When it comes to heroic characters in games, it's no surprise that they are almost always the main character in the game. Putting the player into the role of the hero is the main purpose of most games. We all want to be the ones showered in glory and adoration. We all want super powers. We all want to save the world (or watch it burn, in some cases.)

While the supporting cast may be interesting, even well developed from time to time, most often they are only there to provide the hero with information or items, or simply to get caught up in something that the hero then has to save them from. It's not often that a secondary character is far more heroic than the actual hero.

Then again, Rule of Rose isn't your average "hero" game. The main character Jennifer isn't trying to save anything, much less the world. She's simply stumbling around trying to figure out just what the hell is wrong with her. Not dying is really the only task she's faced with. Really, that's enough, because the game's awful control system and absolutely abysmal combat system make staying alive a Herculean feat. Ultimately, RoR is a story about a girl and her faithful dog, Brown. Brown is the real hero.



Throughout the game, Jennifer uses Brown as both a clue finder (in fact, you cannot find anything without him) and bait. He's not simply an accessory, he's really the central character in the game. Without him, Jennifer is literally useless.

The biggest example of Brown's heroism? He is always the first to go through a door.

Always.

Every time.

No matter what the odds or how beat up he has become, Brown always leads the way. He always puts himself between Jennifer and danger, and he always does it willingly. He doesn't know why the bad guys want to hurt Jennifer, all he knows is that he has to protect her. He is never afraid to run headlong into the darkness and flush out the monsters. He does it all in unquestioning service to his owner.



It is there that we see his true supremacy over Jennifer and all of the other human characters. Brown is simply a good boy, unflinchingly protecting his master whom he loves without question. Unfortunately, his master does not share this same adoration. Sure, she wants to keep him safe as well, but it's obvious that, to Jennifer, Brown is just another possession. In fact, we see at the very end of the game, after Jennifer goes though all sorts of dangers related directly to another character wanting to essentially "own" Jennifer, that Jennifer is blind to the fact the Brown wants to be free. Instead, she slips on a collar and ties him to the ground in a shed, alone. She has become just as selfish and villainous as her enemies.

What does it mean to protect someone? To have total control over them? To want to keep them for yourself? To own them? You won't find the answers in a heroic splash of zombie brains or a blast of machine-gun fire. You'll find them at the end of a leash.