Hey Sean! Apologies if this question has already been asked or is a bit left field! You talk a lot about Revali's characterisation, so I was wondering if you thought about or tried to make Revali a more sympathetic character during recording? It's no secret that Revali is a bit of an assholebirb but I've always thought there was more to him than that. Thanks!
That’s actually a fairly difficult question to answer, because although there were a lot of factors given thought in regards to Revali’s characterization, his development as a character is seen out-of-order in the course of the main story.
It’s no secret at all that he publicly detests this “whimsy wishing” everyone is placing on a random person (Link) to be the mystical savior of the land; it flies in the face (no pun intended) of all the hard work and embarrassment he has put himself through in order to establish himself as a master of his craft. We learn about this later on through the Memories that tell of the appointment ceremony, but by the time we first “meet” him he has already been forced to sit through all of this and has cemented his resolve to showcase his disdain for the entire situation to the Hero of Hyrule.
Like Teba, this resentment (or moreso distrust) carries on throughout pretty much his entire adventure, and it’s only really after he clears Vah Medoh that Revali truly, finally begins to think that maybe this guy has what it takes - it’s during his very last few lines that we hear any sort of acceptance in his tone, and even then it’s redirected in the form of “someone else is depending on you, not me”.
I believe the sympathy comes from players understanding that he is someone who believes that hard work should result in high praise. Hearing about what Teba and the other villagers think of him solidifies the fact that he busted his ass to achieve his success, and he felt robbed of it by a matter of spiritual divination.
As I recorded, I tried to keep this in mind. Where allowed, I “egged” Link on, half out of pure annoyance and half out of a (slowly, slowly growing) sliver of resentful acceptance of his role; there was nothing Revali could do about it if Link truly was destined to save Hyrule, but he sure as hell didn’t have to show the same courtesy everyone else was before this stranger proved himself. Revali didn’t expect praise and admiration before he’d accomplished what he did, and neither should this verdegreen adventurer.
