Character action is a nebulous genre. Everyone knows what major games fall within it (largely) but few can explain why some games do not or if some smaller titles do. It provokes interesting genre questions which I'd like to probe.

1. Why is Batman: Arkham Asylum not a character action game?

2. Why is Nights of Azure not a character action game?

3. If a game has generic "levels" does that instantly preclude it from being character action and instantly force it into action RPG?

4. Do Chaos Legion, Nightshade (PS2), Bloodrayne 1-2 and Oneechanbara also fall into the character action genre?