Rynn

Rynn is a fictional character and protagonist of the Drakan series of fantasy action-adventure video games by Surreal Software, featured in the games Drakan: Order of the Flame and Drakan: The Ancients' Gates, and in their comic book adaptation.

Design and promotion

Rynn was made using a skeletal animation to make her motions as smooth and realistic as possible,^[1] with a very large at the time repertoire of 200 animations.^[2] According to Game Developer Magazine, "Rynn's highest polygon count was only 538. Single-skinned characters such as Rynn generally look much better with fewer polygons compared to the segmented characters traditionally used in most game animation systems."^[3] In the sequel, her model was built out of 3,000 polygons.^[4] Drakan was promoted by a Rynn model known as Myrna Blankenstein,^[5] who studied in San Francisco and originally came from Eastern Europe.^[6]

Reception

Rynn was very well received by video game media outlets and general public alike. Reviewing the first Drakan, David Wildgoose of PC PowerPlay wrote, "A scantily-clad girl involved in an unnatural relationship with a dragon - could you ask for anything else?"^[7] Many, including Hyper,^[8] France's Generation 4,^[9] Poland's Gambler,^[10][11] and German magazines Mega Fun,^[12] PowerPlay,^[13] PC Action,^[14] PC Games,^[15][16] PC Joker^[17] and PC Player,^{[18][19][20][21][22]} compared her to Lara Croft, often favorably. PC Zone opined the "busty heroine Rynn and her dragon could give Lara a run for her money" as "there's no point denying that Rynn is Lara Croft with swords and axes, and given teenagers' enthusiasm for Xena The Warrior Princess, she should prove a big hit among the testosterone-driven population of gamers."^[23] Computer & Video Games commented: "Could the heroine Rynn, be the new Lara Croft? Well the boobs certainly match up."^[24] Ritual Entertainment co-founder compared Julie from his game Heavy Metal: F.A.K.K.² to both Rynn and Lara.^[25]

In 2000, readers of GameSpot, impressed "because not only was she a fighter but also she had a fire-breathing dragon, Arokh, as a loyal companion," voted her and Elexis Sinclaire from SiN together at eight spot in "Readers' Choice - The Ten Best Female Characters".^[26] That same year, IGN editor Tal Blevins chose her as "the hottest videogame babe" due to her looks and leather outfit.^[27] Rob Wright from Tom's Games included this "impulsive, strong-willed warrior" in his 2007 list of the 50 greatest female characters in video game history.^[28] When Edge "asked a variety of industry women for their favourite female videogame characters," Total War series' producer Luci Black chose Rynn: "Unashamedly hard as nails, nicely sharp and contemptuous attitude, looks great in armour and gets around on a dragon."^[29] GameStar included Rynn in their 2008 list of "power women - the 25 heroines who dominated games"^[30] and featured her in a 2013 article discussing the graphical progress of "babes in games".^[31]

References