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More than ever, video games are an increasingly international medium. This talk will examine the animal companions of two global gothic-horror video games: the dog Hewie of the Japanese Haunting Ground (Capcom, 2005) and the cat Mr. Midnight of the Swedish Fran Bow (Killmonday, 2015). This talk will begin by tracing the literary and cultural ancestors of these animal characters, as they appear in their country’s respective traditions, before transitioning into posthumanist close readings of the animal companions. By positioning their respective animal companions within their narratives as (fictitiously) thinking, feeling subjects on par with the human player-characters, not as virtual tools to be dominated or exploited, these texts explore the thematic tension between the limited, yet vital agency of the animal and the structural power bestowed upon the human player-character. These texts ultimately argue for the power of the interspecies bond as a site of resistance and strength in the face of societal oppression.
