The flanders trope is when a character with a wide range of traits sees one of those traits being exaggerated to the point where it becomes their entire character. It is named after Ned Flanders from The Simpsonswho first appeared as a friendly Christian neighbor of the family, and is now portrayed as an obsessive religious evangelist.
Video games are not immune to the trope, as there are several characters in all genres defined by a single obvious trait, especially in long-running franchises. It’s not always an inherently bad thing though, as some of these examples show, but it can still be disappointing at times to see a complex character become much less complex.
8 Dante (Devil May Cry)
In the original Devil May CryDante was definitely a stubborn character who didn’t take things too seriously, but there was also a dark, serious side to him due to his conflicting feelings about his origins, and this mix of silly and serious made him an interesting character.
However, more recent games have decided to limit him to the clown role in the classroom, with Devil May Cry 5 even going to great lengths to give him a cowboy hat “weapon” which he reveals with a full dance routine, and seemingly incapable of taking anything particularly serious. However, it is still fun and sometimes more fun than its original incarnation.
7 Chris Redfield (Resident Evil)
Resident EvilChris Redfield’s is strong. He trained in the Air Force before joining the Raccoon City Police Department as a member of the STARS Special Forces Unit. He is known as a skilled marksman and exactly the kind of man you want by your side in combat. Over the years, however, Capcom has become more and more determined to show off its strength in increasingly bizarre ways.
his appearance in Resident Evil: Code Veronica suggests to him that he climbs a sheer cliff without equipment, but the culmination of this came in Resident Evil 5. Not only has he dramatically increased his muscle mass, but the highlight of the game is knocking a huge boulder out of the way. Somehow, even with all the retcons within the Resident Evil series, that remains canon according to Resident Evil Village.
In the metal gear series, Solid Snake is a complex character with a troubled past. He is a man revered by the public for his military achievements, while feeling guilty for being so good at killing. His character is intended to criticize the military and the effects it has on those who serve, based on Hideo Kojima’s remarkable anti-war political views.
as the metal gear series went on though, but some quirky aspects of Snake’s personality seemed to take over. The most ridiculous of these quirks is his love of cardboard boxes. Although a nice stealth item in the original Metal Gear SolidAs the series progressed, Snake developed an almost obsessive relationship with them, as his identity was revealed in Metal Gear Solid 2 because he’s been seen moving in one of them, to a deep, meaningful speech about how safeboxing makes him feel in the third game. Bizarre.
5 Luigi (Super Mario)
The super mario franchise isn’t known for complex characters at the best of times, so this is an unusual case of a character getting a single defining character trait where they didn’t have one before. Luigi was originally introduced as a palette swap from Mario for the Mario Bros arcade game, a role he would continue to play for many main games thereafter, usually as a second player sprite.
When the Gamecube launched, Luigi got his own game and with it his own unique personality. That personality was mostly cowardice, though, with his foray through haunted mansions showing him as a reluctant hero who’d rather go home. This has since come to define who Luigi is throughout the franchise.
4 Sonic the hedgehog
Sonic the Hedgehog was always intended to be a mascot with attitude, designed to make Sega stand out alongside Nintendo and Mario. However, there were always other aspects to his character that led to a devoted fan base that continues to this day. Essentially, he’s a laid-back character who cares about his friends and wants to do the right thing, though he’s not afraid to make a sarcastic comment here and there.
As the series has progressed, Sonic’s snark has been amplified to the point that it’s nearly impossible to line up in Sonic colors that’s no lame joke, as if he expects a studio audience to react any moment. Sometimes this is fun, but sometimes it can be shocking, and it all comes at the expense of Sonic’s other traits.
3 Cloud (Final Fantasy 7)
Cloud Strife is an interesting character. He spends a lot of time in Final Fantasy VII being a gruff, stoic mercenary, emotionally distant from those around him and interested only in his grunt work. Only this is not entirely true, as the story repeatedly shows that this is a front that hides someone who is much more insecure, traumatized by events in his past. Cloud’s story is one in which he grows beyond this tragedy and learns to be himself and not hide behind an emotionally distant facade.
Not that you would know this from seeing him in spin-offs like dissent or Kingdom Heartsor the sequel to the movie Advent children, where Cloud is often reduced to moody and disinterested with few redeeming qualities to balance this out. It’s a bizarre choice that undermines his entire character arc and makes him much less interesting.
2 Kratos (God of war)
The first god of war game is a Greek tragedy in the form of a video game. Starring Kratos, a Spartan soldier who becomes involved in a Faustian pact with Ares, the god of war, to empower him to lead troops to victory in the war. This leads him to be forced to kill his own family, and the grief and betrayal this causes leads him to violently seek revenge on Ares.
The sequels and spin-offs continue this violent frenzy as Kratos ravaged most of the Greek pantheon, but this time he looks less like a tragic Greek mythical figure and more like a ball of pure rage that the player may have less sympathy for. . He does get a rare case of reverse flanders in the 2018 god of warthough, where again he is a complex and interesting character, which is great for everyone.
1 Captain Qwark (Ratchet & Clank)
Captain Qwark is introduced as the great hero of the galaxy in the first Ratchet & Clank, only to be revealed as a selfish celebrity willing to sell his image to anyone willing to buy, including the villains. He represented the concept of never meeting your heroes because they might not turn out to be as nice as you’d like.
However, from the third game onward, Qwark underwent a massive change. Insomniac began to take his vanity and cowardice and exaggerate them to the point where his more sinister side disappeared. in more recent Ratchet & Clank games, you’re more likely to see Qwark as nothing more than a bumbling vain coward than a stealth villain.
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