. The stout hero is famed for his tenacity and percerverence, which have allowed him to best the forces of Hell time and time again.

Arthur is skilled in the use of most weapons, but his signature weapons are his lances, which he throws at his foes and are seemingly endless in number. He also has a wide array of armors, but his iconic steel plate armor is his usual attire. After he takes so much damage he will eventually begin to lose pieces of his armor, untill he is left in nothing but his boxer shorts, which have also become quite iconic.

Arthur is often on a quest to protect his lover and, eventually, wife Princess Guenivere, from the forces of Hell.

History

Ghosts 'n Goblins

When his beloved Princess Guenivere (Princess Prin Prin is some translations and versions) is kidnapped by the monsterous Astaroth (Satan in the Japanesse and early translated versions, changed due to Nintendo's harsh rules on religious depection.) Sir Arthur springs into action. Grabbing his steel plate armor and his arsenal of lances, Arthur fought his way through the six gates of Hell to regain his princess. Along the way Arthur also obtains torches, daggers, axes and shields to fight off the forces of zombies, ghosts and monsters that await him. He also confronts and slays Astaroth's minions the Unicorn Demon and the Dragon. After he finishes off Astaroth's minions he prepares to confront him, but it is revealed to be a trap, and Arthur is forced to do it all over again. Refighting his way through the gates and killing his foes once more, Arthur finally confronts Astaroth. The two have a massive battle, and as Astaroth nearly dies, he transforms into the undead king of demons, Nebiroth. Defeating his newly enhanced foe, Arthur is finally reunited with the princess and "this story is happy ending".

Ghouls 'N Ghosts

With Astaroth's apparent death, the demon Loki (Lucifer in some versions) decides to take the vacant throne for himself, stealing hundreds of souls to create a new body for himself. Unforunatley, one such soul is that of Princess Guenivere, sending Arthur on yet another quest to find and save his princess. Arthur takes up the battle with his normal attire and arsenal from the last game, but adds a set of Magic Armor which allows him to unleash powerful spells on his foes. He also obtains a sword and discus as weapons as well. On his new journey, Arthur defeats Loki's minions the Shielder, Cerberus, Gassuto, Ohme, Astaroth and Beelzebup. As he prepares to battle Loki he discovers he must obtain a magical gauntlet, forcing him to restart his quest. Obtaining the item, Arthur does it all again, and battles Loki. Defeating the demon, Arthur returns the souls of the people of Camelot and his Princess Guenivere.

Super Ghouls 'N Ghosts

Years later, Arthur and Guenivere are set to be married, but the wedding is interrupted when the new emporer of Hell, Sardius (Samael in some versions), arrives and kidnaps her. Once more Sir Arthur sets out on a journey to rescue his beloved bride-to-be. He continues with all his previous items, and along the way he earns a set of Bronze Armor which increases his physical damage. He also learns to double-jump. His quest leads him into conflict with the Cockatrice and Miniwing, the Giant Barnacle, the Hydra, the Death Crawler, Freon, Astaroth and Nebiroth, all of which he slays. He continues on to battle Sardius, and after a long hard battle he overcomes the Emporer and rescues his beloved once again- finally getting to marry her.

Marvel VS Capcom: Clash of the Super Heroes

Arthur is a member of the Capcom forces, and appears in game as an assist character. He appears briefly on screen long enough to throw a handful of his iconic lances before disappearing.

Namco X Capcom

Arthur appears as an ally on the Capcom side in Namco X Capcom, and appears in multiple cutscenes and is featured on the boxart.

Ghost's 'n Goblins: Golden Knights

Happily married and settled down, things seem fine for Arthur, untill the forces of Hell appear once more, kidnapping innocent maidens from across Camelot. Guenivere assembles a group of the best knights in the land, led by Arthur himself, to rescue these maidens. Arthur and his friend Lancelot push their way into Hell once more, and combat Astaroth. They defeat the demon, but Lancelot is attacked and kidnapped. Before the same can happen to Arthur, Sir Perceval appears and rescues him. The two begin a journey to rescue their friend. Along the way they are attacked by a mysterious knight cald in all black, and after they defeat him they relize that it is actually Lancelot, forced to wear demonic armor. The knights learn that the Demon Lord has returned and is now poised to strike at humanity.

In the game Arthur has a wider array of weaponry than either Lancelot or Perceval, and also takes less damage, but he is not as fast as them, dosn't jump as high as them and has a slower attack speed than them. He has magic very similar to Lancelot, though his is slightly more powerful. His attacks do less damage than Perceval at close range, though Arthur has superior range.

Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds

Sir Arthur finally made the jump to playable character in Marvel vs Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds. He appears in the game wearing a slightly redesigned version of his classic steel plate armor, but just like in the games, he can lose his armor, but not after taking too much damage, it's a power-downed state after using a hyper combo that gives him kingly armor and increasing his damage that shatters when the time is up, leaving him in his boxer shorts. His theme music is a rock-remix of the original Ghosts 'n Goblins theme.

Many of his attacks are based around his weaponry from past games, allowing him to hurl lances at his foes and obtain other weaponry for brief attacks. His Level 1 Hyper Combo, Goddess Braclet, rapidly unleashes 20 balls of fire that continue to shoot even as Arthur is moving. His other Level 1 Hyper Combo, Golden Armor, gives him his famous magical armor, which greatly increases his speed and weapon damage for 15-20 seconds. After the time runs out Arthur will be left in his boxers and takes additional damage. Using the hyper again while in the boxers will instead restore Arthur to his steel armor. His Level 3 Hyper Combo, Fire Dragon, covers the screen in explosions as a massive dragon made of magic fire swirls around, damaging Arthur's foes.

His in game rival is Magneto, as both are rulers of minor lands (Camelot and Genosha respectfully) and their associations with metal- Arthur wears it, Magneto controls it. He appears in the Episode 3 trailer where he and X-23 attack Magneto to recover the T-Virus that he stole from Albert Wesker. He is blown away by Magneto's powers, but both he and X-23 are rescued by the Hulk, who forms an uneasy alliance with Chris Redfield to defeat the enemies. He also has unique interactions with Dr. Doom and MODOK. In his ending, he gains no respect or love from the people for his role in the defeat of Galactus, instead he turns back to his quest to rescue his princess. His journey across both worlds leads him to find her in the clutches of the mighty alien dragon Fin Fang Foom, whom Arthur attacks without hesitation, to the annoyance of Foom and the admiration of the Princess.

Arthur is the only character who cannot dash, and as a result is one of the slowest characters in the game. He can be tricky to figure out at first, and is mostly used by advanced players as a result, but once mastered Arthur can unleash devestating combos. His four alternate costumes are based on various ports of the Ghost and Goblins games.

Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3

Arthur makes a return appearance in the updated re-release of Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds. Arthur brings all of his original moves back with him, as well as a few new ones to master, and two additional costumes for added fun. This time, Arthur brings his long-standing enemy, Firebrand, along for the fight.

Notes

Sir Arthur is, quite obviously, based on the mythical King Arthur. This theme is recurring with the naming of the princess Guenivere, when she is not named Prin Prin, Lancelot, Perceval and the land of Camelot. The game is famous for two things- the naming problems that arise from the various ports and translations such as the aforementioned Guenivere/Prin Prin, Astaroth/Satan and more, mainly due to the harsh restrictions on religious depections at the time, preventing some versions of the game from running with the biblical themes. The game is also famous for it's punishingly hard difficulty. Many claim that the game was designed for masochistic gamers. While the series stopped briefly during the PS2 era, he was replaced with the franchise's spiritual successor, Maximo. Maximo continued to wield steel plate armor that could be damaged to his heart covered boxers, and the game still featured a punishing difficulty.
Arthur was meant to be a playable character in Mega Man Universe, throwing his iconic lances in place of firing the Mega Buster, but the game's sudden and unforseen cancellation left him in the cold.

Appearances

* Ghosts 'n Goblins
* Ghouls 'N Ghosts
* Super Ghouls 'N Ghosts
* Arthur to Astaroth no Nazomakaimura: Incredible Toons
* Makaimura for Wonderswan
* Ultimate Ghosts 'n Goblins
* Goku Makaimura Kai
* Ghosts 'n Goblins: Golden Knights
* Ghosts 'n Goblins: Golden Knights II
* Cannon Spike
* We Love Golf!
* Mega Man 7
* Mega Man: Powered Up DLC
* Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of the Super Heroes
* Namco X Capcom
* Tatsunoko VS Capcom: Ultimate All Stars
* Dead Rising 2
* Marvel VS Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds
** Ultimate Marvel VS Captcom 3
* Mega Man Universe (Canceled)
* Ghosts 'n Goblins Online
* Ghosts 'n Goblins Online Zero (Canceled)
* Ghosts 'n Goblins Match Fight (Canceled)

Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds

Drayco90 — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 11:58:19 CDT

After a decade the Fighting series acclaimed by fans and critics alike made it's modern debut on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds, developed and published by Capcom, was released on February 15, 2011 to massive sales and critical success. Like the classics, the newest iteration in the series is light on story, but heavy on depth and gameplay, with a strong competitive scene, flashy super moves that take up the whole screen and wide roster of well known and obscure characters from both sides. Fans of both franchises have literally hundreds of small references to the rest of the Marvel Universe and Capcom game library hidden within the game, adding to the fun.

Unlike it's beloved predecessor, Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes, Marvel vs. Capcom 3 has tried hard to balance the gameplay and keep certain characters from being insanely overpowered. In fact, many character who seem to be "low tier" at first (such as Thor and Arthur) often have multiple hidden depths and combo possibilities the better a player gets, revealing a more balanced fighter for a more advanced player. Like the rest of the series, the game involves lots of combos, and building up the Hyper Bar to unleash devastating and satisfying Hyper Combo attacks, but new to the series is the three on three nature of the fights. While before the game was one of the fastest in existance, the sequel stretches out the length without slowing the game by allowing the player to choose any three characters, who can assist each other, swap out mid-combo, perform deathly team-up moves, and special Hyper Combo chains.

Plot

The two worlds of the Marvel Universe and the Capcom Universe have mysteriously joined together, and a number of both universes greatest criminals are planning on making use of it. B.S.A.A. agents Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine are fighting their way through an army of zombies created by Wesker. Low on ammo and exhausted, the team is attacked by an Executioner Majini, but before it can land a killing blow, a massive green hand tears it away and kills it, and the Incredible Hulk comes into frame, roaring in victory. Lead by Albert Wesker and Victor von Doom, the villains meet to discuss how they can take over both worlds, and Wesker implys he's at least partially responsible for the cross-over. M.O.D.O.K. claims that his scientists have been unable to figure out a power source strong enough to allow the villains to cross between worlds at will. Smirking, the Super-Skrull states that they need to draw power from the strongest being in the multiverse- Galactus. The group agrees to find a way to siphon energy from Galactus and his ship, and draw the being to the planet.

Meanwhile warriors from both worlds are fighting each other. While the mutant X-Man Wolverine battles street fighting champion Ryu, Iron Man is batteling the skies with the succubus Morrigan, Chris Redfield and Hulk battle it out and Deadpool duels and mocks the demon hunting Dante. Chris shouts that he won't allow them to invade their world, confusing Iron Man, who believed it was the Capcom heroes who invaded their world. Ryu suggests to Wolverine that they have been played, and wonders who, when the massive ship of Galactus descends on the Earth, and the World Eater Galactus arrives. Dante asks who the galactic warrior is, prompting Iron Man to explain "That's Galactus. And we're officialy screwed.". The heroes decide to unite and prepare to fight their way to the World Eater and save both of their universes.

Reception

The game was a massive success with both critics and fans, getting numerous awards and high reviews all over. The game was praised for it's incredible depth, fantastic designs, great dialouge, character choices, balance and it's flashy visuals. The most persisant complaints were over the game's presentation, which some found too distracting and flashy, despite being the hallmark of the series since the beginning, the lack of a large amount of unlockables- there is a full concept art gallery filled with images and videos already released to market the game and only four characters to unlock, and the loudest complaint is the abscence of characters, which fans of a specific character being shafted in favor of others. While no character is specifically missed by a large portion of the fanbase, many cry out for Frank West, who was meant to be in the game but had to be cut out, Mega Man, who was replaced by Zero and has started many flamewars over which incarnation of the character to use, Venom, who was never commented on and Ghost Rider, who's bike was apparently too hard to add to the game.
Scores
IGN- 8.5/10 "Editor's Choice"
Gamespot- 8.5/10 "Great"
Game Informer- 9.25/10 "Game of the Month"
Famitsu- N/A
1Up.com- A-
Gamestats- 9.0/10
Metacritic- 85% 360, 86% PS3
Official Playstation Magazine- 9.0
TeamXbox- 9.2
Gaming Nexus- A+
X-Play- 5/5
Church of Gaming- 5/5

Appearances

Fighters

Akuma Albert Wesker
Amaterasu
Arthur
Captain America
Chris Redfield
Chun-Li
Crimson Viper
Dante
Deadpool
Doctor Doom
Dormammu
Felicia
Galactus
Hsien-Ko
Hulk
Iron Man
Jill Valentine (Downloadble Content)
Magneto
Mike Haggar
M.O.D.O.K.
Morrigan Aensland
Nathan "Rad" Spencer
Phoenix
Ryu
Sentinel
She-Hulk
Shuma Gorath (Downloadble Content)
Spider-Man
Storm
Super-Skrull
Taskmaster
Thor
Trish
Tron Bonne
Wolverine
Viewtiful Joe
X-23
Zero

Cameo Appearances

Alastor Astaroth
Bon Bonne
Captain Blue
Dan Hibiki
Issun
Jet Black
Ken
Raptor
Mega Man Volnutt
Mei-Ling
Miles Edgeworth
Nemesis
Phoenix Wright
Poison
Red Arremer
Teisel Bonne
A.I.M. Agents
Angel
Banshee
Black Panther
Blade
Dazzler
Dr. Strange
Dust
Exodus
Fin Fang Foom
Ghost Rider
Heimdall
Iceman
Iron Fist
J. Jonah Jameson
Ka-Zar
Kingpin
Matt Murdock
Mephisto
Mojo
Mr. X
Ultimate Nick Fury
Satannish
Shanna
Silver Surfer
Spiral
Sunfire
Zabu

Collector's Edition

Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds, being a triple A title from Capcom, was released in two forms: the standard game and the Special Edition. For an incredible price of only $70.00 ($10.00 more than the standard game) the Special Edition features a steelbook case covered with beautiful art of the playable characters on the front, back and interior. It includes a small book which pulls double-duty as a comic book detailing the story and an art book, showcasing the press images of each character, official art, foreign release box art and fan art contest winners.

Digital extras include a one-month subscription to Marvel Digital Comics, allowing the player to read over 9000 selected comic books from over 70 years of Marvel history from the debut appearance of your favorite super heroes, to the most recent arcs and crossover events that have shattered the super hero community. It also included a voucher to recieve both DLC characters, Jill Valentine and Shuma Gorath, for free when they were released on the Playstation Store and the Xbox Marketplace.

Hawke (Dragon Age)

Drayco90 — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 11:32:16 CDT

Hawke is the playable character of Dragon Age II, and a major character in the Dragon Age game franchise.

"The entire world is on the brink of war...and you need the one person who can help you put it back together."- Varric

Hawke was the Human son of an apostate mage and a noble of Kirkwall, and himself was a powerful individual. He grew up along his younger sister, trained to become a mage, Bethany Hawke, and his brother, a member of the army, Carver Hawke. The player can determine Hawke's gender, though the game canon seems to decide he was male, and his class- Warrior, Rouge or Mage. Similar to Commander Shepard, Hawke is fully voiced, and can be given any appearance of first name the player desires, though the images shown depict the "canon" Hawke, whose default name is Garrett for males and Marian for female Hawkes.

Hawke displayed an exceptional mastery of both melee weapons, such as his bladed staff, and also a powerful set of magic spells. Similar to The Grey Warden before him, Hawke is a very persuasive individual with a commanding prescense, who could convince individuals to fight for and alongside him.

History

Dragon Age II

Hawke and his siblings, Bethany and Carver, where dwelling in the town of Lothering, not far from Ostagar, during the time of the fith Blight (seen in Dragon Age: Origins). After the death of King Cailan and the fall of Ostagar, the Darkspawn horde advanced on the town, just after the Warden arrived, recruiting the Qunari Sten and the Orlesian bard Leliana. The town fell quickly, and Hawke barely made it out alive, losing one of his siblings during the fight. (Rouge and Warrior players will lose Carver and Mage characters will lose Bethany.) Along the way, he met the Templar Wesley, and his wife Aveline. With his home destroyed, Hawke and his remaining sibling set off for the Free Marshes, north, where they have family in the Nobles, who they believe will harbor them. The fighting attracted the attention of the powerful witch Flemeth, who protected the remaining Hawkes, and helped get them on their way, after promising to deliver an amulet to the Dalish Elf camp at Sundermount. She also revealed that the Darkspawn taint was within Wesley, forcing a mercy killing from either Aveline or Hawke.
Hawke discovered, upon arriving in Kirkwall, that the city was being overwhelmed by Fereldan refugees, and that Uncle Gamlen had bartered away all the Hawke family's social status and things, living in a small shack in the cities Lowtown, and not even having the money to get his family into the city. Gamlen did however, manage to line up two groups willing to hire Hawke- the Red Iron mercenary group, or a group of Smugglers. Whichever Hawke chooses will leave the two remaining siblings, and by extenstion Aveline, in a year of indentured servitude to the group. Nonetheless, Hawke does it, and after a year's passing, and the Blight's ending, Hawke decided to gain money to bring justice to the family name. Meeting the dwarf, Bartrand Tethras, who was preparing to take an expedition into the Deep Roads to take advantage of the reduced Darkspawn numbers to make a ton of gold, Hawke decides to join the adventure at any cost. This leads him straight to Varric Tethras, the so-called "Merchant Prince of Kirkwall" and proud storyteller. Hawke also meets the pirate Isablea, whose ship had crashed in a storm while trying to retrieve an unknown relic, Fenris, an elf warrior and ex-Tevintir slave with lyrium-imbued scars that cause him pain when touched, and Anders, the mage and once Grey Warden who has come to disappear after his misadventures in Amaranthine.

Hawke is contacted by a Chantry sister named Petrice, who asks him to escort a dangerous Qunari Saarebas to safety. After a risky underground night-time escape, resulting in a conflict with a few anti-qunari/anti-fereldan gangs, Hawke and the Saarebas reach the safety of the Vimmack Mountain Pass, however, a trail leads a pack of Qunari, and most importantly, one of the Saarebas' masters, an Arvaard. The Arvaard demands that Hawke hands over the Saarebas to it's rightful master according to the Qun. If Hawke agrees, the Saarebas is killed and then the Qunari decide to attack Hawke in case he was influenced by the Saarebas. If Hawke refuses to allow the Saarebas to be taken back, Hawke must fight and kill them all. Saarebas tells Hawke he is a good leader, but must follow the Qun, and lights himself on fire and dies. When Hawke returns to tell Petrice, she admits that she was responsible for the Qunari for tracking Hawke down- but there's nothing he can do to bring justice to her.

Before going on the Deep Roads expedition, Hawke ventured to Sundermount to complete the task set forth by Flemeth. When Hawke arrived at the Dalish camp at the base of the mountain, he was greeted by a group of hostile Elf guards, and Keeper Marethari, who told Hawke the quest wasn't quite done yet- Hawke now had to climb to the top of Sundermount to perform a ritual with the amulet, and afterwards Hawke had to take Marethari's First, the innocent and somewhat loopy mage Merril, with him when he leaves. During the climb it is revealed that Merril is a blood mage, and when she performs the ritual, Flemeth appears, thanking Hawke for guaranteeing her survival.

When Hawke returns from the Deep Roads, he gives Bartrand the gold and maps, becoming his business partner- however, Bartrand tells Hawke he won't take all of his companions, and that he must choose three of them. Varric must go, and his mother, Leandra, arrives to beg Hawke not to take his other sibling with him underground. If Hawke chooses to ignore Leandra, than the sibling is infected with Darkspawn taint, and if Anders is not also in the party, they will die. If Anders is in the party, he will administer the only cure- the Grey Warden Joining, but they must leave to join the order. After a week of exploration, Bartrand's expedition is trapped by a collapsed pillar. Hawke volunteers to search the side passages to save time and manpower, and after killing some Darkspawn, rescuing Sandle, and slaying a Dragon, secures a path leading to the Primevil Thaig. Once within the ancient Dwarven Thaig, Hawke's group finds a pure Lyrium Idol. The Idol mystifies Bartrand, who steals it and seals Hawke, Varric and the two other party members within- to Varric's disbelief.

Finding another side passage, Hawke escapes out the back, where he meets a powerful Hunger Demon controlling an army of Rock Wraiths- known as the Profanes. After fighting through an army of the Profanes, the Demon tries to barter with Hawke, promising him a way out if he stops killing them all. Regardless of whether or not Hawke agrees, he proceeds to battle the guardian of the exit- the Ancient Rock Wraith. After a long and hard battle, the Wraith is killed, and looting it's horde of treasure obtains the key. If the Demon was not killed earlier, it refuses to allow Hawke to take anything else without a fight. After leaving, Hawke spends the next three years regaining the Amell/Hawke name- repurchasing his estate and building up his political influence. When he returns home, Hawke finds that (If they aren't taken into the Deep Roads) either Carver has joined the Templars, as he is tired of living in your shadow, or Bethany has been discovered by the Templars, and must join the Circle of Magi.

After the timeskip, tensions between the Qunari and the Kirkwall natives has been steadily rising. Many of the Elves, tired of the subjagating fist of the guard, have joined the Qun, and the Viscount's son, Sheamus' intrest in the Qunari culture has been causing a political storm. The Viscount admits to Hawke that the Qunari delegates that he had met with had been captured without ever leaving the keep, and asks Hawke to find them before harm can be done. Petrice, now known as Mother Petrice, admits that her former bodyguard is responsible for the kidnapping, and when Hawke hunts him down, he and the religious crowd he's whipped up murder the delegates and attack Hawke. After they are all killed, the Viscount is brought down, and becomes distraught at the scene. When Hawke delivers the news to the Arishok, he becomes enraged at the filth and hate that dwells in Kirkwall. Things go from bad to worse, however, when Shaemus converts to the Qun. When Hawke goes to investigate, he discovers that Mother Petrice kidnapped the boy, and killed him to frame the Qunari and start a war to wipe them out. While the Grand Cleric decides that Petrice will be tried before a court for her crime, a Qunari assassin shoots her twice, killing Petrice, before vanishing.

Hawke begins hunting for a serial killer who has been murdering women for years- and eventually tracks him to his lair, where he has kidnapped Hawke's mother, Leandra. Fighting through a small army of Shades, Demons and Abominations, Hawke discovers a library full of books on Blood Magic and Necromancy- all provided by an inside source "O". When Hawke continues, he finds the killer and his mother, who has been decapitated and has had her head sewn on another woman's body, with another woman's hands and feet, wearing a tattered wedding dress- the horrid attempt of the killer to bring back his dead wife. Enraged, Hawke kills more demons representing the possession of the various victims and murders the serial killer, but without his magic, Leandra has nothing keeping her alive and she dies.

Returning to the estate, Hawke is met by both Isabela and Aveline. Isabela tells him that she knows where the relic is and needs his help to find it, and Aveline tells him that the Qunari are harboring fugitives from the law. When Hawke goes to find the relic, they learn it's located in the Lowtown Foundry, where they are attacked by angry Qunari. Isabela reveals that the relic is an ancient book, and one of the most important and sacred Qun relics that she stole, and the Qunari will do anything to retake it. Hawke can support her to find the relic and keep her safe, and if her friendship is high enough, she will stay. If it is not she leaves Hawke after taking the relic. If Hawke tells her they're giving the relic back, she leaves him behind with the relic. Alternatley, Hawke can recover the relic with Isabela, only to turn her over to the Qunari. If this is done, the Arishok and his followers will leave Kirkwall behind. When Hawke returns with Aveline to the Qunari Compound, it is revealed that the two criminals are elves who killed a guard who raped their sister. Hearing about what happened with the relic distracts the Arishok, however, and the conversation leads to the Arishok mounting an attack on Kirkwall.

Hawke pushes through to his Hightown estate, along the way encountering a group of Grey Wardens (Which will include your sibling, if they joined) who aid him briefly, but tell him they cannot get involved in political struggles and must leave. In Hightown, Hawke is nearly killed by a Saarebas, but is saved at the last second by the Templar Knight-Commander Meredith. Meredith tells Hawke to keep pushing to the Keep, where the leaders of Kirkwall have been trapped, and along the way, Hawke finds and rescues First Enchanter Orsino, but fails to rescue his fellow Circle Mages (With the exception of Bethany, assuming she's alive and with the Circle). Hawke prepares to enter the Keep when Templar reinforcements arrive (Possibly including Carver). Hawke takes command, and uses Orsino's magic to distract the Qunari guards to enter the keep. Once inside, the Arishok reveals that he has killed the Viscount, and one of three things can happen- Hawke and his allies must battle the Qunari army, Hawke has earned the Arishok's respect and can challenge him in single combat, or Hawke can turn in Isabela and the Relic. After defeating the Arishok, the people hail Hawke as the new Champion of Kirkwall.

Over another three years, no new Viscount is put in place, and Meredith has taken control- hammering down on the mages. Tensions begin running high, and Hawke is asked by both Meredith and Orsino for help hunting down supposed Apostate Blood-Mages, and to discover an undercover resistance that has kidnapped Hawke's sibling, forcing Hawke to come to the rescue. Things quickly escalate, and everything comes crashing down when Anders sends the Kirkwall Chantry up in a wall of fire and destruction, killing the Grand Cleric and multiple innocent people. Hawke is forced to choose a side as the Templars and Mages turn the streets of the city of chains into a battleground. No matter which side Hawke picked, the war spread across the lands of Thedas, and Hawke became both a folk hero...and a suspected criminal who started everything to begin with. While Hawke simply dissapears (possibly with a choosen love interest), the Chantry Seeker Cassandra tracks down Varric, and forces him to recount the above tale, slowly changing her belief that Hawke was a criminal into a borderline case of Hero Worship. Varric's story proved to be unhelpful to the Seekers, and Cassandra let him go, talking to her leader Leliana about the uncanny vanishing of both Hawke and the Hero of Ferelden...

Dragon Age II: Legacy

- Stub: Yet to Be Written -

Notes

- Stub: Yet to Be Written -

Appearances

* Dragon Age II ** Dragon Age II: Legacy
* Dragon Age: Legends

Mass Effect 3

Drayco90 — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 11:07:03 CDT

The final instalment in the Mass Effect trilogy, Mass Effect 3 follows the Commander Shepard and the crew of the Normandy as they continue to fight off the threat of the Reaper invasion. This time, the Reapers have attacked Earth, and the Shepard and the team must race to the human home planet in order to prevent it from falling to the powerful enemies.

Little is known of the game right now, but Bioware has expressed a desire to include deeper RPG elements, more intellegent enemies and more combat options.

The player's choices during the previous games will have much more impact on Mass Effect 3 than Mass Effect had on Mass Effect 2.

Plot

Mass Effect 3 follows Commander Shepard's final mission to rally the species of the galaxy and defeat the Reapers as they invade Earth.

Main Characters

Playable Character(s) Commander Shepard

Companions/ Party Members
Garrus Vakarian
Ashley Williams
Kaiden Alenko
Liara T'Soni
Tali'Zorrah vas Normandy
James Vega (First Appearance)
Captain David Anderson (Temporary)

Main Villains
The Reapers
* Harbinger
* Husks
Cerberus
* The Illusive Man
* Kai Leng (First Appearance)

Returning Characters
Urdnot Wrex
Jeff "Joker" Moreau
Donnel Udina
Captain Kirrahe
Conrad Verner
Miranda Lawson
Jacob Taylor
Mordin Solus
Urdnot Grunt
Jack
Thane Krios
Samara
Morinth
Legion
Zaeed Massani
Kasumi Goto
Kelly Chambers

Collector's Edition

Two special editions were planned to commerate the final chapter of Shepard's trilogy, but only one made it to retail- the N7 Collector's Edition. With an $80.00 dollar price tag ($20.00 more than the standard game), the Collector's Edition includes numerous add-on items in-game and out. Like many special editions, the N7 version of Mass Effect 3 comes in a steel-book case featuring the press image of Commander Shepard with the pistol and omni-blade at the ready, and the fan-voted version of FemShep on the reverse side. Additional physical items include the Mass Effect 3 Hardcover Art Book, an exclusive fabric patch featuring the N7 Logo, a 4x6 Lithograph which is reported to be unique to each edition and a Dark Horse published comic book.

In-Game bonuses for purchasing the special edition include a special costume pack giving all the squad members new outfits, including making Liara look like Samara, a robotic dog companion to accompany Shepard during his time on the Normandy, a virtual recreation of the popular N7 Hoodie for Shepard to wear while he's in the Normandy, a free digital version of the Mass Effect 3 Soundtrack, the N7 Arsenal pack giving Sheard unique variants to four of his weapon staples throughout the series: the N7 SMG, N7 Shotgun, N7 Sniper Rifle and N7 Pistol. There will also be an as of now unknown squad member and mission relating to them available with the Edition. Xbox players will recieve an exclusive avatar prop of the Normandy, while members of the Bioware Social Network will get special badges and avatars to show off on the forums.

The Vanguard (Dragon Age)

Drayco90 — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 10:33:31 CDT

The Vanguard is a playable character and a boss in the Dragon Age franchise.

"You are a Hurlock Vanguard, born to lead and eager for blood." - The Archdemon

The Vanguard was a cruel and violent Darkspawn Hurlock during the Fifth Blight. He was a deadly force on the battlefield, and compelled his fellow Darkspawn to fight harder and smarter. The Vanguard was one of the top generals serving The Archdemon, and was one of the leaders on the field during the Siege of Denerim.

While a minor and unnamed character in the original Dragon Age: Origins, he was promoted to playable character in the downloadable content Bonus Campaign, the Darkspawn Chronicles. Outside the standard array of Warrior abilities, the Vanguard had the unique ability to "Enthrall" nearby Darkspawn, making them more powerful. When his enthralled minions failed to live up to his expectations, or if they no longer served his needs, he would not hesitate to execute them, and replace them with a different thrall.

History

Dragon Age: Origins

Bred from a Broodmother somewhere in the Deep Roads, the Vanguard was trained in combat, fighting through battalions of Dwarves. He rose through the ranks, eventually reaching the place he is now named for. When the Archdemon was created, it began the Fifth Blight, and the Darkspawn were compelled to the surface once more, including the Vanguard. He lead some Darkspawn, eventually leading to the Siege of Denerim, where he was one of the main Generals on the field. His sword, Blightblood, took many lives, and the city fell quickly. Before the Vanguard could savor his victory, the Grey Warden and his allies arrived to reinforce the city. After they fought into the city, they hunted down the Vanguard to the Market District. Despite putting up a fight, the Warden killed him, and his fellow General, a mage, in the Elven Alienage.

Dragon Age: Origins: The Darkspawn Chronicles

In an alternate universe where the Grey Warden died during the Joining Ritual, King Alistair was forced to lead the party himself. The Vanguard lead the attack on the City of Denerim, and quickly burst through the front gates of the city. Hearing the call of the Archdemon itself, the Vanguard enthralled a Genlock and a Hurlock to battle off a counterattack by Humans and Mabari Warhounds. Sensing one of the few massive Ogres on the battlefield is in trouble, the Vanguard lead an attack to rescue and enthrall the beast, allowing him to continue past the barricades of men. Once past, the Vanguard cornered Arl Rendon Howe and his bodyguard Ser Cauthrien. The Vanguard and his thralls killed Howe's bodyguards, before murdering the Arl himself, looting his famed Saw Sword as a trophy.

With Howe and his men dead, the Vanguard pushed on into the Denerim Market District, where he enthralled a Shriek. The Darkspawn quickly crushed the local opposition, and began to slaughter the civilians in the streets. Bann Teagan and the forces of Redcliffe to lead a charge against the overwhelming forces of the Vanguard. He fought through the men and killed Teagan, looting the Bann's shield. Continuing the Massacre, the Vanguard attacked the shop of the famed smith Wade, and his partner Herrin. Herrin transformed into a Desire Demon, and teleported his lover and himself to safety. This distraction gave the Dwarf Warrior Oghren time to rally his fellow drunkards at the tavern to a fight. While the sloppy and drunk men served no challenge against the trained Darkspawn, the Dwarf Beserker killed many of Vanguard's troops before falling, and losing his hammer as a Darkspawn Trophy. On the way to the Elven Alienage, the Circle Mage Wynne, the Templar Knight-Commander Greagoir and Cullen, along with their Templar warriors, attempted to hold off the Vanguard, only to be met with death.

Gathering a stock of Fire Bombs, the Vanguard burned his way past the gates of the Alienage, and began to slaughter the Elves there as they desperately tried to protect their sacred tree, Vhenadahl. After killing a number of Elves, the Vanguard fought Elder Valendrian and killed him. Before he could continue his razing of the Alienage, the Elf rogue Zevran lead a counter-attack, which was swiftly put down when the Vanguard killed the assassin, taking his dagger and boots for a trophy. With the few elven defenders dead, nothing stopped the Vanguard from setting fire to Vhenadahl and marching to the palace district.

Marching on the Palace, the Vanguard rescued another Ogre from Dwarven warriors, and began to climb past the city's defenses, where he encountered the leader of the Legion of the Dead, Kardol. The Vanguard ripped the Dwarf apart and looted his shield. After fighting through more Legion Dwarves and Steel Golems, the Vanguard encountered the city guard Sergeant Kylon, who he quickly killed and stole the Deadhead Charge amulet from. Rampaging through Fort Drakon, the Vanguard eventually encountered the Qunari Warrior Sten. Sten and his troops put up a challenging fight, but were overpowered by the Vanguard. He looted Sten's armor and sword.

Reaching the roof of Fort Drakon, the Vanguard spotted the Archdemon under attack from the Warden-King Alistair and his companions- Morrigan the Witch, Leliana the Bard and the Mabari Warhound Barkspawn. Seeing his leader inspired a new strength in the Vanguard, who charged the Warden. The Darkspawn overpowered and killed Leliana, crushed Morrigan, and impaled Barkspawn on a spear. Alistair collapsed on the ground, bleeding and with death near. The Vanguard stood over the Warden, savoring the victory only for a moment, before raising his axe, bringing it down on Alistair, killing him, as the Archdemon flew through the air, engulfing Denerim in flame.

Notes

The Vanguard's death in Origins is a part of an optional sidequest during the final battle for Denerim, though it is recommended that the Grey Warden kill him to weaken the Darkspawn forces, and reduce their numbers later on. The events of the Darkspawn Chronicles DLC is obviously non-canon.

Appearances

* Dragon Age: Origins
**Dragon Age: Origins- The Darkspawn Chronicles DLC
* Dragon Age: Origins: Awakening

Chad Stroker (Crackdown)

Drayco90 — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 17:15:25 CDT

Chad Stroker is a minor character in the Crackdown franchise

"This is Chad Stroker, signing off."

One of the most foremost media personalities following the rise of the Agency and the fall of the gangs, Chad Stroker worked at the Pacific City News Network as a reporter, covering all the facts he could manage to uncover. He was well love by the people of Pacific City for his charisma and drive to uncover the actual facts as well as his persistance in keeping the citizens of Pacific City informed. Multiple recordings were made of his more important news programs over the years, and by the time the second wave of Agents was unleashed on the Cell and Freak forces in the city, he was no longer working. However, the Agent disobeyed the direct orders of the Director and searched around the overrun sections of Pacific City in search of his recordings, allowing him to learn more about the events leading up to the current situation, as well as reveal new information about the Agency.

History

Crackdown 2

Chad Stroker was present at PCNN during the ten years after the fall of Los Muertos, the Volk and Shai-Gen, and watched the rise of the Agency firsthand. He conducted interviews about the Agency's powerful Agent super soldiers as well as covering the first Freak Attack, giving the official report that the attack was the result of animals. Over ten years, Stroker watched and reported as Catalina Thorne created Cell, which slowly degenerated into a terrorist-vigilante group made of average citizens grabbing guns to fight the Freaks and Agency. As the mutant Freaks gained more and more territory, and the Agency defenses began to crumble, Stroker began to lose his cool, demanding to know where the Agents were. After nearly a decade, the Agency began putting pressure of Stroker to force-feed the masses information approved by the Agency and with Agency-centric propaganda. Disgusted, Chad reported once more on the desire of some to keep the truth from the people of Pacific City, before sadly signing off, for the last time.

When the second generation of Agents was released to tame the threat of Cell and the Freaks, the Agent found one of Stroker's recordings. While the Director wanted the past to stay burried, he still hunted down and found all of Chad Stroker's audio files, allowing the news reporter's legacy to live on.

Notes

Chad Stroker only appeared as part of Crackdown 2's PCNN Audio File sidequest series, which was entirely optional. It is assumed canon that the Agent collected all the Audio Files, however. Stroker has gained a fairly large fanbase, despite not actually appearing in the game itself, only being heard.

Appearances

Crackdown 2

Blizzard Entertainment

Drayco90 — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 17:43:21 CDT

Blizzard is a major Activision owned game company.

Blizzarrd Entertainment, also known as Activision-Blizzard or simply Blizzard, is a major PC game company based in California. The company was founded in February 1991 as Silicon & Synapse, releasing a couple Amiga game ports. In 1994, the company released a Real-Time Strategy game titled Warcraft: Orcs & Humans, which became a massive success and turned Blizzard into a major power. The company would continue releasing Warcraft with two sequels, and a Sci-Fi game based on the formula set by them- Starcraft, before releasing the industry changing World of Warcraft.

Blizzard follows eight simple rules, listed as their mission- 1.) Gameplay first, 2.) Commit to quality, 3.) Play nice; play fair, 4.) Embrace your inner geek, 5.) Every voice matters, 6.) Think globally, 7.) Lead responsibly, and 8.) Learn and grow.

Games

Super Hero Squad Online

Drayco90 — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 00:35:39 CDT

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