Discussion YMMV / ShadowrunReturns

Gameplay elements are Broken Base or Scrappy Mechanic, not Base Breaker. A Base Breaker is a character. Happens to a lot of people, that one. But yes, I do think that's a pretty clear case of one. There seems to be a pretty even split.

Alright. Here's my two cents.

As you said, the trope is notoriously fuzzy. Personally, I'm in the "don't delete an entry unless there is a REALLY good reason" camp on troping. So I don't really mind the trope being a bit unclear, and I don't consider this abuse, but I do mind that it is treated radically differently depending on which part of the site you're on and which troper you are dealing with.

We have One-Scene Wonder for really minor beloved characters (and the page already has many examples that appear in more than one scene) and Breakout Character for when a previously minor character becomes major due to popularity. Between these two, finding a niche for Ensemble Dark Horse is already difficult, but my point is, it’s probably going to be between these extremes in some way. Now when we deal with major characters, things become really troublesome. I’ve noticed two aspects people seem rather undecided on.

1. What I've dubbed the "Franchise Darkhorse". Can a character still qualify for Ensemble Dark Horse if they were a major or main character in their own work, but are part of a series or metafranchise that is not narratively connected, overall diminishing the importance of their particular "run at it"? For instance, could a Final Fantasy lead or secondary lead count as a Darkhorse not for their own game, but for the entire franchise? Or on the western side of things, if a character (say a superhero) has been played by multiple actors or in-universe been a Legacy Character, can one incarnation be a Darkhorse in particular, as compared to other incarnations?

2. When a major character within an ensemble of equally important characters receives a much larger share of fan attention than their peers. They may not qualify for Breakout Character because they were important to begin with and they may not gain the increased exposure as a result of their popularity that the trope demands.

The thing with Glory is, I feel she touches both of these issues. She may have been a major character in Dragonfall, but she seems to stick out in the Shadowrun Returns fandom in general (although I hear Racter and Gobbet are rapidly gaining popularity). And even if she is a major character, she appears more popular than her peers. You don't see people asking for Eiger or Coyote to be in the next game.

Personally, I believe that while we shouldn't make Ensemble Dark Horse "every character people like", it also shouldn't entirely exclude the possibility for having major characters, as otherwise, we might as well just axe the trope and expand One-Scene Wonder, there already is some overlap. And I'm definitely against axing the Darkhorse.

Plus, in video games, defining a major character can be pretty hard anyway. Glory’s just a party member. You can ignore her in favor of mercenary runners and not speak to her outside of the prologue and epilogue at all, if you want. True, she is one of the “core four” in this game, but try applying the same question to, say, Baldur's Gate.

As for the claws bit, that was more of an added comment for flavour. I already cut the part about saying they are in the game because of her, although I am pretty sure I saw people on the forums asking for them and maybe that gave HBS the idea to include weapon-cyberware to begin with. Either way, if people hate that bit so much, I don't mind that part getting cut.