What if they came back developed?

[Talc Moirae]

So I've been thinking about .hack//Link and how much of a disappointment it was until a certain thought came over me.

Would it really be better if all the returning characters came back in their developed state?
Of course, most would think "YES YES YES!", but hear me out for a second.

Let's say that all of the characters did come back in their developed state.

First, and foremost... the characters themselves would have little to do with Tokio. In fact, they probably would have little use for him in general.

For example, if Tsukasa came back in his developed self, he would retain his many friends and past experience. He would most likely be able to fight for himself with his friends as allies. Tsukasa would be more willing to accept help from those who are trying to help him [for example, Kite]. Again, this would leave Tokio out of the picture.

Subaru seemed to have been added for the sake of Tokio knowing about Tsukasa, so I'll skip her.

For Haseo, he would be in his Xth form. The Xth-form is a cheat. So, it's obvious why they didn't bring it back with him. It sure would've been awesome if they did though. Also, now that Haseo has reverted back to his own unsocial self, he, like Tsukasa, relies little on others. This sets it up perfectly for Tokio (ugh) to interact with him, since he's so preoccupied with saving Shino at the moment and not on his previous companions/love interests. After all, if he came back in his developed state, it's unlikely that Tokio would encounter him or stay with him due to how Haseo would have no real reason to hang around him in the first place. [From what I gather through the official site, he stays with Tokio because he reminds him of Shino. Ugh.] In fact, if he was in his developed state, he would not be preoccupied with finding Shino which would lead to discover the fact that he is being targeted and/or find out Schicksal's plan, and most likely interact with Kite to stop them. This again leaves Tokio out of the picture.

For Kite, I'm a bit embarrassed to say I know little about him. I've never played the first series of .hack before. All I have for reference on him is the first volume of .hack//XXXX. Besides, he's put out of commission in .hack//Link before much of anything can be seen about him, personality wise. He seems to be doing fairly dandy though, other then the whole 'frozen in a block of ice' thing.


All in all, I sort-of understand why the writers had to revert the characters back. It leaves little room for a new character to pop up, shine, and become infused into the lives of the other characters and plot. It seems like that this was the only way for them to do it, I guess. If all of them came developed, the returning heroes would easily band together to this threat, seeing as how they all have experience in this sort of network-changing scenario. They'd probably all take care of themselves just fine without a new character introduced.

This would seem a bit redundant if nothing new is introduced [other then the new crisis]. Then again, something like this would be a heck of a lot better then what they're doing now.

However, I don't get why they had to make Tokio so darn unlikable.


Discuss?

By the way, sorry if I may be off on my interpretation of characters. I'm still learning about the .hack series.

[S. [Burned] Y.]

In all honestly, there wasn't much to Kite IMO. He started off wanting to save a friend, developed into wanting to help people generally, and finally wanted to save the place they he learned to love along with all of his friends and coma'd victims. That summarizes him pretty much.

I'll have to agree with you on most of that though. It does seem pretty likely they they sent most of them back to their undeveloped state, most likely trying to get Tokio to either regain their memories or create new ones. Either way, your theory sounds as good as the AI one.

I have my own theory, but yet to work the bugs outta it.

[Adhemas]

I agree with you that it is better to bring in undeveloped characters for a more complcated story, than characters who
are fully aware what's happening and want to cooperate with others etc.

But one of the main problems I have with LINK is the fact that there are tons of cameos of old characters in the first place.
It has too much of this typical shounen anime feeling where every character with a fanbase have to reappear later in the
show for the sake of fanservice. As I said before, I don't know if that is the case with LINK. Or if it's all a trick to shock
the fans of the old characters later in the story with something totally unexpected.

Besides that; with new characters the story would seem much more interesting and fresh. The best character becomes boring sometime if s/he
is used too often. I think it's not a coincidence that imo the (new) Schicksal members are the most interesting characters of LINK until now.

I just hope that there won't be further cameos now. We have Tsukasa, Haseo, Kite etc.pp. I dont want that they try to re-use
everyone single character from Rena to Garspard...I hope that they will concentrate more on the story now...

And yeah, Tokio is boring xD

[iuliathe3rd]

[From what I gather through the official site, he stays with Tokio because he reminds him of Shino. Ugh.]

This personally makes me sick. Seriously.

But anyway, in regards to this whole idea, I definitely agree with you and see why they decided to revert all these returning characters back to their past selves. However, it's the issue that Adhemas brought up, where it's just too much fanservice. I could be more forgiving if they had only used a few recurring characters, like Tsukasa and Haseo since they have powers that Tokio can "inherit". But then we get people like Alkaid coming back, and Subaru too.

I also concur with Adhemas that new characters freshen up a series. It's no coincidence that my "faves" from LINK are people like Saika and Fluegel, characters that still have some mystery and intrigue behind them. LINK would be so much better if 1) Tokio was a better protagonist, and 2) it had more new peeps rather than bringing the old out of retirement.

[AuraTwilight]

First, and foremost... the characters themselves would have little to do with Tokio. In fact, they probably would have little use for him in general.

GOOD.

For Haseo, he would be in his Xth form. The Xth-form is a cheat. So, it's obvious why they didn't bring it back with him.

But everyone gets to keep their cheats.

[From what I gather through the official site, he stays with Tokio because he reminds him of Shino. Ugh.]

This made me giggle. First thing I thought when I learned was "If Tokio turns out to be an emotionally needy, grubby schizo-**** who backstabs the .hackers in order to get virtual poontang, he will get so much cooler."

All in all, I sort-of understand why the writers had to revert the characters back. It leaves little room for a new character to pop up, shine, and become infused into the lives of the other characters and plot. It seems like that this was the only way for them to do it, I guess. If all of them came developed, the returning heroes would easily band together to this threat, seeing as how they all have experience in this sort of network-changing scenario. They'd probably all take care of themselves just fine without a new character introduced.

Which is exactly why they shouldn't of been brought back. Characters develop and leave the spotlight for exactly this reason: They're COMPLETE! There's nothing more they can give us as an audience because they fulfilled their role. This is exactly the point of Tsukasa's logging the f*ck out URGH GOD DAMMIT I HATE LINK! If they want to give the new characters a chance to shine, don't just rip apart established, complete characters. It defeats the entirety of the Hero's Journey. What they're basically doing is slapping every .hack character across the face and yelling, "NENER NENER YOUR LIFE DIDN'T MATTER."

F*ck, what next, Morganna will make an appearance?

I'll have to agree with you on most of that though. It does seem pretty likely they they sent most of them back to their undeveloped state, most likely trying to get Tokio to either regain their memories or create new ones. Either way, your theory sounds as good as the AI one.

He was speaking from a developer standpoint; He's not offering a storyline explanation for what's happening, just a literary justification.

[Talc Moirae]

Either way, your theory sounds as good as the AI one.

It wasn't much of a theory; rather, it's more like a justification.

I just hope that there won't be further cameos now. We have Tsukasa, Haseo, Kite etc.pp. I dont want that they try to re-use
everyone single character from Rena to Garspard...I hope that they will concentrate more on the story now...

I sure hope that a characters like Ovan appears though in his undeveloped Aida-d form. It would be such a stupidly impossible inputted character that they would have to make it un-canon.
If this series was to be canon however, I'd rather they just stick with Tsukasa, Haseo, and Kite as you said. Or at least, only include what is essential rather then shove characters at every corner for the sake of nothing. It sort of feels that this series is pretty much all for fanservice.

And yeah, Tokio is boring xD

I agree.

This personally makes me sick. Seriously.

I agree with this too.

F*ck, what next, Morganna will make an appearance?

And lo, and behold...
Fragments of Morganna's AI program still existed upon the floor of the seas of data, ready to be collected and revived once more. A traitor within Schicksal wishes to obtain the power of the Akashic records for himself, and fishes out the fragments for later use.
That just shows how easy it is for the writers to bring back a character that would be so stupidly inputted for the sake of being inputted.

I wouldn't be surprised if it happened.

[|<!73]

Players carrying the Chrono Cores are the ones most effected. When the Akashic Records were altered they began acting like their past selves. However, so far the only people who went through this are Tsukasa and Haseo. Everyone else is really just the same and reacting to the confusion. Tsukasa returns to normal after the event, and becomes starts working with Tokio and Saika. In the bonus chapter Haseo was pretty normal. In the current story he is going through the same experience Tsukasa went through. Geist is just creating and using opportunities. Alkaid is far from her previous self, however, her feelings for Haseo allows Geist to direct her course.

[AuraTwilight]

oh my god, brilliant idea. Morti needs to make an appearance. Then LINK is non-canon FOREVAR.

[wave killer]

oh my god, brilliant idea. Morti needs to make an appearance. Then LINK is non-canon FOREVAR.

If that happens then I hope LINK is the last .hack, because not only has //LINK's story failed in comparison to past works but it completely f***s up the future.