Getting In and Out Of Character with Pokémon Games

Many games and game series, including some that I play outside of Pokémon, have the ability to create two realms, one of them being the "in character" realm and the other being the "out of character" realm. And yet, Pokémon is also included as one of those game series. Because I write in this blog regularly, the two realms become a matter that is highly related to my efforts. As a result, I feel the need to highlight the matter in a post, particularly in relation to Pokémon games in general.

Firstly, it becomes important to define the limits of the realms. When one is in character, one assumes a certain presented role (in this case, by the games) and regards what exists fictionally as existing factually. When one is out of character, one assumes no role (except as a player of the games) and regards what exists fictionally still as such. Therefore, the distinction in part hinges on roleplay as with theater or cosplay, the latter of which is as pertinent to me as much as it is to Pokémon, at least for me personally.

With the above in mind, it becomes possible to see what is in character and what is out. If I'm referring to myself and others as a Trainer (or breeder, photographer [Snap], and so on), then I'm being in character; the news bulletins for Pokémon Go often start out with "Trainers, ..." which is an initial in-character cue, though the rest of the bulletins straddle the line. The way I initially described the disappearance of Team Go Rocket earlier can be regarded as an in-character way of describing the state of affairs.

The way I then continued to describe the state of affairs, then, becomes an out-of-character way, as it concerns the technical details of the disappearance and not of their postulated existence. In a more general sense, if I'm referring to myself and others as a "player" who manipulates the games and not within the existential role that I and others assume in them, then I'm being out of character. Often, it's the technical details behind the existence of the games that make being out-of-character evident.

The possibility of describing things in character with reference to the Pokémon games is allowed as such because of the character power that the games provide, with a role for the player and characters that evidently exist within the fictional environment of the games. This allows for the characterization of related things such as news bulletins for the games and even the very posts of this blog into the two realms of being either in or out of character to convey whatever is pertinent.

One year ago: Rumble Tumble, and...

Two years ago: Legends for Lunch and Dinner

Three years ago: Curveball Wisdom

Four years ago: The Music of the Poké Flute