I ... think my favorite character in video games is Raiden from Metal Gear Solid? Or Big Boss from the same series? I'm really conflicted and here's why.

Raiden - From the moment "Solid Snake" in The Plant chapter of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty pulls off his mask and the player sees his face, there's confusion and a certain level of animosity for this bishounen with long feathery hair and a whiny voice. But as the story goes on, a player who is willing to be convinced can be won over by Raiden, or as Rose his fiancee calls him, "Jack". Raiden learns the fearsome nature of the world as the game goes on, and is faced with insurmountable odds and multiple failures yet he fights on and refuses to give up. Even when the AI manipulating him begins to malfunction and Jack learns its nature, Raiden chooses to fight on, fight against the AI and the mysterious Patriots who control the world because he realizes that he is the only one who can. Also Raiden is in a way an avatar for any player who played the first MGS game and is expecting to see that again, as covered in this amazing paper.


Oh and in MGS 4 he comes back as a Cyborg "Ninja" who is super-fast and super strong to the point of being able to slow down a battleship with his arms. Then in Metal Gear Rising you get to play him as the Cyborg Ninja and it's one of the best action games ever made.

Simply put, Big Boss is the coolest mofo in games, and in a way the most detestable villain, and honestly my favorite characters aren't always heroes, sometimes my favorite kind of character is the sort of woman or man who does all the wrong things for the "right" reasons, because this is where characters can go epicly, horribly astray. In MGS 3 the young Big Boss singlehandedly out-Bonds James Bond (there's actually a hidden conversation where he makes fun of the Bond movies) and sneaks or fights his way through an entire Russian Jungle -depending on how the player decides to play him - all to kill the woman who was his mother figure and mentor on the orders of the country he serves. On the way he has to stop a nuclear weapon and a literally electric sadistic Soviet Colonel named Volgin -best name ever.

In MGS V: The Phantom Pain

Spoiler

Big Boss fucks over your character (Punished "Venom" Snake/The Medic) by having your memories erased and replaced via hypnotherapy with false memories that encompass his entire life. He does this and then sets you up to build a private army on Mother Base which will become the Outer Heaven of Metal Gear 1 (not Solid). At the end of the Phantom Pain you learn that you were his Phantom to make the world not see his actions against the nefarious Cipher, but he sends Solid Snake (the player character of MGS 1 and 4, and MG 1 and 2) to kill you because you've outlived your usefulness. This is the most cowardly and villainous thing ever and with the way the game sets it all up, it happens TO YOU the player, screwed over by the same hero you may have looked up to for 3 decades of Metal Gear (Solid) games.

The Metal Gear Saga is insane and I love it

So DLP, who are your favorites and why?

(I reserve the right to add more favorites without removing any)

 

Tough Question...

As it stands now I'm torn between three

Connor Kenway, Big Boss, Commander Shepard

Feel like Shepard's a bit of a cop out as his/her character is entirely dependent on you.

Best Bro Garrus just missed out

 

Is it a bitch move to pick a character that is driven purely by what you, the player, does?

If not, then it's the Inquisitor, followed by Commander Shepard and the jedi exile.

If so, then Ezio, Agent 47, Nathan Drake and Mr House are good choices.

Shout out to the Illusive Man, who could have been so much more.

 

I have absolutely no idea.

Spoiler

 

Probably Luca Blight. Honorable mentions to Laharl, Dryst from Brigandine and Majima from the Yakuza series.

 

Leaving out avatars like Shepard or the Exile whose personalities are dependent on the player, and probably forgetting a few important ones that might be brought up later:

- Solid Snake
- Big Boss
- Kreia
- Revan (pre-mind wipe, so before he counts as a player avatar)
- Garrus Vakarian
- Mordin Solus
- John Marston

 

Sebastian LaCroix in Vampire The Masquerade. Most obvious villain ever. Huge scumbag. Every bloody time, though, I seem to end up siding with him, knowing full well his betrayal is inevitable.

 

Dr. Neo Cortex.

All the man wanted was a few crystals.

 

Damn, I didn't think I can choose. Not that I've played a great number of games, it's just that I actually got pretty attached to some characters. I guess the top pick would depend on what I feel more into on a particular day. So, in order of my remembering them:

1. Garrus Vakarian - best alien space bro in a videogame ever. His "date" with Shep in Presidium in ME3 was one of the best things in the series. He's the kind of friend that will literally help you bury the body.

2. Urdnot Grunt - aside from being an absolute badass, I always think of Grunt as Shep's baby brother. He's just adorable sometimes. Shep bailing him out in Citadel is my second favorite companion moment in the series.

3. Male Hawke - I acknowledge that DA2 had a ton of problems and yeah, the Warden stopped a Blight, but I always thought Hawke was just a more interesting protagonist (due in large part to the amazing voice acting). Rise to Power could have been executed better, but it wasn't an absolute disaster as people who hate the game claim. Hawke's more personal story compared to the epic scale of DAO always appealed to me more. And Snarky Hawke was just brilliant, though Tough Hawke had his moments ("What do you call it when you kill someone in order to get all their stuff?" "Tuesday.")

4. Diego from the Gothic games - this one is kind of obscure. Gothic series was most popular in Germany and Poland. Diego was the mentor, the sneaky guy who minimized risks and maximized profits but didn't shy away from playing hardball. I just loved that in one of the endings for Gothic 3 Diego decided to do what he liked best and became the richest man in the world. That's just sooo Diego.

5. Tawni Balfour - she's the protagonist of the Asylum campaign in Heroes of Might and Magic 4. Her campaign isn't just one of the best in HOMM4, it's one of my favorite HOMM campaigns overall. She's a young pirate who takes over her father's ship and crew and has to prove herself to the men. I liked that she set ambitious goals for herself (become the Queen of the Golden Sea) and just went for it. Nothing was too outlandish or to difficult.

This is the bunch I thought of off the top of my head. I can't really choose between them.

 

As one of the few games I actually finished Tomb Raider(2013) I really liked Lara. Then again I've always liked the archetype but I was rooting really hard for her to save Sam.

 

The Nameless One from Planescape: Torment (and Morte).

Barring that, I'm pretty fond of Geralt too.

 

Unequivocally first for me is Morrigan from Dragon Age. After that, I would say Minsc from Baldur's Gate. Then maybe someone from the MTGverse like Chandra or Urza.

 

The Narrator from the Stanley Parable.

 

Ellie (and Joel just behind her) from The Last of Us and Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII come to mind.

 

Ezio Auditore, hands down. Followed by the narrator from Bastion, that voice.

 

Echo Sephiroth as a villain, Solid Snake as protagonist. Shout out to Bowser and Mario and Ganondorf and Link, respectively, as runners-up.

 

Guybrush Threepwood from Monkey Island series. Illidan from WC3/Wow. ED-E from Fallout New Vegas

 

Now that's a difficult question. Arthas from Warcraft, Darth Malgus from SW:TOR, Sephiroth and Kefka from Final Fantasy VII and VI, respectively, Ramza from Final Fantasy Tactics, Ryu from Breath of Fire III, the list goes on.

If I had to pick one, though, I believe it would be Ramza.

 

I don't understand the lack of love for Trevor Phillips ITT. Any character who has a tendency to wake up in random bloodbaths and all manner of strange situations when you switch to him is worth a mention.

 

Sly Cooper, Dante from Devil May Cry and The Bard feom Bard's Tale. I love hilarious, sarcastic, rogue and arrogant protags. They are just oo much fun.