Crono Trigger
Crono: 3/10. Has actual in game actions or something that suggest he's at least REACTING to stuff, which is more than most Silent Protagonists have...this is sad.
Marle: 2/10. Oh look tomboy princess who falls in love with the main and hates her dad...her development was so forced and out of nowhere and...ugh.
Lucca: 5/10. She had the arrogance thing, but that's about it.
Frog: 5/10. Has a stylish scene with the Masamune slicing down the mountain and ACTUAL BACKSTORY, something like the entire CT cast didn't have, so he gets...an average score.
Ayla: 3/10. AYLA SMASH! Whatever.
Robo: 6/10. Guess he was alright, since you did see some actual development and it made sense, and they did some fun things with him being a robot...that said, why the fuck is Robo listed after Ayla anyway? IT MAKES NO SENSE!
Magus: 8/10. Holy shit, a character with genuine development, and a gray character who...remains gray until the end. You really can't tell if he's actually a good guy underneath it all, or he's just joining you cause you both have a common enemy in Lavos (whom he wants revenge on) and he doesn't give a shit about things not Schala. Seeing both his younger self and older self actually helped make a somewhat complete character! He really stands out in this cast as far as writing goes.
Ozzie: 6/10. Loony Toons Style death traps are fun, but that's about it.
Flea: 3/10. 2 Scenes, gets a point for tranniness.
Slash: 2/10. The most memorable thing about him is Frog calling him "Sir Slush" ...seriously, that's sad.
Azala: 2/10. Is there. Oh look, rants about how Humans have doomed the future and what not when s/he dies! Try having more screen time so I can give a shit.
Schala: 4/10. Felt like more of a plot device than a character half the time, lacks any real development, cause its all "I'm nice and treat everyone equally" until her mother tells her to do something, then she goes into "Loyal Slave Daughter" mode. This could have been forgiven...if she didn't spontaneously DISAPPEAR as soon as the Ocean Palace died. The whole MIA thing for no good reason is not effective damn it, ESPECIALLY when its the very foundation that CHRONO CROSS' PLOT IS BASED UPON.
Queen Zeal: 6/10. Yeah, she's got style and is crazy, but not much else.
Lavos: Abstain. Unlike Jenova, whose 100% plot device and not a real character, Lavos actually EXISTS and his presence is felt. However...I still have problems judging him as a character, cause of lack of screen time and the game often treats him more as a looming threat rather than a character.
Of course, that's no different than G3 Xorn, but then, XORN HAD BATTLE QUOTES. This changes everything <_<
Persona 4
Souji: 2/10. See Crono, only remove the actual emotion thing. Oh sure, lots of dialog, but...pretty much all of them end the EXACT SAME WAY: the character treats you as Mary Sue regardless (they might get mad at you for like 5 seconds, but then just submit you're right. That's the game's version of "Mean response.") Souji is what made me pinpoint exactly what I hated about jRPG Silent Protagonists as a result. Also, another thing that stood out to me was the Nanako scene near the end. It should have been a really powerful moment, and would have been with SOMEONE WHO TALKS...but Souji being a Silent Protagonist really undermined it. Fail Souji, especially since Tir McDohl had a similar moment over a decade earlier and did it FAR more effective despite the same handicapped.
Yosuke: 7/10. Actually kind of liked him and found him relatable, and many times it felt like HE should have been the main, only wasn't cause YOU ARE SOUJI, YOU MUST BE SILENT. He felt like the team's Real Leader too, just because you are Souji, being the leader means instead of Yosuke going "Ok, we're doing this!" its "Ok, leader, is that what we're doing?" Ugh, loses a point for the reason alone; SMTs really need to learn that Silent Protagonists fail.
Chie: 3/10. Boring S-links and otherwise a cliche, next.
Yukiko: 4/10. The opposite of Chie, she was a little more entertaining...a little.
Kanji: 7/10. Also kind of liked him; they did a good take on the "Big tough guy with a soft spot" thing well here.
Rise: 5/10. I guess. People need to stop hyping the transformation from "Celebrity' though cause when we first meet her, she's already in the Depressed Girl state; we barely see her as the big teen idol.
Teddie: 9/10. I hate TEddie, cause he forces me to admit that there's actually good writing in Persona 4 that I can't deny >: (
Naoto: 3/10. GIRL WHO WANTED TO HAVE A PENIS SO SHE CAN BE A DETECTIVE, yeah no. Minus 1 point for being OBVIOUSLY FEMALE when you first meet her, but the game tries to play it up as her being "Clearly male." Fail on design and voice acting there to massive degrees.
Mitsuo: 2/10. A concept that could have been great, but is too short lived, and is mostly dealt with by characters just talking about it. Mrf.
Namatame: 6/10. Worked for his role, I guess.
Adachi: 4/10. Scooby Doo Villain, except that Scooby Doo Villains are LESS obviously the ones at fault; actually, I find myself still unable to guess the exact culprit in Scooby Doo episodes cause when you think you found a pattern in the show, they pull a fast one and go "nope, it was the suspicious guy!" Congrats, Adachi, you are beaten by a KID'S CARTOON SHOW in villainy, how does that make you feel?
Dojima: 8/10. Yeah, rather well executed guy whose caught between work and family, trying his best to be a good father/uncle, but just doesn't know the right way to get it across. The reaction to Nanako stuff was good too, and that sequence would have been great if not for Disney Death Syndrome and FUCKING SOUJI BEING A SILENT PROTAGONIST *murders things dead*
Nanako: 7/10. Well done version of a little girl and likable, but loses a point for quite possibly the most asinine Disney Death ever. It went from "holy shit, Persona 4 just did the unthnkable in killing a character like that, well played!" to "...did you just...undermine all that emotional drama and get our emotions worked up only so you could say 'just kidding ^_^' in the end? FUCK YOU GAME." This was the big climax moment related to Nanako, which is why I hold it against her; to think I would have preferred the cliched "She's probably not going to make it...wait! Miraculous Recovery!" scenario only cause it wouldn't have had that emotional drama built up just to spin around and pretend like it was nothing.
