A side character who was better than the hero

[TonyVonTonyus]

Johnny Gat from Saints Row
Sten from Dragon Age: Origins
Cole Train from Gears of War
Joe from Mafia 2.

 

[inFAMOUSCowZ]

I favored na'vi over Link...who am I kidding no one likes na'vi.

 

[Jennacide]

I'd like to direct your attention to FFXII. Unless you count someone else as the hero anyway. Which you should.

This. Though it's unsurprising since Vaan wasn't even a planned character, he was shoehorned in and changed to be the protagonist after poor reception of Balthier being the lead in Japan.

The two big ones that come to mind are Baird > everyone else in Gears, and Varric/Merril/Isabela > Hawke.

 

[ace_of_something]

like most of the side characters in bioware games in general. That and the entire cast of saints row 2. (Special Props to my man Pierce who can't get any respect)

 

[GenesisCEO]

Dr. Zelenka, the Czech from Stargate Atlantis that Rodney kept writing off as a slightly more intelligent than everyone else moron

 

[randomsix]

Goin with the Ur example: Mercutio.

He was so much better than Romeo that he had to get killed off to make the rest of the play worth a damn.

 

[sabercrusader]

Cole Train

 

[DanielDeFig]

Roxas in Kingdom Hearts

Agreed, Roxas was way better than Sora and if I could change the protagonist for KH it would be a tie between him and Riku who is also much better than Sora.

Riku was my fav before Roxas, now he's third (after King Mickey). One of the main reasons why I got a DS (Other than to keep buying Pokemon games), was because Roxas got a whole game just for him!(BTW, Precious story, that is entirely self-contained. Questions answered, without leaving us with more).

 

[Z of the Na'vi]

I don't know, I'm finding Catwoman much more enjoyable than Batman in my playthrough of Arkham City...

 

[LadyTiamat]

Zelos Wilder > Llyod Irving

Llyod was a bit too winiy at times, Zelos, made the most of a slightly glum but profitable situation

 

[Conn1496]

Tails from sonic, and every non-main rpg character ever.

 

[xplay3r]

Wang from Big Trouble in Little China. I mean I didn't necessarily like him more, but he was definitely more of a hero. Though that was kind of the point of the whole movie so that might be cheating. lol

 

[patryn0]

HK-47. Sorry meatbags.

 

[xplay3r]

Since I'm watching it right now: In Twilight, Jasper is easily so much better as a character than Edward.

True but then again the chair Edward is sitting in is a much better character than Edward as well

 

[Valkraye]

I'm going to go a head and say Berric Dondarrion, the Lightning Lord. He was not a major character, nor was he ever really well fleshed out, but he has got to be one of my favourite characters from anywhere ever.

From anime and the such, Alex Louis Armstrong

As for video games... None that haven't already been mentioned.

 

[Da Orky Man]

Half-life 2. As the player character, you have a mute physicist with no personality. As your companion, you have Alyx, one of the best characters in any game ever.

 

[Shadowfang21]

Midna from Zelda: Twilight Princess. Even if they added more personality to Link in that game, I still prefer Midna to Zelda or Link.

Cole Train, Baird, the Carmines, and a host of other characters are much better then Marcus and Dom to me. Don't get me wrong, I love both Marcus and Dom but...Cole, Baird, and the Carmines are more interesting; EVEN in book form, also...Jace Stratton, that is all.

The Arbiter from Halo 2/3 gets my vote as well. His story was twice as interesting as John-117's.

Glad to see I'm not the only Roxas fan here! The guy was more entertaining for the three hour prologue then Sora was in the entirety of KH 2. Least, in this fan's opinion.

Leonardo Da Vinci, Shaun Hastings, the Assassins in the flashbacks...you know what all these people have in common? They all entertain me more then Desmond.

Zuko from Avatar: The Last Airbender was much better at pulling my heartstrings then Aang was, but I still liked Aang as a protagonist.

Shadow the Hedgehog, Tails, and Knuckles the Echidna were all better then Sonic to me. Heck...even the Chaotix were better then Sonic.

The broader war in LOTR >>>>>>> Frodo's personal quest to destroy the One Ring. Just me though.

Han Solo, Chewbacca, Obi-Wan Kenobi (Prequel AND original), Mace Windu, Rham Kota, Delta Squad (books), the Fetts, Zaalbar and Mission, and even Carth Onasi get my vote for best/better side characters in the Star Wars universe.

>>
<<
Applejack is the best pony, no exceptions!

 

[babinro]

Pretty much every Final Fantasy game has more interesting companions than the primary character.

FF4 - Kain
FF6 - Terra plays a strong roll but I still preferred Celes and Locke
FF7 - Tifa and Barrett
FF10 - Auron and Yuna
FF12 - Balthier
FF13 - Lightning is an important character but I preferred Sahz.

Kratos Aurion stole the show in Tales of Symphonia.

Zeke more than Cole in inFamous due to personality and genuine heart.

All Bioware titles inherently do this as well. I'm more invested in the well being of Alistair, Leliana and Morrigan, Verric and Bethany than I am of myself.

 

[Byere]

Almost every playable character in the Baldur's Gate games. Far more interesting that the main character as they actually HAVE stories to them... They just happen to be joining in on the PC's story.

 

[Overlordkain]

Kain from FFIV (and the after years) had a much better story and personality than the lead Cecil. He had a great story with a lot of personal conflict, jealousy, shame, and regret where as Cecil had.. a class change midway through the game and a love interest/wife that I could never get my head around ever really being established because he was just so dull. Hell, come to think of it, nearly every one in that game was better than the hero, Rydia, Tellah, even Edge and especially Golbez whom also has a fantastic story arc.
In fact the only person as dull as Cecil was Rosa...