Aller au contenu

Photo

Maybe the Iron Bull would rather Talk than Fight


  • Veuillez vous connecter pour répondre
22 réponses à ce sujet

#1
PsychoBlonde

PsychoBlonde
  • Members
  • 5 130 messages

This is more of a musing than a suggestion, so I'm putting it in the story forum rather than the suggestions forum (it is WAY too late to make these kinds of suggestions, anyway).

 

So, it occurred to me that it'd be quite interesting if--despite appearances--the Iron Bull would very nearly always rather resolve a situation by talking than fighting.  This would be a very "law enforcement" attitude to have and really drive home the fact that he wasn't really a soldier, he was a policeman (of sorts), focused toward defusing situations, protecting people, apprehending "criminals" (preferably alive).  His "MAYHEMMMMM" personality is a front, designed to convince people that messing with him is only going to end in disaster--for them.  He's friendly, he's personable, he'll listen to your sob story and you talking about your beloved pet that got run over by a cart for hours on end if that's what it takes to get you to take your hand off the detonator.  If necessary, he'll bring the beer and drink you and everybody you know under the table.

 

I'd find that to be a really fun and often surprising sort of character, with lots of room for interesting discussions and conflicts.  Maybe the "convert or die" ultraviolence of the antaam doesn't sit well with him.  Maybe he got "retired" in a way because he'd reached a stage where he'd really just rather let people alone as long as they weren't actively hurting anyone, even if they were totally ignoring the "demands of the Qun" and otherwise being a pain in somebody's butt.  Maybe he's close to becoming an outright "people are nucking futz" cynic and saying "I don't care any more, let them butcher each other if that's what they want, ideals are useless" and the Inquisitor can push him over into outright nihilism.  Oh, alternatively, help him rediscover whatever idealism he had remaining--remembering that he's a Qunari and just what ideals, exactly, he supports.

 

Of course, I'd want there to be a Third Way where you can maybe help him find his own idealism, but that'd be an interesting basic alternative: do you push him over the edge so he gives up on the Qun, or do you try to help him, knowing that he might turn against you and return to the Qun if you do?  That's a REAL threat--if the Inquisition succeeds suddenly they're the most powerful single organization in all of Thedas.  Which makes them a BIG threat to the Qunari and whatever invasion plans they're cooking up.  And why would they send assassins to destabilize your organization when they've already got a man "on the inside", as it were?


  • Chewin et Chernaya aiment ceci

#2
PsychoBlonde

PsychoBlonde
  • Members
  • 5 130 messages

It'd also be cool if he's inclined to get moody and maudlin when you either kill or fail to save people, so you're constantly having to help cheer him up (or not).



#3
Chewin

Chewin
  • Members
  • 8 478 messages
It is an aspect I am hoping myself as well that is present with Iron Bull--a more intellectual figure rather than a mere brute that happens to be the head of a mercenary group. What he manages to bring to the table regarding ideology surrounding the Qun, the state of affairs, the conflict(s) that we find ourselves in and general social banter would be interesting to explore from a different perspective of someone involved with the Qunari.

I am keeping my expectations low, but hoping for the best.
  • PsychoBlonde et Araceil aiment ceci

#4
Parkimus

Parkimus
  • Members
  • 619 messages

I personally hope he's good at talkin' Bull.


  • PsychoBlonde et Aedan Amell aiment ceci

#5
PsychoBlonde

PsychoBlonde
  • Members
  • 5 130 messages

I am keeping my expectations low, but hoping for the best.

 

Not too low.  After all, even Oghren was more than just a beer-swilling darkspawn-killing yutz.  Not MUCH more at times, but still more.



#6
Chernaya

Chernaya
  • Members
  • 5 136 messages

I would love it for people to go into the game expecting him to be the "muscle" stereotype and be totally proven wrong. It seems his past haunts him in one way or another, so I'm pretty positive his character goes deeper than that, either way. And I'm almost certain we will end up having the choice to either encourage him back into the ways of his faith or to leave it behind.


  • Cheech 2.0 aime ceci

#7
Chewin

Chewin
  • Members
  • 8 478 messages

Not too low.  After all, even Oghren was more than just a beer-swilling darkspawn-killing yutz.  Not MUCH more at times, but still more.


True. Afterall, I expected just that, a total drunk but efficient killer. Glad that he happened to be much more well rounded of a character than that. DA2 however left me disappointed on the character part, so hence my skepticism.

#8
PsychoBlonde

PsychoBlonde
  • Members
  • 5 130 messages

It could also make for an interesting comparison to Cassandra, who seems more inclined toward the "Kill them all and let the Maker sort them out" sort of method when she gets frustrated.  Especially if, on the flip side, he just can't resist the urge to try and deflate stuffy types, usually by playing dumb and being horribly obstructionist.  "Stuffy types" including most other Qunari--only the few who are more results-oriented than behavior-oriented really appreciate his methods and can deal with his personality.



#9
PsychoBlonde

PsychoBlonde
  • Members
  • 5 130 messages

I personally hope he's good at talkin' Bull.

 

This reminds me of that scene in Jade Empire where you're trying to find out a spy disguised as an artist and (if he's there) Sky suddenly bursts out with a whole dissertation on the state of modern theater including words like "deconstructing the Fourth Wall" and you're just like, bwah?  Where the hell did THAT come from?  I think your character can literally say "where the hell did that come from?!"



#10
PrayingMantis

PrayingMantis
  • Members
  • 330 messages

"[...] But their captain was crap. Figured I could do better. I snapped his sword in half and we talked things out over drinks."

 

That's what he said in the "under the horns" video. I doubt he's just a brute.


  • PsychoBlonde et Chernaya aiment ceci

#11
PsychoBlonde

PsychoBlonde
  • Members
  • 5 130 messages

Exactly.



#12
PsychoBlonde

PsychoBlonde
  • Members
  • 5 130 messages

It'd also be cool if, when you first meet him, he makes the initial assumption that you're just another status-seeking ego-inflated Game-playing jackass and you get to try and prove him wrong.



#13
StrangeStrategy

StrangeStrategy
  • Members
  • 734 messages

Oh gawd, I would hate that so much. He is my favorite companion right now, if he turned out to be a wuss... I'd be sad.



#14
Chernaya

Chernaya
  • Members
  • 5 136 messages

Oh gawd, I would hate that so much. He is my favorite companion right now, if he turned out to be a wuss... I'd be sad.

 

I don't think he'd necessarily be a wuss just because his approach to everything might not be "HULK SMASH". :P It would be nice to see he has a tactful side. 


  • PsychoBlonde, Saberchic et PoisonSmog aiment ceci

#15
Guest_TheDarkKnightReturns_*

Guest_TheDarkKnightReturns_*
  • Guests

Bull was never Antaam. He is Ben-Hassrath which is part of the priesthood. I expect him to have layers. Sure, he likes to get down and dirty (who doesn't?), but I also expect him to have an esoteric understanding of the Qun that only a member of the priesthood would have. After all, Sten is part of the army and he can recite it verbatim. So the logical conclusion is that a spy/priest like Bull could go that much further.



#16
PsychoBlonde

PsychoBlonde
  • Members
  • 5 130 messages

Ben-Hassrath aren't "priests".  Qunari "priests" are all women.  Ben-Hassrath are like ideological police, one of the few jobs that is done by both men and women.



#17
PsychoBlonde

PsychoBlonde
  • Members
  • 5 130 messages

Oh gawd, I would hate that so much. He is my favorite companion right now, if he turned out to be a wuss... I'd be sad.

 

Preferring not to fight doesn't make you a "wuss".  From what I've seen you need balls of titanium to pull it off successfully when people start getting belligerent.  Just saying "**** it" and starting the bloodbath doesn't require so much stress and THINKING.  



#18
PsychoBlonde

PsychoBlonde
  • Members
  • 5 130 messages

I'd also find it interesting if most of the Qunari we've met up until this point are basically their equivalent of stupid jocks good for little other than running headfirst at the enemy.



#19
Guest_TheDarkKnightReturns_*

Guest_TheDarkKnightReturns_*
  • Guests

Ben-Hassrath aren't "priests".  Qunari "priests" are all women.  Ben-Hassrath are like ideological police, one of the few jobs that is done by both men and women.

 

Ben-Hassrath means "the Heart of the Many" in the Qunari language. The purpose of the Ben-Hassrath is protecting the faith and the innocents. Ben-Hassrath fall under the Ariqun, and the Qunari consider them as priests.

 

Source

 

If that's not good enough for you follow the references at the bottom of the link's page.



#20
Dr. Doctor

Dr. Doctor
  • Members
  • 4 331 messages
He is a mercenary captain, (well, posing as one) so just outright killing people who he isn't getting paid to kill is just a waste of effort. Besides, talking things out over drinks is better than cleaning up bloodstains.

#21
Former_Fiend

Former_Fiend
  • Members
  • 6 942 messages

In the "Under the Horns" video we hear a bit of dialogue where he discusses how he took over a group of mercenaries he used to work for(not his current band). He mentions how their previous leader was "crap" and how he figured he could do better; instead of killing the guy, he snapped his sword in half and they talked things out over drinks. 

 

A major tenet of the qun is that they waste nothing. Needlessly killing people you could otherwise use is a violation of that. Which is why the qunari don't have a "convert or die" policy; they have a "convert or be turned into a mindless laborer" policy.


  • Dr. Doctor aime ceci

#22
Cheech 2.0

Cheech 2.0
  • Members
  • 373 messages

I hope that he can be played that way :) . Sometimes body language, and tone of speech are far more intimidating than physical stature. Why bite when a bark can be so much more effective.



#23
Nefla

Nefla
  • Members
  • 7 733 messages
B-but how is he going to chop someone I to more than 3 pieces in one swing if he's talking instead of fighting? D: