Cora Harper (Official Thread)

Hopefully we get more info on her soon and especially see her face and hear her voice, so I know if I have a MEA squad LI or not (... unless they pull out a female Salarian out of the hat somehow)

Ughh...

I wanted to let this go. I really did. But at the risk of going off topic again, you raise a few issues that I must address:

During Spirits, when Unalaq initially asked Korra to open the Spirit portals, she had no reason to doubt him. Sure he was a little aloof and self righteous, but just because you're a jerk doesn't necessarily mean you are wrong. Korra had absolutely no way of knowing Unalaq was planning an invasion of the Southeren Water Tribes, creating chaos between spirits and humans, and eventually merging with Vaatu to become the Dark Avatar. Was she at fault for not being able to omnisciently Detect Evil ? Once Korra did discover her uncle's true colors, she immediately worked to oppose him (unlike a few previous Avatars ). Even if Korra hadn't opened that first portal, Vaatu would have still broke free to cause upheaval. Or did you forget what a massively cosmic event Harmonic Convergence is? Finallly, no not everyone liked the physical and spirit worlds being reunited. But seeing the chaos from spirits clashing with growing human industrialization, better interaction and cooperation between the two will be necessary if they want to avoid such conflicts in the future. So no, all of the bad stuff was the fault of the villains, and not the hero. Go figure...

In Change,  Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko confirmed in the DVD commentary that the new air benders got their powers from Harmonic Convergence, and not Korra leaving the portals open. When the situation becomes apparent, Korra enthusiastically joins Tenzin to ask the new air benders to train their powers and help restore the Air Nomads. Queen Hou-Ting was oppressing her own people and planning on expansionist war, regardless of what Korra did or did not do. The Red Lotus were anarchist terrorists who wanted to kill her and permanently end Avatar cycle, so Korra had to deal with them regardless. Even after being rescued, the air benders still had a choice with no obligation. Also in the commentaries, Bryke confirmed there were still plenty of air benders who stayed home. So even after their experiences with the Earth Kingdom and later the Red Lotus (you know, the ones who actually endangered them and not Korra), these people still chose to stay. And yes, Korra was instrumental in forming this new iteration of Air Nomads since they specifically cited her example to to go out into the world and promote Balance. 

In Balance, Kuvira's takeover is in response to Zaheer assassinating Queen Hou-Ting and destabilizing the Earth Kingdom. Since she was still recovering physically, emotionally and spiritually, Korra was in no shape to stop Kuvira. Even when she gets back to 100%, Korra wants a peaceful solution first. Kuvira creating the Spirit Weapon and giant mech was inspired by Vaatu and again(!) NOT KORRA'S FAULT . As for the ending, Korra was not abandoning her position, she was taking a much needed and deserved break . Seriously, after all the crap Korra has went through in the last few years, that girl has earned a vacation. If Korra had stayed working non-stop, the stress would have burned her out and she would have been no use to anyone. Plus, it's not like everyone else can't pick up the slack for a little while.

Why am I staying on this off topic tangent? Because I feel it is symptomatic of a greater issue. By claiming that all of this was Korra's fault, you seem to be condemning her for not being a God Mode Sue. Korra's the Avatar, she can't also be a three dimensional human with flaws, unique personality and character arc.  It's not enough the Avatar saves the day, she has to be responsible for every possible reaction others might have. All of this is a reflection of heroic archetypes in general. So I will ask you:

1) Is it good enough for heroes to idealized, yet still recognizably flawed humans whose struggles we can relate to, or

2) Do you feel heroes should be Paragons to aspire to be? Physically, intellectually, and morally inherently better than real people, who always find the best possible solution for everyone? Even when it flies in the face of character and logic?



Irredeemable in the narrative sense, not a moral one. You said that, based on what little information we have on her so far, that you would not give her character a chance. That she has nothing  to offer you, no new possibilities for role play or alternate story telling. Hence, nothing redeemable.

Human beings need things for themselves, like friends and family, hobbies and interests. Take any high stress service job; teacher, doctor, police and military, etc. When these people have nothing but the work, they burn out and make mistakes. Sometimes small, sometimes really bad. Without that relief, that balance , they lose connection with themselves, their fellow man, and the whole reasons for doing what they do in the first place. Having a life outside the job allows them to do that job better, since they have a personal reminder of what is at stake. This is true in life, but especially true of the Avatar, since they are supposed to live in and be of the world. Kind of hard to to fight for Balance if you have none yourself.

 

A couple of things:

First, for many of us, the point of Role Playing Games aren't necessarily to be a hero, but to experience a good story.  A good story isn't just a good versus evil adventure, it can be a comedy, romance, tragedy, horror, surrealist absurdity, or mix of anything and everything in between. It doesn't have to be the same tale every time. A good RPG provides those alternatives.

Second, the problem with holding good characters as the standard is that far too often, no one can agree on what "good" is. In one playthrough Paragon can be a wise and all loving diplomat, or a dangerously naive fool who stakes everyone's lives on the possibility that hated enemies *might* get along. In another run, Renegade could be a ruthless murder, or the only one with common sense who saved everyone from a monster. Each interpretation is valid to individual players.

Third, it's not the presence of good characters, but specifically the "Ideal Hero" and how they are presented in some stories. Like I said before, the Ideal Hero is inherently more physically able, intelligent, and moral than mere mortals, merely by virtue of existence. They don't have to work at it because it comes naturally, and the writer never gives any doubt that they will make the correct choices. To me personally, this is not inspiring, but insulting. As if to say, "Drive, talent, charisma, morality, you either have it or you don't. And if you don't, no amount of work will help you achieve it." Am I overreacting? Probably, but how can I relate to characters who don't share the same human struggle I do every day? If you want to inspire me, show me a real person with vices as well as virtues. One who gets knocked hard, struggles to rise, falls, slowly gets up and still does the right thing in the end. Even if they complain about it the whole way .

I'd like that. She may be my Ryder's wife. Hope we learn a little more about Cora before launch.

On a completely unrelated note, Janet Varney would make a good VA for Andromeda I think.

Yea I honestly believe Cora and Liam will have face/voice done by celebs. 

Holding out hope she's my next ashley williams.

Well, I see Ash and Liara as two COMPLETELY different characters. However, you're correct, neither is just there to be eye candy. So hopefully Cora won't be just eye candy either. (though looking nice is a plus lol)

Likewise.

Ash was a great character. Brings back the good times in ME1. 

Too each their own. I didn't much care for Kasumi. I did like Miranda, however, but she can't ever beat ME1 Ash for me. Brash, tough, and tells it like it is. But she's also got that sensitive side. Idk, made her more believable as a character for me. 

Plus I've met her VA and gotten her autograph lmao

LOL XD


I'd like Cora to be some sort of techie as well. Especially since my FemRyder will be an engineer. That will give them some common ground and something to geek over with each other! 

I'd rather have a unique character.