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Showing posts with label 1997. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1997. Show all posts

Thursday, February 21, 2013

History of Eddy Gordo


When it came time to start developing characters for the video game, Tekken 3, the developers wanted to include a Capoeira fighter. Capoeira is martial arts style that incorporates dance into its fighting moves. He was originally supposed to be a female character, but the artist that was in charge of creating her said that it was too difficult to create. Masahiro Kimoto stated in an interview that Eddy Gordo is his favorite character due to the complications they had during his development.

For the motion capture, Namco used Capoeira master, Marcelo Pereira, from Brazil. During production he was injured and was unable to do a majority of the moves that they wanted him to do. Pereira criticized the developers saying that Eddy Gordo is not a Brazilian name. He also stated that "gordo" means "fat" in Portuguese and that they did not use any of the traditional names of the moves he gave them for Eddy's move set.

Eddy with his replacement Christie
Eddy made his first appearance in Tekken 3 and the following title, Tekken Tag Tournament. When Tekken 4 was released, Eddy was replaced by Christie Monteiro, who also fought in the Capoeira style. The main reason for replacing Eddy was that the development team finally figured out how create a female character in the Capoeira style. Christie was again showcased in Tekken 5, but Eddy did appear as an alternate costume for her. In Tekken 5's update, Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection he did appear as a separate character, but had the same move set as Christie. Eddy again appeared in Tekken 6 and its remake Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion.

Eddy was born into one of the richest families in Brazil. When he was nineteen years old, Eddy's father got killed while trying to bust up a drug cartel. Before his death, Eddy's father asked him to take responsibility for his death. Eddy ended up serving eight years in prison where he was taught Capoeira by an old man. While in prison, Eddy became a master. When Eddy was released he heard about the King of Iron Fist Tournament 3 and the Mishima Financial Empire (MFE). He thought that if he could win the tournament he could either get MFE's help or gain control of the company so that he could avenge his father's death.

After the King of Iron Fist Tournament 3, Eddy looked for the old man's granddaughter, Christie Monteiro. He promised to teach her the Capoeira fighting style. After two years of training Eddy left to again avenge his father. Christie looked everywhere for Eddy, but could not find him. She entered the King of Iron Fist Tournament 4 hoping that it would eventually lead her to Eddy.

Eddy then learns that his master is about to be released from prison. When Eddy returns to the prison to meet his mentor he learns that he has turned into a frail old man and is not the amazing fighter that he once knew. Eddy takes him to the hospital and learns that he has a disease and only six months to live. Eddy learns of Mishima Zaibatsu's Technology, which may be used to help cure the old man. He enters the King of Iron Fist Tournament 5 to earn money for this technology. Christie also enters to help her grandfather.

After King of Iron Fist Tournament 5, Eddy speaks alone with Jin Kazama. Jin tells Eddy that he will help him save his master's life with money and resources. The only thing that Jin asks for in return is Eddy's allegiance to Mishima Zaibatsu. Eddy agrees since this could be the only way that he could save his master. Eddy enters King of Iron Fist Tournament 6 and does many illegal activities for Mishima Zaibatsu. After the tournament, Jin does not hold up his end of the bargain and Christie's grandfather and Eddy's mentor ends up dying. Eddy throws his Mishima Zaibatsu badge to the ground, ending his allegiance with them.

Thursday, February 14, 2013

History of Barret Wallace


Barret was one of the original ideas to be included in Final Fantasy VII. The game only had three playable characters at first and he was one of those three. The other two characters were Cloud Strife and Aerith Gainsborough. During early production it was decided that one of the player characters should die. The decision came down between Aerith and Barret. The producers ended up choosing
Aerith because they thought that Barret's death would be "too obvious".

Barret from the movie Advent Children
Barret's name is based on the Japanese pronunciation of the word bullet. That is why they chose the gunner as his character class. He is also the first black playable character in the Final Fantasy series. When the movie, Advent Children was being created, the movie animators decided to go with a different look because they thought he looked too much like Mr. T of Hogan's Heroes fame.

Barret is the leader of the eco-terrorist group AVALANCHE. His group opposes the ruling company Shinra, and their idea of using "Mako" energy as a power source. AVALANCHE believes that it is killing the planet. AVALANCHE hires Cloud Strife as a mercenary and Barret follows Cloud in pursuit of the game's antagonist, Sephiroth.

Along their journey, Barret encounters his former friend Dyne. Dyne forces Barret to fight him and Barret defeats him. After the battle, Dyne kills himself. Through a flashback you learn the history between Barret and Dyne. They were both fleeing Shinra, who destroyed their town and killed Barret's wife. Along the way Dyne slips off a cliff and Barret grabs his hand. A Shinra soldier who is pursuing them shoots and destroys Barret's right hand, and Dyne's left. This causes Dyne to fall and supposedly die. Barret adopts Dyne's daughter, who was also fleeing with them, and has someone create a gun to put in place of his lost hand.

After Dyne's death, Barret admits that his hatred for Shinra is solely for revenge and that he was using the "saving the planet" idea just as an excuse. Barret eventually gets his thoughts straight and switches his goal to saving the planet and helps Cloud defeat Sephiroth.