…With ‘the Gifted’ taking a hiatus for the next week, (dumb
idea, but theirs, so there), let us talk about FH once again instead. They are
introducing a new character into their mix again, his name is Vortiger, and he
is a Black Prior.
Let us start with the most obvious feature of all – his name.
If it sounds familiar, it is because it is – it is a variant of Vortigern, who
was the king of Britain – well, one of them – before king Arthur, and in the
2017 movie, he was a villain that His One and Future Majesty had to defeat to
become, well, the One and Future King. That said, in reality, Vortigern had
been just ‘a king’ that reigned before Arthur did; Hell, he reigned before
Uther did, (i.e. Arthur’s father), and to be honest, ‘reality’ isn’t the best
term to use here – the man was already obscure by the Medieval times, (when
king Arthur’s legends began to take shape for real), and the most established
version of him is that he was the British king, (or a British king, or a
chieftain, whatever) that invited some of the first Saxons, (i.e. Viking
invaders) to help him battle Picts and Scots – a very ironic action. Why?
On one hand is that the Saxons themselves took over Britain,
(if king Arthur had been real, he would have battled them long and hard and
often), and then they got conquered themselves, by their more derived
continental cousins, the Normans. Does anyone remember DW, S3? The second
episode of the season featured William the Conqueror, precisely the king who
had conquered Great Britain, (hence the nickname Conqueror). The result was a
culture clash – yet another one – depicted in such literary classics as Walter
Scott’s ‘Ivanhoe’ - you should really read it.
And on the other? Those Picts and Scots and co. that
Vortigern had Saxons help him battle with, they were here before the Britons,
or whatever the proper name of Vortigern’s people was. Vortigern and his people
were initially conquerors themselves, just like the Vikings, (who became Saxons
and Normans at different times in different planes), and then they were
conquered themselves.
…That is it for the historical Vortigern, such as he is. There
is even a theory that ‘Vortigern’ is not a proper name, unlike Arthur, say, or
Henry, but more of a title, meaning something like ‘the high king’. However,
this theory is not very popular or thorough, so let us not bother with it.
Then we come to FH Vortigern’s ‘label’ – he is a ‘black
prior’. In real life, a prior is a generic term, or title, for any monastic
superior, aka a high-ranking clergyman (in the Catholic Church)…well, one that
ranks higher than an average cleric, anyhow. We’re talking monastic orders,
here, not some sword-wielding yahoos – but as we’ve discussed on a regular
basis in the past, FH often mislabels its’ characters, going for whatever
name/label that sounds cool, regardless of what it actually does. In case of
Vortigern, (and the entire new Black Prior class) it is swinging a sword, and –
a kite shield. To paraquote Captain Obvious, it is a shield that is shaped like
a kite… or a leaf… or an almond… or even a raindrop – usually rounded on top
and curving down to a point, (rounded or otherwise) on the bottom. FH made it
more angular and flying-kite-shaped, as opposed to raindrop-shaped in real
life. They were made especially popular by the Norman cavalry in the 1000s –
see William the Conqueror mentioned above. Their size and shape made them poor
choice for infantry, but unlike the Saxons, the Normans preferred to fight on
horse rather than on foot. By the mid-thirteenth century or so the kite shields
got replaced by so-called heater shields instead, which were more compact and
proportionally smaller and wider than the kite shields were, making them easier
to use. The Crusaders, (especially in the First Crusade) introduced this sort
of shield to the Muslims… and where does it leave FH?
Being more derived, actually. For a while Ubisoft struggled
with making new memorable and interesting characters, and it even went for the
ancient Chinese for a while, but now it seems to be coming back to its’ initial
stock, which is mainly Medieval Europe. Yay! Yes, the character probably still
has flaws, but Ubisoft did get better at ironing those kinks out, so playing a
Black Prior, (whether male or female – Ubisoft has both by now) should be fun.
…Well, this is it for now – see you all soon!
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