are there any video game villains you find oddly relatable
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Been thinking about this now for about five minuets before i began typing and after reviewing my games collection i can't realy come up with a decent answer, the best i can do is Glados from portal, but realy thats more todo with the fact that the player character is completely mute and Glados is the only other thing in the game. I suppose the main characters from saints row could be considered villians because they are criminals after all, but i can't think of an example in any game i own where i've played as the good character and not thought the bad guy was bad. Again this is probably due to the fact that in most games the bad guys try to kill you, which as rules go tend to make you dislike them.
Actualy last second edition before i posted this, Hugh Darrow from deus ex human revolution, i remember upon confronting him to more or less agree with his ideas but disagree with his methods.
Actualy last second edition before i posted this, Hugh Darrow from deus ex human revolution, i remember upon confronting him to more or less agree with his ideas but disagree with his methods.
Darth Malak.
Malak was a psychotic evil dictator who was "Disney evil", but by the end of KoTOR I just felt sorry for him. He was always overshadowed and second best to Revan his entire life, both before and after falling to the dark side. His attempt to kill Revan was just him trying to get out of Revan's shadow and have some power for himself. By the end of the game you've defeated him yet again, even after all Malak has done, he still can't get out of Revan's shadow. It was quite sad actually.
Malak was a psychotic evil dictator who was "Disney evil", but by the end of KoTOR I just felt sorry for him. He was always overshadowed and second best to Revan his entire life, both before and after falling to the dark side. His attempt to kill Revan was just him trying to get out of Revan's shadow and have some power for himself. By the end of the game you've defeated him yet again, even after all Malak has done, he still can't get out of Revan's shadow. It was quite sad actually.
No, not really.
I just ran through my entire list of games and didn't come up with anyone.
The closest I could get was Dr Breen from Half Life 2 and Saren Artiwhatever from Mass Effect. I like the idea of a pragmatist who sees an unstoppable threat and seeks to mitigate it through collaboration. However, I only liked them in theory. In practice they were not sufficiently well realized to evoke the proper emotions or connections. Breen needlessly acted like a dick and Saren's dialogue was too shitty to carry any weight.
Andrew Ryan from Bioshock had a definite charisma about him. Great character. Wouldn't say he was exactly "relatable" though.
Really, video games are severely lacking in the villain department overall. The best most developers can come up with by way of an antagonist is a faceless evil army or an angry guy from whatever-country-America-doesn't-like out for power and/or revenge.
I just ran through my entire list of games and didn't come up with anyone.
The closest I could get was Dr Breen from Half Life 2 and Saren Artiwhatever from Mass Effect. I like the idea of a pragmatist who sees an unstoppable threat and seeks to mitigate it through collaboration. However, I only liked them in theory. In practice they were not sufficiently well realized to evoke the proper emotions or connections. Breen needlessly acted like a dick and Saren's dialogue was too shitty to carry any weight.
Andrew Ryan from Bioshock had a definite charisma about him. Great character. Wouldn't say he was exactly "relatable" though.
Really, video games are severely lacking in the villain department overall. The best most developers can come up with by way of an antagonist is a faceless evil army or an angry guy from whatever-country-America-doesn't-like out for power and/or revenge.
Not really relatable, but definitely understandable (i.e. not cliche evil for evil's sake, but actual motivation): Stolos from Advance Wars Dark Conflict.
He's driven by curiosity and his desire for scientific progress, to the point of considering morality/ ethics to be a barrier.
He's driven by curiosity and his desire for scientific progress, to the point of considering morality/ ethics to be a barrier.
Saren Arterius from mass effect comes to mind. He was just trying to save people from the reapers and then he got himself indoctrinated. I really felt sorry for him.
Most recently, Cid Raines from FFXIII. I don't know if he really counts as a villian, but you do fight him at one point, so let's just say he does.
Yup. Pretty much what I was going to say. i think it's especially meaningful that you can talk him down (which means killing himself) to try to make amends for what he did.Robot n.o 9124791234 said:
Other than that, my games collection is kind of sparse of villains I can relate to. There are villains I really like and I think are great, such as the Joker, but I can't relate to them on a personal level, such as agreeing in any way with what they did.
The End from Metal Gear Solid 3. Lots of foligae over my face. Sleeps a lot. Good with a rifle. Dies if the Playstation isn't on for a week.
Kael'thas Sunstrider. He was always compared to his father and failed his people in his every endeavour. Someone with good intentions, initially at least, and with the right motivation coupled with the worst fortune and circumstances. Forever to be remembered as a disappointment in the grand scheme of things.
Seifer from Final Fantasy 8. "Relatable" is perhaps not quite the right word for him actually, he's clearly insane. But it's easy to follow his thought processes and track how his character is changing, and in a strange way to sympathise with him.
Also Glados from the Portal games, through sheer excellent writing.
Also Liquid Snake in MGS2, because he wanted to kill Raiden and so did I.
Cool topic
Also Glados from the Portal games, through sheer excellent writing.
Also Liquid Snake in MGS2, because he wanted to kill Raiden and so did I.
Cool topic
+1 For Saren from Mass Effect along with his side kick Matriarch Benezia, Saren thought he could stop the Reapers from annihilating all organic life by building bridges with them. Benezia thought she could guide Saren and stop him.
Both ended up indoctrinated despite their good intentions.
Both ended up indoctrinated despite their good intentions.
I oddly feel like Bowser from Mario Kart when I go to the go-kart races. They're small, and I am broad shouldered and muscular, so I fit into the cart on the bottom half, but I'm top heavy. Then when I take a turn I spin out. I blame banana peels and Donkey Kong....
Yes, this. Adachi was a pretty brilliant character overall. I could identify with some of his motivations.totally heterosexual said:
Similarly, STREGA in Persona 3.
Weigraf Folles from Final Fantasy Tactics.
Probably the best character from that game that can't truly be called a "main character". A man who fights for his country during its time of need only to get thrown to the wolves when he's finished bleeding for it. In return, he tries to stand up to the regime that tossed him aside and instead becomes the very thing he hates by doing do; A perfect example of "He who fights monsters, etc...".
I thought he was a great and well-characterized persona from the get-go, but having served in the military and subsequently been treated poorly by it since then (despite nabbing my honorable discharge), I've come to relate to him on a few more levels. Hell, even when he becomes corrupted, I still find myself agreeing with him (but that's only because I'm a pretty twisted person to begin with).
Can't relate to the dead sister motivation, though.
Probably the best character from that game that can't truly be called a "main character". A man who fights for his country during its time of need only to get thrown to the wolves when he's finished bleeding for it. In return, he tries to stand up to the regime that tossed him aside and instead becomes the very thing he hates by doing do; A perfect example of "He who fights monsters, etc...".
I thought he was a great and well-characterized persona from the get-go, but having served in the military and subsequently been treated poorly by it since then (despite nabbing my honorable discharge), I've come to relate to him on a few more levels. Hell, even when he becomes corrupted, I still find myself agreeing with him (but that's only because I'm a pretty twisted person to begin with).
Can't relate to the dead sister motivation, though.