Character Building in Arcane

It is difficult to satisfy both game players and new audiences when a video game is being adapted into films or animations. Nevertheless, the newest animated TV series Arcane, set in the League of Legends universe, has turned out to be an exciting success for Riot Games and Netflix. Besides the thrilling plots and various Easter eggs hidden in the animation, the careful and successful character building has significantly contributed to all the remarks Arcane has received. 

Arcane depicts the conflict between two symbiotic cities that were once united, Piltover and Zaun. Zaun is a polluted undercity beneath Piltover; while Piltover represents civility and progression, Zaun symbolizes crime and chaos. The story develops around two sisters, Vi and Jinx; they lost their parents in war at an early age, and were later separated during a conflict between Piltover law enforcements and Zaun civil organizations. While Jinx grows up beside Silco, the most powerful crime lord in Zaun, Vi has spent years in Piltover prison carrying memories with childhood friends and her dearest sister “Powder” (*the childhood name of Jinx). Their reunion is unpleasant and doubts have started to grow in Jinx’s heart, suspecting her sister’s values are in alignment with Piltover’s. The successful character building in Arcane could be discussed in creating empathy and constructing character personalities. 

Jinx is a controversial character. Despite her mental instability, audiences can clearly sense and understand the emotional struggles she has for Vi, which pushes her to take extreme actions. Vi has been self-confining in bubbles that Jinx would stay the same as her little sister — “Powder” — who always follows her and messes things up after years of separation; she refuses to admit that Jinx has changed and wouldn’t believe the massive damage Jinx has done to Piltover. On the other hand, Jinx suspects that Vi has partnered up with Piltover law enforcements and lied to her on the actual purpose of returning to Zaun. Audiences are able to see through Jinx’s eyes of how she sees herself once left behind, betrayed, and misunderstood, and at the same time tell the love and faith Vi holds in Jinx to stay away from crime. As audiences experience the same struggle together with characters through the series, strong emotional bonds have been established, which reinforces the heart-wrenching empathy audiences have for characters. 

Character building in Arcane also focuses on the connection between people and their surrounding environment. As George R.R. Martin has said in a documentary, he began to construct the world in A Song of Ice and Fire by thinking about geographics such as weather and terrestrial environment. The environmental setting allows him to consider more thoroughly how certain types of resources are only generated given particular conditions, and the differences in weather or resources further lead to distinct architectural styles in houses and the clothes people would wear. Characters that are born and raised in a particular environment setting would inevitably encounter conflicts owing to unequal distribution in land and natural resources; they develop different value systems in perceiving the world. For example, citizens of Zaun have a hard time surviving in streams of toxic runoff when Piltover people discuss craftsmanship and technological development. When Caitlyn, a Piltover sheriff raised in a wealthy family, first comes down to Zaun with Vi, the scenarios in front are beyond her imaginations — countless homeless are suffering from chronic illnesses. Jinx also has a natural contempt for Caitlyn due to a stereotypical impression on Piltover people: arrogant and pretentious. Such conflicts between characters are grounded in environmental distinctions.

Character building is slightly different depending on the medium. For one thing, building a character in a novel requires detailed descriptions on both physical appearances and personal inner thoughts so that readers can better grasp certain unique attributes of that person. Some authors adopt shifting points of view in the narration to fully capture all physical and mental activities taking place in one space. Readers with diverse backgrounds would have various expectations of the same character as words have set no restrictions; they may imagine the character with different faces or voices and interpret one single action in a thousand ways. Authors love to see such diversity, as it indicates that people are actively engaging with the work.

Character building in movies or animations can be hampered by people’s preferences. Without the infinite number of possible individual interpretations that words allow for, movies or animations “fix” characters onto the screen. Characters are performed (or dubbed) by professionals who are the selections of producers. Personal preferences over the choice of actors might influence people’s opinions on the production; famous examples of successful character building also link the actor/actress directly to the character itself — Emma Watson felt such a relief when she could finally cut her hair and stop being Hermione Granger. Movies or animations may manage to appeal to the pathos in people when good narratives gradually unveil the mysterious background stories and explain motifs behind big decisions. Audiences may show empathy to characters on screen after going through the emotional journeys with them; combined with the unparalleled power of moving images, depths are added to the original story and stronger feelings would be generated in the audiences.

The success of Arcane roots in stunning visual designs, elaborate plots and extraordinary character building. In contrast, Red Notice, one of the most recent films produced by Netflix, is heavily criticized as a cliché despite the deluxe cast; storylines supporting each character are loosely organized, widening the gap between audiences and characters. Undoubtedly, audiences can tell the differences between good and bad productions — now, perhaps their understanding of the characters could also indicate the quality of the shows.