Gaia NPC (non-playable characters) refers to characters integrated into the world of Gaia Online. Their role, aside from role in the sites' story, is predominantly that of a shopkeeper, though various other characters exist to add to the sites' lore.
Overview[]
Gaia Online NPCs interact with the Gaian population in a variety of different ways - they make announcements, manage the shops, and are often the central point of different events.
The NPCs are recognizable by the title "[NPC]" before their name, and by the fact their names are highlighted in brown, unlike regular users and the site staff. All NPCs have their own profile page much like regular users and the staff, and as such, their own Avatar form.
Introduced February 18, 2003, the first set of characters during the days of Go-Gaia were NPC:Ian and his friend NPC:Rufus the Cat, both of whom are still active characters.
Gaia NPCs explained[]
- Shopkeeper - These NPC are owners or employees of Gaia Shops. They provide a service to Gaians by providing items in exchange for Gaia Gold. The shopkeepers are viewed as the primary characters of Gaia Online. Many of them have made appearances in manga, mini-comics and site events. In April 2014, with the release of the Project NPC Apprentice, Gaians got to become temporary shopkeepers.
- Premium Item - These NPC are numerous and are often original to their item of origin. They appear as characters in Chance Item games or they are companions featured in Evolving Items and Monthly Collectibles.
- Technician - These NPC are employees of a corporation. For storylines they are seen and mentioned doing various technical tasks.
- zOMG! - These NPC are created for the Gaia MMO zOMG!. They are scattered throughout areas in the game and are free to be talked to by the player. Though many of them are present to give quest or mini-tasks. While a majority of the NPC are humans, the game has hostile monsters (i.e. the beasts that one fights). For more information about these games characters see zOMG! Wiki.
- Fauna - These NPC are animals, non-human creatures that show human-like characteristics such as being self aware, communicating using human speech, and wearing clothes.
Miscellaneous NPC[]
- Non-Player Gaian (NPG) - A title given to Gaians or their original characters when featured in Chance Items or portrayed as an SDPlus doll.
- Role-playing games - In a traditional role-playing game, an RPG NPC is a fictional character portrayed by the storymaster. If player characters form the narrative's protagonists, non-player characters can be thought of as the "supporting cast" or "extras" of a roleplaying narrative.[1] Such characters are designated to the Gaia Forum called Barton Town.
- Sponsor - These NPC are present to be the announcer of sponsorships on Gaia. They have the title " [GAIA] " before their name and they are highlighted in brown to distinguish between regular users and staff. A majority of the time these characters are dressed or designed and to reflect their sponsor in themed. (See) Sponsor NPC for more information.
Additional info[]
Categorization on the Gaiapedia.
Explaining character categories. This section references the character category seen on theinfosphere.org.
- Primary - Important to the overall plot line as they are the main protagonist or antagonist of the story. Primary characters have a presence throughout a series' run; even if they don't make a physical appearance, they are mentioned by name.
- Secondary - Important to the overall plot line by having frequent appearances or having a significant impact in a single appearance. If a Secondary character is granted higher importance than that, they can be become a primary character but still referred to as secondary by comparison.
- Tertiary - Purpose and significance is little, even if they make frequent appearances these appearances have little to no impact on the plot line. Tertiary characters are mainly stock characters to interact with; if they are granted higher importance than that, they can be become a secondary character.