In honor of Women’s History Month, Byte is doing a month long Byteing Question about the most iconic female characters and why they matter. Every day two writers will look at two characters that are important to them in many different ways. Today, we look at Max & Chloe and Lucina
Max and Chloe as individuals and as a duo are incredibly important in today’s society and great representations of stereotypes and, of course, the walls that break them. Max and Chloe are complete polar opposites in their personalities despite their past, and also share a rather interesting relationship with one another, one that could possibly extend beyond friendship.
Max Caulfield is your average 18 year old attending school, with average grades and a pretty average life. Chloe Price is your rebellious teen who strives to escape Arcadia Bay and drive away from all of life’s problems. The unique relationship the two share is one that is important for two major reasons.
One, since the two are so different from each other despite being best friends growing up, it helps build the idea for the audience of the game that social cliques don’t necessarily restrict friendships. Young Chloe and Max were best friends and were hardly different from each other, but as they grew apart they developed separately. Their rekindled friendship, something that is worked on and developed throughout the game, is one that I believe gives a positive message about the importance of friendship. Despite personality differences, and even hobby differences, Max and Chloe still manage to become each other’s sidekicks, working together to solve the mystery of what happened to Rachel Amber. Though the two disagree quite often on the “good” and “bad” of their decisions, ultimately they manage to work together and form a bond that might even be more than just friends.
Which leads into the second reason why Max and Chloe are such an important pair. The developers’ choice to allow the player to pick whether or not they want to pursue a more serious relationship with Warren or Chloe at their own will is another aspect that makes both these characters and game so important. Some may pick to keep Max and Chloe’s relationship strictly as friends, with no “funny business”, and others have the choice of allowing Max and Chloe to get closer. This choice is one that can have some controversy behind it, despite the amount of support that same-sex couples have been receiving within just the past year.
Allowing two female protagonists to get as close as they do, with many intimate moments throughout the game hinting at a serious relationship between the two, is something that I believe is pretty radical in today’s society. Creating an indie AAA title where a player can choose whether they want to have their characters be a same-sex couple is something I feel is important in not only video game culture, but to society as hole as we move towards a more equal and less judgmental society.
The Fire Emblem series is famous for its dynamic and memorable characters. There is such a wide variety of interesting individuals in the series that it's difficult to not be able to pick a favorite. I adore many of the characters, but there is one that really stands out to me. That character is Lucina from Fire Emblem: Awakening.
Lucina is the daughter of Chrom, the prince of Ylisse. She is very family-orientated and would do anything to keep her family safe, which is evident in the game's story. The world that she lives in is in shambles and her beloved parents are dead. Lucina travels to the past with the intention of altering the timeline of events in order to change the future for the better.
Disguised as the Hero-King Marth, Lucina travels to the past and encounters her aunt Lissa, father Chrom, and the Avatar, who could potentially be her mother or her husband depending on which gender the player picks for their Avatar. She helps them defeat a band of enemies and then disappears without a trace. It must have been difficult for Lucina to finally be able to see her loved ones again yet not being able to show them who she really was.
Lucina eventually is able to save her father from being attacked by an assassin, but her disguise was destroyed in the fray. In result, Chrom becoming curious as to whom she really was. Even so, Lucina couldn't reveal herself and disappeared again. Two years later, the present's timeline Lucina was born.
Later on, she saved her father again from the hands of the enemy. She couldn't keep the secret any longer, so she revealed her true identity to Chrom. This touching scene was played in a cutscene showing a tearful Lucina embracing her father. The reason why Lucina traveled back in time was so she could alter the past. Through all of her efforts, she still couldn't save everyone that she loved. This weighed heavily on her mind because Lucina has a strong sense of justice. Lucina is an admirable character because she cares so much for the people around her and genuinely wants to create a better future for everyone. Lucina was the Avatar's daughter in my play through of the game, and I felt proud of her determination and willpower to save the world.
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