To be fair, that's a pretty low bar. Other 'tutorial' or 'help' characters in games range from somewhat tolerable (Prince Dreambert, the King of Red Lions) to annoying as hell (Navi, E Gadd in Dark Moon, Fi...)
Above: Oh god, the bad memories...
Above: Oh jesus no. Be thankful you didn't have that owl 'helping' you through the Hall of Hieroglyphs...
That's the shitty thing about it. Navi continues to live on in infamy yet it's pretty much certain that Shokora will never get the recognition she deserves, not in scope nor in appreciation. I'm convinced that she'll continue to be taken at face value and shunned as a Peach knockoff or a contributor to a pattern, just as I've seen her classed as in the past. You know the frustration a lot of Wario fans have for Smash Bros since they feel it failed to represent Wario in an accurate way? I feel that same frustration for the extent to which Wario characters have been ignored in favour of simplifications.
I'm willing to bet a lot of people think Wario's greed trait is something that's only there since it's been told on occasion through sports games or fan interpretation, yet in actual fact it's something that stemmed from actions taken in his games. It's because of the other characters in said games such as Syrup, Rudy and Shokora that it's able to be properly conveyed, since said character help drive positive or negative consequences for Wario's behaviour on behalf of the player. I think a lot more is owed to them than is issued as of yet, since they're either not in the fanbase's spotlight, or not given noteworthy reception.
To be honest, by this point I've caved in to the fact that that's all Wario Land characters will ever be taken for. Nobody seems very keen to understand or support them in the same way that other characters are backed, and I can't tell why that is. I know me and Mel have both spent a lot of time bitching about this and it might be getting on everyone's collective nerves, but even in this very thread it's become increasingly clear that nobody wants to talk about them if they're given half a chance to talk about other characters instead. Granted, one of the things I value when it comes to characters in games is how well their assets are integrated into the gameplay itself, which is something that I found was particularly well-done when it came to the Wario Land games.
If there's something that's been learned from piecing these articles together and seeing the response to them, it's that it doesn't seem to be something people are interested in. Both cases became less about the merit of the Wario Land character and more about others. The seemingly inherent importance of structure came up several times and really, I feel I am at least partially to blame. Nevertheless, at this point it seems unnecessary to continue the mantra of "This and this are better than that and deserve more love" or whatever. I think if people perceived the Wario Land characters as deserving of more than has been given, that would've happened by now. If the legacy of Wario Land mattered to people the same way a lot of other game franchises do, I feel as if it would've been brought up a long time ago.
I know this seemed to be more about the cast as a whole than Shokora, but bear in mind Shokora is probably the broadest example. Once more, I understand repeating the same schlock over and over to the point most probably consider it pretentious isn't exactly going to enhance our lives, but that's just the thing, man... It kinda sucks.
