Assassin Fixation...Psychological Discussion at Work

[Rel]

So, my generation has been programmed to associate ninjas with utter coolness. And weird toe socks.

I mostly associate them with mammals.

 

[BadMojo]

I mostly associate them with mammals.

Well, yeah, it's common knowledge that ninjas are mammals and will flip out and kill people. It is a major part of what makes them ninjas. Call it their ninjatude. An esssential component of their ninjatude.

 

[Alzrius]

I think part of the appeal is that those kinds of characters are considered cool for the fact that they do their own thing, with no fear of punishment. Fear tends to play a larger part in our lives than we realize. We don't like doing anything that might invite disapproval from those around us. It's why we don't take that extra five minutes on our coffee break, or why we move our computer to the other side of the cubicle so people walking by can't see the screen when we're surfing the 'net instead of working.

Those are the little fears that seem to paralyze us throughout our daily lives. But hired killers don't go for that. They do what they do, and break major rules in the process without even giving it a thought. They're freer than we are, and we idolize that.

 

[ThoughtBubble]

Ok, let's drag out a few qualities of each that may be attractive to players:

Bounty Hunters: Self sufficient, typically better at their work than normal law enforcement (hence the need to call them), tough, and indapendent

Assassins: The guy you don't want as an enemy, typically aware and prepared, highly skilled, observant and definately outside the system

Now, those are some cool attributes. Especially getting away from the DM being able to say "Your Church says 'Go do this quest'." The typically imagined Assassin and Bounty Hutner both can get away with saying no.

Now, what's funny is that my current character (Rogue/Shadow dancer) fits a lot of the bounty hunter/assassin criteria. I think it's balanced out by a cheerful personality and high amounts of loyalty. Even if the concept of objects belonging to people is still a little foreign.

 

[Arrgh! Mark!]

Look at "American Ninja". Or "3 Ninjas" for a (slightly) younger audience. Both are terrible, terrible movies. But American Ninja is interesting because it shows that being a loner gives strength and independance (The main character) and being part of a crowd breeds weakness (Every mook or american G.I. in the film.) A fistful of Dollars is really indicative of this idea; Eastwoods character is made stronger through his independance from the two gangs than his reliance on either one. It does show a more dangerous path, though.

Loners are cool under pressure, (A big thing. Everyone wants to be cool and in command of the situation.) are hyper-competent and are unweighted by common morals. There's no disgust felt for these characters for their actions, but awe that they could have the courage to do this and the skill to get away with it.

You can see that a lot of people who might have power issues in their life could get wish-fulfillment out of these characters. As people often blame others, a lot of people assume being a loner and solitude would bring back the percieved loss of power (Due to bosses, family, inherent social weakness.)

Now, look at the type of people who play this game of ours. The stereotype is someone who is relatively unpopular, unfit, and so on and so forth. If this stereotype has some grounding in truth (And i'm sure most everyone would agree) then the reason why there are more ninja/assassins is because the majority of gamers are not of the popular or socially powerful crowd, and make up for this lack with the powerful mental character of the loner.

Ever notice that the older people get, the less they play ninja/assassins? I would maintain that the younger generations of gamers would play such characters often, but older ones not-so-much.

It's just because people are often more certain of themselves as they age, and have less of a need to prove themselves.

IMHO, anyway.

 

[LostSoul]

Ever notice that the older people get, the less they play ninja/assassins? I would maintain that the younger generations of gamers would play such characters often, but older ones not-so-much.

It's just because people are often more certain of themselves as they age, and have less of a need to prove themselves.

I imagine that a game that is as social as D&D helps out a bit, too.

 

[Whimsical]

I imagine that a game that is as social as D&D helps out a bit, too.

This is true for me. I have realized that if it wasn't for roleplaying games, my life would be an infinite loop of work-TV-sleep with no real social interaction. RPGs are my primary social facilitator.