Character count comparisons

[Asquian]

The point of this thread actually comes from a rather long train of thought.

Firstly, Suikoden, as a series, is based on of four Chinese novels that are considered their greatest literature, Water Margin. In seeking out the roots of the Suikoden franchise, I became interested in the chinese literature, and have started to build interest in Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

Romance is 120 chapters featuring historical stories ranging over several generations recounting a period of Chinese history. Some of you may have played some of the games of the same title, or even possibly the NES adaptation Destiny of an Emperor if you're an old school RPG fan.

One interesting aspect is how similar the current Suikoden franchise is to the Romance series. Romance features stories of characters throughout their lives, and the lives of their children, somewhat like Suikoden does, though with the inclusion of IV and Tactics, it even references familial histories or character generations that would remain famous for centuries.

Another aspect is it features over 1000 characters, which got me thinking. Among all 6 main franchise games, I-V and Tactics, I wonder if the character count meets or exceeds 1000. a base comparison of 108 * 5 for the main line games only gets halfway there, but then you have to subract from that number characters whom are featured in multiple titles. But, then again, characters who aren't SoDs also are quite numerous, and could very possibly end up outnumbering Romance's numbers.

So, combining our Suikoden experience and knowledge, can we come up with final named character counts for each game, then, factoring in characters who reappear in sequels/prequels, come up with a ballpark of the main line Suikoden franchises character count?

Who knows, it might be fun to run the numbers on our favorite games.

Character counts:

Suikoden: 128. I reached this using the 108 stars, villains, "named" character(including chief of characters, like chief of elves and chief of dwarves), dragons, and 1 animate object(Star Dragon Sword).
Heres the list of non SODs i compiled, lmk if I'm missing anyone:
Barbossa, Windy, Leknaat, Kraze, Kanaan, Grady, Teo, Odessa, Sanchez, SDS, Elf and Dwarf chiefs, Hanzo, Geil Rugner, Zorak, Neclord, Thrash, and Black, Aine(sp?)

Suikoden II: while it technically has 108 stars, there are a total of 111 characters available to fill those slots. however, 21 of those are returning characters, so we end up with a starting count of 80. Then, so far I've tallied 42 non SODs that are named characters.
Here's a general list, as I've forgotten a few names and need to look them back up:
9 chefs of the cooking game, excluding Antonio and Lester: Yu Kum, Goetsu, Shiki, Ryuki, Bashok, Ryuko, Gyokuran, Retso
4 squirrels:Meku,Moku,Miku,Maku
2 octopi: Rulodia, Chuchara
10 Enemies: Luca, Jillia, Seed, Culgan, Solon Jhee, Agares, Lucia, Sasarai, Rowd, Han
6 Leaders: Granmeyer, Annabelle, Gorudo, Gustav, Makai, Kobold chief
11 Friends: Jowy, Pilika, Marx, Joanna, Pete, Lilly, Kent, Ko, the girl in Banner village, Eliza, Bonaparte

This of course doesn't count any chars in the Suikogaidens, since I don't understand japanese to play them, maybe someone who has can give me a character count there?

Suikoden III:
Suikoden IV:
Suikoden T:
Suikoden V:

[Celes]

Suikoden I:
"Aine"? You mean Ain Gide?

Geil Rugner is not ingame. He's only mentioned by Kreutz. If you want to list all names that appear in the game as well, there are far more ...

You missed Ted, Ted's Grandpa and Yuber


Suikoden II:
The girl in Banner Village is Ellie.

You missed Pohl.

How about Genkaku? Shown in several flashbacks.

[snakebite105]

It may be easier to just stick with people who have faces during their dialog boxes.

[Celes]

In that case ...

S1: Add Ted, Yuber and Ain Guide. Substract Grady, Elf Chief, Black and Trash

S2: Add Ellie and Pohl. Remove all cooking masters, Kobold Chief, Joanna, Pete, Kent, Ko, Bonaparte

S3: Almost all characters with faces are SoD except the latest FC, Sana and Waurenhyte. Pretty lame compared to S1 + 2 ...

[patapi]

Firstly, Suikoden, as a series, is based on of four Chinese novels that are considered their greatest literature, Water Margin. In seeking out the roots of the Suikoden franchise, I became interested in the chinese literature, and have started to build interest in Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

Romance is 120 chapters featuring historical stories ranging over several generations recounting a period of Chinese history. Some of you may have played some of the games of the same title, or even possibly the NES adaptation Destiny of an Emperor if you're an old school RPG fan.

One interesting aspect is how similar the current Suikoden franchise is to the Romance series. Romance features stories of characters throughout their lives, and the lives of their children, somewhat like Suikoden does, though with the inclusion of IV and Tactics, it even references familial histories or character generations that would remain famous for centuries.

The first game heavily borrows elements from the original Shui Hu Zhuan, but it's a well-known fact that elements from the Three Kingdoms were brought in more and more later.

[snakebite105]

I've never red either but i've played the dynasty warrior games.

Georg spose to be Xiahou Dun? JK but seriously im not seein the Romance references.