12 Days of Christmas – Day 9 – Sacrifice
They say there is no greater love than to give your life on behalf of your friends. It’s a concept which not only appears in the Bible, but across many great literary works, including The Aeneid. Really, it’s a bit of a unique trait to have these days as well. Many look at a spirit of altruism, and by extension self-sacrifice, with disdain. “I’ve got mine!” Well, I suppose you do, but did you really get there alone? Where was I? Oh yes, self-sacrifice, and perhaps even more selfless is sacrifice on behalf of people you don’t even know. This, coupled with my penchant for unlikely heroes, has hatched this post. I warn you, this contains massive spoilers for the game Arc Rise Fantasia.
This post really has nothing to do with the main protagonist of the game. Instead, it focuses on Niko, the goofy yet lovable sidekick of the game. Niko is a soldier of the Meridian Empire, but he’s a pretty terrible soldier. From what the various skits say, his fellow soldiers picked on him constantly. His superiors disciplined him for his lack of, well, discipline. In addition, he’s perhaps the biggest coward I’ve seen in an RPG in years. Half of the boss fights he’s unavailable either because he ran away or got knocked out before the fight even started. In fact, his continuous retreats cause many problems in the game, including the event that jump-started the game’s conflict. You could definitely refer to him as a “problem character.”
Yet, despite his continuous shortcomings, L’Arc, our main protagonist, never abandons him. Sure, he gets miffed about the constant cowardice as well, but they’re friends. Niko knows this, but he also knows he’s been a burden upon the party since the very beginning. Eventually he decides to leave and return home, because he just can’t deal with the fighting anymore. Unfortunately, the fighting just keeps following him. Since he just can’t get away from it, he joins a resistance sect and acts as a courier. He gets to stay out of combat, and his successful missions give him a little more confidence. This leads straight into his first sacrifice. When the big bad comes to kidnap L’Arc’s mother and use her as bait, he gives himself up instead.
Niko probably figured no one would come to rescue him, and I’m sure he would have been okay with that outcome. Nope, your party goes after him straight away. After beating down the head of the resident assassination squad and the patriarch of an entire faith, they finally retrieve him. Not so fast! This big bad had a contingency plan. He activates a weapon to glass the major cities. To their horror, the party can’t stop the weapon from firing. Of all people, Niko has a plan. The party runs after him, and gets as far as the control room. Wait, is that an engine firing up?
They quickly patch into the communication channels. There’s Niko in the hangar, jacking a ship and preparing to sortie. The only way to stop the weapon from firing at this point is to destroy it. Not a whole lot of options exist, so he’s going to take the largest object he can find and ram it. Even to the very end, he’s still a coward. He can barely talk to his friends, and just cuts off the link instead. He’s sorry he’s always been a burden, even prompting this crazy rescue mission. For once, he’s running into the fire. In one action, at the cost of his life, he saves tens of thousands.
What measure is a hero, really? You could ask a hundred people and every person would give you a different answer. I think it all boils down to one criterion though. To be a hero is to give of yourself above and beyond the call of duty. Arc Rise Fantasia did a lot of things wrong in their storytelling, but they hit this one right on the head. Anyone can be a hero. Even if you are the biggest bumbling coward in the universe.
