Favorite Game Characters

Character design, backstory, playstyle; doesn't matter. They can be on this list for some or all of these reasons. Only real rule is "one character per game", and this list isn't ranked.

Lea
My favorite "silent protagonist." Or more that she can't speak much. Due to a programming error, Lea can only speak a select few words. She gets more as the story progresses, but she's still never able to speak full sentences. The game cleverly uses character portraits to convey what Lea's feeling and her limited vocabulary actually makes the most emotional scenes even more powerful. There is great difference between Lea saying "Bye" to a friend logging off for the day, and Lea screaming "BYE!!!" when she felt utterly betrayed by those she loved. But that aside, she's just a joy to watch. I love it when she's excitedly telling everyone "Hi!" when she first learned to speak, yelling "WHY?!" when something incredibly stupid happens, or exasperatedly saying "Lea..." when nothing in her vocabulary is appropriate for that conversation.
Yangus
"Oy guv!" I already love this character.
I always have a soft spot for the loyal companion character, but also being a former bandit allows for some great banter and juxtaposition with the other characters. I love how other people were intimidated by his appearance and never gave him a chance. Almost like he was force into a life of crime from the day he was born. It's not original, but judging others by appearance really is a dangerous and cruel thing to do. Yet he's also the funniest character in the party, not being a downer.
Dragon Quest XI does have some pretty solid characters, but Yangus is, so far, the only Dragon Quest character that makes grin whenever he's on screen. His voice actor is just perfect, great casting on the dubs part.
Raul Alfonso Tejada
Sarcastic old Mexican ghoul with one of the coolest sounding voices in any game. You find Raul trapped by crazed Super Mutants and he effortlessly joins your cause after rescuing him, almost too easily. He doesn't have any malicious intent though, rather your adventure helps him process his past life of vengeance and growing old. He's a very personal character that you help choose whether to (metaphorically) return to his youth, or to help move on and help those in his own way.
Also helps that he's one of the funniest companions in the game, often taking jabs at his age and appearance as a radiated ghoul, as well as the player's decisions. "I'm sure pissing off a ruthless warlord with a tribe of fanatically-devoted warriors was a good move. How could it not be? It was your idea."
Vivi
Just... poor Vivi. He's such an innocent boy with a lack of self-esteem, and the world continually gives him so much shit. He gets tricked, abused, mentally scarred, and suffers from a existential crisis more then once. His character growth though is more satisfying then any ultimate weapon in this game. And when Vivi is given reassurance from the other party members during his darkest times, god damn it never fails to make me tear up. I always keep him in my party as long as possible, because I know this time doesn't last forever
Roxas
Kingdom Hearts II's opening is perfect. I love it when the mundane gets slowly taken over by the fantastical. That has the consequence of given Roxas quite the emotional journey. I see a lot of myself in Roxas. More reserved then Sora, but can get frustrated in confusing situations. Yet he loves his friends, and it's heartbreaking when he's trying desperately to keep status quo from changing. It can be hard to watch him struggle and fail to keep his life from changing, something I relate all too much.
But when he finally accepts change and says "goodbye", sometimes things are more "see you later"
And he can naturally dual-wield Keyblades. 10/10
(Mild rant, but Backloggd deleted my first draft of this note, which was way better then this one and I'm very annoyed about that)
Aqua
Note I said "One character per game", not franchise. I wasn't too fond of Aqua at first, mostly due to her voice actress. I felt she was a little too subdue for her role, almost flat. But as this game, as well as 0.2 & 3 went on, I started to see it more as Aqua trying to maintain her composure at all times. As a new keyblade-master she now has high expectations from many others, including her friends she feels. It's one thing for a character to make themselves vulnerable, but I feel it's also admirable for someone to be an emotional support pillar, and you can't be like that if you get too emotional. And yet she does slip often in that regard, which makes her feel a lot more human. Aqua's emotional maturity is tested over and over again, and she sacrifices so much to protect her friends. Even her seemingly hopeless goal to escape from the Realm of Darkness (which she was stuck for over ten years!) was so that she could be there for her friends, is such a laudable facet to her character.
Also I do love her design. No, it's good shut up!
Zelda
A lot about the DS Zelda duology has made it harder and harder to go back to them. But what tempts me to return to Spirit Tracks is the portrayal of Zelda. A lot of side characters in the Zelda games can give me a good chuckle, but never in these games till Spirit Tracks has a main character made me laugh as much as this Zelda. The way she becomes so obsessed at getting her body back, to the point that she freaks even Link out with how borderline bloodthirsty she gets, it's just too good. It's also great that she's able to directly help Link by controlling the phantoms at the Spirit Tower, and the way she gets giddy after possessing a brand new phantom is so cute. Will say, she scared the crap out of me when I first played this game. When she's possessing a phantom, you can hit her with several on Link's items. I thought it was the funniest shit... till she blew a lid off and chased Link across the dungeon to slash to crap out of him. You know what... that's fair.
Bowser
Self-proclaimed 'King of Awesome.' An amazing comedic foil that occasionally actually does something cool to warrant being called a 'King'. He's so unabashedly full of himself. Always falling for the most insincere praise imaginable. It's so good just how quickly his mood can shift from being incredibly narcissistic to raging fury. Even in games where they don't have as many amazing character moments as Inside Story, they can still get some comedic gold out of him. Mario Odyssey's ending comes to mind, but the first three Paper Marios are also wonderful.
Rindo Kanade
A character who does have that dreaded caveat of "He gets so much better later." He's not unlikable at the beginning, but he can be frustratingly passive and distrustful. Rindo is someone thrust into the leadership role in this death game, not because he's a good leader but because there's literally no one else who can do it. I'd be lying if I said that I don't see a lot of myself in Rindo. Someone who struggles a lot making decisions, both big and small. Someone whose almost always going to others for advice. Second guessing myself, sometimes even wanting to take back what I did immediately. Even the way he becomes lost in his own thoughts, completely blocking out the outside world; that shit happens to me all the time. But unlike myself, Rindo can undo his mistakes. Early in the game, he learns the ability to reverse time. A lot of the game is spent as Rindo doing his damnest to keep his team out of a seemingly hopeless situation. It alone justifies a lot about Rindo. He's in his own thoughts a lot because he has to think real hard how to save his and his teammates lives all the time. And he experiences these bad futures firsthand, he has seen his friends hurt and even killed many times. Almost reminds me how I'm always sympathetic to the managers during the holiday season. Yeah a bizarre comparison but those guys are juggling so much under such stressful circumstances, and even when its over it will keep happening again and again until something fundamental changes. And that fundamental change is what Rindo and the rest of the Wicked Twisters are trying so hard to achieve.

Honorable mentions to Shoka Sakurane and Nagi Usui (yeah I said it, you guys are just cowards towards the "Edgelord")
Ty
...Look just hear me out.
I'll say up front that a lot of this IS nostalgia, won't deny that. Next to Ratchet, Jak and Spyro, Ty was my first ever 3D platformer. As a kid I loved the dual boomerang imagery that Ty has. The way he stylishly spins them around was just memorizing, and all the new boomerangs you gradually unlocked was just the coolest thing ever. Yet going back this game, you'd think he'd be some radical, trendy mascot character that came straight from the 90s, but in-game he's actually a lot more kinder and laid back. Something about that quiet politeness makes me endear to Ty still to this day. Also he is VERY Australian like all the other characters, so 11/10
Doris.
I've always been disappointed by the lack of good representation for plus-sized characters in games. Especially when they're often used for mundane and poorly-tasted "Ha, they're fat!" jokes. Then comes Doris who towers over everyone else in the cast with such a badass design. I love how she's an exception to nearly every rule in the game. She doesn't dodge roll, she skates with her rocket boots. She doesn't use guns, she chucks grenades and sometimes up to seven at once. She doesn't whack close-range enemies with a gun, she just gives them a heavy right-hook in the face. She throws three lassos at once with her mechanical gauntlets, and those same gauntlets are used to unleash an electrical ground pound. And her screen clearing attack is her chucking a nuke, because why not. Doris is my go-to character whenever I come back to this game, I love everything about her.
Wonder Red
There's something incredible on how the writers made, what could've been a very one-note protagonist, one of my favorite main characters in a action game. Wonder Red is comically straight-laced and determined. He offers every villain a chance to surrender before using force. Never works, "Diplomacy has failed", but it never deters him for trying regardless. When being offered a chance to switch sides, he refuses before the villain finishes his offer. He has a perfect memory for all the long-winded speeches heard throughout the adventures, to the surprise of his teammates. There's just something refreshing playing a combo-focused action game whose protagonist doesn't show off or poke fun at their enemies. Wonder Red is just so endearingly earnest about everything, and I still can't process how they made a character like him not boring at all.
Ichiban Kasuga
What happens when you betray someone whose has been loyal to you for years and years? A lot of characters will seek vengeance, but Ichiban becomes utterly lost. He believed that he'd still have a place to call home after being in prison for 18 years, but when he finally got out he realized he had no where to go anymore. And after nearly a whole day of being in denial that he was abandoned, it took a bullet in the shoulder to finally get that message.
Ichiban is now 42. Probably one of the oldest protagonist I've played as (who isn't some magical demon that can live for 500 years or something). And much of the early chapters is of him restarting from zero. There's honestly too much to talk about Ichiban that I love. He's a bit arrogant, but exudes charisma and will never take a good deed done to him for granted. He's such a dork when it comes to Dragon Quest, being so open about sharing his love for the series to everyone.
But what was one of the most effective messages for me was when Ichiban learns that, "it's never too late to start over." Again, he's 42. A few years ago if you asked me if I thought I could restart my life after I was 30, I would've said that'd be impossible. Especially as someone whose in their mid-20s, seeing Ichiban restart his life and actually succeeding in doing so just hit me so hard. It was a message I desperately needed to hear, and Ichiban is the perfect character to tell it.
This list isn't ranked, but Ichiban is easily a Top 5 protagonist. Maybe even Top 3.

7 Comments


11 months ago

Nice list, I really enjoyed reading your thoughts about these characters :)

11 months ago

@Penumbra Thankee kindly. This took a few days and drafts, glad you'd like it.

11 months ago

Wonder Red is the best protagonist in any game.

11 months ago

Vivi is such a good lad.

11 months ago

Oh I love this, this is such a good idea for a list. It was really fun reading though all your thoughts, very cool

11 months ago

@ProudLittleSeal For a video game, he honestly is. More people really need to play 101.

@Weatherby Vivi is just doing his best. Also, it was a comment from @BEAUTIFULBRUTE on my Final Fantasy IX review that inspired me to make this list (where we were of course praising good boy Vivi)

@moschidae Thank you for the kind words. I'd love to see others do something like this too.

11 months ago

I respect kin lists


Last updated: