Several years after this I had a pretty messy breakup with a woman I was going to marry. It sucked hard and put me in a terrible depression. During this time I didn't do much, but one thing I did do was play a lot of Shantae games. Shantae was such a charming and loveable character in such a well-made game series, that it was pretty much the only thing that made me happy. I just couldn't help but smile at her antics. In a way, Shantae helped get me through a very dark time in my life. So for that reason I will always be a fierce defender and die-hard fan of the series.
That's the power video games can have. Shantae (and Wario and other fictional characters too) have also helped me through hard times. I won't go into detail too much, but I can say that Shantae made me a better person.
You see, fictional people can have just as much impact on your life as real-life people. And I don't care about the fact that video game characters are fictional. In your head they are real, and that's what really matters.