Hack Designer Pentagram

These five elemental game characters are guaranteed to get a giggle from game designers, as they are prolific families in the gaming landscape, tend to sound silly in pitch meetings, and just look lazy. The popularity of each rises and falls like the tide, though the universal appeal of the monkey seems to know no wane.

• Zombie
• Ninja
• Monkey
• Pirate
• Robot/Cyborg

Very close on the list are Aliens, but these tend to be mixed with one of the above. The exception would be an Alien Pirate. This is an unacceptable configuration. In the case that such nomenclature exists, ”Space” is often substituted for ”Alien,” thus distancing players from the awkward and undesirable configuration. See Metroid and its ”Space Pirates”.

Other runners-up: Vampires and Nazis.

It should be noted that not only do the above exist as hack design elements but also as wide ranging internet memes. Noting the traditional breakdown of Ninja vs. Pirate ¹⁾ and Robot vs. Monkey, some observations can be made. The rampant surfacing and juxtaposition of these memes can be interpreted as a postmodern way of dealing with eternal questions of space, time, and death. The Ninja is an ancient, mythological, and deadly figure from an eastern culture, whereas Pirates are western in origin. As global culture starts to emerge, their struggle can be seen as a response to globalism and an attempt to resolve questions raised by different cultures existing in the same virtual (and sometimes literal) space.

Similarly, the opposition of robots and monkeys can be seen as a loose response to increasing scientific understanding of humanity over a timeline. Specifically, the monkey represents a state of nature in terms of pre-civilization; in other words, our past. Robots, particularly of the cyborg variety, represent our future. Both call to mind the image of dwindling and questionable “humanity”, no matter which way you look in time.

What of Zombies? They are a response to the question of death and afterlife. If we decide to include Aliens in the pentagram, they could be seen as a response to spiritual questions, i.e., “is there a God?”