Okay, so maybe referring to her as the worst video game character ever is a bit premature, but let me explain my reasonings why I simply cannot stand the new Mass Effect 2 character, Subject Zero, in the slightest.

A character only a gamer could love.

Okay, yes, Mass Effect 2 was just barely released, and maybe when I play through the whole game the character may even prove me wrong by the end of the whole thing. But as it currently stands, Subject Zero represents so many of the negative aspects I find in modern gaming. And note that this doesn’t reflect any opinion on the game itself, just Subject Zero and Subject Zero alone.

First and most obvious is the character’s violent nature. Even on the commercials for the game, Subject Zero claims how she was “made for combat.” Does’t this sound familiar? Oh yeah, that’s right, practically every video game character to come around since the beginning of the 2000s, that’s right.

I mean really, why are we always forced to play as a bunch of blood-thirsty, violence prone hotheads in today’s games? What ever happened to making a character likable. I certainly thought BioWare remembered this, almost every character they make has more to them then just a gun and anger-management issues. But Subject Zero seems like BioWare conforming to the masses of teenage boys that make up the majority of the Xbox Live community.

Whatever happened to heroes who actually wanted to do the right thing? Why does every new video game character only fight the villains for a paycheck or because it’s “fun?”  A genuine hero in video games is a rare occurrence these days.

It is tiring, sometimes even aggravating that so many video game characters are essentially this: A gun, and an attitude. There are so few video game characters that are genuinely appealing these days. They lack interest, they lack charm, they lack depth, they lack virtually anything that could make them a great character. It seems the video game industry doesn’t so much care about making characters so much as they care about a walking gun that will give gamers the idea that such a thing somehow makes the game “cooler.”

And what exactly is the reason for game designers to feel the need to make a game violent? Why is it some kind of unwritten law that all video games must be violent? I mean sure, some video game concepts would lend them to be violent, but it seems like the violence aspect is always a priority going into it. I will say this now and I will surely say it again in the future, violence doesn’t make a game good. And it surely doesn’t make a character any more interesting.

The best characters are those who have depth and purpose, the ones who are appealing because we can feel what they feel or capture our interest (like Batman), and the characters who simply spark our imaginations, even if they may be more simplistic (like Mickey Mouse). Making a character based solely on the subject of violence  just feels empty, even juvenile.

I'm gonna smack...

And if there’s anything in modern gaming that is as juvenile yet incredibly popular as violence it’s excessive swearing!

And again, BioWare made sure that they made this character fill that role as well. The character enjoys screaming profanities at others whenever possible (Because we all know swearing makes a character interesting).

It’s almost as if BioWare specifically made this character for teenagers who sneak into rated R movies…

Because is it really necessary for a character to drop as many F-bombs as possible? Does that really add anything to the game other than a false sense of cool? It just prevents any chance at good dialogue. I would be able to look past it if I didn’t think it was there just for the sake of being there. It’s just juvenile.

And then there’s Subject Zero’s design itself. What with her shaved head, multitudes of tattoos, black lipstick, ect., they were clearly trying to make a tough-as-nails character design. Which would be fine if I got the impression they were trying to make a strong willed character, but I just get the feeling they were just going for more of a “Isn’t Subject Zero cool?! Yeah, don’t even look at her the wrong way, or she’ll kill you! Yeah, she’s so cool!” kind of thing.

Is it impossible for video games to make an actual female character? They either make completely objectified characters like Bayonetta, or the Subject Zero type, where the character must be cold-hearted, violent and crude, because that has become the gaming world’s idea of a strong character. But this makes absolutely no statement whatsoever, and instead just further establishes the stereotypes of video games. The character designs alone are one thing, I can get past it if I actual sensed there were more to the characters. But there hardly ever is. It almost seems like they have teenage boys come up with these characters.

I still wait for a modern game with a real heroine (well, I suppose there was Portal, so that’s something. Not surprisingly that game came from Valve), instead of all of the “Did Michael Bay make this character?” types and all of the Sara Conner/Ripley wannabes, like Subject Zero. But Ripley or Sara Conner weren’t tough because they wanted to be violent, the scenario just called for them to take up a gun and kill some Terminators and Xenomorphs. Subject Zero, on the other hand, is just violent for the sake of it.

True, BioWare has a backstory for the character in which Subject Zero was a subject of several experiments, which resulted in her “fiery personality” (as they call it). But the problem is this seems more like an excuse as apposed to a reason. I feel like they just wanted to add a brooding, violent character (because violence in games is all the rage these days) so they just threw something together.

Subject Zero is just a crass, abrasive, violent archetype of a character. At least that is the impression I have upon first glance. Like I said, maybe after I play through the game, I may find that there’s more to the character, but I have incredible doubts of that.  Subject Zero just seems like BioWare throwing a bone to the people who have the delusion that a character surrounded in violence and profanity is somehow instantly cool.

You want to know an example of a genuinely cool character? Han Solo.

Why is Han Solo cool? Because he’s suave, charismatic, sly, debonair, witty, clever, and his gun compliments him, it isn’t his entire character. Han Solo isn’t about violence, he only fights when he needs to, he doesn’t want to go kill as many stormtroopers as possible just for the sake of doing it. Sure, he’s a tough guy who acts like he only looks after himself, but deep down he is doing the right thing for the right reasons.

But a character like Subject Zero (as I said before) seems like nothing but fan service for people who think violence makes a video game cool. The people who think excessive profanities make games “mature.” The people who act like if a game doesn’t involve blood and dismemberment, then it is somehow an inferior product.

The tragic truth is that while I watched several Youtube videos on Mass Effect 2, there were several comments that read like “Subject Zero is such a great character! Looks like she’ll add some violence and F-bombs to the game.” and “She is a character Mass Effect needs! She’s awesome!” or “This is what I’m talking about!”

Thankfully, I have seen but a few comments by others who respond by saying how Subject Zero is just trying to be cool and controversial, but that that doesn’t make a character great. Unfortunately, these people are in the minority it seems.

And this leads me to BioWare itself, as great as its games are, I’m afraid they had the wrong intentions for this character. I saw a program on the Sci-Fi SyFy Channel about the game, in which one of the members of BioWare stated that they “wanted to make a controversial character. One that you would either love or hate, because that would make a great character.”

But that doesn’t make a great character. A great character is one who is either universally beloved or one that you love to hate. Controversy does not make a character great by any means. If Subject Zero is supposed to be a hero, than we should be able to like her for legitimate reasons, and not because she enjoys killing and provides the game with some gratuitous swearing and/or vulgarity. At the very least, we should feel something for her as a character, and not just think she’s cool because she tore someone’s head off.

If we either like her or hate her, then it still stands that some of us hate her. Subject Zero can never hope of being a truly great character because she created controversy.

Again I would like to say that as a whole, I don’t have anything against BioWare (they made Badur’s Gate) or Mass Effect 2, and as I said, maybe there ends up being more to Subject Zero by the end of the game. But from everything I see, Subject Zero looks to be nothing but a collection of stereotypes of everything I can’t stand about modern gaming (over reliance on controversy, violence, profanities, ect.).

When instead can we have a new video game hero (one who hasn’t been around since the 80s and 90s) who can be something more than a gun and an attitude? When can we once again have a video game hero who we can rightfully root for?

Why is it that the more narrative we have in video games, the more unlikable the characters become? I still hope one day there can be a new character who can rightfully claim the title of hero, and achieve more than just “cult classic” status (like the wanderer of Shadow of the Colossus or Oddworld’s Stranger). I hope we will one day again see new video game heroes and heroines who can rightfully stand alongside the likes of Super Mario, Solid Snake, Sonic the Hedgehog and Samus Aaron. Ones who don’t dumb down video games and make them feel juvenile. Ones who we can be proud to have decorate our novelty T-shirts.

But so long as gamers have the misguided idea that characters like Subject Zero are instantly great, then I don’t see anyone else buying into the “video games are an art” argument.

Turns out, mess with someone’s head enough and you can turn a scared kid into a really annoying character.