Worst non silent protagonist you have seen?

[Oscarzx n]

What is the worst videogame protagonist you have seen? and to make it more interesting let's exclude silent protagonist since those can be very boring but it'll be more interesting to see the ones that are just poorly done including their personality

For what I have played I'll personally go with Itsuki Aoi from Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE, because he's just boring, has a really bland personality, most of the interesting stuff happens because of the other characters while he is just kind of there and overall he just kind of feels like a silent protagonist that was made an spoken one in the last minute, and it kind of annoys me how basically all the female characters fall in love with him in the side stories for very basic reasons, I get 1 or 2, but beyond that feels really forced. Some also have the theory that probably Tsubasa was going to be the main character but they changed it to Itsuki to have a male main character, if that was the case it sucks and they also did a half assed job, and all of that it's a shame since I really like Tokyo Mirage Sessions

 

[PlanetSmasher]

What was the name of the kid from Tales of Symphonia 2? That asshole.

Some also have the theory that probably Tsubasa was going to be the main character but they changed it to Itsuki to have a male main character, if that was the case it sucks and they also did a half assed job, and all of that it's a shame since I really like Tokyo Mirage Sessions

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If the protagonist is the focus of a bunch of harem nonsense, it seems unlikely that they originally planned for one of the girls to be the MC. Harem protagonists are just designed to be boring blank slates so guys can project themselves into the MC easier. Harem shit sucks.

 

[Soulflarz]

Probs not the worst but desmond miles was the lack of characterization for the entire time I played AC as a series.

 

[Dusk Golem]

"Bobcat in your face!" "M.C. Bubster the pounce master in the game yeh!" "Gimmie, Gimmie, Gimmie!" "Remember: I am a trained purr-fessional."

Bubsy deserves every bit of misfortune he's received.

 

[Weiss]

What was the name of the kid from Tales of Symphonia 2? That asshole.



If the protagonist is the focus of a bunch of harem nonsense, it seems unlikely that they originally planned for one of the girls to be the MC. Harem protagonists are just designed to be boring blank slates so guys can project themselves into the MC easier. Harem shit sucks.

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His name is Emil and he is also my vote.

Lloyd Irving wasn't exactly a stellar piece of character writing but he was an endearing lughead who taught himself how to fight with two swords because if a sword had an attack power of 100 then two swords would have 200 and decided to make it his life's goal to end racism.

Emil is basically Shinji Ikari with a bog standard badass anime superpowered evil side and a teenage girl sidekick who constantly fawns over him despite not displaying a single positive personality trait.

 

[Desma]

Asbel from Tales of Graces

You moron, you dumbass, you prick.

 

[Tochtli79]

Corrin Fire Emblem. Just awful. You can't have a morally questionable protagonist that's also a vehicle for player worship, because what happens is the plot implodes on itself trying to justify everything they do even when it's clearly wrong.

 

[Spring-Loaded]

Aiden Pearce from Watch_Dogs

 

[Scottoest]

Any Sonic game where he talks.

 

[bluexy]

Relatively few protagonists have genuinely ruined a game experience for me, but one that always stands out in my mind is Final Fantasy 10's Tidus. I couldn't stand the guy, and a large part of it was his English voice acting.

 

[Weiss]

Aiden Pearce from Watch_Dogs

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Was Aiden Pearce always a pony

Was this the plot twist of Watch Dogs

 

[Manu]

The guy from Prototype 2.

 

[Kouriozan]

Edge in Star Ocean 4, it was really hard to play this game with him, and then they introduce Lymle....

Spoiler if you care about that

 

[TheChungusAmongUs]

It's Aiden Pearce from WatchDogs 1.

He is the only protagonist I've ever played that is so detestable and so much of the events of the narrative are directly his fault, but the game constantly tries to bend over backwards to say "no, he's an anti-hero". He never reflects on what he is doing, or that it is explicitly his fault. He just keeps going and going and the game treats every atrocity he commits as justified.

And it's more confusing because Ubisoft keeps brining him back.

I genuinely don't know who at ubisoft or watch dogs players who keep asking for Aiden to keep coming back.

 

[edgefusion]

Grand Theft Auto V is a story about Trevor and Michael, their relationship to one another and to the criminal underworld. Then there is Franklin who exists for some reason.

 

[Deleted member 56803]

That game with anime Chopin. Actually, I just hated everyone in that game.

 

[Baron Von Beans]

Most recently, and while not a specific named character, the hunter you play as in the MH Rise demo. This is the first game that they've had actual spoken words. In the time playing the demo, their talking was so damned annoying, always saying something while carving, or any other menial task that you will do in Mh like 100000 times. I was very happy to learn that I could turn off the player hunter talking.

 

[zma1013]

Deacon St John from Days Gone. He is just constantly talking at all times and is perpetually stuck in pissy mode yelling to himself bitching about everything.

Like dude just shut up for 5 seconds please.

 

[TheChungusAmongUs]

Deacon St John from Days Gone. He is just constantly talking at all times and is perpetually stuck in pissy mode yelling to himself bitching about everything.

Like dude just shut up for 5 seconds please.

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Nah dude. I love Deacons absolutely unhinged ranting and raving.

My only problem is there is a clear difference between cutscene Deacon and game Deacon.

 

[spman2099]

Velvet from Berseria was awful. She is just chockfull of edgy, grimdark nonsense. Worse yet, for all her edge and big talk, she inevitably just acts like a typical Tales protagonist (she just snarls as she does it). So lame.

 

[Readler]

This annoying douche.

 

[Farrac]

Itsuki from TMS is indeed a 99% a bland boring character who is intended to be a player self-insert and a conduit for harem shenanigans.

The other 1% is the best food critic I've ever seen in my life.

 

[Gacha Santa Alter]

Corrin Fire Emblem. Just awful. You can't have a morally questionable protagonist that's also a vehicle for player worship, because what happens is the plot implodes on itself trying to justify everything they do even when it's clearly wrong.

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And done.

I have mixed feelings about avatars in Fire Emblem being an active part of the story and Fates just proves you can't have a decent plot with the avatar also being the lord. If you really have to, make them a secondary character like Kris in the FE3 remake.

 

[Soap]

Tidus in unbearable. I stopped my FFX rerun very early on and I can't recall any games turning me off a product like that.

 

[ClickyCal']

Obvious answer, Samus in Other M.

 

[OddRonald]

Deacon St John in Days Gone is the right side of stupidly over the top hollywood style protagonist. Jason Brody in Far Cry 3 is where that goes wrong, just the worst guy, big old white saviour frat boy

 

[disgraciau]

This annoying douche.

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[Het_Nkik]

What was the name of the kid from Tales of Symphonia 2? That asshole.

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EMIL!

I had to stop playing that game because of... the entire cast. Couldn't hang with how annoying it was.

 

[Kinthey]

The guy from Prototype 2.

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This one came to my mind as well. I didn't even play much but I remember him just being an asshole to everyone

 

[PlanetSmasher]

This one came to my mind as well. I didn't even play much but I remember him just being an asshole to everyone

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Really, both Prototype leads were assholes.

 

[Zeal543]

any MC in a "horror" game who can't shut the fuck up

 

[Trisc]

This annoying douche.

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I heavily disagree. Cole Phelps is a fascinating character study for translating film noir tropes to a video game. Film noir is a subgenre defined by leads and supporting casts just as flawed as the villains, if not moreso. Their control over their own lives pales in comparison to your typical lead in fiction, with avoidable complications in the story often being the result of their own vices, as opposed to actions of the antagonist personally impacting them.

How then, do you turn a film noir lead into a video game character, a medium where characters are often only as flawed as the player controlling them? Simply put, you redefine the agency of the player and their relationship to the player character. Are you Cole Phelps? No, not really. When you're in control, he can be the ultimate detective, solving cases left and write and nailing perps with ease.

You're directing Cole Phelps to solve cases and push the narrative forward, but ultimately his actions when he's off the clock aren't your own. Him being a flawless investigator doesn't detract from the fact that he's a shitty person, and that's part of what makes him such a compelling protagonist.

(Major story spoilers are tagged)

Cole is a remarkably open-minded man for a white cop in the 40's, but he's also an adulterer, glory hound, and coward, who accepted a silver star simply for living through the Battle of Okinawa. This, in spite of having also gotten nearly three dozen friendlies killed on his watch due to aforementioned glory hound tendencies. While the other survivors of his unit got to take home horrific trauma from the slaughter, Cole got a medal. It's not until his life comes crashing down after his adultery is exposed during the Vice desk that Cole starts to turn his attention towards seeking actual justice, rather than inflating his own ego. Prior to that, his motivations align with that of the player: get the perfect ratings and earn those desk promotions.

That side of Phelps is one you're distant to as the player, and learn over the course of the story as you see him develop as a character when you're not in control of him. He's a fundamentally, deeply flawed man (the definition of the film noir lead) without falling into genre clichés, like being an outrageously racist, anti-Semitic, or misogynistic prick.

Frankly, the fact that Cole dies midway through the Arson desk is one of the most shocking moments in the story, and all too fitting for his arc. Putting the last pieces of the story together as Kelso, another survivor of his unit at Okinawa, really puts into perspective just how little you as the player knew about the lead.

 

[Firenoh]

Jack Fremont

 

[SNRUB]

Jak's kinda unlikable because he's just an outright douche.

 

[pbayne]

That game with anime Chopin. Actually, I just hated everyone in that game.

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Eternal Sonata.
Yeah fucking hell the whole cast of that game was bad

 

[Sandcrawler]

Gex and Duke Nukem have not aged well in this regard.

 

[Twstr709]

Yourself in Nioh 2. I never understood why they made that choice. They didn't even have to use William again. It could've been someone totally new. The silence in the cutscenes just makes it even more weird.

 

[julia crawford]

Someone is going to come here and mention Squall and they should slap themselves for it

 

[grosvenor92]

It's Aiden Pearce from WatchDogs 1.

He is the only protagonist I've ever played that is so detestable and so much of the events of the narrative are directly his fault, but the game constantly tries to bend over backwards to say "no, he's an anti-hero". He never reflects on what he is doing, or that it is explicitly his fault. He just keeps going and going and the game treats every atrocity he commits as justified.

And it's more confusing because Ubisoft keeps brining him back.

I genuinely don't know who at ubisoft or watch dogs players who keep asking for Aiden to keep coming back.

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I agree with this. Marcus and crew are so much better in the second game.

Having not played Legion I'm guessing they don't make an appearance

 

[Wrapped in Black]

How is it not objectively the dude from Ride to Hell: Retribution

 

[Deleted member 17388]

Gex and Duke Nukem have not aged well in this regard.

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[SPRidley]

It's Aiden Pearce from WatchDogs 1.

He is the only protagonist I've ever played that is so detestable and so much of the events of the narrative are directly his fault, but the game constantly tries to bend over backwards to say "no, he's an anti-hero". He never reflects on what he is doing, or that it is explicitly his fault. He just keeps going and going and the game treats every atrocity he commits as justified.

And it's more confusing because Ubisoft keeps brining him back.

I genuinely don't know who at ubisoft or watch dogs players who keep asking for Aiden to keep coming back.

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I do think that Ubisoft has a big problem the first time they try to do characters in some of their franchises. Altais was more subdue, and change a ton after the first game evety time he appeared, but he had basically the same problems as Aiden.

The are so similar Ubisoft always has to oversteer and make the sequels have a more comedic protagonist. Like Ezio and Marcus.

I dont know but somebody there really likes the stoic, zero personality, edgy protagonist and tries to force them always in their new franchises lol

 

[Faiyaz]

Corrin from Fire Emblem Fates is utter TRASH. Holy shit he/she is the worst part of an already terrible story.

 

[TheRulingRing]

Trevor in GTA5.

He has no redeeming factors, even in an "ironic" way.

 

[Paper Wario]

Deacon St John in Days Gone is the right side of stupidly over the top hollywood style protagonist. Jason Brody in Far Cry 3 is where that goes wrong, just the worst guy, big old white saviour frat boy

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Far Cry 3 easily

 

[N.47H.4N]

Jake Muller, I hate this guy.

 

[EarlGreyHot]

EDGE MAVERICK (Star Ocean 4)

What a dumbass. 'Oh let's give that Nazi lady future tech, what could go wrong?'

 

[Deleted member 3082]

Tidus in unbearable. I stopped my FFX rerun very early on and I can't recall any games turning me off a product like that.

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That's my answer. One of many reasons I despise FFX and fell away from the series entirely because of it. And yes, I know the laughing scene is supposed to be hammy, he still sucks.

 

[BasilZero]

Corrin Fire Emblem. Just awful. You can't have a morally questionable protagonist that's also a vehicle for player worship, because what happens is the plot implodes on itself trying to justify everything they do even when it's clearly wrong.

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Corrin's not silent....at least in my game he isnt (Currently playing FE Fates lol).

I mis read the thread title lmao

But ya, some of the actions of Corrin were mind boggling. I'm playing Birthright now and the fact that he was okay fighting against the people who he lived with most of his life and just went along with the opposite nation is just lol.

 

[Revali]

Velvet Crowe from Tales of Berseria. So edgy she makes Sasuke seem like a gummy worm wrapped in a circle by comparison.