your favorite video game character

[Tsurani]

Locke Cole from FF6-His a treasure hunter not a thief. There's a HUGE difference.
Frog from Chrono Trigger-His theme song makes me want to slice a mountain in half
Magus from Chrono Trigger-One of the coolest badasses ever in a videogame. Dat scythe
Cloud/Vincent from Final Fantasy 7-One ends up being a nobody who became the ultimate warrior and the other is a badass gunslinging shapeshifter.
Garrus/Tali from Mass Effect-The best war buddy ever and the sexiest, smartest and toughest alien that you can't see the face of.
Jolee/Hk47 from Kotor-I did all for the wookies...you know the wookies hmph/observation...I really hate meatbags.
Shodan from System Shock 2-l-l-l-look at you hacker.

There are many more and the reason I put these down specifically is because these are from games I've played again recently. All of them great fantastic games that would all make my top 10 games of all time or at least top 20(I've played about around 350 games).

 

[Sean Hollyman]

Big Boss from Metal Gear Solid... the world's greatest soldier.

 

[Evonisia]

Well since I played Silent Hill 2 back in June last year, only Angela Orosco could be my favourite video game character.
I just love her story and how tragic it is, then reading up on any bits I missed like what actually caused her to end up in Silent Hill. There's also the progression towards the end. Then there's her last scene in the game with the staircase which is the closest video game scene to make me cry (even Cortana's final scene in Halo 4 didn't manage that). She makes the game for me, even more so than James and Maria.

Angela, I'm so glad you've not been just reduced to a meme or cameo roles like James and Pyramid Head.

...

It's weird how the earlier you see a living character in that game the longer they stick around
James - Start to End.
Angela - Graveyard to Hotel
Laura - Apartment to Hotel (in one of the endings but her 'last scene' is in the hotel)
Eddie - Apartment (after Laura) to that boat place.

 

[jademunky]

Guybrush Threepwood from Monkey Island. Just a fun character, no needlessly gritty backstory, no growly badass one-liners. Just an enthusiastic man-child who wants to be a pirate. (and he can hold his breath for 10 minutes)

 

[Darth Rosenberg]

Other than Hiryu, I have to say Ryu from Street Fighter. His relatively simple story just resonates so completely with the entire genre of games he stars in that he just feels pretty much perfect.

I think a lot of SF's character designs are mini masterpieces, and Ryu's an obvious example. Gouki (I hate calling him Akuma) also counts, in terms of the simplicity of his design and how that and his moveset ties in to his character's brutal nature.

My picks (impossible to choose one)?

Zoey from L4D - again, another nod to simple and effective characterisation within a game, where you learn about who she is through context- environmental reactions and how she interacts with the rest of the team. There's more depth and range to L4D's cast than most games that are apparently more focused on narrative.

Red Dead Redemption's John Marston - gaming's in desperate need of more characters like that. Brilliantly written and performed, he was an immensely sympathetic window into Red Dead's harsh, dualistic world of nature vs nurture. Didn't always agree with his choices, or even like them or him, but I cared deeply about him from start to finish.

The Boss from Saints Row IV, especially Laura Bailey's version. That game treats the Boss in a similar way Firefly treated Mal Reynolds; generally a subject of mockery (from companions and villains alike) - but when push comes to shove, they can throw down harder than anyone else.

Elizabeth from BioShock Infinite - in a way she's inseparable from Booker, and vice versa. There are some incongruous moments of lockpicking pride after deeply traumatic scenes, but otherwise she remains one of the most memorably believable and relatable characters I've seen in gaming. From the script, to the voice work, Elizabeth and Booker made the game enjoyable just to experience, moment to moment (even if the gameplay kinda completely sucked).

Special mention goes to Starkiller from The Force Unleashed, a character who initially seems to be - and looks like - a bit of a blank slate, he ends up a superbly sympathetic and likable antihero (whose character arc works brilliantly).


Oh, and y'know what? I've not played the game for absolutely years and I could only stomach one full playthrough, but Kaim from Lost Odyssey is actually impressively layered (especially for a JRPG protagonist with daft hair/armour). The amnesiac hero isn't exactly new for JRPG's, but LO deals with it with admirable seriousness and depth (er, 90% of the time). The dream stories were a fantastic idea.

 

[nevarran]

Not counting the main characters from the RPGs, because they give you some freedom to shape them the way you like.
So, I'll go with:

Spoiler: Mordin Solus

He was smart, resourceful, funny, compassionate... And there was a good amount of drama in his story arch:

Spoiler

"Had to be me. Someone else might have gotten it wrong."

Great character.

 

[Menageryl]

The hero from the Quest for Glory Series.
-->> The ULTIMATE template for a player to imprint himself upon!
Erasmus the wizard from same.
-->> As close as any computer game charrie has come to Fizban / Zifnab portrayal.
Erana from same.
-->> So mysterious. So powerful. So inspiring. SO MISSING!!!

Garrett from the Thief series.
-->> The ultimate self-possessed, snark ant... er, I mean PROtagonist!
-->> All he wants is to be allowed to ply his trade and be left alone...

Manny Calvera from Grim Fandango.
-->> ?

Roger Wilco: Space Quest.
-->> The classic schlub perpetually on the bottom rung of the ladder. And yet lovable, somehow charming.

Altair: Assassin's Creed
-->> Preferred over Ezio.

Batman: Arkham series.
-->> Because... BATMAN!!! (Duh!)

And I'm going to echo another vote from someone before me, above: Morte from Planescape.

 

[Black Haze]

I'd have to say mine is John Marston from Red Dead Redemption. Solid game I enjoyed more than I thought I would, mainly due to the main character's story. Also maybe Rex Powercolt from FC3: Blood Dragon because why the hell not.

 

[Liquidprid3]

Also gonna go with John Marston, he was honestly really cool overall. I didn't agree with what he did, but I definitely had some respect for him, and the last hour and a half of that game is brilliant.

Also, pretty much any character from Dark Souks. If you haven't watched VaadiVidya, and you're a fan of Dark Souls, watch his videos. All of the lore in Dark Souls is just brilliant. Jesus Christ, it's amazing. It's so fantastically hidden, and the back stories of all the characters are brilliant.

Okay, I know you wanted one character, but BADASS CHARACTER LIST SUPER FUN TIME:

Duke Nukem (been playing a lot of 3D for the first time recently, god it's amazing, Hail to the King, baby!)
Trevor
Master Chief
Mewtwo
Shadow the Hedgehog (poorly written and hardcore AF, just how I hate to love them)
Captain Price
Gordan Freeman
Cynthia (hardest Elite Four Champion ever)
Meat Boy (live forever, beeyatch)

Yeah I can't think of anyone else. There's plenty of characters I love for all the wrong reasons.

 

[Scow2]

Mine has to be Katt from Breath of Fire 2.

She's a cute catgirl that doesn't bother with wearing pants, and also kicks a lot of ass with a staff. And she can summon Valhalla, Firestorms, and all the other apocalypse-class spells, though it takes forever to get her there, and then she can only cast one before needing to be recharged.

 

[Maximum Bert]

Other than Hiryu, I have to say Ryu from Street Fighter. His relatively simple story just resonates so completely with the entire genre of games he stars in that he just feels pretty much perfect. In fact, I almost find myself not liking the character as much when you start adding in the complexities they've added to his character later on.

Totally agree about the added complexities ruining him slightly and I would expand that to all SF characters they make excellent characters but when they try to expand the stories they dont have a clue and actually slightly hurt the strong design of them imo. The genre is pretty weak on story traditionally but SF has the worst stories of all imo. SF2 endings were perfect.

Hmm my favourite character is probably this one

Spoiler: which is strange as I initially hated her

Other favourite characters are Kain from Blood Omen one and 2 (less in Soul Reaver one and 2) and Makoto Nanaya from Blazblue among many many others. Oh actually Psylocke would be my second favourite but its a stretch to call her a video game character she more of a character that just so happens to be in a few video games.

 

[Sarah Kerrigan]

someone said starkiller. this excites me.

 

[Eamar]

It has to be GLaDOS. Seriously, I can't believe no one's mentioned her yet

She's possibly my favourite character in fiction, let alone just in games. Her sarcasm and cruel humour make me laugh out loud every time, and she's definitely the main reason I replay the Portal games from time to time. Maybe I'm a masochist

Runners up would probably be a long list of Bioware characters. Garrus, Tali, Wrex, Legion and Mordin from Mass Effect and Wynne, Oghren and Varric from Dragon Age would definitely be up there, among others.

 

[putowtin]

Garrus, Wrex & Mordin (Mass Effect)
Alistair Oghren & Varric (Dragon Age)

As Yahtzee once said about Bioware:
"The writing's solid, but then BioWare don't score any points for that anymore. Birds fly, fish swim, Michael Atkinson molests dogs, and BioWare games have good writing."

 

[Rooster893]

Ninja'd twice! I third Abe from the Oddworld series. It's always fun to play as him, the skinny guy with no weapons.

Other than Abe, I'd choose the man gracing my avatar, Sektor from Mortal Kombat. He's a badass red robot ninja who can shoot flames from his wrists and missiles from his chest. There's also his teleport punch, and his Scarecrow fatality is just BRUTAL.

 

[Tony Stark]

Every single one in Ace Attorney and Ghost Trick - literally, can't hate any of 'em...with so much of an interesting array of colorful characters, it's really just hard to pick a single one from any of either series.

Oh, and Zidane Tribal - Womanizing thief with a tail...kinda hard to actually hate that guy!

 

[TheRookie8]

I'll just name some of my favorite supporting characters:

Varric Tethras (Dragon Age)- A rock-solid companion. Charming, funny and loyal, this guy was always in my party.

Grendel (The Wolf Among Us)- presented initially as confrontational asshole, you realize that he's just looking out for the people who treat him with respect, albeit in a abrasive manner.

Garrus Vakarian (Mass Effect)- this former officer turned vigilante always had your back, and some snappy dialogue mixed with dramatic weight.

Balthier (Final Fantasy)- Ever want James Bond mixed with Han Solo? No? Alright...

There are others, to be sure, but these remain consistently in my top bracket.

 

[Ikasury]

Number one will forever and always go to Aya Brea from Parasite Eve series for me, and of course Mitochondrial Eve from the first one (ps1)... seriously those two had some really stupid one-liners that still stick with me...

Spoiler: Aya Brea in 3rd Birthday

Spoiler: Mitochondrial Eve in PE1

i have so many fond memories of these two just bitching at each other with heaps of snark...

Aya to UB "Know where we are? We're in Hell's Kitchen!!" *blows up ship*
Eve to Aya (Hospital) "Night Night" *lights flicker off, big explosion* "Don't let the bed-bugs bite"

Next is probably Mordin Solus from Mass Effect 2-3 (ps3):

Spoiler: singing at its best...

"I am the very epitome of a scientist solarian..."



Rose from Legend of Dragoon (ps1) though more because she was such a badass... SUCH A BADASS...

Spoiler: death dragoon... yes

Naoto Shirogane from Persona 4 (ps2)... because its Naoto, and saying anything more would ruin it :3 but Kanji Tatsumi as well from the same game, cause 'HE'S THE MAN!!'

Spoiler: Kanjis the man

(<3 the anime of P4)

and of course Morrigan from Dragon Age: Origins (ps3), for she is the queen of snark~

Spoiler: first time she meets Alistair... that straight face...

suppose Ali would count to... if just for the arguing between these two

 

[FPLOON]

Have to give that honor to my main man:

Spoiler: Yeah!

http://img4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130220004142/entertainment1/images/4/47/TopTenVGIcons8.png

It's always a party when he burst into the room, punching enemies in the face, and collecting enough lums to go on a disco frenzy afterwards!

 

[Ten Foot Bunny]

Guybrush Threepwood from Monkey Island. Just a fun character, no needlessly gritty backstory, no growly badass one-liners. Just an enthusiastic man-child who wants to be a pirate. (and he can hold his breath for 10 minutes)

YES! Actually, mine is a tossup between Guybrush, Elaine Marley, Stan, and LeChuck. They're like perfectly arranged dominoes: you can't remove any of them. To be honest, most of the Monkey Island characters are on my fave list. Herman Toothrot, the pirate who wants you to ask him about Loom, the Head of the Navigator, the cannibals, Murray...

And look behind you! It's a three-headed monkey!

Two of the newest entries on my fave list are Handsome Jack and Tiny Tina from Borderlands 2 (okay, Tina was in BL1 as well, but she's doubly great in BL2).

Also, as sick to death as I was with GTA V by the time I finished story mode and got to rank 130 in GTAO, Trevor Phillips is one of the best characters in years. He may be a walking tornado, but I grew to love him once he revealed his progressive views on sexual preference and women. Franklin was like this too and I really hope his story gets fleshed out more in DLC (if R* ever decides to focus on the story rather than online).

EDIT - I can't believe I forgot Crypto from Destroy All Humans!