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I hope Joko is "alive"


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Last LW episode MAJOR SPOILERS!

 

This game has always suffered from incredibly boring and predictable plot, annoying and/mediocre "allies" and most of all - dull villains.

Every time you play the story you can generally predict how it will end. Good guys win and bad guys lose in some shape or form.

Characters like Kasmeer lack personality and exist only as an eye candy. It is as if they are there just to shove their political correctness and inclusiveness in your face without actually advancing the plot in any meaningful way. (That constant lesbian banter between Kasmeer and Marjory EVERY damn time they meet is seriously getting on my nerves)

The villains - Kralka-whatever and Mordri and Zhaitan are those big bad dragons with no real personality or relatable traits to make them fun or interesting. Balthazar was also a huge missed opportunity - one dimensional villain who wants power at all costs.

 

And finally we have Joko...A villain with some actual personality, vain, but clever and manipulative. Someone with human flaws, which also makes him relatable. Mind you, it is not like Joko is the greatest villain ever written or something, but he is certainly a step in the right direction. His constant taunting and dark sense of humor in the last LWS is refreshing after Balthi and his band of dragons which are as charismatic as a soiled diaper.

 

However, we have a problem. After so much build up time to flesh him out, after several LWS episodes dedicated to him, after the mild implications that the one currently leading the Awakened right now might not even be the lich himself, but a puppet of another power...And then with all that in mind suddenly poor Joko dies.

 

Joko died in a very fun way, just when he was delivering his final monologue. Felt a bit like something taken from Deadpool when the bad guy starts to gloat and is suddenly interrupted in a very painful manner. Sadly, this also likely means that Joko will never be back again which is a real shame.. We need more villains like Joko instead of these generic arch nemesis foes without a drop of humanity in them.

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I hope he stays dead, after having his literal magic unbound the thing that kept him alive and then his physical body being eaten by a dragon, id be upset if they brought him back.

 

I agree with having more enemies with some kinda personality to them, but when all youve faced so far is forces of nature, a disposed god..and some minor insane humans..theres not much wiggle room.

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> @"Dante.1763" said:

> I hope he stays dead, after having his literal magic unbound the thing that kept him alive and then his physical body being eaten by a dragon, id be upset if they brought him back.

>

> I agree with having more enemies with some kinda personality to them, but when all youve faced so far is forces of nature, a disposed god..and some minor insane humans..theres not much wiggle room.

 

And a deranged sylvari, Scarlett was an interesting villain too, perhaps a bit of a Harley Quinn knock-off but interesting.

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> @"Pifil.5193" said:

> > @"Dante.1763" said:

> > I hope he stays dead, after having his literal magic unbound the thing that kept him alive and then his physical body being eaten by a dragon, id be upset if they brought him back.

> >

> > I agree with having more enemies with some kinda personality to them, but when all youve faced so far is forces of nature, a disposed god..and some minor insane humans..theres not much wiggle room.

>

> And a deranged sylvari, Scarlett was an interesting villain too, perhaps a bit of a Harley Quinn knock-off but interesting.

 

Forgot about her. I was deployed for almost all of Season 1 so i never got to experience it.

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> @"EpicName.4523" said:

>~snip~. We need more villains like Joko instead of these generic arch nemesis foes without a drop of humanity in them.

 

Problem is, most villain's don't have a drop of humanity in them...otherwise they wouldn't be villains...and the ones that do end up being comic relief...which is okay on occasion(like with Joko, drop the last "o" and it's Jok)

 

 

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This may be an unpopular opinion, but I thought this was great.

 

Joko was definitely becoming the villain I loved to hate. Was he taken too soon? Maybe. However, I don't feel we hit a point where the general consensus was that he has become stale and repetitive like other villains. I would rather be left wanting more than just being thankful it is finally over. Your mileage may vary.

 

Plus, it was really a twist I didn't see coming. It was not a predictable, already played out narrative. And the story "wrap up" where all the current primary characters just stand around watching this terribly morbid "victory" after it being really spelled out how we are kind of the villain was just fun. I even stopped hating KA-BRAHM for a moment as his narcissistic humor while trying to make sense of it all was genuinely funny.

 

Sure, I am missing a continuation of a different kind of antagonist, but that it means something he is gone is a testament to the storytelling. With how it played out, I have no idea what is coming next, but I am really looking forward to finding out. And isn't that the key to episodic storytelling?

 

My the cheers of "praise Koko" who was bitter in life be replaced with "braise Joko" who certainly seemed tasty in death.

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> @"Endless Soul.5178" said:

> So he can save Tyria...from us?

 

He actually had me thinking at that point.

 

> @"Segrrock.8041" said:

> This may be an unpopular opinion, but I thought this was great.

>

> Joko was definitely becoming the villain I loved to hate. Was he taken too soon? Maybe. However, I don't feel we hit a point where the general consensus was that he has become stale and repetitive like other villains. I would rather be left wanting more than just being thankful it is finally over. Your mileage may vary.

>

> Plus, it was really a twist I didn't see coming. It was not a predictable, already played out narrative. And the story "wrap up" where all the current primary characters just stand around watching this terribly morbid "victory" after it being really spelled out how we are kind of the villain was just fun. I even stopped hating KA-BRAHM for a moment as his narcissistic humor while trying to make sense of it all was genuinely funny.

>

> Sure, I am missing a continuation of a different kind of antagonist, but that it means something he is gone is a testament to the storytelling. With how it played out, I have no idea what is coming next, but I am really looking forward to finding out. And isn't that the key to episodic storytelling?

>

> My the cheers of "praise Koko" who was bitter in life be replaced with "braise Joko" who certainly seemed tasty in death.

 

Agree to everything you say. Also, made my day with your last sentence =)

Also can't wait to see how the story continues. Maybe, we'll just be helping the people of Kourna grow crop and clean up the mess that fighting bad guys always leaves in its wake?

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> @"Zaklex.6308" said:

> > @"EpicName.4523" said:

> >~snip~. We need more villains like Joko instead of these generic arch nemesis foes without a drop of humanity in them.

>

> Problem is, most villain's don't have a drop of humanity in them...otherwise they wouldn't be villains...and the ones that do end up being comic relief...which is okay on occasion(like with Joko, drop the last "o" and it's Jok)

>

>

 

On the contrary. Humans are flawed. Humans have weaknesses. However, it is the struggle of the heroes which overcome those flaws and weaknesses which makes them relatable. Take a look at Rey from Star Wars. No struggle, no journey to become better, no inner conflict...she is a Mary Sue, everything a hero should NOT be.

 

Similarly, a great villain must be relatable in a different way. Take Killmonger from Black Panther or Thanos. You see that the actions of the villain are motivated by something they themselves have experienced. That they have struggled to learn a lesson which they now relate to the rest of the world in their own manner. That they have a viewpoint that is not entirely wrong or is rooted in some truth. This is what makes them more interesting than the next run-of-the-mill bad guy with no other driving force besides hunger for power and domination. In short...these traits, which have been learned the hard way make the villains become more human and to a degree - even somewhat likeable.

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I'd like a villain with the same range of threat and intellect, but...

Not Joko.

Not a cut-rate undead Joker who I had to suffer through explicitly via Idiot Plot.

Not something so "overpowered" that I need a dragon to come save me.

 

But, Joko's arc also ended too soon, methinks. He was a threat large enough to span an entire Living World season, and it would be better if he were something we *couldn't* destroy, only re-seal. (Because otherwise we get silly stuff like undead/plantdead minions still existing in old zones, etc...)

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