Videogame protagonists that make their games

[Foxtrot94]

More often than not, it's a videogame's protagonist that makes us attached to it, to the point of identifying the game itself WITH its protagonist.

So post here, what are those characters that made you indentify the game with them, and you can't see it with a different lead?

For me, in no particular order:

- Sam Fisher (Splinter Cell)

"Few presidents have ever granted the Fifth Freedom. It's the right to defend our laws... by breaking them. To safeguard secrets... by stealing them. To save lives... by taking them. To do whatever it takes to protect our country. The Fifth Freedom is mine alone. I am Sam Fisher. I'm a Splinter Cell."

Forget Solid Snake. Forget Garrett. Agent 47, even. This guy and his green-lighted goggles were the symbol of stealth back then, two generations ago.
Incredibly skilled, loyal, with a distinctive sense of dark witty humor, an all around very human guy. A war machine outside, but a man inside. If there's ever been a perfect mix of James Bond and Jason Bourne in the videogame world, he's the one. He's the man you never saw.

- Lo Wang (Shadow Warrior)

*after killing an enemy with a sword*
"You half the man you used to be!"

Wise cracking, breaks the fourth wall, never shuts the **** up, slices and dices, '80s action hero feel, all about dat cool factor. At least half of the charm of Shadow Warrior come from this guy, imagining Shadow Warrior without Lo Wang is like imagining Rambo without Stallone.
And God it was hard to focus on not dieing when he bursted out in his hilarious lines.

- The Duke (Duke Nukem)

"I like a good cigar... and a bad woman..."

I don't need to say a word about the Duke. You think Lo Wang is irreverent? He's probably the Duke's student, dude.

 

[DoomSlayer87_Sss]

Whwre to start


Dante for DMC love him he makes the game for me

Solid snake and big boss for Mgs there such badasses I just can't get enough of em

Link legend of zelda such an awesome hero

Sam fiaher also for being a badass

Marcus fenix for same reasons as above lol

ryu hayabusa cause ninjas rock and he is super cool

jacie from the darkness and the darkness itself they just cracked me up

there are loads more lol so Il leave it there so I don't take up half the thread

 

[Chancey289]

Conker from Conker's Bad Fur Day on the N64. Gotta love that little bastard.

 

[V's patron]

 

[Demi-fiend]

James Sunderland

 

[xMobilemux]

@Foxtrot94
Great thing about Duke Nukem and Lo Wang was they were created by the same people and even shared an old school bundle together, I own 2 of them and they are damn rare.

Also yeah my number 1 would obviously be Duke Nukem as well.
Because he basically can not be recreated or replicated in this day and age, he's one of the most unique FPS characters out there right now and the sad thing is Gearbox are likely too big of scumbags and idiots to get that, along with 100% of the gaming media.
Gearbox is supposed to be coming out with a new version of Duke3D similar to the Doom 3 BFG edition this year with a new episode, levels and Duke talk and they have royally screwed over big members of the fanbase, they're even gonna try killing off the modding community from what I heard.
The new Duke lines are gonna be torture for Duke fans, a part of me died when I heard one of them was gonna be "Bazinga!" -_-

Also agree with Sam Fisher, but pre Blacklist. Ironside Fisher was what made him a memorable character, in Blacklist he was as generic as any random secret agent can possibly be.

Pretty much every other character I can think of has already been listed.

 

[Foxtrot94]

Also agree with Sam Fisher, but pre Blacklist. Ironside Fisher was what made him a memorable character, in Blacklist he was as generic as any random secret agent can possibly be.

Actually I liked that in Blacklist they gave him back some of his dark humor after the personality shift in Conviction. Which made sense in the story but you know.

Also for me is the opposite situation compared to English speaking countries I guess, cause in Blacklist we got OUR historical Sam back behind the microphone, Luca Ward, after his substitution in Double Agent and Conviction. His acting gives Sam more thickness and personality and I never make it a secret that I do in fact even prefer Ward to Ironside.

 

[Teal]

I don't know why, but I'm gonna go with the less obvious choice - Edward Kenway from Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag. Dude was a total fish out of water. He was so dumbfounded that everywhere he went, he messed things up, and I liked that about him. It's exactly how you imagine a pirate to act.

 

[Lain]

The only two I can think of at the moment are...

Big Boss (Metal Gear). Even though Snake was the original protagonist, Boss really took over in terms of screentime and importance to the overarching plot to the series. Not to mention he's an ultra badass.

Kazuma Kiryu (Yakuza). An ex-gangster who just wants a peaceful life but the shady underworld always drags him back in. A genuinely kind man who always looks after his friends and tries to help those in need, just don't push him too far as his capacity for violence is extreme. The series just wouldn't be the same without him and his struggles.

 

[Maxman]

I was expecting at least one guy mention Max Payne here

 

[Foxtrot94]

I was expecting at least one guy mention Max Payne here

Well I didn't cause I've never played one.

 

[absolitude]

1. dante - DmC

for a rebooted devil may cry, guy is perfect, can't imagine playing with a different looking and different attitude character in his shoes

2. dante - DMC2

in all honesty this persona and looks is how i will always picture dante, so yeah the game isn't popular, but this dante is for me what makes me love devil may cry

3. aya brea - parasite eve 1

i don't like aya in 2 or the parasite eve 2 game

3. lara croft - tomb raider 2013

well the original didn't rellay attached me, it was more for the game, but this 2013 and the game got me really attached, and i don't like the rise version based on looks alone, haven't played the game

4. cloud strife - final fantasy 7

it's kuraudo, nothing else to say

5. zidane tribal - final fantasy 9

the most optimistic and positive character i've ever played, it's a nice experience playing him, well yeah there was his downs in the game with his past, but he remains positive even for kuja..

7. ashley riot - vagrant story

a character with a grieving past in a dark story with a dark setting.. give the game a try if you haven't, as for me it came from the glorious japanese gaming era..

 

[DragonMaster2010]

Don't really have one other then Batman and Ezio in AC2.

 

[TWOxACROSS]

I was expecting at least one guy mention Max Payne here

I've got you covered.

Max Payne definitely makes the series what it is. My favorite game of all time is Stranglehold, which is a Max Payne knock off, but as much as I love the gameplay, the noir-like atmosphere and sardonic-yet-poetic narration from Max is what really makes the games what they are.

To be quite honest though, as much as I love Max Payne 3, I was really disappointed that they completely moved away from all the references to Norse mythology. I would love a remake of Max Payne with all the gameplay mechanics from the third installment.

 

[berto]

 

[ReaperHunter]

A lot of people have already said some of my favorites, Link, Dante, and Snake etc.
So Ima go with someone different

Red from Transistor.

 

[berto]

A lot of people have already said some of my favorites, Link, Dante, and Snake etc.
So Ima go with someone different

Red from Transistor.

An interesting choice since she doesn't even speak.

 

[ReaperHunter]

An interesting choice since she doesn't even speak.

She may not speak but I'd say she is far from the cookie cutter, blank slate silent protagonist. She still communicates via the terminals found in the game, and I felt like the bond she had with the guy inside of the transistor was well defined.