The video game protagonist can obviously be very important. How much you care about them and want them to succeed or to see them develop can make the game that much more rewarding when you do triumph. I've thought about quite a few characters who I enjoy but I wanted to make this list a little different from most of the others on the internet.
This will
NOT be a list of the 10 characters who I think are in the best games nor a list of the biggest badasses in video games (though being badass doesn't hurt). This is a list of 10 characters who I felt the greatest connection to as I played their games. They are the characters who I either wanted to most see succeed or to see where their development took them over the storyline. These characters do not have to talk or have any dialogue and they don't have to be complex. I just have to care about them.
Video games, because of their interactive nature, can create a connection between the viewer and the character that elude many products of other mediums and these are the 10 who gave me the greatest connection.
#10. Bayonetta
Bayonetta
A bit of an unusual pick, I'll admit. And let me get this out of the way, I love Dante from Devil May Cry. He is a badass in every way possible but outside of Devil May Cry 3, I didn't feel an incredible connection to him and the way he was portrayed in Devil May Cry 2 still haunts me. Bayonetta, while its story may be f*^kin insane and retardedly difficult to follow, its main character was what kept me watching the cutscenes.
The entire game is about her trying to unlock her past after having been woken up from a 500-year sleep 20 years before the game begins. I found myself surprised at how likable Bayonetta was and how much I too wanted to find out her past (even if it was difficult to follow). Mixed with awesomely insane combat, I was totally invested.
Her likability and the development that she goes through as the game goes on and the story establishes her lead to some surprisingly heartwarming moments especially with Cereza, the girl that she decides to protect at all costs. In a game with a story that's nearly impossible to follow, I felt it was a testament that I still watched the cutscenes because of the main character. Bravo Kamiya now bring on the sequel, I expect an announcement at E3.
#9. Ezio Auditore da Firenze
Assassin's Creed
Assassin's Creed II is one of the most improved sequels in video game history. Almost every problem with the first game was addressed. One of the improvements was much more compelling protagonists. Altair was cool but when you looked past the badass stuff he did, he was pretty boring. Ezio Auditore on the other hand was an excellent character in both ACII and AC: Brotherhood.
Assassin's Creed II dealt with his development from a young man seeking revenge for his family in very sloppy ways to being an professional assassin who controlled his anger and used it to not only avenge his father and brothers but to weaken the Templars' hold on Renaissance Italy. Some people criticized Brotherhood for not developing him but I felt that it was a showcase of how far he had come. The man was now leading the assassin order against the Borgia family. Looking at it as a companion piece to ACII it was works brilliantly.
Ezio fits the loveable rogue type character in that he's charming and very likable. ACII made us sympathize with him and want to see him avenge his family and AC: Brotherhood was a great look at the development he's gone through. He became a man no longer driven by vengeance but by a desire to give the people of Rome hope against the Borgia.
#8. Terra Branford
Final Fantasy VI
The primary character from the best Final Fantasy game ever made. To be honest, Terra was overshadowed by the game's remarkably evil villain Kefka, arguably the greatest and most evil villain in gaming history but maybe we'll go into him another day. So we have another character with a case of amnesia. Oh well, it can be a good story and character device when used correctly and it works here.
Like in Bayonetta, the story is about trying to find out her past. The story deals with her connection with the Espers and how her connection with them can bring down the empire and later Kefka. It's a well-done tale and definitely easier to follow than Bayonetta was. After her past is found out, her development shifts to her having to come to terms with what she finds out.
Terra's development (and by extension the story as a whole) paid off with a nearly 20 minute long ending. Keep in mind, this was around 15 years before Metal Gear Solid 4 but just like that game, it was a satisfying conclusion to both the main story and Terra's story. Kefka may have stolen the show and been the most evil villain in gaming, but Terra was still an excellent protagonist.
#7. Max Payne
Max Payne
Let's forget the crappy Mark Wahlberg film and look back to the games. Basically this guy is like the Punisher of video games if the Punisher was a cop. Throughout the original game, he is on a rampage to avenge the murder of his best friend at the start of the game and murder of his family three years before and clean the streets at the same time.
Max, like a certain character who we'll get to later on the list, does not see himself as a hero in anyway and does not enjoy doing what he's doing. It doesn't give him a great deal of satisfaction. The second game was an even better written game and showed him both feeling survivor guilt based on his family's deaths and the events of the first game.
Max Payne was meant to be a classic noir character and the writers definitely succeeded in this respect. He's a tragic and sympathetic figure who you want to see make peace with all the crap that he's gone through but not by giving everything else up in the process. Hopefully Max Payne 3 will stay consistent with that characterization.
#6. Samus Aran
Metroid
Like I said, the character doesn't have to talk much to make this list. I just have to care about them and even after Other M hurt my thoughts on Samus, I can still play the other games in the series and be compelled to see Samus succeed in her missions.
Samus' family was killed by Ridley when she was three years old and she was raised by the Chozo. She eventually became a bounty hunter but her main drive has been to stop Ridley and his army of Space Pirates. It's both her seeking vengeance and attempting to do the right thing which is perfectly conveyed in the series and her sense of righteousness has been displayed in every game without dialogue (except for Fusion but that was still well done).
Every time I play the Prime games, or Super Metroid, or Metroid: Fusion, I feel a strong connection to the bounty hunter. I want to stop Mother Brain, I want to destroy the X-Parasites, I want to stop Dark Samus and destroy Ridley. This is because I want Samus to succeed as much as I want to succeed myself. She may not have dialogue but I feel a stronger connection to her than most other characters out there.
#5. James Sunderland
Silent Hill 2
The Silent Hill series is a horror series built on symbolic horror and complex characterization that makes the monsters meaningful. Silent Hill 2 is definitely the best game in the series and a strong contender for the greatest story in gaming history. Like Mass Effect with science-fiction, Silent Hill 2 can hold its own as one of the best examples of horror regardless of the medium. Part of the reason is the excellent characterization of its main character, James Sunderland.
People say that about 80-90% of Silent Hill 2 is symbolic, painting the character of James Sunderland and making us really want to know what kind of man he is. Three years before the events of the game his wife was diagnosed with a terminal illness and died. James feels great guilt over this and the game paints why he feels this guilt showing it through the different monsters that he sees in Silent Hill 2 which also represent the sexual frustrations he felt during the time that his wife had cancer.
A lot of people said the Silent Hill games ripped off Resident Evil. I've never understood that as Silent Hill's horror was more psychologically rooted and Silent Hill 2 (and maybe 3) are the best examples of that and it's because of the complexity of the character James Sunderland that this was able to happen as the psychological terrors represent his inner demons. A brilliant triumph of characterization.
#4. Female Paragon Shepard
Mass Effect
I love Mass Effect. I'm planning a post on all the reasons I love this series so much (I have to justify the massive amounts of updates that will be coming until the third game's release), but one of the reasons I love it so much is because of Commander Shepard who is one of my all time favorite escapist characters. Shepard is both voiced and his/her past and actions are dictated by the player. So, why did I choose paragon and female?
I chose female Shepard because of the voice acting. Mark Meer is good but Jennifer Hale is incredible as Shepard, able to hold her own (and to be honest I think do better) against some of the best voice acting you'll ever hear and against giants like Martin Sheen. Now that I've got that out of the way, I will proceed to use female pronouns. So why paragon?
Shepard is a badass, whether she's paragon or renegade. But I enjoy paragon more because that's the ideal hero in my mind. A character who's kind, compassionate and patient but will not hesitate to gun you down the second you threaten her or her crew or any innocent person. The paragon path is not stupidly good, but intelligent in how they do good. She's not above pistol-whipping a bastard who deserves it or verbally tearing down a group of people who want to exile a friend of her's.
Yeah Shepard may be a blank slate that you the player develop yourself. But at the end of the day it comes down to how much I care about the character and with Mass Effect 3 coming, I can't think of a more devastating story point in that game than to see my paragon female Shepard meet her end. A bit of an unusual selection but I still think it fits my criteria.
#3. Nathan Drake
Uncharted
Nathan Drake aka "Nate" is one of the more likable and relatable characters in recent memory. He's a lovable rogue (like Ezio) and treasure hunter in some of the most badass games in the last few years. Nathan Drake is the wisecracking survivor who constantly gets in situations over his head and constantly references it at the same time.
Over the two games he has remained likable. He's not an action hero like most video game characters, just someone who gets lucky and has a bit of skill mixed in at the same time. He's not necessarily the most moral character in the industry but he has a heart of gold and when the chips are down is willing to do the right thing. Nolan North, his voice actor, is outstanding and is part of what makes him such a relatable guy because he sounds like a normal human being.
That's what separates him from most of the people on this list. He feels human in every way possible. He's not a superhuman, he's not a trained assassin, genetically altered, or anything. He's the character that everyone roots for in the adventure film and the relationships that he has with the other characters helps make him one of the more compelling characters around.
#2. John Marston
Red Dead Redemption
John Marston in Red Dead Redemption is easily one of my favorite characters of the last few years. Likable, sympathetic, complex, well-acted with understandable and motivations. An ex-gang member who retired from that life to live with his family, that family is taken from him by federal agents who threaten to kill them unless John goes and kills his former friends.
Reluctant but willing to do whatever it takes to save his family, he complies and what we got was one of the two best video game stories of 2010 along with Mass Effect 2. As he goes through the dying west killing his former gang members, you get a look at a character with a shocking amount of depth. He's intelligent, friendly (provided you don't get in his way), and remarkably determined. Like Nathan Drake, he's easy to relate to especially given his motivations.
Like I said, I based this list on the characters that I felt the greatest connection to and John Marston created a great connection. You'll feel sad for him but whenever he triumphs you'll feel great for him. You'll want to play through the game just to see him get his family back and see his story come to an end. He was one of the things that made
Red Dead Redemption one of the best games of this generation.
#1. Solid Snake (Old Snake)/Big Boss
Metal Gear
 |
| Solid Snake |
 |
| Big Boss (Snake's Father) |
 |
| Old Snake (Same as Solid, just aged) |
You can go ahead and say that I'm cheating with this one and I'll admit, Big Boss and Solid Snake are two completely different characters. But trying to choose between the two was something I just couldn't do. These are both excellent characters who helped put the Metal Gear series near the top of my Top 10 Series list. Both are brilliant and badass soldiers, both are sympathetic characters and one of them is a tragic example of a fallen hero though for understandable (maybe not excusable) reasons.
If any of you remember my "Top 15 Most Memorable Moment of This Gen" post, you might remember that I put the microwave hallway from Metal Gear Solid 4 at the #1 spot. There's a good reason for this as it was so heartbreaking to see Old Snake have to go through with that. This is something that can only be done with a character that I, as the player, have a strong connection to.
Same with the end to Metal Gear Solid 3 with Big Boss. When he sheds the tears at the end in front of the unmarked grave and salutes, it's almost impossible not to shed tears with him and it makes his fall from grace an understandable one.
These two characters are my two favorite main characters in all of gaming. The connection that I formed with them has yet to be matched. I feel the emotions they feel as I play the game which is what I want in a game like this. Say all you want about Kojima's ability to write a coherent story, he knows how to write characters and make you connect with them.
