The Batter (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
incorruptus) wrote2013-02-18 05:20 pm
incorruptus) wrote2013-02-18 05:20 pm
Personality
The Batter is a man of action, not words.
For throughout the entire game, The Batter does not stop to think about what to do before he goes to do - he chooses to step forward and fight and then deal with the remaining consequences later. As a self-proclaimed purifier of the world, his job is not to stand idly by and watch the corruption in the form of ghosts and specters spread. If he sees danger or hostility in any form, he will be the first one to do something about it, rushing at it with his bat in hand, unconcerned whether he might die in the process or not. (There is only one part in the entire game where he actually flees a battle, and this is only after he realizes that his attacks aren't doing any damage- he has already acted prior to thinking about what to do.)
But, of course, this doing over thinking attitude towards life somewhat stems from the fact that he is entirely used to having his actions being controlled. In the game, The Batter is completely aware of the player (often called the puppeteer), and relies on him and her to help him in his holy mission. While he does have some leeway over where he wants to go (at points he states things like "there's nothing down that way" or "I don't need to go down there"), overall he will follow your every command without complaint.
For such a man of action, The Batter is remarkably unemotional and stoic, barely saying much even when engaged in conversation with someone. He regularly replies with short and dry-cut answers, and can come off as very aloof and even cold at times. (This is a guy who said "whatever" when witnessing a character realize one of his family members had died.) But it's not like he does it specifically to be a jerk- he simply doesn't seem to have as much empathy than the people around him do. He has a mission to focus on, and that's it. No distractions will really be tolerated, except if they enable him to get what he wants. However, despite his quiet manner when he talks with others, The Batter can get very wordy when referring about the holy quest he is on- it is not uncommon for him to assail enemies with phrases like: "Taste my holy wrath, corrupt souls!" or "I'm the voice of forgiveness that will eliminate your calamitous forms." or even "May salvation be yours, children of the devil."
And if those phrases didn't tell you already, The Batter is what you would get if you took a religious person and bumped up their devotion towards a higher power to extreme levels. The Batter doesn't mention any god when going along in his journey, but makes many references to the fact that his mission is holy and good. He is a messiah figure, the one who will help clear the world of evil, and he takes this role very seriously. At one point, when asked how he got out of a tricky maze, he just simply states "Faith guides my steps." To the player, he seems only motivated by a noble purpose to set the world right, to the point where he will put his own life in danger to achieve this purpose.
So, that's what The Batter is. A quiet and serious messiah figure controlled by the player on a mission to rid the world of corruption and evil by any means possible. A faith-filled man who will never step down from his task, even if it means his own death.
Right?
HUGE SPOILERS FOR OFF UNDERNEATH NOT EVEN KIDDING ABOUT THIS BE WARNED
WRONG.
Oh, how very wrong you are.
Because the first time the player goes back to the zones he's done his holy work of purification in, they're not met with a peaceful land where the people are living happily and comfortably.
They're met with a white tomb-like world where no life exists in any form except for strange baby-like demonic creatures that roam the land. Everything is clean, white, perfect...
Purified.
And The Batter, the one the player had been actively helping all along, is not really a man at all.
He's an honest to goodness monster.
You see, when you reach the end of the game, the player suddenly realizes that the tables had been turned. You weren't manipulating The Batter, he was manipulating you, making you think that his mission was good and holy. Even when there were signs that what he was doing wasn't right, you still continued making him kill anything that he deemed as a threat.
He wasn't helping the world. He was destroying it. And you, ever so gullible and thinking that the protagonist is right because that's just the way protagonists are, become completely and utterly duped by his actions.
For throughout the entire game, The Batter does not stop to think about what to do before he goes to do - he chooses to step forward and fight and then deal with the remaining consequences later. As a self-proclaimed purifier of the world, his job is not to stand idly by and watch the corruption in the form of ghosts and specters spread. If he sees danger or hostility in any form, he will be the first one to do something about it, rushing at it with his bat in hand, unconcerned whether he might die in the process or not. (There is only one part in the entire game where he actually flees a battle, and this is only after he realizes that his attacks aren't doing any damage- he has already acted prior to thinking about what to do.)
But, of course, this doing over thinking attitude towards life somewhat stems from the fact that he is entirely used to having his actions being controlled. In the game, The Batter is completely aware of the player (often called the puppeteer), and relies on him and her to help him in his holy mission. While he does have some leeway over where he wants to go (at points he states things like "there's nothing down that way" or "I don't need to go down there"), overall he will follow your every command without complaint.
For such a man of action, The Batter is remarkably unemotional and stoic, barely saying much even when engaged in conversation with someone. He regularly replies with short and dry-cut answers, and can come off as very aloof and even cold at times. (This is a guy who said "whatever" when witnessing a character realize one of his family members had died.) But it's not like he does it specifically to be a jerk- he simply doesn't seem to have as much empathy than the people around him do. He has a mission to focus on, and that's it. No distractions will really be tolerated, except if they enable him to get what he wants. However, despite his quiet manner when he talks with others, The Batter can get very wordy when referring about the holy quest he is on- it is not uncommon for him to assail enemies with phrases like: "Taste my holy wrath, corrupt souls!" or "I'm the voice of forgiveness that will eliminate your calamitous forms." or even "May salvation be yours, children of the devil."
And if those phrases didn't tell you already, The Batter is what you would get if you took a religious person and bumped up their devotion towards a higher power to extreme levels. The Batter doesn't mention any god when going along in his journey, but makes many references to the fact that his mission is holy and good. He is a messiah figure, the one who will help clear the world of evil, and he takes this role very seriously. At one point, when asked how he got out of a tricky maze, he just simply states "Faith guides my steps." To the player, he seems only motivated by a noble purpose to set the world right, to the point where he will put his own life in danger to achieve this purpose.
So, that's what The Batter is. A quiet and serious messiah figure controlled by the player on a mission to rid the world of corruption and evil by any means possible. A faith-filled man who will never step down from his task, even if it means his own death.
Right?
HUGE SPOILERS FOR OFF UNDERNEATH NOT EVEN KIDDING ABOUT THIS BE WARNED
WRONG.
Oh, how very wrong you are.
Because the first time the player goes back to the zones he's done his holy work of purification in, they're not met with a peaceful land where the people are living happily and comfortably.
They're met with a white tomb-like world where no life exists in any form except for strange baby-like demonic creatures that roam the land. Everything is clean, white, perfect...
Purified.
And The Batter, the one the player had been actively helping all along, is not really a man at all.
He's an honest to goodness monster.
You see, when you reach the end of the game, the player suddenly realizes that the tables had been turned. You weren't manipulating The Batter, he was manipulating you, making you think that his mission was good and holy. Even when there were signs that what he was doing wasn't right, you still continued making him kill anything that he deemed as a threat.
He wasn't helping the world. He was destroying it. And you, ever so gullible and thinking that the protagonist is right because that's just the way protagonists are, become completely and utterly duped by his actions.
So, in this way, The Batter is both the primary protagonist and antagonist of the entire game. We do not know whether he himself believed that what he was doing was good (though at the very end, when told what he has done to the world, he just states "It's better this way"), or whether he was conscious that his actions were wrong. But he most definitely doesn't show any visible regret for basically wiping all life from the face of the world.
That was just his mission, after all. And you helped him do it.
So,the unemotional exterior hides a rather sinister purpose. The Batter is willing to make allies, yes, but in the end, will use them towards his goal and won't hesitate to make them believe he's something he's not. While he shows his sparks of humanity (at times he does seem to share feelings, opinions, whatnot), it will be quite difficult for anyone to penetrate that icy assurance of his.
He's an agent out to scrub the entire world clean of anything that even so remotely breathes. And he won't stop until the deed is done.