With the departure of the Japanese traitor scum, it seems like we're very, very low on characters for Yu Jing at the moment. In order to begin to address this, it stands to reason we'll see more characters out there sometime. I wanted to hear suggestions of what you might consider cool characters for the neo-asian power - post your more or less crazy ideas below! * * * * * For the sake of overview, should it matter, we have the following characters left: In ISS: Father Lucien Sforza Miranda Ashcroft Major Lunah, Ex-Aristeia! sniper Gui Feng Xi Zhuang Sun Tze (2 versions) In addition to those, we also get these in Vanilla: Knauf, Armand Le Muet, Freelance Killer For those it might interest, with JSA leaving, we lost access to, off the top of my head: Musashi Yojimbo Shinobu Kitsune Saito Yuriko Oda Asuka Kisaragi Takeshi "Neko" Oyama In other words, not counting the general mercenary options that made it into vanilla and ISS, we lost acess to about 75% of the characters helping define our faction. It's quite possible I'm forgetting someone somewhere?
Minor notes; Miranda is accessible in all vanilla factions Xi is the only one who's actually from Yu Jing territories Lunah is Haqq Sun is Aleph Sforza is (I think) from Pan-O (society, not military) Mushashi, Yojimbo and Saito were JSA-only characters (mercs) As for new ones; Judge Dee! Mid-level ISS travelling agent, incorruptible and whose moral compass is pointing towards the People rather than the strict interpretation of law. As for IA or WB; a Wuxia character, as discussed in the thread on subject. Just add Inspiring Leadership+LT profile for the sectorial (where such can be easier to control and balance).
Setting aside the mercenaries and those originating outside Yu Jing, we've got: Yuriko Oda - ruthless Yanjing intelligence agent who is also a traitor. Asuka Kisaragi - rebellious biker turned propaganda icon. Takeshi "Neko" Oyama - paragon Domaru samurai. Shinobu Kitsune - elite in the Ninjitsu world. Replacing them all is probably a little ambitious, and 'cloning' them is a bit lame, but with 'Japanese' removed those archetypes are still useful. Take Asuka. The StateEmpire is known for its propaganda, the Ministry of Information (like the Chinese Communist Party before it) looking to take an individual who they can present as an iconic example of good behaviour whom others can strive to emulate. For a Yu Jing character, that is an excellent thing to explore. Asuka was conflicted about this because she was a rebel, but there are other ways to explore that, for example a Guilang or Zhanshi who held an objective against all odds or saved a family from a Tatenokai bomb, trumpeted by the Ministry as a paragon of soldierly skill and virtue. But the soldier feels unworthy, the propaganda story paints a picture of skill but he feels it a matter of luck, he feels more comfortable on the front lines patrolling than in dress uniform giving speeches to schoolchildren. Neko Oyama as paragon Domaru (and Kitsune as paragon Oniwaban ninja), can likewise point to a new Yu Jing character. The Domaru were iconic Japanese heavy infantry, connected to traditions of the past. But Yu Jing does not look backwards, it looks to the future, a similar character could be a Zuyong or Shang Ji, representing a soldier devoted to Party and the modernization effort that is shaping the Invincible Army. This reversal, focus on future rather than past could even be incorporated into the character, as her having a distaste for the pomp and tradition of the Imperial Court and its ISS. And, reaching this point, accompanied by some expansion of the material on Xi and a Judge Dee, we're making some room through presence of heroes to do something to fill the gap left by Oda: a rutheless Yanjing intelligence agent who is not a traitor. A character focused on the triumph of the StateEmpire at all costs and above all morals, who can certainly be cast as villainous, representing Yu Jing's darker aspects.
I'd like a zuyong character, a Sgt Johnson type character, he's been in the invincibles since the start, seen all the worst of paradiso and other theaters, decorated but humble. Still believes in the ideals of yu jing and wants to push his boys to do their best, for themselves, their squadmates and for yu jing. Also a guilang character would be cool.
A G:Remote Presence or REM character could be interesting, honestly, but CB probably wouldn't do it since a lot of people avoid REMs/REMs don't sell as well as other units, in my experience.
I'd like to see two characters in Invincible Army. One a Shang Ji with improved CC, Martial Arts, Hyperdynamics and a decent CC weapon. This character could have a Chain of Command profile and be written up as a fallen hero who retreated to a Buddhist monastery for years before rejoining the fray. The other a Zuyong with improved BS, a Spitfire and an Assault Pistol (replacing the Breaker Pistols). This character could have Number 2 and be written up as a loyal and long serving (much suffering) Sergeant who has a focus on overwhelming firepower. An alternative would be a Hac Tao with improved WIP, improved BTS and a Hacking Device Plus. This character could have Executive Order (unique for the Hacker options) and be written up as a cross-trained officer with experience with Nomad hacking protocols from working with O-12.
I'm not well-versed in Infinity fluff, so bear with me. YJ, having been shamed repeatedly with the JSA split and all the happenings at Wotan, commissions a series of recreations in order to boost public and military morale and provide stronger figureheads to rally behind. They are all based on Wuxia and Romance of the 3 Kingdoms. For example, we can have Lu Bu parallel to Ajax with ridiculous combat abilities (NBW + Martial arts? Guns out the wazoo?), but frenzy low WIP to show his impulsiveness and poor planning. Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Cao Cao, Sun Quan, and loads of other characters to base off-of, great ways to connect YJ to its original Chinese roots, and we get badass characters. Unfortunately, it might step on the toes of Steel Phalanx a bit as they're also heavily character based, but I think it'd still be cool.
Guan yu would be the best, though I'd rather it was original characters being brought out of the ranks to show the strength of the state empirebis its people.
TBH, with the removal of JSA and their bikes, as cool as they were, the risk of getting White Scars is decreased and Yu Jing could do without them :)
I think this is going to be one of the most important things when designing the new Yu Jing characters. So far, none of Yu Jing's characters really show what it is like for the rank and file Yu Jing citizen soldier. Since almost all of the characters we've had have been Japanese, we've actually gotten little to no perspective about the motivations of any non-Japanese trooper from a character perspective.
I'd actually like for this to be a Judge Dee-like character. Sure, he's inspired by the original, but he's not a ReCreation. Like how Ko Dali was actually inspired by a character from a Flashman novel. While I don't mind the concept, you need to do something to make the named Su Jian different from a standard Su Jian, not better than a standard Su Jian. I don't want the Toni Macayana problem (where there was no point in taking a vanilla Tikbalang).
Oh, a lot could be done with different transformations: maybe a switch between a close combat form (MA, +CC, proper CCW, SMG) and a dug in Ranged mode (-CC from vanilla, proper gun unlocked), lose light flamethrower.
@Warhydra Just saying, but d.VA is a small sized TAG with Escape Device Level 1, Super Jump, Full Auto L2, Heavy Shotgun* and Panzerfaust. Add Baggage for hilarity and cooldown simulation on the Panzerfausts. d.Va herself has a Heavy Pistol and is a Specialist Operative. Game does not support having a skill to call down a new TAG after you score a kill with the operative, I'm afraid. * Full-Auto takes care of the increased ROF from having two gun systems. (OR it has Explode L1 and Escape Device L2) P.S. Why am I selling myself on this idea, it's a silly idea -.-;; P.p.s. Also, having d.Va herself as Specialist Operative doesn't reflect how d.Va is played; the TAG should be Specialist Operative.
For ISS: Remove Sun Tze, add a named Hsien, sent there by the Emperor to straighten the house. Strategos N1, not very CC, but Haris with up to 1 Zhanying (helper) and up to 1 melee-oriented Imperial Agent (bodyguard). He's of the other (the one not currently on the throne, at least before the Uprising debacle) Imperial Family, a young member who hasn't finished all of his training, but has enough talent in the administrative part and has been educated by Sun Tze himself in certain subjects, so the Emperor decided to fast-track him to Active Service, being one with no set views on how things are done, but with clear ideals of how should they be done. For IA: Aside from Sun Tze, that is: a Zuyong character, possibly a CoC and/or Lt with automedikit and Multi Rifle, veteran of missions with other forces and specialized in integrating different troops together, can be placed inside any link in the IA. Easier choice, veteran from the Red Veil "campaign" XD Vanilla: Guilang character, kinda like the antithesis of the other characters (they all link, they all work within a team), this one works alone with D-Charges, light shotgun and sniper rifle, he's also a FO and has monofilament mines (but no deployable repeaters), or no mono mines but Dogged. Among his past deeds, he has been accused (but never proven guilty) of blowing a Shaolin monastery. Nobody dares calling him "gaylang" since, least of all the toasted monks (yeah, from a humor Infinity fan comic XD)
I'd love to see a Judge Dee-like character for IS, or an elite Hsien too, but I think someone more appropriate for vanilla and/or IA should come first. (Though maybe the elite Hsien could fit into all three?) My contribution to Warhydra's awesome "elite Su Jian operator from Korea, who used to be a video game champ" (taking into account Section9's sage input) - bump the stats a bit and/or give him/her/it a nice extra skill, then balance this with X Impetuous. Or maybe just go with Frenzy or Impetuous, and a slight skill decrease. Sure the Su Jian operators are probably hand picked, but they also are supposedly pretty aggressive too. In these desperate times, throwing a cocky kid/young adult with blazing fast reaction times into a Su Jian command rig could make sense and also be a blast to play.
I was talking to a friend of mine the other day about pretty much this same topic. For me when I think of like Chinese pop culture thing the first things that pop into my head are dynasty warriors(romance of the 3 kingdoms), kung fu movies, and John woo films like hard boiled. It would be really cool to see some of these elements be put into characters. From the dynasty warriors how cool would it be for the invincible army to either get a recreation or atleast a character inspired by guan yu. A bad ass HI with huge cc weapon and can lead a link and gives benefits for being the LT. From kung fu/martial arts movies there could be any number of assassin characters they make for their armies. Even a named shaolin monk would be cool that turns there orders regular in a link would be cool. As far as the John woo type a detective type character for the iss that has 2 pistols or smgs. Maybe give him sensor or something that makes him better detecting things. Also why not a new tiger soldier character. Maybe someone who is related to ko dali and wants revenge or to try and get her back?
Most of these are likely in the "yeah, this is not going to happen, but I can hope" bucket, but because I've not seen them mentioned already (mind you, we're talking about my ability to pay attention, here!): - Bring back Ko Dali (and, while you're at it, Odysseus for Aleph - possible major plot point lingering since forever there). Change rules for Ko Dali as necessary, if that's not already done. - Introduce a Japanese YJ character recently demoted because the rest of her people decided to be traitorous scum. This could fit into all sorts of odd spots, in terms of profile. - A HI special character whose concept is testing out the latest bleeding-edge tech on the field (part of what the samurai used to do, but might as well push the concept). Give it something like MetaChemistry to account for various tech upgrades or experiments.
