Characters
The characters of Xenogears were designed to allude to many psychological concepts, notably of Freudian and Jungian psychology. There is also an important character bearing the name of French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan. The most obvious allusion involves the nature of the game's protagonist, Fei Fong Wong, whose Freudian id, ego, and superego are discussed at length throughout the course of the game. Fei had subconsciously repressed his memories because of his torturous childhood. However, his desire to remember elements of his past eventually leads him to discover the truth about his identity and his relationship with the character known as Id. This repression also relates to the Jungian concept of the shadow. Distinctly Adlerian in nature, however, are the actions of certain characters, such as Ramsus, whose actions are driven by an inferiority complex that stems from unconscious 'nodes' that often permeate exterior behaviors of an individual. Although not distinctly psychological, allusions to the theories of Friedrich Nietzsche are also found in the game. For example, there is the concept of the eternal return, which, in Xenogears, correlates to the recurrences of the Contact and the Antitype.
Read more about this topic: Characters Of Xenogears
Famous quotes containing the word characters:
“Children pay little attention to their parent’s teachings, but reproduce their characters faithfully.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
“To marry a man out of pity is folly; and, if you think you are going to influence the kind of fellow who has “never had a chance, poor devil,” you are profoundly mistaken. One can only influence the strong characters in life, not the weak; and it is the height of vanity to suppose that you can make an honest man of anyone.”
—Margot Asquith (1864–1945)
“Do you set down your name in the scroll of youth, that are written down old with all the characters of age?”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)