7 blatant Jesus analogs in video games

[Reefa]

It’s time for Easter, and Easter means Jesus. I mean, not for we Jews, but for, like, a lot of other people. Even if you don’t position this coming weekend as a celebration for the time a messiah came to earth, died, and came back, you can still look at the story as an interesting example of Western theology. Japanese game developers certainly do.

There aren’t many video games where you play as Jesus. There are, however, a ton of video games where you play as someone who is basically Jesus, in another world and written from a very Eastern perspective. Most of these are Japanese RPGs, and most of them are weird, and often amazing. There’s something fascinating about seeing common Western religious and mythological concepts through a Japanese lens. These are instances where Japanese game developers looked at the Bible and decided some of the stuff in there would be radical for a video game.

The religiously sensitive should probably steer clear of this list, and from most JRPGs. These Jesus analogs range from slightly awkward to magically sacrilicious. I mean, seriously; you know how some religious groups claimed Pokémon was teaching children how to summon demons? The Shin Megami Tensei series is literally that.

Also, there are tons of spoilers for these games, so maybe pray to real Jesus for some spoiler-blocking glasses so you can read on.

Yuna and all Summoners (Final Fantasy X)

Yuna’s mission in Final Fantasy X is to save the world from Sin. Sin is a giant whale-shaped kaiju that destroys humanity on a regular basis. So it’s a bit more on-the-nose than the broad concept of human sin. Regardless, she and her guardians (disciples, if you will) must make a pilgrimage to get the holy power needed to beat Sin. In doing so, she’ll sacrifice her life. Except she decides it’s a stupid idea, and instead fights a combination of Mary Magdalene and Medusa before flying into Sin to destroy the first pope, who was piloting it all along.

Fei Fong Wong/Abel/Lacan/Kim/Grahf (Xenogears)

This is going to get a little weird. Fei is the reincarnated version of Lacan, who’s the reincarnated Kim, who’s the reincarnated Abel. He also has dissociative personality disorder, and his id sometimes comes out like an Incredible Hulk-turned-Super-Saiyan that pilots a giant angry robot. Grahf was also Lacan, but he split off when Lacan touched the container of the power and knowledge of the universe. He’s mostly a bad guy through the game, but he sacrifices himself to save humanity from the machine god that created it. There is a ton of deicide in JRPGs.

Ark (Terranigma)

Developer Quintet loved putting you in the shoes of God, or a messenger of God, or anyone who has to bring life back to a world God abandoned. Terranigma has you play as Ark, a messiah-but-actually-antichrist who started as a villager in a tiny, mysterious village, then opened Pandora’s box and was instructed by a messenger of God to restore the destroyed world above. So, he does it, but then it turns out the messenger of God was actually the messenger of anti-God, and Ark was part of its plan all along. He sacrifices himself to prevent the world from being destroyed. If you’ve lost track, that makes him a double-secret-counter-bizarro-anti-messiah.

Protagonist (Persona 3)

High school student who summons demon projections by committing ritual and metaphorical suicide with a fake gun. Not a great or wholesome start. It’s all good, though, because he (or optionally she, in Persona 3 Portable) saves mankind by summoning God to fight the spirit of death. Then he dies to seal death away, because just summoning God to save mankind isn’t quite enough to get on this Jesus analog list.

chaos (Xenosaga)

chaos (intentionally not capitalized) is the second-most absurdly specific Jesus analog on this list. He’s literally Yeshua, from the “Lost Jerusalem” of the game’s past, where he worked with Mary Magdalene. He’s also the universe’s failsafe system, who rejected the constant cycle of universal rebirth and helped save humanity from the negative emotions of the collective unconscious, which are antimatter imaginary numbers threatening the balance of existence. Also, Yeshua is an old spelling and pronunciation for “Jesus.” So, he’s a literal Jesus and a counter-Jesus all at once.

Aleph/Hawk (Shin Megami Tensei 2)

The protagonist of Shin Megami Tensei 2 is the most absurdly specific Jesus analog on this list. Yes, even more than chaos. chaos was sort-of-literally Jesus in the Xenosaga game universe, but Aleph/Hawk goes a step further. He’s the genetically engineered messiah created by the Millennium Kingdom to fulfill John’s prophecy from the Book of Revelations. He’s Post-Apocalyptic Science Jesus. Also, he fights God, who is actually called “YHVH” in the game.

Milla Maxwell (Tales of Xilia)

Milla is the “Lord of Spirits” made flesh to save the souls of the world. She’s also kind of the daughter-replacement of the Lord of Spirits, who gives up her physical form to look after things. This means Xilia has both one of the happiest endings for a sort-of-Jesus and one of the least omnicidal Gods in a JRPG.

So, if you decide to celebrate Good Friday or Passover by shutting yourself in your room and diving deep into some classic, convoluted JRPGs, tell your friends and family that you’re simply conducting literary research so you can better understand — and thus observe — the holiday.

http://www.geek.com/games/7-blatant-jesus-analogs-in-video-games-1619266/

[dMog]

don't consort with the devil...and don't mock Jesus :lol:

[Reefa]

don't consort with the devil...and don't mock Jesus :lol:

Me.. Never.. :lol:

[VileTouch]

Tinkers Construct Traveller's Boots lets you walk on water. (halo not included though)

[stylemessiah]

I dont know who any of those characters are because im not a weird 30 or 40 year old man still playing fricking games

So theyre about as relevant to me as jesus anyways :)

[VileTouch]

I dont know who any of those characters are because im not a weird 30 or 40 year old man still playing fricking games

So theyre about as relevant to me as jesus anyways :)

oh don't be shy. you too are welcome :)

[stylemessiah]

I dont know who any of those characters are because im not a weird 30 or 40 year old man still playing fricking games

So theyre about as relevant to me as jesus anyways :)

oh don't be shy. you too are welcome :)

Hehe