Cole's dialogue

Gears 5
#54

On a surface level, at first glance, every Gears character looks like a stereotype. Very simple.

And as fans love to point out in regards to their favorite characters… Gears characters are not as simple as they appear. They express hopes, fears, dreams, regrets, and even doubt.

They’re actually archetypes, which is why Gears characters are so beloved, while most of their competitors from 2006-2012 are forgotten. Most memorable characters are defined archetypically, and appear to fulfill a stereotype (or create one, such as Gandalf creating the stereotypical wizard). But through their dialogue and actions, good characters reveal themselves to be deeper and more complex.

You forget that Gears 3 had the Thrashball flashback, which is a love-it-or-hate-it thing. I loved it, even though it was cheesy, because it showed what happens when Cole reaches the end of his rope. He blazes bright, and goes for the win even at personal risk. When he succeeded, he was reinvigorated.

In Gears 5, the motorcycle kill was Cole fulfilling his role. He makes the big plays that would get anyone else killed, lands his shot, and triumphs.

Then he tried to stop the Kraken with his mega-mech. And it didn’t work. He was too slow to eject from his mech (age catching up with him, and he was too confident). So he suffered a broken leg, internal injuries, and perhaps even a concussion. Not cheesy at all. It was a great use of the mega-mech, with a believable result.

And more importantly, it showed that mega-mechs aren’t powerful enough to win the war.

(if you think he couldn’t possibly survive, allow me to tell you about my great-great-uncle; his truck was hit by a train, he was ejected fifty feet in the air, and he survived unhurt)

4 Likes
#55

I mean if you only play the games I can see it being over the top but if you read the books its only really during battle that hes like this

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#56

I think I remember something about Cole being just as, if not more scared than other Gears in combat. But from his years in Thrashball he knows that if he acts tough it’ll help his fellow teammates fight better.

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#57

Sure. But the loudmouth showboat being Cole was a racial stereotype.

#58

Not necessarily, because it may have been shown earlier. At least, I remember there being at least one destroyed megamech as part of the backdrop in Settlement 2 near the construction hub. So it’s not like it takes a giant creature to destroy one.

#59

The books are typically written well after a game is finished & is more flesh things out.

Would I say Lester plays up a stereotype? Yes. I guess that was supposed to be “gotcha” question because maybe you’re assuming I’m white. I would describe how Lester & people like him behave as that of a sycophant at worst & at the very least simply performing within the narrow confines of the society he has grown up in allows.

The unfortunate reality is things like this are pervasive because it is so embedded in the foundations of the society in which we live & when it comes to things that affect marginalized groups, said groups are likely to be more keenly aware of the subtleties because we live it & there is a long documented history of it for us.

I won’t go much further because this is ultimately a gears forum & the realities that I’m talking about are well documented. So if you don’t see it, it’s best to just drop it. I enjoy gears as much as anyone but I’m also not blind to it’s shortcomings.

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#60

This guy gets it. No one is in here being an sjw trying to get Cole removed from the games. He is just a relic of the past in many 70s, 80s and 90s pieces of media when there is one black guy he had to be over the top which leads people to this being there only experience because not everyone has a Del as their bff. In 2006 it was still a thing but it’s just odd to see in 2020. This is why we have Del and before that Jace. These could be real people, Cole is lazy writing and if Dom walked around calling everyone vato in a muscle tee I would really question the original gears creators but he is a just a regular guy who just happens to be Latino, like many people of color are trying to be.

#61

Okay, you lose me because Cole isn’t going around doing this either. I dont see him walking around saying the “N-Word” or whatever. Hes just a guy that’s filled with hype. I don’t see how you can even compare this.

2 Likes
#62

Because in the context of media portrayal of black characters in 2006 and earlier, Cole is a stereotype. We’re not saying he’s a bad character, just a very 2-dimensional one.

It’s possible that Epic Games simply didn’t understand what they were doing with Cole. We’re not saying there was malicious intent. But Cliff completely dodged the discussion by laying the full responsibility for the character at the voice actor’s feet:

And Cole hasn’t changed much for the last 14 years. It’s possible that once Microsoft handed the franchise over, The Coalition wants to develop their own characters so they haven’t given Cole any nuance because he’s not a focus for them. Their focus is on Kait, Del, and JD.

#63

But a lot of the side characters are the same way. Why is everyone just singling out Cole for this? And people aren’t giving his character the credit it deserves because he showed more of his emotions and another side of him in one chapter than 80% of the other side characters. I get it took until the 3rd game but it’s a hell of a lot more than what most get. We have to also remember that this franchise doesn’t revolve around Cole. It’s not called “Agustus Cole Simulator”. I’d be happy to get ANYTHING out of Dizzy at this point in the games but I get hes not the central focus of the plot. It’s just the way things are.

1 Like
#64

Because this thread is about Cole’s dialogue

#65

You mentioned above he was a 2 dimensional character and I feel that’s wrong.

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#66

That’s fine

#67

You really hit the nail with this reply. This is how I’ve always looked at Cole. I’m surprised many others don’t look at it this way. But it also depends on one’s personal interactions.

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#68

I see it as both things.

#69

You took a small part out of that sentence, just change it to being a stereotype. There is no one to one example for Latinos to need to be loud and rhyme. The point is there is a negative way Latinos are portrayed as well as blacks and Dom does not fall into this category. Also you keep mentioning Dizzy but he is a side character, I am mainly discussing Cole in gears 1 and 2 and to a lesser extent the newer games. He is a member of delta and like a lot of media he’s just the token hiphopin jive talkin loud mouth brotha, my original point was this is not a real person and lazy writing. You could say the same for Dizzy but again a side character.

#70

That’s what you said so I dont know what this means. I wasn’t saying Dom did this in game. I even posted the “if” part of your quote.

So is Delta to a degree. I’d argue Marcus and Dom are the main characters while the rest are supporting cast.

So you’ll conveniently leave out Gears 3 because that was the game he did show he was more than comic relief but that would destroy the narrative. And as @Wisdom_Thumbs mentioned already hes shown to be more than just a one trick pony people keep saying he is.

And everyone else has already said that people like this DO exist in real life whether you want to admit it or not. It doesn’t make them a bad person for it. It’s just how Cole is. I can’t wrap my head around why that’s so bad. It’s what made me a fan of him in the first place. I liked him a hell of a lot more than Jace was introduced and that’s the character that’s paraded around as the most grounded and real character according to this thread.

#71

I just thought the whole sentence I said about Dom made sense, not trying to put words in your mouth but I can’t make a one to one comparison with him. I agreed with you about dizzy and if that was how all white men were portrayed in black media I would have a problem with it but their are varying degrees of characterization of white men in the games. I said 1 and 2 and that things got better in 3 earlier in the thread. As far as people acting like this everyone is not saying this is how people act. People keep mentioning Lester who is a wrestler and actor playing the role he had to to be relevant. No one has said I know Lester and he constantly says woooo at home.

#72

You can always ask him and his fellow voice actors.

https://twitter.com/lesterspeight?lang=en

#73

I honestly think Casan is an actual problem.

Cole, Jace, Franklin, etc. are honestly fine. Casan sounds like they were trying too hard to have a ghetto black girl in the game.

1 Like