Content Warning
This is an intersection of kink and tabletop roleplaying games. Pull out now if that’s not your speed.
Monster Hunter Wilds released last Thursday, so we’re going to talk about handlers this week. I’m getting ahead of myself though. This is a post about the Knight and Squire classes in The Serket Hack.
The Knight
Conceptually, the Knight class started when I wanted to put mechs in my fantasy game. Not actual mechs, but the feeling of playing a mech. The Knight functions as a collection of systems, each with individual cooldowns and healthpools. The macro game loop for Knights is about the management of their armor and gear with granular upgrades and tweaks.
In addition to Radmad‘s tweet, I was inspired by a series of mechsploitation tweets by Talia, though I didn’t know what mechsploitation was at the time. This leads me into the supporting narrative for Knights:
They are submissive fighters, locked in armor to commit the greatest possible violence. Society maintains control of these dangerous individuals by turning the armor that empowers them into a prison that can only be unlocked from the outside. A Knight wears its coffin every time it dons the armor.
The Squire
Every Knight player is supported by a team of squires who maintain control of the knight and authorize its violence. The chief Squire is another player class.
In terms of game mechanics, the Squire is a summoner or pet class, using a Knight in combat. Their skills revolve around tactics and support for the Knight, and they benefit heavily from preparation. Squires wield flags and banners both to communicate across the battlefield and to raise the morale of their Knight, boosting its effectiveness. In addition to their primary character, the Squire player may also roleplay other members of a Knight’s support team.
Counterpart Teamwork
A Knight player always has a team of squires. A Squire player always has a knight. The two classes are deeply interconnected and share upgrades. The difference for players is where they prefer to focus their perspective. It is possible for a Knight player and a Squire player to not be each others’ knight and squire, however the classes are designed so that two players can engage in a Knight-Squire relationship. This leads me into my broader topic.
Handlers & Hounds
The concept of handlers and hounds has been in the public subconscious at least since the 80’s, judging by this Chris Claremont plot (Uncanny X-Men 189). Rachel Grey is brainwashed into becoming a mutant-hunting weapon. It’s sheer coincidence that she’s dressed in a latex catsuit.
While I understood Claremont was doing some fetish stuff, I didn’t really get it until I ended up playing Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon. You play as the mech pilot C4-621, and are frequently referred to as a hound by your handler, Walter. 621 is treated as a weapon in the hands of Walter, used to bring about his personal vendetta on Rubicon. While you have some freedom of choice, it is only as much as Walter extends the leash.
Interestingly, the progenitor of the mechsploitation community was published shortly before Armored Core VI released that same year. A story called WARHOUND (written by Callidora) about a captured mech pilot, forcibly brainwashed into fighting for the opposing side. Warhound is explicitly a kink story, featuring petplay and a dom/sub relationship between pilot and handler. Since then, a large amount of spinoff and inspired-by stories have been written, largely referred to as the mechsploitation genre in the community.
I Mentioned Monster Hunter
From what I can tell, the Monster Hunter games have always had handlers — a support teammate who handles the paperwork of hunting monsters and provides the player hunter with information they need to succeed. However, the latest game’s handler has caught the public zeitgeist with one line:
These are not kinky people. These are not mech-brained people like me, who can’t hear the word “handler” without getting excited. But the concept of becoming a weapon of violence transcends boundaries. The people are barking for Alma, waiting for her to drop the leash.
It’s entirely possible I may rename my Knight/Squire class to Hound/Handler in further iterations of The Serket Hack. My studies of the dynamic will continue, as it’s something I want to lean into.