Creating a convincing villain: character design for a video game
Jantunen, Noora (2023)
2023
All rights reserved. This publication is copyrighted. You may download, display and print it for Your own personal use. Commercial use is prohibited.
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2023121537690
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2023121537690
Tiivistelmä
Video games have become another way of telling stories, creating worlds and works of art, so it is important to be able to create deep characters that seem convincing and even “real” in their immersive behaviors, feelings, and motivations. This thesis aimed to understand how convincing villains are created, and how this knowledge could be incorporated into video games, and why it matters in the sake of storytelling.
The research aimed to explain how convincing villains are made, and this was implemented by using qualitative methods such as creating a visualization task for a group of volunteers, analyzing already existing video game characters, and designing a video game villain as a product. For the theoretical part of the thesis, the fundamentals of villains, human psychology, character design and the relationship between motivational factors and convincingness were studied.
The thesis came to a conclusion, that when designing a convincing villain, especially for a video game, it is crucial that the villain has a solid, well written, researched, and executed background story, that will come through to the audience during the game. The background story will help the players to understand why the villain is behaving like they are, making their goals, motivation, and personality to feel immersive and convincing. It is also crucial to understand the importance of traumas, how they are caused, and how they affect the development of human mind.
If the subject was to be continued, it would be beneficial to gather more data and information to analyse, as well as interview experts in the field of psychology and social development.
The research aimed to explain how convincing villains are made, and this was implemented by using qualitative methods such as creating a visualization task for a group of volunteers, analyzing already existing video game characters, and designing a video game villain as a product. For the theoretical part of the thesis, the fundamentals of villains, human psychology, character design and the relationship between motivational factors and convincingness were studied.
The thesis came to a conclusion, that when designing a convincing villain, especially for a video game, it is crucial that the villain has a solid, well written, researched, and executed background story, that will come through to the audience during the game. The background story will help the players to understand why the villain is behaving like they are, making their goals, motivation, and personality to feel immersive and convincing. It is also crucial to understand the importance of traumas, how they are caused, and how they affect the development of human mind.
If the subject was to be continued, it would be beneficial to gather more data and information to analyse, as well as interview experts in the field of psychology and social development.