Characters of Myst
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This is a list of main characters from the Myst franchise.
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[edit] Development
In Myst V, all the characters were computer generated, with the actor’s faces mapped onto the virtual characters.[1]
[edit] Protagonists
[edit] Atrus
Atrus is the main non-player character in the Myst series. He is a member of the ancient D'ni civilization, and is the creator of many linking books which serve as portals to worlds known as Ages. The character first appears in Myst, and makes appearances in every subsequent game in the main series. The companion novel of The Book of Atrus explores Atrus' background and early life. Atrus' D'ni father, Gehn, abandons him at birth after his human mother Leira dies in childbirth. As a result, Atrus is raised by his grandmother Ti'ana. Under Ti'ana's upbringing, Atrus grows into an inquisitive person, developing a deep respect for life and moral values. In addition, Ti'ana teaches Atrus the D'ni language and several stories bout the fallen D'ni civilisation. Gehn eventually returns to teach his son the Art of writing linking books, taking him to live in the ruins of the D'ni city. Over the years, Atrus surpasses his father's skill in writing Ages, and also comes to understand his father's power-hungry nature; as punishment for rebelling against him, Gehn traps Atrus on K'veer, an island off of the main D'ni city, with a book leading to Gehn's Age of Riven as the only escape.
On Riven Atrus meets Catherine; along with Ti'ana, the three of them plot to trap Gehn and curb his power-seeking. Atrus writes the Age of Myst, and traps Gehn on Riven by destroying every linking book in the Age (the book leading to Myst Atrus uses to escape is presumed lost in a void known as the Star Fissure.) On Myst, Atrus and Catherine have two sons, Sirrus and Achenar. Atrus is eventually betrayed by his sons, but is saved by the efforts of The Stranger. Atrus and Catherine explored the remnants of D'ni, planning on rebuilding the ruined civilization; Atrus eventually abandons the project when he realizes that this would only lead the D'ni to repeat their prideful mistakes. Instead, Atrus writes a new Age for the D'ni, called Releeshahn. Atrus and Catherine have a daughter, #Yeesha, and by the events of End of Ages, Atrus confines himself in Releeshahn to live out the rest of his life.
Atrus is and always has been played by series co-creator Rand Miller, who took on the role, along with that of Achenar, for the original Myst, when the budget was too low to hire more experienced actors. He is also the only character to appear in all of the Myst games including a minor voice role in Uru. Although many of the characters in the series have had casting changes, Atrus never has, despite the fact that Miller has openly stated that he dislikes playing the role. This is because he is the most popular character and the fan community on the whole would vehemently oppose a change of actors.
[edit] Catherine
Catherine is the wife of Atrus. Catherine and her people were inhabitants of the Age of Riven, one of the Ages Atrus' father Gehn wrote. When Atrus arrives on the Age to escape imprisonment in The Book of Atrus, he meets Catherine, who is one of his father's students. After Atrus and Catherine fall in love, Catherine secretly destroys the linking books on Riven, trapping Gehn on his Age while she escapes with Atrus and Ti'ana to Myst. Catherine is later tricked back to Riven by her sons in Myst, but is rescued by the Stranger in Riven.
[edit] Ti'ana
Ti'ana is the grandmother of Atrus; she only appears in the Myst novels. Ti'ana is a human, and marries the D'ni Aitrus (initially, to the distrust of the other D'ni.) Ti'ana raises Atrus and tries to protect him from his father; she eventually dies and is buried on Atrus' Age of Myst. The name Ti'ana meant "story-teller" in D'ni, and is given to her by Aitrus after she tells him of human superstition of a subterranean hell — something Aitrus as an inhabitant of a subterranean cavern finds very amusing.
[edit] Yeesha
Yeesha is the only daughter and third child of Atrus and Catherine. She is briefly mentioned at the end of Myst: The Book of D'ni, and is first seen as an infant in Myst III: Exile.
As a young girl, Yeesha is seen by her parents as a correction to the mistakes they made with their wayward sons. Her parents teach her D'ni and the Art of writing. In Myst IV, Sirrus attempts to use Yeesha in a plan to learn the Art himself and attack his parents, but Yeesha is freed by the Stranger.
Yeesha masters the Art beyond all earlier D'ni, and surpasses limitations which are held as absolute, such as linking within Ages. In Uru: Ages Beyond Myst, she appears to the player as a middle-aged woman (around 200 years old in D'ni standards). Yeesha is one of two main characters in Myst V: End of Ages, where she tries to persuade the player to help free an enslaved race known as the Bah'ro. Yeesha is played as a baby by Presto Studios's then-producer Greg Uhler's daughter. The Yeesha who appears in Myst IV is played by Juliette Gosselin.
[edit] Antagonists
[edit] Sirrus and Achenar
Sirrus and Achenar are the sons of Atrus and Catherine and are the eldest of their three children. In Myst, Sirrus was played by Robyn Miller, and Achenar by Rand Miller; in Myst IV, the brothers are played by Brian Wrench and Guy Sprung, respectively.
The brothers first appear in Myst, trapped in two different books. Both swear that they are innocent of the crimes that their father accuses them of, and that the other brother is to blame. In actuality, both brothers are evil. Initially, Atrus plans on teaching both of his sons the Art, and writes several "lesson Ages" for them to learn from. Atrus also gives the sons free access to the Ages he had wrote. On the Age of Narayan, the brothers nearly destroy the Age by convincing the populace to abandon their livelihoods; they end up trapping one of the Narayans on a lesson Age when he tries to convince them to fix the damage they have caused. The brothers then destroy many of Atrus' Ages, and trap their parents-- Atrus in D'ni, Catherine on Riven. In their greed, they trap themselves in Atrus' prison books. Atrus, once freed by the Stranger, goes to "deal" with his sons; in Myst IV, it is revealed that the brothers remained exiled on two different Ages for years. Sirrus planns on swapping bodies with his sister Yeesha in order to learn the Art, before turning on his parents. Achenar, who had reformed during his imprisonment, instead works with the Stranger to save his sister. Sirrus is killed when the mind-switch fails; Achenar is fatally poisoned when he repairs the machinery to save Yeesha.
[edit] Gehn
Gehn is the father of #Atrus and the main antagonist in the video game Riven. Gehn is born shortly before the downfall of the D'ni civilization, and spends a great deal of his life trying to rebuild the fallen empire. Gehn considers himself divine, mistakenly believing that he creates the worlds known as Ages when he writes the descriptive books which link to the worlds. Gehn's inability to grasp the fine aspects of writing Ages means that his Ages are unstable and slowly fall to ruin. Although he initially abandons his son, Gehn later fetches Atrus from Ti'ana in order to teach him the Art and make him his pupil. Gehn almost murders his son when Atrus defies his will, realizing he is a power-hungry tyrant. Gehn is eventually trapped for a time on his Age of Riven after Atrus and a Rivenese named Catherine destroy all linking books and materials needed to write new Ages.
[edit] Saavedro
Saavedro is the antagonist of Myst III: Exile. He is played by actor Brad Dourif.
[edit] Esher
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[edit] Cultural impact
[edit] Merchandise
[edit] Reception
The characters of Myst were generally praised in each release. Several publications noted that the series' use of real actors and full-motion video endeared the characters to the player, giving the games a distinctively personal touch.[2]
The change from full motion video to computer generated characters in Myst V was generally well-received; Macworld stated that though initially the change was jarring, it ultimately helped increase the realism of the game.[1] IGN stated that the characters felt more real than the FMV actors of previous games; one reason, the reviewer stated, was because the actors spoke their lines with real conviction.[3] Other publications echoed that the characters were brought to life.[4][5] [6]
[edit] References
- ^ a b Staff (2005-11-02). Game Room: Myst V End of Ages. Macworld. Retrieved on 2008-06-12.
- ^ http://www.gamespot.com/xbox/adventure/myst4revelation/review.html
- ^ Castro, Juan (2005-02-11). Review: Myst V End of Ages. IGN. Retrieved on 2008-06-14.
- ^ http://www.gamespot.com/pc/adventure/mystvendofages/review.html
- ^ http://pc.gamezone.com/gzreviews/r25548.htm
- ^ http://www.insidemacgames.com/news/story.php?ArticleID=12281
[edit] External links
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