FROM UNSUNG HERO TO SAVAGE HERO: SHAPING CHARACTERS’ ROLES IN THE ADAPTATION BETWEEN LITERARY WORKS AND MOBILE LEGENDS: BANG BANG! MOBA

This paper examines adaptation study of famous heroes from various literary works (such as Mahabharata, Arthurian legend, Journey to the West) and a Multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) ‘Mobile Legends: Bang Bang!’ (MLBB) by Moonton. This paper focuses on how fictional heroes and divine figures like Gatotkaca, Lancelot, Freya and Sun Go Kong are presented and shaped into different in-game roles. Mobile Legends: Bang Bang! a game designed for mobile phones, provides two opposing teams fighting one another to reach and destroy the enemy’s base while defending their own base for control. Descriptive analytical method with documentation obtained from books and research journals was used to analyze the media; in addition, the theory used was based on Damono’s theory of adaptation (2012) and Elleström’s modalities (2010) by analyzing the element changes in the adaptation study. The conclusion is that the heroes’ roles are shaped differently due to their true nature and motives from the original literary works.


METHOD
This research used descriptive-analytical method which is research to obtain information concerning the current status of a phenomenon. The results of this study were then processed and analyzed to make conclusions. This study is considered descriptive due to its aims to explain the transformation of the hero characters of the great epics, namely Gatotkaca, Freya, Lancelot, and Sun to their new roles in the adaptation from literary works to Mobile Legends MOBA.
When I set out to study the heroes' adaptation from text to game Mobile Legends MOBA, I naturally played the game and created an account to play all characters to be analyzed. According to the in-game statistics, I have started playing the game since 6 March 2018. My only primary account, named kukifuruya after my nickname in real life, was not only used to study Mobile Legends but also to develop the early principles of the hero/character adaptation from literary texts to contemporary popular culture. Further, in the adaptation of works (Damono, 2009: 121)-in this case from literary text to mobile games-there were several changes. The transformation of these media includes four modalities (Elleström, 2010: 15), namely material modalities, five senses modalities, temporal space modalities, and semiotic modalities. Those modalities were used to analyze the impact of element changes in the adaptation.

Hero's role in Mobile Legends: Bang Bang!
Mobile Legends is one type of game that relies on team cohesiveness. Therefore, the composition of the team with the right roles is very important to win the game. The role is the division of tasks in the game. Generally, roles are defined to maintain the team's synergy and cohesiveness Based on their characteristics, the heroes in MLBB are classified into the following roles: 1. Marksman -This type of hero has a strong attack power, so it has the role of the main attacker (carry) in the game.
2. Tank -This type of hero has a large base of Health Points (HP) and Armor so that it can receive large damage from opponents to protect the team.
3. Mage -This type of hero has a magical skill with great damage, so it can do a quick kill to the opponent's hero.
4. Support -This type of hero has skills that are useful for guarding the team and assisting the team while fighting.
5. Assassin -This type of hero generally has skills that can swiftly kill and lock opponents.

Gatotkaca, Mighty Legend (Role: Tank)
Gatotkaca, who was the son of Pandava's Bhima and Arimbi-a rakshasa, is a notable character in Sanskrit Epic Mahabharata (Datta, 2006). His maternal parentage made him half-Rakshasa and gave him many magical powers such as the ability to fly without wings, and is famous for the nickname "steel bone, iron muscle". According to Hardjowirogo (1982), little Gatotkaca was beaten to near-death by Sekipu, yet strangely, the more he was beaten, instead of dying, the stronger little Gatotkaca became. This strength was then presented in MLBB as the hero's passive skill which is converting 4% lost HP to his physical defense, making him strongest when nearly death. In the game Gatotkaca posseses magical power which was originally derived from the original story. In the original story, he obtains the supernatural power from the ultimate training inside the cauldron of heaven, Candradimuka (Hardjowirogo, 1982).
In the story, both of the twin souls of his uncles Brajamusti and Brajadenta resided into Gathotkaca's hands and added his strength. In the game, these attributes are visually manifested in his notable twin gauntlets, with which he can fly across the skies like lightning and hunt down his enemies. His ultimate skill in the game, Avatar of Guardian, perfectly illustrates the given description where the hero flies and jumps to the designated area, knocking nearby enemies.

Figure 2. Gatotkaca hero with Antakusuma armor and Brajamusti-Brajadenta twin gauntlet
His voice-over in the game, "We are unity in diversity", is in fact, Indonesia's national motto Bhinekka Tunggal Ika referring to the variety in the game's internal composition and also indicates that-despite all differences in its roles-there is a true sense of players' unity to obtain victory in the game. Another in-game quote "Legends never surrender" is derived from Gatotkaca's strong resolution to fight until the last breath during Kurukshetra war when he was mortally wounded by Karna. These original background story and attributes associated with Gatotkaca have ultimately made him a Tank in the game.

Freya, Goddess of War and Sun, Monkey King (Roles: Fighter)
In Norse mythology and religion, Freya is a goddess associated with love, beauty, war, and death (McCoy, 2016). Freya is famous for her fondness of love, fertility, beauty, and fine material possessions (The Poetic Edda. Lokasenna, stanzas 30, 32). According to one old Norse poem, she chose half of the warriors slain in battle to dwell there. Despite her association with death, Freya was never a terrifying goddess, for the Scandinavians knew she was the essence of love and beauty. In the game, Freya loses her divinity and spiritual attributes and becomes a fighter. Eventhough Freya plays the role of a fighter, her ultimate skill Valkyrie allows her to enter Valkyrie mode, dealing with physical[I2] damage to surrounding enemies and slowing them down. In the meantime, the hero's physical attack, armour, and magic resistance increase. Valkyrie enables Freya to turn "God-mode" and cleaves through the enemies. There is one old Norse poem saying: When a warrior dies on the battlefield, the goddess of war Freya will come down from heaven, kiss the spirit of the fallen, and lead it to the Temple of Heroes, where former warriors can have a new life (Ellis, 1968). In MLBB, Freya refers to the story by regularly saying "The Spirits will be with us" portraying herself as an outstanding warrior who can both attack and defend with her sword and shield, making her as a beautiful fighter.
Similarly, the playable character Sun who is originally adapted from Journey to the West, a Chinese novel published in the 16th century during the Ming dynasty, has the role of a fighter in the game. The protagonist Sun Wukong, also known as the Monkey King, a skilled warrior who possesses immense strength and is capable of defeating the best warriors of heaven (Cheng'en, 1993).
Wukong in the early story of the novel's version is portrayed as a vile character, who was capable of wreaking havoc in heaven, fighting off its most powerful generals, even challenging Buddha himself. His ferocious temper and arrogance, or better yet over-confidence, is reenacted in the game as he frequently says: "I hope they're stronger than me" or "Show me some real challenges". Later in the story, having been imprisoned for five hundred years, Sun Wukong serves as a guard for a pilgrim on a journey to the West to retrieve the Buddhist sutras in exchange for his freedom. During the journey, Sun Wukong learns about virtues and the teachings of Buddhism. There, Sun Wukong is granted Buddhahood, becoming the "Victorious Fighting Buddha" for his service and strength. In the game, Sun often says, "Every mistake could be a lesson" to convey that he has transformed into a better character after the journey. In the game, Sun is also granted power in the form of Battle Buddha's skin which is similar to the original story. The legend said that Sun Wukong was given three special hairs by Guanyin (who received them from the Buddha himself), which could be used in dire emergencies. All the other hairs possess magical properties, capable of being transformed into clones of the Monkey King himself. Similar to the original story, Sun is a hero who possesses clone technique as his ultimate skill and passive skill in summoning monkeys. His other skill is the golden cudgel strike which he and his doppelganger use the golden cudgel to smash his enemies. In the original story, Wukong uses it to fight off, making him as a formidable warrior.

Lancelot, Perfumed Knight (Role: Assassin)
Lancelot is one of the most prominent knights of the Round Table in the Arthurian legend. He is regarded as a skilled knight with flaw in personality. He was not mentioned in the first tales about King Arthur but became popular in French Arthurian legends after the Middle Ages. When tales about King Arthur were rewritten by Thomas Malory (1485), with the approval of the Roman Catholic Church, Lancelot was depicted as one of the main characters who caused contention in King Arthur's Round Table due to his love affair with King Arthur's wife, Guinevere (MacBain, 1993). Unlike other previous heroes' roles, this background story then perhaps made Lancelot as an assassin in MLBB. In the game adaptation, his love interest Guinevere is replaced by Princess Odette. Her admiration of Odette's purity is the equivalent factor that drives Lancelot to set foot in the fighting ring. He often proclaims, "Odette, beautiful Odette" and painfully says "Odette..." upon his death in the game to show his strong affection. Lancelot, along with Gatotkaca and Freya, is unsung heroes in their literary works compared to the well-known King Arthur, Arjuna, and Thor. However, the mobile game put these characters in the spotlight by getting kill achievement. Lancelot with his high burst damage is by all means one of the strongest assassins in the game that enables players to achieve "savage" (kills five enemy heroes at once) level, which is often considered as the most prestigious personal achievement yet the most difficult and challenging to attain. Even after playing the game for 7 months and managing to get to top tier rank Legend, getting a savage is still beyond my reach.

Analysis of Modalities in the Adaptation between MLBB and the Literary Works
Each hero mentioned has distinctive character and story; when they are adapted to the new media of mobile games, new changes occur in terms of modalities. Thus, this section will focus on the changes in modality aspects of the adaptation. There are four types of modalities, namely (1) material, (2) five senses, (3) temporal, and (4) semiotic, and each modality notably marks important transformation between the two media. In terms of material modality, all characters are originally taken from great epics (Mahabharata and Poetic Edda) and chivalry tales (Arthurian Legend and Journey to the West). The epics are the forms of artistic expression and entertainment, which play a significant social and cultural function in society. As part of the oral tradition, they embody knowledge, art, ideas and cultural material, which are received, preserved and transmitted orally through generations. oral tradition wherein is received, preserved and transmitted orally from one generation to another. When they are adapted into MLBB, the heroes undergo an inevitable transformation. In the game, players should control the heroes from their gadgets. Each hero is constructed based on his/her true nature from the original texts. Furthermore, unlike reading books for pleasure, playing MLBB will bind their players to finish each game mode (Classic, Ranked, or Brawl) at a certain time to avoid severe penalty.
When it comes to five senses modality, the game undoubtedly presents a livelier and interactive game or entertainment due to its audio and visual features. Some of the dialogues and important events from the original literary works are presented in the heroes' speech and the in-game skills. Consequently, this has successfully transformed the respective figures to the new media while preserving their identities. Temporal and space modalities go without saying become the most distinctive feature in which Gatotkaca from ancient Indian Hastinapur, Freya from Scandinavia region, Wukong from ancient China, and Lancelot as a British Medieval knight, assemble together in the fictional world of The Land of Dawn where the two battlegrounds and the places of origin of the heroes in Mobile Legends are located. Ultimately, the in-game mini-map on the top left of the screen can give players quick information about various things, such as teammate position, approximate enemy locations, lord or turtle places, ping/connection notifications and more. Semiotic modalities in the adaptation are represented in the new symbols, icons, and indexes of the heroes for the online MOBA, which are based on the original texts.

CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
After examining the adaptation between the literary works and MLBB MOBA, it can be concluded that the four famous heroes Gatotkaca, Freya, Sun, and Lancelot have differences based on modalities. The first factor is different material modalities in which the written works are not constrained by duration, yet the mobile game is constrained by the duration of each round as well as heroes' roles in the game, so their roles are shaped based on each background story. The second factor is the five senses modalities (audio and visual). In the literary works, the stories are presented using detailed description of imagery and dramatization of narrative to evoke readers' emotions-because they are only in the form of 'silent' writing, while in the game adaptation, these dramatic effects are generated using background music, heroes' speech, and visual animation which represents the meaning of the scene and action.
The third and fourth factors are the temporal and semiotic modalities. Both factors are related to the meaning of the story. Temporal and space modalities affect the various setting of the stories for each character whose original settings are merged into one fictional Mobile Legends arena called the Land of Dawn. Last but not least, semiotic modalities have transformed the verbal signs from the literary texts into distinctively meaningful symbols, images, and icons that represent the heroes' roles in the game.