Ku is Ori’s adopted owlet sister, who hatches during the game’s opening cutscene, where the player witnesses Ku’s first year of life under the love and care of her adopted family. The sky is orange with the afternoon sunlight She is standing in a forest surrounded by mushrooms, flowers, and other flora. Image Caption: Ku holds up her right wing and looks at it sadly. Unfortunately, instead of offering a respectful depiction of disabled characters, both Ku and Shriek are characterized in ways that perpetuate harmful messages about disability. The two characters’ story arcs are inseparable from their disabilities, with numerous scenes in the game emphasizing the importance of how being disabled affected their lifepaths. Ku the owlet and Shriek the owl are two central characters to the narrative of Ori and the Will of the Wisps, who are both disabled. Thanks in part to the numerous resources available from disability activists and disabled media critics, I have been able to analyze and recognize how Ori and the Will of the Wisps relies on ableist narrative tropes. By being able to properly recognize the various forms of ableism present in the world, we are better equipped to unlearn harmful beliefs.
While my understanding and experiences of ableism have come from my life as an autistic woman with anxiety and depressive episodes, learning about the different experiences of my disabled peers, and how ableism in media affects them, is extremely important. So it was a shame, to discover that this kindness and goodwill were not extended towards the disabled characters present in the game.Īs a disabled woman, I have become well aware of the variety of tropes present in the media that perpetuate stereotypes, myths, and other ableist messages directed toward disabled people. This spirit of reciprocity is one of my favourite aspects of video games, and witnessing how helping others would benefit the community as a whole was an uplifting and cathartic image to witness. In many ways, the game surpassed my expectations, as I greatly enjoyed exploring the sequel’s new location, the forest of Niwen, using Ori’s new abilities, and assisting the many new non-player characters (NPCs) by helping recreate their community of the Wellspring Glades. A sequel to the gorgeous and heartfelt Ori and the Blind Forest, which I consider one of my personal favourite games, I was very excited to see how the sequel would continue Ori’s story. Ori and the Will of the Wisps was among my most anticipated video games of 2020. Ku is standing dangerously close to the edge of a cliff.Ĭontent Warnings: The following article examines and discusses various forms of ableism present in both fiction and reality. It is night time, with the moon being obscured by clouds, the sky eerie indigo.
Image Caption: Shriek (left) looms threateningly over Ku (right) as the two owls gaze at each other.
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