LogFAQs > #947432897

Naruto_fan_42 posted...

But if he wasnt a hero anymore he never would have left the colony.

Sure he would have. He's still a competent fighter, even with his injuries, and between his personal attachment to Shulk (who's all but his son-in-law, with all the paternalistic protective drive that entails), his compulsion to try playing the hero even if it wasn't the best idea, and sharing 100% of Shulk's motivations for setting out in the first place (namely, seeking revenge against the Mechon for killing Fiora), it would be downright implausible if he hadn't joined them in some capacity.

Naruto_fan_42 posted...

His flaws werent meaningful enough to matter, so they might as well not exist.

They almost got him killed twice, on-camera (once in the prologue, then again during the attack on Colony 9), with at least one more instance being revealed through a Heart-to-Heart (he talks about fleeing with Fiora during a mechon attack years prior, but going back into the house to retrieve a keepsake she wanted despite the danger). The argument can also easily be made that he's taking a similar risk by joining Shulk's adventure despite his injuries, though he doesn't end up suffering any more near-death experiences than the rest of the party for it. He very obviously has a self-destructive hero complex, which has direct, on-camera consequences for him, as well as straining his relationship with Fiora because she doesn't want him to get hurt (though her regrets about being reckless tend to focus more on not wanting Shulk to worry than on Dunban's safety). The cracks in his composure (since he feels compelled to put on the hero act but isn't actually strong enough to maintain it all the time) also have obvious direct consequences. If not for Shulk's intervention, he would have had the murder of a fellow homs on his conscience (stepping away from the question of whether or not it was reasonable for Shulk to intervene and ignoring the wholesale slaughter of Face units in the late game). Less practically, we see his internal struggles in some of his dialogue, particularly with Riki.

Certainly, the whole game isn't about Dunban's personal struggles and flaws, but that's to be expected. As a minor character, he's perfectly believable.

Naruto_fan_42 posted...

while Dunban was a war veteran who had most of his first time reactions off screen.

This doesn't make him any less believable. Back story is still story, and is no less significant a part of character development than stuff that happens on-screen.

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