The Ultimate Dilemma Naming Your JRPG Protagonist
What made me think about this was my dictionary playthrough of Persona 5. Since my playthrough is based around story, I absolutely needed the supposed real name of the protagonist to witness the story properly in my eyes. I found myself Googling his name, which was a little strange to me because I�ve done all of the naming methods at some point but I�ve recently found myself looking for the Default button. Perhaps its because I see games more now as individual stories as I play more, or Ive gotten less creative with my naming. What I noticed most is that there was a certain mindset between each way I played. These are some of the mindsets I found myself go through when naming my characters and are what I think are the pros and cons of these methods.
The way I started playing games with a naming feature as a kid was with my own name. Whether I wanted to actually be the person with the sword or not, I gave the character my own name as a way of putting myself into the game. This had mostly good results since a lot nameable of characters are designed with a blank canvas mentality. When a lot of customization is available, it can be a lot of fun to see your own name on the screen. Take Persona 4 Golden for example, the protagonist (known as Yu Narukami to some) has a little bit of his own personality in the game, but has plenty of dialogue choices that make it feel more like you. Being able to choose which girl I wanted to date or the answers to the questions on my school test really made it feel like I was in the drivers. When NPCs would say �You�re amazing, Tara!� I really felt like it was more because of me than because of the protagonist.
A game I love that I don�t think suits the character naming is Final Fantasy, namely Final Fantasy X. Final Fantasy X was one of the first JRPGs I fell in love with while playing as Tidus, who I had given my own name. But Tidus makes it clear a number of times in the story that its his story and because of the story is pretty linear, there are things he did that maybe I wouldn�t have. While it didn�t ruin my playthrough, the whole time I was playing I was very aware that I was a small part of the story compared to Tidus� choices and always refer to my character as Tidus when I�m talking about Final Fantasy X, whereas when I talk about Persona 4 I find it much easier to talk about decisions as my own. When a game puts you in the drivers seat, using your own name feels great but when it doesnt, it feels a little strange.
There was a small point in time where I didnt use my name or the default name in JRPGs. I made up a totally separate name, away from any characters I loved or usernames I had. I tended to do this for big, open world games such as Final Fantasy XIV or the Western RPG Skyrim where I really wanted to be apart of the huge fantasy world and using my own name felt too close to reality. I often went with the name Aurora because I thought it sounded cool, but I hit a point where that name felt so established in one world that I felt like I needed a different name for another. I realised how many names I�d have to think of if I kept doing this, so I abandoned this method mostly for that reason. It was a fun idea for big games where my decisions were a large part of the story, but in a regular JRPG I�m happy enough to use my own name or the default instead.
My latest method of naming characters is simple: just using the default name. I was pleasantly surprised in a recent Twitter poll I did that a majority of my followers also do the same thing. The creativity of inventing a name can be fun, as can the immersion of using your own, but using the default name definitely has its place, especially if you�re a fan of witnessing a story above all else. I talked about my experience with Final Fantasy X when using my own name and feeling strange, so in my second playthrough of Final Fantasy X I played as Tidus instead. That way, the story felt entirely like his and while I was influencing his decisions, I knew that I was only a part of the story I was watching unfold. This is how I love to play through story-driven games and since a majority of JRPGs are more about experiencing a story than creating my own, I find myself using the default name much more often than not these days.
The most recent time I did this was with my new Persona 5 playthrough that I mentioned, although I�ve done it plenty of times in other JRPGs such as other Final Fantasy games, Conception II and Persona 3 and 4. Frankly nowadays, even if it�s a more customised game experience, I feel more comfortable playing as the default now. I�d miss being able to name my character if the option was gone, but since a lot of games have it, I�m okay with not choosing a more unique name. For me it takes out the careful consideration of creating a new character name while avoiding the decision influence if I�m using my own name. I think all the methods have their own value, but for now like most of my JRPG friends, I�ll be hitting that default button with no regrets.
Using Your Own Name
A game I love that I don�t think suits the character naming is Final Fantasy, namely Final Fantasy X. Final Fantasy X was one of the first JRPGs I fell in love with while playing as Tidus, who I had given my own name. But Tidus makes it clear a number of times in the story that its his story and because of the story is pretty linear, there are things he did that maybe I wouldn�t have. While it didn�t ruin my playthrough, the whole time I was playing I was very aware that I was a small part of the story compared to Tidus� choices and always refer to my character as Tidus when I�m talking about Final Fantasy X, whereas when I talk about Persona 4 I find it much easier to talk about decisions as my own. When a game puts you in the drivers seat, using your own name feels great but when it doesnt, it feels a little strange.
Making A New Name
Using the Default Name
The most recent time I did this was with my new Persona 5 playthrough that I mentioned, although I�ve done it plenty of times in other JRPGs such as other Final Fantasy games, Conception II and Persona 3 and 4. Frankly nowadays, even if it�s a more customised game experience, I feel more comfortable playing as the default now. I�d miss being able to name my character if the option was gone, but since a lot of games have it, I�m okay with not choosing a more unique name. For me it takes out the careful consideration of creating a new character name while avoiding the decision influence if I�m using my own name. I think all the methods have their own value, but for now like most of my JRPG friends, I�ll be hitting that default button with no regrets.
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How do you name your characters? Is being able to name your character important to you?
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Make sure to follow the blog here, follow @JRPGJungle on Twitter and Instagram, like JRPG Jungle on Facebook and Subscribe to the mailing list for updates on content and random musings on JRPG news and games. Youre awesome! <3
Special thanks to those who took part in the Twitter poll!
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