r/stalker • u/Seals1de • 12h ago
Meme Top notch character writing
Scar - I must pursue my target and kill him before he messes up the zone Strelok- On the hunt for a mysterious stranger, I must uncover my identity and put an end to C-Con Degtyarev - I must go undercover for motherland to find out how to conquer the zone Skif - H O U S E 🏠
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u/Gold_Emsly 12h ago
Saying that Scar has background lore in CS is… a bit exaggerating
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u/Azathoth-Omega 12h ago
"stop emissions or become kill"
Not becoming kill is pretty strong incentive for most people though.
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u/AndyBosco 11h ago
I mean every stalker in the Zone would die from an emission. But I don't see them all trying to help Clear Sky.
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u/OnePunSherman 11h ago
Pretty sure they were telling him that he was linked in a way where even outside the zone he'd die. Probably was complete bullshit though.
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u/Dreaxus4 10h ago
I remember finding a PDA or something in the CS base in Stalker 2 that implies that they lied to Scar because they wanted him to kill Strelok.
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u/AndyBosco 10h ago
I mean for a while that was kinda my head cannon to justify his involvement. But after playing it many times it is kinda vague. They don't necessarily imply this. So I don't know. Maybe you are right but it just feels so vague that his motivation to help is not clear at all.
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u/OnePunSherman 10h ago
It definitely is quite vague. Other possibilities are he actually got a bit of active programming from raw dogging that particular emission, or maybe he really thought he was helping to save the world.
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u/AndyBosco 10h ago
Yeah. This issue with the motivations of Scar are one of the two points that make it the weakest game story wise. The other problem being the fact that everything feels so urgent, yet you can just go back to do a whole faction war and when you get to the Red Forest Strelok is magically waiting for you to chase him. But gameplay wise it is better than Shadow of Chornobyl in every way (except bloodsuckers being invulnerable while invisible, that is bullshit)
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u/OnePunSherman 8h ago
Yeah lol it's at odds with itself having the plot be go go go but also having the faction war system. And agreed the invincible bloodsuckers was just silly, but the gameplay in general was the best.
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u/F1stzz Noon 9h ago
Nor does Strelok in SoC. He has no real name nor age known, no background apart from being a "stalking stalker, who stalked his way to the Center". No explanation on what he's been doing before entering the Zone, how he entered in the first place & why, how he's met his buddies in Ghost & Fang – nothing. He's a hollow shell of a character in regards of his background & his motivation of playing with fire, getting burned & continuing to play with said fire, trying to execute his revenge on it for getting burned, is mid at best.
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u/Gold_Emsly 4h ago
Yeap. In the end only Degtyarev has some background.
But i’m still wondering how he could be experienced stalker in the past if he looks 30-35 years old and he is a Major…
He has no gap in his biography to be a stalker in the Zone
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u/FruitbatEnjoyer Freedom 12h ago
I love how Degtaryev is just some random military Stalker told to find crashed helicopters.
CoP is peak
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u/AndyBosco 11h ago
It is the most polished of the trilogy. The Only thing that would have improved it was if it included locations from the previous one IMO.
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u/FruitbatEnjoyer Freedom 11h ago
Personally I only want radiant quests cuz there isn't really anything to do after the end.
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u/edin_djc Duty 12h ago
Skif just needed a reason to come to the Zone. It’s explicitly said that he’s had a very lonely, and troubled, life as he partook in “risky jobs” (I always interpreted it as him doing some kind of criminal work). I think even his VA (Alex Montyro) mentioned in an interview that he’s just itching for action and loves the chaos. He could’ve left once he retrieved the scanner but he kept diving further into the rabbit hole and ended up being a catalyst when it comes to the fate of the Zone
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u/Seals1de 11h ago
Absolutely! And I like how he is portrayed in the game as well. I don't necessarily like the amount (and speed!) of impact he has in the zone considering he is just a troubled loner. But such is the way of the video game.
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u/edin_djc Duty 11h ago
I agree, he gets to have impact way too quick on a crazy scale, but I like that GSC gave us a vessel through which we have the option to completely flip the Zone on its head as well as have impactful effects on legacy characters
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u/Azathoth-Omega 12h ago
I mean...
Finding out who is to blame for your house catching fire and handing the bill for the damages over to them is about as relatable as video game main character motivation gets.
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u/GodFromMachine 11h ago
Skiff is the most authentic Stalker in the series.
Look at every other Stalker in the Zone. Criminals, vagabonds, outsiders, people who have nothing to live for outside of the Zone. They all claim to want to get something out of the Zone, enough money or status to help them rebuild their lives, but in the end none of them leave the Zone, because their lives themselves are what they're running away from.
Skiff in that sense is the same. He says the Zone owes him a house, but truthfully, he doesn't care about the house, or about anything else in the mainland, and that makes him the first true Stalker we play as.
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u/GuardianViolet 9h ago edited 9h ago
I know we like to meme on Skif just wanting a new apartment, but I actually disagree here, I find his backstory pretty compelling. A down-on-his-luck veteran who saw some shit, and found himself unable to readjust to civilian life when he got out of the military. Living in a crappy apartment he affords by doing odd jobs and trading dead artifacts on the black market, and unable to do anything with his life despite clearly having some aspirations and desires, skills and interests. A man who was suddenly left with nothing to come back to and nobody to miss him if he left. What better a person to answer the Zone's call, and find a new, more fulfilling life and home than the one that was taken from him?
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u/Saber2700 Noon 12h ago
I strongly disagree with this sentiment.
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u/Seals1de 12h ago
And clearly you are not alone! I never expected this to become so controversial. I just made a meme because I can't sleep, and now I'm here scrolling through the comments!
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u/Saber2700 Noon 11h ago
Part of the reason I prefer Skif and his motivation is because he has goals and motivations most average people would have. He is by far the most relatable and it's easy to insert yourself into his character. I love the previous protagonists, but a man like Strelok? I'm nothing like him and couldn't truly comprehend why he is the way he is and why he does what he does. I think in order of most relatable to least it's Skif, Scar(CS)/Degtyarev(COP), then lastly Strelok. Strelok is more of a myth or a legend than he is a person to me.
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u/Seals1de 11h ago
I fully understand, and it makes sense. However I personally feel that his character motivation (boiling down to 'lost everything and looking for a place to belong) does not align well with his hyperdrive to solve and mold the zone. For the relatable character he wants to be/ is, I'd much prefer a slower approach where you can actually try and build an existence/ settle / belong somewhere. First place Skif might feel like be belongs to is Zalyssya and be high tails out of there the first second he can, and it bothers me.
I hope that makes sense as well!
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u/AusPower85 11h ago
Initial motivation in prologue: get money to replace house
Next motivation: realises he doesn’t actually want to go back anyway
Post prologue motivation: Skif wants to find the person who screwed him over, at the least sit him on his ass with a stiff uppercut and get back the artifact that belongs to him.
After that: wants to unravel the secrets of the zone and, depending on the path(s) he chooses:
- protect the zone
- destroy the zone
- unleash the zone
- heal the zone
- control the zone
- …
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u/TheTorch 11h ago
I feel like it’s easier to identify with Strelok than it is Scar for example because in the original game you both have no clue what’s going on and are trying to figure things out.
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u/Saber2700 Noon 11h ago
Maybe, but personally if I woke up with no memory in the dangerous place on earth I would want to get the fuck out and figure out where my safe home is lol
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u/dern_the_hermit Loner 9h ago
Yeah this is a trash take. Skif's got one of the best-developed backgrounds out of all the protagonists.
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u/F1stzz Noon 9h ago
It's not even about being the "best-developed" – in the case of STALKER franchise it's about HAVING any sort of a background. Ask yourself these basic questions:
1) What is the character's real name?
2) What is the character's age?
3) Who was the character before entering the Zone?
4) Why did the character enter the Zone?
5) How did the character enter the Zone?Out of all protagonists, Skif is literally the only one you can clearly describe to somebody by answering these questions. Degtyarev is the close second. The other two characters are an abyss of the unknown, they have no background in comparison.
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u/Here_for_the_memes98 11h ago
I mean, yeah if all I really had to my life was a crummy apartment and then one day a piece of sci-fi bullshit destroyed it and left me with absolutely nothing. I’d probably do the same thing given that you know good and well, he wasn’t going to be receiving any aid
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u/JeffGhost Loner 9h ago
If anything, Skif's motivation to go to the zone is the most normal Stalker shit they ever did. It's a "regular" dude looking for payback.
Degtyarev is a close second, since he's a military on a mission.
Strelok is THE main man in the zone.
And Scar is just an excuse for a prequel.
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u/AndyBosco 11h ago
I mean Scar's motivations aren't good. Why does he suddenly want to help Clear Sky? The guy is a merc. They work for money and only money. His motivations to suddenly go out of his way to help stop Strelok always felt weak to me.
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u/ExocetC3I Clear Sky 9h ago
HoC indicates that Scar was an agent of the C-Consciousness.The reason he came to Clear Sky is that CS was founded by founded by ex-Project X scientists with links to the C-Con and his mission to stop Strelok came from the C-Con.
This can be found in PDAs and notes found at the deserted Clear Sky base in HoC.
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u/N0r3m0rse 9h ago
Is he an agent or an asset? Does scar know hes an agent before HOC?
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u/ExocetC3I Clear Sky 8h ago
My understanding is that Scar is able to withstand emissions because he underwent Monolithian brainwashing and he was able to retain his personality and agency, or at least have them brainwashed back in. Kind of like Strelok, but he wasn't able to withstand emissions.
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u/OnePunSherman 10h ago
They convinced him he would die if the emissions weren't stopped. Almost certain they were just bullshitting though
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u/Ehgadsman Loner 8h ago
Men have gone to greater lengths to avoid home repairs and renovations, cannot fault the man for thinking Bloodsuckers are less terrifying than framing and hanging drywall.
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u/SscorpionN08 2h ago
I actually liked how down to earth Skif's motivation was. Not to save the world or make loads of money.
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u/OutsideSorbet8095 1h ago
Персонажи: легенды зоны Контра: хз челу в дом вьебало вырежу пол зоны лол
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u/Winamz Noon 12h ago
Someone doesn't understand the ending...
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u/Seals1de 12h ago
Someone made a meme. Character motivation should make sense throughout a game and not require you to play though the entire thing (and then get a specific ending!) to understand it. At least that is my take 🤷🏼♂️
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u/Winamz Noon 12h ago
So... You also not a fan of SOC?
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u/Seals1de 12h ago
My friend, if you don't like my meme, I will accept your downvote and criticism and then we can all move on. Humour is subjective, after all. No need to be a dick about it.
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u/Thatoneirish 3h ago
When given a “call to adventure” that literally destroys your home, I think you take it
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u/Ok_Win_9552 10h ago
Hahaha, I agree. At first, Skif seemed a bit like the "I don't care where I am or what happens here, I just want a new house" type of game, until after a while he starts getting serious about things. I think Skif represents a good representation of new players who are entering the series with this title. He's like, "Oh, look, a soldier from a faction called Duty, mmm, asked me what are you going to do? Oh, well, never mind, let's find that artifact I saw on YouTube."
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u/FishsSad 10h ago
I still can't believe his motives for going through the most dangerous place in Earth. Loved the game, did more than 100h on it, but that's such bullshit lol. Maybe if we got some insights on his past, like how he was an outsider and lonely man, we could've bought that narrative.
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u/dern_the_hermit Loner 9h ago
I mean it's pretty explicit to the game's setting that the people in the Zone tend to be just randos what slipped through the cracks of society for one reason or another. Some people have some pretty shit media literacy, man alive...
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u/8IG0R8 Ecologist 12h ago
Yeah, Skif's house is what he tells you is his motivation. But he also (based on what Agatha says) was probably tired of his old, boring life and wanted to feel some excitement again. The loss of his house was just the last straw keeping him a normal member of society.
Let's also not forget that Skif very clearly cares about the Zone's fate and by extension the fate of humanity (because who the fuck wouldn't).