How Did CDPR make Jakie such a fan favorite? (includes spoiler about Jackie)

[SpookyFX]

So we did not spend that much time with him. Yet most players feel devastated by the loss when he dies. How the %$#^% did the DEV accomplish this?

The voice actor is very good. And the character's culture (hispanic, and I happen to be half hispanic so please let's not get hung up on this) has been portrayed somewhat noble in Holywood media because of the cliche of "family and honor".

But is that really all there is to it? Or did CDPR also do other clever nuanced physiological sleight of hand to get us so attached to this big softy so we would cry at his funeral?

Edit: I just realized that he may only be "Hispanic" like in the english localization! How is he portrayed in other languages such as Aisin, Russian or the Romance languages? Is he still portrayed as north American Hispanic?

 

[Draconifors]

My guess is it's simply because Jackie has been present since 2018. When players found out, in 2019, that Jackie could end up dying many were already really sad and upset although it was not clear whether he would always die.

Jackie has a huge role in the 45-minute demo from 2018, and he gained a lot of fans all the way back then.
It's easy for many people to get attached to such characters, when they are portrayed as a friend and loyal ally to the player character since the very beginning.

That's my take on it, anyway. I've not played the game so I don't have all the details or the full picture or Jackie's portrayal.

 

[Night_City_Native]

A combo of solid voice acting, a good character design, Jackie having a personality that makes it easy for many to like him, and the fact that he was front and center in a lot of the early marketing so fan hype built him up to be more than his actual content in the game.

In retrospect he was probably under-utilized. That could probably have been sorted by not introducing a time skip between the origin intros and the game's main events.

 

[ash23neuro]

He was the only NPC so strongly presented from an early promos to the final release. He was closest to V and people had a chance to get to know his character during first missions (scavangers, malestrom, meeting with Dexter and T-Bug) presented in gameplays since 2018.
Also CGI where he is wounded and dies rised many speculations if he can be saved (it ended up to be a major spoiler). Generaly there was a lot of Jackie everywhere since begining.

Post automatically merged: Mar 12, 2021

In retrospect he was probably under-utilized. That could probably have been sorted by not introducing a time skip between the origin intros and the game's main events.

That decision totally ruined his potential.

 

[vyvexthorne]

People somehow get attached to characters before things are even released. I guess folks just think a character looks cool and so they decide to like it. When playing a protagonist that doesn't have a lot of substance I can easily make up my own story for them and maybe that's what people do when introduced to video game characters in a trailer. .. Or maybe the look up everything they can about that character and so get invested in them through that investigation. I just don't get all that invested in video game characters until the game is actually in my hands. So yeah, Jackie's death had no emotion attached to it for me because I spent so little time with him.

 

[Guest 3847602]

He's a complete bro, brute/thug with a heart of gold, loyal to you and somewhat naive. Easy to like from the get-go.

 

[GVArcian]

Same reason why people were heartbroken over Ulgo Trask's death in Knights of the Old Republic despite him having like 5 minutes of screentime.

 

[Terricola69]

So we did not spend that much time with him. Yet most players feel devastated by the loss when he dies. How the %$#^% did the DEV accomplish this?

The voice actor is very good. And the character's culture (hispanic, and I happen to be half hispanic so please let's not get hung up on this) has been portrayed somewhat noble in Holywood media because of the cliche of "family and honor".

But is that really all there is to it? Or did CDPR also do other clever nuanced physiological sleight of hand to get us so attached to this big softy so we would cry at his funeral?

Edit: I just realized that he may only be "Hispanic" like in the english localization! How is he portrayed in other languages such as Aisin, Russian or the Romance languages? Is he still portrayed as north American Hispanic?

In the Spanish version, most of the characters have a Spanish accent, while other characters (Judy, Panama, Jackie... And characters with american look) have a Mexican accent. It is the equivalent of the English version having characters with voices from the USA, and other characters with voices from the UK (I don't know if the English version of cyberpunk has different accents, the Spanish version does).

PD: I must say that as a Spaniard ... Everything I have seen as a Spaniard in movies (EVERYTHING, without exceptions) in english in which supposed Spaniards appeared, has been worthy of a facepalm. It is the equivalent of an American seeing a South African as a Texan, or an Australian as an Indian. Basques as if they were from Ecuador, Catalans as if they were from Cuba, Argentines as if they were from Mexico ... The representation that I have seen has never been positive also. Lazy, greedy, ignorant, Catholic religious fanatics, sweaty people with big mustaches... The disdain for the Hispanic world from the Anglo-Saxon world has always been very obvious. I know the issue is not about this, but I needed to vent somewhere... Did I mention the term "facepalm"?

 

[Valer48]

A combo of solid voice acting, a good character design, Jackie having a personality that makes it easy for many to like him, and the fact that he was front and center in a lot of the early marketing so fan hype built him up to be more than his actual content in the game.

In retrospect he was probably under-utilized. That could probably have been sorted by not introducing a time skip between the origin intros and the game's main events.

This, though as someone who didn't even become aware of this game until just a few months before release (thanks COVID), they did a great job of making him likeable. It would be great if the cut scene where you bond had been a playable area of the story.

 

[Joost_van_Kempen]

So we did not spend that much time with him. Yet most players feel devastated by the loss when he dies. How the %$#^% did the DEV accomplish this?

The voice actor is very good. And the character's culture (hispanic, and I happen to be half hispanic so please let's not get hung up on this) has been portrayed somewhat noble in Holywood media because of the cliche of "family and honor".

But is that really all there is to it? Or did CDPR also do other clever nuanced physiological sleight of hand to get us so attached to this big softy so we would cry at his funeral?

Edit: I just realized that he may only be "Hispanic" like in the english localization! How is he portrayed in other languages such as Aisin, Russian or the Romance languages? Is he still portrayed as north American Hispanic?

It is because you are told that Jacky is an old friend of you, having been trough a lot with him. This makes you feel you already have a bond with this character from the start.

 

[Phair]

Well if you look at my post (Why I don't like Jackie Welles)
you will see he wasn't everyone's friend. Lol

 

[SpookyFX]

Well if you look at my post (Why I don't like Jackie Welles)
you will see he wasn't everyone's friend. Lol

Nether is Albert Einstein, Oprah Winfrey nor Dolly Parton.

 

[BlackRiverDragon]

So we did not spend that much time with him. Yet most players feel devastated by the loss when he dies. How the %$#^% did the DEV accomplish this?

The voice actor is very good. And the character's culture (hispanic, and I happen to be half hispanic so please let's not get hung up on this) has been portrayed somewhat noble in Holywood media because of the cliche of "family and honor".

But is that really all there is to it? Or did CDPR also do other clever nuanced physiological sleight of hand to get us so attached to this big softy so we would cry at his funeral?

Edit: I just realized that he may only be "Hispanic" like in the english localization! How is he portrayed in other languages such as Aisin, Russian or the Romance languages? Is he still portrayed as north American Hispanic?

Without watching any of the promotions I can say Jackie by himself is a very good character. I miss him dearly from the main game, but is understandable <:/

 

[Shoklen]

I never really connected with him... He wasn't badly done or anything, just never connected...

Spoiler

When he crooked, I didn't really feel anything.

 

[_Fender_]

He reminds me a bit of Rocky character. Often misinterpreted due to how he looks, very soft on the inside, definitely a person who will not let his friends down. Had difficult life and a huge motivation to prove something for himself and people around.

 

[Asilee]

It just sucks that

Spoiler: spoiler

he was killed so early on

. I really liked Jackie.

 

[pndrad]

Was super unhappy that Jackie couldn't be saved. Actually still am.

 

[crawfordman]

if i remember in that cgi trailer cdpr said in interviews a long time ago once upon a time that was just one outcome that could happen during the relic heist quest but it looks like that never happened did it now?

 

[_Fender_]

I cant imagine main storyline with Jackie alive and Johnny at the same time. Would be a mess.
It was a good storywise decision that he died - it gave V a lot of depth in a dialogues, feelings of grief, lost and being lonely in night city. It fit more than having super positive friend most of a time next to you.

 

[madhojo333]

What??? Jackie is one of the least likable characters of all time. In fact the only start that even slightly makes sense for why V even likes Jackie is Corpo, the other starts literally have Jackie completely screwing over the player and then forces you to be friends with him because thats how they wrote it.

Even in Corpo he just sits there and lets the agents do what they want to you and only steps in when they threaten to take you in. I thought he was working with them!

And to top it all off he gets you into the mess with Dex AND NEVER ONCE NEGOTIATES THE ACTUAL PAY FOR THE MISSION! Oh yeah ill take 60% of nothing which comes out to.... Uh oh right nothing. Great job jackie.