the protagonist from Pokemon only never sees his father and if he chooses the grass type he loses all the battles.
Game protagonists who show weakness
- Thread starter redmoretrout
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I'm surprised no one's brought up Wander from Shadow of the Colossus yet. He's so determined, and one could even say desperate, to bring his girlfriend back from the dead that he does everything some voice from above says at the promise of reviving her. And in the end...well, let's just say it doesn't work out too well. I'd say Wander's failure to come to terms with death is a general weakness, for starters.
Also I'll throw BioShock's protagonist out there as well seeing as he has no control over his circumstances for the majority of the game and is forced to rely on other people telling him what he should do. Weakness of that nature only becomes more apparent the further into the game you get.
Also I'll throw BioShock's protagonist out there as well seeing as he has no control over his circumstances for the majority of the game and is forced to rely on other people telling him what he should do. Weakness of that nature only becomes more apparent the further into the game you get.
Raziel - Legacy Of Kain: There are many moments and I am pretty sure at one point or another every character has their low points even the Jaded bad ass Kain.
but the one that really stands out to me is "History Abhors a Paradox"
EDIT:And I don't know about you but my Shepard has many weakness and has showed it quite a bit in my play throughs.
but the one that really stands out to me is "History Abhors a Paradox"
EDIT:And I don't know about you but my Shepard has many weakness and has showed it quite a bit in my play throughs.
It's not really like that.redmoretrout said:
Basically, you're getting out of the city, and a friendly chopper goes down, and only the pilot survives. Your CO basically says the good old "no one left behind" line and you and a bunch of other guys go down to save the pilot. You get to her, get her in the chopper, get flying, and boom goes the nuke.
Next thing you know, you're playing as a stumbling dying soldier who can only observe the massive devastation around him before dying a slow (and probably painful) death for no good reason.
Shepard..in a way
in ME3 you get the whole thing with the dreams and can see the stress is starting to show (not to mention that whole thing at the end)
I was actually seriously hoping for this...I couldnt have imagined going through the galaxy burning with shepards ususaly "we can do this if we work together!" shtick
in ME3 you get the whole thing with the dreams and can see the stress is starting to show (not to mention that whole thing at the end)
I was actually seriously hoping for this...I couldnt have imagined going through the galaxy burning with shepards ususaly "we can do this if we work together!" shtick
I think it's waaaaaaay harder to find a protaginist with no weaknesses. Yes even in RPGs where your character is a blank slate. That just means he's either weak at everything or the skill points you don't assign to whatever area of expertise is your weakness. There's really too many characters with weaknesses you can name.
This just in: OP has actually never played a video game.
Seriously though, if you think about it for more than five seconds, almost all main characters have weaknesses, unless they're Duke Nukem.
Seriously though, if you think about it for more than five seconds, almost all main characters have weaknesses, unless they're Duke Nukem.
Morrigan-Dragon Age Origins
Lighting-Final Fantasy XIII
Solid Snake-Metal Gear Solid
Nathan Drake-Uncharted
Silent Hill 2-James Sunderland
There are a ton of them.
Lighting-Final Fantasy XIII
Solid Snake-Metal Gear Solid
Nathan Drake-Uncharted
Silent Hill 2-James Sunderland
There are a ton of them.
Naked Snake/Big Boss From Metal Gear Solid 3
The entire game he struggles accepting the fact that a true soldier follows orders until the end no matter what - even if it means killing his closest friend/mentor - even if it means dying as a scapegoat for your country (The Boss). Years after the game's finished he still cant truly accept that.
I loved that moment where the Ceph STEP on you while your trying to defibrilate yourself.erttheking said:
Batman from Arkham games is a definite choice.
Isaac Clarke in the first two Dead Spaces, yes even Dead Space 2. (Better equipment + Experience can mean that it does not = No Weakness)
The Dovahkiin is Mortal
Noble 6, despite being a Spartan isn't invincible. He definitely shows this and even then still has a stunning personality (Seriously, not a blank slate).
Which part was this? Are you talking about Joker's joke after the Thessia mission?The Madman said:
Yeah I'd have to go straight for Dark Souls once more.
Your player character shows weakness by being about a tenth of the size of major opponents, about half the size of more or less regular opponents and by dying an awful lot until you can empower him/her by focussing on the part that really matters: surviving... and NEVER leaving the room you're playing in for a snack, a pee or some idle chitchat while the game is running, for it will come after you.
Also, never do such a stupid thing as putting down the gamepad while, say, looking at or pointing at a vital NPC, as your character is bound to just plain murder death kill stab poison or at the very least annoy said NPC if you're not careful, so your player character shows a severe lack of restraint and absolutely no common sense. Since NPCs will remain pissed of or dead once you've attacked them, the game will just get even harder, and being yelled at buckets of unpleasantness by folks you relied on just a moment ago just isn't a very fun experience. Sure, you can go pay the crazy guy playing Jesus up in the church tower, since he's on speaking terms with the guys that handle karma, but that would just add yet another weakness to our player character: Making mistakes and not going through with them.
Other than that, how about Bioshock? Isn't your player character the most gullible, easily manipulated ignorant little tool in the whole underwater shed?
Or how about Black Ops' main dude, he's well off his rockers - and he's been so for years.
Then there's Alice in American McGee's only title worth mentioning - she's cute and interesting and quite charming, but she's definitely quite insane.
Or take the pumpkin in Cauldron II - come on, he's a pumpkin. No legs, no arms, just the ability to bounce in a castle that enjoys having no stairs, fatal drops and lots of spooky objects that are normally inanimate intent on killing you dead, dead, dead. That's a pretty weak spot to start an adventure on.
Your player character shows weakness by being about a tenth of the size of major opponents, about half the size of more or less regular opponents and by dying an awful lot until you can empower him/her by focussing on the part that really matters: surviving... and NEVER leaving the room you're playing in for a snack, a pee or some idle chitchat while the game is running, for it will come after you.
Also, never do such a stupid thing as putting down the gamepad while, say, looking at or pointing at a vital NPC, as your character is bound to just plain murder death kill stab poison or at the very least annoy said NPC if you're not careful, so your player character shows a severe lack of restraint and absolutely no common sense. Since NPCs will remain pissed of or dead once you've attacked them, the game will just get even harder, and being yelled at buckets of unpleasantness by folks you relied on just a moment ago just isn't a very fun experience. Sure, you can go pay the crazy guy playing Jesus up in the church tower, since he's on speaking terms with the guys that handle karma, but that would just add yet another weakness to our player character: Making mistakes and not going through with them.
Other than that, how about Bioshock? Isn't your player character the most gullible, easily manipulated ignorant little tool in the whole underwater shed?
Or how about Black Ops' main dude, he's well off his rockers - and he's been so for years.
Then there's Alice in American McGee's only title worth mentioning - she's cute and interesting and quite charming, but she's definitely quite insane.
Or take the pumpkin in Cauldron II - come on, he's a pumpkin. No legs, no arms, just the ability to bounce in a castle that enjoys having no stairs, fatal drops and lots of spooky objects that are normally inanimate intent on killing you dead, dead, dead. That's a pretty weak spot to start an adventure on.
*There are a lot of horror games built around the weakness and inability of it's protagonist, and their futile struggle against something they cannot hope to truly defeat (Clock Tower, Amnesia, the original Alone in the Dark, Penumbra, Eternal Darkness, CoC: Dark Corners of the Earth, Silent Hill to some extent, etc., etc.)
*Martin Walker from Spec Ops: The Line. His greatest expressions of his weakness are those where he attempts to cover it up. He attempts to remain professional and cool, even though he clearly understands what he has done, and that his men (and he himself) are falling to pieces as their journey grows darker.
*Jackie Estacado from 'The Darkness' is frequently faced with the inability to achieve his goals and save the people he cares about (to say more would go into spoiler territory)
*Jack from Bioshock is also afflicted with a severe hindrance/disability towards the later portion of the game (once again, abridged to avoid spoilers)
*While Isaac Clarke may seem like an unstoppable killing machine, the Dead Space games always have one point or another that reveals how human and fragile he truly is. This is without even mentioning most of the death sequences (kept seperate from the top 'horror' category because Isaac is usually very skilled at dispatching his enemies.)
*A lot of old adventure games played upon the protagonist's physical weakness or inability, and how they must instead use their cunning and wits to overcome the obstacles they are faced with.
There are a lot of other examples that I won't write down because they've been mentioned before, but a lot of games feature protagonists who have shortcomings. There are a lot that feature unstoppable badasses, too, but the weaker ones do exist.
*Martin Walker from Spec Ops: The Line. His greatest expressions of his weakness are those where he attempts to cover it up. He attempts to remain professional and cool, even though he clearly understands what he has done, and that his men (and he himself) are falling to pieces as their journey grows darker.
*Jackie Estacado from 'The Darkness' is frequently faced with the inability to achieve his goals and save the people he cares about (to say more would go into spoiler territory)
*Jack from Bioshock is also afflicted with a severe hindrance/disability towards the later portion of the game (once again, abridged to avoid spoilers)
*While Isaac Clarke may seem like an unstoppable killing machine, the Dead Space games always have one point or another that reveals how human and fragile he truly is. This is without even mentioning most of the death sequences (kept seperate from the top 'horror' category because Isaac is usually very skilled at dispatching his enemies.)
*A lot of old adventure games played upon the protagonist's physical weakness or inability, and how they must instead use their cunning and wits to overcome the obstacles they are faced with.
There are a lot of other examples that I won't write down because they've been mentioned before, but a lot of games feature protagonists who have shortcomings. There are a lot that feature unstoppable badasses, too, but the weaker ones do exist.
Pretty much this. Old school shooters had the compulsory NOW WE TAKE AWAY ALL OF YOUR WEAPONS sections. New ones now have the obligatory dying protagonist. RPGs are all about managing weakness. Any game with a story will almost inevitably have preset moments where you lose.sethisjimmy said:
Ocarina: Ganon takes the triforce and Zelda. You lose.
CoD4: You get nuked and die for nothing.
Far Cry: You get captured and lose all your weapons
Far Cry 2: You periodically collapse from exhaustion due to Malaria.
Fallout 3: You get locked out of a room where important plot stuff is happening (You lose).
Games are full of setups to show that you're weak so that you can progress and feel empowered, or to engender anger towards the antagonists. If you don't know of many of those, then you probably haven't played any games bar the original Mario (The Princess is in another castle isn't really a failing of Mario's).
in reference to the OP, I tend to agree with you, not many protagonists show much of weakness. I'd like to say ive played a good bit of games, and it is rather difficult to pinpoint a protagonist that does a good job of penetrating that sense of weakness. I see all the examples that are being mentioned and i disagree with most of them, mainly cause i view a difference between a character showing "weakness" and being "flawed". Characters that are flawed in their personality or have something hanging over their heads aren't necessarily weak. Shepard in ME3 for example, has the whole "dealing with knowing that not everyone can be saved" bit that shows up and can potentially shape how Shepard deals with things throughout the story, but that's not weak, when you play you're still the combat powerhouse source of empowerment.
The way i see it, for a protagonist to show weakness effectively, its got to be reflected in how the game-play works. For example, in Dead Space 1, at the beginning, Isaac is weak. Lost, alone in some nightmare unsure of anything with nothing but a tool used for cutting rocks to keep him alive. The weakness was seen in the story, dialogue, and game play. It was great. The second half of the game he literally could use more guns than he could carry, he wasn't nearly as weak anymore. You might say oh, but that's the point of the game right? to get better, stronger, beat whatever challenges. well yes true, but by the end of the game, that sense of venerability was gone. had you still been able to grow stronger as a character but never lost that sense of venerability it would have been a lot better.
The way i see it, for a protagonist to show weakness effectively, its got to be reflected in how the game-play works. For example, in Dead Space 1, at the beginning, Isaac is weak. Lost, alone in some nightmare unsure of anything with nothing but a tool used for cutting rocks to keep him alive. The weakness was seen in the story, dialogue, and game play. It was great. The second half of the game he literally could use more guns than he could carry, he wasn't nearly as weak anymore. You might say oh, but that's the point of the game right? to get better, stronger, beat whatever challenges. well yes true, but by the end of the game, that sense of venerability was gone. had you still been able to grow stronger as a character but never lost that sense of venerability it would have been a lot better.
redmoretrout said:
Do I win by virtue of only posting protagonists? I'm seeing a lot of mentions of secondary characters here, so I feel like some more protagonists are needed.mjcabooseblu said:
Marcus Fenix: Had no proper childhood, never learned responsibility, barely shows signs of maturing until he finds his father, and even then he still acts childish.
Commander Shepard: Touched by the Reapers.
Billy Blaze: A child, possibly hallucinating the entire series.
Richard Watson: Being used, both by his allies and his enemies, without full knowledge of the situation he's in.
I could come up with more, but I'll save it. Your move, OP.
Seriously, I did put a spoiler tag on that thing for a reason.Syzygy23 said:
He's on the brink of death and at some point he passed out due to the disease, he falls into the Mad Hatter's trap because of this disease.
Tales of the Abyss
Luke's spoiled nature nearly caused the death of one in his team and did cause the deaths of hundreds when he caused the destruction of an entire village.
A lot of the problems the protagonists of Kingdom Hearts have is what allows the evil forces to exist.
How are none of these actual impediments?
Edit: Tales of Symphonia
Lloyd abandoned the lives of an entire world
Tales of Vesperia
[Yuri commit several murders which made him and his party criminals
The problem is there's nothing wrong with a character being badass, but you have to understand that it's one of the most SHALLOW traits you can give somebody. Even Dante had depth to him with his complex relationship with his brother, his knowledge of his father's deeds and infamy, and his nature of being born of two worlds. Most Western RPG protagonists I've seen are just boring, ego-boosters for the player. Anyone who's ever written ANYTHING would look at heroes like that and (rightfully) LAUGH at themMilkman said: