Wyll Ravengard & The History of Wokeness

[seeker1]

https://www.naacpldf.org/woke-black-bad/

And Black people have never been silent — or at a loss for innovation — when articulating demands for justice. In fact, the use of “woke” as an in-group signal urging Black people to be aware of the systems that harm and otherwise put us at a disadvantage is documented as far back as the 1920s. The Jamaican philosopher Marcus Garvey, exhorting members of the Black diaspora in America, Jamaica, and elsewhere to join the cause of Pan-Africanism, called on them to “Wake Up!”

By 1938, the iconic American Blues musician Lead Belly (born Huddie Ledbetter) had recorded the song “Scottsboro Boys.” The ballad tells the true story of four Black youths who were falsely accused of raping a white woman in Scottsboro, Alabama, and subsequently convicted by an all-white jury and sentenced to death — though they were thankfully freed after several appeals and trials. In the song, Lead Belly says of Alabama, “I advise everybody to be a little careful when they go down there. Stay woke. Keep your eyes open.”

In Black communities in the early to mid-20th Century as the Ku Klux Klan re-emerged, mob justice and lynchings were not uncommon, and segregation and Jim Crow laws were often harshly — or fatally — enforced, "stay woke" came to mean to stay vigilant in a world stacked against you.

The use of the word “woke” continued to spread throughout all sectors of Black Americans’ lives. In 1940, after finding out they were being paid less than their white counterparts, the leader of a Black mine workers union in West Virginia that launched a strike against discriminatory pay reportedly said, according to Harriot’s research, “We were asleep. But we will stay woke from now on.”
[snip][end]

I know, I have to relate this to the game to make it topical, and so I will.

Wyll Ravengard is Woke AF.

[seeker1]

Theo Solomon, Wyll's VA, also appears to be Woke AF.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5Ln-nxjMGY

[Sr. Tortilla]

Clownwork's post history is pretty telling. Something about "censorship is bad" but only for the things he approves.

[seeker1]

Samantha Beart is Karlach's VA for this game. This article shows some of the earlier EA models for Karlach.

Fans’ Karlach Fever Only Feels Possible Because Most Don’t See Her Blackness
https://www.themarysue.com/baldurs-gate-3-fans-karlach-fever-only-feels-possible-because-most-dont-see-her-blackness/

This doesn’t mean Karlach being a Tiefling made her Black or a POC specifically, though. It’s also the concept art that features many faces drawn mostly with phenotypes of Black and Southeast Asian features. Like EA Karlach, many of the sketches feature locs. Another factor is the actor themself. Béart is a Black actor of Jamaican and Irish ancestry. As a Black player, when I saw Béart, even before seeing the early art, I instinctively connected that to Karlach in a way that’s difficult to explain and probably understand unless you’re a person of color, underrepresented in media.

[snip]

Outside of the praise for Carter’s mod turning all the Origin characters Black, Béart hasn’t made any comments about Karlach’s race. They’re not one to shy away from these discussions, either. Béart continues to speak openly about racism in the entertainment industry and push back against colorism. However, Béart does reject questions about writing and design changes from fans, even hypothetical ones. They feel their role as a performer is to be as a vessel for someone else’s work.

[snip]

Regardless of why Larian changed Karlach, a small part of me wonders if this was for the better? After all, not only does the fandom largely ignore and whitewash the only explicitly Black Origin character (Wyll), but people made a mod to make him white less than a month of the game’s release. Nexus may have removed it, but the racist that made that was welcomed on other sites. Thankfully, Béart’s only shared that the racism they’ve seen is related to BG3 came from that awful Wyll mod. I wish I could say the same.

[snip][end]

I would say Samantha Beart is Woke AF.

[Evangeline]

I'm done with these forums.

[Ellie]

To be fair with regards to Karlach, the previous model looks like a default Tiefling. New Karlach just looks more interesting.

Regardless, take my points. <3

[✙205🍉🐆→]

I'm black in a way, but I don't protest against it all, 90% of the time I play a white person, 5 times I play a woman, and 5 times I play a person of color.

[seeker1]

Samantha Beart on portraying Karlach ...

https://www.escapistmagazine.com/baldurs-gate-3-samantha-beart-karlach-interview/

What traits do you and Karlach share? Did any of your own mannerisms or aspects of your personality influence the way Karlach was portrayed?

Although we’re a bit different physically, I carry myself with the confidence of a seven-foot-tall tavern brawler who’s been to the Hells and back. Personality-wise, we both share a dry sense of humour, we believe in practical solutions to life’s problems, personal integrity is more important than what other people think of us, and we are both triggered by injustice. I feel like I was able to get away with murder in terms of how much of myself I was allowed to bring to the role. No one stopped me…
[snip][end]

Elsewhere, Beart quoted this character description of Karlach ...

‘In a 2023 setting, Karlach would roll in on a Harley with shades and a cigar between her teeth, blaring Sabbath. A diesel-soaked dynamo with a heart of gold. She seeks justice for the oppressed, camaraderie, and revenge on the bastard who sold her to hell.’ Now, what’s that saying to you?"

[IndridCold]

Originally posted by seeker1:

I see, pointing out actual history is inflammatory.

In all seriousness, I think Wyll is "Woke" to the dangers of Gortash to the city. He better than anybody else in Tav's party gets what Gortash is up to.

Technically Wyll is the closest to a woke person indeed not necessarily cause of his skin but because he is literally a social justice warrior seeing as he's portrayed as the most moral character while everyone else is more like 'eh, let the world burn' kind of types. Except maybe Karlach despite her literally burning.

On a more serious note his background implies he'd be most savvy when it came to politics of Baldur's Gate so yeah he ought to be the most aware of the dangers posed by Gortash's reforms.

[seeker1]

BTW, I very much get what's going on when Wyll feels the need to isolate himself from the rest of the camp when he receives his devilish appearance. It's interesting that throughout the game, he tells people who he is, and they don't believe him. "You couldn't possibly be the son of Duke Ravengard, devil boy." Granted. this is an era where photos are not widely distributed on facebook, and Wyll by his own admission has been separated from his father and the city ever since he became a warlock/the blade of frontiers ... so it's not surprising people in the city don't know what he looks like (with or without horns).

He despite receiving a stigma (and also having a stone eye) rises above all that to become a champion of justice and protector of the downtrodden. I also find it interesting that the player can ultimately have him choose between

Taking on civic leadership in his father's footsteps and also becoming a Duke of the city.
Or staying the Blade of Frontiers, pursuing justice in Faerun; or the Blade of Avernus, helping Karlach and others trapped in the hells.

Wyll IS that strong heroic male character everybody says "they can't find" in BG3. He always rises above his challenges & circumstances.

[IndridCold]

I can't quite get behind Wyll because of the weird mixture of his class and identity. Other characters fit into an archetype yet retain their own unique personalities and traits but Wyll comes off as some borderline Gary Stue to me. But this might be due to the fact that the warlock class is handled terribly in 5e and it bled into his character. It is in a very weird spot where you cannot tell what they are meant to be exactly. And yeah, I miss the 3.5E warlock from Neverwinter Nights 2. I was looking forward to playing a warlock in BG3 and using Devil Form and turning my eldritch blast into a cone and all that cool tricks warlocks used to be able to do with... less.

[Exarch_Alpha]

OP you lost the moment you put the stupid woke label.

Also know as "I´m racist or homophobic or against women but I won´t say it to not be banned"

[seeker1]

Correct, Msr., I know quite well how some people are using the word "woke" in 2024.

However, I just decided to point out that the first people to use this term in the 1920s & 30s were A-A people in the U.S., as a warning to each other about the Klan and racism.

There is a later sense it develops in the Aughts, I think, to simply mean a person who is aware of social justice issues - I think Indrid Cold was using it in that sense.

BTW, I really loved the Mothman Prophecies, incidentally. The book and the film. (I actually happen to have both; the book is from 1975, the film from 2007 or so IIRC).

[iTemperence]

Originally posted by seeker1:

BTW, I very much get what's going on when Wyll feels the need to isolate himself from the rest of the camp when he receives his devilish appearance. It's interesting that throughout the game, he tells people who he is, and they don't believe him. "You couldn't possibly be the son of Duke Ravengard, devil boy." Granted. this is an era where photos are not widely distributed on facebook, and Wyll by his own admission has been separated from his father and the city ever since he became a warlock/the blade of frontiers ... so it's not surprising people in the city don't know what he looks like (with or without horns).

I think that particular scene was done very poorly, at least in the playthroughs where you save the tieflings. Don't know about how it plays out when you don't.

I understand his personal feelings about being transformed, it's a lot to deal with, but he's brooding about horns popping balloons at a party where infernals literally outnumber the party members. The whole camp is overrun by 'devils' and Wyll thinks he doesn't 'fit in'?

I think that story was important to tell, it just wasn't told in a realistic way.

[SaintTrina]

bro wtf is this ♥♥♥♥

[seeker1]

A thread where you might have to do some reading and thinking.

If you don't like that, visit some others on the forum. I tend to assume most CRPG players enjoy doing that.