Reoccurring Characters

If you've played more than one Final Fantasy game you have probably noticed a character named "Cid" pop up in the story.  Apparently, it is a Square Enix tradition to have a wise or capable individual bear the name in each and every Final Fantasy game...even in the spin-offs.  So, I'd like to use this interesting little fact as a jumping off point for reoccurring characters in games - not ones that the developers come up with - but rather ones I made for IPs which allow me to do so.

Joan D'Arc
As one might guess, this is a character based on the historical 15th century French woman of the same name.  I like to create her whenever I play a Dark Souls game and outfit her with the classic plate armor, one-handed sword and knightly shield.  It should be noted though, I only got to as far as Anor Londo with this character in the first game.  For the second Dark Souls I made it  further, but still only to about the halfway point with Joan D'Arc.  In fact, it wasn't until the third game that I actually managed to finish the game using her based on the herald character template.  I guess third time is the charm...

Ripper and Clipper

In the original 1994 XCOM, the Terror from the Deep sequel and the ambitious but flawed XCOM: Apocalypse, I always began by selecting the two strongest characters from my pool of starting recruits and outfitting them with heaviest weapons available.  Typically this was an auto cannon or heavy cannon of some description, and loaded with either high-explosive or armor piercing ammo.  Usually, neither of these two walking mini-guns would last long, but on occasion one would survive long enough to trade in their outdated signature weapon for a more modern alien plasma gun.  That was always a sad event, but such is the way of technology...it marches ever on.

Thrax
While not a kind of character found in video games, I have a fondness for naming a planet "Thrax" whenever I play Master of Orion.  It's always a barren, lifeless world that serves as an impregnable stronghold and base of operations in times of war.  It sounds pretty cheesy, I know, like the name of a world from Valfaris...which is why I drop the habit if I'm playing any other 4X strategy game.  Still, in Master of Orion (whether it be sequel or remake) there is always an Orion, an Antares and (in my games) a Thrax.