30 Days of Video Games - BONUS: Why Do You Play Games Pg. 142

[Dr. Homem]

First, honorable mentions to:

- Batman, from the Arkham series, for the admirable translation of a character from outside media to a game. Be it with gadgets, abilities or movements, everything Batman does feels like something Batman would do in the comics, creating a good sense of being truly Batman.

- The Boss from Saints Row. Most create-your-own protagonists in sandbox games are entirely devoid of personality, but Saints Row's protagonist is an humorously interesting character in its own right. He likes working on his own, and is a bit of a sociopath, as well as pretty much invincible. It fits well with the tone of the series and makes for a lot of funny moments.

But the winner is:

 

 

Gordon Freeman isn't, by himself, a great character, or barely a character at all, but does his job as a playable character remarkably well. He's a silent protagonist in a scripted, linear first-person shooter, and by allowing the players to fully immerse themselves, and take on the persona of Freeman, this hits a level of commitment that you don't really see in many first-person shooters out there. Or, at least, he was the first to do it. At the same time, he's not one of those silent protagonists completely devoid of personality: it is implied he does talk in the game, but we don't hear it, allowing subtleties involved in building Freeman's personality to be indirectly conveyed, and left up to the player himself to complete.

 

At first, Gordon is just a normal scientist who's thrown into a bad situation. He's far from the muscular and strong protagonists we often see in this type of game, being an unlikely and yet believable hero. I think that one can see that Gordon is in many senses a puppet that has little choice but to play his role in the bigger game going on between the humans, Combine, Xen, G-Man, his employers and possible other parties that are involved but we do not know of yet. When viewed this way, we can see that the lack of Gordon's choices on the current events actually do not matter, as he is moving within a closed system just trying to not die and stop others from dying. The illusion of choice, as the G-Man himself puts it.

 

A lot of games try to allow the player to project their personality into the character, but none of them really do it as well as Gordon Freeman. Gordon is different for everyone depending on what you want him to be, while still coexisting organically with the rest of his world and characters.

[Jin.]

Oh god this is gonna be a big tie

Sadly, even with Jin being pretty much ensured Protagonist role in the next BlazBlue game along with Tsubaki, he's currently still the rival.

 

Day 30

Number 1

 

The Protagonist (Persona 3) or basically "Minato" or "Makoto" is basically you. So what makes him different from other protags to me? First and foremost, this guy just looks and acts awesome. Narukami has the swag but Minato has the awesome. His story is cool and his dialogue options just make him feel... Better then Yu to me. Also MinatoxMitsuru master race TAKE NO EXCEPTIONS.

 

 

 

Number 2

 

It's no secret that Golden Sun is my most favorite game of all time, but there's a reason for that. While I like Felix and Matthew, I feel like Isaac is a much more fleshed out character. It also helps that he's basically your first character and introduction to the story, and that he just plain looks awesome.

 

 

 

Number 3

(Decided to use my own screenshots)

 

The Hero of Ferelden and Hawke are pretty much in the same boat as both Dragon Age protagonists. What I like about it is how you can shape how your character interact with others and how others will react to it. Like Mass Effect, a lot of choices have concequences and your characters will either become closer or more distant to Hawke and The Hero of Ferelden.

 

Yeah not much to say

[Uraraka]

Favorite Protaganist

   my all time favorite Protaganist is....*drumroll*

Link!!!! (ocarina of time/majora's mask)

 Not only is he the awesome hero of Hyrule and Termina, but he is a kid with a heart. I like both young link and adult link equally. Link has always been my favorite hero because he was brave, strong, and willing to stand up and fight, he is also polite, generally kind and helpful to other people, and he just looks so insanlely cute! I mean, he is such a heart throb that even fish Fall in love with him *ahem* Ruto*ahem*

  I loved him since I first played Ocarina of time in 1999 (estimate) . In fact, I liked him so much, the 12 year old version of me had a crush on him (Don't laugh!! I was just a kid!! lol! just kidding). 

  I was disapointed when they changed his design for windwaker, and then again to the twilight princess version. To this day, the ocarina oftime/majora's mask Link is the real one to me. however, I do enjoy playing any zelda game. 

[Willsy]

Day 18: Favourite Protagonist

Sanic

Ever since I was young, I dreamt of going fast, for I was a slow weakling. But Sanic gave me hope, and made me realise that I could go fast. And every night I pray to Sanic; Hallelujah hallelujah, gotta go fast.

...wait...we're supposed to be serious? Oh, okay.

The Original, non meme-spewed Sanic

When I was little, I was fascinated with Sonic. His speed and his abilities were unlike anything I'd ever seen in a video game before. I was hooked. I wanted to know more about this character, and I wanted to play more of the games. I didn't really become a proper a Sonic fan until just before Generations though, and the only games I got to play were Heroes, Sonic 1+2, Riders, and Rush.

One thing that stood Sonic out from the rest of the crowd was his attitude. He's always been something of a loveable asshole on terms of him getting snippy with others. Sonic just loves to push his luck when he opens his mouth, and I thought that was great. But while he does act like a little bastard sometimes, he also has a sense of heroism about him. Not exactly humbled if recent games are to go by, but it's still there. His attitude in my opinion is captured best in Unleashed and Black Knight. It's probably the most down to earth Sonic has ever been, but it fits the character so well.

LUIGI TIIIIME!

I'm sorry, but I couldn't leave Weegee out. If there's any other favourite protagonist I have, it's definitely Luigi. Why, you may ask? "But he's just the cowardly brother! He's always living in Mario's shadow!" Not true. While Luigi is scared of just about everything, he's extremely brave at the same time. While he nervously hesitates to do things, he still kicks himself up the arse and does them. It takes an awful lot of courage to save your brother from a giant ghost. Twice. Luigi is also probably the mist endearing character in the Mario franchise. This is especially apparent in Luigi's Mansion 2 where his personality is really given time to shine. And it really does shine.

All I can say is, "LUIGI NUMBER ONE!"

[Your Vest Friend]

Well, as much as I want to say Sonic (actually, I never would have said Sonic because of my disinterest in his character, but pretend I would), I'll have to go with a protagonist that I hold near and dear to my heart.

 

 

Tweek the Dragon (Fur Fighters)

 

We meet again, Fur Fighters. But realistically, the only competition Tweek had was Spyro, and he doesn't even come close. Tweek is adorable, like a Yoshi with extra sugar. Tweek is the first reptile I ever became endeared to, with the sweet voice and lovely manner. But Tweek isn't all just cuddly (even though he is in-universe. Um...). He's basically a very young victim of war, being forced to take up arms to besiege Viggo and take back his family even though he's the youngest of the family at less than a day old. Despite the forced growing up, Tweek still has an innocent edge against his war-bittered comrades. Where others will offer snark, he offers genuine curiosity about the world around him, even though his vocabulary is limited to one word most of the time (his own name...just like a Yoshi). He also has some lore and history in his family only hinted at if you pay attention (although I've mentioned this before.

 

PS The above is official concept art. Felt tip pens are an acceptable medium.

 

Tweeeek!

 

 

[Spin Attaxx]

My favourte protagonist... y u du dis...

 

I'm gonna go for...

 

"Wahaha! Now draw Wario like one of your animé girls!"

 

Wario immediately comes to mind because of his motive - greed. While Mario saves the day because he's heroic and selfless, Wario only does it for the exact opposite reason Mario (or most other heroes in general) does - because it means he gets to walk away with a huge amount of cash, jewels, a castle or some other materialistic item. Also, he's everything Mario is not - not only is he greedy, but fat, ugly, slobbish, vain, prone to farting, eats a lot (mainly garlic), and is all around a total bastard.

 

But goddammit if we don't love him for all those reasons and more. It's interesting how flawed and unlikable a character like Wario can be, yet still manage to be a fun character to watch.

 

FIGHT, WARIO! FOR EVERLASTING GREED!

 

[Echidna Adventurer CC14]

For favorite protagonist, I'll give the nod to someone a bit a less famous for being a main star...



Yoshi (Super Mario & Yoshi Series)

Yoshi is a humble hero. All he wants to do is live his life in peace, but the machinations of Kamek, Baby Bowser, regular Bowser, or whoever just keeps spoiling his day. Fortunately, though, he's a tough little dino who never backs down from a challenge and is always willing to help out those in need. (As evidenced by him and his clan's continued support of a certain duo of Italian plumbers over the years.) He can eat anything, throw eggs as projectiles, spit out form-altering juice, transform into a variety of vehicles, swing using his tongue, and even gain powers JUST by eating things, so he's got a pretty big bag of tricks to pull out a Bowser cure from.  He's also just freaking adorable. (Especially in smaller details like when he waves good-bye in Mario Galaxy 2.) Seriously, more games need Yoshi.

[The Tenth Doctor]

Day 18: Favourite Protagonist

 

 

That would be the great puzzle solver Professor Layton. I enjoy a thinker, a character that knows how to use their head. None is better than Sir Top Hat himself. He is a true Gentleman, puts others before himself every day. He is curious and can never back down from a good mystery. He has class, he has style and can wield a sword like no one's business. You feel for this man after you see what he's been through in Game 3 (I hear we get more in games 5&6 but I haven't played them yet) and I had a genuine NO!!! moment when playing Layton Vs Ace Attorney because I cared about the man. He is a perfect role model, I wish I was more like him really.

[Covskin]

Guybrush Threepwood has no right to be a hero. He's weedy, a bit of a dimwit at times, and looks more like a flooring inspector than a pirate.

 

But even though he's a little short to be a pirate, that's what Guybrush wants to be. Through unorthodox methods, he passes the Three Trials, then goes off on a daring quest to rescue Governor Elaine Marley (who he'd only just met) from the evil Ghost Pirate LeChuck, a villain so fearsome all the experienced pirates have scarpered!

 

As the games go on, Guybrush grows in confidence, bouyed by his exploits. Of course, every time he gets overconifdent he's bought back down to earth, but he's always ready with a snarky comeback. He's also able to adapt to every situation, with the odd array of random items and situations he finds himself in.

 

Oh, and he can hold his breath for ten minutes.

[ElectricAngel]

Day 18 - Favourite Protagonist

 

So, after thinking about it a little, I think I'll have to settle with

 

 

Pit from the Kid Icarus series

 

Alright, alright, so I may have not played any of the old Kid Icarus games, but I do love him in Uprising. If only because of how well he's written. To me, Pit is one of the most realistic heroes you can have out there. He's just a kid, and heck, he can't even fly on his own. So of course, when the time comes to go out on an adventure, our hero is excited, but along the way faces many challenges. Pit learns how cruel the world is and how things won't always go your way. And he learned that the hard way.

 

His lines in the game are some of the best I've seen in a Nintendo game. He's cheery and silly, but at the same time he takes his job seriously. I like how the game showed how big of a responsibility it is for someone like Pit to save the world. There are times when he's all excited because he saved a town, but there are times where he feels sad, because he didn't get to save everyone and learned that sometimes sacrifices must be made.

 

I dunno, something about Pit's character development in Uprising is what really made this hero so realistic and almost relatable to an extent. Think about it. How would you react if you were in the same situation(s) as Pit? I gotta give props to Nintendo for having the ability to write such an amazing character. 

[Kuzu]

Day 17: Best Combat.

 

 

 

 

 

Even tho I've only played this game for a day, I'm going to echo Dissy and agree that this game has some pretty legit combat; its not a braindead masher hack and slash. Every action you do has some consequence and it forces you to think on your toes. 

 

 

The way the combat works is surprisingly simple, and that's what helps it so much. You have strong and light attacks, but you're also given a stamina meter and when its exhausted, you can't do any action for a few minutes. Strong attacks are naturally better, but require half of your stamina at the start. So it comes down to how you use your moves as well as your defense. blocking attacks takes away stamina as well, and enemies hit HARD and FAST. 

 

 

so yea, +1 for Dark Souls.

[JezMM]

 

Sure, Gordon Freeman is the guy you play as, but Alyx Vance is the real main character of the Half-Life 2 games, I mean, the entire story revolves around her as of Episode 2.

 

She's charming, funny, competent and interesting as a character.  You can't help but fall in love with her as you spend time with her in the two episodes particularly.  There's just so many great things about Alyx and how believable and well-written she is, just, "believe the hype" with regards to why she's so widely regarded as the face for well done female characters in video games.

 

 

Close-second would be Luigi.  I adore Mario for his energy and boundless optimism for life in general, but Luigi is just adorable.  He's timid, shy, frightened, but never ever cowardly.  He follows in his brother's footsteps with nothing but bravery.  The Luigi's Mansion games are the epitome of one of life's most important lessons: bravery is not the absence of fear - it is doing the right thing despite it.

 

 

And finally:

 

 

The Left 4 Dead cast.  I like L4D2's characters too, but the L4D1 guys are my faves.  They're just so lovable as a unit AND as individual characters.  On L4D2 I'm usually fussy about getting to play Rochelle, but on L4D1 I'll play anyone.  Even Francis, the one I thought I'd relate to the least, is a big lovable dork under his tough exterior.  Bill is a troubled old man who is just trying to look out for his new friends and that sometimes causes disagreements.  Zoey is really tough but caring and her relationship with Bill throughout the game and comic is one of my fave relationships in video game storylines generally.  Louis I relate to the most and his optimism has been played super effectively for both laughs and heartwrenching drama.  I just love em all so much and I really hope the Left 4 Dead franchise isn't... well, left for dead.  Just a shame that we had to lose one of them - unless they ever do more inbetweeney stories with them, the content we have is all we get for the story of these guys as we knew em... sigh.

 

 

And just a handful of other protagonists I really like:

 

Joel and Ellie from The Last of Us, Sonic (sometimes dependant on game), Jade from Beyond Good and Evil, Lee and Clementine from The Walking Dead, Elizabeth from BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea.

[Indigo Rush]

Guybrush Threepwood has no right to be a hero. He's weedy, a bit of a dimwit at times, and looks more like a flooring inspector than a pirate.

 

But even though he's a little short to be a pirate, that's what Guybrush wants to be. Through unorthodox methods, he passes the Three Trials, then goes off on a daring quest to rescue Governor Elaine Marley (who he'd only just met) from the evil Ghost Pirate LeChuck, a villain so fearsome all the experienced pirates have scarpered!

 

As the games go on, Guybrush grows in confidence, bouyed by his exploits. Of course, every time he gets overconifdent he's bought back down to earth, but he's always ready with a snarky comeback. He's also able to adapt to every situation, with the odd array of random items and situations he finds himself in.

 

Oh, and he can hold his breath for ten minutes.

I hate myself for not picking Sheepgood.

[Chaos Warp]

Day 18: Favourite Protagonist

Dante from Devil May Cry

 

 

no not you you piece of shit I didn't request your fucking presence you travesty of a character no one likes you

 

 

Ah, that's better.

 

Dante from DMC4 (pictured above) or DMC3

 

Now, Dante was decent in DMC1 (far better then Donte at least) and was quite boring in 2, but it's in 3 and 4 where his personality really shines through. He's just such a cool guy and a badass, making tons of funny wisecracks during cutscenes (plus saying awesome things like "Jackpot!" when finishing enemies) and generally not taking this whole demon slaying thing seriously. He's just so entertaining, and the kind of protagonist which perfectly compliments the action games he stars in. It's just so amusing the son of fucking Sparda is just this crazy badass who has way too much fun. 

 

 

Refer to this scene (go to 2:13 in the video) as reference for how awesome he is. 

 

Honourable mentions go out to Sonic The Hedgehog and Pit from Kid Icarus Uprising.

[KrazyBean]

Day 18: Favourite Protagonists

P.S - Answers were changed because the characters I picked before did not fit the criteria.

 

 

Luigi, from the Super Mario series

 

Luigi has a lot charm in his personality. He's shy and oh so very timid but he always finds ways to overcome his fears, ESPECIALLY if the situation puts Mario in danger, and I find that very admirable of him. In certain games Luigi can also be quite the comedic character and has made me laugh hard when these moments occur. I guess I can also relate to him even more since I'm a younger brother myself.

 

Luigi also looks up to Mario immensely and cares deeply about him, even though he's constantly in his brothers shadow...most people in his situation will probably snap due to jealousy. In one part of Mario and Luigi: Dream Team, Mario goes inside Luigi's deepest thoughts and all you see are comments from him about how he can one day be brave and strong like Mario, and I found that pretty sweet.

 

In terms of abilities, he can run faster than Mario, jump higher than him and can harness electricity...which is pretty awesome. He's also taller than Mario and I kinda find that a bit funny. I guess he had one hell of a growth spurt.

 

 

 

Milla Maxwell, from Tales of Xillia

 

If I had to describe Milla's personality with one sentence, then I'll say that she's like Lightning from the Final Fantasy XIII series, except interesting and well developed...lol. She does share a lot of similarities to Lightning, like being solely focused on her objective regardless of whatever circumstances may occur, being serious all of the time and taking initiative in the team, but as the game progresses she becomes a lot more relaxed and starts caring more about the team she's with instead of just her mission only. I'm not gonna say what this mission is because that'll obviously be spoilerific.

 

Milla is known as "the Lord of the Spirits" and because of this, she's very distant and lost about how the human world works, this differentiates her quite a lot from the world and the team, which are all made up of humans obviously. When a certain incident happens, she becomes a lot more human in the process. As the game progresses, she has to start dealing with simple things humans go through all the time such as hunger, being sick and walking long distances as some examples, things she's not used to doing on a regular basis...at all, and that's understandable due to her nature, and it's quite hilarious to see.

 

In combat, she mainly specialists in powerful Artes (spells, basically) but she later on becomes very proficient with swords. When shit hits the fan, she doesn't play around, at all. She's extremely strong even in her "nerfed" form and tends to be the first one who dives into battle, kicking a lot of ass in the process. She also doesn't take crap from anyone that's for sure.

 

Milla Maxwell is not only one of my favourite protagonists, but she's probably my favourite female protagonist and I'm really excited to see how she's developed in the sequel. Yes, her clothing is kinda skimpy but it ain't exactly Kill la Kill material 

[MamboCat]

Day 18 - Mambo's Heroes! aka Favourite Protagonist

 

Right, well this is a tough one, isn't it?! I kinda touched on one of my favourite real protangonists, Kain the muscly big green vampire a few pages back but for most of the LoK series he's actually the antagonist so yeah.

 

The truth is I have many "favourite" protagonists, it's actually impossible for me to pin it down to just one character... but there is one guy that comes out on top;

 

 

Gordon Freeman!

 

I know someone else already picked this guy but I just want to agree with everything they said plus some other stuff. Being a PhD student myself, I love that one of the most well known protagonists in gaming is not someone from the military or some dude with super powers; he is a scientist! A normal guy who ends up screwing up the world but takes responsibility for it! We scientists feel like this every day! XD

 

We know Freeman has a backstory; he's a 27 year old bearded bloke with a PhD in theoretical physics from MIT who is lucky(?!) enough to work for mega-science-corporation Black Mesa. Because of an accident in his own lab he ends up wielding a crowbar against aliens, marines and eventually a giant baby-like thing who's brain opens up like a flower(!) Seriously, Freeman's PI should have been fired way before the Resonance Cascade event! You don't get a postdoc in theoretical physics to do this kind of dirty work in science; that's what PhD students are for!

 

With this tool, I shall fuck you up... write your thesis already!

 

Despite this, the real protagonist is the player; you. You are Gordon fucking Freeman, the most awesome guy with a PhD ever. Seriously, those Watson and Crick guys? Fuck them! You see the world through Freeman's eyes and become a hero. A hero who gets regularly warped away into stasis and brought back out only to kick some alien ass but whatevs. You're Gordon Freeman!

 

Tell me none of you do this(!) Honestly!

 

This POV-type protagonist has led to a YouTube craze via the Freeman's Mind series (there's also a Chell's Mind and I'm sure a few others too...) where you watch Freeman work his way through Black Mesa but with an inner monologue. Some of it is fucking hilarious; he often "talks" about how awesome, clever and tough he is in comparison to how stupid the rest of Black Mesa's staff are! It's cheesy but so funny, and an interesting alternative look at the FPS genre.

 

Honourable mentions:

 

Sonic the Hedgehog. Because yeah... Sonic.

 

Abe the Mudokon.  Because he's not really a hero at all, he's a clumsy, miserable, malnourished little blue guy in a loincloth tasked with rescuing his people.

 

Ezio Auditore da Firenze... the human. Ahhh, the sexiest Assassin ever. Especially when he's a silver fox! Daayaaam!

[Kuzu]

*sigh* Its come to this, welp let's get this over with.

 

 

Day 18: Favorite Protagonist

 

 

 

 

 

Ragna the Bloodedge, Blazblue 

 

 

Ya'll should have seen this coming. But yea, Ragna gets my vote for many reasons. To start, at first glance, he may seem like a really bad rip off of Dante from Devil May Cry(especially with the above post) and while he does take a lot from Dante, he is indeed his own character. 

 

Secondly, while his revenge motivation is extremely cliched(like most things in this series), he doesn't become a complete jackass to do so. In fact, he's only really hostile because everyone is constantly trying to kill him. When he's relaxed, he's pretty chill and understanding. And he's got some of the lines in the game, so it helps him stand out.

 

 

I think what helps Ragna for me is how relatable I found him. Minus the whole revenge plot, he's just a guy who wants to live and get through the day in one piece. Sadly, the world kind of goes out of its to kick him in the balls and bring him down, and I think we've all had one of those days when you just get a string of misfortune. Its just something you gotta deal with, and move on with your life and that's exactly what Ragna does.

 

 

I dunno, its hard for me to put it into words because at his core, Ragna is one of the simpler characters in the series; we know barely anything about the origins of his creation and are only hinted at, and yet...he's strangely fascinating, it's complicated.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Protagonist/Yu Narukami, Persona 4

 

 

I like the megaten series, sadly I've only really gotten experience with the Persona series, but you take what you can get. One thing I like about this series is its ability to craft story based on your relationships, positive or negative. It helps the game come alive.

 

To talk about Yu himself, well like i said, most of his personality comes from the choices you make throughout the game. But then an anime came out, and it turned him into one of the memorable protagonist's in an RPG ever. I think what I liked about him is that, it doesn't play around the fact that Yu, as the protagonist, is better than everyone, in fact it lampshades and plays it for all its worth. The hilarious part comes from the fact that he still maintains his silent attitude from the games, so its like a perfect blend of a silent protag while being his own character. Its amazing.

[Brad]

oh my god its sonic XDDDD NOPE

 

 

The Wind Waker's incarnation of Link is probably my favourite protagonist. Instantly a more likeable and expressive version of the franchise's main character, this version of Link is shown to live on a simple small island with his sister and grandmother. Through no prophecy or great quest prediction, Link sets out on an adventure with pirates so that he can save his kidnapped sister from Forsaken Fortress, where he leaves his grandmother behind in a surprisingly sad scene. Already this Link I care about far more, but then we get to the scene where Link is shot into the Forsaken Fortress by Tetra, the first time a Zelda game ever made me laugh. A really good and memorable moment that shows how the new art style worked to the character's favour over other versions of Link, who mostly have a very one-note set of expressions. This Link does all sorts of little things that make more alive as a character, like staring curiously at the world around him when left to stand, or cheering by bouncing up and down when a dungeon is complete. It really all comes together nicely.

 

Also a fan of:

• Clementine, The Walking Dead - a girl you've helped to grow as a character with exceptional depth to her and a serious connection between the player and her, Clem is probably one of the strongest characters in gaming honestly.
• Spider-Man, Spider-Man Games - Spidey is my favourite superhero, and most of the time he translates extremely well over into video game form with some great little comedy quips and dynamic combat. A stand out for this would probably be Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions.
• Sora, Kingdom Hearts Series - might be one of the few left, but I still love Sora as a character. A boy with a pure heart and intent, he's an uplifting character who's a little slow but he's loveable and a friendly face to always come back to.

[Sami]

Day 18: Favourite Protagonists

Alvin, from Tales of Xillia

Alvin is definitely the most interesting character in the team IMO. That's not to say that the rest of the characters are bad though. He's not such a goody two shoes, but he's not all bad either, making him an antihero basically...then again he is a mercenary after all.

Probably the main thing what I like about him is his personality. He gets serious when he needs to, but most of the time he cracks a ton of innuendo-filled jokes (the kind of jokes which I tend to use a lot of, lol).

His fighting style consists of switching between a large sword and a pistol. His sword also has the ability to charge, which in turn increases the power of some of his moves and even create new ones as well as grant him vastly increased defence, which I think is a pretty cool attribute to have with your weaponry.

This guy has quite a lot of problems though, ESPECIALLY when it comes to trust. He's quite the sly bastard and you really never know what goes on in his head, but that also makes him even more interesting.

Rosalina, from Super Mario Galaxy

Rosalina is by far my favourite character in the Mario series. Main reason is probably her origin story. It is sad, and very well developed and really makes you give a damn about her, which is quite surprising coming from a main series Mario game as I would've expected something like this from the RPG spinoffs.

I also really like her design...particularly her hair, lol. She also gets extra points for not being kidnapped once and destroying Bowser's entire space fleet with her cosmic powers. She doesn't piss about when stuff gets serious that's for sure. She's more Zelda and less Peach, and I love that.

Remember, today's is about topic is about protagonists. Rosalina wouldn't count because she's more of a major side-character than the actual main character of the story. Same goes for the Xillia dude since I think Milla and the guy who sounds like '03 Donatello are the protags there.

I'd save them for a rainy day. Or maybe an upcoming one.

[Tori Himemiya]

DAY 18 OF PRESIDENT CROW STILL BEING DA PROTAGONIST!

This is a no brainer.

Eddie Riggs of Brutal Legend!

Eddie is the man. He's the ultimate roadie who does his job with a passion, even if the band he works for gives him shit for it. He gets his big cut when he gets sent back to the Age of Metal and starts fighting demons. He later meets up with the human army, consisting of Lars, Lita, and Ophelia since humanity has been enslaved by the demons. Eddie decides to help in their cause to free humanity but only if he does all the muscle work and Lars does all the leading.

Eddie is my favorite video game character of all time. Being this awesome roadie who can adjust to any situation and is pretty quick to catch on to a lot of things, from wielding an axe for the first time and killing enemies with it to knowing that the Drowning Doom has merch which is a bad thing as merch and fans are a source of power in the world. He gets excited for practically everything that happens in the world as this is every metal fan's dream and he doesn't regret going back in time at all. He also has a great sense of humor which never fails to make me laugh. Oh and despite the fact that he's the hero unit for Ironheade, he's pretty humble that he lets Lars get all the credit for everything Eddie did and always does his best to make someone else look good, even at his expense. All in all Eddie represents everything I love about metal and is a damn great character. I really enjoyed his character so much that I'll be willing to play through Brutal Legend again just to play as that guy. And there's my post. UNTIL NEXT TIEM SSMB!

[Celestia]

Day 18: Favourite Protagonist

 

This one was surprisingly easy.

 

 

Phoenix Wright

Ace Attorney

 

First of all, he's a huge dork. Like, the last hope of all his clients is a person who, outside of court (and sometimes in court), comes across as some guy who has no idea what he's doing. But when he's pointing dramatically and being confident, you better be thankful if you're on his side and not the other.

 

The thing I love so much about Phoenix is how determined he is to find the truth. He has a lot of faith in justice--a lot more than you'd expect from most people in the setting of Ace Attorney, considering how screwed up the system is--and has even more faith in his clients. It doesn't matter how bad things look for someone, he'll never give up on them. Even if he has to resort to some courtroom trickery and bluffing here and there.

 

Oh, and he has spiky hair. If that's not cool I don't know what is.

 

 

 

Confession: I still need to play the games after the first one.....

 

 

 

Honourable Mentions

• Chell (Portal): Thinks with portals and doesn't afraid of anything.
• Samus Aran (Metroid): One woman army.
• Sonic the Hedgehog: THIS IS MY ESCAPE, I'M RUNNING THROUGH THIS WORLD, AND I'M NOT LOOKIN' BACK
• Spyro the Dragon: Dragons are cool.
• The Entire Party in Mother 3: my heroes ;_;
• probably others I'm forgetting...

[Kiah]

Day 18: Favorite Protagonist:

 

I definitely have to go this route, as there is absolutely no way I can answer this question truthfully without mentioning this guy and keep a straight face and not lie to myself. I must be truthful here! 

 

 

Yes, Sonic: that blue anthropomorphic hedgehog with green eyes and red shoes that runs really fast-I absolutely adore him! Not only is he my favorite protagonist, he is my favorite video game character and Sonic is my favorite character of anything period. No other character in any other series comes close in regards to the admiration that I have for Sonic. 

 

Despite his cool and calm attitude, no matter what the issue is, Sonic has always shown himself to be a hero with a big heart willing to help out anyone in need and having no tolerance for evil. This is shown time and time again as Sonic aims to stop Dr. Eggman or whoever the villain may be in the games. So it truly delights me to see this awesome character doing his thing and be able to play as him in video games.

 

The games over the years have displayed a multitude of Sonic's excellent qualities in fine characterization, such as: being unselfish in thinking about others ahead of himself, even at his own risk and even doing so when he is suffering, his protective nature, always seeking to turn a negative into a positive, always seeking to cheer others up and even comfort someone when they are sad or distressed, is brave, daring, talkative, playful, energetic, animated and humorous, being loyal to his best friend Tails...and these are just some of the fine qualities that Sonic has. If anything has caused me to adore Sonic as much as I do, it's his awesome character.

 

That doesn't mean that Sonic isn't without flaws. He's overconfident, stubborn, impatient and obnoxious among others, and more times than none these qualities tend to get him in trouble as well as cause problems for others. Sonic being flawed has caused some interesting consequences to come about, and overall the flaws help give Sonic a balanced personality. Makes him more realistic as well, I think.

  

Sonic's personality is one of the first things that I noticed when I got into Sonic some nearly 23 years ago, and it is definitely one of the first things I noticed again after a 15 year hiatus from Sonic upon my return. I've mentioned this a ton of times already but in case you are unaware of and wondering how and why that happened, I told if you haven't read it already.

 

Overall, Sonic is awesome and full of character, and I adore him very much. Despite the fact that I am 30 years old, my admiration will not diminish for Sonic now, nor will it happen anytime soon. 

 

And in case you are curious/interested, last night I spent over 6 hours reading, verifying, and tallying for this event as it is taking me 1.5 to 2 hours to read all the posts and tally everyone's participation-per round. This is what happens when you have an average of 105 members participating per round...To say that I have my work cut out for me is an understatement. But it's all good though. I thought I would share that little tidbit with you 

[turbojet]

Favorite Protagonist 

Connor was a fucking breakthrough in video game media. Say what you want about Assassin's Creed 3, everything about Connor felt genuine as every aspect about his culture was respected. Connor's story revealed the hypocrisy of American history's greatest heroes as they willfully led to the genocide of his people and how the war was not exactly revolutionary as it was simply a Civil War fought with an empire that no longer could hold ties with it's people. What I loved about Connor was the detail Ubisoft put into the character by respecting the tribe that the character supposedly came from by asking the tribe about how a person from that tribe acted. This nuance went through the voice acting as Connor really did not express himself or carry much inflection when he was speaking English, but when he was speaking his native language, dude showed a bit of levity as well as sadness. The only time that he was angry while speaking English was when he was in despair and felt betrayed by everyone whom he trusted.

 

What I liked about Assassin's Creed is that it does not act like it does not matter what race your character is and it is shown through Connor. The scene where he shaved his head to resemble a Mohawk was supposed to be symbolic as well as indicative of Connor reclaiming his culture and no longer hiding the fact that he was Native American Mohawk Tribe and it was a moment lost on many people. There needs to be more Connor's in video games.

[SuperLink]

Once again I'll be breaking my own rule to avoid talking about this series, but I can't help it this time..

 

D18 - FAVOURITE PROTAGONATOR

 

Sonic The Hedgehog

 

 

Sonic in general is just.. so frickin important to me. He's not the best written character by any means when it comes to plot, but one of the reasons he's so important to me is that he just.. doesn't need that, he never has. His entire design just oozes character and fun, and I don't know if it's the nostalgia talking but I honestly believe that Sonic's designers were onto a stroke of genius by managing to create something so easily universally recognisable and iconic that hadn't really been done before. Sonic is much more than a Mickey Mouse clone, his design is simple, memorable, and.. well, honestly it's cool as hell. That deep blue colour is pretty alien, but he's so famous and iconic that no one questions it anymore, and it just looks right along with those streak-like spines. He just looks like the kind of character you expect to be really freakin fast and he is!!

 

Which brings me onto my next point, his abilities are some of the simplest but coolest abilities out there. They might not be original, but Sonic represents freedom, using your own power to live life to the fullest and travel wherever you want to go without any restraints. I think to kids, Sonic isn't just cool to look at but cool to imagine yourself being like. I can't think of many Sonic fans I knew personally (myself included) who didn't really want to be Sonic at some point in their childhood.

 

And yeah he's not the most interesting character, he can be pretty shallow, not much thought is put into "fleshing" him out or making him really human.. but I think that's also one of the reasons it's so easy for kids to idolise him. He doesn't have problems, or worries, or fears. He's carefree, relaxed, a real free spirit, and everyone needs a bit of that sometimes. It's why that even if I'm regularly disappointed with some of his recent game entries, I can never ever be mad at the fact Sonic is sticking around, because while he deserves amazing games, he doesn't need them to be likeable and to just feel right at home in video games. He feels especially refreshing in an era where many games are either simplifies or made more complex.. and neither of those are bad things, but no matter what Sonic does he always is able to communicate his character and what he stands for from his appearance and abilities alone. That's why he's so important, why he makes such a lasting impression, and why he's still around. I hope he always will to be honest!

 

Honourable mentions:

• Link - The Legend of Zelda
• Pit - Kid Icarus
• Samus Aran - Metroid (would be far higher on this list if that one game hadn't put a damper on her)
• Phoenix Wright - Ace Attorney
• Yuri Lowell - Tales of Vesperia

[MegasonicZX]

My favorite protag would definitely have to be sonic, I don't know how or why I got so interested in sonic as a kid, sonic adventure definitely helped a lot but I think it was mostly because the character and really just resonated with me. Sonic on the surface is your typical hero of the day who saves people from Eggman (who I would say is my favorite antagonist if you ever asked that question) but if you peer into him, he's the coolest guy you could ever have as a protagonist, he's kind hearted, snarky, has probably some of the best motivation for doing what he does (which is mostly just cause he enjoys doing what he does) and is just an overall cool guy to hang around.

 

While I may not have terribly much to say in this regard without making it sound like a garbled mess of emotions, sonic is basically the rock to my roll (sue me I like being cheesy ) and the best of the best when it comes to the characters that I like and come on. How can you not like the little blue guy (though I guess he's not so little anymore), he's like the brother that I wish I had and I'll keep on loving him until the day I die .