Anti-religious and anti-Christian themes in JRPGs

[ninjainspandex]

Hey, if there weren't any Christian churches in jrpgs then how could we save our games, or resurrect our fallen comrades?

Jesus saves... Your game

[Gunstar Green]

I think its just a romanticized exchange of cultures.

In the US, we love anime tropes and culture.

Cant the same be said for Japan?

Asian locales, peoples and stories are very exotic to westerners.

What about the opposite? Do the Japanese love our tumultuous Western history? The dark ages, inquisitions, witchcraft, Pirates, cowboys, knights and religion?

I think I described most Japanese anime in that sentence.

So what I'm trying to get at is that Japanese folk find our mythology and history just as exciting as we find theirs. Its a new and interesting perspective as seen by eastern eyes.

This sums everything up pretty nicely.

[the7k]

I don't think it's the "religion" part of "organized religion" that they take exception to. Even in Final Fantasy Tactics, which is always the first game I think of when it comes to painting the Catholic Church as the bad guys, the actual worshipers and most the clergy are not depicted as malicious, it's the people pulling the strings at the top of the organization that are painted as the bad guys. Breath of Fire II is a similar example.

[Luke]

I'm not superstitious. But I am a little stitious. -Mitch Hedberg


Thread about religion and video games huh? And yet the mods are wondering "Why does no one give a crap about our forum anymore?". At least the mods who still visit the site.

Hilarious.

[marurun]

Thread about religion and video games huh? And yet the mods are wondering "Why does no one give a crap about our forum anymore?". At least the mods who still visit the site.

Hilarious.

Honestly, if anything has hurt visits lately it was the combination of down-time a bit back and a couple volatile threads. This thread has been extremely well-behaved. Nary a flame to be had. I didn't even need sunblock.

[Nemoide]

I find "religious" commentary in JRPGs to be super-amusing because they clearly show that the creators DON'T EVEN CARE. I mean, I think it's pretty clearly ridiculous more than anything else. I don't relate them to actual spiritual concepts or direct commentary any more than I would relate Big Trouble in Little China with actual Taoist mysticism.

[Xeogred]

Thread about religion and video games huh? And yet the mods are wondering "Why does no one give a crap about our forum anymore?". At least the mods who still visit the site.

Hilarious.

Honestly, if anything has hurt visits lately it was the combination of down-time a bit back and a couple volatile threads. This thread has been extremely well-behaved. Nary a flame to be had. I didn't even need sunblock.

One of the best threads in awhile to me.

[Erik_Twice]

I agree with Gunstar Green and the7k that it's not really about religion as it is about organized religion. Besides what you guys said, often the protagonists in these games have their own, personal religious experiences (Meeting a God or talking to her) that are portrayed as more real or more "natural" than the precepts of the church.

I'm less fond of the idea that they just do it because it's cool. I mean, sure, but that's not the only reason Yahve is killed in Shin Megami Tensei, there's more to it.

I wonder: Did any of the Western games that influenced JRPGs have these aspects?

Thread about religion and video games huh? And yet the mods are wondering "Why does no one give a crap about our forum anymore?".

If you don't think this is an interesting topic, you are free not to post on it, Luke. Personally, I think it's a recurring theme in a popular genre and many users will like to discuss it.

[Forlorn Drifter]

Right, its been a while since I've looked into it, but in general, Japan isn't exactly fond of Christianity, or any western religion for that matter, although I have been told it has gotten much better in last 20 years or so. The idea I always got was the culture fighting outside influences in general, up until they began accepting said influences.

I'd have to look it up, but only around 1% of Japan is Christian, and some of those are in religions mixing Christianity with other religions.

Why am I saying this? Like pointed out before, its mostly just coming from lack of understanding, and viewing it as an outside mythology rather than being inflammatory or anything like that. Now, I do believe tropes used in some of these games led to the dislike of religion in general in videogames, but that's a different topic, with many other facets pushing in.

@Erik,
I don't know of any western games with these tropes, but if there are any, the only ones that come up in my head would be along the lines of God of War, where a mythology most of those playing don't believe in (Greek Mythology), deals with killing of 'gods', with many misunderstandings of the actual mythology itself. (Kratos was a Titan, why did the gods cause him problems? He was already chopped up into pieces by the time the gods were established.)

[o.pwuaioc]

Kratos was a Titan, why did the gods cause him problems? He was already chopped up into pieces by the time the gods were established.)

http://www.theoi.com/Daimon/Kratos.html

I think you're thinking of Kronos, though even then he wasn't chopped into pieces. But yes, dear gods above, quite a few of my students had distorted views of the Greek gods thanks to God of War, Disney's Hercules, Xena: Warrior Princess, etc. It's bad.