Back to Basics, Part-1: Leaders

I've been re-watching some of my favorite "Tribe" eps, and it struck me that characters in the tv show (as well as characters in KTDARPG) tend toward definite types. Not sure if this was planned. As we say, the story often writes itself & takes a life of its own. So I think I'll draw some parallels & see if it holds together.

First up: LEADERS. From "Tribe," here are a few of everybody's favorite leaders ... Zoot, Amber, and Bray.

Zoot ran the Locos. Amber ran the Mallrats & then the Ecotribe. Bray ran the Mallrats. So what do they have in common? Well, they were definitely kids. And each had passion. Zoot's passions are well known--POWER & CHAOS! Amber's passion was for justice, fair play, doing what's right. Bray's passion was...well, hmm. I guess his passion was for Amber. The most noble things he did were because of his feelings for her. These 3 leaders also were very charismatic. People were drawn to Zoot because he exemplified how crazy life was & the extremes people'd go to to survive. People were drawn to Amber because she just made sense. The reluctant leader, she brought order into an extremely disorderly world. People were drawn to Bray because...well, hmm. I guess because he was tall, dark 'n handsome? Or seemed so damn needy that you just wanted to help him make things ok? Not sure on that one.

Anyway, parallels in KTDARPG...a bit hard to draw because we're careful not to have our characters directly mirror the tv characters. Let's see, we had "Chyna" who might be an Amber-parallel, a reluctant leader who tended to make sense out of chaos. We had "Xeno" who could've kinda been a Bray-parallel, the dark loner who did things and took charge because of Chyna. "Sid" was kind of a Bray-parallel too. Then we have "Lion-F", very Zoot-like. And there's "Brena" who's sort of the Ebony to "Lion-F" as Zoot. And while she'll argue like crazy that she's not a leader, we also have "Arianna" of the Misfits who has some definite Amber qualities.

Other leaders in the game? They're strictly unique -- "Hawk," "Jamie," "Jean," "Tom-F" and others -- leaders/quasi-leaders who developed as the game went forward. If the tv-leaders tended to grow as a part of the life of the series, then we can certainly say that our KTDARPG leaders have grown--and continue to develop--because of the unique story we're telling. --Chyna

Photo source: copyright Cloud-9 "The Tribe"