Summary
In real life, there are no character rerolls, sequels, or quick-load options after a fatal mistake. As far as anyone knows, everybody is playing lifein hardcore mode, where a game over really does mean game over. The closest thing is the ability to reproduce, which transfers the mantle of “protagonist” from the parent to the child (whether the parents realize it or not).
However, unlike in real life, players in video games can easily be transferred from one character’s body to another. Where a studio might want to leave the fate of the series' previous hero in the player’s hands, or they want to pull a time skip while continuing a family saga, putting the player in the shoes of a descendent provides a natural way to evolve the story while keeping ties to its root. Beware of family tree-splitting spoilers ahead.
Given how much emphasis was put on player choice (at least withinthe dichotomy of good and evil) in the firstFable, it would have been obvious that a sequel would have had to be about a new hero, as players would probably have balked at seeing their one-horned demon avatar defanged for a new chapter.
With legacy and lineage being so prevalent in fantasy, it makes sense to make the poor orphan child ofFable 2a descendant of the Hero of Oakvale. However, those with a keen eye for lore would have noticed that the Hero of Oakvale had canonically taken the path of good (at least in the end), given that his sister, Theresa, still lives after the 600-year gap between the two games, as he would have slain her to truly embrace the life of malevolence.
Even with such a large roster of characters, each with their own intricate history and interconnected dramas, theTekkenseries has, at its heart, always been a saga revolving arounda family feud. Kazuya Mishima began his career as the series protagonist, out for revenge against his father, Heihachi, for throwing him off a cliff as a test of his strength.
After taking his father’s place as the final boss in the sequel (in his demonic Devil form), Kazuya disappeared.Tekken 3, which takes place 20 years later, stars Jin Kazama, Kazuya’s son. Of course, the protagonist’s mantle has bounced back and forth throughout the series, with several family members long thought dead returning for another round in the Iron Fist tournament.
It’s one thing to see the descendant of one character in a sequel but quite another to find out how the entire party from a previous game ended up.Golden Sun:Dark Dawnfollows the adventures of the children of the heroes who restored the world of Weyard thirty years prior inone of the greatest GBA games,Golden Sun.
As adepts, they are tasked with facing a new threat: “psynergy vortexes,” which once again threaten the balance of the world. Along with all being adepts, the heroes' offspring all ended up being friends with one another, which is incredibly sweet.
At the end of the original game, the Vault Dweller was cast out of their home and forced to wander the Wasteland alone on the outside, even after saving them from a water crisis and the rest of humanity from the machinations of the Master. InFallout 2, that hero’s deeds did not go unforgotten.
In fact, a whole mythology was built around them in the 80 or so years since they founded the village. It is a legend that the player, the descendant known as the Chosen One (not so namedfor their fated destinybut because, once again, they were chosen to do all the hard work by the rest of the group), is asked to live up to when tasked with retrieving the Garden of Eden Creation Kit, or GECK, a device that may be able to restore life to their dying village.
After finally seeing the light, J.D. and his friends abandon COG, but in doing so, uncover a new threat, which J.D. dubs “the swarm.” The new crew seeks out the advice of old Marcus, who helps them uncover the truth about this “new"hivemind collective armythat threatens the last remains of humanity.
Although the series started with Solid Snake back withMetal Gear, the true origin of the military conspiracy saga began withMetal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, which stars Naked Snake (AKA Big Boss). InMetal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, fans got to see what eventually happened to the protagonist ofMetal Gear SolidandMetal Gear Solid 2, but also the fate of pivotal characters from Snake Eater, including EVA, Snake’s surrogate mother.
Like the coiling of a snake, theMetal Gear Solidseries frequently throws twistsat its players, with one of the strangest being Old Snake’s final meeting with Big Boss. After embracing him as his son, Big Boss is finally defeated by Snake’s FOXDIE, which he contracted of his own volition, finally bringing the story to a close.
