Gaming’s most profoundly timely character is a bat man who’s superior to Batman in every way

For many reasons, Atlus’ sprawling epic Metaphor: ReFantazio was one of the best surprises of 2024. It’s not that Atlus is new at creating sprawling epics or critically acclaimed games, as the Persona series is both. But Metaphor addresses many of Persona‘s weak points within a story about democracy, diversity, and human greed more profoundly and timely than anyone could’ve suspected.

Perhaps no character embodies the game’s themes quite like Heismay Noctule.

Heismay is introduced about 20 hours into the (very long) JPRG. Initially, he’s aloof, but that’s by guarded necessity. The second Heismay began truly opening up, he told a heartbreaking story more profound than any I’ve encountered in a game in a while. Heismay’s tale is one of systemic racism, violence sanctioned by the church and state, and the most tragic kind of grief. 2024 may have been the year of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, but Heismay made me cry more in one monologue than that entire game.

Like any good character, Heismay is not left to dwell only in tragedy. He—a bat man and a knight—has a hilariously intense fear of bugs. Heismay kneads dough by jumping on the table and stepping on it. He walks with a delightful jaunty swing in his elbows and loves drinking sake while sitting cross-legged in his tent.

But the tragedy. It resonates with our own reality, and it stays with you.

Heismay and Metaphor’s in-world racism

Metaphor: ReFantazio takes place in a diverse fantasy world populated by nine different “tribes.” The catch is that, while many tribes have distinct villages they call home, they also live together in the country’s major cities, under a single king. Some tribes, like the horned clemar or the long-eared roussainte, enjoy high societal status.

Others, such as the doglike paripus or the very plain elda, face systemic racism which makes their lives impossibly difficult. The game consistently reiterates that getting a decent job, accruing wealth, and achieving stability for the targeted tribes is nearly impossible. The resultant desperation leads people into unsafe work. For instance, the paripus are often forced to work as fodder for magic experiments, work which can result in severe injury or death.

Light spoilers for Metaphor ahead.

Heismay hails from another scorned tribe, the eugief. This means Heismay is a bat man. Similar to our world’s Batman, he is deeply traumatized and driven by the death of a family member. Unlike our Batman, Heismay has never operated from a position of privilege or wealth. As an “animalistic tribe,” the eugief sit towards the very bottom of Euchronia’s societal hierarchy and are discriminated against—often violently.

The way Metaphor chronicles racism can be subtle, and therefore profound. Later in the game, Heismay may tell the protagonist a story about the first time he took his son fishing. It was a popular and crowded beach, so Heismay, fearing unwanted attention, shepherded his son over to a further, rockier shore. Later in the day, after a passing comment from his son, Heismay realized with horror that his actions had instilled the idea that the eugief are “lesser” into his child.

From a young age, Heismay was a skilled warrior. So he did what any skilled warrior in a fantasy world would do: he tried to become a knight. But because of this world’s systemic racism, Heismay was forced to join the Shadowguard instead, a shadowy royal order that does all of the knights’ dirty work. He distinguished himself all the same, even earning a medal.

But when prejudice is so engrained, people in power find it easy to scapegoat people lower in the social hierarchy.

Heismay’s tragedy is tragically real

Spoilers ahead for all of Heismay’s quest line in Metaphor: ReFantazio

When you meet Heismay, it’s not as a friend. Instead, he’s been framed as a kidnapper after being exiled from the Shadowguard after refusing to follow a corrupt superior. It doesn’t take long for the protagonist’s party to suspect that Heismay isn’t a kidnapper, based on one piece of evidence they find right after they first witness Heismay: a child-sized urn. Heismay’s son is dead.

For several more hours of the game, even after Heismay joins your party, you can sense that Heismay has had trouble moving on from the grief and forgiving himself for being unable to protect his son. But then Heismay divulges how his son—about six years old at the time—died.

Warning: severely violent imagery ahead

Some paripus started a riot, and my son was in the middle of it. They beat him until he was barely recognizable. Even bloodied and battered, he clung to life. But his body was broken … and not a single person came to his aid. He was a eugief. And to them, that’s all he was. But … he was a helpless child, left to die in a pool of his own blood. By the time I had finally got to him, it had been hours. It was too late.

Heismay, Metaphor: ReFantazio

This is one of the most haunting accounts of violence I have ever encountered in gaming. In a time when police brutality here in the U.S. has claimed innocent children, and when tens of thousands of children have died in war zones like Gaza in a single year, there are far too many parents like Heismay in the real world. If you manage to get through Heismay’s retelling of his son’s death and not burst into tears, it still grips your heart. The way that racism contributes to this tragedy, and the de-personification of Heismay’s son from bystanders, is undeniably profound.

Remember when I said the paripus were also societal scapegoats, often used as fodder for cruel experiments? Dozens of hours later, the game heavily implies that Euchronia’s crown theocracy instigated this riot.

Throughout Metaphor, you’re given so many indications that Heismay loves his son deeply, over a decade after his passing. He wasn’t a perfect parent but he was an attentive, doting father. Heismay’s quest line is all about finding a suitable place to bury his son. Heismay ends up keeping the ashes in a heart-shaped locket he wears on his chest. He tells the protagonist:

“I will carry my son with me, and we will change this burden of oppression against our people. Until that day comes, when we change this world for the better … I will fight with my son at my side, and in my heart.”

Heismay, Metaphor: ReFantazio

We could all learn a thing or two from this bat man.