Monstrous Gatekeepers – Eco-gothic Bodies in Video Games
First author: PinderYear: 2024
Abstract
As we edge closer to the looming ecological crisis of the Late Anthropocene, the fragility of the structures that insulate the human from the unpredictable violence of nature have become increasingly apparent. Ecophobia, that is, the irrational fear of nature and the non-human ecology, manifests across media. However, very few mediums let you walk through those narratives, choose your own path, and be held responsible for a chain of cause and effect. This chapter deals with the transgressive and abject ecoGothic monsters that stalk video games. Rather than being one of many, they are anomalous and ‘unnatural.’ These video games have the primary ecoGothic feature of the abject or monstrous Gothic body, which is hybridized, mutated, or in some way transgressive of species. This is often expressed through the instability of form and fluidity of species. Some harken back to the degeneration theory of the Victorian era; others engage with 20th-century distrust of difference and the unknowable and still further are symptomatic of human hubris and interference. Despite the apparent malevolent nature of these videoludic monsters, their status as evil is often problematized through their vulnerability to the same vast and unfathomable forces as the player character. From games like Sekiro (FromSoftware 2019) that are structured around punishing boss fights connected through supernatural and ecological crises to puzzle games such as The Return of the Obra Dinn (Lucas Pope, 2018) in which the true monstrosity is gradually revealed, the monsters themselves are also victims. They are rendered monstrous through their trauma and otherness. This may be achieved through monstrous ‘technologies’ such as hybridity, contamination, and unfathomability. Through video game narratology and eco-gothic theory, I will explore the complex connections between ecophobia and the video game monsters that stand between the player and their objective.Details
Language: EnglishCountry of affiliation: Australia
Published in: Monsters and Monstrosity in Media: Reflections on Vulnerability
Publication type: Book chapter
Source: 978-1-64889-862-4
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