[General Discussion] Most Retarded Character Moments

Sure, there's been plenty of times when the characters in a game's story have done something that you, the player, wouldn't conceive of doing yourself. Or, more likely, the character does something you find to be just plain stupid, or outside the realm of common sense.

Well now's your time to list those moments of pure idiocy. This isn't a case of "I would never lose to THAT guy" or "I would totally go with that girl instead of the one the hero chose", this is more a case of decisions you thought were just plain stupid, whether by bad writing or because it was required to advance the plot (or most of the time, both). While this thread was originally conceived with RPGs in mind, I felt stupid decisions that are beyond your control are commonplace in every genre.

Remember to mark spoilers.

My number one choice goes to the biggest disappointment of 2006.

Xenosaga: Episode III

It takes some really "special" writing skills to completely ruin nearly 5 years of story development and characterization in one single cutscene.

Spoiler:

Shion, despite learning in advance that her beloved Kevin had been using her from the start for his plans to erase the entire universe, decides to go with him, thereby saying "fuck it" to the world AND to her friends, who have been supporting her throughout the entire saga. It might have been the author's intention to create some controversy with the character, to show that she's human, but because we get little backstory behind Shion and Kevin's relationship (if it was something equivalent to the romance between Fei and Elly, it would've been more justifiable), instead she comes off as a whiny bitch ("none of you understand me!") who stabs all of her friends in the back.

What did it take to change her mind? Allen getting tossed around for an hour, up until he's practically bleeding internally.

Bitch.

Number 2 used to be my top choice until the above happened.

Final Fantasy VI

Spoiler:

Locke, despite being fully aware of Kefka's evil and deceitful nature, actually takes heed of his claims that Celes had been a spy for him all along. Even when Celes begs him to believe her, he actually contemplates whether to take the word of the girl he's traveled with and developed feelings for or the psychotic clown who's been trying to eliminate his group from the start.

So then some time passes, and Locke is trying to apologize to Celes, but she gives him the cold shoulder, understandably so. But when Celes DOES get the courage to start talking to Locke again, he brushes her off, leaving her on her knees in sadness.

Prick.

And finally, for number 3,

Metal Gear Solid (original or Twin Snakes, take your pick)

Spoiler:

Snake's got a gun pointed at Liquid, who had just revealed himself as Master Miller in disguise, and is just a few feet away from entering Metal Gear REX. Instead of, you know, shooting Liquid, he stands there and lets Liquid monologue away.

While it's true that, upon further review, Snake rarely shoots anyone in cutscenes (even when they're shooting back), I always found this particular moment pretty hilarious. Even after Liquid finishes the required conversation to advance the plot, there's a period where he calmly and slowly enters REX, and Snake just keeps pointing the gun without firing, like he was hoping Liquid would stop or something.

SNAAAAAAAAAAAKE.

How ya doing, buddy?

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To be honest, I never quite understood why no one ever used a phoenix down on Aerith. I mean, shit, it's not like all of em in the party knew that she HAD to die in order for her to use Holy. Barret probably had something to do with it.

This has been brought up more times than humanly necessary, and the generally accepted answer is that "Phoenix Down brings you back from NEAR death, not COMPLETE death." Of course you could argue the possibility that Aerith had just a couple seconds of life left to pull this off, but that basically would've ruined the whole pacing of the scene (soon as she dies, Holy is created, yadda yadda).

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Robert:
Everyone:

Heck, I love that scene. Hilarious how he basically has a conversation with himself, then includes everyone half-way. One of many ackward moments in that game.

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As for Locke saying "Let's go" on the ship to Thamasa, he didn't do it with any coldness in mind. He looked back and kept going. Why? Because by that point it's understood that each of them was sorry about the circumstances, and that they both had feelings for each other.

Looked pretty cold to me. I always thought he simply didn't want to talk to her at that moment, and I see no evidence that suggests otherwise.

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1. FFVII

That's all opinion, including the very thing you're complaining about. It also brings up an age old debate I no longer have interest in discussing.

Okay, maybe a little bit.

Spoiler:

Sounds like you're saying that Tifa's too hot for a dork like Cloud. Welcome to the last 20 years of RPGs. And if the big flashback near the end didn't convince you, perhaps the extra backstory they've been feeding you with the latest spinoffs (Last Order, Advent Children, soon Crisis Core) is proof enough. They also confirmed that Aerith did have feelings for Cloud, not "the Zack in Cloud", and was even jealous when she saw that he and Tifa had a thing going.

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2. XG

The heart-felt I-love-you's and gratuitous sex scene occured before either of them knew about their destiny, so the sentiment still stands. Yes, it was all mushy, but after 50 hours of suffering, I didn't mind the characters finding happiness with each other.

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3. FFVIII

This one I'll give to you. The revelation itself wasn't too bad, but it ultimately served no point to the story at all.

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4. PSIV

Didn't play that one, so moving along.

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5. FFX

Uh, he knew way back that was his father. I thought it was pretty well done myself.

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6. FFIX

Well, it was a pretty lousy thing to learn about. I would think learning that his life was a lie would hit an optimistic person the hardest. The emo personality only lasted about 10 minutes anyway.

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I was under the impression that she had joined them as a spy, and had only begun to question her loyalty after adventuring with them for quite some time. Also, note how the next time you see her after the Magitek Factory, she is working for the Empire again. If she hadn't been a spy, I doubt Kefka and the Emperor would have been so forgiving.

It so much that he doubts her, but that he took that particular moment to do it, when he's knee-deep in the enemy's base, soon to be surrounded by guards (which is what happened). "We'll talk about this later, let's get out of here!" would've probably justified the whole moment.

How ya doing, buddy?