[SPOILER] Anya is _____

[AshyGreen]

"I miss you. I missed you a long time before I met you."

Okay. I know I'm super late to the party, but I just have to say: Anya Oliwa is one of the best characters ever created for videogames. Not that she's the most unique - the arsenal of human emotion could only reach a certain capacity - but everything about her are sewn together so perfectly, that made her character impossible not to love.

Lemme just put it out there: Anya is Ramona.

I've been wondering about that possibility as soon as the she began reading B.J. Ramona's diary. I was like: um, why? The game already have letters and newspaper clippings scattered all over the place, is it really necessary to add the story of another character in such a harsh way? Is it really so important that Anya had to read it to BJ while he's deep behind the line?

So I listened to Ramona's story, which depicted this woman whose love was lost to the wrath of Third Reich, drenching her soul with burning hatred toward the N***s. That hatred fueled her into this long, one-man-retaliation against the N*** war machine. She was no soldier, so she used every other mean possible - lies, deception, sabotage, seduction, everything within her power to slaughter just one more N***. Nietzsche ones said and I quote: “Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster... for when you gaze long into the abyss. The abyss gazes also into you.” She continued her retribution long after the war was over, when the Third Reich became the status quo. At one point she was even pregnant with the child of a N*** officer, and when she aborted the child - through what I assume "unconventional" means - that's when she officially crossed the line. A child is always innocent.

With no help and no one to talk to, she beared this twisted thirst of vengeance within her for years, her wretchedness slowly eating her from the inside until the day she finally couldn't do it anymore, as the whole world literally stood there as her enemy. So she retired herself to this insane asylum, and in her last act of defiance, caring for those mentally challenged, those who were despised and disgusted by the N***s.

The rest we all know. They found BJ, she took care of this vegetable-state man-ape until the asylum was shut down, BJ suddenly woke up and began slaying N***s left and right. BJ was Anya's miracle, and the next night on the train to Berlin they immediately f***ed - I mean, BJ is probably just properly enjoying the company of the woman he's been with for 14 years, but to Anya? Not only did her years of work pay off, the result was probably way beyond her wildest expectations - he had the same hatred, he had the means and the guts to put that hatred to work and he washed his hands with N*** blood without blinking an eye. At first I thought that sex scene was abdupt, but looking back at it, it made perfect sense. BJ was Anya's perfect man, and she f**ed him and loved him like there was no tomorrow.

But she couldn't just break her history to him, because you don't just tell your lover that you were once a twisted serial killer and strangled her own unborn child, even more so when she was being depicted as this common nurse-damsel throughout the game - I mean, women, right? And that's why she told him her story the only way possible, that's why she introduced him to her alter-ego and her diary that was once her only friend, to tell him that she understood, that she's been bearing this hatred, this curse alone for all this time, and to tell him how much she longed for someone like her.

And that's why she said what she said in the end of the audio logs:

"I miss you. I missed you a long time before I met you."

[AshyGreen]

Holy crap that was way longer than I expected. Well, such was my opinion. I know that there are things that doesn't add up - especially the timeline. But it's entirely possible that Anya just aged gracefully, or more likely, the writers left it "open for depiction". I still believe Anya is Ramona - it makes sense. I mean, why would a common nurse working in a mad house know the surrounding of Eisenwald prison? :D

[Zero]

Anya is definitely Ramona. Your summary is literally what I also believe.

[AshyGreen]

Btw, game industry, if you ever wonder how to create a female character, here's a perfect example of what to do.

[DogMeat]

I completely loathed her when I figured out about midway through her diaries that she was talkinga bout herself... so its completely possible to not love her. They really should have given some option to tell Anya to go **** herself. Would have loved to have seen her suicide.

With that said, at least you actually understood what was happening and what the writers were going for which is far more than can be said of the average gamer.

[Boxerbomber96]

I agree, I think Anya is Ramona. But, part of me feels like B.J. really loves Anya and cares deeply about her. The way I see it, BJ sees Anya as his savior, just as Anya sees BJ as hers. She took care of him for 14 years, and while he lost large gaps in his memory, he still remembers many of the instances where she took care of him, and everyone else. Feeding him, bathing him, (changing him :/, his sheets, bedpan etc perhaps?) and everyone else there. He saw the good in her and her family, and how they cared for their patients. When BJ snapped out of his coma i believe it was fueled by the urge to take care of her, just as she took care of him.

On the topic of the termination of her pregnacy, I understand why others would hate her for extinguishing the life of an innocent who had no control over its conception. At that point she did become a monster, her hate overcame her. But that was years before she started working at the Asylum where i believe she regained her sense of compassion, she took care of everyone when they couldnt care for themselves. She grew through her experiances there, she came to realize what she did was wrong. At least thats how I see it, Wolfenstein:TNO leaves many things open to interpretation. What isnt said directly, is said through expression, events, and hints.

[Stoop Kid]

I totally agree, very good character if you pay attention. Well done, man.

[Zloth]

It's probably the same person. Either that or there's another generation so Romona was one of the nurses you see shot in the asylum and Anya is her daughter... nah, that can't be. Anya couldn't be more than about 15 years old if that were true.

Originally posted by Helmstif:

Btw, game industry, if you ever wonder how to create a female character, here's a perfect example of what to do.

You have GOT to be joking. What does she do in the game? She nurses Mr. Hero back to health, then gets captures for Mr. Hero to rescue, then she does a little radio operation, then she gets captured AGAIN so that Mr. Hero can rescue her again. Just another damsel in distress. Adding a little "P.S. She's used to be a psychopath murderer" really doesn't help much. It might have if they had actually developed that story instead of just putting it in a few little messages you could optionally read. As is, though, I think her grandparents were more interesting than she was.

If you want to find good characters, female or otherwise, check the RPG genre.

[AshyGreen]

Originally posted by Zloth:

Adding a little "P.S. She's used to be a psychopath murderer" really doesn't help much.

Well, that's just, like, your opinions, man.

Or maybe it's because I prefer story over gameplay. As long as the character development is coherent and memorable (which Anya is), it doesn't have to be integrated into the gameplay, even if it means tacking the plot onto typical damsel in distress missions. Plus, there's only so much one could do in a shooter. Comparing it to RPGs is like asking a steak to join a contest between fruits.

[Mister Torgue Flexington]

Originally posted by ant0ni00:

Anya is definitely Ramona. Your summary is literally what I also believe.

interesting theory indeed