CLOSED - Rate Cross Characters 3: Fargo

[ZeaLitY]

Evaluate Fargo based on his character design, combat usefulness, and Tilt factor -- which can mean anything, from how much he strikes you as cool to how important he is to the plot.

http://www.chronocompendium.com/Term/Fargo.html

[Kyronea]

Character Design: Fargo is a pirate, and that's all he seems at first. Then you get into the story of his Home World counterpart and you find out about all sorts of interesting bits to his life...such as the death of his wife Zelbess...his relationship to Nikki...and generally, he's much more fleshed out.

Combat Usefulness: Fargo is one of three people in the game capable of stealing, the only one capable of stealing that is able to be gathered in the party when Serge appears as Lynx, and he is a superb Blue, with nice techniques and lovely power. I always use him once I've got him while I'm still Lynx so I can gather the plates during the Dragon sidequests.

Tilt: Fargo can occasionally be annoying with his stereotypical pirate speech and his insensitivity to his counterpart's feelings, but he's a neat character, and one of the few I'd be willing to keep as a PC if I were redoing Chrono Cross to be like Trigger when it comes to focusing on characters.

Final Grade: B.

[ZeaLitY]

Design: Not the highest mark at first, but after seeing use of the cigar, he's with the best. Wait, that sounds dirty...anyway, he gets neat little smoke puffs.

Combat usefulness: Aside from stealing, he has decent physical strength and a visually impressive (but not as excitingly effective) final tech.

Tilt: This is where Fargo wins. His Another World counterpart is in the springtime of youth. He goes right up to his equivalent, verbally lambasts him, hijacks his ship, then jumps down to the Marbule beach like Protesilaus in the Iliad and starts hacking away at the nightmares. This guy is possessed, and he also illustrates well the character archetype I'm fascinated with -- that of a man or woman who has lost everything, but finds a way to continue meaningfully living with passion and ideals. Another World Fargo unloads his will upon the world of Chrono Cross, and it's for the best. You got my blood boilin'! So A for this guy.

[nightmare975]

Design: He gives off that "pirate" vibe right from the start, and like Zeality said, the cigar gives his character even more flair.

Combat: While as Lynx, he takes the place of Kid as your thief, and during that time, he can steal more valuable things than Kid could ever hope to accomplish. Plus he's a great fighter. Able to take damage and also receive it.

Tilt: For god's sakes, he's a fucking pirate!

Final Grade: A

[Radical_Dreamer]

Design: The man's a pirate. It's clear just by the look of him.

Combat: Strong, and able to steal. Quite useful in combat.

Tilt: He yells at himself!

Man gets an 'A'.

[Kae]

Design:
Not much to add besides what has already been said. Fargo appears relatively benign upon first glance, but his looks hide a dangerous and rather impressive character beneath.

Combat:
Haven't used Fargo a lot since I go for the whole Serge, Kid, Glenn triad when I can, but when you lose those allies as Lynx, Fargo is definitely there to pick up the slack. From the ever-useful ability to steal (and thus obtaining various things like the plates from the dragons), he adds utility. As well, he can definitely hold his own in a battle, and is certainly better suited to take punishment than most of your allies.

Tilt:
He's a pirate. He doesn't take crap from anyone. He's got his own ship. He also kicked his own ass in Home, and smacked some sense into his shameful counterpart by hijacking the S.S. Zelbess. And all this is discovered through the linear progression of the plot, thus giving the player more exposure to Fargo as a whole. Definitely one of the better characters in Cross.


Judging from the fact that I actually enjoy choosing to have Fargo in my party when I need replacements for my usual crew, I'm giving him an A.

[V_Translanka]

Yeay, I didn't miss a poll over the weekend!

Character Design - He's a pirate, but he doesn't fall back on the standard cliché of peg-leg or eye-patch. But he does have a tatoo...Of what appears to be a skull with wings or something...*eye roll* And he has a pony-tail...*both eyes roll as opposed to the singular eye roll* BUT! He's got a bitchin Tom Selleck (Magnum P.I. forever!) mustache. He didn't have a stupid speech impediment either and, being a pirate, it would have been easy for them to make listening to him oh-my-god-is-this-really-happening-pirates-of-the-carribean-3-what-the-fuck-were-they-thinking stupid.

Combat Usefulness - He uses a sword, which makes sense...Lots of characters use swords in CC too, but the sword is a fairly widespread weapon, so I'll allow it (where I wouldn't for throwing blades or gloves?)...His final tech Invincible was pretty cool looking too...

EDIT: Oh, yeah, I forgot he was one of only three characters who could steal! And he's the only one you'll have around to steal from the Dragons too...Now I feel better about his grade...

Tilt Factor - He's a pirate-automatic bonus points. He has a stupid bird/dinosaur thing cutely-pirately?-named Polly. He has something of a storyline attached to him, that kind of peeters out along the way, but at least they tried, points for effort! His son & daughter whom he apparantly abandoned for dead/didn't know about/whatever (I've since forgotten their entire story arch) have seemingly switched common sex roles...But Marcy turned out okay without him, so I guess that's something? He gives a good quote, though he says it's something Zelbess would say...that thing about the mirror and how no one looks at it as what it really is or something...the actual quote itself is better than my half-assed attempt at remembering what it was...

Final Grade: B

I feel sorry for the pirate, so I let the tilt bump him up to above average...don't expect this to happen often, though...I don't recall any other pirate characters!

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