This used to be me, and by used to be I mean up until like a few weeks ago.

And then, I had sort of a revelation that now helps me deal with it way more, and actually fully accept silly character names in serious settings.

And the revelation came from The Legend of Zelda. https://twitter.com/MothLands/status/1246450700000755712

I think there's universal agreement that by far the most serious, somber, & creepy game in the franchise is Majora's Mask.

In a game about the literal end of the world at the hands of a possessed mask using the moon to crush all life, in that very game, we get this guy:

Tingle

Tingle is a man. Literally a 35-year old guy. Only he's absolutely obsessed with forest fairies & goes so far as to wear Kokiri like clothing. The first time you meet him he's flying around with a giant red balloon he's attached to at his waist making maps.

Tingle is ridiculous.

And in a game chock full of death symbolism, where every transformation mask you own is the spirit of a dead person, in a world where people are rightfully terrified, into this world we get Tingle.

And some people call Majora's Mask the best Zelda game if not the best game ever.

Why?

Truth be told, a lot of people hated Tingle. He was so hated, after showing up again in Wind Waker - a setting more "appropriate" to his character - Eini Aonuma scrapped his appearance in Twilight Princess.

But they did replace him with someone & this is my ultimate point:

Even though he was silly, I don't think there's a single person who played Majora or Wind Waker who would ever forget who Tingle is & what he's like. If you saw a picture of him, you'd instantly remember.

So my question for those who played Twilight Princess is: who's this guy?

If you looked at that picture & without a single moment of hesitation or needing to look up characters, if you just saw that photo & were like:

"Oh that's Purlo, he runs the STAR Game in Castle Town."

Well congrats, you're either a huge Zelda nerd or have a photographic memory.

Because I'll be honest, as someone who played, owned the guidebook for, & who enjoyed Twilight Princess, I couldn't for the life of me remember Purlo's name.

Purlo, the "result of wondering what a realistic Tingle would look like," to quote Aonuma.

My question? Is he memorable.

Because for all his silliness, or perhaps because of it, Tingle is memorable. He is such a unique character that he can't help but stick out in your memory.

And what do we ultimately want to take away from our time roleplaying together with friends?

We want it to be memorable.

We want to, years from now, recall the times we had. The times we laughed, when we triumphed, when we failed, when we overcame.

Roleplaying is a form of storytelling. And an essential part of storytelling we sometimes forget is the variance that our stories need. Let me explain.

Perhaps one of the most memorable or certainly the most memable moment in Jordan Peele's masterful horror film Us is this scene.

At one of the most gruesome, horrific moments on screen we get a joke.

And the funniest thing is?

It totally works.

And it makes the horror better.

And all of your favorites have at least one moment of "dissonance."

Think about the Lion King, one of the most beloved animated films of all time.

In a movie about a young cub becoming a true king, we get Timon & Pumba doing a hula in the climactic battle to retake Pride Rock.

In that same film, a "serious" film where we watch a child witness the death of his father, less than 20 minutes later we've got Pumba singing about how bad his farts are. And not long after that?

We get "Can You Feel the Love Tonight."

How does this all work in the same film?

The answer: carefully.

And this is the reason why in many serious D&D games people are reluctant to have a Tingle. Because more often than not, the player who made Tingle is just making a goofy character. They're not thinking about how Tingle fits in, they just made a funny.

But Tingle wasn't inserted into Majora's Mask without care. He was designed by Takaya Imamura, the guy who designed Star Fox & F-Zero characters.

You can clearly see the care in Tingle: why he wears what he wears, why he behaves how he behaves.

There is a reason why he exists.

Tingle is a man-child obsessed fairies & mapmaking at the end of the world.

Despite all of his silliness, he makes sense.

So don't be afraid to have a Tingle character, or silly moments in your serious game. It's not the silliness you should fear, because that always enriches.

My ultimate point of all this is that memorability comes out of those seemingly dissonant moments. It springs from silliness, from romance, from differing beats.

If you want a real world, let it have variance, & if you play a Tingle, have them make sense to the world they're in.

*Eiji Aonuma fuck you autocorrect

If you liked this thread & what I had to say, come hear me & a few other people talk about what we have to say about Play-By-Post roleplaying games at @ChromatiChimera's #CouchCon.

We'll be on there in about 50 minutes. Hope to catch you there! https://m.twitch.tv/chromaticchimera