WHY is Sean's generation so popular?

[Black Sword]

Hi all - long time lurker (going on a decade) who was finally convinced by Benoit to join.

Now, to the point: of the four generations in PSIII, Sean's is seemingly the most popular, going off the sheer amount of fan fiction. What, precisely, is the appeal? His nation of refugees is gone, he's a tragic prince who lost everything, he has no home, no family, as royalty, his future is bleak unless he marries Kara or is adopted by Sari...

So what's the appeal? Do people just delight in his torment? Did the 'true love' path blind everyone to the many painful consequences? Is there some starry-eyed ideal in there that people like?

I'm a fan of Adan's generation. It brought everything together full circle, though I find it tragic they (likely) ended up on Earth... though it's outright sad that Aron's generation is the epitome of totally screwed over.

[Edge]

Aron's generation is my favorite as it is the most likely "tied" into Phantasy Star series...

However, I think Seans' generation is so popular because that's the generation most people end up playing... I don't believe his background has much to do with it, it's just this simple:

Why would you spend all that time saving the beautiful Maia to just throw her away and be with Lena, who btw, has no romantic tie with Rhys in the American rom what soever... So chances are, MOST EVERYONE is going to marry Maia...

Then it comes down to the beautiful Princess Thea, or the manly butch Sari... Lets face it... You'd have to be borderline homosexual to want to spend the rest of your life with this woman... SO the answer to your question, isn't his background... It's simply the most selected marriage choices due to Lena's lack of character, and Sari's lack of beauty.

[Tanith]

Then it comes down to the beautiful Princess Thea, or the manly butch Sari... Lets face it... You'd have to be borderline homosexual to want to spend the rest of your life with this woman... SO the answer to your question, isn't his background... It's simply the most selected marriage choices due to Lena's lack of character, and Sari's lack of beauty.

See, the first time I played the game I chose Maia followed by Sari, because I found it quite squicky that your second cousin, Thea, was a marriage option. Ew.

As to the original question, my favorite is Crys. It's not really all that exciting, but if I was going to write about one of the third generation heroes, it'd be Crys for the sheer fun of writing Crys and Kara as putting aside their families' history of feudalism to fight together. It's something the script completely ignores. Crys's battle with Dark Force is more challenging (though really, the entire game is a cake walk no matter who you choose) because of the healer ratio in the party.

Sean's path is the most written about because it has the most story development. Sean himself I find to be too depressing a character to really like that much. Sure, there's good reason for being sullen, but I don't like emo. His path also has the best ending, of meeting up with Neo Palm. That I like very much.

Aron's quest is pretty decent, too, albeit not for the silly time warp ending. I like it because I like Aron (though choosing Alair as a wife might be the most confusing prospect out of the whole game), and for some reason I always liked how he went on a quest with his cousin, Kara. I've always wanted to write about Aron and Kara growing up together on Dahlia. I actually find their familial connection more interesting than Adan/Gwyn, as noted below.

Gwyn's dreams are a neat way to start Adan's quest, but I don't like Adan and the whole twins thing seems like a convenient way to add a bow-user to your party. Gwyn is deathly boring as a character, being a less interesting repeat of her mother, who was a repeat of her sister. If I remade PSIII I would NOT include Gwyn, or at least not as Adan's sister, or have any ties to his family at all. There are a million more interesting ways to develop a character that wields a bow.

[BenoitRen]

The first time I played PSIII I went the Maia -> Sari route as well. Because Sari kicks ass!

[Tanith]

Because Sari kicks ass!

Yes! Woohoo!

[Black Sword]

Then it comes down to the beautiful Princess Thea, or the manly butch Sari... Lets face it... You'd have to be borderline homosexual to want to spend the rest of your life with this woman... SO the answer to your question, isn't his background... It's simply the most selected marriage choices due to Lena's lack of character, and Sari's lack of beauty.

Maia was a damsel in distress, Lena traveled with you, rescued you from the dungeon, and was your betrothed on top of it. Yeah, I ended up with Lena over Maia. And none of the ladies were ugly. Sari could kick all of our butts, but she wasn't ugly.

See, the first time I played the game I chose Maia followed by Sari, because I found it quite squicky that your second cousin, Thea, was a marriage option. Ew.

As to the original question, my favorite is Crys. It's not really all that exciting, but if I was going to write about one of the third generation heroes, it'd be Crys for the sheer fun of writing Crys and Kara as putting aside their families' history of feudalism to fight together. It's something the script completely ignores. Crys's battle with Dark Force is more challenging (though really, the entire game is a cake walk no matter who you choose) because of the healer ratio in the party.

Something the script ignores, but is most certainly applied by the phan! It's also likely to exist even without your interpretation.

Sean's path is the most written about because it has the most story development. Sean himself I find to be too depressing a character to really like that much. Sure, there's good reason for being sullen, but I don't like emo. His path also has the best ending, of meeting up with Neo Palm. That I like very much.

Is it the best ending, though? No matter what, Sean's not in the best of places.

Aron's quest is pretty decent, too, albeit not for the silly time warp ending. I like it because I like Aron (though choosing Alair as a wife might be the most confusing prospect out of the whole game), and for some reason I always liked how he went on a quest with his cousin, Kara. I've always wanted to write about Aron and Kara growing up together on Dahlia. I actually find their familial connection more interesting than Adan/Gwyn, as noted below.

The time connection is cool, though the Alair situation was way too jarring. Not enough time for Nial to bond with Alair for it to make sense. If Lune offered Alair as a living peace token, then it would make sense, but otherwise....

Gwyn's dreams are a neat way to start Adan's quest, but I don't like Adan and the whole twins thing seems like a convenient way to add a bow-user to your party. Gwyn is deathly boring as a character, being a less interesting repeat of her mother, who was a repeat of her sister. If I remade PSIII I would NOT include Gwyn, or at least not as Adan's sister, or have any ties to his family at all. There are a million more interesting ways to develop a character that wields a bow.

I have to disagree there. While it was convenient that Gwyn would be the bow user, it also makes sense that such a mystic artifact would continue to through the female line. Nial is the descendant of Orakio and Laya is the Laya's sister: it's the perfect peace treaty by pedigree alone.

Not only that, there wasn't much opportunity to develop any of the third gen, but the sheer fact of Gwyn's nightmares reveals that she is stronger/more sensitive than her mother, who never felt a thing. I am not sure why you consider her so boring, but as a character, I feel her potential is equal, if not greater, than most of the 3rd gen.

[Tanith]

Something the script ignores, but is most certainly applied by the phan! It's also likely to exist even without your interpretation.

I hope so. People should think like me, because I'm full of awesome. ;)

Is it the best ending, though? No matter what, Sean's not in the best of places.

It's the most interesting ending, in my opinion, regardless of Sean's situation. All the other endings are fairly similar.

... but the sheer fact of Gwyn's nightmares reveals that she is stronger/more sensitive than her mother, who never felt a thing.

That's not really proof she's more... magical, or whatever, than her mother. It's only one instance of clairvoyance that may or may not be a recurring power of hers.

I am not sure why you consider her so boring...

She's the third Laya. Yawn. It's just more evidence of repetitiveness that plagues PSIII. Sure, they could have made her more interesting, just like the rest of the 3rd generation characters, but she's by far the least interesting character of the 3rd generation in my opinion. If you like her, though, then that's good! More power to Gwyn. :) I'm just saying, I would completely redo her character if I was doing a remake.

[Wing-0]

I liked Gwyn a lot... I must be on the weird side...

The first time I played PSIII, I went the Maia-Sari route. Same reason as Tanith. In fact, there's a joke with my brother about Sean's cloomy looks as a result of inbreeding...

But hey, Sean's ending was also good.

[Tanith]

I liked Gwyn a lot... I must be on the weird side...

Naw. I've noticed she seems to be a popular character, especially among teh men.

Muaha at your gloomy comment. You know, as much as I like Sari, if Thea hadn't been related to Ayn I probably would have chosen her the first time around. Not because she's prettier (which is subjective, anyway), but because it makes more sense. Let's say Maia and Lyle are not blood relatives, but the two neighboring kingdoms use familial titles (uncle, nephew, etc.) because they're very close. Now Thea becomes a strong marriage choice, as in the case with Rhys and Lena of neighboring kingdoms.

[LegoMuskCat]

Sean? Psshaw! Aron's always been my favorite. :)

Favorite generation to least:
Aron > Crys > Sean > Adan

I have that order since, well... Crys is pretty cool, too, but Aron's always on top as my favorite. But honestly, I always found Adan's portrait to be pretty ugly (is it just me, or does he look all pissy in it?). Something about Adan bothers me a LOT...the bright yellow sprite recolor doesn't help!

Favorite ending to least:
Sean > Crys > Adan > Aron

But, as far as endings go, I think Sean's is the best because it's the most, well, different. You have the beautiful music playing, and the Neo Palm is within sight. An alliance is formed between the last two sister ships and it's kinda special. :)

For the others... Crys finds a planet (I liked this one, too, but I don't think it's the best), Aron is sent back through time to Earth of all places (lame, I felt so jipped when I finished his gen), and Adan just, depending on which version you played, finds a planet in English (presumably Earth, but from what we know of PSII it was destroyed by Earthmen/Aron (lulz)) and keeps soaring through space in JP.

Marriage choices: I always thought it made more sense to marry Lena. Sure, you can say that the story's not there, but I always used a lot of imagination when I did a playthrough for PSIII and filled in the blanks myself. ^_^ Between Alair and Laya, I have a hard time doing the same with the lack of development... Laya is always more logical, but I ship Alair with Nial regardless. :p

For Ayn, I just prefer Sari over Thea. Why? Because it's fucking SARI. And Crys is made of half-awesome and half-Ayn-who-isn't.

Oh, and Gwyn. I liked her the best out of the twins, even though she honestly did feel like Laya v2.0 (v3.0?), minus the sexy healing Laya had. Both of 'em are kinda meh to me, and if Laya didn't pop out two babies, then I dunno what would've been done with Adan's gen as an alternative.

[Edge]

Aron's ending is the "Phantasy Star timeline" ending, you may of misunderstood...

What happened is this! (We believe we've figured this out.)

PSII - Dark Force slips onto one of the several spaceships. The Palmans however manage to defeat Dark Force, and peace reigns for 1,000 years.

JAP INFO - 1,000 years after the escape, Dark Force returns, destroying nearly every ship, and leaving just Aihna and some other character, I forget who, left to battle Dark Force... They win the battle and Dark Force is defeated... This is happening while Chaz and company are fighting the reincarnated "Earth" dark force in space, and Mota.

USA INFO - 1,000 years pass from that time, 1,000 years after PSIV, Dark Force returns again, only to get pwned by Laya and Orakio... However, over the years everyone has lost information regarding their origins, leaving after the battle, the start of what will become PSIII.

PS3 - 1,000 years after the Orakio/Laya war, Dark Force returns once again. Rhys attempts to save Maia, he marries Lena, the Orakian heiress, Nial is feeling Alair, and Aron is born... Aron and company defeat dark force, and wander in space for a long period of time...

MIEU "Look! We're going into a black hole!"
KARA "We were knocked out by that collision."
WREN "The stars aren't in the right places." (Time travel, this is thousands of years before their time, so the stars would be out of alignment... He didn't say he didn't recognize them, he said they aren't in the right places...)
We were trasported across space and time when we went through the black hole's surface."
MIEU "We're getting a message from a planet that orbits the star ahead of us.."
Greetings alien craft, identify yourselves. This is London Communications center on Earth of the Sol system. Over and out. *Credits*

At this time, Earth is running low on resources, they destroy Alissa III and savage the craft for parts (If you ask why 2 ships still remain in PSIV, it's because PSIV takes place during the Aihna war, 1,000 years before Orakio/Laya, 2,000 years before Rhys)

However, Dark Force is on board Alissa III, and is carried over to Earth's new ship NOAH. Viewing the information given on ALISSA III they are able to learn of the Algo solar system, and the destruction of Palma. The Earth people set flight to Algo, bringing Dark Force with them, and this is what will become the 2nd to last boss in Phantasy Star II...

Didn't you find it odd that there was NO Dark Force in Algo 1,000 years after the destruction of Palm? Yet, there WAS one on an Earth space craft... I'm pretty sure the creators had made this the story, making Aron's ending, the tie into Phantasy Star, and the generation route, that REALLY happened, according to Phantasy Star timeline.

[Black Sword]

@Edge it bears repeating, but there is no canon ending to PSIII. While the timeline theory makes sense based on a specific interpretation, other canon facts from PSI, II, and IV create other plausible theories. The DF on Mother could have escaped the battle with Rolf and co, or another DF might have emerged from the destruction of Palma and hopped on the ships as they fled. We'll never know because it's more fun to speculate.

Besides, there are two canons: Japanese and English. I think it's safest for us to use the English canon, and fill in the blanks with Japanese canon where it does not contradict the English canon.

[Edge]

I think hardly anyone would agree with you on that... The problem is, American version did not change things to be more suiting to the Phantasy Star universe... They changed things because the rom couldn't contain all the extra scripting... You can get out a LOT more words into a single box using Japanese than you can using English, which is why so much was cut out of the game...

It's also why character names are only 4 letters long, when the Japanese names make much more sense than the American nonsense they spit out... I'm pretty sure MOST Phantasy Star fans would like to see it true to the Japanese scripting, than the HORRIBLY done American translation... Which is WHY people freak out over Japanese translated copies of roms.

Oh yeah edit -

@Edge it bears repeating, but there is no canon ending to PSIII. While the timeline theory makes sense based on a specific interpretation, other canon facts from PSI, II, and IV create other plausible theories. The DF on Mother could have escaped the battle with Rolf and co, or another DF might have emerged from the destruction of Palma and hopped on the ships as they fled. We'll never know because it's more fun to speculate.

The ships were long gone by the time Rolf and company made it to Dark Force on Noah... As far as Phantasy Star I and Phantasy Star IV what theories spurred? I'm interested in knowing, cause if any, they totally slip my mind... The theory I have given you is not my own, but a complete theory A TON of people on this board came up with after going through extensive research on the Japanese roms and putting the pieces together... Which was WHEN I made my signature, being a Phantasy Starologist being silly at all the effort, work, and time we put into finding the EXACT timeline of PS3, and tying in the knot of the series.

edit, edit - forgot I took that signature down for Anderson Silva gettin chased by the evil chicken!

[BenoitRen]

Besides, there are two canons: Japanese and English.

I personally don't subscribe to that view, especially in light of what the real differences are between the two so-called canons.

The theory I have given you is not my own, but a complete theory A TON of people on this board came up with after going through extensive research on the Japanese roms and putting the pieces together...

Er, no, you added that piece to the research and made that timeline.

Also, it's Alisa! Not Alissa, not Alyssa, but Alisa! You know, the Japanese name of the heroine from the first game, which is easily remembered as being the English name + a. Alis + a. It boggles my mind why people have gotten the ship's name wrong so often throughout the years.

[Edge]

I wasn't personally the one who said the Earth people had brought over Dark Force from the ALISA III, that was somebody else... As far as the time line went, that was chronologically in order from the research found from the Japanese rom of Phantasy Star III... I assure you, I didn't make the Alisa III --> Earth --> Algo theory... look it up yourself, it's SOMEWHERE on this board.

EDIT - Although I do support it... I thought it made a lot of sense, and was my original motivation in doing the research...