Editor's note: June's writing challenge is here, and it's a doozy. Chris wants you to focus on the characters that make up your favorite games. Read on for details. -Brett

Cait Sith. 

Seriously, why is he in Final Fantasy 7? Not that I hate the character or anything -- he's just so different from the rest of the cast that I wonder about the thought process behind him. I've come to several conclusions:

1. The character designer wanted a goofy comic relief to contrast with the hardened warriors filling out the rest of the cast.

2. The main differences between the characters in Final Fantasy 7 were stats and their Limit Break special attacks. The battle designers wanted a character with a luck-based Limit Break like Cait Sith’s dice and slots to diversify the magic system.

3. The story writer wanted a Shinra double agent in the main cast.  And who would suspect the goofy comic relief?

4. The game needed more Moogles.

5. All of the above.

Cait Sith didn't fall into the game by accident. Someone thought him up. Someone found a way to put him in the story. Someone designed his attacks. Several people animated him. Several producers and managers approved all of these actions. Cait Sith is in Final Fantasy 7 for a reason.

Now you can tell us why.  

The Prompt

Video games are no different from TV shows, movies, and other media. Game characters look, move, and behave in certain ways for specific reasons. In addition, since the player controls the characters, creators have to design everything from what attacks they have to idle animations.

So here's the prompt:

1. Write a 500-800 word article on a character's design and role in a game, examining everything from appearance to movements to its role in the story. You can write it on anyone from the greatest hero to the lowest grunt. How did Sega design Sonic to show him as a hedgehog with attitude? What's the correlation between the Team Fortress 2 classes and their personalities in promo videos? What makes the Slimes in Dragon Quest so endearing that they get their own spin-off games? Think of the prompt as a combination of a traditional character study and game-design analysis.

2. Include “Know Your Role” in the title and tags so that it’s easy to find in a search.

3. Post the story by June 30 at midnight PST.

Just in case you need more help, I've posted an example here on a character most-worthy of analysis. I look forward to reading the results.