A Deeply Subjective Review of Hunter Personality Expression

[tacit condor]

Gonna try for a fun bit - how much personality do we get from a hunter (primarily via their voicelines/barks), and how distinctive is that personality? This is not meant to be knocking the writing or voice acting of any particular hero, but rather highlighting where folks have achieved something fun. This will be subjective both in that I have my tastes and perspectives (for example, I respond less to someone being cool/edgy if we're meant to take that person entirely seriously), and I've been exposed more to some hunters than others - I've just straight up heard Kingpin's chatter more than say, Zeph's. If I'm missing something, or you disagree or wish to contest, definitely bring that up. There's a reason this is in discussion.

Will release in waves here, to have space to actually bring up thoughts, examples, or my own limitations and subjectivity.

Brall
The start of the 'srs boi corner', Brall is one I'm less exposed to. That said, I cannot recall either a single line or a big takeaway from his chatter. His whole vibe is 'edgy anime antihero' with his giant sword, but at no point have I gotten a sense of what his deal is. Maybe that's just because his place in the lore hasn't been alluded to as much, but also, what chatter I have heard hasn't really spoken of that deal.
Grade: D

Ghost
Both a denizen of the 'srs boi corner' and the go to milspec guy, I feel like I get a sense of Ghost's deal, but that deal is also boring - professional military efficiency, tango tango, etc. Maybe he's got like, emotional interiority under that I'm missing, but he seems to be a pretty standard iteration of a safe and not very fun trope.
Grade: D

Jin
The most conspicuously edgy of the 'srs boi corner', Jin is also a bit of an informational void for me, but benefits from being like, actively edgy. Like he's hot topic bait, something I don't personally go in for, but can respect it's a thing, right?
Grade: C

Joule
So she's a celebrity. That's... I guess her deal? Like some nods to kpop or rock star in her visual design, and she talks about solo acts. I've gotten a clear sense of her deal - vivacious, confident, cool girl vibes - but it doesn't feel like a very memorable version of that deal.
Grade: C

Myth
In a certain regard, she succeeds in articulating, or at least alluding to, her role in the world. Mystical forest guardian, but on the more artemis - 'the hunt!' end of things as much as crunchy forest guardian. On the other hand, I have no real sense of who she's meant to be within that role. Who's the person here? Or is she just meant to be stoic and cool? Because a bunch of characters are stoic and cool.
Grade: C

Shiv
She's mean! She kills people! She works for the government! That's... kind of it, as far as I got. Suffers from being in the 'cool dangerous person' glut of the cast, but I really wish I could remember more of the 'cyberpunk elf assassin' as a person.
Grade: C

Shrike
So here's our Aloy-style plucky protagonist. Definitely benefits from having her lore spoke of out of game, but by and large she hits the 'cool but relatable' vibes. Kind of wish we followed the notion of character expressions from her role - she's a sniper after all, maybe she's a little awkward, more used to observing from afar than engaging directly. Something to make her stand out from her type.
Grade: B

Bishop
So here is our 'gonna wrestle ya' cocky, pugnacious hero sort. Nothing earth-shaking, but the expression of that comes across as immediately charming, largely because it employs such enthusiasm, and such disregard for her own safety, it verges into 'what if the great gonzo was an anime protagonist?' Could be expressed more or provided with more variety, but still, solid.
Grade: B

Kingpin
Definitely some subjective bias here, but also c'mon, this man just oozes personality. An openly predatory (in the 'I'm going to literally eat ya' way), unshakably confident bully, who revels in his own power and monstrosity. That's maybe not a deep character, but is immediately memorable, and is delivered with such panache. Highlighting the 'look who needs the king' line on reviving allies, because it articulates like ten things - an arrogant sense of his own status (third personing), a self awareness that his allies might not like him or wouldn't want his help, a vindicated bully's glee that they do need his help. It's great.
Grade: S

Felix
Your rocket raccoon style rabid furry little guy, but delivered with a great irascibility. If a looney tunes character was allowed to be an arsonist, but amid that there's a real range of expressions and reactions. Also, 'tell my storyyyyy' is maybe the best single line. I suspect the only reason he's not higher is I don't get to hear him enough.
Grade: A

Oath
Here's your big robot sort, your iron giant. Someone gave Baymax a hammer. Solid and a fun type to hit, though I'm left struggling a bit trying to remember expressions within that type. Still, it's clearly doing its own thing.
Grade: B

Elluna
She's a moon priestess! She's kind but she'll still murder you! She has a weird relationship with mortality. While I'm not as immediately charmed with Elluna as I am other characters (I clearly have a bias towards 'characters who make me gently chuckle as I run around the map'), there's a clear personality, and it meshes well with the snipits of backstory we get from her. Holy Zombie Moon Rabbit is not an archetype we really get, y'know?
Grade: B

Zeph
Another kind of plucky protagonist sort, this in the young (or rather young expressing) gently adventuresome lad. Haven't really felt anything that really goes off book for him, but maybe I'm just underexposed.
Grade: C

Beebo
He's a gibberish spewing chaos gremlin, and maybe a lot of his appeal comes from just the cult of personality fostered by supplementary material and how the devs talk about him, but also dang if this guy isn't a very well expressed little stinker. Lots of credit to both his animations and voice acting to give him that exuberant lil' stinker energy, but also him cackling and going 'droppy droppy' whenever he gets drop lead is great. Very much a type, but a well-executed one, and with the kirby-esque 'wait, this nonsense chibi character also has unfathomable powers over reality', which is a good bit.
Grade: S

Celeste
Yet another elementalist cool girl, here she's carried above the likes of Joule by how much fun her writing has with the 'ice queen' trope. Like, she's a jerk, she's a little grossed out by her teammates ('don't worry, I'll wash it later'), and that sense of fragile, conceited elegance bounces off both the chaos of the setting well and promises to bounce off the chaos of the other hunters (should actual interactions occur) really well too.
Grade: A

Hudson
Your gruff, dad-adjacent mechanic. Again, a type we know, and one that could maybe use a wrinkle or at least some more fun, but there's an undeniable charm when he's grumbling across a battlefield like he's doing nothing more than fixing a junker. Him disgustedly calling his teammates 'amateurs' when they all die almost bumped him to an A alone.
Grade: B

Void
Again, we get an immediate archetype - the sinister ancient with powers beyond mortal ken. That's fun, and Justin Groot's twitter fic make me instantly want to dig into his whole deal more, but in terms of immediate expression, I'm coming up short with actual expressions. Give him a few iconic lines, then give a humorous, Terrorblade style offnote (for those who don't know DOTA, the man is 95% terrifying 'demon to the demons' villain, 5% 'very alarmed and concerned about another champ's obsession with trees'), and he could bump up higher easily.
Grade: B

[silk narwhal]

Has anyone started a compilation of voicelines/barks/interactions?

[steady peak]

i agree with these sentiments. very fun writeup of what we've got so far