Rumnating on the Chosen (spoilers)

[Malidictus]

Back when War of the Chosen was first being announced, I remember people being very pissy about the Chosen - they talk too much, they look like Smurfs, they talk like Saturday morning cartoon villains, they take the mistique away from the aliens, etc. Having now killed them permanently a bunch of times, I wanted to discuss what I think Firaxis were going for and why I actually kind of like how the Chosen came out.

First and foremost, the Chosen aren't aliens. They're humans, just very heavily mutated. Unlike ADVENT Troopers or the Avatar body, they haven't been manufactured from scratch - they were once human, with memories of that time. All of the Chosen make that abundantly clear in their dialogue. This is actually pretty consistent with the theme of XCOM 2 in general. While XCOM: Enemy Unknown dealt with... Well, an "enemy unknown," XCOM 2 has from the start dealt with an enemy very well known. Let me explain.

From the start, we're not actually fighting "the aliens." While Alien soldiers exist on Earth and oppose us, their alien Overlords are nowhere to be seen. What we're fighting for the most part is the ADVENT coalition government which employs plenty of humans in its administration. After all, Movier Trailer Voiceover Guy is still fully human, yet occupying a high rank in the ADVENT administration. We're not fighting an invasion by aliens. We're fighting an occupation by human collaborators. Now, granted, ADVENT is a puppet government ruled by the Elders and represented by the Speaker, who's very clearly a Thin Man and not an actual human (thanks to a friend of mine who pointed that out). The majority of the environments are purely terrestrial, and even ADVENT's architecture is just higher-tech version of contemporary architecture. The actual aliens are very tangentially involved.

It's for this reason that I feel the Chosen are a good fit for the game's theme. We're fighting a puppet-state occupation force formed of our own kind, so it makes sense that that state's enforcers are what's considered to be the best among us - powerful individuals given the gift of the Elders. They are, in effect, unruly but effective bounty hunters promised this world as their own if they can accomplish the one task of bringing back the Commander. The Chosen don't seem to care so much about the Elder's grand scheme, even if they know about it. They only care about their own petty ambitions. In essence, that's not all that different from the various independent Resistance factions who may share the broader goal of regaining control over Earth, but are generally more interested in their own particular agendas.

I feel the Chosen themselves were also given a decent amount of depth, granting them unique personalities all their own. This is most evident when one of them dies, in the Elders' description. The Assassin feels nothing, the Warlock feels proud in his own accomplishment and the Hunter gloats that the others are dying. In terms of all the things they say, their personalities reflect this. The Assassin shows a deep sense of nihilism, seeking only a good fight and not really caring about anything else. The Warlock is a complete zealot, treating the Elders as gods, himself as their chosen and all others as unworthy. The Hunter - and probably my favourite - is just an ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. All he cares about is the prize, constantly going on about what he'll do with Earth once he has it. He's the only one who speaks plainly and the only one who generally has a somewhat realistic view of his own skills.

So yes, the Chosen lack the mystique of the godlike, unknowable evil that is the Elders' extended empire, but that's by design. They aren't godlike, unknowable aliens. They're whiny insecure collaborators who were given powers, gear and a tremendous amount of resources by the actual godlike, unknowable aliens to serve as their mercenaries, bounty hunters and enforcers on Earth. The start the game in the same state we do - weak, disorganised and lacking information or understanding of the enemy. They spend the rest of the game the same way we do - struggling to keep up with increasing threats and stay ahead of the curve.

My point here is that the Chosen aren't "the Aliens." They aren't even ADVENT. The Chosen are, essentially, EXALT. They're underdogs the same way we are. They talk big and try to show off, largely as a means of hiding their weaknesses and preserving their pride. All three of them are horrendously insecure and feel the need to constantly prove themselves over and over again. They trash-talk XCOM for the same reason players in PvP blame lag or throw around cheater accusations or chastise others for using "overpowered" weapons. They're trying to throw off your game and not admit that they... Actually genuinely suck and are doing their level best just to keep their own heads above water. The same as we are.

I honestly feel that's a pretty decent bit of writing, even if it's not the same kind of Cthulhuoid space horror as Enemy Unknown.

[Xuhybrid]

I can't help but agree. Although, relating them to EXALT is a bit of a stretch, but i suppose they serve the same purpose for the player. Both expansions (EW/WotC) have a similar, secondary threat that grows with you.

[Malidictus]

Originally posted by Xuhybrid:

I can't help but agree. Although, relating them to EXALT is a bit of a stretch, but i suppose they serve the same purpose for the player. Both expansions (EW/WotC) have a similar, secondary threat that grows with you.

I mean in terms of narrative theme. EXALT are a constant underdog, harraying XCOM via covert operations but never being able to match either technology or firepower with us. The biggest issue is finding out where they live, after which point taking them out is easy.

While the Chosen have the backing of the ADVENT coalition government and so troops and resources at their disposal, they're still underdogs. They're personally pretty weak, having to train up to match progression with us, they have to learn quite a bit about us before they can threaten us directly and even then the biggest issue to killing them is figuring out how to actually get to them.

Moreover, the Chosen themselves are actually pretty weak. They're certainly no Alien Rulers. They're fairly fragile, mostly relying on tricks and their arsenal of abilities is mostly designed to harray and harass more so than to kill. Against a full team of XCOM soldiers, the Chosen are always the underdogs, at least in my experience.

Which is a good thing, in my opinion. It gives us antagonist who, while they may not be entirely relatable, are distinctly human despite their appearance. They have all the same strengths and - crucially - all the same weaknesses as us. Fighting the Chosen feels less like pecking away at an overwhelming force and more like a lockstep race between broadly equal forces, each with their own unique strengths and weaknesses. It makes for compelling villain characters, is what I'm getting at :)

[sirfuzzzy]

While I may not have read this entire wall of text, I am going to agree with the first few paragraphs. I have only recently aquired WOTC and am thoroughly enjoying it thematically and strategically. The Chosen are classic villains, which does lend itself to criticism from the overly sensitive type, but fits perfectly into the already over-the-top, serious-but-not-serious atmosphere of the game. The factions are fun to interact with. The Lost are a blast to blast to pieces while on the run. It's way too easy on normal but is providing a good level of excitement on Commander Iron Man, as every missed headshot on the Lost could lead to the instant death of one of my precious soldiers, and every cheesy teleport attack my the Chosen may set me back 12 missions of training.
An excellent showing so far in my opinion.

[Algol]

A very good point. XCOM is a strategy game, and yet the Chosen are more fleshed out than, say, the main characters in Bioware's latest "RPGs".

I also like how the Hunter actually resents the Elders

[Cyber Von Cyberus]

I never thought about looking at them that way, thanks it was quite an interesting thread.

[Malidictus]

Originally posted by Algol:

I also like how the Hunter actually resents the Elders

That's part of why I like him. The Hunter is a cynical bastard who resents his masters and wouldn't think twice about murdering his own allies and siblings. He's also the least pompous of the lot, admitting when he was wrong, caught off-guard or surprised. Hell, his ending "speech" isn't much of a speech so much as "OK, I didn't see that one coming." Oh, sure, he has his moments of arrogance such as scoffing at blades or claiming "Bet you can't do that again!" when getting hit with Rapid Fire or Chain Shot :)

In a game with so much grandstanding rhetoric, it's nice to have someone who's so thoroughly cynical. He had the best introductory video, as well. While the Chosen and the Warlock bragged about how awesome they are, the Hunter point-blank told us that... Yeah, we're going to kill him a lot, but he's prepared for it.

But yes, it's nice to see the Chosen get so much character development.

[Algol]

Originally posted by Malidictus:

Originally posted by Algol:

I also like how the Hunter actually resents the Elders

That's part of why I like him. The Hunter is a cynical bastard who resents his masters and wouldn't think twice about murdering his own allies and siblings. He's also the least pompous of the lot, admitting when he was wrong, caught off-guard or surprised. Hell, his ending "speech" isn't much of a speech so much as "OK, I didn't see that one coming." Oh, sure, he has his moments of arrogance such as scoffing at blades or claiming "Bet you can't do that again!" when getting hit with Rapid Fire or Chain Shot :)

In a game with so much grandstanding rhetoric, it's nice to have someone who's so thoroughly cynical. He had the best introductory video, as well. While the Chosen and the Warlock bragged about how awesome they are, the Hunter point-blank told us that... Yeah, we're going to kill him a lot, but he's prepared for it.

But yes, it's nice to see the Chosen get so much character development.

The Warlock, no matter how pompous, actually unsettled me the most, being a die-hard Elder fanatic. He saw their inner working and yet he still revers them as gods. Now I get the full extent of alien propaganda and and the mindset of people living in the cities. No wander they rat you out every chance they get.

[Tamiore]

Originally posted by Algol:

The Warlock, no matter how pompous, actually unsettled me the most, being a die-hard Elder fanatic. He saw their inner working and yet he still revers them as gods. Now I get the full extent of alien propaganda and and the mindset of people living in the cities. No wander they rat you out every chance they get.

For what it's worth, even templars in the ending scene agree that the victory over the elders was "just a battle" and the "war" is yet to come. And you can hardly suspect that templars are exactly fans of the elders.
So it may be less a matter of propaganda and more a matter of some hard facts that XCOM is just not aware of.

[Malidictus]

Originally posted by st88:

So it may be less a matter of propaganda and more a matter of some hard facts that XCOM is just not aware of.

I don't know. In the case of the Warlock, he seems to be an unconditional believer in the both the Elders' religion, revering them as gods with unbridalled fanaticism. I don't think it really matters to him what the Elders want or what they do to get it, just as long as "the gods" said so. The Warlock is probably the most tragic of the three Chosen, simply because he has absolutely no agency of his own despite being arguably the most powerful among them. Both the Assassin and the Hunter have goals of their own to which the Elders are merely a means, while for the Warlock the Elders ARE the goal.

I'm of the opinion that the Elders are massive hypocrites, claiming to "love" humanity and only want to "save" us, all the while treating us as the raw material to make weapons and medicine for themselves. It's for that reason that I'm convinced that they have no special feelings towards the Chosen themselves than they would towards any nameless ADVENT Commander. It just serves to make the Warlock all the more tragic because he's THIS devoted to masters who see him as expendable.

[Algol]

Originally posted by st88:

Originally posted by Algol:

The Warlock, no matter how pompous, actually unsettled me the most, being a die-hard Elder fanatic. He saw their inner working and yet he still revers them as gods. Now I get the full extent of alien propaganda and and the mindset of people living in the cities. No wander they rat you out every chance they get.

For what it's worth, even templars in the ending scene agree that the victory over the elders was "just a battle" and the "war" is yet to come. And you can hardly suspect that templars are exactly fans of the elders.
So it may be less a matter of propaganda and more a matter of some hard facts that XCOM is just not aware of.

This fact being the Elders are fleeing from something even more powerful? XCOM knows that, the Chosen are aware of that too. And that was my point with the Warlock - how can he revere them as gods if they are scared and fleeing from something more powerful?

Then again, I always had trouble understanding religious people.

[Tamiore]

Originally posted by Algol:

Originally posted by st88:

For what it's worth, even templars in the ending scene agree that the victory over the elders was "just a battle" and the "war" is yet to come. And you can hardly suspect that templars are exactly fans of the elders.
So it may be less a matter of propaganda and more a matter of some hard facts that XCOM is just not aware of.

This fact being the Elders are fleeing from something even more powerful? XCOM knows that, the Chosen are aware of that too. And that was my point with the Warlock - how can he revere them as gods if they are scared and fleeing from something more powerful?

Then again, I always had trouble understanding religious people.

Well, maybe the thing the elders are fleeing from ("the void") is EXTRA-scary for heavy psionics users?
Thus maybe warlock is effected by that fear the most (of the three) and sees elders as his only hope.