The RPGC Universe

The Core Media Forum
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As a preparation for my return to writing more RPGC Saga stories, I’ve decided to develop my fictional RPG universe in more detail beforehand. (Some of you might remember I talked about this before, but now I’m actively working on it.) :slight_smile:

The basic idea is that in this reality, all RPGs events are true (video game ones only!) Most take place in their own worlds, mostly in other dimensions, but the Earth is the common point and the place our heroic characters are based.

First, let’s create a “generic” background where the other games’ histories can be inserted. This is how I think it should be:

-Billions of year ago, The Creator created several other godlike beings, and appointed each to create its own universe. (This explains the similarities and differences between worlds.)

-Tens of thousands of years ago, very advanced civilizations (including Atlantis) existed on Earth, but some cataclysm (possible caused by them) destroyed them. Important artifacts from that time still remain, however.

-Thousands of years ago, magic was plentiful on Earth (though only those with the natural “gift” of magic could cast spells.) Powerful beings were worshipped as gods, and monsters roamed the world, requiring legendary heroes to come forth and battle them.

-Centuries ago, however, people lost faith in the “gods” and they left. Humans also turned against the magic-using people and creatures, out of fear and jealousy. Although more powerful than the common people, the magical beings were vastly outnumbered, and either hid in remote parts of the World, or pretended to be normal and lived among humans in secret. Eventually, people came to believe that magic was just a matter of legends and fairy tales.

-Currently, the world is normal as far as most people know. However, several menaces lurk in the shadows: not just supernatural ones but mutations, aliens, etc. And behind most of them, is our main antagonist: The Conspiracy, AKA as The Illuminati and several other names. They’re the ones who cover up as much as they can of the paranormal (so they can exploit it) and manipulate others into doing their wishes undetected.

-Fortunately, there are heroes protecting the world. Powerful adventurers who oppose The Conspiracy or their minions. Most are independent, but the Righteous Protectors of Good Causes organizes many of them.

-In the near future, the World will be cyberpunkish, with many cyborgs and virtual realities.

-In the far future, humanity will spread across the stars.

Now, some examples of game events that I’ve fitted into that background:
WARNING: GAME SPOILERS!

Prehistoric Era:
-A caveman named Pogo becomes humanity’s first great hero as he defeats a manifestation of Odio, the embodiment of hate. (Live a Live)

Ancient Greece:
-The legendary hero Herakles (Hercules) and other heroes fight evil gods such as Hades and Cronos. (Glory of Heracles series)

Ancient China:
-An old Kung-Fu master and his disciple defeat another manifestation of Odio (Live a Live)

Dark Ages:
-A knight named Orsted tries to kill the “Demon King’ and rescue his princess- only to be betrayed by everyone he cared for; he absorbs the demon’s power and becomes Odio, then sets out to challenge heroes from the past and future to prove that heroism is false (Live a Live)

-In Transylvania, Dracula becomes an enormously powerful vampire, but also gains the eternal enmity of the Belmont family, whose members will defeat him in several eras (Castlevania)

Ancient Arabia:
-The descendant of a magician named Isfa rescued his beloved, Scheherazade, and freed his homeland from the evil wizard Sabaron (Magic of Scheherazade)

19th Century:
-Amakusa, a Japanese rebel leader executed 150 years before, comes back to life after a deal with a demon, but is confronted and defeated by local heroes (Samurai Spirits)

-A ninja named Oboromaru defeats another manifestation of Odio and helps end the Tokugawa Era (Live a Live)

-In the American West, a gunfighter known only as the Sunset Kid defeats another manifestation of Odio (Live a Live)

Early 20th Century:
-The semi-historical events of the Shadow Hearts series take place (too many to list here- check Wikipedia for details)

1980s
A psychic boy saves Earth from mind-controlling aliens (Earthbound 0)

1990s:
-The evil aliens return, only to be defeated by Ness, another psychic child (Earthbound)

-Monsters created by “neomitochondria” terrorize New York City, but are stopped by a psychic cop named Aya Brea (Parasite Eve) (note: this is one of the few incidents the Conspiracy was not able to cover up.)

-A few years later, more Neomitochondria Monsters are created by a secret project, but are also defeated (Parasite Eve II)

Present
-Reality itself is reset (several times) due to the manipulation of the power of the Collective Unconscious by several misguided people (Persona game series)

  • A martial artist named Takahara Masaru becomes known as the ‘strongest man in the World’ after he defeats a fighter who turns out to be yet another Odio (Live a Live)

-A Virtual Reality game called “The World” becomes very popular across the world, but some players find their minds absorbed into it by mysterious forces (./Hack)

Near Future (within decades):
-Akira, a young man with psychic powers uses an ancient Giant Robot to defeat Odio’s latest plan (Live a Live)

-A nuclear war between the USA and Russia throws the Earth back into barbarism (Wasteland).

-The radiation creates mutant monsters. An android sets out to kill the survivors, but is stopped by two 20th century scientists who survived in suspended animation (Crystalis)

Far Future (within centuries):
-Now recovered from the war, the Earth forms a Federation and sets out to explore space and maintain interstellar peace (Star Ocean series)

-A spaceship is threatened by its own computer (another Odio manifestation) but is saved by a small robot named Cube (Live a Live)

-Earthmen discover the inhabited Algol Star System and stablish a democratic republic; however the influence of an ancient Dark Force that has been causing war and catastrophes there for millenia continues to do so over several thousand years more. (Phantasy Star series)

Very Far Future (tens of thousands of years):
-The human race has left Earth (and forgotten about it, except as a legend) and now live in another galaxy (Xenosaga series)

Outside Time itself:
-Odio brings here all who defeated his incarnations in a final battle to prove that evil is stronger than good, but is finally defeated (Live a Live)

Next Time: examples of the importance of other game worlds.

Opinions, examples and suggestions welcome!!

2

Interesting concept, I might read this.

I approve of your decision as it seems to not include Final Fantasy. There’s too much lore there anyway and far too many characters. Not to mention a definite time line.

You’ve got a couple games on there I’ve never heard of, specifically Live A Live, Samurai Spirits and Magic of Scheherazade. This could hurt the reader as they may not understand the entire universe since they’ll read it because they know some of the games. This seems to be a problem that is not easily fixed except to add more games people might be more familiar with. Especially early on in your universe’s history as it seems to be primarially made up of the story of Live A Live.

Do you use forum goers for characters?

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In addition to being very interesting, you made me want to finish Live A Live. :hahaha;

Good stuff.

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Makes sense and is interesting, besides.

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The Final Fantasy games exist in this multiverse but in worlds of their own; none of them take place on Earth, except maybe FF Tactics Advance, in which a town from Earth is transformed magically into the Land of Ivalice (must remember to research that more to see if it can be included.)

I’m not planning on using ALL this lore in all the stories! The idea is to have a background to consult for ideas or characters when writing them. And when I use obscure game references, I’ll make sure to explain them well. And yes, I aim to use mainly the RPGC people’s characters, but could also use existing game characters or original ones. Btw, anyone who wants to use this universe for your own stories feel free to do so. :slight_smile:

Oh, and Samurai Spirits is better known here as the fighting game series Samurai Shodown.

New notes:

-Added ./Hack to the list.

-Was going to add Terranigma since it involves some historical characters (like Thomas Edison) but couldn’t find enough information; besides the whole Dark Gaia “Inner World” concept might not fit in. Opinions?

-Not mentioned above (because I didn’t want to confuse people) is that the RPGC heroes helped with some of these crises, in particular the Neomitochondria attacks and the final battle with Odio. (This will be explored in future stories, 'course!) :slight_smile:

Still working on part two. Be patient! :smiley:

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I remember you were thinking of doing something like this a couple years ago. I think some of the other ones you were thinking of using were Saga Frontier and Wild Arms.

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This is a very interesting idea and I look forward to seeing how you develop it. It is interesting that you situate ancient civilisations like Atlantis and Mu tens of thousands of years ago, which would mean the Palaeolithic and Neolithic periods in our timeline (i.e. well before urban civilisation developed elsewhere; the oldest real cities date back to about 4000 BCE).

On the subject of Terranigma, you might include various elements and characters from the game even if you cannot fit the whole game plot into your history. Even then, the full world of Terranigma might exist in another universe.

Out of curiosity, what place in our world has a connexion with Final Fantasy Tactics? The plot of the game seems to me inspired by the real Wars of the Roses in fifteenth-century England and contains allusions to literary and mythological characters, like Beowulf and Wiglaf (translated as Wiegraf), but I cannot connect a real place with the game.

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Perci: Good to hear from you again! May you have a Happy Yuletide. :smiley:

As for the dating of the lost civilizations, I’m following examples that I’ve seen in various games. And yes, I know that sets them well before known human civilization, but since there is so little evidence that they existed, the older they are, the easier is that to justify. (And I know that may mean they predate Homo Sapiens- but who says they were human civilizations? Perhaps they were inhabited by the Fey or other lost races… )

About Terranigma, I’m indeed considering the possibility that the “Inner World” was actually located in another dimension. But again, I must do more research on the game.

As for the FF game with direct connections to Earth, it’s not the PS2 FF Tactics, but rather the Game Boy Advance one. In that a game, a town called Saint Ivalice is seemingly transformed into the Land of Ivalice by a magic book (titled, appropriately, Final Fantasy) with only one boy named Marche (the main hero, natch) remembering the truth. However I never found out if Ivalice was transformed (while being isolated from the rest of the World (something similar happens in Persona), or if Marche was transported to a parallel world; or even if the whole thing was a dream. I’ll definitely research it for story purposes.

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Yes, i’m glad that you didn’t use the FF or DQ series as the FF series doesn’t lend its self well for ongoing stories, and the Dragon Quest games are even worse.

But, I do have to ask if you might include E.V.O. the search for Eden? (It might lend it self to your story.) Also if you’re going to do Terranigma are you going to include Soul Blazer and Illusion of Gaia as well?

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I’m indeed going to research those games as well, though right now I’m updating my List of RPGs which I’m using as a guide; a lot of games have come out since last I updated it. Stay tuned.

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Remember, Wil, most of these games I’ve played and have studied to death, so you got a walking reference book right here.

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Isn’t EVO Search for Eden that game where you’re a fish or something? Man, that games flat out awful, don’t include that garbage.

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Nice to see you are getting ready to write again Wil.

And am glad you returned to work on this idea. I really liked the idea of the RPGC Universe, all the RPGs mixed together in one little old universe.

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Start out a fish, then become a lizard, then dinosaur, then possibly a bird, mammal, then human, yes. I dunno, I liked it. As a kid, it’s what got me interestedin evolution and science in general.

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Val: I know I can count on you, thanks. The rest of you can also help if you know other games not listed yet in detail. :slight_smile:

EVO sounds more like an evolution simulator than a true RPG… but I’ll decide after I read more about it.
(I’m using Wikipedia and Gamefaqs as my current sources.)

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Well, once upon a time (In the late 20th century/early 21st) there was a youngster called Mabatsekker who gained much aptitude by following the correspondence course of a world famous martial artist called Dan “The Man” Hibiki whose Saikyo fighting style would form the basis of his own style which would incorporate the moves of others via his ability to learn other people’s distinct moves.

Can’t miss the fighting universe either, seeing they’ve done lots of crossovers. Even with Samurai Spirits characters.

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I’m not sure if I should include stuff from non-RPG video games- I included Samurai Spirits because it’s an RPG version of the SS franchise, but otherwise, I don’t want to include too many games. Still, some non-rpg games have really good material to use- stuff like Silent Hill or Darkstalkers. What do you folks think?

Also, Val, or anyone else deeply familiar with the Valkyrie Profile games: could those games be set on Earth’s past? I know they make heavy use of Norse Myth, but I do not know if the world they take place on is Earth or a generic medieval game world. I need something like a mention of a definite historical place or event to decide.

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There is no proof it took place in OUR world, and I always saw it as a seperate world. There are similarities to our world, of cours,e but they’re minor. I’d say make it a different world.

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This looks really cool, I like the idea a lot.

Hmmm…suggestions? For games you could use, Shadow of the Colossus? Wait, is it only RPGs, or other types of games too?

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Right now it’s only RPGs, but I’m considering expanding to other games as well… could use some feedback on the matter.