When people hear the word compassion, they automatically begin to think of being caring and nurturing to everyone around them. However, when looking at the Indigo Lanterns (known as the Indigo Tribe in DC Comics) compassion appears to be represented on a far deeper level than what’s expected as compassion is interpreted as being able to have empathy for someone while maintaining enough distance to understand their motivations. While wearers of an Indigo Tribe ring can only feel nothing but compassion, Tribe members have the unique ability of channeling the light from the other corps of the emotional spectrum. Pretty cool, huh?

Arguably, the Indigo Tribe can be viewed as one of the most ‘justice’ oriented corps as their members have the ability to perceive compassion in others, force compassion onto those who feel none, heal others with empathy and expose targets to the pain they’ve inflicted on others. This is the criteria we used for selecting Gaming’s Indigo Tribe:

Ryu Hayabusa

The protagonist of the Ninja Gaiden series is one of gaming’s oldest third party icons. Infinitely wise and mostly silent, Ryu Hayabusa would have to be considered the leader of the Indigo Tribe. For starters, who wouldn’t want to follow a ninja into battle and two, did I mention he’s a ninja?

Ryu’s been portrayed as a character that is very much in control of his emotions while also displaying a wide range of emotions. As described by the Ninja Gaiden Wiki:

His exploits have given him an attitude far removed from most others, and he understands things in more abstract and philosophical terms. He adopts a tranquil nature, free flowing most of the time, but unforgiving and crushing when roused. As a ninja on a mission Ryu is a man of unstoppable will, his indomitable spirit is shown further in his exploits, refusing to give up and overcoming every obstacle in his path.

Ryu literally seems like he was created to lead the Indigo Tribe as he uses compassion to understand the world around him without becoming too emotionally attached, perfect for a master ninja and leader.

Ayla

This prehistoric heroine takes compassion to another level but sacrificing her normal life for the greater good without hesitation. Ayla is the chief of the Ioka Village during the year of 65,000,000 B.C. She first makes an appearance by saving Chrono and his friends from a group of reptiles that basically have them surrounded. Not only does she save them, but this good samaritan even invites them back to her village to rest and party. Soon after, she’s betrayed by her mate but the compassionate warrior easily forgives and forgets even though he put the entire village at risk. Later on, as a threat to the future world is announced, Ayla joins Chrono and his party in their time traveling mission basically to save their world even though hers isn’t really in any real danger. Ayla earns her ring by selflessly helping others and realizing what threats take precedence over others, even if it means leaving her life behind and never returning.

Bayonetta

If there were any character well adept at tapping into a wide range of emotions and being comfortable in each one, it would have to be the Umbra Witch, Bayonetta. Placed in a 500 year sleep, you would think she’d wake up full of rage but Bayonetta throughout the game, Bayonetta displays great depths of compassion for characters you’d think she despised.

Throughout her adventure, Bayonetta is calm and states that she does not become attached (especially to children) but we see that when introduced to the young Cereza, she grows to care deeply for the well being of the innocent child to the point where she puts her life on the line for her. As Bayonetta seeks to uncover her past, she becomes far more concerned with the fate of the Umbran Witch clan and seeking justice for her fallen witches. One could imagine that when Bayonetta reached the one responsible for her clan’s demise, she would begin to use her Indigo Tribe abilities to make her antagonist experience all the pain he had caused.

Joanna Dark

At first glimpse Joanna Dark appears to be a hot-headed, bounty hunter that was far too explosive and volatile to be considered for the Indigo ring but as she grew, her affinity for compassion became clear. Growing up without knowing her mother strengthened the connection between Joanna and her father, Jack Dark. This bond was so strong that Joanna would risk her life to protect her father from any and every possible negative fate. Joanna would put herself in any danger to save her father but after his death her compassion evolved to reach any innocent bystander that may be in danger or anyone she trusts. Joanna Dark, does not trust people easily but if that bond is formed, she becomes inexplicably concerned for the well being of that individual. Her compassion was not always wide spread but the strength of that compassion can never be denied.

Commander Shepard

The Mass Effect’s series’ player character known only as Commander Shepard really needs little introduction as this character is essentially your care and concern through the game. While most if not all of your character’s attributes are customizable, one thing that always set the Mass Effect series apart from other titles was it’s concept of “dialogue and morality” which was central to the gameplay. Gamers basically had to care about every conversation with every non-playable character to create the outcome they wanted in their game. While gamers had the ability to steer their answers toward making their “Shepard” pure good or just an A-hole, that emphasis is significantly lessened in Mass Effect unlike in titles such as inFamous. With multiple decisions in the game impacting the entire game’s world, it appears that in the end, the most compassionate character in the Indigo Tribe is…..the player.

After reading this, do you just feel more concerned for the well being of others than normal? Was this list a hit or a miss for you? Who would you enlist in your “compassion corps”? Post your characters below and join us tomorrow for the final corps of the gaming lanterns, you will love it.

If you haven’t already, make sure you checkout our previous list(s):
Gaming’s Red Lanterns of Rage
Gaming’s Orange Lanterns of Avarice
Gaming’s Yellow Lanterns of Fear
Gaming’s Green Lanterns of Willpower
Gaming’s Blue Lanterns of Hope

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Tags: Akira Toriyama Ayla Bayonetta BioWare Cereza Chrono Trigger Commander Shepard Compassion Indigo Indigo-1 Joanna Dark Mass Effect Ninja Gaiden Perfect Dark Rare Ryu Hayabusa sega Square-Enix Tecmo Tribe