Real Martyr Stories
Historical accounts of martyrs evokes a certain reaction. Awe for their bravery (or stubbornness if one wants to be cynical about such things.), conviction, and willingness to physically suffer. The stories inspire us, perhaps make us feel bit ashamed we do not show courage in small things, but above all their sacrifice gave new life. Something great is accomplished.For St. Maximilian Kolbe, a man was able to return to his family. In the case of the 816 Martyrs of Otranto, the Ottoman invaders failed to conquer Italy and the heart of the Church. Thousands of Christian Martyrs throughout the Roman Persecution only helped fill the Church. Good things usually happen when a martyr dies. God's work continues through them and that sacrifice. In Earthly time and space we may not see it right away of course.
There are martyrs for things other than the Catholic Church of course. Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination is a martyrdom for the Civil Rights movement in a way. However, I'm most familiar with the Catholic stuff and this is a Catholic blog so that's why they get the big mention.
Now in games I tend to see certain trends in a sacrificial or martyr type death that are maybe not so great.
Romanticized Sacrifice
It's clean, beautiful and poetic. Oddly enough it's usually a female character in this role...and most of my top-of-my-head examples come from Japanese titles. Minor spoilers ahead but...Final Fantasy VII - Aerith's Death, Fire Emblem: Awakening - Chrom's older sister, and others.
Usually the scene is very artistic, clean and almost crudely colors the idea that "THIS GIRL WAS INNOCENT". It will most definitely inspire emotion and provide narrative motive for the surviving characters.
Heroic Death
In a similar strain, sometimes it is the player character that makes the sacrifice. This is done in a way that somehow praises the player. The sacrifice is SO noble, other characters are in mourning, and so on. Also very artistically portrayed and such. However, I think that in part the very nature of "death" in a game world is different than a narrative death.With my recent play through of the Mass Effect series, I found that final sacrifice really did reward the player in a way. It stroked the ego and emphasized the "nobility" of this act.
However, this isn't just an aspect of death portrayed in games. Many narrative mediums want to give the hero a glorious, heroic death.
Narrative Martyrs
Is there a way in which a sacrificial death can be made not heroic? Personally, I don't want there to be such a thing. Even the stories of real martyrs, even if they aren't over-the-top heroic, they should be treated as such. Glorifying the sacrifice in a respectful way is good, especially in narrative. It highlights how amazing a human life is. It's is worth more than we can imagine. Pardon me for getting stereotypically Catholic but God became Man to die for human life.With the triumph over death and promise of eternal life, there is always the risk of feeling that well, death isn't really all that big of a deal. They go to Heaven, it's all good. Christians have the great example in Christ's death and Sacrifice. It's still hard though. As St. Paul says, "Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die." (Romans 5:7) Somehow though, I feel it's even more heroic for a character without such beliefs to make that same sacrifice.
Conclusion
Some part of me feels that the overly romanticized death of a major character in a game makes it cheesy. However, at the same time, that character represents several hours of time spent playing the story and "letting that go" is a big deal. It does deserve some type of "reward".Thinking about it now, a game character martyr is very rare. Probably because any sense of spirituality, religion, or cause is so rarely included with a main character.
And this short thing is all I have energy to write for now. My new job is a bit tougher than the last one.
