Lab Coats, Heroes and Impending Doom, the Visibility of Science in Video Games

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Lab coats, heroes and impending doom, the visibility of science in video games

Merja de Konink, 4020324

Master thesis History and Philosophy of Science Supervisor: Dr. F.D.A. Wegener Second reader: Dr. P. Huijnen

Table of Contents Introduction ...... 4 Note on referencing ...... 9 Chapter 1 Hero or villain? The use of science in video game narrative ...... 10 Introduction ...... 10 Part 1 interacting with video games Accessibility of games ...... 10 Part 2 Playing with science in fiction ...... 21 Conclusion chapter 1 ...... 31 Chapter 2 Mastering science or losing control ...... 34 Introduction ...... 34 Part 1 Scientists in theory ...... 34 Part 2 scientists in action ...... 40 Scientist of the non-scientific, heroes, vagueness and magic...... 42 Scientist appropriating science, moral lessons, certain doom and losing control ...... 51 Conclusion chapter 2 ...... 63 Chapter 3 In the eye of the beholder, scientific representation and fandom ...... 66 Introduction ...... 66 Modding, inserting science where it was never intended to be...... 69 Havens vault, an archaeologist playing with linguistics ...... 74 Part 2 Finding science in a hopeless place, different genres, different discussions ...... 79 Revisiting the case studies from chapter 2 as valued by the player ...... 83 Scientist as adventurer ...... 86 The Pokémon professors, foolish science ...... 88 Brigit Tenenbaum, Bioshock series ...... 90 Sobeck in horizon zero dawn...... 91 Helpless scientists Dr. Neo Cortex ...... 95 Conclusion chapter 3 ...... 99 Conclusion ...... 102 Bibliography ...... 107 Primary sources ...... 107 Games ...... 107 Internet ...... 110 Secondary sources ...... 118

Books ...... 119 Journals ...... 120 Internet ...... 122 Appendix 1 Chapman’s full scheme ...... 125 Appendix 2 List of characters ...... 128

Introduction Ryan: Religious rights, Doctor? You are free to kneel before whatever tribal fetish you favor in the comfort of your own home. But in Rapture, liberty is our only law -- A man's only duty is to himself. To imply otherwise, therefore, is criminal. Lamb: Ask yourself, Andrew -- what is your "Great Chain of Progress" but a faith? The chain is a symbol for an irrational force, guiding us towards ascension -- no less mystic than the crucifixes you seize and burn.1

The quote above could have been heard in lecture about modern media or could have been part of a science fiction discussion. In reality this quote comes from a videogame where two scientists discuss the nature of religion and progress. Their conversation continues on what science can do to create this form of progress.2 This thesis examines their debate and other instances of videogame science to ultimately answer the question: How is science represented in video games? Dr. Ryan and Lamb, in their in-game universe, suggest that science answers to its own objective logic and rules and creates change to which society must conform as best as it can. Dr. Ryan is right because his society in the end is overtaken by scientific innovation, overruling the general public in his world.3 This is an instance of fictional science however, the question what science could and should do for society also has real life implications. Outside the in-game world the division between “science” and the “public” is more dynamic than just scientists that force society into change. The interaction between experts and others are highly diverse and shape the reputation of science. The stereotypical representation of science informs debates where people question to what extent the notion of ‘fact’ or ‘research’ can stand apart from wider social, economic and moral questions and interests. The trustworthiness of science is not rooted in solid scientific practice but also partly, determined by its (public) image.4 The (public) image of science is shaped by a manifold of different media. Firstly, popular

1 BioShock, (2K Games, 2007), cross-platform, FPS. "Ryan Vs Lamb: Religious Rights". 2020. Bioshock Wiki. https://bioshock.fandom.com/wiki/Ryan_vs_Lamb:_Religious_Rights. 2 Ibidem. 3 BioShock, (2K Games, 2007), cross-platform, FPS. 4 For example in Bruce Schneier 2012. Liars And Outliers. Indianapolis. IN: Wiley. 4 scientific media, these attempt to inform and convince scientific outsiders (along with scientists in other disciplines) of the significance and developments in the field of knowledge central in the expression. Secondly, the education systems familiarizes people with scientific concepts. Thirdly, there is the realm of fiction. Where the scientific is taken out of science, since the concept of science in fiction does not have to answer to the laws of reality. Moreover, in fiction science can be limitless, it can create time travel, resurrection of the death, intergalactic travel and other, currently, unreal fantasies. These unreal fantasies of science can be seen in movies, comics, television series and video games.5 There is no strict separation between these three categories however both help shape expectations for science in real life.6 The representation of science in fiction, such as movies, cartoons and literature, has received its fair share of attention in academic literature.7 However, the representation of science in video games did not caught academic attention yet. This is understandable because video games, especially narrative driven video games, are relatively new. But, to understand the role of fictional science in mass media, video games should not be overlooked. The video game industry provides entertainment for a wide variety of ages and is supported by a multimillion- dollar industry.8 Within the realm of fiction, video games have a unique place. In reading a book or watching the television the viewer has little to no influence in the story whatsoever. The viewers are free to interpret the story as they see fit, but the content of the movie or book itself stays static. In playing a video game the player actively influences the outcome of the game and how the story unravels itself. The player avatar in game forms a literal link between the player and the in-game story. The player him or herself is an active agent in a fictional universe, able to change the in-game narrative.9

5 For example in: Broks, Peter. 1993. "Science, Media And Culture: British Magazines, 1890-1914". Public Understanding Of Science 2 (2): 123-139. Or in Massimiano Bucchi. 2014. Science And The Media. Routledge. 6 Irwin, Alan, and Mike Michael. Science, social theory & public knowledge. McGraw-Hill Education (UK), 2003. 7 For example: John Hamilton. 2007. Science Fiction In The Media. Edina, Minn.: ABDO Pub. Co. 8 "The World’S 2.7 Billion Gamers Will Spend $159.3 Billion On Games In 2020; The Market Will Surpass $200 Billion By 2023 | Newzoo". 2020. Newzoo. https://newzoo.com/insights/articles/newzoo-games-market-numbers- revenues-and-audience-2020-2023/. Date of acces: 27-07-2020 9 See: Li, Dong Dong, Albert Kien Liau, and Angeline Khoo. "Player–Avatar Identification in video gaming: Concept and measurement." Computers in Human Behavior 29.1 (2013): 257-263; Van Looy, Jan, et al. "Player identification in online games: Validation of a scale for measuring identification in MMOGs." Media Psychology 15.2 (2012): 197- 5

Video games are generally researched to see to what extent playing influenced behavior, both negative and positive.10 This is to some extent is due to the methodological divide in game studies between the “ludological” and “narrativist” camps. Broadly, members of the “ludological” camp see games as a formal systems of rules and, sometimes, even argue that videogames incapable of telling stories, which excludes studying games from a storytelling perspective.11 The narrativists argue that games are essentially a story, since the act of playing any game creates an individual fable that the player can retell. Therefore, the narrativists use methods of literary analysis and cultural studies to conduct their research. This thesis will make use of methods from cultural studies as well and can therefore be seen as part of the narratives’ approach.12 This thesis is heavily influenced by Janet Murray’s Hamlet on the Holodeck: The Future of Narrative in Cyberspace that argues that all forms of “cyberdrama” share the characteristics “immersion, agency, and transformation.” Here, immersion is the ability of the simulated world to convince the player that the game environment is “real”, and the player has the power to influence that world (agency). Transformation, meanwhile, refers to the way in which involvement in the game can cause players to adopt a new identity. She argues that the player is somehow changed by his/her in game experiences. Clearly other media can also be immersive or transformative in this sense, she argues that it is simply more games evident in videogames.13 These concepts from Hamlet on the Holodeck all play with the idea that representation and stereotypes influence people’s perception on the world around them. The nature of this influence is hard to measure, if measurable at all. The term creative appropriation in the context of this piece is more fitting than influence, which is exemplified in the third chapter. The concept of science that guided this thesis is deliberately kept vague. That is because

221; Turkay, Selen, and Charles K. Kinzer. "The effects of avatar-based customization on player identification." International Journal of Gaming and Computer-Mediated Simulations (IJGCMS) 6.1 (2014): 1-25. 10 See: See: Marina Krcmar, Farrar Kirstie, and Rory McGloin. "The effects of video game realism on attention, retention and aggressive outcomes." Computers in Human Behavior 27.1 (2011): 432-439; Uhlmann, Eric, and Jane Swanson. "Exposure to violent video games increases automatic aggressiveness." Journal of adolescence 27.1 (2004): 41-52. 11 A Clash between Game and Narrative (2001) Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman, in Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals (2003) 12 Ibidem. 13 Murray, Janet Horowitz, and Janet H. Murray. Hamlet on the holodeck: The future of narrative in cyberspace. MIT press, 2017. 6 science and non-science are hard to demarcate, not just in the real world, but even in fiction. In this piece the notion of science is guided by how it is appropriated in games. There are certain signifiers such as displaying the scientific aesthetic, where actors wear lab coats or the game takes place in a laboratory. Or the in-game characters claim that their endeavors are ‘’for science” or words we associate with science, such as “for knowledge”, “for research” or “in search of the truth”.14 The uses of science are part of a widespread spectrum, with non-sensical science on one side and accurate scientific reflection on the other. To exemplify, video game character Mario, a video game icon since 198115, in the game Mario Odyssey has the option to customized. One of the outfits that can be unlocked for Mario is the scientist exterior. This does not change the narrative in Odyssey into a science driven narrative, it neither transforms Mario into a scientist. This is because he just looks like a scientist, whilst not doing any science. Mario adds to the visibility of science in a large gaming franchise by fulfilling a bare minimum of criteria and therefore is on the fringes of the spectrum.

Figure 1 Mario in his science outfit, surrounded by his other outfit options. Source: https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2018- 02-22-super-mario-odyssey-outfits-list-prices-how-to-unlock-every-costume-outfit-suit-4847 Within this spectrum, from rational representations, featured as case studies in this thesis, to insane ones and from intricate to shallow representation, this thesis shows that we are

14 The use of signifiers is exemplified in the history of science. For example: Ruth Barton. 2003. "‘Men Of Science’: Language, Identity And Professionalization In The Mid-Victorian Scientific Community". History Of Science 41 (1): 73-119. 15 "The History Of Mario - IGN". 2020. IGN. https://www.ign.com/articles/1996/10/01/the-history-of-mario. Date of access 28-7-2020 7 able to create a meaningful patterns about science representation that unites all these examples. If we look at the game Evil Genius, where the only in-game objective is the build a lab to create “the ultimate doomsday device and use it to achieve total global domination”16 and Shovel Knight’s take on science, where science is portrayed as responsible for everything that in wrong in the in-game universe. Such as, exploding rats and other weaponry.17 There is a pattern emerging, namely science is an equivalent to power. This thesis answers the question: How is science represented in video games? To examine the patterns emerging and to highlight the diversity of the uses of science in video games, this thesis is divided into three chapters. The first chapter focuses on how players can interact with games and it is argued that science is more visible than the lack of academic attention hints at. This is done by providing a framework to analyze narrative structures in game. Moreover, six different popular genres of games are introduced together with a general pattern on how science is used in each genre. The second chapter focuses on stereotypes of the scientist by comparing the stereotypes of science in literature and video games. The stereotypes of science in literature are described in the article From alchemy to artificial intelligence: stereotypes of the scientist in Western literature by Roslynn Haynes. Her work provided a framework to see how the in-game scientific persona is constructed. In this chapter 270 scientific characters are examined to contrast them with their colleagues in literature. The third chapter departs from interpreting games as source material. The first two chapters have shown that the visibility of science is abundant, chapter 3 focuses on the reception of these scientists and science by the players. It examines player generated content in modification community and puts the trends described in chapter 1 and 2 to the test in seeing whether the player communities online acknowledge the same trends or argue something entirely different.

16 Evil Genius. (Elixer studios 2004) -, SIM-game. https://store.steampowered.com/app/3720/Evil_Genius/ 24-01- 2020 17 Shovel Knight. (Yacht Club Games. 2014) Cross platform. Platform-game. Level laboratory. Mandatory interaction. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OuGBLj7lqs date of access: 24-01-2020 8

Note on referencing The video games discussed in this thesis are hugely diverse. Therefore, in the footnotes of this piece games are referenced in the following way: Title (in cursive), publisher, release year, cross platform yes/no and genre game. For example, Detroit, become human, Quantum Dream (2018), cross platform -, RPG. If I reference a certain event or scene in game, I provide a link to an internet source that shows the material that is reviewed. The internet link is added such that anyone can easily find my source material without playing through all these games. Most of these games are hardly ever discussed in academic literature, so some of these references to more common sense website such as Wikipedia might feel outlandish. Especially the fandom chapter features blogposts on Reddit, many fandom-wiki-pages and YouTube clips. The goals is to be as transparent as possible and certain phenomena have not caught to academic eye, whilst there where of vital importance to this piece.

Chapter 1 Hero or villain? The use of science in video game narrative Introduction This chapter is roughly divided into two parts. Both parts strive to answer the question: How is the concept of science used as a story element in narrative video games? To answer this question the accessibility of video games needs to be addressed, it is useful to know to what extent we can expect that players have interacted with the scientific elements on which the arguments in this thesis are based. For example, if the case study featured in a PlayStation game only, only PlayStation players have access to the narrative. The same goes for games that take place in a lab, more players might have noticed the element than if they meet the scientist at the very end of the game. The second part provides a small overview of general trends describing how science is used in video game narratives. It introduces 6 prominent genres in video gaming and how the distinct playstyles of every genre use the concept of science. In this part it is argued that science is either used as the hero of the story, there to save the day or help the player to progress through the game, or as the villain, something that brought doom upon the world the player has entered.

Part 1 interacting with video games Accessibility of games The video game industry emerged in the 1980s. The Nintendo Entertainment System of 1984 is largely credited with establishing this new form of media. In the last thirty years the gaming world has gone through critical changes and technological evolutions, such that gaming went from child’s play or a children’s toy18 to multimillion dollar industry that is embraced by a large part of society.19 Video games and play are so intertwined with society that it is argued that they are the means by which people, to some extent, create their identity.20 People can interact with games by various means. The most accessible games are the

18 James. D. Ivory, (2015). “A Brief History of Video Games” The video game debate: Unravelling the physical, social, and psychological effects of digital games, edited by Rachel Kowert, 1-22. New York: Routledge, 2015 19 Ian Bogost, How to do things with video games. (Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 2011). 20 Michiel de Lange, Joost Raessens et all, Playful Identities, The Ludification of Digital Media Cultures (Amsterdam, Amsterdam university press, 2015), 9-40. 10 ones that are played on a smart phone. A large number of the population already has such a device and mobile games are generally inexpensive, or free, to access. Some of these games resemble arcade games from the early days of gaming, while a smaller proportion resemble games available in casinos and internet gambling sites e.g. Blackjack or Poker.21 These types of games are associated with fast consumption and in these games little to no story is present. The absence of narrative makes it pointless to search for science as a plot device or the scientist in mobile games. Therefore, this thesis makes little to no use of mobile games. Another way to play is using a console. There is a difference between handheld consoles and home consoles. Handheld consoles are devises that can easily be played anywhere the player would like. Examples for these types of consoles are: Nintendo’s Game Boy, PlayStation Portable and Sega Game gear. Typical games for handheld consoles resemble simple arcade games and have a narrative structure similar to smart phone games. Therefore, I will largely exclude games that have been tailormade for these portable consoles. The home console market is currently dominated by Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft, with respectively the PlayStation 4, the Nintendo Switch and the Xbox. The question arises why it is relevant to be aware of different consoles. The answer lays with the unique features and the types of games associated with each device. Firstly, the consoles went through multiple generations, which established a reputation for each console that exists until this day. Xbox is generally known for (first-person or multiplayer) shooters. While PlayStation has a reputation for narrative driven games and Nintendo is known for family friendly party games.22 Secondly, the company behind each console commissions game studios to create games that are exclusively played on their console. For example, in theory it is not possible to interact with the Mario Franchise or with Zelda without having access to a Nintendo device. The same goes for Horizon Zero Dawn (that features in a later chapter) which is PlayStation exclusive and

21 James G Phillips, Sarah Butt, and Alex Blaszczynski. "Personality And Self-Reported Use Of Mobile Phones For Games". Cyberpsychology & Behavior 9 (6) 2006: 753-758. 22 "Analysis: Why Does PlayStation Have A Better Reputation Than Xbox?". 2020. Gameskinny.Com. https://www.gameskinny.com/n73ai/analysis-why-does-playstation-have-a-better-reputation-than-xbox. Date of access: 16-12-2019 11 for the Gears of War franchise owned by Xbox/Microsoft.23 All of these Franchises reflect the reputations of the given consoles: Mario resembles an animated movie and most Mario games can be played by people for all ages, while Horizon Zero Dawn has an intricate story to play through, and Gears of War is a first person shooter. If games are not published cross platform, we should be aware that less people can interact with them. On the other hand, the gaming market is changing and some titles that were platform exclusives are relaunched on other platforms too. This is called cross platform playing and examples are the dragon fighting game Skyrim that was (re)launched for Nintendo Switch and the Crash Bandicoot series that is now available for PC, whilst being a PlayStation exclusive in the 90s.24 Another factor in this is emulation, the process of simulating hardware from one machine on another, which in case of older PlayStation, SNES and ATARI games means that they can now be played on phones and computers using emulation software.25 The last mode of access is using a PC. PC gaming also brings its own uniqueness. Mainly the high amount of user generated games, called indie games. These games are created as hobby projects by gamers themselves and that is mainly due to the fact that low-code software for game development is easily available to create pc games.26 The current indie gaming market is overflowing with titles available, with over 40.000 indie games on steam.27 The other uniqueness that owning a PC brings to gamers is the widespread availability for community made add-ons and community made modification to the game, frequently referred

23 "Nintendo's Shining Star: The History Of Mario". 2020. Gamecubicle.Com. http://www.gamecubicle.com/features-mario-nintendo_shining_star.htm, "Microsoft Grabs Gears Of War To Ensure It'll Never Appear On A PlayStation". 2020. Techradar. Date of access 28-7-2020 https://www.techradar.com/news/gaming/microsoft-buys-gears-of-war-to-ensure-it-ll-never-appear-on-a- playstation-1219151. "Horizon Zero Dawn". 2020. PlayStation. https://www.playstation.com/en-us/games/horizon- zero-dawn-ps4/ . Date of access: 13-05-2020 24 "Review Impressions: The Definitive Crash Bandicoot Experience In 2018 Is On The PC, And That's Bizarre". World. https://www.pcworld.com/article/3287054/review-impressions-the-definitive-crash-bandicoot-experience-in- 2018-is-on-the-pc.html, "The Best Thing About Skyrim On Switch Is That It’s Skyrim On Switch". 2020. Techradar. https://www.techradar.com/news/the-best-thing-about-skyrim-on-switch-is-that-its-skyrim-on-switch. Date of access: 12-05-2020 25 For an example of a website that provided emulation services: https://coolrom.com.au/ Date of access: 03-11- 2019 26 RPG maker is a very well-known example of this: "Make Your Own Game With RPG Maker". 2020. Rpgmakerweb.Com. http://www.rpgmakerweb.com/. Date of access: 03-11-2019 27 "Browsing Indie". 2020. Store.Steampowered.Com. https://store.steampowered.com/tags/en/Indie/. Date of access: 03-11-2019 12 to as mods. Add-ons can be non-sensical, such as the pop singer Taylor Swift as an advisor mod, or useful, such as learn how to fly over tall buildings mod, both in dystopian game Fall Out 4.28 Mods can also bring scientists and/or scientific elements in places where the game creators never intended them, which is described in chapter 3. The device that people use determines what is available to play and in extension determines how accessible the science and scientists in the narrative are. The other element of the accessibility of science in narrative is determined by the player freedom in the narrative itself.

Accessibility of narrative, player freedom The player experience is also determined by how the player can influence the narrative and how much the in-game story accurately imitates the world around us. To describe both in-game freedom and the realness of the in game narrative a framework is introduced. Marie-Laure Ryan’s 2001 article Beyond Myth and Metaphor: The Case of Narrative in Digital Media suggests that freedom of player-game interaction can be divided into two categories of game play. The first category, open-ontological structure, brings the player a maximum amount of choice on how they experience the in-game environment.29 This is exemplified in the Fall Out series, a post-apocalyptic role-playing game where the player gets to navigate through a nuclear wasteland. In this game 50 scientists are present in the in-game narrative.30 Some of them are responsible for the current and dismal state of the land, others are working with and against their new environment. The story of the scientific NPC (non- playable character) can only change if the player decides to interact with the scientist. For example in the quest plugging a leak, the player can interact with Dr. Justin Ayo and Dr. Alana Secord, he/she gets to decide which Dr. is to blame for the mistakes in the synthetic human project. If Ayo is framed, Dr Secord becomes lead-scientist on the project. If another scientist is

28 “ Top-10 craziest mods for Fall-out 4”Desiblitz.Com. https://www.desiblitz.com/content/top-10-craziest-mods- for-fallout-4. Date of access: 03-11-2019 29 Marie-Laure Ryan, 2002. "Beyond Myth And Metaphor: Narrative In Digital Media". Poetics Today 23 (4): 581- 609. 591 30 See appendix 2. A list of scientific persona category Fall-out 13 framed for the mistakes, Secord does not get the promotion.31

Figure 2 Justin Ayo (front) interacts with a player (back) in his lab. Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/fo4/comments/7ru9jp/i_always_do_this_to_justin_ayo/

All these interactions and choices have some influence on other quests. For instance, the quest sequences Mankind – Redefined, the institute and the railroad are all intertwined. If the player angers the quest giver and main antagonist of the game scientist Father/Shaun, he/she gets banished from the institute and is unable to meet Dr. Secord and Dr. Ayo. If the player becomes too friendly with the scientists in the institute that the doctors are part of, the player is unable to join the resistance movement against science called the railroad. This also works vice versa, if the player sides with the resistance movement he/she cannot interact with the scientists and help them.32 The freedom in how player create their own in-game

31 Fall-out 4, (Bethesda Softworks, 2015), cross platform, RPG, "Plugging A Leak". 2020. Fallout Wiki. https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Plugging_a_Leak. Date of access: 18-11-2019 32 Fall-out 4, (Bethesda Softworks, 2015), cross platform, RPG, "Mankind - Redefined". 2020. Fallout Wiki. https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Mankind_-_Redefined. Fallout Wiki. 2020. Tradecraft. [online] Available at: 14 narrative is how Fall-out fits the open-ontological structure like a glove. The decisions of the player have no influence on the story in the second category. Ryan’s deterministic category characterizes a game with influence on the narrative, whatsoever. The story of these games plants the player as a puppet in a deterministic universe controlled by the puppeteers alias the games creators. The player can make personal decisions, such as what their avatar looks like, but these decisions do not affect the overarching story line.33 Clear objectives are inevitable for the player to complete. In the deterministic game linear spaces and pre-scripted events are common. The strict structure causes an insolvable tension between the story and the agency of the player. The player can get frustrated by lack for freedom in exploring the game.34 This is illustrated by linear game Donald Duck: Goin' Quackers in this game the player has to move through various settings in 24 levels. The objective of the game is to help Gyro Gearloose, a scientist and an inventor that resembles an anthropomorphic large bird, to collected gears to repair the Tubal Teleport System.35 The player’s character is Donald Duck and if Donald fails the player has to start over or quit the game. There is no choice in game whatsoever, only to continue or quit.

Figure 3 Donald in lab. source: https://gamefabrique.com/games/donald-duck-quack-attack/

. = "The Railroad". 2020. Fallout Wiki. "Shaun". 2020. Fallout Wiki. https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Shaun. Date of access: 05-11-2019 33 Marie-Laure Ryan, 2002. "Beyond Myth And Metaphor: Narrative In Digital Media". Poetics Today 23 (4): 581- 609. 34 Ibidem. 591-601 35 Donald duck goin quackers, Ubisoft/Disney Interactive Studios, 2000, cross platform, Platform-game. "Donald Duck: Goin' Quackers!". 2020. Disney Wiki. https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Donald_Duck:_Goin%27_Quackers!. Date of access: 18-11-2019 15

If the player chooses to continue there is a small choice whether to complete all the objectives or the hunt for all the Easter-eggs (an unexpected or undocumented feature in game, included as a joke or a bonus). In the deterministic game Portal malevolent AI and scientists GLaDOS promises the player a treat for completing her human experiment. If the player searches carefully he/she find Easter eggs throughout both games. The walls of these rooms are covered in bizarre diagrams and notes. This is the work of scientist Doug Rattman who became trapped in underground lab and slowly went insane.36 He tries to warn the players that GLaDOS is deceiving them by the legendary phrase: “the cake is a lie”.37 By which Rattman meant that there is no price to be won by participating in GLaDOS's experiments.

Figure 4 Left: Ratmann's hidden scribbles and right the famous warning. Source: https://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/portal_/screenshots/gameShotId,257129/

Game scientist and humanities scholar Adam Chapman added a in between category to Ryan’s work. Chapman called his category the open story structure. Which combines both the deterministic story structure and the open-ontological structure. The open story structure

36 Portal, (Valve Corporation/ Electronic Arts), 2007, cross platform. Platform game, Portal 2, (Valve Corporation/ Electronic Arts), 2011, cross platform. Platform game. "Doug Rattmann". 2020. Half-Life Wiki. https://half- life.fandom.com/wiki/Doug_Rattmann. 37 "Urban Dictionary: The Cake Is A Lie". 2020. Urban Dictionary. https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=the%20cake%20is%20a%20lie, "The Cake Is A Lie". 2020. Knowyourmeme. https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/the-cake-is-a-lie. Date of access 28-7-2020

16 presents the player with a closed narrative, although within the player can walk different paths. For example, if the player chooses path A, then path B is completely excluded from the narrative. The potential narrative in these games is much bigger than the narrative that the player sees. Moreover, the narrative fragments compete for the players attention. This leaves the opportunity that the player returns to replay the game to see all the different story fragments and choices. Thus, in the open story structure, the player has the agency to construct his own adventure within a linear structure.38 Open story is exemplified in two distinct structures. The first one is exemplified by Overwatch, where the player picks a character that represented a certain play style. Damage dealer, Tank and Healer are the most common. Each fulfills a different role in a team, the Damage dealer is a source of raw power but relatively weak, the Tank is strong but has little to no damage output and the Heal tries to keep everyone alive. In Overwatch all players encounter the same structure, but the experiences differs by chosen play style. All characters, and by extension, playstyles have their own specialty and story. Mei, Mercy and Moira are all scientists. They use their specific branches of science to create their special abilities. Mei is a climatologist that is best played in the tank playstyle, she uses climate control abilities to not just protect the earth but to protect her team as well.39 Mercy has a PhD in nano biotics and uses her knowledge as a healer in game.40 Moira is a geneticist that uses her expertise to alter DNA levels to assist her team. Most scientists found her research dangerous due to its perceived ethical shortfalls. Moira has both healing and damaging properties.41 The players

38 Adam Chapman, Digital Games As History : How Videogames Represent The Past And Offer Access To Historical Practice. (New York: ROUTLEDGE, 2018). 131-133 39 Overwatch, (Blizzard Entertainment, 2015), cross platform, MMO Shooter. "Mei". 2020. Overwatch Wiki. https://overwatch.gamepedia.com/Mei. Date of access 28-7-2020 40 Ibidem. "Mercy". 2020. Overwatch Wiki. https://overwatch.gamepedia.com/Mercy. Date of access 28-7-2020 41 Ibidem. "Moira". 2020. Overwatch Wiki. https://overwatch.gamepedia.com/Moira. Date of access 28-7-2020 17 in-game encounters vary based on which role and character they choose.

Figure 5 The overwatch scientists. From left to right Mei, Mercy and Moira. Source: http://www.gamingnation.nl/nieuws/nieuwe-hero-overwatch-is-bekend/ https://www.dexerto.com/cosplay/overwatch- cosplayer-looks-cold-as-ice-with-perfect-mei-costume-1320824

The other way the open structure can be found is in choice-based narratives. This is exemplified in Detroit: Become Human which allows players to take control of three different androids each with a pre-programmed purpose. The story focuses on androids and their pursuit of autonomy.42 Whether the androids are able to achieve this depends on the choices of the player. The player’s choices do have grave consequences: each of the three main and player- controlled characters, Kara, Marcus, and Connor, can die during various points of the in the story and each death has different impact. Kara is an android programed to be a nanny, Marcus is programed to be a nurse and Connor is designed to be a police detective. Which provides the interesting dynamic that the player controls both the character that disrupts society, Marcus, and the character that needs to end these disruptions in Connor.43 In his piece about game environment Chapman argues that there are various degrees of realistic portrayal of events in video games. Chapman’s book is originally written to help understand the uses of history or the historical narrative in video games, however it can also be used for other subjects. Chapman argues that there are two distinct styles of storytelling within

42 Detroit: Become Human, (Quantic Dream, 2018), -, Choice based RPG, "Characters". 2020. Detroit: Become Human Wikia. https://detroit-become-human.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Characters. Date of access 28-7-2020 43 Ibidem. "Detroit: Become Human Story And Ending Explained - Here's What Happened". 2020. NDTV Gadgets 360. https://gadgets.ndtv.com/games/features/detroit-plot-story-ending-spoilers-ps4-detroit-become-human- 1857515. Date of access 28-7-2020 18 games. The first one is hyper-realistic and the second one is semi realistic.44 Hyper realistic is characterized by a high degree of visual specificity, the game needs to look like our own world as much as possible. No supernatural elements that are beyond our comprehension, such as magic. Or metaphysical entities, such as ghosts or fantasy creatures like vampires. The world must resemble our own, the visuals of the game are based on existing stereotypes and representations from other media.45 Chapman argues that the hyper realistic style gives players the idea that they gain “true knowledge”, especially when the game creators promise an authentic experience. Or as Chapman states: “discovering the past is an objective enterprise not hindered by subjectivity in these type of games”.46 How accurate the knowledge is that we gain from games is debatable. An argument can be made that something made for entertainment is not able to convey scientific accuracy. Nevertheless, it seems imaginable that playing a videogame, the same as interacting with other forms of popular science, can shape our intuitions. An in-game scientist might not be as objective as in real life science, the story can nevertheless add to the public image of the scientist. Detroit embodies the hyper-realistic style by focusing on what does it mean to be human, a subject that players have ample experience with, since they are humans themselves. The players are brought into a future where our world is divided between humans and androids. The androids have passed the Turing test which is a result of artificial intelligence research by lead scientist of the game Elijah Kamski and his mentor and teacher Amanda Stern.47 The androids are treated as slaves and servants, dehumanized because they are incapable of having any emotions. The hatred humans have for these androids is apparent in almost every detail. The game has articles, protestors and even organizations against androids.48 It confronts the player with the question, much older than this game, what would happen

44 Adam Chapman, Digital Games As History : How Videogames Represent The Past And Offer Access To Historical Practice. (New York: ROUTLEDGE, 2018). 60-67; 136-147 45 Ibidem. 60-67 46 Ibidem. 67 47 Detroit: Become Human, (Quantic Dream, 2018), -, Choice based RPG 48 Ibidem. "Detroit: Become Human – What Happens If The Androids Hate Us?". The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jun/15/detroit-become-human-quantic-dreams-narrative-videogame-what-happens-if-the-androids-hate-us. Date of access 28-7-2020 19 if the robots took over? The answer, in this game, is a gritty society because the robots want their human rights. In Detroit many people are out of a job, because androids are built to be more efficient than people. This to some extent shows, if we take the game narrative seriously, why the world needs philosophers of AI to reflect on what AI can be in relation to humans. Which makes the narrative feel like a playful question for actual scientists. If we take the game story less serious, we just see a story where player choice matters, situated in a beautifully build, realistic looking sci-fi world.

Figure 6 an android factory in Detroit. Source: https://twitter.com/bryandechart/status/1204825828393046016

The second story category Chapman introduces is the conceptual simulation style science. Where science is just used as an easy explaining mechanism for plot elements. The science does not have the feel and act accurate to fulfill its purpose. The Overwatch scientists illustrate the science-as-an-inspiration concept the best. It makes little to no sense to be a climatologist just to explain combat abilities, such as controlling the weather. If magic was used as an explanation or there was no explanation at all, this would be just as reasonable. In conceptual stimulation style science does not necessarily has to be rational or accurate, while in the hyper-realistic style science has to be perceived as factual. Some overlap can occur between these two categories. For example, the previously mentioned Fall-out series can spark the real world question: what happens if nuclear weapons destroy the world we currently live in?

But, because the world changed due to these bombs the in-game world does not represent the state of our current world. Because Fall-out’s in game environment does not resemble our world, Fall-out is placed in the semi-realistic category, whilst Detroit is placed in the hyper realistic category. It should be noted that all categories can overlap within games. For example, whereas the single player mode of a game has the deterministic story structure, the multiplayer mode of the same game might be closer to the open story structure. The same goes for portrayal structures, many games are mixing elements of both semi-realist and the hyper realist style. We can place the game segments that are used to make the arguments in this thesis in this scheme such that we judge how likely it is for the player to have encountered the scientist and how realistically science in that segment is portraited.

Chapman’s Player freedom Player freedom Player freedom generalized Open ontological Open story Deterministic story framework

Scientific portrayal Detroit: Become Hyper realistic Human

Scientific portrayal Fall-out series Overwatch Donald Duck: Goin' Semi realistic Quackers Portal

Table 1 Chapman's scheme for chapter 1 example

Part 2 Playing with science in fiction This section shows how the concept of science is used in different genres of video games. To estimate which genres of videogames are most popular selling platforms Steam’s most popular tag, the PlayStation store, the Xbox store and IGN, one of the largest community based game review blogs, are cross-referenced to see what these platforms deemed the most popular

21 genre.49 The exact order of category popularity differs per list but all mention First Person Shooters (FPS), Real time Strategy (RTS), Role Playing games (RPG), racing/sports games, platform games (sometimes dubbed as family play-time), simulation- games (SIM).50 There is some overlap between these genres. For example, FPS’s can have role playing elements the same goes for platform games and RTS games. In this case the genre refers to the most dominant mechanics the game features. Two of these most popular gaming genres will not feature in this chapter. These are the racing/sports games and the genre of RPG. Racing/sport game seldom have a narrative that stretches beyond win the race or coach/play your team to victory.51 Therefore, the sports game category is excluded in the entire thesis because there is little to no visible science. RPG is excluded because RPG refers to a style of narrative and does not refer to a particular way of mechanics that characterize a game, as is the case for the other genres. For example, most strategy games utilize the same mechanics for the player to utilize. If players buy a strategy game they expect mechanics that are turn-based, resource competitive and has a clear objective. Because after all that is what the strategy genre is famous for. While RPG is a way of providing freedom with narrative, that manifests itself cross genre. As a result the uses of science does not fit into a pattern as is the case in the other genres. The RPG genre is to diverse to create a meaningful generalization in this chapter, however the lion share of the case studies in chapter 2 are based in the RPG genre because of their excellent (and diverse) use of narrative.

49 "Popular Tags On Steam". 2020. Store.Steampowered.Com. https://store.steampowered.com/tag/browse/#global_492. "Games Genre". 2020. Playsation Store. https://store.playstation.com/en-gb/home/STORE-MSF75508- GENREMOBNAV. "Video Game Reviews - IGN". 2020. IGN. https://www.ign.com/reviews/games. "Xbox One Games | Xbox". 2020. Xbox.Com. https://www.xbox.com/en-CA/games/xbox-one. Date of access: 09- 03-2020 50 Ibidem. 51 "2017: The Year Of Story-Driven Sports Video Games". 2020. Polygon. https://www.polygon.com/2017/12/7/16745268/game-of-the-year-goty-madden-nba2k-best-sports-games. Date of access: 09-03-2020 22

First Person Shooters (FPS) In FPS games, the mechanics are defined by the player avatar that is rarely seen and usually depicted as a floating weapon. The gamer is given a large arsenal of weaponry and has an objective to obliterate enemies. FPS is fast paced, featuring a huge amount of action and does not shy away from violence. The genre is, especially the early years, not credited with its emphasis on narrative.52 This is also the genre that is used as an example by both academic and non-academic literature to see whether games influence violent behavior.53 The majority of games in this genre have little to no emphasis of the narrative. If the player encounters science or scientists the game forces them to either save or secure ‘science’ or to defeat the scientific element because it poses a treat. In this we see the binary opposite, science is either a hero or a villain. This is exemplified in both the Wolfenstein and DOOM franchises. Wolfenstein’s objective is to fight the Nazis and DOOM’s objective is to survive an attack from outer space. The first scientist we meet in Wolfenstein 3D is Doctor Schabbs, he is responsible for the mutant armies in the game and created a so-called "Corposkinetic Animation Serum" to turn corpses into zombies. Although his boss level is relatively short, he has great influence on the

52 Jerremie Clyde, and Thomas Chris. 2008. "Building An Information Literacy First‐Person Shooter". Reference Services Review 36 (4): 366-380. 53 See: Marina Krcmar, Farrar Kirstie, and Rory McGloin. "The effects of video game realism on attention, retention and aggressive outcomes." Computers in Human Behavior 27.1 (2011): 432-439; Uhlmann, Eric, and Jane Swanson. "Exposure to violent video games increases automatic aggressiveness." Journal of adolescence 27.1 (2004): 41-52. 23 gameplay since he created most of the enemies the player encountered.54

Figure 7 Dr. Schabbs, in background, tries to throw a syringe to the player. The player is despicted in typical FPS style. Source: https://www.google.com/search?q=Doctor+Schabbs&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwic5v6x8a3pAhWvhOAKHfkM DskQ_AUoAXoECAsQAw&biw=25 Wolfenstein the new order (2009) and its connected but separate game Wolfenstein the old blood (2015) also features scientists as the main antagonists of the game. Helga Schabbs is an archeologist that owns Castle Wolfenstein (the location where the game takes place) and runs it as a center for occult research. She, just as Schabbs in the earlier game, created most of the enemies and is responsible for reviving a monster that previously belonged to King Otto.55 Together with natural scientist Konrad Acker she revives and enhances the monster that also serves as the last big fight before the game ends.56

54 Wolfenstein 3D. (Apogee Software, 1992) -. FPS, "Doctor Schabbs". 2020. Wolfenstein Wiki. https://wolfenstein.fandom.com/wiki/Doctor_Schabbs. 55 Wolfenstein the old blood. (MachineGames, 2015) Cross platform. FPS Wolfenstein the new order. (MachineGames, 2014) Cross platform. FPS 56 Ibidem. "The Flesh Golem". 2020. Wolfenstein Wiki. https://wolfenstein.fandom.com/wiki/The_Flesh_Golem. 24

Figure 8 Helga lost control over her creation that is holding her in this picture. Source: https://wolfenstein.fandom.com/wiki/Helga_von_Schabbs DOOM uses the concept of science in a different manner. Where Wolfenstein had direct persons of science to fight against, DOOM only has the results and effects of science that create the enemies in game. DOOM begins in the distant future where the protagonist is stationed as a glorified security guard for the United Aerospace Corporation, a research facility.57 The scientists conduct secret experiments into inter-dimensional teleportation technology on Mars' moons, Phobos and Deimos. The portal research is unstable at best with experiments ending with severely traumatized test subjects. Until it truly gets out of hand and the protagonist has to fight “Something fraggin' evil”58 that comes out of the portals.59 The protagonist finds out that the scientists unintentionally have opened a portal to hell and has to fight waves of demons, including a demon that has merged with technology from the lab.60 Here the role of science is more subtle, it starts the game and then lingers in the background since the actual enemies spawn from hell itself, while the protagonist needs to save

57 DOOM, (id Software, 1993) cross platform, FPS "The Entire Doom Story Explained". 2020. Looper.Com. https://www.looper.com/160672/the-entire-doom-story-explained/. 58 Ibidem. 59 Ibidem. 60 Ibidem. 25 scientists and scientific elements to solve the problems in game.61 In FPS-games we see that the is a limited storyline which causes a simple depiction of science. Science is there because it either has created the crisis in game and/or it needs a rescuer because it forms the salvation of the in-game crisis.

Real time Strategy (RTS) A typical RTS game focuses on the movement of units and structures by the player to control to secure areas of the map and/or destroy their opponents' assets. Most research that focuses on RTS search for the influence of RTS on both social and cognitive abilities in children and adolescences. For example, researchers have examined the relationship the relation between prosocial content and prosocial behavior in experimental settings in high and middle schools.62 In addition, some researchers have argued that, although most RTS video games are not designed to be educational, they possess many good learning principles.63 A commonality in all of these arguments is that they argue that RTS promotes puzzle and problem-solving skills. There is some agreement on the positive influence of RTS games, researchers have also examined the content of these games. RTS games rarely makes use of playable avatar. Since the player in these games takes the role of creator of the universe, he/she hoovers over the playing field and makes world building decisions. The notion of science is mostly found as a as a way to progress in the game. Historian Will Slocombe has observed that technology progression trees in RTS game- series Civilization are depicted as the, often refuted, Western historicized perception of science as linear progress.64 He also states that the approach of these skill trees, in Slocombe’s words, “ignore human agency and cultural decisions at work within the respective histories of each game.”65

61 Ibidem. 62 See Tobias Greitemeyer, and Silvia Osswald. 2010. "Effects Of Prosocial Video Games On Prosocial Behavior.". Journal Of Personality And Social Psychology 98 (2).; Christopher J Ferguson. 2011. "The Influence Of Television And Video Game Use On Attention And School Problems: A Multivariate Analysis With Other Risk Factors Controlled". Journal Of Psychiatric Research 45 (6): 808- 813. 63 See Donald R. Cruickshank, and Gerald M. Mager. 1976. "Toward Theory Building In The Field Of Instructional Games And Simulations". Programmed Learning And Educational Technology 13 (3): 5-9. 64 Will Slocombe. 2019. "Playing Games With Technology:". Osiris 34 (1): 158-174. 65 Ibidem. 26

Figure 9 Tech tree in CIV 6. Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MK2X3IxUfLY

The portrayal of science might be outdated and unnuanced, however the use of science is there to help the player win the game. If the science tree was more nuanced, for example, every new scientific feat is debated and reluctantly accepted with paradigm switch, the player cannot progress his puzzle solving since the scientific actors are still discussing. If the science is not useful to the player, it has no use in strategy games. Which turns science into a player hero for its usefulness.

SIM-games Simulation games (SIM) try to mimic reality. SIM games can sometime stimulate a non-human experience such as Untitled Goose game, Goat simulator and I am Bread.66 Where the player gets to be a goose that wreaks havoc, gets to be a goat in a suburban area and a piece of bread on a mission to become toast.67 It is superfluous to conclude that these more nonsensical simulators do not contain concepts of science. If SIM games contain concepts of science then the payer either gets to be the scientist or

66 I am Bread, (Bossa Studios, 2007), -, SIM Untitled Goose game, (House House, 2019), -, SIM Goat simulator, (Coffee Stain Studios, 2014), cross-platform, SIM 67 Ibidem. 27 interact with the scientist as a teacher or mentor. Science is consistently portrayed as something that brings prosperity to the player in the form of bright future or helping hand that guides them through the process. Becoming a scientist is a possible career path in all four the Sims (the Sims as a game title is a playful nod to the genre) games. The objective in these games is to create your own “human experience”, so pursuing a career is one of the options. Science is one of the paths to choose from. To do that your player avatar, in all four The Sims games, first starts out as a human test rat because the avatar introduces itself to the scientific community by becoming their test subject. After that you slowly rank up the ladder until you character reaches mad scientist and you have the money to conduct evil experiments in your basement and your bright future is realized.68

Figure 10 Science in your very own basement in the Sims. Source: https://www.trustedreviews.com/reviews/the-sims-4-get-to- work

Other SIM games also offer the science experience. Sometimes the science is somewhat on the whimsical side. For example, in Science Girls the player has to use research to achieve

68 The Sims-series, (Electronic Arts, 2000), cross-platform, SIM "Science (Career)". 2020. The Sims Wiki. https://sims.fandom.com/wiki/Science_(career). Date of access: 22-05-2020 28

“Blowing things up with physics and chemistry”, to save the world from an alien invasion.69 Others try to provide a more accurate experience. 1000 days to escape, let the player set up their own space research program to find a suitable planet to live on since earth is doomed.70 Or try stimulate the process of collecting specimen in for example Subnautica. Where the player tries to collect information to conduct research on sea life.71 Next to impersonating the scientist, the player can also interact with scientists in various SIM games. All of these games feature the notion of science that can be read a helping hand. In the Roller coaster tycoon series and its spiritual successor Planet coaster your objective is to build a successful theme park. The player can invest a percentage of the in-game theme park budget in “science”. The scientist will, in return, provide new fun fair rides, rollercoasters and food stands. Helping the player to build a more interesting theme park for their virtual guests.72 Science is used in a similar manner in Zoo tycoon and Theme hospital, if the player invests in research than harder to care for animals are unlocked or more and new hospital cures are available.73 In SIM games we witness science that was mostly helpful to the player, either in helping to progress the story or in being a career that helps the player to master the game further.

Platform games In platform games the player encounters a linear structure with levels the player has to progress through. The mechanics often features jumping between platforms, different heights in a level and enemies that can be defeated with hardy any strategy. The design of these games resemble animated movies, so there is little to no realism in these games. Platformers are exemplified as the genre that contains games for all ages, mostly due to its lack of realism in design. Here we encounter the least realistic depiction of science. Since this category is the mostly kid friendly, when we encounter the scientist, he is just a funny man that cannot entirely control his endeavors and/or his projects are just used to set up the problems in the universe. For example in Psychonauts, the player becomes a spy with psychic abilities. The game’s

69 Science Girls, (Hanako Games, 2009), -, SIM 70 1000 days to escape, (Lemon Squeezy, 2019), -, SIM 71 Subnautica, (Unknown Worlds Entertainment, 2018), -, SIM 72 Roller coaster tycoon series (various publishers 1998-2004) Planet Coaster, (Frontier Developments plc, 2016), cross-platform, SIM 73 Theme hospital, (Bullfrog Productions, Two Point Studios, Krisalis Software, 1997), cross-platform, SIM 29 main antagonist is Dr. Caligosto Loboto. His parents feared Dr. Loboto because they did not understand his psychic abilities. As such they sent Loboto to an asylum where he was lobotomized. When the asylum was abandoned, Loboto remained behind with a few other inmates, taking over the facility to conduct psychotic experiments. The brains go into “brain tanks” so they can cause massive damage by firing concentrated psychic death beams. The game does not tell us how Loboto obtained the skills and knowledge to transform brains into dead rays or what his motivations for this act are. Loboto’s story is just used to explain the current state of the universe of the game. We see the same use for science in platform games that are based on animated movies. for example Lilo and Stitch, Atlantis and Big Hero Six.74 That all feature science as a way to easily explain why the story unfolds as it does. Or scientific environments or backgrounds are visible to help the story along such as Kim Possible, Donald Duck: Goin' Quackers and the 102 Dalmatians games.75 In all these games science both used as an explanation and/or the creator for story elements.

74 Lilo and Disney's Stitch: Experiment 626, (Electronic Arts, Disney Interactive Studios, 2002), cross-platform, platform Disney's Atlantis: The Lost Empire, (Sony Interactive Entertainment, 2001), cross-platform, platform Big Hero 6 Battle in the Bay, (1st Playable Productions, 2014), -, platform 75 Disney's Kim Possible: What's the Switch?, (Disney Interactive Studios, 2006), -, platform Donald duck goin quackers, (Ubisoft/Disney Interactive Studios, 2000) cross platform, Platform-game. Disney's 102 Dalmatians: Puppies to the Rescue, (Digital Eclipse, Backbone Entertainment, 2000), -, platform 30

Conclusion chapter 1 Chapman’s Player freedom Player freedom Player freedom generalized Open ontological Open story Deterministic story framework

Scientific portrayal Detroit: Become Hyper realistic Human

Scientific portrayal Fall-out series Overwatch Donald Duck: Goin' Semi realistic Oblivion Evil Genius Quackers The SIMS Wolfenstein, the Portal Subnautica new order Shovel Knight Roller coaster tycoon Wolfenstein, the old DOOM Planet coaster blood Science Girls Zoo tycoon Civilization Psychonauts Theme hospital 1000 days to Lilo and Stitch escape Atlantis Big Hero Six Kim Possible 102 Dalmatians

Table 2 Chapman's scheme for chapter 1

If we review Chapman’s framework we see that none of the games mentioned in the previous chapter featured in-game worlds that resemble our reality. The same goes for the science in game that was used as a way to easily explain story elements. The main question of this chapter: how can gamers interact with science in videogames and what does in game science look like? Has multiple answers divided between answers concerning accessibility of narratives and answers regarding the depiction of science. Firstly, concerning accessibility, it matters what device people are playing on. PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo and PC all offer different exclusive titles. Thus excluding people who do not own

31 their devises. PC offers a vast variety in player made modifications and add-ons, which can insert new narratives into existing games. Secondly, accessibility is determined by the player freedom that determines how likely it is that players experience the science (inspired) narrative. In the open ontological story structure players shape their own story and it is up to them whether they interact with the science in- game. While in the deterministic story structure players are forced to interact with all the story elements if they want to continue playing. The open story structure features freedom of choice in a deterministic universe and forms an in between category. How gamers can play around with science is one side of the story, the other side is what does science look like. Does in-game world resemble our own world, such as in the hyper realistic style or is the world semi-realistic? In general a hyper realistic world often provides a more accurate description of science. While the semi-realistic style gives a less real life version of science. In the depiction of science it was argued that the scientific element was either a helpful or harmful story element for the player. In first person shooters there is little to no emphasis on story elements. The uses of science in these games is to provide a simple explanation for the state of the in-game world or for in-game objectives. For example, scientists could not control their subjects and therefore the world is in a dismal state. Or if the player wants to save the world the scientists need help to solve the crisis. In strategy games science is mostly used as a mechanism for development. If the player wants to progress through the game he/she needs to turn to science/scientists for help to better exploit their resources. This causes that science becomes a synonym for linear progression and development. Science is there not to find the truth or facts, it is their merely to act as a helper and be useful. In stimulation games we saw that the player could either try to be a scientist themselves or could use scientists to progress through the game. In the games that let the player simulate being a scientist, the player needs to progress through different stages to achieve their scientific ambition. This ambition is voiced a finding a bright future, often hinting that studying and

32 becoming a scientist helps to achieve goals later in life. The games that feature science to progress through the game usually focuses on using science as innovation. In platformers we saw the family friendly version of science represented. Platform games are often branded as for all ages. The uses of science in narrative resemble the uses in shooters. Science is used as an explanation and/or the creator for story elements. In short we saw that science in-game stories is often branded as either the hero or helpful, that is helping the player to progress through the story, or as the villain or harmful, the antagonist or cause of the in-game crisis. In the next chapter we will examine this distinction further by looking at how the scientific persona exemplify this function in the narrative and resemble older scientific stereotypes from literature and movies. Where we examine more narrative driven games in the RPG genre to see whether these scientists are also the either hero or villain argument.

Chapter 2 Mastering science or losing control

The scientific persona in video games

Introduction This chapter describe the visibility of the scientist in video games by answering the question: To what extent resembles the science stereotype in video games in literature? The question is answered in two parts. The first part introduces the science stereotypes in different media by arguing that the common stereotypes of the mad scientist and the lone genius are captured in the categories that Rosalyn Haynes in her article, From alchemy to artificial intelligence: stereotypes of the scientist in Western literature, introduced. The second part shows that the more intricate or nuanced the portrayal of the scientists in video game is, the less Haynes categories can be read as a strict one- person, one category scheme.

Part 1 Scientists in theory

“The scientist is a man who wears a white coat and works in a laboratory. He is elderly or middle aged and wears glasses . . . he may wear a beard. . . he is surrounded by equipment: test tubes, Bunsen burners, flasks and bottles, a jungle gym of blown glass tubes and weird machines with dials . . , he writes neatly in black notebooks . , . One day he may straighten up and shout: “I’ve found it! I’ve found it!”. . . Through his work people will have new and better products. . . he has to keep dangerous secrets . . . his work may be dangerous . . . he is always reading a book.”76

The quote above comes from a study done in 1957. The authors wanted to investigate how school children perceived scientists and simply asked the children to draw a person of science. Most of these drawings fit the common stereotype of a natural scientist in a lab coat working in a lab. The drawings related to the common stereotype of the mad scientist that we are familiar

76 Margareta Mead, and Rhoda Metraux. 1957. "Image Of The Scientist Among High-School Students: A Pilot Study". Science 126 (3270): 126 34 with western culture.77 The first part of this section provides a small reflection on how scientist are made visible in the public eye introducing the mad scientist and lone genius archetypes. The second half discusses the seven most common examples of scientist in literature identified by Roslynn Haynes, in her article From alchemy to artificial intelligence: stereotypes of the scientist in Western literature. In the reflection on Haynes we shall see that there is some overlap between her categories and the stereotype of the mad scientist and the lone genius. Basalla in his book, Pop science: the depiction of science in popular culture, argues that the public image of the scientist comes from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein but is also influenced by a number of alternative images. Such as HAL9000, the computer who is a sentient AI in 2001: A Space Odyssey movie, and others. The children who drew a scientist as a man who wears a lab coat and works in a laboratory are similar to popular culture products that feature a scientist. Basalla’s book dates before video games became available.78 However, it seems reasonable to believe that the video game scientist also embodies and justifies this stereotype. Christopher Tourney, in his article The Moral Character of Mad Scientist, argues that the specific madness of the mad scientist stereotype started in the 19th century. With Frankenstein as a prime example, and continued in the movies of the 20th century. The scientist described became increasingly immoral and irrational over time.79 Scholars from the public understanding of science field commonly claim that fictional representations of mad scientists largely represent a critique of science related to societal discomfort towards science. It also seems possible that fictional scientists are generally more well-known than actual researchers working in the universities.80 Moreover, the stereotype is for a large part based on the natural scientist, excluding a large part of the scientific community that works in the humanities or the social sciences.81

77 Ibidem. 384-390. 78 George Basalla, Pop science: the depiction of science in popular culture. In Science and its public, G Holton and W. Blanpied (Eds.). Dordrecht, Holland: D. Reidel, 1976. 79 Christopher P Toumey. 1992. "The Moral Character Of Mad Scientists: A Cultural Critique Of Science". Science, Technology, & Human Values 17 (4): 411-413. 80 Roman Frigg. "Fiction and scientific representation." Beyond mimesis and convention. Springer, Dordrecht, 2010. 4-6 81 Ibidem. 8 35

Joseph Reed, in his article Subgenres in horror pictures, acknowledges the negative critique on science within the mad scientist stereotype. Yet he also argues that the mad scientist can also be seen as a warning to the scientific community. The mad scientist illustrates science that has gone wrong and needs to be avoided.82 The cautioning properties of the mad scientist are also argued by other scholars. For instance, Donald Lawler argues that Jekyll and Hyde serve as a warning for scientist fooling around with relativism and uncertainties.83 An analysis of the movie The thing (1991) states that scientists are “foolishly curious” and showed a “abnormal desire for knowledge that is dangerous to the whole human race”.84 Ivan Butler proposes that French film Eyes without a Face, where Dr. Genessier kills young women so he can remove their faces in hopes of transplanting one onto his disfigured daughter, serves a direct warning against medical hubris.85 The mad scientist is generally presented as someone that makes immoral choices for sciences sake. Which supports a message for distrust in scientists for the general public, while the mad scientist also serves as a warning against science without ethics. The lone genius archetype shows a less ethically focused description of a fictional scientist. The lone genius stereotype features a man that works alone and has a single observation, a flash of brilliance, and — Eureka! — a new world or framework is born. Bowler and Morus comment on the lone genius perspective in the context of history in the introduction of their book Making modern science. They write about the idea that people associate the history of science with “a few great names”.86 Even researches in a certain field have an image of their practice that is associated with the great individuals of the past. Chandra Murkerji’s paper The collective construction of scientific genius reflects on how the scientific community is also influenced by the history of science with “a few great names”. Murkerji claims that new scientists are often drawn into the profession because they like images

82 Ibidem. 105-111 83 Lawler, Donald. 1988. “Refraining Jekyll and Hyde: Robert Louis Stevenson and the strange case of Gothic science fiction.” In Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde after one hundred years, edited by William Veeder and Gordon Hirsch. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 247-261 84 Vivian Sobchack. 1987. Screening science: The American science fiction film. 2d rev. ed. New York: Ungar. 23

85 Ivan Butler. 1970. Horror in the cinema. 2d rev. ed. New York: Barnes. 23 86 Peter Bowler and Ivan Morus, “Making Modern Science. A Historical Survey” (Chicago 2005). 2 36 of science and scientists. These views are strengthened by beginner textbooks about the history of science where they encountered the “great names”. It is not just the “search for the truth” these people are drawn to but also the genius persona of these truth seekers. Mukerji states that these scientists see Nobel-prizewinners and textbook scientists as an ideal and thus they support the lone genius narrative through the culture of the rewards of being a genius.87 There is another way in which the lone genius is part of everyday language. Mukerji suggests that scientific genealogies are commonly drawn among researchers. Both between present day researchers and historical geniuses, such as Bohr and Newton.88 In academic literature the lone genius narrative has been rejected in terms of actual representation. For example, D. Charney in her article, Lone Geniuses in Popular Science, states: “Adopting the perspective of an individual scientist or inventor sets up inappropriate oppositions, such as hero-villain or individual-system. The account may accurately reflect the views and experiences of that individual, but it sidelines the broader scientific conversation on the problem.”89 Charney argues that the lone genius narrative only celebrates scientific results while it derogates scientific disputes. Rather than portraying discussion and disputes among scientists as in integral part of the scientific inquiry, disputes are turned into games that need to be won. In this quest for scientific victories nonscientific considerations, such as personal gain and sociocultural biases take over. The values of good science can be less prominent. Next to this, the lone genius framework focuses on the moment of success, rather than on the long and dynamic journey to achieve this success.90 The lone genius narrative shows somewhat accurately represents science in its embodiment of the few great names of the past, while neglecting a focusses on the scientific community as a whole. Haynes in her article, From alchemy to artificial intelligence: stereotypes of the scientist in Western literature, observes good or moral scientist are a minority that work together with other are a minority in fiction. If mad scientist is represented he/she is always

87 Ibidem. 276-280 88 Ibidem. 277. 89 Davida Charney. 2003 "Lone geniuses in popular science: The devaluation of scientific consensus." Written Communication 20.3. 237 90 Ibidem. 237-340 37 presented operating alone.91 Haynes describes seven archetypes of (mad) scientists and these are: 1. the “scientist as adventurer; 2. the “foolish scientist;” 3. the “evil alchemist;” 4. the “mad, bad, dangerous scientist;” 5. the “inhuman researcher;” 6. the “helpless scientist,” 7. the “noble scientist” as hero or savior of society”92

The “scientist as adventurer” is a bold type that combines science, fun, adventuring and objectivity to eradicate evil and restore justice. It is an optimistic type that shows that scientific thinking will overcome difficulty. This type of scientist demonstrates that being is scientist is about applying knowledge rather than pursuing knowledge. That is why we see the adventurer rarely do any “science” or science related activities. Haynes argues that this stereotype is rarely granted to real life scientists.93 The “foolish scientist” serves as a warning to pompous wisdom. Haynes states that this stereotype finds its origin in the 17th century. Where enthusiastic amateurs started to collect outlandish objects believing that these bizarre things would help document all knowledge. These “foolish scientists” practiced scientific materialism, more concerned with collecting pretty and/or weird smelling things than with the pursuit of knowledge. They are mocked because their urge to collect becomes an obsession in which they lose a connection to the real world and/or the actual truth.94 The “evil alchemist” is described as a lone, ivory tower scientist. This type is not just seen engaged in dangerous and illegal research but also is in cahoots with the devil. Haynes writes that this type is a sinister magician and can be read as a warning against the pursuit of knowledge at

91 Roslynn Haynes. 2003. "From Alchemy To Artificial Intelligence: Stereotypes Of The Scientist In Western Literature". Public Understanding Of Science 12 (3): 244. 92 Ibidem. 244 93 Ibidem. 250-251 94 Ibidem. 247-248 38 all costs. Magic and deals with the devil are a steep price to pay for pay for knowledge, especially from the viewpoint of the medieval church. Alchemy in general holds big promises of wealth and immortality, which causes the “evil alchemist” to be extremely secretive about his work and very proud of his accomplishments. Since these accomplishments help fulfill the big promises.95 The “mad, bad, dangerous scientist” shows us a person in conflict which confronts us, readers, with real-life questions and fears. Haynes writes:

Whether in war or peace (power stations, nuclear isotopes) raised fundamentally new problems for society—questions about moral responsibility for research, the impossibility of unlearning knowledge, decisions about how and by whom knowledge should be owned, controlled, and implemented, the implications of the political–military–scientific nexus and the fear of degeneration of the species through mutations.96

This type illustrates our fear of losing our control over the world around us. The “inhuman researcher” has sacrificed his connections to other humans and emotions in order to more objective and thus a better scientist. Haynes observes these scientists glorify detachment from all other human experiences, especially those involving the emotions. The research this person engages in has a certain disregard for morality. Haynes mentioned the atomic scientists working on the bomb embodied this stereotype in them being unconcerned about the real-world effects of their bombs.97 The “helpless scientist” is someone that (potentially) creates something dangerous but his curiosity get the better of them. They are at best ignorant towards their creations at worst they are completely neglectful to dangerous and the unethical consequences of their research.98 The seventh and last stereotype is the “noble scientist”, he uses his research for the betterment of society. This makes him a great example for the public.99 He, however, encounters one of the most common flaws of utilitarianism, what is great for society can harm a minority

95 Ibidem. 244-245 96 Ibidem. 252 97 Ibidem. 248-245 98 Ibidem. 252-253 99 Ibidem. 245-247 39 group of people or animals. Haynes notes that this stereotype is almost non-existent in literature.100 Haynes archetypes can be divided into two larger categories. One consisting of scientists of the non-scientific and one of scientists that appropriate science. The scientists of the non- scientific are the adventure person, the foolish scientist and the evil alchemist. Because the adventurer is more about using knowledge than contributing to scientific debate. The foolish scientist has lost all connection to one of the traditional values in science, namely rationality, in his pursuit of scientific trinkets instead of knowledge. While the subject of the evil alchemist is non-scientific because in our world, we consider magic as metaphysics. The science types that appropriate science are the mad, bad and dangerous scientist (dangerous scientist for short), the inhumane researcher and the helpless scientist because their stories and subjects all reflect real life scientific practice or associations made with real life science. The dangerous scientist is fictional scientist that deals with real life scientific ideas and constructs. The inhumane researcher is so focused on his projects that he sacrifices his connections to the world around him/her for the sake of rationality. The helpless researcher is someone taken by curiosity in its scientific endeavors that he/she loses control over the subject. In all types we, implicitly, saw the lone genius at work, the exception of the noble scientist, are presented secluded from the rest of the scientific community. While the tendencies of the mad scientist where also visible in Haynes categories. The mad scientist represent a social distrust towards science and a general waring against science without ethics. Which are visible in all of the types Haynes introduced. To conclude this part, Hanes archetypes represented fictional scientists that, somewhat, resemble a real life scientist or a scientist of the non-scientific, while she also captures the tendencies of other stereotypes in her framework.

Part 2 scientists in action The examples described and trends in this part are based on based on a list of 270 scientists, that emerged from six genres of games. The general descriptions of these persona that feature in the

100 Ibidem. 247 40 descriptions of this chapter are based on the list of scientific persona.101 The list is created to support the claim that science as a plot device is depicted as either a hero or villain, as is argued for in chapter 1 and forms the backbone of this chapter in which we examine the science stereotype. The list is created by 1) the author’s ample experience with being a gamer and 2) by examining the most popular games per genre mentioned in chapter 1. These genres are: Role playing games, First person shooters, Real-time strategy games, simulation games and platform games. The lion share of the persona are visible in role playing games, because role playing games feature a narrative with many characters, the likelihood of one being a scientist is more present than in other genres. The natural sciences are abundantly present ranging from robotics to quantum electrodynamics. This underlines the connection between narrative in gaming to science fiction, which is also mostly based on a representation of the natural sciences. The only game on the list that does not feature a natural scientist or an alchemist (who is mostly a chemist that utilized magic) is The Witcher 3. The universe in game takes place in the middle ages and therefore modern science is out of place in the story. The story of The Witcher uses terms like trivium and quadrivium, to show the academic roots of their scientists. The humanity scholars in the Witcher also all fail to qualify the bare minimum to fit into Hanyes categories. Their stories are simply too shallow, since they mostly act as prop to make the fictional university look more lively. The scholars share this feature with a notable amount of scientist in the Fall-out universe, the Assassins Creed series and some scientists in the FPS genre. The Witcher does follow the pattern that all scientists in games seldom are the only scientific character, they always seem to be portraited with a multitude of colleagues. Mostly there is a divide between a lead scientist and their assistants, which both seem like an embodiment of the lone genius stereotype as an attempt to invalidate the lone genius stereotype. An exception to this rule are some scientists that are presented in a shallow narrative as the only antagonist. For example, the lead scientist in A virus named Tom or Nicolai Tesla in

101 See appendix 2. 41

Tesla vs Lovecraft.102 To understand the scientists and their work that feature in the case studies, there is next to a description of the in game research and its effect and description of the in-game universe or the overarching storylines presented in the game. This is because we cannot understand the effects the in-game scientist has created without understanding the context in which he/she operates.

Scientist of the non-scientific, heroes, vagueness and magic. Heroes. The scientist as adventurer This type is, according to Haynes, characterized as a person that can “conquer the natural world and transcend human limitations”.103 The type connects both the “great truths” vision of science with a wonderful journey narrative. The great adventurer is hardly ever seen in a traditional science setting. This person is not displayed with the lab coat, in a laboratory or doing traditional scientific activities. He/she finds the truth by fighting evil and travelling the world. This persona is exemplified in the adventure archeologist type. Visible in the Tomb raider franchise, the Uncharted series and the Indiana Jones gaming series. Croft sees archaeology as an means for adventure, has no formal education, stops further research from happing by blowing up archeological sites, is portrayed as a superhero due to her strength and murders countless people.104 This begs the question, is she even a representation of a scientist, rather than a roque adventurer? In other words, why is she an example to represent the scientist hero category?

102 The list of science is added in appendix 2. 103 Ibidem. 250 104 Shadow of the Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition, (Square Enix, Feral Interactive, 2019), cross-platform, RPG 42

Figure 11 Lara Croft throughout time, embodying none of the scientific looks. Source: https://www.quora.com/Why-was-Lara- Croft-given-a-bust-reduction-Was-it-because-she-was-considered-overly-sexual-If-so-is-that-fair

In the article, Trading Shovels for Controllers: A Brief Exploration of the Portrayal of Archaeology in Video Games, it is stated that Croft is not to be taken seriously as an archeologist since she just collects the artifact for her own benefit.105 I agree with the article that Croft does not represent a scientist in a nuanced manner. However, it also seems simplistic to disregard Croft as a scientist altogether. Croft does fit into a larger tradition of adventure archeologists in both gaming and more traditional media. Moreover, Croft is increasingly made more ‘scientific’ throughout the franchise. It seems reasonable to assume that the Indiana Jones franchise plays a large role in providing the archeologist with their adventure status.106 The movie Raiders of the Lost Ark premiered in 1981 and the accompanying video game was released in 1982 for the Atari 2600 console. Raiders is a very early adventure game. The graphics are minimal, Jones is barely recognizable because his head is replaced with his signature fedora. Players go through a series of mazes and puzzles. The recognizability of the scientist relies on the idea that players are familiar with the movie or have read the games user manual or seen the cover art on the box,

105 Kathryn Meyers Emery, and Andrew Reinhard. 2015. "Trading Shovels For Controllers: A Brief Exploration Of The Portrayal Of Archaeology In Video Games". Public Archaeology 14 (2): 137-149 106 Kevin McGeough. 2006. "Heroes, Mummies, And Treasure: Near Eastern Archaeology In The Movies". Near Eastern Archaeology 69 (3-4): 174-185. doi:10.1086/nea25067670., 174-175. 43 otherwise Jones, at least in this game, is unrecognizable as a character, let alone a scientist.107 Roughly forty years later, there a twenty Indiana Jones games, which sometimes are related to the movies, while others do not have an accompanying movie. For example, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicle, Instruments of Chaos has an original story, while Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Action Game, largely follows the storyline of the accompanying movie.108 Jones becomes increasingly more recognizable as an archeologist throughout all the games. He is presented as a professor and carries around an archeological toolkit “researching” historical sites.109 Jones can be juxtaposed with Nathan Drake, main protagonist of the Uncharted series. Drake is an explorer like Croft and Jones. He seeks mystical treasure while often destroying the monuments and ruins he discovers. Drake fits into a similar narrative of searching for lost artefacts, using historical (ego)documents, temple inscriptions and other practices we associate with archaeology. However, the difference between Drake and the other two is that Drake never claims to be an archeologist, or a scientist of any kind.110 Despite this, Uncharted is often listed as a archaeology game and Drake as an archaeologist by game reviewers and fans alike.111 The question remains whether it is reasonable to put forward Croft as an example in this category. She certainly fits the larger context of the adventure archeologist/scientist. Moreover Croft’s scientific side is especially visible in her interaction with other in game characters. The people who hire Croft to go on a mission, especially Jacqueline Natla, praise her research skills and to some extent validate her as a researcher. Moreover, Croft hired her own research team. She regularly works together with hacker/technology expert (and brilliant cook) Zip. Whom she

107 Raiders of the Lost Ark, (Atari, Inc., 1982), -, platform 108 "List Of Indiana Jones Video Games". 2020. Indiana Jones Wiki. https://indianajones.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_Indiana_Jones_video_games. 109 Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings, (LucasArts, 2009), cross-platform, RPG 110 Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, (Naughty Dog, 2009), -, RPG Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception, (Naughty Dog, 2011), -, RPG Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, (Naughty Dog, 2007), -, RPG 111 "When Did Anybody Ever Claim That Nathan Drake Was An Archaeologist? - Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Message Board For Playstation 3 - Gamefaqs". 2020. Gamefaqs.Gamespot.Com. https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/955125-uncharted-2-among-thieves/53343247. Date of access: 03-02- 2020 44 orders to bypass security systems in the name of ‘research’.112 Her other team member is Alister Fletcher, who is responsible for understanding and explaining previously found artifacts, as opposed to Lara's search for new artifacts. He often helps Lara with placing her discoveries in a larger context.113 Croft and her fellows show little scientific activity in their action packed narratives, however they are seen as scientists and do embody the features of the adventuring scientist.

Vagueness. The “foolish scientist;” The foolish scientist is naïve at best and completely neglectful at worst. He or she is an eccentric person who has lost all connection to the rest of the world and is obsessed with collecting and cataloging science things. Haynes states that the foolish scientist is forgiven because their foolishness is lovable. She writes: “they wear unmatched socks, never remember to cut their hair and remain oblivious to the danger of their research.”114 Many of the professors presented in the Pokémon games embody the traits of being an absent minded professor, this often turns into goofiness and/or neglect of their research. The Pokémon universe consist of 122 games, categorized in eight generations (each generation introduced a new set of fictional animals) with the capture and training of fantasy animals to make them fight each other at its core. The world of Pokémon is not just a gaming franchise, even though the universe originates in games, there are also multiple (animated) movies, tv series, a trading card game and (comic) books. The core game series features 13 professors who all, some more distinct than others, can be placed into the foolish scientist’s category because all of them are obsessed collectors and share the vagueness of mind. The professors study the world of Pokémon and all have their own specialization. E.g. professor Oak specializes in human and Pokémon relationships while Professor Rohan studies Pokémon evolutionary patterns.115 Professor Oak and his colleagues guide the

112 Tomb Raider: Legend, (Eidos Interactive, 2006) Zip (Legend Timeline)". 2020. Lara Croft Wiki. https://tombraider.fandom.com/wiki/Zip_(Legend_Timeline). 113 Tomb Raider: Underworld, (Eidos Interactive, Feral Interactive (Mac OS X), 2008), cross-platform, RPG Tomb Raider: Legend, (Eidos Interactive, 2006) "Alister Fletcher". 2020. Lara Croft Wiki. https://tombraider.fandom.com/wiki/Alister_Fletcher. 114 Roslynn Haynes. 2003. "From Alchemy To Artificial Intelligence: Stereotypes Of The Scientist In Western Literature". Public Understanding Of Science 12 (3). 248 115 "Professor". 2020. Pokémon Wiki. https://pokemon.fandom.com/wiki/Professor. Date of access: 03-02-2020 45 player through the game. In Pokémon red and blue, Oak welcomes the player to the Pokémon world. After the warm welcome the Professor wants to introduce his grandson to the player in order to set up the player and grandson rivalry. However, Oak is so distracted in his own work that he forgets the name of his grandson, leaving it up to the player to remind him what his name is. Oak literally knows all the names of the Pokémon in his universe but he cannot remember the name of his grandson.116

Figure 12 Absent mindedness at its finest. Source: https://i.imgur.com/MNS5Qnc_d.webp?maxwidth=728&fidelity=grand

This joke worthy argument of why professor Oak is absent minded researcher based on remembering the names of relatives can be interpreted as frivolous. It, to some extent, is. However, Professors Oak’s confusion about his surroundings and absent mindedness became a defining trait for him and many other Pokémon researchers. This vagueness of mind is also used as a plot device. Professor Elm specializes in Pokémon evolution. His defining trait is that he ‘steps out of the situation’, examining something intensely, while he misses crucial events around him. For example, he "steps out for a minute" while examining the starter Pokémon, just long enough for the antagonist to steal one of them. Thus, allowing the plot to happen, such that the player can

116 Pokémon Red and Blue, (GameFreak, 1996), cross-platform, platform Differences, Regional, and Clyde Mandelin. 2020. "Legends Of Localization: Did Professor Oak Forget His Own Grandson’S Name In Japanese?". Legends Of Localization. https://legendsoflocalization.com/qa-did-professor-oak- forget-his-own-grandsons-name-in-japanese/. Date of access: 03-02-2020 46 track down this stolen creature.117 Professor Birch is regularly ambushed by his own researcher subjects, despite being an experienced field researcher.118 Warden Baoba of Fuchsia City's Safari Zone obtained the nickname "Slowpoke" due to his constant "vacant look" despite his vast knowledge of Pokémon.119 Professor Rowan is so caught up in his work that he does not realize that two of his most valuable specimen are stolen.120 With the Pokémon professors we run into a similar problem as with the adventure hero, even though the professors are presented as such, we never see them do any research and/or science related activities. We know that they regularly loose themselves in their work but that is easily the only way we even see them talk about their work. The fact remains that the Pokémon games do not revolve around research and/or science, since the main objective is becoming the best Pokémon trainer in the world or to collect all the creatures. The professors are helpful to the player in their role as mentors, but we rarely get to reflect on how they became knowledgeable to act as teachers. Most professors own their own laboratory; however the player just sees these places as a colorful background, rarely as a workspace.

Magic. The Evil alchemist The evil alchemist seems most present in a fantasy universe where magic is not just present without explanation but is there to be experimented with and controlled. One of the games series that embodies this feature is the Elder scrolls franchise, which consists of 10 games of which Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim and the Elder scrolls Online are best known. All Elder scrolls games, with the exception of Oblivion-DLC the Shivering isles, take place in

117 Pokémon Gold and Silver, (Nintendo, 1999), -, platform "Professor Elm - Bulbapedia, The Community-Driven Pokémon Encyclopedia". 2020. Bulbapedia.Bulbagarden.Net. https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Professor_Elm#Gold.2C_Silver_and_Crystal. Date of access: 03-02-2020 118 Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, (GameFreak, 2002), -, platform "Professor Birch - Bulbapedia, The Community-Driven Pokémon Encyclopedia". 2020. Bulbapedia.Bulbagarden.Net. https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Professor_Birch. Date of access: 03-02-2020 119 Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, (GameFreak, 2009), -, platform"Baoba - Bulbapedia, The Community-Driven Pokémon Encyclopedia". 2020. Bulbapedia.Bulbagarden.Net. https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Baoba. 120 "Professor Rowan - Bulbapedia, The Community-Driven Pokémon Encyclopedia". 2020. Bulbapedia.Bulbagarden.Net. https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Professor_Rowan. Date of access: 03-02- 2020 47 the fictional world of Tamriel. The story usually centralizes around a grand struggle against evil forces, these can be dragons, gods, creatures that became gods or (other) immortals. As is typical in high fantasy works, magic and sorcery, mythical creatures, races with their own political agendas, walled medieval cities and strongholds, and plot elements driven by prophecies and legends are common. Due to the many Elder scroll’s games available, that include extensive lore and back story, the Elder scrolls universe is rich in storytelling. These include lore about the culture of the fictional races, rise and falls of the gods and the worship of the anti-gods called Deadra.121 Many story elements are presented in books in the game, as written by the fictional scholars who inhabit the world, and it is subject to their biases and speculation. Most of these lore books are written by mages employed by the mages guild and educated at the arcane university. Some narrative inconsistencies, such as incorporating mutually exclusive endings to earlier storylines in games are explained as faults or inconsistencies in scholarly knowledge.122 The best example of the evil alchemist in the Elder scrolls universe, in my opinion, is Sotha Sil. In the universe he is known as the Father of Mysteries. Sotha Sil’s rose to fame in the first era. He created his own version of the Dwemer's Automatons, steampunk robot warriors, to win the battle of Red Mountain.123 The cleverness of his creations made him, and his friends Almalexia and Vivec, admirable and helped with his claim to power over the elven lands. In Red Mountain, Sil found divine tools. These were so powerful that all three of them became gods by stealing the power from these tools. However, they paid the price for their theft, Daedric prince Azura (a daemon type being) cursed them and their entire race for the hubris of the newly made gods.

121 The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, (Bethesda Softworks, 2002), cross-platform, RPG The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, (Bethesda Softworks, 2006), cross-platform, RPG The Elder Scrolls Online, (Bethesda Softworks, 2014), cross-platform, RPG The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, (Bethesda Softworks, 2016), cross-platform, RPG "The Battle To Control What's Fact And Fiction In The Elder Scrolls' Lore". Pcgamer. https://www.pcgamer.com/the-battle-to-control-whats-fact-and-fiction-in-the-elder-scrolls-lore/. 122 Ibidem. 123 The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, (Bethesda Softworks, 2002), cross-platform, RPG The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, (Bethesda Softworks, 2006), cross-platform, RPG The Elder Scrolls Online, (Bethesda Softworks, 2014), cross-platform, RPG The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, (Bethesda Softworks, 2016), cross-platform, RPG "Lore:Sotha Sil - The Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages (UESP)". 2020. En.Uesp.Net. https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Sotha_Sil. 48

The curse caused their eyes to turn red and their skin ashen. 124 With his godlike powers and divine artifacts Sil created his Clockwork city. The city transcends space and time and can travel with Sil. The purpose of the city is unknown. Some say it is because he saw his own world as flawed a tried to prefect it. Others say it is a social experiment. The Clockwork city is entirely mechanical but Sil made the Halls of Regulation which created bare minimum livable conditions for humans. The creation of the city only established his reputation as god further.125

Figure 13 A player in Sil’s realm. Source: in game footage made by author.

He experiments in his realm and a small part of his city is dedicated to failed experiments. It is called The Asylum Sanctorium, the save space for failed experiment has the following explanation: “Half house of healing, half shrine, this isolated area of the Clockwork City serves as a sanitarium for inhabitants driven mad by the strangeness of its artificial environment.”126 This

124 Ibidem. 125 Ibidem. 126 The Elder Scrolls Online, (Bethesda Softworks, 2014), cross-platform, RPG "Asylum Sanctorium - Elder Scrolls Online". Elder Scrolls Online Wiki. https://elderscrollsonline.wiki.fextralife.com/Asylum+Sanctorium. Date of access 28-7-2020 49 shows both that Sil can grant immorality but that does not always work as intended. Until the Elder Scrolls Online DLC Clockwork City the player was unable to interact with Sil directly. This conversation after the main quest gives the player a closer look into the motivations of the father of mysteries. On his own reputation Sil answers as follows: "I am whatever the people need me to be. A guardian. An oppressor. For some, too distant. For others, too meddlesome. I am the canvas upon which they paint their dreams and resentments. A vessel for their hopes and doubts. A mirror. Nothing more." Here we see that Sil does not want to elaborate on his motivations and reputation throughout Tamriel. He knows that he is a public figure and appreciates the idea that his mystery reputation let him be everything and nothing at the same time. Sil also asks: "Do you like this place? (referring to the Clockwork city) It took me the better part of a decade to perfect it. Every stone and flower tells a story. Tales of how things were... how they ought to be. I thought about destroying it on more than one occasion. I'm glad I didn't." … Sil: “I suffer from a peculiar ailment. Shall I describe it? I bear the cruel weight of certainty. Total, absolute, relentless certainty. People rarely comprehend the luxury of doubt... the freedom that comes with indecision. I envy you." Player: “Didn't you just say that you question whether the City is worth the effort?” Sil: "Indeed. But such questions are flaccid - cursory indulgences that come and go in an instant. The truth is that my actions, both good and evil, are inevitable. Locked in time. Determined by chains of action and consequence.” Player: “So... you were forced to build the Clockwork City?” Sil: "Compelled. "127 In comparison with the heroes and the vague professors, Sil is more of a traditional scientist. We see the effects of his work and can interact with the spoils of his research. He seems to subtly transcend the category of the evil alchemist. He is the dangerous scientist not just

127 The Elder Scrolls Online, (Bethesda Softworks, 2014), cross-platform, RPG "Lore:Sotha Sil - The Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages (UESP)". 2020. En.Uesp.Net. https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Sotha_Sil. Date of access 28-7-2020 50 because the dangerous scientist sprang from the alchemist tradition but also because he shows who should own and exploit knowledge, which is associated with the dangerous scientist. For Sil owing knowledge is deterministic and not a choice.

Scientist appropriating science, moral lessons, certain doom and losing control Moral lessons, mad scientist Dr Tannenbaum and her visions Haynes writes: “the “mad scientist” archetype includes: paranoia, delusions of grandeur, obsessive behavior”128 In the game series BioShock, we meet several scientists that embody this idea. The series consists of three main games, BioShock, BioShock 2 and BioShock infinity and two-story focused expansion packs, BioShock 2: Minerva's Den and BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea. The first two games, BioShock and Bioshock 2, both take place in Rapture, a utopian city build by scientists. The third game connects Rapture to the floating city of Columbus through the power multiverse and quantum mechanics. The story of the third game plays, through its uses of multiverse and time travel, as a background for the first 2 games and connects all characters and locations.129 In the underwater city of Rapture; the city's history is mostly revealed via audio recordings that are optional to listen to during the game. Rapture was originally created to embody ultimate freedom. A society liberated from any religious or governmental interference. The citizens would thrive, not burdened by fulfilling the wants and needs of others. Science is not burdened by ethical standards or the need to be useful to society.130 Rapture is built to resemble the vision of Andrew Ryan, a philosopher inventor that grew up in Soviet Russia. His experiences in the "worker's paradise" made Ryan despise the ideals of communism and other forms collectivism, as he believed that workers undeservingly benefited

128 Roslynn Haynes. 2003. "From Alchemy To Artificial Intelligence: Stereotypes Of The Scientist In Western Literature". Public Understanding Of Science 12 (3). 129 BioShock, (2K Games, 2007), cross-platform, FPS BioShock 2, (2K Games, 2010), cross-platform, FPS BioShock Infinite, (2K Games, 2010), cross-platform, FPS "Bioshock Infinite". 2020. Bioshock Wiki. https://bioshock.fandom.com/wiki/BioShock_Infinite. 130 BioShock, (2K Games, 2007), cross-platform, FPS BioShock 2, (2K Games, 2010), cross-platform, FPS "Rapture". 2020. Bioshock Wiki. https://bioshock.fandom.com/wiki/Rapture. 51 from others. He calls all those who benefited undeservedly from others "Parasites".131 In Rapture Ryan’s vision came to life where the great would not be constrained by the small. Rapture is built under the sea and was designed to be entirely self-supporting, with all of its electricity, food production, water purification and defense systems powered by undersea volcanic vents. A city created by and for ‘the brightest minds of a generation’. Even though the engineering is done by scientists, the city is built by craftspeople. The workers eventually run out of work and per Ryan’s philosophy are left to fend for themselves.132 The helplessness of the workers was elevated by professional mobster and game antagonist Frank Fontaine, who started to recruit people for his smuggling business after he had smuggled himself into Rapture. This causes social tensions in Ryan’s utopia. Ryan sees Fontaine's rise to power as proof of the opportunity for determined men to shape their own future, exactly the purpose for which Rapture was built. However, Fontaine’s leadership shows dents in Ryan’s own powers and raises questions to Ryan’s authority. One of these conflicts is about ADAM, created by geneticist Dr. Brigid Tenenbaum. Tenenbaum discovered that a type of sea slug held a substance that could heal damaged cells and even resurrect them. Even within free state Rapture no regular scientist dares to invests in Tenenbaums research plan, so Tenenbaum turns to mobster Fontaine. Fontaine’s money and Tenenbaum’s ambition create ADAM, a serum that has the ability to rewrite genetic material, allowing the users to alter their bodies, their genetic makeup and their natural abilities without any direct limits aside from their imagination. The demand for ADAM soon outgrows the supply and Tenenbaum has to find a way to artificially create the ingredients harvested from the sea slugs. Urged by Fontaine, who wants to enlarge his profit stream, Tenenbaum experiments to create more ingredients. She finds out that if a Sea Slug was implanted in a human stomach, the host and slug yielded up to thirty times the quantity of usable ADAM. Results differ per sex and age of the human.

131 BioShock, (2K Games, 2007), cross-platform, FPS BioShock 2, (2K Games, 2010), cross-platform, FPS "Bioshock Public Address Announcements". 2020. Bioshock Wiki. https://bioshock.fandom.com/wiki/BioShock_Public_Address_Announcements#Andrew_Ryan.27s_Spee Date of access 28-7-2020 132 BioShock 2, (2K Games, 2010), cross-platform, FPS "Pauper's Drop (Level)". 2020. Bioshock Wiki. https://bioshock.fandom.com/wiki/Pauper%27s_Drop_(Level). 52

Female children, eventually known as Little Sisters after implantation, were found to be the best hosts. Although, Tenenbaum hoped to keep the children in a vegetative state, it was found they had to be fully functional to produce the ADAM.133 Dr. Suchong experimented on the children to make them more productive. Since ADAM is valuable and little children are relatively defenseless, the little sisters needed to be protected. Dr. Yi Suchong and Dr. Gilbert Alexander created bodyguards for the sisters. They created the Big Daddy, a combination between genetically enhanced human beings and robotic city maintenance workers.134 Next to abducting girls to turn them into little sister to accommodate the ADAM intake, Rapture has more problems. When the player enters the game, people are either insane from ADAM overdose or dead. Big Daddies who lost their little sisters roam aimlessly through the city and first glances of the city the player gets are with someone getting murdered.135 The city is in dismal state and the player slowly but steadily learns about Ryan and Tenenbaum.

133 BioShock, (2K Games, 2007), cross-platform, FPS BioShock 2, (2K Games, 2010), cross-platform, FPS "Little Sister". 2020. Bioshock Wiki. https://bioshock.fandom.com/wiki/Little_Sister. 134 BioShock, (2K Games, 2007), cross-platform, FPS BioShock 2, (2K Games, 2010), cross-platform, FPS "Gilbert Alexander". 2020. Bioshock Wiki. https://bioshock.fandom.com/wiki/Gilbert_Alexander. 135 BioShock, (2K Games, 2007), cross-platform, FPS 53

Figure 14 Tenenbaum in Rapture. Source: https://www.google.com/search?q=bioshock+brigid+tenenbaum&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwipl-rfqZbrAhXUIMUKHfFgD4sQ2- cCegQIABAA&oq=bioshock+bri&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQARgAMgIIADIGCAAQCBAeMgQIABAYMgQIABAYMgQIABAYMgQIABAYOgUIA BCxAzoECAAQQ1DIj25

Tenenbaum captures the dangerous scientists by as Haynes writes “the increasing power of science to produce cataclysmic results on a scale hitherto unimaginable”136 in the production of ADAM. She shows bravery, endurance, optimism of the adventure and the absent mindedness of the foolish one. Her inhumane parts are visible in the disregard for children in creating the little sisters. The fact that her research escapes her, a feature from the helpless scientist, is clear throughout the story of the game.

Impending doom, in humane researcher Dr. Sobeck and her solutions to save the world Elisabet Sobeck from the game Horizon Zero Dawn shows the passions of the inhumane researcher as her predominant trait. The player never directly experiences Sobeck’s world, since her world was completely destroyed, for which Sobeck is partly responsible. The timeline within Horizon Zero Dawn is divided into two main periods. The old world, where Sobeck lived, and the new world, the one the player gets to explore.

136 Roslynn Haynes. 2003. "From Alchemy To Artificial Intelligence: Stereotypes Of The Scientist In Western Literature". Public Understanding Of Science 12 (3). 251 54

The player experiences the game from Aloy’s point of view. Aloy is clone of Sobeck which shares the same genetic material as Sobeck. However, Aloy is not the same person as Sobeck since they are both from different worlds. Aloy, an outcast huntress in a world full of mechanical animals that display various degrees of aggression towards humans. Sobeck’s world is a grim one. Large parts of the world become inhabitable due to climate change which caused numerous climate refugees. It is not just the environment that causes suffering in Sobeck’s world. There are multiple social problems as well. The rapid increase of robots and AI taking over people’s jobs cause mass unemployment and result in poverty.137 People are aware of the environmental and social problems caused by technology but also believe that their problems will be solved by AI as well. Unfortunately, we do not see Sobeck think or talk about on these problems in her world. Sobeck’s career is a walk in the park until 2068, when Ted Faro reaches out to her to talk about the Chariot line of combat automatons. These robots are designed around the concept of a swarm of insects but these are artificially intelligent, self-replicating robots, virtually immune from hacking, able to consume organic matter as fuel and with the ability to instantly enslave enemy automatons to do their bidding. The robots were designed to be virtually unstoppable by all but Faro’s clients. Sobeck designed and engineered the bio-mass consumption and over-write of enemy machines feature. One of the swarms have gone roque answering only to itself and began attacking people and taking over robots. The swarm never runs out of fuel, can take-over other AI and has no kill- switch. Which makes it unstoppable and an existential threat to life on Earth.138 Sobeck’s reaction is to initiate project Zero Dawn, which job was to create a global terraforming system that would, after life was exterminated and thus the biomass was gone, deactivate the swarm and initiate a new planet. She predicts that the swarm will strip the entire planet of life within 15 months, so that is the timeframe in which a solution should be created. Sobeck’s solution is to replacement the doomed old world, not the salvation of it. All life would go extinct before world building AI GAIA would recreate everything. Sobeck in this game is presented as a true hero, who distanced herself from creating war

137 Horizon Zero Dawn, (Guerrilla Games, 2017), -, RPGText Datapoints - World. Found in Devil's Thirst. Non mandatory reading. Text points name: Harriet Choi Dies 138 Ibidem. 55 machines, working on machines aimed towards cleaning up the environment and worked relentless on the success of Zero Dawn. In the end she sacrificed herself to go outside the Zero dawn facility to repair the outer wall during a Faro swarm attack. She seems like the ultimate inhumane researcher, sacrificing all human connections to save the world. In my opinion, her true embodiment of the category lays in her disregard for moral standards in order to fix her mistakes. In Sobeck’s attempt to create GAIA shows a great disregard for life in her attempt to preserve life. To create more time to for project Zero Dawn, Sobeck deceived billions of untrained civilians to take part in Operation Enduring Victory. This caused an incomprehensible amount of death by convincing civilians that they could stop the end of the earth by fighting the highly complex killer robots. These unarmed civilians walked straight to their deaths, in the illusion that their fight would resolve the immediate apocalypse. Of course, they would have died nonetheless when the plaque would be completed. However, they died in the worst possible way while they could have died surrounding by their family and friends.139 Moreover, Sobeck did not just deceive these untrained forces there is also no virtual proof that the mass sacrifice of people slowed these machines down. Sobeck hears the Faro plaque news on November 1st and initiates Zero Dawn two days later. In these two days no one else is brought in to ponder humanities direction under these circumstances. The end of the world and the sacrifice billions situation is argued by Sobeck and her alone.140 She blackmailed Faro into funding the Zero Dawn facilities, while she is on her way to meet the commander general of the U.S army. Not fellow scientists or experts on robotics and/or her colleagues at her company who are skilled at working with these types of tech. The commander general is called Aaron Herres and has no knowledge of robots, whatsoever. We do not see her convince Herres of Zero dawn, but it must have been intense. Sobeck and Faro are not arrested or questioned or held accountable for anything, the plan stays a secret. Herres also becomes the public face of the mass-sacrifice campaign, called operation Enduring Victory. He had the tough job to lie to the public that they were fighting for survival instead of realizing that there is no point in fighting. The commander is also responsible for

139 Ibidem. 140 Ibidem. 56 getting Sobeck her research dream team and location. The research team is mostly abducted from all over the world. She and her research team are tasked with building GAIA, a world creating robot. Or as Sobeck explains it in the game: “to create a super intelligent, fully automated... terraforming system - and bring life back from lifelessness. What would such a system require? At its core, it would need a true AI. A machine intelligence, fully sentient, fully capable of making the trillions of decisions necessary to reconstitute the biosphere. An immortal guardian devoted to the re- flourishing of life on Earth. We call it GAIA. Mother Nature as an AI.”141

Figure 15 Sobeck explaining her AI. Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmtxMHCbOgU

APPOLLO, a GAIA-sub system, was meant to teach the history of Earth and humanities past to the future humans. This was to help them continue being an advanced society, and ideally not make the same mistakes. There is a strong ideological component to this, these teachings will shape new societies. The APPOLLO team gets to decide how the old world is remembered. It should come as no surprise that Sobeck is the lead scientist of the APPOLLO team, every piece of knowledge that is inserted in the system is first approved by Sobeck. In this sense is Sobeck

141 Horizon Zero Dawn, (Guerrilla Games, 2017) Hologram datapoints. Found in Zero Dawn facility. Mandatory reading. Audio points name: the good news. 57 responsible for the culture of the future.142 Sidelining other perspectives in her attempt to create the best possible world alone. In sum, in Sobeck we saw an inhumane researcher at work. The archetype was visible in her disregard of current life, while trying to give future life a change. She carefully constructed a scientific persona of a hero and savior. She let others bring the bad news so she can enjoy the status of savior all by herself. This can also be a persuasive tool; the other scientist will accept Sobeck and her vision more easily if she is presented as hero. Sobeck also showed parts of the other categories of Haynes. She is foolish in her losing control over her robots and helpless in losing control over her world, is dangerous in the ways she pushes her project and shares some of the secret features of the evil alchemist.

Research running wild, Crash Bandicoot and his enemies The “helpless scientist,” is someone that (potentially) creates something dangerous and his curiosity gets the better of them by ignoring the dangerous properties of his creation. At worst they are completely neglectful to dangerous and the unethical consequences of their research, at best just ignorant.143 We will explore this type by discussing Dr. Neo Cortex main antagonist of the Crash Bandicoot series and several of his fellow colleagues presented in the games. The series launched in 1996 with the first platform game Crash Bandicoot, a PlayStation only game developed by Naughty Dog. After the first game became a success two more games were made to form a trilogy. Dr. Neo Periwinkle Cortex, the game antagonist, calls himself a professional evil scientist. He grew up in the circus where he was the odd man out. Cortex likes to read science books instead of being a clown, like his family. He was always bullied while growing up and a deviant group of circus performers tattooed an N on his head for Nerd. Cortex later claims that it stands for his first name. His family died in a “freak accident” which might be caused by Cortex. He enrolled in the academy of evil where he does not fit in but teams up with Nitrus Brio and N. Gin. The three of them ran away from the school to escape the bullies and build the Evolvo-

142 Horizon Zero Dawn, (Guerrilla Games, 2017) Text Datapoints – quest. Found in Zero dawn project facility. Non-Mandatory reading. Text points name: APOLLO update 143 Roslynn Haynes. 2003. "From Alchemy To Artificial Intelligence: Stereotypes Of The Scientist In Western Literature". Public Understanding Of Science 12 (3). 252-253 58

Ray, which turns regular animals into disposable soldiers. This is used to create his loyal serving minions, however it has also created Crash Bandicoot, who is the main playable protagonist and opponent of Dr. Cortex within the series.144 Dr. Cortex tries to achieve world domination in six separate games. The player never evidently sees the motivations behind his power hunger. It is suggested in the player manual booklet of the first game that Neo holds a grudge against other scientists and people because they did not accept him and his ideas.145 This motive is never made explicit in the games themselves, he is portrayed as intelligent yet impulsive.

Figure 16 Brio (left) and Cortex (right) bring Crash (middle) into existence. Source:https://www.crashmania.net/pt/games/crashbandicoot/story/

The first Crash Bandicoot game starts with Dr. Cortex and his colleague Nitrus Brio. This Evolvo-Ray is still under construction and Brio warns Cortex that the results of the ray are unpredictable at best and dangerous at their worst. Cortex overlooks this warning because he thinks that the potential outcome of the machine is far too fascinating to ignore. They try the ray

144 Crash Bandicoot, (Naughty Dog, 1996), cross-platform, platform Crash Bandicoot, Cortex Strikes Back, (Naughty Dog, 1997), cross-platform, platform Crash Bandicoot, Warped, (Naughty Dog, 1997), cross-platform, platform 145 Crash Bandicoot, (Naughty Dog, 1996), cross-platform, platform Gamesdatabase.Org. https://www.gamesdatabase.org/Media/SYSTEM/Sony_Playstation/Manual/formated/Crash_Bandicoot_-_1996_- _Sony_Computer_Entertainment.pdf. Date of access 28-7-2020 59 on a bandicoot they captured on the island. The bandicoot, named Crash, is rejected by the Vortex-ray and thus Cortex fails to control his mind. Crash then seizes the opportunity to escape, which starts the first game.146 Crash teams up with floating tiki-mask Aku-Aku, that vouches to protect Crash from Cortex and Brio, in order to save his girlfriend Tawna from the Cortex. Crash meets several of Cortex experiments, which were under the influence of Cortex’s mind control, during his journey. The mind control has the backlash that it makes the animals insane and hyper intelligent. All test subjects form the mini bosses in the game. All mini bosses, with the exception of island chief Papu Papu and Nitrus Brio, are created by Cortex’s ray.147 Ripper Roo is hit with the ray twice, which caused his fur to turn blue and for him to go insane. He wears a straitjacket and throws explosives which he invented at Crash. In the alternative ending of the game he undergoes years of intense therapy, higher education and writes a book on biology titled: “Through the Eyes of the Vortex: A Study of Rapid Evolution and Its Consequences”. Which provided the explanation as to why he is different in the second game of the series.148 Nitrus Brio is characterized as Cortex’s assistant who lacks the self-esteem to be an evil genius on his own. Brio has a fascination for mixing ingredients. His laboratory and actions imply that he is a chemist. In his boss fight he throws beakers that spawn sentient blobs, suggesting that Brio is able to create life from his concoctions. He also injects himself with his own mixture, which turns him into the Frankenstein monster. His monster state has him stripped down of all his intellect and he destroys his own lab and that of Dr. Cortex in the process.149 The first Crash game ends with the quote: “The world has heard nothing more of Cortex since Crash has foiled his plans. But evil geniuses are harder to squash than cockroaches”.150 This turned out to be true since the second Crash game, Cortex Strikes Back, start where the first game ended. In this game Nitrus Brio strikes out on his own to claim name and fame as a

146 Crash Bandicoot, (Naughty Dog, 1996), cross-platform, platform "Crash Bandicoot - Story". Crashmania.Net. https://www.crashmania.net/en/games/crash-bandicoot/story/. Date of access 28-7-2020 147 Ibidem. 148 Ibidem. 149 Ibidem. 150 Ibidem. 60 scientist. Brio is done with being associated with Cortex and Cortex taking the credit for his work. Both Brio and Cortex try to recruit Crash, their other failed experiment and Crash’s sister, Coco, to gather the materials necessary to for fill their goals. Cortex want Crash to help gather materials to achieve world domination and Brio just want to foil Cortex’ plans. Brio teams up with Ripper Roo, whom is recently graduated from university but is still a mad genius. Cortex teams up with a former school friend, Dr. N. Gin.151 Cortex builds a space station and uses that as a new laboratory for his research and Brio uses his biological talents to create new obstacles for Crash to overcome: Tiny Tiger, a muscular Tasmanian tiger, and the Komodo Brothers, two alligators skilled at sword fighting, as main examples.152 Both Brio and Cortex helplessness is illustrated in how they both need someone else to gather their necessary materials and both are defeated by their “failed project”. Moreover, Cortex’s new and improved machines are still unstable and dangerous, yet their potential is so great that Cortex still uses them. Even if it ends with his space station falling from the sky or hurting his assistant dr. N. Gin (wordplay on engine).153 Dr. N Gin himself is another great example of a helpless scientist. He worked in nuclear development as a renowned physicist. His experiments got away from him due to hubris, which resulted in budget cuts in his department. One of his missile experiments landed in his head because he still wanted to conduct tests. Gin’s used scientific resourcefulness to transform the rocket into a life supporting system, which makes him practically immortal.154 The third Crash game introduces a new enemy, mask Uku Uku (not to be confused with his twin brother Aku Aku) is set loose by Cortex due to a failed experiment. Uku recruits Cortex and introduces a new scientist, Doctor Nefarious Tropy. Tropy creates the time-twister, a time traveling machine that allows for a race against the clock to find the crystals by both team Crash

151 Crash Bandicoot, Cortex Strikes Back, (Naughty Dog, 1997), cross-platform, platform "Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back". 2020. Bandipedia. https://crashbandicoot.fandom.com/wiki/Crash_Bandicoot_2:_Cortex_Strikes_Back. Date of access 28-7-2020 152 Ibidem. 153 Ibidem. 154 Ibidem. 61 and team Uku Uku.155 Cortex creates robotic clones of his lab assistants and sends them into various portals through time to search for the crystals. Dr. Tropy (wordplay on entropy) features as a mini-boss in this game and after defeating him all in-game characters are in danger. Without N. Tropy looking after the machine, nobody could predict what the outcome would be. When Crash and Coco have collected all the crystals the Time Twister begins to malfunction and become unstable, Cortex, and N. Tropy are warped to the prehistoric past, which they cannot leave before Tropy builds them a new machine.156 To summarize, Cortex is the helpless scientists in how he gathers the resources for his experiments, he needs the crystals, yet he is still unable in gathering them himself. He wants an army of slaves, yet he creates his new nemesis. His foolish scientists’ parts are mostly shown in how he disregards risks, while his alchemist parts show in his ambitions and his inhumane parts in how he interacts with his colleagues.

155 Crash Bandicoot, Warped, (Naughty Dog, 1997), cross-platform, platform "Crash Bandicoot: Warped". 2020. Bandipedia. https://crashbandicoot.fandom.com/wiki/Crash_Bandicoot:_Warped. Date of access 28-7-2020 156 Ibidem. 62

Conclusion chapter 2

Chapman’s generalized Player freedom Player freedom Player freedom

framework Open ontological Open story Deterministic story

Scientific portrayal BioShock series

Hyper realistic Horizon Zero Dawn

Scientific portrayal The Witcher Pokémon A virus named Tom

The elder scrolls series Semi realistic Tesla vs Lovecraft

Tomb raider

the Uncharted series

Indiana Jones

Crash Bandicoot

Table 3 Chapman's scheme for chapter 2

If we check Chapman’s scheme we see that that we have encountered two more realistic representations of science, while encountering much more nonsensical examples along the way. The question “How are scientists represented in video games?” is answered in twofold. One part is about questions on how the personas represent science and the other part stems from the reflection on scientific stereotypes. Regarding the representation of science, this chapter contains a description of non- practicing scientists and science practicing scientists. As illustrations: Lara Croft often claims that she needs science to make sense of her adventures, while she is actually a highly skilled fighter that destroys future research with every archaeological site she blows up. The alchemist, exemplified by Sotha Sil, by comparison seems to use strategies we associate with traditional research, however his subject matter falls under metaphysics in the realm of actual science. The

63 part of the foolish professor gave a description of scientists who are useful as plot devices; for instance, the Pokémon professors did not partake in what we consider traditional scientific activities aside from preforming science in wearing a lab coat. All these characters are portrayed as scientists, even though they fit not within the criteria for actual science. From these examples, it seems that there is science in the non-scientific. Scientist that appropriate science fit the traditional scientific values better. The dangerous scientist, the inhumane researcher and the helpless scientist are all framed as highly intellectual, unlocking great potential and inventing truths as they go along. They all serve as warning not to get lost in the complexities of science. Sobeck’s inventions revealed that science can destroy the current world but is also necessary in re-shaping and re-building a new world. Sobeck’s story can be read as a warning to global warming and having too much faith into the scientific practice. In BioShock’s narrative Tanenbaum’s story showed that science left unchecked can lead to greatness and destruction. The Crash Bandicoot series introduced several scientists that were less focused on appropriating science, especially compared to Sobeck and Tanenbaum. Cortex and his colleagues were defined by the fact that they could not master the scientific profession. Sometimes curiosity got the better of them, which lead to scientific disaster, and other times they were unable to control their subjects due to outside interference. It was also argued that Haynes archetypes are less applicable as strict categories the more intricate the fictional science is presented. Lara Croft, due to her being an adventure first and a scientist second, fits her adventure mold perfectly, while the Sobeck and Tannenbaum, with their intricate stories displayed a multitude of Hanyes’ categories in their actions and motivations. One of Haynes categories was absent in this chapter that was the “noble scientist” as hero or savior of society. This type is characterized as positive, a practitioner of good science to help the community. This type has been left out because all of these personas believe they are good scientists, helping society forward. Even Cortex, who just wants to achieve world domination, or Tanenbaum that kidnapped orphans for her project, argue that they do this for the betterment of humanity. What good scientific practice is has to do with moral values and consequences we witness

64 in the real world. These moral standards can be bypassed in the realm of fiction, because the consequences never become a reality, in order to create a compelling story. For example, a research proposal like Tanenbaum’s would never survive the scrutiny of grand applications, however, it makes for an interesting story. The actual struggles of the scientist are much less interesting than the fast paced, high states stories these characters are part of. Therefore, the noble scientist, in a strict sense, stays invisible. If we look at the motives of this scientist, doing science for the betterment of society, that is rather visible in all the characters. The ‘’betterment” lays in the eye of the beholder. Sobeck would argue that her plan, in the end, leads to betterment, while the scientists she abducted to work on Zero Dawn might have argued otherwise. The same goes for the population that was sacrificed to the robots. The next chapter focusses on the reception of the scientific persona and science as a plot device through the lens of fandom. To see to how the reception of the video game science plays out.

Chapter 3 In the eye of the beholder, scientific representation and fandom

Introduction

The pervious chapters focused on the story content of games, this chapter focusses on the reception and appropriation of games. In some cases, the gamer experience reaches beyond that of playing the video game. Being a gamer can be much larger experience than just playing. Large gaming franchises have inspired movies, comic books, board games. For example, the Assassin’s Creed series tells the story of the conflict between the Assassins and the Templars spread over millennia. The series is set in both past and present. The connection between different times is made by science based storytelling device the Animus , that reads the memories of actors in the past using a connection through DNA. People who loved Assassin’s Creed cannot just play the games but also read the 15-part book series, play the board game, read the comic book series based on the game and watch the movies. Next to interacting with these more commercialized products based on Assassin’s Creed the player can also go online to talk to other on forums about the game, look at fanart and read or write fanfiction. Not every gaming franchise has such a wide, and by commercial interest driven, variety of media to interact with the in-game story. However, nearly every game has a presence online. Either via forums, in comment sections on YouTube, on streaming platform Twitch, game reviews online, via fandom-wikis or dedicated Discord servers. If people become passionate about the in- game story they will find each other and create a space to talk about the story or mechanics of the game together. Occasionally fans online debate scientific constructs or scientific assumptions that they pick up in a video game. For example, for Assassin’s Creed players are questioning the history that inspired the franchise. An instance is to what extent is the assassin guild real?157 Or finding

157 "Was The “Assassin’S Creed” Real? - Quora". 2020. Quora.Com. https://www.quora.com/Was-the-Assassin-s- Creed-real. Date of access: 27-7-2020 66 the actual history that inspired the game.158 It can to some extent be argued that these fans test their historical institutions, with a game as their catalyst. This chapter shows illustrations of how gamers in fandom appropriate the science used in the narrative of the game. This is by no means an attempt to make a general statement about all players that interacted with the game or to state that many players participate in these fandom debates and/or share the same dispositions about the science discussed. This chapter is made to illustrate how the science in games can be appropriated, not to argue that all players appropriate games in the same way. To understand the wide variety of fandom sources at our disposal, we need to see where fandom came from and what it can do. Group forming to interact about the in-game experience forms an entire unique branch of creation. Mark Duffet, author of Understanding Fandom: An Introduction to the Study of Media Fan Culture, reveals that there are relationships between Web 2.0, capitalism, traditional copyright and prosumption. He underlines the idea that people will find each other online a create a space together. He argues that with the worldwide availability of the internet it seems possible that popular culture texts and fandom created texts do not emerge separately.159 Fans are not passive spectators, they engage in re-reading and re-writing versions of the original texts. Thus, the people in the fandoms, to some extent, become their own masters of the universes. Some people have even made careers out of giving game commentary with PewDiePie, one of the biggest (gaming) Youtubers on the platform, (more than 100 million subscribers) as an illustration of this.160 The emergence of fandom has helped brand the fan as an creative individual rather than the older interpretation of the fan, where the fan is more or less seen as a mindless slave that loves everything that the corporations creates for them, this is called the pathological tradition of admiration. For example, in the image of the hysterical crowd, the roaring and maniacal sports fans rioting at a soccer game. Or screaming and weeping teens who wait hours to catch a glimpse

158 "The Amazing (Real) History Behind All The Assassin's Creed Games - Playstation Universe". Playstation Universe. https://www.psu.com/news/the-amazing-real-history-behind-all-the-assassins-creed-games/. Date of access:28-7- 2020 159 Mark Duffett. 2015. Understanding Fandom. New York: Bloomsbury Academic. 15-35 160 Ibidem. John Storey. n.d. Cultural Theory And Popular Culture. Routledge. (2012) 20-23 67 of ‘their’ star.161 The pathological fans are a typical example of people who fell victim to their own fandom, getting lost in fantasy. Fans are were either ridiculed or considered pathological people with signs of uncontrolled behavior, close to madness. This type of pathological fandom ties into much older fears of losing the grip on reality by getting lost in fiction and the irrationality of the passionate crowds. In this case the fandom is divided into the hysterical crowd and the irrational individual.162 How did the perception of the members of a fandom change from misfit to creative rogue? The key difference between the old interpenetration of fan and the new perspectives on fandom is that the new fan does not accept and love everything the creators of their fandom produces. The frameworks surrounding the pathological fan were inspired by the Frankfurt School. The thinkers of the Frankfurter school insist that audiences are manipulated by the industry, with the goal to reinforce existing social inequalities and convincing people to meet false needs, those of consumerism instead of the pursuit of freedom. This is reflected in fan studies in perspectives where fans are unable to critically think about what they consume.163 It seems that the fans have escaped the docile state older fan interpretations have placed them in. In many ways, fans represent all consumers that make sense of popular culture. This provides us with unique insights as to how people appropriate games. The goal of this thesis is to show how science is represented in video games. The study of fandom expressions provides us with insights as to how certain people have experienced the scientific elements in game. Do fans believe the science is accurately represented? How do players value the scientific persona? Do they even discuss scientific concepts from games? And if fans debate these concepts, how nuanced are these debates? This chapter uses case studies to show to what extent the science in videogames is interacted with. It is argued that the more nuanced an in-game narrative is presented the fandom debates is more one-sided and vice versa. In other words, shallow scientific narratives in-

161 Lisa Lewis. n.d. The Adoring Audience. Routledge 9-26

162 Ibidem. 163 Cf.F. Coppa, A Brief History of Media Fandom, [in:] Fan Fiction and Fan Communities in the Age of the Internet. New Essays, ed. by K. Hellekson, K. Busse, Jefferson, N.C. 2006, 41–59 68 game gets deepened by player initiative, while nuanced stories are just affirmed by player debate. To argue this the chapter is divided into two segments. The first segment introduces the modding community in two separate games and how they discuss scientific concepts. The modding community and/or modders, which are players that create new content, from new stories to better looks for their characters, within pre-existing games. The second segment sheds light on the wide variety of sources that opens up if when chooses to engage with fandoms.

Modding, inserting science where it was never intended to be. A modification, henceforth referred to as mod or if the verb is used modding, is a mostly player build custom level, object, background or stand-alone game that connects to the main game. Generally speaking, modding is more accessible for PC gamers than for console players. There are some exceptions for console players, for example dragon fighting game Skyrim has some mods for the PlayStation 4 available if the player has a Bethesda company account. However, the mods selections are a lot smaller and more inaccessible. Therefore, this part of the chapter just focuses on PC gaming, for the sake of accessibility. Mods can have different purposes, some are useful, others place new characters in the game that where never designed to be in there, such as the Dr. Eggman mod in strategy game Civilization (CIV). This adds Dr. Eggman, the antagonist in Sonic the Hedgehog series. Eggman, scientist and engineer, wants to conquer and rule over the world using his robots in the Sonic game.164 In Civilization he is edited into the games as a leader, a symbolic representation for a playable civilization, in his role he advises the player. He also gives players his own unique building (The Capsule) and combat unit (Death Egg Robot) for use in the game. Dr. Eggman receives +1 science from strategic resources, as well as a tech boost whenever a

164 H. White. Structuralism and popular culture. Journal of poplar culture. March 2014. DOI: 10.1111/j.0022- 3840.1974.0704_759.x 759-762 1-4 69 scientific building/wonder is constructed in the Capital.165

Figure 17 The fan made Dr. Eggman mod in Civilization. Source: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=142574925 The game Civilization itself received some academic attention throughout the years. anthropologists Pobłocki and Douglas argued that the game promotes and reinforces idea of cultural supremacy and the white man’s burden.166 Which is a similar critique to Will Slocomb’s argument that features in chapter 1. The game has been praised as both an educational tool for schools and a model for building educational historical games.167 Historian of science Trevor Owen’s in his article, Modding the History of Science: Values at Play in Modder Discussions of Sid Meier’s CIVILIZATION, argues that the modding community discusses the “the relationship between science and technology in society is analogous to the

165 "Steam Workshop::Eggman Empire Civilization (G&K Or BNW)". 2020. Steamcommunity.Com. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=142574925. Date of access: 28-7-2020 166 Douglas, C. (2002, September). You have unleashed a horde of barbarians! Fighting Indians, playing games, forming disciplines. Postmodern Culture, 13(1). Pobłocki, K. (2002). Becoming-state: The bio-cultural imperialism of Sid Meir’s CIVILIZATION. European Journal of Anthropology, 39, 163-177 167 Squire, K., & Barab, S. (2004). Replaying history: Engaging urban underserved students in learning world history through computer simulation games. In Proceedings of the 6th international conference on Learning Sciences (pp. 505-512). Santa Monica, CA: International Society of the Learning Sciences. McMichael, A. (2007). PC games and the teaching of history. The History Teacher, 40, 202-218 70 work of historians, philosophers and sociologists of science.”.168 Owens arrived to this conclusion by doing discourse analysis on two fan community sites, the CivFanatics and Apolyton Civilization Web sites. Both communities offer a platform to collaborate on mod projects and is frequently visited by the CIV developers. Owens focuses on modders discussing the system of advancements, more commonly known as the tech tree, he zoomed in to study two of the larger mod projects, the Clash of Civilizations mod and The Guns, Germs and Steel mod. Owens found out that in the discussion between modders Frantic, Ryan and Moreland, created a more accurate notion of the history of science. Ryan, for instance, critiques the idea that the intricate and widely diverse discipline of mathematics is discovered as a flash of brilliance and all at once. Ryan argues that the modding community will agree with his that is inaccurate to accepts that math which includes addition, algebra, and spherical geometry, requires a less flash of brilliance approach.169 Modders Moreland and Frantic agree with Ryan’s evaluation of the discovery of math, however they criticize his proposed solution to rework the flash of brilliance approach. Frantic argues total control of the society’s knowledge choices, that Ryan proposes, makes the player a totalitarian leader. Frantic suggests that most technologies should be invented by the private sector, outside of the players control. To which Moreland suggests: “Maybe technology advancement level could be a property of a population, whereas scientific knowledge is the property of the whole civilization?”170 From this debate Owens concluded: “Critics can point to flaws in how a game presents issues, but without analysis of how players actually make sense of those issues, we have no reason to believe that problems in a games model are transmitted uninterpreted into the minds of game players. Far from poisoning young minds, this game is intellectually engaging on multiple levels, as a game mechanic and as a kind of laboratory for collective experiments.”171 The question that remains is: is the article convincing enough to support its thesis that, in

168 Trevor Owens. 2010. "Modding The History Of Science: Values At Play In Modder Discussions Of Sid Meier’S CIVILIZATION". Simulation & Gaming 42 (4): 481-495 169 Ibidem. 170 Ibidem 488. 171 Ibidem. 492 71

Owens words: “These players have developed the methods and courtesies of scholarly discourse, such as historical authenticity, attention to arguments and questions, and respect for the interlocutor.”172 Thus these players do work analogous to the work of historians, philosophers, and sociologists of science.173 In my opinion, no. For the reason that being able to formulate a question to test historical intuitions is not analogous to doing the work of a philosopher or a historian. There is much more to these disciplines than critiquing models of the history in sandbox that the game provides. It is, however, a great start for critical thinking and the value in this article, for me, lays with the rigorous manner this article takes the modding community seriously. Therefore, the rest of this chapter uses the same method of discourse analysis to take the fandom seriously as a representation for the reception of science in games. The next segment will see if and how the Dr. Eggman mod is used to discuss the notions of science. The main difference between this and the CIV discussion will be that the scientific status of Dr. Eggman is almost never discussed, while the scientific status of tech trees mechanic is occasionally debated online. Owens method is also used as a guideline in part 2, where we see how the notion of science is discussed in different gaming genres. The CivFanatics forum returns 199 post that mention Dr. Eggman. Some of them just discuss the new Sonic the Hedgehog movie or feature a user that made a Dr. Eggman pun.174 But 12 of the topics did feature fragments of a conversation about science.175 The other forum Owens cited as a source for his article was Apolyton Civilization Web, this website’s modders community seemed to have disappeared over the years.176 On the website mods are rarely discussed and therefore I have excluded the website as a source. They only forum post even remotely related to what Owen described was written by X2Madda and this person described the how historical relevance had little to no place in

172 Ibidem. 173 Ibidem. 348 174 "Search Results For Query: Eggman | Civfanatics Forums". 2020. Forums.Civfanatics.Com. https://forums.civfanatics.com/search/115982924/?q=eggman&o=date. Date of access 28-7-2020 175 Dr. Eggman is also referred to as Dr. Robotnik, in both the Sonic franchise as in the fan-communities, a search for Dr. Robotnik yielded no further results. Date of access 28-7-2020 176 "Forums - Apolyton Civilization Site". 2020. Apolyton Civilization Site. https://apolyton.net/. Date of access: 28-7- 2020 72

Civilization. The other discussions revolved around how to create Dr. Eggman lore appropriate dialogue and how he could react to other fictional scientists, such as Dr. Wily, that also where considered in this mod.177 There is also some praise for the Dr. Eggman mod from someone who won the game by using science as their main trait.178 Moreover, Dr. Eggman’s cleverness and intellect is praised by the community in multiple posts.179 In sum, Owens method of taking the modding community seriously in their debates can function as a guideline. However, if science is hardly debated there is little to nothing to use the method for. Still we can see how a small number of players use and value science in games and therefore there is use for the fandom perspective in the description of the notion of science in video games. In the next segment we review a game where is scientific element is discussed in abundance to see the further use of the fandom perspective.

177 "Cities In Development (Obsolete)". Civfanatics Forums. https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/cities-in-development-obsolete.557897/page-47#post- 14147171. Date of access: 28-7-2020 "Bouncymischa's Civilizations". Civfanatics Forums. https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/bouncymischas-civilizations.543574/page-2#post-13835868. Date of access: 28-7-2020

178 "New Civilisations Index". Civfanatics Forums. https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/new-civilisations- index.533772/page-2#post-13450614. Date of access: 28-7-2020 179 "Imperium Universalis". Civfanatics Forums. https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/imperium- universalis.429464/page-15#post-10708107. Date of access: 28-7-2020 "Imperia Mobiana". Civfanatics Forums. https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/imperia- mobiana.415534/page-22#post-10363452. Date of access: 28-7-2020 "The DYOS Consul (DYOS XI: 2009-2013)". Civfanatics Forums. https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/the-dyos-consul-dyos-xi-2009-2013.330900/page-80#post- 9313307. Date of access: 28-7-2020

Havens vault, an archaeologist playing with linguistics

Figure 18 A review on the science in Heavens Vault. Source: https://narrtive.squarespace.com/new-blog/2019/5/31/heavens- vault-linguistics-is-a-skill-mom The game Heavens Vault features some of the concept of linguistics, archaeology and to some extent sociology. The player gets to play as Aliya Elasra who ventures into the ruins of an ancient and long dead civilization. The only thing the civilization has left behind are hieroglyphic words and it is Elasra’s job to make sense of the symbols. The translation of the symbols starts of as doing an educated guess since Aliya has no information about them. The game is designed to make the player feel insecure about their translations, but some locations or other symbols will trigger Aliya to say that her translations are incorrect. Then the player gets to employ a new strategy.180 Aliya is very vocal and in constant discussion with her robot assistant. These conversations can help the player with the translations. For instance, one scene in the game looks like a gorgeous garden or maybe a religious place since it has a vaguely religious-looking statue in the middle. Through Aliya’s conversation with her assistant they player gets to figure out that the location is not a garden or a temple but a cemetery, which completely changes the meaning for hieroglyphs found at the location. The more you discover about the glyphs the more you learn about the alien culture that created them.181 In this instance we saw that discovering a meaning for glyphs is not just putting symbols together, it also relates to (cultural) context. It shows that creating a sound translation is a struggle where linguists interpret not just symbols but culture as well. Which seems to relate to the actual practice of linguistics.

180 Heaven's Vault, (Inkle, 2019), cross-platform, RPG

181 Ibidem. 74

Heavens vault’s use of linguistics is mentioned and discussed in most reviews about the game, mostly because it is a central and unique aspect of the game. In the PCgamer review, the reviewer not only appreciates the linguistic element, he also likes the challenge it imposed.182 A reviewer of Eurogamer compared the archaeology and the linguistics forged a stronger bond between the player and the game or the characters in the game.183 The review on Techrapter also valued the language experience in the game by stating that it made him excited to learn a new language.184 Reviews are commercially driven and might not be seen as a fandom construct. This is partially true, still reviews are often a first introduction for people looking to buy a game. If the reviews deem the linguistic and archeological elements in the game as a defining feature than the perspective of future players can be shaped by these words. Moreover, the strict distinction between paid reviewer and fan can be blurry, especially with game enthusiasts, that often are compensated with the game for free if they write a review. The review on website the Verge contained an interview with the developers of the game and the creators of fictional language in heaven vault. Where the developers state that the game is “like Guitar Hero for linguistics.”. The developers themselves think because of the simplified version of linguistics, people in the profession are not going to like the representation of science it offers.185

182 "Heaven's Vault Review". 2020. Pcgamer. https://www.pcgamer.com/heavens-vault-review/. Date of access: 6- 4-2020 183 "Heaven's Vault Review - A Rich Web Of Possibility". 2020. Eurogamer.Net. https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2019-04-16-heavens-vault-review-a-rich-web-of-possibility. Date of access: 6- 4-2020 184 "Heaven's Vault Review - Duolingo Without The Threats". 2020. Techraptor. https://techraptor.net/gaming/reviews/heavens-vault-review-duolingo-without-threats. Date of a access: 6-4-2020 185 "Heaven’S Vault Is A Game About Translating An Ancient Alien Language". 2020. The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/3/17192520/heavens-vault-game-language-translation-pc-ps4. Date of access: 6-4-2020 75

Figure 19 Source: https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/3/17192520/heavens-vault-game-language-translation-pc-ps4

This interview and the game itself gained the interests of linguists, either self-appointed or genuine scholars. Blogsite All Things Linguistic, mentions the game and hopes that it inspires people to interact with linguistics more.186 On the blog language chat enthusiasts are discussing the use of image heavy language in the game.187 The question remains how do people who engage with linguistics as profession and/or passion engage with this game. The game also has elements archaeology, it is claimed that the protagonist is an archeologist, and an anthropologist, since the protagonists reflect on underlying structures in her society and the society she has been researching. The gaming blog that is focused on the representation of archaeology in gaming is written and maintained by Andrew Reinhard, who is a PhD student in the University of York. He praises Heaven’s vault for being noting like other representations of archaeology out there. He loves the fact that it there is much emphasis on the actual activities of a researcher such as spending time in the library and discussing finding with peers.188 Zora Gilbert, a university-trained researcher, also played and discussed this game. They juxtapose the linguistics concepts, which they

186 "All Things Linguistic". 2020. All Things Linguistic. https://allthingslinguistic.com/post/172939101867/heavens- vault-is-an-interesting-looking. Date of a access: 6-4-2020 187 Heaven’S Vault.". 2020. Languagehat.Com. http://languagehat.com/heavens-vault/. Date of a access: 6-4-2020 188 "The Archaeology Of Heaven’S Vault". 2020. Archaeogaming. https://archaeogaming.com/2019/04/16/the- archaeology-of-heavens-vault/. Date of a access: 6-4-2020 76 described as a good representation, with the research integrity the protagonist displayed, which they did not find all that representative.189

Figure 20 Source: https://archaeogaming.com/2019/04/16/the-archaeology-of-heavens-vault/ So far, we got a glimpse of what actual researchers experienced during this game. We can also delve into the reception of other games by looking at reviews on steam. On Steam there are around 700 reviews for heavens vault, roughly half of them are written in languages I can intuitively understand. On Steam there are a vast number of reviews that mention the archaeology concepts of the game, however most of the reviews focus on the gameplay, which is not perfect to say the least. It is argued that the linguistic elements of the game make the games less attractive for a wider audience. 190 The ones that focus on archaeology are mostly noticing that the archaeology is focusing on a less Indiana Jones representation. Which is appreciated by the people who state they like history, archaeology or linguistics. The other observations that rises from these sources is that Heavens vault triggers people to write about their assumptions about academia, an example is stated below.

189 "Heaven's Vault Is Too A Game For Linguists | Sidequest". Sidequest. https://sidequest.zone/2019/05/02/heavens-vault-is-too-a-game-for-linguists/. Date of a access: 6-4-2020 190 "Steam Community :: Heaven's Vault". 2020. Steamcommunity.Com. https://steamcommunity.com/app/774201/positivereviews/?browsefilter=toprated&snr=1_5_100010_ Date of a access: 6-4-2020 77

Figure 21 Source: https://store.steampowered.com/app/774201/Heavens_Vault/#app_reviews_hash

A steam review by ImCaligula claims that the player has an archaeology degree and that even if the game is in no way representative on archaeology, it was the archeology meets Sci-fi game this person really wanted to play.191 Another player writes: “This game perfectly fit my somewhat niche interests: history and linguistics.”192 To conclude that the scientific element added to “a sense of wonder and excitement”.193 Steam user I, 100% Organic Corgi, states that “Interpret history by slowly piecing archaeological finds and clues together. To later realize your theories don't work, are very silly, and you generally have no idea what you're talking about. I'm convinced that's how real archaeology works, too.”194 This person later argues that they valued the mechanics of slowly learning about the universe of the game.195 In sum, in these instances the fan appreciated a more accurate scientific element in the game, however this narrows the target audience for the game towards people who are already excited about linguistics and history.

191 "Steam Community :: Heaven's Vault". 2020. Steamcommunity.Com. https://steamcommunity.com/app/774201/positivereviews/?browsefilter=toprated&snr=1_5_100010_. Date of a access: 6-4-2020 192 Fizilicious "Steam Community :: Heaven's Vault". 2020. Steamcommunity.Com. https://steamcommunity.com/app/774201/positivereviews/?browsefilter=toprated&snr=1_5_100010_._ Date of a access: 6-4-2020 193 Ibidem. 194 I, 100% Organic Corgi, "Steam Community :: Heaven's Vault". 2020. Steamcommunity.Com. https://steamcommunity.com/app/774201/positivereviews/?browsefilter=toprated&snr=1_5_100010_. Date of a access: 6-4-2020 195 Ibidem. 78

Part 2 Finding science in a hopeless place, different genres, different discussions

The previous part featured strategy games (CIV) and a RPG (Heaven’s vault), this part will delve into the uses of science in the SIM genre and the platformers genre. To show that the uses of science are appropriated differently per genre. A larger reflection on the general reception of science in FPS is excluded in this part, for the reason that narrative is not a priority in FPS and if there is no narrative, with or without science, there is little to no appropriation. An exception to this generality are the FPS games of the BioShock franchise which features both in this chapter and the previous one. The sims are the example introduced in chapter 1 of a stimulation game. The Sims gives the player the change to imitate the “human experience”. People have the change to build houses, shape interpersonal relationships and try different careers in game. One of the expansion packs of the game is the Sims at work. In at work players can try their hand at different careers and some of them are science related. For example, scientist, doctor and space engineer. Here we see the first glimpses of how science is there to be used as an asset to the player. All science related jobs, or jobs as botanist that use the scientific skill line as a condition of possibility, are amongst the jobs that have the highest salaries in game.196 The company behind the Sims, Electronic Arts (EA), showed how science is useful to the player in the promotional material for the to work DLC. EA published 6 things to try as a scientist, that all focus on how science is useful to the player. From clone your friends to avoid loneliness to use your scientific tools for mind control or moneymaking schemes. Or as EA published it: “Scientifically inclined Sims can invent all sorts of goodies, but the most versatile tool at their disposal might be the SimRay. Just point it at the nearest Sim and you can make them do all sorts of things, from swapping into their nightwear to sleeping on the floor.”197 If we review the Sims player base the first thing that comes to mind is how diverse the Sims is experienced. The wide variety of expansion packs build by EA, that differ from getting a pet to becoming a vampire, and the community build mods, that even add more variety to the

196 The Best And Highest Earning Careers In "The Sims 4"!". Levelskip. https://levelskip.com/simulation/Sims-4-Best- Careers. Date of access 28-7-2020 197 6 Things To Try As A Scientist In The Sims 4 Get To Work". Electronic Arts Inc.. https://www.ea.com/games/thesims/the-sims-4/news/time-to-science?setLocale=en-us. Date of access 28-7-2020 79 game, such as cannibalism and male pregnancies.198 Science is just one of many career paths and it is entirely up to the player whether they want to follow. Nevertheless the use for science is discussed online. There are blogs that write about the visuals of science. For example, a mod that lets the player build Dr. Frankenstein’s lab.199 Or how to create scientific looking paintings and shape your furniture into the periodic table, without owning the expansion pack that let you become the scientist.200 Some questions focus on how to make scientific characters look “sciency”.201 Other posts investigate how to walk the science career path the fastest or which personality traits are best for becoming a scientist.202 While player also try to test the limits of the scientist and the research their Sims can perform.203 On YouTube the trend is visible to experiment with what your Sims can go through before they will perish. Many of these clips jokingly state that they out their sims through misery “for science”, stating that they do “real experiments” while even including a control group/room. This does not in any way resemble real science and most of these creators use the term “for science” to get a few laughs our of people.204 On the other hand the fact that they justify the torture and death of their characters with “scientific reasoning”, as if their deaths and torture becomes more

198 For example: "Sims 4 Mods". 2020. The Sims Resource. https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/browse/category/sims4-mods/. Date of access 28-7-2020 199 "D&M Creations - Demonic". Dymcreations-Demonic.Blogspot.Com. https://dymcreations- demonic.blogspot.com/?zx=77f7c717233c2067. Date of access 28-7-2020 200 "Making Science Art In Sims 4 - Easternblot.Net". 2020. Easternblot.Net. https://easternblot.net/2019/01/29/making-science-art-in-sims-4/. Date of access 28-7-2020 201 "Is Science Skill Helpful For Science & Medicine Field At The University?". The Sims Forums. https://forums.thesims.com/En_US/discussion/904250/is-science-skill-helpful-for-science-amp-medicine-field-at- the-university. "Is Anyone Currently Have A Sim In The Science Career?". The Sims Forums. https://forums.thesims.com/en_us/discussion/955886/is-anyone-currently-have-a-sim-in-the-science-career https://forums.thesims.com/en_Us/discussion/930524/vet-coat-please-help. "My Sim Wears Cap And Gown To Work.". 2020. Answers.Ea.Com. https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues- PC/My-sim-wears-cap-and-gown-to-work/td-p/8694814. Date of access 28-7-2020 202 "What Aspiration For Scientist?". The Sims Forums. https://forums.thesims.com/en_us/discussion/834293/what-aspiration-for-scientist. "Scientist Career". The Sims Forums. https://forums.thesims.com/EN_US/discussion/826887/scientist-career. Date of access 28-7-2020 203 "The Sims 4 Get To Work: First Day At The Scientist Career". 2020. Sims Community. https://simscommunity.info/2015/03/31/the-sims-4-get-to-work-first-day-at-the-scientist-career/. "Unlock Science Equipment!". The Sims Forums. https://forums.thesims.com/en_us/discussion/869792/unlock- science-equipment. Date of access 28-7-2020 204 ‘’killing my sims for *IMPORTANT SCIENCE*”. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpXXyBGpWLY Date of access 28-7-2020 80 acceptable if it is for the greater scientific good, is an interesting observation. Platform gaming is usually characterized by the fact that the gameplay is suitable for all ages. Therefore, when it features science, the scientific persona, instruments and discoveries are mostly aimed at getting a good laugh out of people. It is unrealistic to expect that anyone under the age of ten, a large part of the platformers target audience, goes online to discuss the scientific concepts they encounter in game. But still with the rise of nostalgia gaming, the titles of their past have been remade according to modern standards, for example, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro and Final Fantasy. Or players (re)discovered their old consoles or want to try their hand at emulating games. Regardless players are drawn back into these games.205 From time to time they look up their franchises to see how the story unfolded. There are many YouTube clips and websites, such as Fandom Wiki, that offer background stories or quest descriptions for most video games. These all feature user generated content that celebrates their franchises. If we zoom in on one of the biggest scientists in platform video games, Dr. Wily form the Megaman series, we see a wide variety of questions and fan theories about his scientific persona. Dr. Wily features in over 50 Megaman games, that came out for over three decades, and most questions are about his role in the Megaman universe and how his personality changes over time. In questions it becomes visible that people questions the intentions of Dr. Wily, for example: “Why did Dr. Wily make his robots weak against each other?”206 with as most upvoted answer because then their power is limited is case they rebel or become sentient. Or the question: “Dr Wily is making new robot masters. How do you create the perfect killer robot, with name and all?”207 Here Dr. Wily is used as an inspiration to ask the robotics subdivision of Quora a half serious, but mostly funny questions. Dr. Wily is also a formattable foe in game and a large portion of the questions asked about him are about his game mechanics, rather than the science

205 "Nostalgia Is Ruining Video Games - System Wars - Gamespot". 2020. Gamespot. https://www.gamespot.com/forums/system-wars-314159282/nostalgia-is-ruining-video-games-32795179/. 206 "Why did Dr. Wily make his robots weak against each other?" Quora https://www.quora.com/Why-did-Dr-Wily- make-his-robots-weak-against-each-other Date of access 28-7-2020 207 "Dr Wily is making new robot masters. How do you create the perfect killer robot, with name and all?" Quora https://www.quora.com/unanswered/Dr-Wily-is-making-new-robot-masters-How-do-you-create-the-perfect-killer- robot-with-name-and-all Date of access 28-7-2020 81 he conducts.208 Dr. Wily is the antagonist of his gaming franchise and for over thirty years he is in a futile fight with one of his creations, Mega man. The one questions to his intentions that that seemed to return in both fan theories as questions is: to what extent is Dr. Wily evil? Fandom wiki creator David Nunez wrote a 1000+ words internet essay in which he examines over thirty years of Megaman games to argue that the ‘real’ Dr. Wily is dead since the Megaman 10 game and is replaced by a stronger robotic version of himself. The motivation for the Dr. Wily robot is to seek redemption.209 The core of Nunez theory resembles other theories in which the extent of Dr. Wily’s nature is discussed. The YouTube channel Game theorists (12.5 million subscribers) made a video essay called: Who is Mega Man's TRUE Villain?,210 where Dr. Wily’s interactions with Megaman are used as a catalyst to discuss values and ethics in robotics.211 From where the creator argues that Wily’s colleague and university friend, Light is the true villain of the universe because he ignored AI ethics. Light’s ultimate ambition was to create an AI that had human like free will. Where Light is framed as a dangerous man that created war robots and Wily as a friend of the confused robots.212 Others that search for redemption for Wily juxtapose with Dr. Light as well. E.g. user HueyFreeman on the game facts forum. Where this user writes: “Wily wasn't necessarily out there to just be evil. All he wanted to do was prove that he was better than Dr. Light. He thought the best way to do this was to best Mega Man (and later, X). Wily never really harmed humans or seemed to have malicious intent towards humans.”213 From whether Wily is pain evil or just jealous.

208 "How Do You Beat Dr Wily In Mega Man? - Google Search". 2020. Google.Com. https://www.google.com/search?q=How+do+you+beat+Dr+Wily+in+Mega+Man%3F&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjWmZ38 2pLpAhWamXIEHd8PDlYQzmd6BAgNEBM. Date of access 28-7-2020 209 "Mega Man Fan Theory: Dr. Wily Is Actually A Robot Seeking Redemption". 2020. Fandom. https://www.fandom.com/articles/mega-man-fan-theory-dr-wily-actually-robot-seeking-redemption. Date of access 28-7-2020 210 "Mega Man Fan Theory: Dr. Wily Is Actually A Robot Seeking Redemption". YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LT23zdgwNSk Date of access 28-7-2020 211 Ibidem. From the 2.24- 4.19. 212 Ibidem. 213 "Truly Ask Yourself: How Evil IS Dr. Wily? *Spoilers* - Mega Man 9". 2020. Gamefaqs.Gamespot.Com. https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/950625-mega-man-9/46266371. Date of access 28-7-2020 82

In short because the story in platformers is rather shallow and the uses of science are nonsensical, in these case studies gamers try to expand on the science-story in the platformer.

Revisiting the case studies from chapter 2 as valued by the player

The pervious chapter featured 6 case studies that described different scientific persona, in this chapter their fan reception is examined to see how the scientific reasoning and the motivation of the scientists are discussed.

Evil alchemists

The imperial archives is a website with user generated content related to the world of the Elder scrolls, the members of the site can reflect on books they found in game, quest dialogue or the religious system that is used in Tamriel.214 The previous chapter determined that Sotha Syl, for many games until Elder scrolls online’s DLC the Clockwork City, was shrouded in mysteries. It, to me, came as no surprise that Sotha Syl does not have many entries on the imperial archives, despite the overwhelming number of articles and entries that fans added to the archive. It only features 4 entries on Syl, while his fellow Gods and rulers Vivec and Almalexia have 41 and 21 features.215 The imperial archives seem to reflect a general trend on fandom products concerning Sotha Syl. Several pages question to the motives and/or achievements of Syl. Syl’s achievements, such as the Clockwork city and his deal with the antagonist type creatures called Deadra, are intertwined with his quest for and the exchange of knowledge. One of Syl’s achievements is the Coldharbour Compact, a deal to keep the prominent Daedric princes (daemon beings) from attacking and interfering with the mortal world. Syl’s

214 "Help Desk | The Imperial Library". 2020. Imperial-Library.Info. https://www.imperial-library.info/content/help- desk. Date of access: 13-05-2020 215 "Sotha Sil | The Imperial Library". 2020. Imperial-Library.Info. https://www.imperial- library.info/category/tags/sotha-sil. Date of access: 13-05-2020 "Almalexia | The Imperial Library". 2020. Imperial-Library.Info. https://www.imperial- library.info/category/tags/almalexia. Date of access: 13-05-2020 "Vivec | The Imperial Library". 2020. Imperial-Library.Info. https://www.imperial-library.info/category/tags/vivec. Date of access: 13-05-2020 83 leverage was “a piece of knowledge”, unknown to the player base what this knowledge entails. The knowledge had to be extremely powerful, otherwise the immortal beings would not have even agreed on the deal. To illustrate, the question: “What did Sotha Sil give the Daedric gods in return for their cooperation in the Coldharbor Compact?”, sparked discussion amongst players.216 Where some people argue that Syl had created a "omega Daedra-erasing meta-cosmic killing machine"217 to obliterate all the Daedra. While others argue that Syl had created a way to close the limital barriers, places where the underworld creatures could switch between worlds.218 A user writes: “Putting it all together, here’s my attempt at inferring an answer: Sotha Sil – using his vast knowledge, superior intellect, and the power of Lorkhan’s Heart – has found a way to seal these holes. However, he’d much rather settle the matter peacefully. Perhaps because doing so would spark a massive war between Daedra and mortals, or because it would require a massive expenditure of arcane energy that would tax even him.”219 In this post we clearly saw a reflection on Syl’s use of knowledge. Related to the Coldharbor Compact are the topics where Syl is Juxtaposed with the Daedric prince of fate and knowledge called Hermaeus Mora. According to multiple fans the difference between Syl and Mora is their ideal use of knowledge. One user writes: “Sotha Sil also discriminates between the harmless knowledge and the harmful knowledge, and keeps his people and followers away from the second, bearing alone the responsibility and madness that comes with it.”220 Mora, argues a different user, is just interested in hoarding knowledge for himself, while Syl also tries to spark curiosity in others.221 Fans also created inquiries into the purpose of the clockwork city. The search term

216 "What Did Sotha Sil Give The Daedric Gods In Return For Their Cooperation In The Coldharbor Compact? : Teslore". 2020. Reddit.Com. https://www.reddit.com/r/teslore/comments/al4zk6/what_did_sotha_sil_give_the_daedric_gods_in/. Date of access: 13-05-2020 217 Ibidem. 218 "Online:Liminal Bridges - The Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages (UESP)". 2020. En.Uesp.Net. https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Liminal_Bridges. Date of access: 13-05-2020 219 Ibidem. 220 "What Would Sotha Sil's Disposition Be Towards Hermaeus Mora And Vice Versa? : Teslore". 2020. Reddit.Com. https://www.reddit.com/r/teslore/comments/erevas/what_would_sotha_sils_disposition_be_towards/. 221 Ibidem. 84 purpose clockwork city yielded over 2000 results on Reddit. Not all these are well rounded debates or serious inquiries, some are just a fun picture, while other tries to examine the clockwork lore.222 For example, when the debate which technological marvel in the universe is more impressive, Syl’s creation or a mythical tower. Where the time/space breaking implication of both constructs are discussed.223 One thread regarding the purpose of the Clockwork city inquires to what extent Syl is an embodiment of his city or to what extent does his soul and the city share the same essence.224 Author BuckneyBos starts with argument with a quote he/she took from an in-game quest “Perfection can never truly be attained. By testing one's consonantly degrading mechanism against this unknowable goal, you reveal the imperfections of your own device. Can you accept this necessity?”225 To after that argue: “The Imperfects you find in the Clockwork City are often viewed as failures, I don't see it that way. Sil valued imperfection. After all, are we not the sum of all our imperfections? And his child, Memory, is memory itself not imperfect recollections?. Seht was his city, and he filled it with mechanical shed aspects of himself.” Arguing that the purpose of the Clockwork city was to create a mirror that reflected on Syl’s personality.226 In sum, Syl’s motives and uses of knowledge are often shrouded in mysteries and secrecy. We saw that most reflections tried to clarify these mysteries in wanting to find the reasoning between Syl’s deal with the Deadra and the city he created.

222 "Reddit.Com: Search Results - Purpose Clockwork City". 2020. Reddit.Com. https://www.reddit.com/search/?q=purpose%20clockwork%20city&type=link. Date of access 28-7-2020 223 "Is The Clockwork City Of Sotha Sil A Bigger Technological Marvel Than The Numidium? : Teslore". 2020. Reddit.Com. https://www.reddit.com/r/teslore/comments/fzxr7t/is_the_clockwork_city_of_sotha_sil_a_bigger/. Date of access 28-7-2020 224 "What Exactly Were Sotha-Sil's Goals And What Was The Purpose Of The Clockwork City? : Teslore". 2020. Reddit.Com. https://www.reddit.com/r/teslore/comments/5db2c3/what_exactly_were_sothasils_goals_and_what_was/. "Deep Under The Sea With A Clockwork Deity : Teslore". 2020. Reddit.Com. https://www.reddit.com/r/teslore/comments/2es3lz Date of access 28-7-2020 225 "What Exactly Were Sotha-Sil's Goals And What Was The Purpose Of The Clockwork City? : Teslore". 2020. Reddit.Com. https://www.reddit.com/r/teslore/comments/5db2c3/what_exactly_were_sothasils_goals_and_what_was/. Date of access 28-7-2020 226 Ibidem. 85

Scientist as adventurer In the part on the scientist adventures we encountered Lara Croft and her archaeologist colleagues. The previous part argued that Lara and her fellows claim to be scientists while they embark on little to no scientific endeavors. The fandom struggles with this question too. Next to an overwhelming amount of history of Lara Croft/ Lara croft throughout the years clips and posts, there are many they reflect on the archaeology in Tomb Raider.227 The YouTube clip “6 Things Lara Croft Is Better at Than Archaeology in Rise of the Tomb Raider Gameplay”228 highlight many of the points other gamers also struggle with in terms of the representation of archaeology. The creator argues “whether Lara bought her degree of a dodgy internet site” show that “Lara's got a load of brand new skills in Rise of the Tomb Raider, including new climbing axes, the ability to craft broadhead arrows that can be clambered on and the cold hearted focus to murder a small private army.”229 To argue: “We love Lara Croft, but she is a terrible archaeologist. Every single historically valuable site she visits ends up smashed to rubble”230 This youtuber voices a sentiment that is also displayed in other material on both Lara and her colleagues. On Quora and Reddit users also try to see what kind of archaeologist Croft is or if she is an archaeologist at all. Quora users are wondering if people like Lara Croft and Nathan Drake exist in the scientific community and if this could be an actual career option. In the thread “I want to lead a life similar to Indiana Jones or Nathan Drake. How could I do this?”231 people try to determine what archaeology is and how to visit some of the places Nathan Drake visited. While other argue that Drake lives the fantasy so no real life experience is comparable.232 The thread “Why does Lara Croft claim to be an archaeologist, yet she basically destroys everything on her journey?”, tries to determine how Croft claims to be an archaeologist. Some

227 For example, "History Of Tomb Raider (1996 - 2018)". 2020. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K09niWRULuM. Date of access 28-7-2020 228 "6 Things Lara Croft Is Better At Than Archaeology In Rise Of The Tomb Raider Gameplay". 2020. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvoVHwbF3tQ. Date of access 28-7-2020 229 Ibidem. 230 Ibidem. 231 "I Want To Lead A Life Similar To Indiana Jones Or Nathan Drake. How Could I Do This". 2020. Quora. https://www.quora.com/I-want-to-lead-a-life-similar-to-Indiana-Jones-or-Nathan-Drake-How-could-I-do-this. Date of access 28-7-2020 232 Ibidem. 86 standard answers to this questions are posed in this thread, such as “Because the methodical and detail attentive approach real archaeologists use would make a very boring game or movie?”233 However, this particular thread turned into a heated debate on whether social scientist are “real scientists” or how social scientist can be juxtaposed with natural scientists. In which Croft is used as a catalyst to put intuitions about science to the test, as seen in the screenshot below.

Figure 22 Screenshot from a debate to tried to determine whether Lara Croft is a scientist. Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/a6snb0/why_does_lara_croft_claim_to_be_an_archaeologist/ The Uncharted series, Nathan Drakes franchise and Tomb raider, Lara Crofts story, are often compared and contrasted. Mostly not to debate the scientific nature of the franchises, combat strength of both characters received some attentions. The same goes for who of the two characters would win in a rap battle and which game has the better gameplay.234

233 Why Does Lara Croft Claim To Be An Archaeologist, Yet She Basically Destroys Everything On Her Journey? : Gaming". 2020. Reddit.Com. https://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/a6snb0/why_does_lara_croft_claim_to_be_an_archaeologist/. Date of access 28-7-2020 234 "Lara Croft Vs. Nathan Drake: Who Is Stronger?". Game Rant. https://gamerant.com/lara-croft-vs-nathan-drake- stronger/; "Youtube Search Resultes Nathan Drake Vs Lara Croft". 2020. Youtube.Com. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=nathan+drake+vs+lara+croft. Date of access 28-7-2020 87

Drake is never ‘’officially”, in terms of anywhere in the series, framed as an archeologist. It is always claimed that he is a treasure hunter, while Croft refers to the scientific narrative and her archaeology degree regularly.235 This could play a part on the fact that their scientificness is rarely debated online, the other reason could be that debating the scientificness of game characters is not that first thing that comes to mind in fandom debate. In sum, regarding Lara Croft and her colleagues there is some debate happening into their scientificness however, Croft’s most memorable in-game moments and personality traits are not her being a scientist.

The Pokémon professors, foolish science Pokémon is not just a video game; it is a multimillion dollar franchise that spans over multiple mass media. It should come as no surprise that the fandom expressions blend information of the Pokémon professors from different media together. For example, professor Oak, arguably the most well-known of the professors, features in the trading card game, multiple seasons of the anime, appears in the cartoon and the manga, many of the debates that surround him feature information from all the media he is part of.236 The part of the previous chapter dedicated to the Pokémon professors argued that the professors are mostly associated with their absent mindedness. Their most defining and memorable feature was the fact they their stories featured carefully placed forgetfulness for the plot of the game to happen. Next to that it was argued that the professors used their expertise to act as a mentor for the player. They guide the player through the Pokémon universe, where everything resolves around catching animals with special properties so these animals could fight each other. The foolishness of the professors inspired jokes and funny pictures. This part is dedicated to finding out to what extent these professors are seen as scientists rather than inspiration for memes and other shenanigans. The Pokémon professors are first and foremost in ranking list, where fans try to determine the most powerful professor in terms of gameplay, who is the

235 See both games and pervious chapter 236 "Professor Oak - Bulbapedia, The Community-Driven Pokémon Encyclopedia". 2020. Bulbapedia.Bulbagarden.Net. https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Professor_Oak#In_the_TCG. Date of access 28-7-2020 88 hottest Pokémon scholar and how is the smartest professor. Professor Kukui wins the title for most powerful gameplay maybe because his main area of expertise is Pokémon's attacks.237 While the competition for hottest professors is not determined by aria of expertise but based on looks. However, them looking gorgeously scientific is part of the description of every scientist.238 In the list: in ranking lists there is little to no room for in-depth character descriptions, so it seems reasonable that these serve as descriptions serves as jokes and nothing more. Fan theories on the other hand try to explain Pokémon science. That ranges from asking a what type of science professor Oak practices239 to a fan theory where it is argued that every Pokémon professor represents a different scientific theory.240 Where it is argued that, next to that all the professors have their own discipline, Professor Juniper still struggles to find her field. User RyanRows argues: “Going along with the idea that is not completely sure what Juniper studies as there is reference to origin and human-Pokémon relations, it is possible that Juniper is just a general scientific researcher, struggling with her own inability to decide whether to pursue truth (origin) or ideals (relations) and thus for the moment pursues both.”241 The knowledge of the professors and especially professor Oak is also ridiculed in several musical type creations. The fan created Pokémon Ash's Parody Musical Adventure displays Professor Oak as a nonsensical alcoholic that loses himself in his research and several whisky bottles.242 In Pokémon University: A Professor Song, the foolishness of the professors is underlined as well. The song highlights university life on the fictional Pokémon university. Next to “staying up late reading, all required reading”243, writing papers and sleeping through class, the professors are all displayed as irrational. Professor Roan just likes failing the entire class because

237 "Pokémon: All The Professors, Ranked". 2020. Thegamer. https://www.thegamer.com/pokemon-all-professors- ranked/. Date of access 28-7-2020 238 "Our Ranking Of Pokémon's Hottest Professors". 2020. Polygon. https://www.polygon.com/2016/7/8/12123204/pokemon-professors-ranked. Date of access 28-7-2020 239 "What Is It That Professor Oak Actually Studies?". Arqade. https://gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/26413/what-is-it-that-professor-oak-actually-studies. Date of access 28-7-2020 240 "The Pokemon Professors Are Specialists Of Scientific Sub-Disciplines : Pokemonconspiracies". 2020. Reddit.Com. https://www.reddit.com/r/pokemonconspiracies/comments/16twpz/the_pokemon_professors_are_specialists_of /. Date of access 28-7-2020 241 Ibidem. 242 Nikk Crawford, Pokemon Ash's Parody Musical Adventure, 1st ed. (repr., unknown: Lulu.com, 2017), 0-15. 243 "Pokémon University: A Professor Song (Feat. Jwittz And Natewantstobattle)", Youtube, 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBuz2yadtoQ. 2.10. consulted: 10-07-2020 89 he loves to use his red pen, professor Elm is confused about his subject (Pokémon genealogy) and Professor Oak is, true to his in-game depiction, confused about the names and sexes of his students.244 Which all adds to the foolish reputation of the professors.

Brigit Tenenbaum, Bioshock series Bioshock features an intense story line that borrows from utopian and dystopian works such as 1984 by George Orwell and Brave New world by Aldous Huxley. The society the player enters in is broken with people who went insane on drugs, daunting empathy laboratories and questions about moral and control. Next to this the player navigates a steampunk looking world with a wide array of (plasma) guns. Bioshock’s emphasis on morality and science is often picked up and debated by players. A google search for BioShock and scientific morality yielded over 100.000 results from fandom and (more) professional instances alike.245 The Atlas Society refers to the game as not a direct attack on Ayn Rand’s objectivism but a fair look at humanity running wild. They write: “One person’s gain must ultimately come at someone else’s expense. Throughout the game, the player is confronted with people who have crassly used and manipulated the innocent, the powerless, or the defenseless for their own personal profit.”246 Venture beats opens its article with a direct comparison between Bioshock and Rand’s work Atlas shrugged. They state: “she asks the question of what would happen if all the world's best minds went on strike? It explores the consequences of rational self-interest or, in other words, the pursuit of happiness. And in many ways, so does BioShock.”247 Bioshock’s science- based narrative also received some academic interest.248 The previous chapter focused on the role of Brigit Tenenbaum in the society of rapture.

244 Ibidem. 245 "Bioshock Story Is About Morality - Google Search". 2020. Google.Com. https://www.google.com/search?q=bioshock+story+is+about+morality&ei=fRnrXtOMH5m3tQa_jZKQBw&start=20 &sa=N&ved=2ahUKEwiTv82t7YrqAhWZW80KHb-GBHI4ChDy0wN6BAgMEC4&biw=1708&bih=855. 246 "Review Of 'Bioshock'". 2020. The Atlas Society. https://atlassociety.org/commentary/commentary-blog/4364- review-of-bioshock. Date of access 28-7-2020 247 "Analyzations: Bioshock And The Morality Of Self-Interest". 2020. Venturebeat. https://venturebeat.com/2010/12/23/analyzations-bioshock-and-the-morality-of-self-interest/. Date of access 28- 7-2020 248 For example, Oktodila, Hasbi Thaufik, and Dhita Hapsarani. 2019. "Ethics Of Biotechnology In Bioshock’S Interactive Narrative". Kne Social Sciences. 90

She was not the only scientist present in the narrative, but she has the most intricate background story. Fans pick up on her as a positive representation of a character with autism. The book Autism in the workplace mentions Tanenbaum as a positive representation of autism in fiction.249 This idea is shared throughout more fan inspired content. The subreddit for woman with autism mentions Tanenbaum as a representation as well.250 A player that wanted to understand autism by creating a game about it credited Tanenbaum as a great inspiration for an autistic character.251 Tanenbaum, at least in-game, is never diagnosed with autism or in acknowledged as someone on the spectrum. She, according to the people who wrote about his topic, displays some stereotypical features for people on the spectrum. The idea that she is “claimed” as a positive representation, even though she caused the downfall of rapture and displays some problematic moral choices, is interesting in the regard that self-sufficient characters on the spectrum are so underexposed in the media that Tanenbaum is viewed as positive, regardless of her moral. Because BioShock is heavily associated with Ayn Rand the scientific reflections on the franchise mostly focus on the connection with philosophy, instead of the other scientific questions the game raises.

Sobeck in horizon zero dawn

In Horizon zero dawn’s story Elisabet Sobeck was one of the central figures. The pervious chapter argued that she qualifies as an dangerous scientist. The inhumane researcher sacrifices connection to other human being in order to progress their scientific endeavors. Sobeck fits the type due to her showing a great disregard for the life in the world in her attempt to create an AI

249 Hurley-Hanson, Amy E., Cristina M. Giannantonio, and Amy Jane Griffiths. Autism in the Workplace: Creating Positive Employment and Career Outcomes for Generation A. Palgrave Macmillan US, 2019. 250 "Recent Autistic Representation In Media : Aspergirls". 2020. Reddit.Com. https://www.reddit.com/r/aspergirls/comments/acs38p/recent_autistic_representation_in_media/ and "Games With Autistic Characters? : Videogames". 2020. Reddit.Com. https://www.reddit.com/r/videogames/comments/e017sl/games_with_autistic_characters/. Date of access 28-7- 2020 251 "This Teen Wanted People To Understand His Autism, So He Made A Video Game". Gizmodo UK. https://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2017/11/this-teen-wanted-people-to-understand-his-autism-so-he-made-a-videogame/. Date of access 28-7-2020 91 to kickstart future life. Sobeck has to build a new planet earth because the current planet is under attack by indestructible murder robots, she helped design foundations for.252 The Reddit thread “I can't move past these things regarding Elisabet Sobeck” opens with the topic starter arguing that he/she disagrees with Sobeck’s actions. The author argues that Sobeck deceiving billions of people to fight a pointless war against the robots and forcing scientist to work on Zero dawn unwillingly is not morally justifiable for the greater good. The author states: “I was surprised to see so many people inspired by this character. So many people think she's such a great hero. To me, she's just as bad as Ted Faro if not worse. They are both deeply flawed humans who brought unimaginable suffering and destruction to the world. The simple fact that Zero Dawn worked doesn't absolve Sobeck of her sins nor does it undo the suffering her lies and deceit brought to those still alive during the Faro Plague.”253 The initial post condemning Sobeck to a villain status gets little to no support. Most responders in the topic argue that the circumstances forced Sobeck to act this way. Her world that was about to end justified to fact that she made decisions otherwise immoral or evil.254 Al selection of cutes form the thread voice this sentiment. “Everything she did was 100% justified… With the alternative being irreversible global extinction, it was a very reasonable price to pay if you ask me.” “As horrifying and grim the mental image of Operation: Enduring Victory is, Sobeck and Herres had no choice but to put it to action in order to ultimately save the planet. They lied and deceived everyone, yes, but had they not done so, the Earth would never have recovered.” “In the end, that was what Sobeck was faced with: extinction or a second chance, paid for in blood.” “You forget, every single organic thing on Earth were dead creatures walking, as it were. This is the apocalypse, the value of life for life's sake is no longer a consideration. You operate at your quantifiable worth, no higher, no lower.”255

252 See previous chapter. 253 "[SPOILERS] I Can't Move Past These Things Regarding Elisabet Sobeck". 2020. Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/horizon/comments/8w8diq/spoilers_i_cant_move_past_these_things_regarding/. Date of access 28-7-2020 254 Ibidem. 255 Authors: HankSteakfist, Aurc, SuperiorMeatbagz and Ilerneo_Un_Hornya, in "[SPOILERS] I Can't Move Past These Things Regarding Elisabet Sobeck". 2020. Reddit. 92

From these responses we can conclude that these players voiced that ethics are determined by context. They argue that Sobeck can be redeemed, even with the death of the planet on het conscience. Moreover, her approach was a necessity for humankind. In this case Sobeck is not considered the villain of the story. In some fandom writing we see the question rise but if Sobeck is not the antagonist of the story, who is? The answer to this question in most blogs is businessman and robotics engineer Ted Faro. Who in the story is presented as the one who doomed the world with the robots his company made? Where Sobeck is often praised as hero and savior, Faro is often framed as villain and destroyer. Faro destroys Sobeck’s project APOLLO, the archive of human culture, history and other forms of knowledge, during the story. Faro reasons that if he did not have all these knowledge at his disposal he could not have destroyed the world and he wants “save” the human race from the unintended consequences of knowledge.256 In the Reddit thread “Did Sobeck's final, selfless decision doom Zero Dawn? and is there a clear villain in HZD?”257 the connection between Faro and Sobeck is explored. The topic starter argues: “The only difference between Sobeck and Faro is that her choices are selfless. She does everything for the right reasons- and even then, she makes a mistake that nearly costs the whole world.”258 Which ends in arguing that Horizon Zero Dawn does not feature a clear cut villain.259 This statement is met with disagreement. Most posters that judge Faro’s character and intentions straightforward state that he is the villain. The judge that all his motivations stem from the fact that he wants to wipe his slate clean. One author writes: “There is also a theory that whilst he may have claimed the reasons were virtuous the actual reason was that so he wouldn't

https://www.reddit.com/r/horizon/comments/8w8diq/spoilers_i_cant_move_past_these_things_regarding/. Date of access 28-7-2020 256 Game; "Ted Faro". 2020. Horizon Zero Dawn Wiki. https://horizonzerodawn.fandom.com/wiki/Ted_Faro. Date of access 28-7-2020 257 "Did Sobeck's Final, Selfless Decision Doom Zero Dawn? And Is There A Clear Villain In HZD? : Horizon". 2020. Reddit.Com. https://www.reddit.com/r/horizon/comments/9llibd/did_sobecks_final_selfless_decision_doom_zero/. "Ted Faro - Thoughts On His Portrayal : Horizon". 2020. Reddit.Com. https://www.reddit.com/r/horizon/comments/92bvks/ted_faro_thoughts_on_his_portrayal/. Date of access 28-7- 2020 258 Ibidem. 259 Ibidem. 93 be remembered for all eternity as the guy who fucked over the entire human race. So, either he's a complete idiot, or a self-centered narcissist who puts his own reputation above the survival of the race. Either way he is not in any way a good person.”260 Faro and Sobeck are often featured in juxtaposition, one as villain and one as hero, in topics. However, there are pages that argue both people are more alike than meets the eye. As an illustration to Gamefacts forum topic: “Elisabet's story arch is heartbreaking (Major Spoilers) based on their actions”, compares and contrasts Faro and Sobeck. Multiple writes argue that even though Faro and Sobeck seem binary opposites, there intentions are the same, it is their actions that make them different. The statement opened with: “Ted and Elizabet were both important to the story because they were broken in a certain way: they had the mental ability to do unthinkable, unacceptable things without ever stepping back to take stock of them. That facet of humanity was both our destruction and salvation.”261 While a reaction on this statement states: “Look, building Zero Dawn is a great accomplishment. It saved humanity; it saved life... She's just another Ted when you get right down to it. She took a different path in life, concerned herself with different things, but her flaw was the same as his: thoughtlessness.”262

260 Author theonefinn, "Did Sobeck's Final, Selfless Decision Doom Zero Dawn? And Is There A Clear Villain In HZD? : Horizon". 2020. Reddit.Com. Date of access 28-7-2020 https://www.reddit.com/r/horizon/comments/9llibd/did_sobecks_final_selfless_decision_doom_zero/ 261 Author Seaghan. "Elisabet's Story Arch Is Heartbreaking (Major Spoilers) - Horizon Zero Dawn Message Board For Playstation 4 - Page 2 - Gamefaqs". 2020. Gamefaqs.Gamespot.Com. Date of access 28-7-2020 https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/168644-horizon-zero-dawn/75093413?page=1. 262 Author rosshight. 262 "Elisabet's Story Arch Is Heartbreaking (Major Spoilers) - Horizon Zero Dawn Message Board For Playstation 4 - Page 2 - Gamefaqs". 2020. Gamefaqs.Gamespot.Com. https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/168644-horizon-zero-dawn/75093413?page=1. Date of access 28-7-2020 94

Figure 23 Source: an argument concerning Faro and Sobeck. source: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/168644-horizon- zero-dawn/75093413?page=1 In sum, the fandom experssions on Sobeck and Faro judge both their intentions as their actions. Where Sobeck arguably received the moral upper hand, especially in comparison with Ted Faro.

Helpless scientists Dr. Neo Cortex

The Crash Bandicoot franchise has little to no use for science other than an easy explaining mechanism for why certain thing happen in the game, something we also saw in other platformers. Dr. Neo Cortex is not talked about for his vast scientific knowledge and nuanced arguments, these are, after all, not his most defining features in the game series. But still Cortex is talked about and his section highlights different sources that indicate that when other gamers write about him they acknowledge him as a scientist, even if though his character, and the Crash Bandicoot franchise as a whole, do not use science in an intricate manner. To argue this, we will explore a vast number of more unusual sources to trace the uses of Dr. Neo Cortex on the vast and diverse landscape of the internet.

Figure 24 Source: the subtitle of this Spotify playlist is: Everybody's favorite mad scientist uses grandiose ballads to make himself feel better every time Crash foils one of his crazy plans. Source: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6nRT0nPVi7yeAwI32W7p7q Dr. Neo Cortex and his colleagues are acknowledged in their scientific persona in music playlists on Spotify, where even though Dr. Neo’s scientificness is mentioned as a joke, it adds to the visibility of the scientist. Cortex is also part of a multitude of ranking lists to rank ‘gaming greatest scientists’.263 These small examples show that Cortex is viewed as a scientist outside of his in-game environment. The biggest contributions to make him more visible are done by crossover games. Cortex was the first human figure that entered the Skylanders universe. Skylanders is a toys to screen fighting simulator that lets players build their own teams. Cortex is, together with other video games scientists, often part of Skylander mad scientists teams.264 Next to visibility that does not debate the scientificness of Cortex and his colleagues there are encounters where player argue that the scientific parts of the scholars of the Crash Bandicoot universe are somewhat lacking depth. The sequel to the original series has been officially announced on 22th of June 2020265, which sparked debate and fan theories on how the stories in both games are connected. In which a user argues that the story takes place after, one of the less well-loved Crash games, Twinsanity. In which Cortex, amongst other things, loses the respect of the other scientist in the universe.266 The user argues that now Cortex has received his lone wolf status he can develop himself as a better and more serious scientist.267

263 "The 50 Greatest Video Game Villains Of All Time". 2020. App Trigger. https://apptrigger.com/2016/06/29/50- greatest-video-game-villains-time/12/. Date of access 28-7-2020 264 For example, "Skylanders Imaginators - Dr. Neo Cortex & Dr. Krankcase GAMEPLAY - MAD SCIENTISTS TEAM" YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4YiiQPzQAY&t=67s Date of access 28-7-2020 265 "New Crash Bandicoot Sequel Officially Announced". 2020. Screenrant. https://screenrant.com/new-crashbandicoot-sequel-announced-about-time/. consulted on: 2-7-2020 266 "Theory About How The New Crash Game Might Fit In The Timeline : Crashbandicoot". 2020. Reddit.Com. https://www.reddit.com/r/crashbandicoot/comments/ebgi6g/theory_about_how_the_new_crash_game_might_fi t_in/. Date of access 28-7-2020 267 Ibidem. 96

A different theory states that the new game can provide so much needed background for other characters in the franchise. In the comment section a discussion stated on to what extent Cortex had any motivations behind his scientific plans. One user writes when he refers to Cortex: “He's scientist. He found a way to control minds. He meets someone who can create mutants. They band together to conquest the world. End. Simple. No "moral of evil" or sad backstory justification. Just good old greed for power.”268 To which others replay that giving him a more sensible backstory would lead to a more “believable scientist”.269 Because the explanations for the science and story elements as a whole are limited at best and ridiculous at worst, fans have tried to explain story elements themselves in fan theories. Some of these only add to more confusion regarding the story, while other actively try to explain plot holes in the franchise. For example, fans trying the explain the 2017 remaster of the original series with elements for the game. This quote from the Crash Bandicoot Reddit asks for this specifically: “ If they create a few new cutscenes to explain that they put Crash back in time to hopefully defeat him once and for all in the 20 years since he and Cortex first battled and then, as this plan fails, a brand new final boss fight with Cortex that's different from Warped happens? It could be a nice meta nod and explanation for why this remastering is happening in an in-universe canonical way.”270 Another instance where fan theories are used to fill in the missing gaps for the story in- game is done in the Reddit thread “The truth behind Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped”, where the sentiment is voiced that “which is the point of my theory. The future levels of the game feature a lot of references to Neo Cortex, the series' antagonist, and IIRC there's even pictures of him. Which means that, somewhere, at some point, Cortex's plans of world domination end up working.”271 This is because the used to time travel machine from the third game to Cortex had

268 "Crazy Theory, But Hear Me Out... : Crashbandicoot". 2020. Reddit.Com. https://www.reddit.com/r/crashbandicoot/comments/heaqig/crazy_theory_but_hear_me_out/. Date of access 28- 7-2020 269 Ibidem. 270 "Theories For The Nsane Trilogy : Crashbandicoot". Reddit.Com, 2020. https://www.reddit.com/r/crashbandicoot/comments/64j0jf/theories_for_the_nsane_trilogy/. Date of access 28- 7-2020 271 "The Truth Behind Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped : Fantheories". 2020. Reddit.Com. https://www.reddit.com/r/FanTheories/comments/2pkw0n/the_truth_behind_crash_bandicoot_3_warped/. Date of access 28-7-2020 97 unlimited tries to establish his world domination.272 It should be noted that some of these theories are downright non-sensical. Some examples, the theory where it is argued that Dr. Cortex is both father and uncle of his, in-game unspecified, nice and/or daughter Nina Cortex. N. Brio, Cortex lab assistant in the first game and nemesis in the second game, is actually a clone of Dr. Cortex, or as the user argues: “it's pretty clear that Cortex had mutated pretty much anything and everything mother nature had to offer the southern American islands. But what if N. Brio is a mutated human clone of Cortex?”273 Or, the authors personal favorite, both Dr Cortex and N. Tropy (the time machine building scientist in Warped) are time lords from the Dr. Who tv series. In sum, even though Neo Cortex and his colleagues are appreciating science in an unnuanced manner in most instances made by fans, from lists to fan theories, they are acknowledged as scientific persona.

272 Ibidem. 273 "Crash Bandicoot / WMG - TV Tropes". 2020. TV Tropes. https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/WMG/CrashBandicoot. Date of access 28-7-2020 98

Conclusion chapter 3

Chapman’s generalized Player freedom Player freedom Player freedom

framework Open ontological Open story Deterministic story

Scientific portrayal Heavens vault

BioShock Hyper realistic Horizon Zero Dawn

Scientific portrayal The sims Civilization Assassin’s Creed

The Elder scrolls Online Pokémon Spyro Semi realistic Final Fantasy

Megaman

Uncharted

Tomb raider

Crash Bandicoot

Table 4 Chapman scheme for Chapter 3

This chapter focused on fan made content where the scientific figure transcended his in-game universe to play a different role in a fan made context. If we revisit Chapman’s scheme we see that one more or less realistic representation of science has surfaced. Which means that the countless playthroughs and twitch streams where these figures where displayed were not examined. Even though these streams add the visibility of the figure, these streams add little to nothing on how the characters are appropriated by fans. The actual visibility of the figures is larger than was shown on the pervious pages. But because this chapter focuses on the appropriation of fictional science, the streamers on the various platforms just add to representation rather than appropriation. In terms of appropriation we have encountered fan made additions to the game in the part on the modding community, the reception of a game that tried to display science as accurate as possible in Heaven’s vault and the appropriation of different genres and scientific

99 persona. The general trend we saw in appropriation of science was where science was rather unnuanced and shallow, there was more room for interpretation and debates. An unnuanced scientific narrative leaves room for fan made additions to the story. While an nuanced and intricate narrative sparks less creativity and makes fandom debates more one-sided. To illustrate, the modding community in Civilization, the science career paths in the Sims, Dr, Wily’s futile fight with Megaman, Sotha Syl’s mysteries, Lara Croft’s idea of science, forgetfulness and mentorship in Pokémon and Crash Bandicoot’s explanations all share that they are inspired by a science narrative which remains shallow. This left the community with ample opportunities to expand the narrative. The modding community inserted science or a scientist in a place where it was never intended to be. The Sims players expanded on it by becoming scientist and decoration accordingly, while Wily’s limited scientific status was questioned and expended by fans. Fans tried to solve the mysteries of Sotha Syl, in talking about his inventions and dispositions, having ample freedom because Syl never reveals what the why behind his work. The Pokémon players and the Crash Bandicoot fans expanded on the in-game science narrative by pointing out and theorizing about inconsistencies and vagueness. All because the given in-game narrative falls short in providing an intricate science narrative. The games that did provide an intricate narrative, in this chapter BioShock, Heavens Vault and Horizon Zero Dawn where discussed less creatively. Bioshock has a heavy emphasis on its connection with the works of Ayn Rand, which stirs debate into one corner. Mostly towards people who want to discuss to what extent Bioshock represents Rand’s idea’s accurately. While other scientific idea’s in-game, such as the uses of the quantum realm and the bio-ethics issues, are ignored almost completely. In Horizon Zero Dawn, the morals of head scientist Sobeck are discussed. Where there was little room for the perspective that she was, next to the savior of the in-game world, also the one who doomed it. The debates focused on arguing that mass murder can be used for the greater good of saving the world, not the perspective if it was desirable to save the doomed world in the first place. Heavens vault has the most intricate science narrative of the chapter and arguably of the

100 entire thesis. Here the debates focused on celebrating all the intricacies the story and mechanics had to offer, with a heavy emphasis on how this was not a ‘traditional game’, that can be played for the mechanics alone. The emphasis on the nuances in the narrative even made it more of a niche game, less approachable for what is considered the general gamer audience. In short, shallow scientific narratives in-game gets deepened by player initiative, while nuanced stories are just affirmed by player debate.

101

Conclusion

Figure 25 To the Moon's Dr. Rosalene at the end of the game. Source: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=754465313

To the moon’s Dr. Rosalene solved the question central to her game and spoke the above quote. The question central to solve this thesis was: how is science represented in video games? To answer the question we have examined science as a plot device, scientific stereotypes and discussion about science in video games. Throughout this piece and in reviewing 82 games, many instances and uses of science and the scientific persona where revealed. The examples ranged from the recognition and somewhat realistic portrayal of real-life scientists of the past, in Nicolai Tesla, Albert Einstein and Leonardo Davinci to non sensical and unnuanced adventures and scientists. The portrayal of science as a plot device and the reception of science in fandom was just as diverse. The short answer to the main question that unifies the varieties in examples and larger case studies, reminiscent of other studies into the nature of stereotypes and archetypes274, is simply put: contrasts. In the chapter on science as a plot device the first contrast was argued, science in an in- game story is presented as either harmful and helpful to the player. Harmful science was mostly visible in platform games and first-person shooters. Here science of the scientific element is used as an easy explaining mechanism of story elements. In general, these story elements all form a

274 For example, Stuart Hall. "The work of representation." Representation: Cultural representations and signifying practices 2 (1997): 13-74. 102 threat for the player to overcome. The science justifies the need for a hero or savior, which comes in the form of the player. It is intriguing that the uses for science in these genres are so alike, while their target audiences different. First person shooters are generally for mature audiences due to their emphasis on violence, while platformers are sold as family friendly entertainment. Which means that in game story telling or lack thereof determines the uses for science, rather than the prominent mechanics that matches with the target audience. In simulation and strategy genres science was a mechanism to progress in the in-game universe. In simulation the players can try their hand at being scientists themselves and in strategy games players can employ science to unlock useful benefits in game. In simulation science helps the player unlock the potential bright future of their character. In strategy the scientists help the player win the game. In both cases science is presented as helpful. The second chapter, about scientific stereotypes, argued the second contrast that the video game scientists fit Rosalyn Hanes scheme and transcend the scheme at the same time. Haynes scheme entails seven categories, she argues, that even though some categories are intertwined one fictional scientist fits into one category. In the chapter we saw that even though the scientist displayed attributes described by Haynes, they all transcend her categories as well. It was therefore argued that Haynes categories should be viewed as personality traits, from which one is dominant, instead of a strict one-scientist-per-category-scheme. The most striking example for this was the interchangeability of the dangerous scientist category and inhumane researcher. Dangerous scientist Elisabet Sobeck (Horizon Zero Dawn) and inhumane researcher Brigit Tanenbaum (BioShock franchise) are similar in personality traits. Sobeck’s inventions destroyed her in-game world, her dangerous and helpless sides brightly shining through. However, her inventions also became the salvation of a new world, at the cost of a mass genocide, showing her inhumane side. Tanenbaum inhumane tendencies showed that science left unchecked can lead to greatness but if approached without moral restraint leads to great destruction. Tanenbaum’s attempts to improve humanity showed her adventure, foolish and helpless side. The first in her making a deal with criminals, the second in her ignoring the world around her and the last in the

103 destruction she brought upon her world. In Sobeck’s story and Tanenbaum’s narrative we also have seen that the more complex the scientific story gets the less science is presented as either helpful or harmful. In the stories science created the certain doom but also was presented as the savior. One of Haynes other traits was the “noble scientist” as hero or savior of society. This type is characterized as positive, a practitioner of science to help the community was invisible in a strict sense, because the science the characters practiced all led to problems the player needs to solve. If we look at the motives of this scientist, doing science for the betterment of society, that is rather visible in all the characters, even though their versions of betterment lead to disaster in the end. The judgment of if the science in game ‘good’ science lays in the eye of the beholder is, in this case the players who interacted with the worlds the scientists created. To examine the reception of science in game the third chapter was added. This chapter focused on role these scientists played outside of their in-game worlds. It was argued that the contrast we faced in fan appropriation of videogame science was the shallower and unnuanced the in-game science was the more diverse intricate the fandom discussion presented itself. The modding community provided the largest case study to support this claim. Here fan made levels and inserted science where is was never intended to be in the original in game narrative. The modding community in strategy game Civilization debated their scientific intuitions with the game as a catalyst and added fictional scientific figures, Dr. Eggman (Sonic the hedgehog franchise) and Dr. Wily (Megaman franchise) into Civilization to assist the player towards victory. Furthermore, fans discussed archaeology as a profession inspired by Lara Croft and her colleagues. The vagueness and absent mindedness Pokémon professors received some attention and Sotha Sil’s way of research in secrecy was debated in an attempt to unravel the mysteries. The shallow and child friendly scientists in the Crash Bandicoot universe became little intricate in fan debate. All these expansions on the in-game narrative would not have been possible if the game provided a more well-rounded narrative. The games with a more intricate story had little left to wonder about for fans and therefore the debates and stories where less creative and less widespread. The chapter discussed

104

Tanenbaum and Sobeck. Here the science in the narrative left a little less opportunity to be deepened. BioShock has a heavy emphasis on the works of Ayn Rand, which stirs debate into comparisons between philosophy and to what extent BioShock reflects Rand’s ideas. Even though it can be argued that this games makes Rand’s ideas more approachable to a less philosophically inclined audience, it sparked less diverse debate in the fan community. In the context of Horizon Zero Dawn there was little to no room for debate on the intentions of Sobeck in the game. Sobeck, in game, is framed as a hero that faces hard choices but still sacrifices everything in order to save the world. The fact that she caused the doom of the world in the first-place is overshadowed in the fandom that portraits her as a hero. Due to the intricate story the debates surrounding science where less diverse. If we take a final look at the Chapman scheme, we see the fourth and final contrast that reveals itself. The Chapman scheme was used illustrate how realistic the scientific element in a game came across and to what extent we could expect that players have encountered the in- game science. The last opposite is seen in the idea that the more nuanced the science gets the less user friendly the game becomes for a wider audience. Most games in the scheme are placed in the semi-realistic categories, where the science display can range from non-sensical to more realistic fictional. The realistic category has as four games in it and arguably the most realistic scientific elements where visible in the archaeology and linguistics game Heavens vault. In the context of this game we saw that it was celebrated for being a breath of fresh air in bringing a more nuanced scientific narrative. The downside was that the reception of this game was less than glowing, the in game mechanics that made the game scientific, made it slow and frustrating, which did not resonate with a large portion of the player base. The other games that featured a more realistic version of science (Horizon Zero Dawn, Bioshock and Detroit, become human) were deemed more approachable for a larger audience. It seemed that it was because the scientific element was not the star of the show, it remained in a supporting role. Whereas, in Heavens vault the science was so central to the story and mechanics that it felt too realistic to people that where not captivated by linguistics and archaeology in the

105 first place. The question: how is science represented in video games? Is answered by four contrasts science is both helpful and harmful to the player, fits more traditional stereotypes and transcends them, sparks innovative fan-debate if shallow but remains one sides if the story is nuanced to begin with and the more ‘real-life’ the science gets the less relatable it is for the general player. The question to what extent do all these stories and persona influence the expectations for real life science seems subject for further research. It seems fruitful to see how these stories reflect societal (dis)trust towards scientific solutions for complex modern problems. Or how it reflects the reputation of individual scientist, are they seen as Lara Croft-style adventures or is it a vocation for absent minded people who lost all connections with real life? Which invites a more empirical approach to seeing how fiction and reality interact with one another. To end with the words of GLaDOS, Portal’s lead robotic researcher, who talks about her (unethical) experiments on humans, not so much the reception of science in video games, even though her song fits this subject too.

“Look at me: still talking when there's science to do! When I look out there, I've experiments to run. There is research to be done.”275

275 Portal 2. https://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/p/portal/still_alive.html 106

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The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, (Bethesda Softworks, 2002), cross-platform, RPG

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, (Bethesda Softworks, 2006), cross-platform, RPG

The Elder Scrolls Online, (Bethesda Softworks, 2014), cross-platform, RPG

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, (Bethesda Softworks, 2016), cross-platform, RPG

The Sims, (Electronic Arts, 2000), cross-platform, SIM

The Sims 2, (Electronic Arts, 2004), cross-platform, SIM

The Sims 3, (Electronic Arts, 2009), cross-platform, SIM

The Sims 4, (Electronic Arts, 2014), cross-platform, SIM

109

Theme hospital, (Bullfrog Productions, Two Point Studios, Krisalis Software, 1997), cross-platform, SIM

Tomb Raider: Legend, (Eidos Interactive, 2006), cross-platform, RPG

Tomb Raider: Underworld, (Eidos Interactive, Feral Interactive (Mac OS X), 2008), cross-platform, RPG

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, (Naughty Dog, 2009), -, RPG

Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception, (Naughty Dog, 2011), -, RPG

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, (Naughty Dog, 2007), -, RPG

Untitled Goose game, (House House, 2019), -, SIM

Wolfenstein 3D. (Apogee Software, 1992) -. FPS

Wolfenstein the old blood. (MachineGames, 2015) Cross platform. FPS

Wolfenstein the new order. (MachineGames, 2014) Cross platform. FPS

1000 days to escape, (Lemon Squeezy, 2019), -, SIM

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124

Appendix 1 Chapman’s full scheme

Chapman’s generalized Player freedom Player freedom Player freedom

framework Open ontological Open story Deterministic story

Scientific portrayal Detroit: Become

Human Hyper realistic

BioShock series

Horizon Zero Dawn

Heavens vault

Scientific portrayal Fall-out series Overwatch Donald Duck: Goin'

Oblivion Evil Genius Quackers Semi realistic The SIMS Wolfenstein, the new Portal

Subnautica order Shovel Knight

Roller coaster tycoon Wolfenstein, the old DOOM

Planet coaster blood Science Girls Zoo tycoon Civilization Psychonauts Theme hospital 1000 days to escape Lilo and Stitch The Witcher Pokémon Atlantis The elder scrolls series Alice: Asylum Big Hero Six The sims Kim Possible American McGee's The Outer Worlds 102 Dalmatians Alice (2001) World of warcraft A virus named Tom Cave Story Tesla vs Lovecraft City of Heroes (2004)

Command and Tomb raider

Conquer Series the Uncharted series

125

Deus Ex Indiana Jones

Disgaea 3: Absence of Crash Bandicoot

Justice (2008) Assassin’s Creed

Dragon age Spyro

Everybody has gone to Final Fantasy the rapture Megaman

God of War Uncharted

I Love You, Colonel Advance Wars

Sanders! Banjo-Kazooie (1998)

Jade Empire Bendy and the Ink

League of legends Machine

Life is strange BioForge

Mass Effect Series BloodRayne

Brain Dead 13

Call of Duty: Black Ops

Chrono Trigger

Code Vain

Conker's bad fur day

Crypt of the

NecroDancer

Dark souls II

Dead island

Digimon Story Cyber

Sleuth: Complete Edition

Earth worm Jim

Evolve

126

Far Cry

HALO Kingdom of hearts Mana Khemia:

Alchemists of Al-Revis

Manic mansion

Monkey Island

Onimusha: Dawn of

Dreams

Plants vs. Zombies

Ratchet & Clank

Resident Evil

Romancing SaGa

Star Fox

Xenosaga

127

Appendix 2 List of characters

S outing type main pop culture Haynes ly driven commercial other part of Character type Science comp C games multiple part of C G G Scientist

ource

haracter haracter

enre ame

ity

tom.html virus e/2495/pc/a optimus.com/gam https://www.co scientist helpless no virology low no platform TOM Named A Virus X Dr.

named

com/wiki/Lash ewars.fandom. https://advanc scientis helpless no science computer low yes FPS 2008) (1988 Wars Advan Lash

/Mad_Hatter ndom.com/wiki https://alice.fa researcher inhuman no Robotics high No FPS/RPG Asylum Alice: Hatter Mad

/Mad_Hatter ndom.com/wiki https://alice.fa unknown yes unknown low No platform (2001) Alice McGee's American H Mad the

atter

com/wiki/Aita screed.fandom. https://assassin scientist dangerous Bad Mad, yes comic science life medium no RPG Series Creed Assassins Aita

agoras com/wiki/Anax screed.fandom. https://assassin unknown no philosophy Medium yes RPG Series Creed Assassins Anaxagoras

Bell nder_Graham_ com/wiki/Alexa screed.fandom. https://assassin scientist noble no technician Medium Yes RPG Series Creed Assassins Bell Graham Alexander

n_Bock com/wiki/Ailee screed.fandom. https://assassin researcher i no genetics low no RP Series Creed Assassins Bock Aileen

nhuman nhuman

bastus com/wiki/Bom screed.fandom. https://assassin alchemist evil no alchemy Medium No RPG Series Creed Assassins Bombastus

128

_Brewster com/wiki/David screed.fandom. https://assassin scientist no no optics Medium No RPG Series Creed A Brewster David

ssassins ssassins

ble

alie_Chapman com/wiki/Nath screed.fandom. https://assassin adventurer as scientist no medicine Medium no RPG Series Creed Assassins Chapman Nathalie

hanie_Chiu co screed.fandom. https://assassin adve as scientist yes comic medicine Medium No RPG Series Creed Assassins Chiu Stephanie

m/wiki/Step

nturer

et as_de_Condorc com/wiki/Nicol screed.fandom. https://assassin scientist noble no philosophy Medium no RPG Series Creed Assassins Condorcet Nicolas de

us com/wiki/Cons screed.fando https://assassin scientist dangerous Bad Mad, series yes book Robotics high No RPG Series Creed Assassins Consus

aus_Copernicus com/wiki/Nicol screed.fandom. https://assassin unknown series yes book astronomy medium No RPG Series Creed Assassins Co Nicolaus

pernicus

is_Crick com/wiki/Franc screed.fandom. https://assassin scientist helpless no science life low No RPG Series Creed Assassins Crick Francis

es_Darwin com/wiki/Charl screed.fandom. https://assassin scientis foolish no geologist and naturalist Medium no RPG Series Creed Assassins Darwin Charles

etrio_il_Silente com/wiki/Dem screed.fandom. https://assassin scientist helpless no craftsman low No RPG Series Creed Assassins il Silente Demetrio

min_Franklin com/wiki/Benja screed.fand https://assassin adventurer scientist no philosophy high No RPG Series Creed Assassins Franklin Benjamin

om.

_Godin com/wiki/Louis screed.fandom. https://assassin scientist dangerous Bad Mad, no r astronome low No RPG Series Creed Assassins Godin Louis

129 m%C3%A1tica %81lvaro_Gra co screed.fandom. https://assassin scientist dangerous Bad Mad, series yes book science life high no RPG Series Creed Assassins Gramática Álvaro

m/wiki/%C3

n_Hathaway com/wiki/Simo screed.fandom. https://assassin researcher inhuman series yes book history high no RPG Series Creed As Hathaway Simon

sassins sassins

nckelmann nn_Joachim_Wi com/wiki/Joha screed.fandom. https://assassin researcher inhuman series yes book historian low No RPG Series Creed Assassins Winckelmann Joachim Johann

eya_ com/wiki/Med screed.fandom. https:/ scientist helpless series yes book science life medium no RPG Series Creed Assassins Voronina Medeya

Voronina

/assassin

en_Vidic com/wiki/Warr screed.fandom. https://assassin scientist foolish no science life Medium no RPG Series Creed Assass Vidic Warren

ins

ssa com/wiki/Vane screed.fandom. https:// unknown no genetics Medium No RPG Series Creed Assassins Vanessa

assassin

Stillman com/wiki/Lucy_ screed.fandom. https://assassin researcher inhuman no genetics Medium No RPG Series Cree Assassins Stillman Lucy

_Rikkin com/wiki/Sofia screed.fandom. https://assassi researcher inhuman series yes book science computer Medium Yes RPG Series Creed Assassins Rikkin Sofia

n_Hathaway com/wiki/Simo screed.fandom. https://assassin adventure as scientist series yes, book historian medium No RPG series creed assassins Hathaway Simon

_Rikkin com/wiki/Sofia screed.fandom. https://assassin scientist dangerous Bad Mad, series yes book physics high Yes RPG series creed assassins Rikkin Sofia

hanie_Chiu com/wiki/Step scr https://assassin adventurer scie series yes book medicine Medium No RPG series creed assassins Chiu Stephanie

eed.fandom.

ntist as ntist

130

ssa com/wiki/Vane screed.fandom. https://assassin scientist helpless no space Medium Yes RPG series creed assassins Vaness

en_Vidic com/wi screed.fandom. https://assassin scientist dangerous Bad Mad, no memory genetic medium Yes RPG series creed assassins Vidic Warren

ki/Warr

o om/wiki/Klung zooie.fandom.c https://banjoka scientist foolish yes comics robotics low no platform (1998) Kazooie Banj Klungo

ki/Alice_Angel andom.com/wi https://villai unknown no unknown low Yes Platform Machine Ink the and Bendy Angel Alice

ns.f

ki/Alice_Angel andom.com/wi https://villains.f researcher inhuman no psychology Medium No Platform 2018) (2017 Machine the and Bendy Alice bad The

Ink Ink

Bioforge quote.org/wiki/ https://en.wiki scientist dangerous Bad Mad, no medicine low No FPS/RPG (1995) BioForge Mastaba Dr.

yan wiki/Andrew_R k.fandom.com/ https://bioshoc scientist dangerous bad mad, comics philosophy H No RPG/FPS Bioshock Ryan Andrew

igh

g wiki/Yi_Suchon k.fandom.com/ ht scientist dangerous Bad Mad, no science life Medium No FPS/RPG Bioshock Yi Suchong

tps://bioshoc

ele A1thory_Meng m/wiki/B%C3% yne.fandom.co https://bloodra researcher inhuman no genetics Medi yes RPG BloodRayne Mengele Báthory

ephistopheles m/wiki/Xerx_M yne.fandom.co https://bloodra scientist foolish no magic low Yes RPG (2002 series BloodRayne heles Mephistop Xerx

2011)

leon ma_the_Chame m/wiki/Busuzi oar.fandom.co https://bloodyr scient foolish no science life medium No FPS/RPG 2003) (1997 Roar B Busuzima

loody loody

ist

131 dead ames/brain shgarden.org/g https://macinto researcher inhuman no science computer medium no rpg 13 (1995) Brain Neurosis Dr.

Dead Dead

agov /wiki/Nikita_Dr ty.fandom.com https://callofdu researcher inhuman no science life high no FPS (2010) Ops Black Duty: Call of Dragovich

ich

chenko /wiki/Lev_Krav ty.fandom.com https://callofdu researcher inhuman no unknown medium No FPS (2010) Ops Black Duty: Call of Kravchenko Lev

_Steiner /wiki/Friedrich ty.fan https://callofdu researcher inhuman no unknown low No FPS (2010) Ops Black Duty: Call of Steiner Friedrich

dom.com

_Steiner /wiki/Friedrich ty.fandom.com https://callofdu researcher inhuman no scientist rocket medium no FPS (201 Ops Black Duty: Call of Steiner

/wiki/Doctor ry.fandom.co https://cavesto researcher inhuman no talist experimen low Yes platform Story Cave Date Fuyuhiko

(Cave_Story) ki/The_Doctor_ andom.com/wi https://villains.f scientist helpless no medicine low no platform (2004) Story Cave doc The

iki fandom.com/w https://chrono. scientist noble comics book, fiction Non inventor High No RPG Trigger Chrono Ashtear Lucca

/Lucca

on m/wiki/Dr._Ae roes.fandom.co https://cityofhe scientist helpless no science life low No FPS (2004) Heroes of City Dr.

Aeon

ockwork_King m/ roes.fandom.co https://cityofhe unknown no physics low no FPS (2004) Heroes of City King Clockwork The

wiki/The_Cl

hzilok m/wiki/Dr._Va roes.fandom.co https://cityofhe unknown no unknown low yes FPS (2004) Heroes of City Vahzilok Dr.

132

m/wiki/Counci roes.fandom.co http unknown no unkown low No FPS (2004) Heroes of City Council

s://cityofhe

ockwork_King m/wiki/The_Cl roes.fandom.co https://cityofhe researcher inhuman no psychics low no FPS (2004) heroes of city King Clockwork The

m/wiki/Council roes.fandom.co https://cityofh unknown n unknown low No FPS (2004) heroes of city members) (6 Council The

alentino .com/Aurora+V n.wiki.fextralife https://codevei unknown no unknown low No RPG (2018) Code Vain Valentino Aurora

amiya wi n.fandom.com/ https://codevei alchemist evil no medi Low yes RPG (2018) Code Vain Amamiya Karen

ki/Karen_Am

cine

Albert_Einstein dom.com/wiki/ https://cnc.fan scientist dangerous Bad Mad, scientist real physicist theoretical Medium Yes Strategy Series Conquer and Command Einstein Albert

life life

on_Kriplespac i fandom.com/w https://conker. scientist foolish no unknown low no Platform (2001) day fur bad conker's Kriplespac Von Professor

ki/Professor_V

ex ctor_Neo_Cort m.com/wiki/Do ndicoot.fando https://crashba scientist helpless comics figures action science Life medium no ps platfor Bandicoot Crash Cortex Neo Doctor

m/f

e+Scaleless .com/Seath+th ls.wiki.fextralife https://darksou scientist helpless no historian low no RPG (2014)II souls Dark Scaleless the Seath

st_Sin olar_of_the_Fir wiki ls.fandom.com/ https://darksou unknow no unknown low no rpg (2014)II souls Dark the First Sin Scholar of Aldia,

/Aldia,_Sch

Dead_Island pedia.org/wiki/ https://en.wiki scientist helpless no virologist science, Life medium Yes FPS island Dead Carter Logan

133

Stross m/wiki/Nolan_ ace.fandom.co https://d scientist f no robotics low No RPG Deadspace Stross Nolan

oolish

eadsp

h_Kamski .com/wiki/Elija human.fandom become https://detroit scientist dangerous Bad Mad, no AI High No RPG Human Become Detroit Kamski Elijah

nd .com/wiki/Ama human.fandom become https://det undefined no AI low No RPG Human Become Detroit Stern Amanda

a_Stern

roit

o_Andronikov .com/wiki/Zlatk human.fandom become https://detroit scientist helpless no AI medium Yes RPG Human Become Detroit Andronikov Zlatko

iki/Bob_Page fandom.com/w http researcher inh yes comics robotics high yes FPS Deus Ex Page Bob

s://deusex.

uman uman

edou wiki/Akemi_Su .fandom.com/ https://digimon alchemist evil series yes tv magic low no (2015) Edition platform Complete Sleuth: Cyber Story Digimon Suedou Ak

emi emi

iki/Mao fandom.com/ https://disgaea. researcher inhuman no talist experimen medium No FPS/RPG (2008) Justice of Absence 3: Disgaea Mao

ementor ki/Professor_D andom.com/wi https://villains.f adventurer as scientist movies series, cartoon Yes, robotics towards leans films) Unclea feature (in high universe) game Low (in No Platform Switch? the What's Possible: Kim Disney's Dementor Professor

r, r,

den ki/Samuel_Hay andom.com/wi https://doom.f researcher inhuman no amics thermodyn medium No FPS/RPG (2016) DOOM Hayden Samuel

ki/Olivia_Pierce andom.com https://doom.f scientist dangerous Bad Mad, no ical biomechan Medium no FPS 2016 DOOM Pierce Olivia

/wi

truger ki/Malcolm_Be andom.com/wi https://doom.f scientist dangerous Bad Mad, no physics medium no FPS 3 DOOM Betruger Malco

134

video_game) iki/Dr._Muto_( fandom.com/ https://drmuto. scientist helpless no science climate low No platform (2002) Muto Dr. Muto Dr.

m/wiki/Branka age.fandom.co https://dragon alchemist evil no magic low no RPG age Dragon Branka

n gon_of_Her_Ki m/wiki/A_Para a https://dragon unknown no craftsman low no Rpg age Dragon A Paragon

ge.fandom.co

m/wiki/Merrill age.fandom.co https://dragon scientist foolish no magic Low no RPG age Dragon Merrill

m/wiki/Dagna age.fandom.co https://dragon unknown no magic low no RPG age Dragon Dagna

s m/wiki/Avernu age.fandom.co https://dragon alchemist evil no magic low no RPG (2009) Origins Age: Dragon Avernus

For essor_Monkey .com/wiki/Prof ormjim.fandom https://earthw scientist helpless series, toys cartoon books, on Comics modific genetic towards leans Unclear, medium No plaform Series m Jim Earthwor For Monkey Professor

Head

ati

Kagrenac .net/wiki/Lore: https://en.uesp alchemist evil series yes book philosophy Medium no RPG universe scrolls Elder Kagrenac

_Fyr m/wiki/Divayth olls.fandom.co https://eldersc alchemist evil series yes book /magic philosophy high No rpg universe scrolls Elder Fyr Divayth

a_Verenim m/wiki/Relmyn olls.fandom.co https://elderscr scientist helpless no philosophy Medium No RPG universe scrolls Elder Verenim Rel

myna myna

(Dragonborn) m/wiki/Neloth_ olls.fand https://elderscr scientist helpless no /magic philosophy Medium No RPG universe scrolls Elder Neloth

om.co

135

il m/wiki/Sotha_S olls.fandom.co https://elderscr alchemist evil series yes, book alchemy high yes RPG universe scrolls E Sil Sotha

lder

Galerion m/wiki/Vanus_ olls.fandom.co https: scientist noble no magic high Yes RPG universe scrolls Elder Galerion Vanus

//elderscr

pture_the_sto s_gone_to_the_ra poilers_everybody mments/5drfky/s it.com/r/Egttr/co https://www.redd scientist dangerous Bad Mad, no ast medium no RPG rapture the to gone has Everybody Appleton Stephen

rology

ry/

ki/Kala andom.com/wi https://evolve.f scientist foolish comics biologist quantum high No fps (2015) Evolve Kapur Kala

ut) ki/Miles_(Fallo andom.com/ https://fallout.f alchemist evil no chemist low Yes RPG/FPS Fall Out Miles

o ki/Steve_Remc andom.com/wi https://fallout.f unknown no assistant low No FPS/RPG Fall out Remco Steve

ki/Vree andom.com/wi https://fallout.f scientist helpless no archivist low No FPS/RPG Fall out Vree

t_2) ki/Brian_(Fallou andom.com/wi https://fallout unknown no physics low Yes RPG/FPS 2 Fall Out Brian

ut_2) ki/Harry_(Fallo andom.com/wi https://fallout.f unknown no scientist rocket low No RPG/FPS 2 Fall Out Harry

2) arsky_(Fallout ki/Leonard_Boy a https://fallout.f unknown no scietist general low Yes RPG/FPS 2 Fall Out Boyarsky Leonard

ndom.com/wi

ki/Sheng_Ming andom.com/wi https://fallout.f unknown no unknown low No FPS/RPG 2 Fall out Sheng

136

ki/Tom_Murray andom.com/wi https://fallout.f un no science atomic low No FPS/RPG 2 Fall out Murray Tom

known

e ki/Wong_Yi_Tz andom.com/wi https://fallout.f unknown no talist experimen low No FPS/RPG 2 Fall out Tze YiWong

hold ki/Charles_Ring andom.com/wi https://fallout.f unknown no physics Low Yes RPG/FPS 3 Fall Out Ringhold Charles

n ki/Erin_Shellma andom.com/wi https://fa unknown no technician low No RPG/FPS 3 Fall Out Shellman Erin

llout.f

rson ki/Robert_Ande andom.com/wi https://fallout.f unknown no virology low Yes RPG/FPS 3 Fall Out Anderson Robert

ki/Justin_Lee andom.com/wi https: un no unknown low Yes RPG/FPS 3 Fall Out Justin Lee

known

//fallout.f

o ki/Steve_Remc andom.com/wi https://fallout.f unknown no unknown low no RPG/FPS 3 Fall Out Remco Steve

elden ki/Leon_Von_F andom.com/wi https://fallout.f unknown no virology low no RPG/FPS 3 Fall Out Felden Leon

Von Von

ki/Vree andom.com/wi https://fallout.f scientist foolish no biology medium no RPG/FPS 3 Fall Out Vree

ki/Aileen andom.com/wi https://fallout.f unknown no chemist low Yes RPG/FPS 3 Fall Out Aileen

ki/Crocket andom.com/wi https://fa s foolish no inventor low no RPG/FPS 3 Fall Out Crocket

cientist

llout.f

137 hemist ki/Jacob_the_C andom.com/wi https://fallout.f unknown no chemist low yes RPG/FPS 3 Fall Out Chemist the Jacob

ng ki/Jing_Tie_Gah andom.com/wi https://fallout.f unknown no inventor low Yes RPG/FPS Fa Gahng Jing Tie

ll Out 3 ll Out

ki/Long_Wang andom.com/wi https://fallout.f unknown no science military low no RPG/FPS 3 Fall Out Wang Long

ed ki/Marjorie_Re andom.com/wi https://fallout.f researcher inhuman no medicine Medium y RPG/FPS 3 Fall Out Reed Marjorie

ki/Myron andom.com/wi ht researcher inhuman no Robotics Medium Yes RPG/FPS 3 Fall Out Myron

tps://fallout.f

ki/Professor andom.com/wi https://fallout.f unknown no science life low Yes RPG/FPS 3 Fall Out Professor

ki/Schreber andom.com/wi https://f scientist dangerous Ba Mad, no science life medium No RPG/FPS 3 Fall Out Schreber

allout.f

lski ki/Sheng_Kawo andom.com/wi https://fallout.f unknown no chemist low No RPG/FPS 3 Fall Out Kawolski Sheng

ki/ andom.com/wi https://fallout.f unknown no technician low ye RPG/FPS 3 Fall Out Ming Sheng

Sheng_Ming

ki/Tom_Murray andom.com/wi https://fallout.f unknown no unknown low no RPG/FPS 3 Fall Out Murray Tom

e ki/Wong_Yi_Tz andom.com/wi https://fallout.f unknown no technician low no RPG/FPS Fal Tze YiWong

l Out 3 l Out

138 ey ki/Aldwin_Morl a https://fallout.f unknown no developer low no RPG/FPS 3 Fall Out Morley Aldwin

ndom.com/wi

ki/L.J._Rogers andom.com/wi https://fallout.f unknown no unknown low no RPG/FPS 3 Fall Out L.J. Rogers

rt ki/Laura_Stewa andom.co https://fallout.f scientist dangerous Bad Mad, no medicine low no RPG/FPS 3 Fall Out Stewart Laura

m/wi

ki/Madison_Li andom.com/wi https://fallout.f scientist helpless no physics high no RPG/FPS 3 Fall Out Li Madison

n) ki/Calvert_( andom.com/wi https://fallout.f scientist dangerous Bad Mad, no Robotics high No RPG/FPS 3 Fall Out (brain) Calvert

brai

nders ki/Caroline_Sau andom.com/wi https://fallout.f unknown no unknown low Yes RPG/FPS 3 Fall Out Saunders Caroline

allou ki/Catherine_(F andom.com/wi https://fallout.f unknown no unknown low Yes RPG/FPS 3 Fall Out Catherine

t_3)

ki/Alex_Dargon andom.com/wi https://fallout.f scientist foolish no food low yes RPG/FPS 3 Fall Out Dargon Alex

ki/Anna_Holt andom.com/wi https://fallout.f scientist foolish no food low Yes RPG/FPS 3 Fall Out Holt Anna

ki/Mackay andom.com/wi https://fallout.f scientist helpless no science life low Yes RPG/FPS 3 Fall Out Mackay

ach ki/Martin_J._Ro andom.com/wi https://fallout.f unknown no unknown low Yes RPG/FPS 3 Fall Out Roach J. Martin

139 lout_3) ki/Murphy_(Fal andom.com/wi https://fallou un no science civil low Yes RPG/FPS 3 Fall Out Murphy

known

t.f

ckheart ki/Desmond_Lo andom.com/wi https://fallout.f scientist dangerous Bad Mad, no nuclear Medium No RPG/FPS 3 Fall Out Lockheart Desmond

ki/Plik ando https://fallout.f scientist foolish no li low yes RPG/FPS 3 Fall Out Plik

fe science fe

m.com/wi

ki/Ryan_Brigg andom.com/wi https://fallout.f unknown no food low yes RPG/FPS 3 Fall Out Brigg Ryan

anika ki/Sandra_Kund andom.com/wi https://fallout.f unknown no unknown low Yes RPG/FPS 3 Fall Out Kundanika Sandra

raun ki/Stanislaus_B andom.com/wi h researcher inhuman no science life Medium Yes RPG/FPS 3 Fall Out Braun Stanislaus

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