Poll: Do you ever feel sorry for a protagonist?

[pyrosaw]

Red Dead Redemption. Even after the last mission, I still wasn't satisfied.

The second ending to Portal 1 was a bit sad.

 

[Cogwheel]

Yep. Three instantly come to mind. Ark from Terranigma, Nameless One from Planescape: Torment, and Iji from, well, Iji. All three go through some horrific things.

 

[Hectix777]

Eh, I would have to mention Noble Six at the end of Halo: Reach.

Spoiler

You know, at the end when he's pretty much all alone on that conquered planet. It was really sad and at the same time, awesome. But I mean, just imagine how cool that would be. Your mission has been finished successfully and now all that's left to do is to go out in one of the coolest ways possible while taking some of those dratted Elites down with you. That was a good job on Bungie's part.

Yeah, my question is why he didn't just take the Pillar of Autumn of the planet and not die and be of use in the Halo series?

 

[speakeasysyn]

Red Dead Redemption's John Marston

L.A. Noire's Cole Phelps

and the occasional movie or cartoon/anime show or a comic book character.

But I think John Marston was the first time I really felt bad for a protagonist.

 

[Arnoxthe1]

Eh, I would have to mention Noble Six at the end of Halo: Reach.

Spoiler

You know, at the end when he's pretty much all alone on that conquered planet. It was really sad and at the same time, awesome. But I mean, just imagine how cool that would be. Your mission has been finished successfully and now all that's left to do is to go out in one of the coolest ways possible while taking some of those dratted Elites down with you. That was a good job on Bungie's part.

Yeah, my question is why he didn't just take the Pillar of Autumn of the planet and not die and be of use in the Halo series?

Because somebody had to clear a path for the Pelican with the AA gun.

 

[Luthir Fontaine]

RDR made me feel sad. End of reach I kinda did but more like im takin these bastards out with me.

 

[Hectix777]

Eh, I would have to mention Noble Six at the end of Halo: Reach.

Spoiler

You know, at the end when he's pretty much all alone on that conquered planet. It was really sad and at the same time, awesome. But I mean, just imagine how cool that would be. Your mission has been finished successfully and now all that's left to do is to go out in one of the coolest ways possible while taking some of those dratted Elites down with you. That was a good job on Bungie's part.

Yeah, my question is why he didn't just take the Pillar of Autumn of the planet and not die and be of use in the Halo series?

Because somebody had to clear a path for the Pelican with the AA gun.

Why couldn't they use the hundreds of useless faceless marines that would die later on. Don't Spartan III equal like 10 marines?

 

[Patron Saint of Pop-Tarts]

I feel soooo bad for Philip, the protagonist from Penumbra. The poor guy gets into all sorts of horrible trouble just because of curiosity--because he was human, and wanted to connect to his absent father. And then he stumbles into zombies and psychotic people with no way to protect himself!!

Also, to a lesser degree I feel bad for Daniel in Amnesia: The Dark Descent. The man wakes up with amnesia in a huge, dark, terrifying castle populated by monsters and a note from himself telling him to kill someone? Worst. Day. Ever.

Spoiler

The reason I feel a little less sorry for him is because all of the people he tortured. Though, he redeemed himself a little by trying to right his wrongs in the end. He also got caught up in a horrible cursed object's wrath because of his incredible curiosity, which is only human.... (ICWUDT, Frictional Games....)

 

[Austin Howe]

Squall from Final Fantasy VIII. Never has a single apsect of his life been in his own hands, and he is consistently called upon to be a man he does not want to be. His real father, who he never knew was his father, is a total idiot, his mother is dead, anyone he could call his friend annoys the living fuck out of him, and, for a good part of his life, he does not understand human connection.
That sucks.

 

[Arnoxthe1]

Why couldn't they use the hundreds of useless faceless marines that would die later on. Don't Spartan III equal like 10 marines?

There were no marines around at the time I think. And besides, even if there were, I don't think some retarded marines could have gotten past that nasty guard of elites blocking the way to the turret anyway. And they would probably suck at shooting the AA gun as well assuming they knew how to operate the darn thing at all.

 

[aegix drakan_v1legacy]

I feel sorry for a LOT of game heroes. They go through a lot of crap to save the world.

 

[let's rock]

Jack Ryan from Bioshock, James from silent hill 2, and a few others

Edit: Just remembered, Alex Mercer. Although not untill right at his speach at the end, when he mentions how every time he closes his eyes, he sees the momories of a thousand dead people, screaming as he takes their lives. I feel sorry for him having to live with that, when you feal he really regrets it

 

[Serenegoose]

I think the protagonist I felt sorriest for was Freya Nakamichi-47 from Saturns Children. I also felt pretty sorry for Shallan in The Way of Kings, and to an extent, Kaladin from the same book, both characters go through a lot of shit but seem pretty decent.

 

[Serenegoose]

Yep. Three instantly come to mind. Ark from Terranigma, Nameless One from Planescape: Torment, and Iji from, well, Iji. All three go through some horrific things.

Oh my yes Iji. Definitely Iji.

 

[Kadoodle]

Spoiler

Good ending to inFAMOUS 2. I cried manly tears. Rest in peace, Cole, and may that lightning bolt in the shape of a question mark at the end hint that you're still alive.

 

[PhoenixKing]

Roxas instantly sprang to mind. Robbed of his emotions, his friends, HIS FUCKING BREIF, DEPRESSING LIFE, just to restore a ponce to life, and barely mentioned again. Oh, until he got his own game where he was robbed of his emotions, his friends, HIS FUCKING... you get the idea.

Oh my god this. This a million times. I feel so bad for Roxas. Every game he's in he just loses everything. In 358/2 days, the ending was probably one of the most depressing things I've ever seen in my life.

 

[elvor0]

The only guy I really felt sorry for was John Marston in Red Dead Redemption.

He just got fucked around so much... and for what end?

I cried so hard at the end of that game. Really need to get around to replaying it some day.

That ending would have been much better if he...

Spoiler

hadn't walked out to ultra-death. Why not stay behind the barn door and toss dynamite into the massive clusterfuck of a deathsquad?

...That'd be an instant and satisfying ending.

As for other protagonists, never really felt that bad for them. I did however have my heartstrings pulled by the Mass Effect 1 side quest "I Remember Me". You know, the one where you have to...

Spoiler

talk down Talitha, a recently freed slave girl who's lost her marbles after years of slaver torture. Talking her out of suicide

...actually sold ME1 a hell of a lot better for me.

Spoiler

I think it more because he realizes that even if he runs away, the Government would keep hounding him till he was dead, and he didn't want to put his family in danger again, as the would likely just kidnap them again if he left them for their safety, or one of them would get killed in the crossfire if he stayed with them. To him, the only way for his family to be free was for him to accept his fate and walk into his death, John Marston was a great character and it was genuinely sad when it dawns on you and him that he couldn't escape his fate.

In direct to the OP, John Marston from RDR, which Imma have to play though again at some point, Big Boss/Snake, Kaim from Lost Oddesy (seriously, this http://www.destructoid.com/the-memory-card-40-in-memoriam-91406.phtml scene is really touching and is one of the few occasions I've actually cried at a character in a medium, the others being Admiral Adama of BSG 2004 and some of the characters in the Elenium series) and to an extent, Raziel from the Legacy of Kain series, which I really wish Eidos would make the final game for, as Defiance ended on a massive cliffhanger which I sure as hell would like to see the conclusion to.

 

[Cogwheel]

Yep. Three instantly come to mind. Ark from Terranigma, Nameless One from Planescape: Torment, and Iji from, well, Iji. All three go through some horrific things.

Oh my yes Iji. Definitely Iji.

Ah, good, so someone played it. In my first playthrough, I

Spoiler

failed to save Dan, and went around killing everyone, so it was pretty awful. Her reaction to his death, in particular, hit pretty hard.

That said, the other two definitely count too. Ark more so than TNO, even, in some respects.

 

[superdelux]

Ezio from AC 2 and Brother hood

having your brothers and father killed before your eyes shocked me.

 

[remnant_phoenix]

John Marston (Red Dead Redemption): He worked so hard to bury his past.......only to be reduced to a tool of the government and then killed by them when he was no longer useful. And then, because the way he was treated, the "good life" that he wanted for Jack was no longer an option in Jack's mind because he had to avenge his father.

Gordan Freeman (Half-Life series): This is the character I go to when I'm having a crummy day. I think to myself, "Hey, it could always be worse...I could be subjected to what HE had to go through."

Those are the only two that come to mind immeadiately.

EDIT: How could I forget Ezio?! The Assassin's Creed fan in me is ashamed. Yeah, between the crap that gets thrown at him in AC2 and the Christina segments in ACB that give him a glimpse of what his life could have been... As cool as he is, I would NEVER want to be Ezio.