Machigai

unfinished beta sprite

Traits

Overview

Machi, a placeholder made for beta testing of a game that got abandoned...

Machigai is somewhat of a "rebellious teenager" archetype. It doesn't like to be told what to do, and their impulsive decision making leaves them prone to making bad decisions. These are both the result of craving attention, as their already near-empty home was abandoned when "the gods" (the developers) left. While it is very competitive - easily swayed by an opportunity to show up someone - that only extends so far as winning.

Backstory

Development

Machigai was created as a placeholder spriteset for a video game codenamed "Yokai Kingdom", a Metroid-vania (platformer/exploration hybrid) game, basically just a scribble of what the character's body type would be like for collision's sake. They were supposed to be replaced with an actual character as the game was developed, and if so, Machigai would have been destroyed.

However, that did not happen, because the game's development stalled. The developers, Shadow Stitch Games, were spread too thin, making both Yokai Kingdom and another game, and eventually, the lead designer of Yokai Kingdom, one Yosuke Karitia, left the company, and the company cut their losses and sent the project to the Recycle Bin, laying no claim to the title whatsoever, as the game never received an official title under which to file it.

This left Machigai, a character that should never have been permanent, still alive...

Deletion

However, the time in the Recycle Bin wasn't peachy. The edges of Prueba Island started to fill with blackened mist, dubbed the "Corruption," and the island was sparsely inhabited, so it was largely just Machigai and some animal "enemies" (mostly also placeholders, though a couple did receive some actual appearances).

That was, until a strange demon visited the island, claiming to be from another world. Thinking maybe, just maybe, the developers had returned, Machigai tried to talk with the demon, but nothing came of it - the demon would not talk to her at all. That was, until a certain otter professor came in, who did seem interested in the strange fox.

He was old and smart, and wished to investigate the mist bubbling around Prueba Island, which seemed to be similar to Machigai itself. So, he took both a sample of the Corruption and Machigai themselves back to his home in Anima...

Abilities

Social Links

Trivia

• Machigai can stretch their body, likely because of being created to test collision of a game engine. This power, along with her world's name, causes speculation that they are related to Akihari, a connection the sprite hates and denies.

• "Machigai" is a double entendre. The name means "mistake", but also is a portmanteau of "machine guy." It's a guy created so the machine doesn't make mistakes!

• Powerful beings in the world of Arcadian Odyssey, such as Marzipan and Yunichi, typically refer to Machigai as “the empty one,” instead of referring to them by name.