There's tons of games with flawed/vulnerable protagonists, there's just very few with good ones.
Weirdly enough, now that I think about it I reckon my favorite examples of such characters in games are Alcatraz from Crysis 2 and Artoym from Metro 2033, probably because they never speak in game and therefore don't piss me off.
Actually that is my issue with Metro2033
They muted Artyom and that was just wrong
Hell, the guy have numerous moments where he is the weak one
Even one mental breakdown in the middle of the book
My favorite moment of him loosing faith in humanity was when he offered as a gift full clip to a boy and this boy's mother then offered half an hour with that boy
His reaction and further inner monologue was something.
Abe of Oddworld fame. He's a hapless, clumsy, cowardly, gross, unlucky schmuck. In addition to being portrayed as such via cutscenes and backstory, he plays that way too: his gameplay centres around avoiding enemies and running the hell away from things. He becomes saviour of his people by being savaged by wild animals and falling on his head a lot.
Dead Rising's Frank West is a glory-hungy egocentric blowhard who saves the day--kinda--only because other people make him. His potential to become a zombie-murdering machine is matched only by his potential to become a gluttonous transvestite mall-walker who thinks snuff photography is "fan-TASTIC." Even if you play him as badassily as possible he's still a hairy, chubby, middle-aged tabloid journalist who doesn't manage to save anyone he has a fully-voiced conversation with.
Not to mention that despite their noble airs, somewhere in the realm of 100 goddamn percent of RPG protagonists are lying thieving kleptomaniacs. Commander Shepard? Oh yeah. It was super heroic when he shepherded my life savings right the fuck out of my secure storage locker.
Hmm...Prototype 2? Colonel Rooks is basically built up as a villain second only to Alex Mercer, then when Heller finally has a chance to kill him he catches him talking to his wife and finds out that he also has a young daughter. He ends up sparing him and showing some...uhh...Human emotion for probably the first time in the game.
Huh, the only protagonist with a flaw/weakness I can think of in KH is Riku, his struggle with his darkness and his ultimate acceptance of it was interesting.
As much as I like Sora, he really is just a typical anime hero with no real flaws apart from his occasional naivety.
Then again I havent played the spin off games so Xion, Roxas, Ventus, Terra or Aqua could be different.
Uhh anyway for my contribution Ill raise you a Commander Shepard, an Ezio, a Niko Bellic, a John Marston, a Solid Snake (especially in 4) and probably a lot of others that I've missed
Cole Phelps: Emotionally insecure. Tries to hide it by bulling others when he gets the authority.
That is only an example, there are others: Shepard, Nike Bellic, Jim Raynor, Max Payne, John Marston, etc.
Not to mention the current king of flawed characters:
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 them
Totally behind this. I remember when the Sacred Ashes trailer [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5St9phiHHE] for Dragon Age: Origins first came out. Four minutes of snarky badasses killing 50 darkspawn without showing any fear, worry, or concern. Then at the end, they charge a dragon without hesitation. I thought, why would I care about these people's struggle? They certainly don't seem to care much about it themselves. They seem to get more joy out of killing itself than the reason they're killing in the first place. So why would I care about a bunch of irreverant sociopaths who slaughter armies without breaking a sweat, then stop for breakfast?
Luckily, a combination of good reviews and a convenient sale had me pick up DA:O anyway, despite my misgivings, and I found out these characters were all human (or elf, or dwarf, or qunari) with drives and passions and fears and flaws. And that game ended up being one of my favourites.
I would like to add Sly Boots, his ego got someone killed, it drove him to a pit of misery and alcoholism, in which he wallows for 80% of Anachronox.
He is also kinda stupid.
I recommend...basically every JRPG ever made. Even the open ended ones. Even the bad ones.
Tidus and Yuna (who both share the spotlight almost equally in FF10) act as beacons of hope and positivity for most of the game. Tidus for the team, Yuna for...well, the planet. But they have a powerful moment together where they both reveal their weaknesses together. They each have one crying scene, with Yuna revealing her genuine fear of the sacrifice she committed to, realizing how much she's come to love being alive. Tidus cries at the fact that he never settled things with his father, and has to fight him, as well as say goodbye to his allies forever (unless blah blah sequel spoilers)
I personally think story-based Western games have a very flimsy perception of humanity in comparison to the east's efforts in videogame storytelling. I'll probably be filleted for that assertion, but for every Bioshock I can show you 5 Namco Tales games.
I particularly dislike the Tales games, but I agree with this basic premise. Japan has the whole "flawed protagonist" way, way, way down, while America is mostly off in teenage-boy-wish-fulfillment land. Some exceptions I can think of are very few: Commander Shepard, and that's a grand total of *once*, Ethan Mars, and...and...come on America. And...
Adam Jensen? Maybe? He's actually a social human who cares about people, and he totally
gets snowed by his girlfriend even though it's blindingly obvious that she's a traitor who gives no damns whatsoever, because he's still in love with her.
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.
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.)
On Call of Duty: Your character isn't a martyr, in fact he dies for absolutely nothing. He dies accomplishing nothing and dies a very slow death.
Batman: That weakness throughout the story affects you as a player. Batman's sickness also functions as a gameplay element along with being a story element. As the sickness goes on in the story, your health bar starts to shrink. Not decrease, but the length of the bar starts to decrease and since you will end up taking a lot of hits at the end of the game, it's a pretty big weakness.
Huh, the only protagonist with a flaw/weakness I can think of in KH is Riku, his struggle with his darkness and his ultimate acceptance of it was interesting.
As much as I like Sora, he really is just a typical anime hero with no real flaws apart from his occasional naivety.
Then again I havent played the spin off games so Xion, Roxas, Ventus, Terra or Aqua could be different.
Uhh anyway for my contribution Ill raise you a Commander Shepard, an Ezio, a Niko Bellic, a John Marston, a Solid Snake (especially in 4) and probably a lot of others that I've missed
I guess this is kinda in the eye of the beholder so Sora might not have flaws in the way Riku has his flaws, but having played Dream Drop Distance I see Sora as flawed. Though you haven't played that so I'd feel bad for spoiling any of it.
Vincent from Catherine. Weaknesses: The inability to talk, pathological lying, and excessive sweating. I'm not even going to count getting seduced cause, well, yeah.
Fei from Xenogears. Weaknesses: Many. He's a pacifist who's expected to lead troops into battle. His inability to control his emotions get a number of his friends killed. And one really big one that I can't mention here without serious spoilers.
The Nameless One from Planescape: Torment. Weakness: Also spoiler-rific, but basically he manages to get everyone around him killed. A lot. And yes, I know I've been Ninjaed on this one, but it bears repeating.
James Sutherland from Silent Hill 2. Weaknesses: Do I even have to explain this one? The entire game of Silent Hill 2 is nothing but a parade of James's issues, flaws, and problems.
The MC from Bioshock. Weakness: Again, spoiler. Would you kindly go play the game and see what I mean?
Alex Mercer from Prototype. Weakness: Being a homicidal monster who eats random civilians for health.
that's exactly what popped into my head at first, thought "oh right, because jensen didn't get smashed through the wall and had his body broken into multiple pieces... nor the fact that he's a walking headcase the rest of the game.
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 them
It really is. People fall for it every time. It's why I never enjoyed any of the old Sherlock Holmes stories. It's about this incredible badass who is right about everything all the time. He's a total know-it-all, and that's not exactly relatable. Characters that are complete badasses with no weaknesses are good indulgences, but not great characters.
A lot. I mean I a lot. Solid Snake for one, and then there is Cole form Infamous and Infamous 2. Sheppard form Mass Effect and A lot more I don't want to list.
Cole is a great example, in inFAMOUS if you follow the hero path you are making yourself weaker in order to help others. Playing like a a**hole gives you better powers and more health/energy.
Altaïr, Ezio, Connor & Desmond at some (multiple points) in the AC series.
I'd also like to nominate pretty much every character in FFXIII... they all have their BSOD moments, causing their Eidolons to give them a kick up the arse.
Squall, Seifer, Cid and Quistis from FFVIII all spring to mind also.
OP, can you give some examples of faults or weaknesses that you are looking for in video games? I notice many of the examples of protagonists given by posters are speaking of physical weakness or disadvantage and not necessarily emotional or mental weakness, which I think is what you are going for. Can you give some examples of movie/tv characters to help describe exactly what you are looking for?
But to go into what I think and echoing people before me:
I think Raiden from MGS 2and 4 is an excellent example. He starts out feeling like he is prepared for anything because he has had so much virtual training. He had been using the code name Snake, essentially being Solid Snake in the training he underwent. However as the game progresses he begins to feel inadequate and overwhelmed. Things begin to fall apart and nothing is making sense to him, which can be seen in his converstions over the codec. He ultimately prevails in the game, but you can tell he still has feelings of inadequacy by seeing what he has allowed to happen to him in MGS4.
Pretty much everyone from the game Heavy Rain. Ethan is a depressed man who has let his life fall apart after the death of one of his children. The only thing that is not a weakness in him during the game is the love of his other son who is kidnapped. Jaden the FBI agent (? been a while, think it was FBI) has a drug addiction that you can feed or try to resist in gameplay. Can't remember the other characters' names right now, but none of them gave me a great feeling of empowerment when I was controlling them.
Nathan Drake in Uncharted 3. Yes, he is our favorite wisecracking psychopath going by the gameplay, but in the story you can see the abandonment issues he dealt with as a child and the fierce attachment he has to Sully as a father figure. Due to these issues, he has very few close relationships, not really knowing how to have them. This caused him to screw up his relationship with Elena in the time between 2 and 3.
I'm hoping these are some examples of the kind of weakness/character flaws you are looking for.
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