Daxter

Daxter is a fictional character and a protagonist of the Jak and Daxter series. First introduced in Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy, Daxter is Jak's best friend, and was accidentally transformed into an ottsel (half otter, half weasel). Daxter is voiced by Max Casella and Richard McGonagle (as Dark Daxter). Daxter stars in his own game, named after himself. Critics have been divided with the character, some calling him funny, others calling him annoying.

Appearances

Daxter first appears in Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy, where he and Jak take a boat to Misty Island, a place Samos the Sage warned them against visiting. Daxter accidentally falls into a vat of Dark Eco, and he is turned into an ottsel (half otter, half weasel). Daxter's accident leads the story's plot as he seeks help from the main antagonist, Gol, to turn him back to normal.^[1]

In Jak II, a gate opens that sends Jak, Daxter, Keira, and Samos into Haven City, a future version of their world. As they appear, guards take Jak away to jail. Two years later, Daxter finds Jak and helps him break out of jail. They begin a quest to find out where they have been sent to, and meet back up with Keira and Samos. Along the way, they take jobs from a slum lord, Krew, and Daxter meets his love interest, Tess. After the events of the plot, Daxter takes over Krew's bar, and renames it the "Naughty Ottsel".^[2]

In Jak 3, Jak is thrown out of Haven City, into the wasteland, and Daxter follows him. Near the end of the plot, it is revealed that Daxter is same species as the Precursors, a group of ancient beings said to have created the world and the Eco in it. As they save the world, the precursors grant Daxter the thing he most wishes for; a pair of pants, and turn his girlfriend, Tess, into an Ottsel so they can be together.^[3]

Daxter takes place right after Jak and Daxter go through the warp gate, and are separated. An old man named Osmo offers Daxter a job exterminating Metal Bugs. Daxter accepts the job, and completes missions while also looking for Jak.^[4]

In The Lost Frontier, Daxter goes to The Brink with Jak to help escort Keira in her quest to become a sage. Daxter is exposed to more Dark Eco and undergoes a further, but temporary, transformation into a form known as Dark Daxter, similar to Dark Jak. While as Dark Daxter, Daxter grows to about eight feet tall, can shoot Dark Eco blasts, and can spin around like a tornado. His personality also changes while in this form, becoming more aggressive and reckless.^[5]

Both Jak and Daxter have appeared as one of the playable characters in the crossover fighting game PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale.^[6] Daxter also makes a cameo in Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, where Daxter is shown on the arm of a wetsuit which says "OTTsel" on the front of it.

Development and characteristics

In an interview, Naughty Dog's creative director Dan Arey said that "Jak is the hero you want to be, and Daxter is the hero you're afraid you are. Daxter is just a little bit concerned, a little bit afraid and he would rather take the easy way out."^[7] He also said they use Daxter as a "secret weapon" for when scenes start to get boring.^[7]

Daxter is Jak's sidekick and closest friend. After falling in a vat of Dark Eco, he is transformed into an ottsel (half otter, half weasel). Before Daxter's accident, he was an orange-haired, buck-toothed cowardly boy that seemed to be the opposite to Jak's courageous and trouble-making self. Daxter often tries to chat up women using lousy pickup lines. Daxter later gets a love interest of his own in Jak II, Tess, a weapon-designing blonde for the underground. Though Daxter rarely gets into dangerous situations on his own, he always exaggerates his stories to make him seem the hero. In The Lost Frontier, Daxter is exposed to more Dark Eco and undergoes a further, but temporary, transformation into a form known as Dark Daxter, similar to Dark Jak. While as Dark Daxter, Daxter grows to about eight feet tall, can shoot Dark Eco blasts, and can spin around like a tornado. His personality also changes while in this form, becoming more aggressive and reckless.

Reception

Daxter has received mixed reception, some calling him annoying, some calling him funny. In an interview, Didier Malenfant, president of Ready At Dawn, stated "Daxter, to my mind, really has been the best character in the whole series"^[8] Daxter won an award at the Game Developer's Conference for the best "Original Game Character of the Year" in 2001.^[9] IGN described Daxter as "a comical, truly amazingly animated creature-character that brings a new sense of wonder and joy to videogames", calling him "eminently likeable."^[10] Daxter was listed as being the ninth-best video-game sidekick of all time by GameSpy, stating "We can't really talk about videogame sidekicks without a mention of the titular character in 2001's Jak and Daxter."^[11] Daxter was listed by IGN as being the sixth-best PS2 sidekick, being described as being "funny as hell."^[12] WhatCulture placed him at number 8 on their list of the 20 Greatest Sidekicks in Video Games.^[13] Game Informer called him the 5th greatest wingman of the past decade, calling him the life of the series.^[14] MSN Entertainment named him as one of "Gaming's unsung heroes", saying he "was popular enough to get his own game."^[15]

Conversely, Daxter was listed as one of the 15 most annoying video game characters by Cracked, stating "Daxter reminds us of that one friend who is always cracking jokes, but isn't any good at it."^[16] Similarly, Daxter was listed fifth on 1UP.com's "Top 5 Worst Videogame Sidekicks", stating he acted like a "terrible '80s stand-up comic"^[17] On GamesRadar's "Top 7 Lazy Character Cliches", they listed "The Animal With Attitude", showing Daxter as an example.^[18]

References