Poll: Do you Love Your Video Game Characters?

[The Austin]

.......OK, not "Love, love", but just "Love". As in "Care for".
... Let me explain.

In games, I often find myself caring for characters that I like. For instance, despite the fact that I never liked Mass Effect, I still found that I cared for all of the characters. I found myself forming friendships with characters such as Garrus, Wrex and Tali. (Smexy)

In Knights of the Old Republic I found that I was attached to HK-47 and Zalbarr, along with the rest of the party. [sub] Except for Bastilla...... The *****. [/sub]

In Dragon Age I found that I formed connections with Allister and.... Well, pretty much the whole party. [sub] Except for Morrigan.... Also a *****. [/sub]

What I mean by all of this is, I actually grow to like the characters, I consider them friends, and it's not in a weird way. I'm not that one silent loner kid who would rather keep to himself and play his Xbox. I have plenty of good friends, and yet I still find myself growing deep connections and friendships with the characters I play with. So, guess what? YES, I consider the characters I play with as friends. And guess what? It's not in a weird way.

I almost think that it's strange how I feel the way that I do, but it's just the way that I am.

And to complicate things, I often care more deeply for some characters than others.
In Mass Effect, I was horrified when the bomb went off killing Kaiden. I felt terrible. I considered him my friend, my crew-mate, and I just left him to die.

In Dragon Age, I found myself caring for Lillyana more than I cared for the other characters, I still loved the entire cast[sub] Except for Morrigan [/sub], But I found that my care for Lillyana was deeper.
Not only was she my character's love interest, but in a way, she was mine as well.
No, I did not actually "love" her, as you would love a spouse or significant other, but I found myself taking extra precautions to make sure she was safe. I wouldn't dare let her get in harms way, because I was paranoid that Bioware would make her the next Kaiden.


The same goes for Tali in Mass Effect 2. She was my love interest, and, knowing that she was in just as much danger as the rest of us, I looked after her. I took care of her. I didn't want her to die. Why?
Because I cared about her.

So I ask you, the fair people of The Escapist, do you understand how I feel when I say that I care for my characters? How I make connections and form friendships with them?

For some reason, I have a feeling in my gut that says you do.

Other characters I cared about:

Ghost, Price, Soap (Modern Warfare 2)
Gaz (Modern Warfare)
Markov (Call of Duty: WAW)
The boys in the Big Red One (Call of Duty 2: Big Red One, the best Call of Duty IMO)
Carlos (Saints Row 2)
Elinor (Bioshock 2)
Charon, Dogmeat, Fawkes (Fallout 3)
Ratchet and Clank (Take a guess)
SPYRO! (Take another guess)
All of the good guys from Brutal Legend (If you can't guess this one, than you sir/madam, are officially stupid.)
Rios and Salem (Army of Two)
Delta Squad (Gears of War)
Sheva. Yes, SHEVA. I LIKED HER! (Resident Evil 5)



Those are just off of the top of my head. I have about 30 games for the Xbox 360, and maybe 200+ for the Playstation 2, but, as I said, some stand out more than others. I'm sure there are many more, you just need to jog my memory. I can't go naming all of them.

 

[Guy32]

I cried for Zack.

 

[The Austin]

I cried for Zack.

Uhh... Who was Zack?

 

[Julianking93]

Usually.

I loved the characters of Kingdom Hearts, I grew a strong connection with all the characters of Metal Gear Solid over the 10 year period of playing that series, and the characters of Heavy Rain had me in love with all of them from the start.

 

[ThatPurpleGuy]

I think this may tell you alot of things you may be missing in life, but hey if your happy right??

Its hard to get attached to my rider on Trials HD since he is always crashing

As for your question, NO I do not form any emotional attachment to any digital character.

 

[legion431]

I was sad when Kaiden got nuked in mass effect. But then I just forgot about Him when I got it on with Ashley.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

ah i am this way..except for you heartless *****! BASTILA IS MINE. i would do anything to protect her...speaking of which, i am going to go and do some dark sided awesomeness now because of this thread =]

same way with kingdom hearts and mass effect 1/2, dear lord there was some people i could just not dissapoint

 

[The Austin]

I think this may tell you alot of things you may be missing in life, but hey if your happy right??

I reiterate: I have a very healthy social life.

Mmmmkkkkkkay?

 

[rockingnic]

I like Lightning, ironically because of her personality, even from the start and I disliked Snow a little bit too. I felt I was Vanille's father, Sazh's best friend and Hope was some punk that I would only like because he wanted to kill snow, although alot more than me. And for the first time in a FF game, I was neutral to a playable female character, Fang. All that in just FF. I like connecting to characters in game because it makes me feel part of their universe and their lives.

 

[Angry Caterpillar]

I got incredibly pissed when you lost one of your saints in SR2. After I finished that gang line, I took a step back and realized that it was kind of strange that I'd feel that angry over someone who wasn't real. On the other hand...
MAERO YOU ***** CARLOS WAS AWESOME!

 

[Fenreil]

Not really, except for in Bioshock 2

Spoiler

Nobody was gonna fucking mess with my little sisters, and if you touch Eleanor, so help me I shove this drill UP YOUR ASS!

 

[Xanadeas]

I do get kinda attached to them. :_< I've killed some of them off too and it made me cry. D:

 

[lienne]

I definitely feel the same way. Maybe that comes from being antisocial and not having many friends. When I played through Mass Effect 1 I didn't care much for Ashley (Mostly because she didn't seem to like my new alien friends and I took it personally) but when she died I felt terrible. That blank spot on my character selection screen was a terrible reminder that I had made a decision which resulted in her death. In fact I have been reluctant to finish Mass Effect 2 in the fear that I'll lose someone else. After all, I've spent time with them. Repeated the same boring conversation just in case they had something new to say. At the same time I think it takes a special type of character or game to pull at your heart strings like that. And like many others, I cared about my friends in the games I played. I wanted them to win.

 

[Brad Shepard]

I get super attached to games where you raise things, like Monster Rancher and Pokemon and stuff like that, but in normal charecters like in Final Fantasy and Mass Effect to a lesser part.

 

[The Austin]

Not really, except for in Bioshock 2

Spoiler

Nobody was gonna fucking mess with my little sisters, and if you touch Eleanor, so help me I shove this drill UP YOUR ASS!

I felt the same way. Throughout the entire game I though, "IF YOU TOUCH MY DAUGHTER YOU'RE GOING TO GET 6 ROUNDS OF ELECTRIC BUCK TO THE FACE, LAMB!"

I got incredibly pissed when you lost one of your saints in SR2. After I finished that gang line, I took a step back and realized that it was kind of strange that I'd feel that angry over someone who wasn't real. On the other hand...
MAERO YOU ***** CARLOS WAS AWESOME!

Aw, I loved Carlos... He and Shandi were the two Saints that I liked..
Peirce was OK.

 

[sidecord]

i kinda liked the guys in COD: MW, so fuck that games ending

oh, and i guess Francis, Bill, Zoey, and louis are people i cared about too

 

[meowman]

Yes. I was devestated when Ghost died trying to save me in MW2, and from then on I genuinly hated general Shepard, even though it was a weak game. The same goes for Gaz in CoD4.
In Mass Effect 2, on my first playthrough (which I always do not as paragon or renegade, but as me - I personally consider the first playthrough the only real one, as I don't know what's coming and have to make choices based on what i would do instead of some sort of future-telling power) I lost Thane and Tali. I was devestated. Tali had been my favourite character in the series since the first game - I didn't have a love interest the first time I played through Mass Effect (where Tali wasn't an option) because the other two seemed so bland and stereotypical in comparison. Thane was my next favourite character in Mass Effect 2 aside from Mordin. I was genuinly upset that I wouldn't have the option to play through Mass Effect 3 with them (at least not on my 'me' character - I got the no-one left behind achievment with another character). Kaiden wasn't as big a deal with me, although I was still pissed off, and when Wrex died (which he did in my first playthrough of ME1, none of the others) I didn't really care, honestly, but still - I think the answer is a definite yes.
BTW I have plenty of friends, but the simple fact of the matter is that after logging 20+ hours with these characters it's hard not to form opinions about them. It's like crying at a movie over a sad event, except you made the choices so it is more so.
I probably seem like a freak now, but hey.

 

[Nalesnik]

Rarely. A game has to have the right combination of back story, character development, and atmosphere for me to care about its character. And that's a very tricky thing to do, and to do well. That said, I cared for the main cast of FFX. =)

 

[Fappy]

If I could I'd go out on the town with Mordin and Garrus and go halvsies on some Asari poon with Garrus. Mordin would be there to make funny comments about inter-species STDs and the like.

Do I love my video game characters? The writers are failing if I don't.

 

[Axle_Bullitt_19]

I cried for Zack.

Me as well.

Lets see other game characters I actually wanted to win, survive, or find happiness. Kazuma and Haruka form Yakuza, Everyone in Brothers in Arms(Best WWII series IMO), your squad from Call of Duty 2:Big Red One, all the major players in Golden Sun, and who couldn't love Jak and Daxter.