Christian Iconography in Dragon Age Origins

Numerous reviews of Dragon Age Origins knocked the game for its generous use of blood.  Not so much that the game has copious amounts of blood but rather the way that characters go about their business after battles while covered in it. I have to admit they do look rather silly having conversations with people without even bothering to wipe the blood off their faces and clothes but it doesn’t take too much away from an otherwise excellent game.

While DOA does not shy away from using blood on-screen whenever possible it seems, it also brilliantly uses symbolism in other areas.  In fact, the player does not even need to enter the game to see how well icons foreshadow the horror that is to come.  One need only look at the title screen to see how well developer BioWare has crafted Christian symbols into the mythology of Ferelden.

Christian icons abound in this image.

The dominant portion of this image is the sword in the foreground.  This weapon is not just stuck in the ground, but it is embedded in someone’s chest.  We can see blood runs halfway up the blade.  Visible in the background is another sword. It appears both have been left on the battlefield.  In the background we can see mountains and trees. Dark clouds move overhead.  Darkness shrouds the entire image.

Any analysis of the symbols gets easier thanks to George Ferguson. In 1955 he wrote Signs & Symbols in Christian Art. This work is a masterpiece in Christian iconography.  In it, Ferguson deftly places many items we see everyday into their proper connection with Christianity. Thanks to him, I can look into the overtly religious world of DOA and connect some of the dots to the Christian faith.

For example, Ferguson notes that clouds represent the unseen God. On DOA‘s title page, however, the clouds are a dark mixture of red and black.  Black means death and the underworld but can also represent the prince of darkness, witchcraft, mourning, sickness, and  negation.  In contrast to black, red symbolizes blood as well as the emotions of love and hate. Red also stands for martyred saints. I said before that the scene is quite dark.  Ferguson writes that in Christianity physical darkness represents spiritual darkness.

So before we even begin the game, Bioware presents the image of warfare and carnage, but not just on the physical level.  The rolling dark clouds indicate a spiritual battle taking place in the heavens.  In Dragon Age terms, the Maker and the arch-demons battle in the heavens while man and demon fight on earth. And the outcome seems to be in doubt.

Underneath the clouds we find rocks in the foreground and mountains in the distance.  While shadows shroud the far-off  mountain range, the rocks in the foreground appear brown. Now rocks symbolize the Lord while stones indicate firmness. However brown means spiritual death and degradation, a possible indication that evil prevails. A second indicator of the strength of evil in this game could be that the earth, meaning the Church/Chantry (which feeds man with spiritual faith and offers him shelter) is also covered in shadow.

Which brings me back to the pair of swords in the foreground.  Aside from the obvious connection to the Word of God, swords can also represent numerous saints in Christian history.  The number two stands for the two natures of Christ: human and divine while blood symbolizes life and the human soul as well as martyrs. Curiously, it appears that both swords are embedded in the same person. Furthermore, we cannot tell who that person is and if he was good or evil. Perhaps we were not meant to know.

The wonderful thing about all this analysis is that BioWare might now have known what was going on when they created this title page.  Or perhaps they did.  Whatever the case, I choose to read the page this way and it certainly helps me enjoy the game that much more.

The Message of The Normal Noble in Dragon Age Origins

Dragon Age Origins is my new favorite game.

Disclaimer: There are some minor spoilers for Dragon Age Origins in this blog.  You’ve been warned.

Disclaimer 2: I am still working on my first play through of DOA but I want to write down my thoughts as I play through. It may turn out I am wrong on a number of issues and if so I will blog about it at a later date.

I just bought a copy of Bioware’s Dragon Age Origins last week.  After playing for four days I am hooked.  Whereas before I was not sure if I would even like it, now I find myself thinking about it even when I’m not playing.  That’s when you know you’ve found a game that rocks.

I’ve enjoyed it so much it took me two days to realize something was wrong.

Let me go back to the beginning. For those who don’t know Dragon Age, like so many other role-playing games, lets you create your character and select a background before you plunge into the adventure.  I chose to be a human noble female. Now I don’t play RPGs that much but whenever I do, I always create a black woman.  That way, I can bring two under-represented groups at the same time.  However for some reason, I could not create a black woman this time.  All I could do was give her a bit of tan that just didn’t look right.  After trying four or five times I gave up, made her the best I could, and started the game.

Character creation for nobles is limited in Dragon Age Origins

When my character walked into the castle (she was a noble after all) I realized why my choices were so limited: my family was white.  Mentally I kicked myself for being so silly.  Noble.  Castle.  Very European.  Of course they were white.  That makes perfect historical sense.  And so with only a twinge of disappointment, I launched into the grand epic.

After two days of killing darkspawns and demons it finally dawned on me that something wasn’t right.  It turns out my character was not the problem.  The family was.  Well not exactly. Or maybe that’s really two problems.  The first problem was that I could not create the character I wanted to create because historical accuracy (in a fantasy game mind you) dictated otherwise.

The second problem is that I accepted the fact that a noble human family in a fantasy game should be white due to the setting.  Dragon Age is a fantasy, right?  If I can be a part of a world that contains the most honorable heroes, the Gray Wardens, and the most vile villains then why is it so hard to have a noble family of color?  In my days of traveling the land, I have seen NPCs of color, though none of significance yet.  I assume I will eventually run into one who will present me with a side quest or something.  So if that is the case that there are free NPCs of color in the land then why can they not be a part of the noble class?

Bioware went to great lengths to provide different backgrounds for players to select: human, elves, dwarves and so on. Moreover, they have carefully crafted a spectacular game with a rich and diverse mythology.  I am still amazed by what I have seen so far.  So then how hard would it have been for them to add code to change the family to fit the character?  If I wanted to create an Asian male, then the game should automatically create a family to match.

These were the choices I had in Knights of the Old Republic

The more complex and insidious issue here is that it took me a few days to realize something was wrong.  You see when I realized the European setting dictated a European family, I was okay with that.  It seemed very normal to me. Therein lies the problem.  Because it was normal, I did not question it, though I should have.  I probably should have been outraged that being white and noble was hardwired into the game as well as my consciousness.  But I was having such a great time playing the game that all thoughts of accepting (or rejecting) that particular messages soon fell by the wayside.  And yet this is a fantasy game.  In my fantasy games, I want my heroes to be people who look like me.  I did it that way in Knights of the Old Republic and I did it that way in Mass Effect. Bioware has spoiled me. What’s the difference between those two games and Dragon Age?  In Knights and ME the hero came from either a tragic or mysterious background.  We only got to hear about their origins.  In Dragon Age, I got to experience my character’s home and family.  There was a sense of community.  I had access to my parents, servants, and pets.  All very normal, even it all took place in a huge castle.  The hidden message here: in the better or preferred background, you can’t be black or Asian.  Those races are relegated to the abnormal. This other background is only acceptable for that mysterious person, that tragic survivor, the violent war hero, or the fallen dark lord.

What we are really taking about is re-imagining characters in-game and we should all be used to it by now.  Last summer the entire concept of Star Trek changed with the new movie.  Battlestar Galactica re-imagined the whole series including some of the main characters such as Starbuck (from Dirk Benedict to Katee Sackhoff) and Boomer (from Herb Jefferson Jr. to Grace Park).  In Marvel Comics’ Nick Fury went from white (comics) to black (movies). And who can forget Brandy as Cinderella? I would like the option to either embrace or reject those messages of what is normal in my games.

Now you might think that after all this I would stop playing Dragon Age Origins.  Not so.  I’ve had too much fun to stop anytime soon.  And it may turn out that when I choose another origin the result will be better.  I have yet to try being an elf or a dwarf.  But even if I run into the same problem, I believe this tale will be every bit as satisfying as Bioware’s other games. However fantasy above all else should be about escaping from the norm.  Whenever writers and developers only bring those norms into the game, they limit what the player can do to enrich his/her experience by not allowing that player’s notion of identity to be included.

What We Need Are More Jokers

Video games serve as entertainment and provide escapism.  That is the conventional wisdom. Thanks to the wonders of gaming, players can take on the role of a seven-foot Spartan, a British adventurer, or an invincible COG soldier.  These brave warriors face death constantly but in the end always prevail.  However I find that as I grow older that all this excitement is not enough for me.  Oh sure, I still love to gun down waves of enemies and solve puzzles, but I find that I long to care about the characters involved.  Not just the non-playable characters (NPCs) but my own as well.  I just read Jeffrey Ollendorf’s “The Benefits of Banter” over at Gamasutra and I agree that in role-playing games it helps if party members talk, tease, and joke more.  My own take is that writers should consider adding two other elements in addition to banter: physical challenge and fear.

Get Joker off the ship and let him crack some heads.

I don’t mean physical challenge as in defeating waves of enemies or jumping from ledge to ledge, but rather as a term that replaces “disability” or “handicap.” A character who is physically challenged might struggle with injury, disease, or illness.  Nearly all the characters in games are in peak physical condition.  In fact many have superhuman abilities and technologically advanced weapons.  What if game character development took the opposite approach?  What if we could control more characters like Mass Effects’ Joker?  Now here is a character, Jeff Moreau, who suffers from what is commonly called brittle bone disease.  Near the end of Mass Effect 2 the player briefly takes control of Joker as he fearlessly moves through the Normandy trying to rescue the besieged crew. I honestly cannot remember if there was another time I had control over a character that wasn’t super fast, overly strong, heavily armed, or unbelievably agile.  Joker is a regular person with a regular person’s issues.

What if Joker became a party member in Mass Effect 3? Suppose there were missions where Shepard needed to commandeer a vessel and only Joker could fly it?  I would love to see Joker pick up a rifle again and blast those evil alien Geth to bits!  Not a superhuman Joker.  Not a frail Joker who takes one bullet and dies.  No.  I want a Joker who uses his wits to stay alive where other members use bullets and biotics.  And like that one scene in ME2, Moreau cracks jokes as he cracks heads.

However that one scene in ME2 could have been more powerful if he had actually displayed fear.  The idea of the protagonist, party members, or friendly AI displaying fear seems to run contrary to the notion of being a hero. Perhaps the enemy may be afraid but never the hero. It’s okay for the little grunts in Halo 3 to run off when Master Chief runs in guns blazing but you will never see Marines do that.  Okay that may be a little extreme.  But what if the heroes were anxious before battle? What if my character actually got the shakes?  Now there’s a thought.

Showing a little fear wouldn't kill him.

Let’s take Dead Space as an example.  There were plenty of times I jumped while playing and I spent most of my time turning around to make sure something didn’t grab me from behind (in the game that is, though I usually played at night with the lights off).  Yet all the time I moved through those dark corridors my character, Isaac Clarke was a silent efficient killer.  I never identified with him. Never connected to him.  A lot of that came from the fact that he didn’t speak.  That’s a shame.  But more than that he never showed the slightest bit of emotion.  None of the characters did.  Isaac seemed be friends with Kendra Daniels.  Imagine if Daniels and Clarke actually showed the strain of their situation.  Having Daniels show fear and Clarke being apprehensive would have served as a vehicle to connect gamer and character.  Small additions like a loud heartbeat, shaking hands, and unsteady aim when afraid would amp up and already tense shooter.

I watched a short clip on the upcoming Dead Space 2 yesterday.  It seems that Mr. Clarke will be in charge this time around.  No more getting direction from somebody else all the time. While that sounds well and good I hope we get to see a more human hero travelling through dark corridors blasting aliens.

Perhaps what we need are ordinary people who at times rise above their meager means and origins in order to save the rest of us.  I don’t mean the classic hero-myth saga where boy/girl meets mentor, rejects mentor’s appeal, is forced to into being a hero, loses mentor, goes to the underworld, realizes he/she is truly a hero and saves the world.  No I mean we need playable characters like you or me.  People who, while they realize they must fight, have trouble shooting because they are near-sighted.  I’m talking about folk who hate killing.  I mean ordinary people who want nothing more than to get away from their situation and go home in peace.

I realize my opinions go against that whole concept of escapism I mentioned at the beginning but I am always a proponent of adding greater character depth in the ever elusive hope of moving video games into that mystical state of culturally respected media. Perhaps I ask too much of game writers, but I don’t think so.  Take a chance.