8 Great Games that have Horrible Protagonists

[Charli]

Hmmm....maybe "horrible" protagonists isn't the greatest title.

I agree heavily with this sentiment. I expect alot of people to read horrible as in 'they did not do their job well' as protagonists, when I find that's actually not the case, especially with alot of things, they do bad things, and aren't very good people, who just kind of happen to eventually do the right thing for a greater good. (Broad generalization)

And that's fine to have as a protagonist. It's sometimes interesting to explore a character who isn't trying to better themselves, but is kind of content in their lameness/whinyness/irritatingness, or darker tendencies.

It's hard to pull off well, but I feel most of these characters (with the exception of Vaan, he's purely a product of bad writing and editing) do something interesting with their role in the game.

 

[Dead Metal]

What is the point of this list? Is it about characters who are horrible people, or characters that are horribly written? Becaue it seems to list both.
If it's mean to be about horrible people, Kratos deserves to be on the list, because that was the whole point of his character in the games, how he's turned into a literal monster with little regard for anyone. But badly written character? GTFO!

 

[Hades]

So Kratos is a bad character because he doesn't consider the outrage culture and massively oversensitive crybabies of our time?

I'm sorry, but did you forget the pretty damn terrible gods that pissed around with peoples lives however the fuck they wanted, including him and his family? Or the fact that Kratos is a war veteran who has become completely numbed to the value of peoples lives, due to the horrible things he's witnessed and been forced to do?

We've become so accustomed to villifying people who do terrible things, without considering the reasons leading up to their actions. No, their actions are not excused, but the victims have only died in vain when we learn nothing from their deaths.
Kratos should not only be a character that impresses you, but should also make you think about the incredibly stupid ways we deal with tragedies.

Is that what the writers intended? Probably not and I would go as far as to say that the slaughter machine he is, is little more than a badass spiced with a bit of shock value. That doesn't mean he's useless or "horrible".

I don't think its Kratos terrible behavior that makes him a bad protagonist. The big problem I always have with the guy is that despite him being the biggest villain in the plot, that very same plot refuses to confirm Kratos is the villain. I never get the feeling that we are ever supposed not to root for Kratos. Despite Kratos destroying the world for every god he kills in his extremely unjustified revenge the plot still depicts HIM as the wronged party.

I think its this dissonance between plot and actions is what makes Kratos unlikable. I can accept playing a villain, I'l do so with glee but I can't stand playing a villain who pretends to be the hero.

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

At the very least Vincent goes through a legitimate arc (though if you go through the Katherine ending) and owns up to his own lack of responsibility and grows up. AS for Bayonetta, it really took until 2 for her to grow as a character and come off as legitimately charming. Though that could be because Kamiya isn't really the best character writer (see also: how Dante really didn't hit his stride until DMC3)

 

[Atmos Duality]

...Seriously? Luke fan Fabre?

Over Squall?
Over TIDUS??? The POSTER CHILD of infamously shitty game protagonists?

I get that Luke is an incredibly dense, obnoxious twat for the first quarter or so of Tales of the Abyss (and remained dense right through the end), but at least his character evolves over the course of the story from being a shallow self-centered douche to a repentant, caring man (albeit still immature).

At least his struggles have ties to the game's themes (identity and predestination); which is more than I can say about Tidus.