Game protagonists who show weakness

[Lt._nefarious]

Well James from Silent Hill 2 is weak, cowardly, crazy, stupid and really comes of as a bit of a dick at times. He spends the most of the game having no idea what is going on and the only other "normal" people he either kills, angers or frightens...
Daniel from Amnesia is weak and has the mental stability of a cocaine addled Jason Voorhees.
Everyone in Heavy Rain has a weakness, insomnia, depression, overweight and drug abusing respectively.
Alan Wake frequently makes bad decisions, like getting out of his face on booze, and literally writes himself into a corner.

 

[Padwolf]

No mentions of Silent Hill 2? Oh yay there is one ^_^ My favourite game of all time. Go and try that one, OP, the game tends to revolve around James weaknesses and state of mind.

Alan Wake is another good one for that.
Metal Gear Solid, Snake and Raiden and a few others all show some weakness throughout the game.
Heavy Rain is filled with characters that all have a weakness.
LA Noire, GO PLAY THIS GAME!!! Detective Cole Phelps is often haunted by the memory of the war, haunted by his own actions.
Lost Odyssey. I don't know whether to call it weakness or strength, it's shown as both. The protagnist is bothered by what he is, what he has seen and been through, and it shows in all the stories told through the game.
Dead Space.
Silent Hill Shattered Memories
Alice: Madness Returns
Final Fantasy (most of them)

There are many more out there, go and enjoy!

 

[spartan231490]

Assassin's creed when altair begins as a deluded blind follower.

 

[redmoretrout]

The prince from prince of Persia Sands of time on the PS2. He was flawed, he was impulsive and more often then not that got him into a few very tough scrapes, not to mention his affection blinded him to his companion's true goal who not only played him for a chump (albeit clearly feeling bad for thinking of doing so) and which got him pretty much screwed in the end.

Thats a damn good example of a flawed character touché.

CoD4: MW also had a brilliant moment of weakness, where after clearing out half a city's population worth of enemies a nuke comes down whilst you're on the air and the radiation poisoning slowly kills you as you crawl out of the downed chopper. It really grants a sense of danger and completely changes the face of the game after that.

I don't usually play the campaigns of those games so I don't know the particular scene your are talking about. However, it sounds like the protagonist gives his life for his country becoming a martyr for whatever cause he fought for. When a soldier dies on a battlefield no one thinks less of him, indeed quite the opposite people respect or even admire that. That doesnt seem like a weakness to me.

Batman Arkham Asylum and Arkham city are perfect examples of a powerfull, however vulnerable, protagonist. Batman might be the goddamn batman, but a lowly thug can get you killed if you screw up during a brawl or if you're caught by a henchmen wielding a machine gun. Both games also convey batman's slow deterioration via his suit getting visibily damaged after big events and as you progress you also see batman's demeanor slowly changing towards a more tired and "I've no more time for this BS" fashion, indicating that despite being a badass super-hero, he's just a man, he has limitations and is only as skilled as the player allows him to be.

A man overcoming enormous obstacles despite all odds and contining push forward despite his wounds is not a weakness. He is only vulnerable to make his victories more heroic and impressive. There is never a moment where Batman doubts himself, he never shows any sign of being fearful or intimidated. The player never feels outmatched as he always has a gadget or trick up his sleeve. Every player know for certain that Batman will succeed, and is never given cause to doubt this. (I mean storywise, of course the player can die, at the end of the game Batman WILL save Gotham.)

 

[Milkman]

First off, can I say that this is an excellent forum? I wholeheartedly agree that protagonists need to show more of their humanity. I wrote a blog on Red Dead Wiki about how John Marston is one of my all-time favourite characters, because of how human he is.

I agree that a lot of it may be simply for the sake of empowerment, and its a trend I wish would stop. Off the top of my head, I can say that I like Ethan Mars, simply because he's an average bloke.

I remember in a recent video for Obsidian's Project Eternity where Chris Avellone (one of Obsidian's writers) goes on about how he writes companion characters so that they stroke the player's ego. Really, Avellone? REALLY? This is a major reason why I can only take Western RPG writing half-seriously. The protagonists are never properly flawed and anytime someone does throw criticism it's presented in the most strawman manner possible. Game writers, start actually writing characters instead of using games to make players big-headed. Maybe then narrative will actually improve for the medium.

That's just ridiculous. I really hate it when writers try to hard to make characters too much of an utter badass. I mean, it works for Dante, but more serious stories need realistic characters who aren't characters at all, but people. I need to believe that the person as whom I'm playing is a person with a life outside the plot; the best way to do this is by showing us their humanity.

 

[N3squ1ck]

I have never played that particular Call of Duty, but it sounds like the protagonist gives his life for his country. Becoming a martyr for whatever cause he fought for. When a soldier dies on a battlefield no one thinks less of him, indeed quite the opposite people respect or even admire that. That doesnt seem like a weakness to me.

Basically the loading screen then shows his name among with all the other ppl killed and he is just becoming an unimportant number in a statistic. So yeah...

Also:
The Guy from CoD Blops, I forgot his name, is

Spoiler

Seeing his dead friend and getting crazy

The Guy from Hotline Miami

Spoiler

gets almost killed and has to escape the police in the hospital while passing out every so often, also is seeing people weirdly, possibly drugged, and he dies with one hit

Gerald from the Witcher can't remember half his life and keeps trying to learn what happened

The Guy from Spec Ops: The Line. Do I even have to say anything about that?

The Kid from Limbo can't fight and is killed by everything.


Sorry for my horrible memory for names, I can't remember the guys from CoD and Spec Ops

 

[thejackyl]

Joe Capeli from Resistance 3 - After the train sequence
Jackie Estacado from The Darkness (Mainly at the end of the games first "Act")
Murphy Pendleton from Silent Hill: Downpour, before his fight with "The Boogeyman"
James Sunderland from Silent Hill 2
Heather from SH3 - When she gets home.
You from Demon's Souls/Dark Souls - No matter what you do/how you build your character you can still be killed by nearly everything in the game. I will admit, I was running around at level 300 and ended up getting killed when I ran into a horde of hollows (The easiest enemies in the game). Right after the Boar in the Undead Burg/Parish. And every boss has a way to either one-shot you or combo you to death

 

[Beautiful End]

There's plenty of characters so I don't know what you're talking about or what games you've been playing.

Hell, even CoD has a couple, though I admit they're not exactly meant to bring tears to your eyes. The characters in those games are soldiers so they're kinda meant to be strong and reliable.

The ones that come to mind right now: Nathan Drake from Uncharted (I believe even Yahtzee acknowledges it), most of the characters in Odin Sphere...actually most RPGs, everyone in Heavy Rain, even Jak and Daxter...man, it would take me hours to list them all up.

It all goes back to the kind of game you're playing and how much you can relate to the character you're playing. Most characters show some sort of weakness, some are better developers than others. I could sit here and try to explain how Solid Snake is flawed and weak and someone else might come in and contradict me with a good argument that could be as good as mine. It's a matter of opinion.

 

[Tallim]

I cannot think of a single protagonist in a videogame who shows weakness, which may be one the primary reasons why games tend to be terrible at character and plot development. The lack of a interesting and believable protagonist will hold back any story no matter how good.


My theory suggests that in an attempt to my the player feel empowered, game designers have severly inhabited there protagonists from acting like people with faults and weaknesses.


Can you name a game protagonist who has weaknesses and contradict my theory?

You mean other than:

Spoiler

and many more....

Yeah, I wondered if you actually play any games with characters in them or not...

Aw no Laharl and his incredibly amusing weakness.....


OT:
Indigo Prophecy and Heavy Rain have them in various ways, both emotional and physical weaknesses.

 

[RedDeadFred]

Assassin's creed when altair begins as a deluded blind follower.

Not only that, he couldn't eve swim. That's a pretty big weakness for an assassin.

 

[Mikeyfell]

I cannot think of a single protagonist in a videogame who shows weakness, which may be one the primary reasons why games tend to be terrible at character and plot development. The lack of a interesting and believable protagonist will hold back any story no matter how good.


My theory suggests that in an attempt to my the player feel empowered, game designers have severly inhabited there protagonists from acting like people with faults and weaknesses.


Can you name a game protagonist who has weaknesses and contradict my theory?

Seriously? Not a one?

I guess if you mostly play games where the developers treat writing the same way arachnophobes treat spiders that sort of thing could happen.

Lee from The Walking Dead
Max from Max Payne 3
Vincent from Catherine
Leo and Ladius from Record of Agarest War
Ezio from Assassin's Creed 2
Nico from GTA4
John from Red Dead
Kratos from God of War
James from Silent Hill 2
Monkey from Enslaved
Dust from Dust: an Elysian Tail
Frank from Dead Rising 2 OTR
Cole Phelps from L.A. Noire
The Prince from Sands of Time
Shepard from Mass Effect 3
Hell, even Batman from Arkham City

And those are only the ones who's names I remembered off the top of my head.
It sounds to me like you just need to play some better games.

 

[SoranMBane]

CoD4: MW also had a brilliant moment of weakness, where after clearing out half a city's population worth of enemies a nuke comes down whilst you're on the air and the radiation poisoning slowly kills you as you crawl out of the downed chopper. It really grants a sense of danger and completely changes the face of the game after that.

I don't usually play the campaigns of those games so I don't know the particular scene your are talking about. However, it sounds like the protagonist gives his life for his country becoming a martyr for whatever cause he fought for. When a soldier dies on a battlefield no one thinks less of him, indeed quite the opposite people respect or even admire that. That doesnt seem like a weakness to me.

Believe me, that scene is not a heroic sacrifice at all, just a tragedy. Nothing good or constructive comes out of the protagonist's death, and while he does die attempting to save a fellow soldier, that attempt just ended up getting them, you, and the rest of your squad all killed (not to mention the 30,000 other Marines all throughout the city that also died in that blast). The message is pretty clear; in war, the universe doesn't care if you're the "hero" or not, because it'll snuff you out just as easily as anyone else, and when it does, your death will be just another meaningless statistic. Sgt. Jackson is a name only the player will ever remember, and it's a sad memory, not a proud one.

 

[Pandabearparade]

That's the point you blithering idiot! It's to show that for all Hawke's combat prowess and silver tonged words s/he still can't stop her own city from falling into ruin.

The problem isn't that you couldn't stop it right then and there, the problem is that there were extremely obvious preventative measures Hawke could have taken years beforehand to stop it. You're not allowed to because Hawke is a plot prop with a bad haircut that gets railroaded from one faux choice to another without ever having even an ounce of agency to prevent the game's pre-baked outcomes.

 

[Austin Howe]

Uhm, Squall Leonhart anyone? Raiden maybe? "We're out here, we bleed, we die!" That man is scared.

 

[Syzygy23]

Lloyd from Tales of Symphonia.

Spoiler

After escaping from The Tower of Salvation he realize that he risked dooming the world simply to save a friend and feels like a selfish hypocrite

Yuri from Tales of Vesperia

Spoiler

He got trust issues and has sees how the poor and powerless suffer from corrupt leaders so he acts in ways that are illegal to set things straight.

Luke from Tales of the Abyss. He's spoiled douche who snaps at everyone.

Batman in Arkham City

Spoiler

He's sick most of the time

Oh, and Kingdom Hearts, full of flawed protagonists.

He's sick most of the time? Then how the hell is he kicking SO MUCH ASS?

What we need are characters with flaws that are ACTUAL impediments to either them, their team, or their family/friends.

 

[Starik20X6]

Luigi. His weakness being the conflict between his cowardly nature and his desire to help.

 

[Jessta]

I cannot think of a single protagonist in a videogame who shows weakness, which may be one the primary reasons why games tend to be terrible at character and plot development. The lack of a interesting and believable protagonist will hold back any story no matter how good.


My theory suggests that in an attempt to my the player feel empowered, game designers have severly inhabited there protagonists from acting like people with faults and weaknesses.


Can you name a game protagonist who has weaknesses and contradict my theory?

Fei Fong Wong (Xenogears), Cloud Strife (Final Fantasy VII), Ashley Riot (Vagrant Story), Ramza Beoulve (Final Fantasy Tactics), Denam Pavel (Tactics Ogre), Lenneth Valkyrie (Valkyrie Profile), Dante and Nero (Devil May Cry), Ragna the Bloodedge and Noel Vermillion (Blazblue), Aya Brea (Parasite Eve), Samus Aran (Metroid), etc. Common element between these: they're all from Japan. I might be able to pull one or two from Western devs, but most of them are just wish fulfillment dolls. This is why I've never bought that the West writes better stories because they RARELY try to write protagonists as a character and not some ego trip for the player.

I remember hearing somewhere this is because while most JRPGS are focused on the protagonist and their journey western rpgs are focused on the setting and it's wonders.
Also about half of those are square enix titles which is reknowned for their characters being sort of 'emo angst' buckets with a mess of personal problems.

 

[immortalfrieza]

I cannot think of a single protagonist in a videogame who shows weakness, which may be one the primary reasons why games tend to be terrible at character and plot development. The lack of a interesting and believable protagonist will hold back any story no matter how good.


My theory suggests that in an attempt to my the player feel empowered, game designers have severly inhabited there protagonists from acting like people with faults and weaknesses.


Can you name a game protagonist who has weaknesses and contradict my theory?

I don't know what kind of games you play, but they must be pretty different from the norm. I'm the opposite, I can't think of a game that actually has characterization that doesn't have a flawed, weakness filled protagonist that has to conquer these weaknesses in order to survive the game.

 

[immortalfrieza]

Lloyd from Tales of Symphonia.

Spoiler

After escaping from The Tower of Salvation he realize that he risked dooming the world simply to save a friend and feels like a selfish hypocrite

Yuri from Tales of Vesperia

Spoiler

He got trust issues and has sees how the poor and powerless suffer from corrupt leaders so he acts in ways that are illegal to set things straight.

Luke from Tales of the Abyss. He's spoiled douche who snaps at everyone.

Batman in Arkham City

Spoiler

He's sick most of the time

Oh, and Kingdom Hearts, full of flawed protagonists.

He's sick most of the time? Then how the hell is he kicking SO MUCH ASS?

What we need are characters with flaws that are ACTUAL impediments to either them, their team, or their family/friends.

...And how are those things Yopaz mentioned NOT an impediment?