Poll: Favorite generic protagonist

[Souplex]

There are some game-characters who show up in a lot of games. Sooo many games.
Today we're seeing your favorite.
Car: Any racing/driving game.
Floating hand with a gun: Any FPS without cutscenes.
Guy in power armor: Any Sci-fi game.
White guy with short brown hair: Appears in a wide spectrum of games made in the last decade. Is probably voiced by Nolan North.
Japanime character: Mostly JRPGs and Visual Novels. So Kawaii.
Cartoon Mascot: Mostly Platformers. Your Mario/Sonic/Sly Cooper types.
Soldier: Military games. Often of the modern variety. RAMIREZ!1!1!!!1!
Fantasy type: Knight/Wizard/Rogue Can even exist in some Sci-Fis if you stretch your definition.(Mass Effect and Star Wars are good examples of "Space Wizards")

If your choice is not an option, there's still room for more choices, so just say so and don't vote.

 

[SnakeTrousers]

There is so much depth to the floating-hand-with-a-gun archetype that people just don't appreciate.

 

[Chimpzy_v1legacy]

I went with white guy with short brown hair because let's face it, there is just such an unbeatable variety of genericness in that category.

I mean, Mario, Sonic, Samus, Link, Ratchet or even Kratos and Master Chief. Way too distinguishable, even if reduced to a silhouette. They're terrible at being generic.

 

[Souplex]

Added soldier to the poll.
Some of these archetypes may overlap.
Use your judgement for said overlap.

 

[SoranMBane]

Guy In Power Armor can be pretty cool, but personally, I prefer Guy In Gas Mask:

Spoiler

Totally badass and provides protection against harmful gasses; what could be better?

 

[BathorysGraveland2]

"White guy with short brown hair" can be the most diverse, and can actually be characterised. Appearance =/= personality and traits. So that's my answer.

 

[Zak757]

As noted before "white guy in short brown hair" can be a very interesting character even if they're physical appearance is overdone and bland. Captain Walker, for example, would fall under that description and he was one of the more impactful characters to come out of video games. That said, on average I've enjoyed playing as non-characters more than brown haired white guys, since a lot of the their characters (Nathan Drake for example) are so bad that it actually hurts my enjoyment.

Guys in power armor easily win this one. Play the first few Crysis games and tell me that being ludicrously superhuman isn't a blast.

 

[Someone Depressing]

While you can't get much blander than "white guy with short brown hair", I picked the hand with the gun.

I mean, they lack hair. In fact, they lack a face, and the human brain is specifically designed to recognise faces. In the eyes of his fellow man, he is an ex-human. He is minus a human.

You cannot get more generic than nothing at all.

 

[El Pwnz]

As noted before "white guy in short brown hair" can be a very interesting character even if they're physical appearance is overdone and bland. Captain Walker, for example, would fall under that description and he was one of the more impactful characters to come out of video games. That said, on average I've enjoyed playing as non-characters more than brown haired white guys, since a lot of the their characters (Nathan Drake for example) are so bad that it actually hurts my enjoyment.

Did you intentionally pick two examples voiced by Nolan North, or does he just voice ALL the short-brown-haired white guys?

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

As noted before "white guy in short brown hair" can be a very interesting character even if they're physical appearance is overdone and bland. Captain Walker, for example, would fall under that description and he was one of the more impactful characters to come out of video games. That said, on average I've enjoyed playing as non-characters more than brown haired white guys, since a lot of the their characters (Nathan Drake for example) are so bad that it actually hurts my enjoyment.

Did you intentionally pick two examples voiced by Nolan North, or does he just voice ALL the short-brown-haired white guys?

Well he voices Deadpool but I don't know what hair color he's supposed to have, at least in the game.

 

[Souplex]

While you can't get much blander than "white guy with short brown hair", I picked the hand with the gun.

I mean, they lack hair. In fact, they lack a face, and the human brain is specifically designed to recognise faces. In the eyes of his fellow man, he is an ex-human. He is minus a human.

You cannot get more generic than nothing at all.

Apparently they can go to MIT though.
Maybe it's an affirmative action thing though...

 

[Super Cyborg]

Going with Japanime character, because I play lots of JRPGs, and I think a lot of them can be quite distinctive. I also just find these characters to be more interesting then most other characters, because they actually have stories behind them. Unless there is something I'm missing, but I already voted for it, so to late for me.

 

[JohnZ117]

As noted before "white guy in short brown hair" can be a very interesting character even if they're physical appearance is overdone and bland. Captain Walker, for example, would fall under that description and he was one of the more impactful characters to come out of video games. That said, on average I've enjoyed playing as non-characters more than brown haired white guys, since a lot of the their characters (Nathan Drake for example) are so bad that it actually hurts my enjoyment.

Did you intentionally pick two examples voiced by Nolan North, or does he just voice ALL the short-brown-haired white guys?

He doesn't voice me, I think.

 

[Alfador_VII]

Floating gun hand is definitely the one, it overlaps with so many other categories, like Master Chief, guy in power armour, during most of the game all you see is floating gun hand.

Also Gordon Freeman, white guy with short brown hair, also arguably guy in power armour, is once more represented in most of the actual gameplay as floating gun hand (except when he's floating crowbar hand)

 

[TheMigrantSoldier]

Does "The Knight" count? Like in Dark Souls or Castle Crashers?

There's something awesome about stoically going about your quest in a helmet you can barely breath or see in.

 

[Souplex]

Floating gun hand is definitely the one, it overlaps with so many other categories, like Master Chief, guy in power armor, during most of the game all you see is floating gun hand.

Also Gordon Freeman, white guy with short brown hair, also arguably guy in power armour, is once more represented in most of the actual gameplay as floating gun hand (except when he's floating crowbar hand)

Master Chef has legs, and in cutscenes you see he does in fact have a body. He is not a floating hand with a gun.

Gordon Freeman is literally just a floating hand with a gun. He has no hair, because he has no head. He does not wear power armor because he has no body.
He is merely a disembodied pair of hands.

 

[Chaos Isaac]

Since Gas Mask guy isn't there, I went with Soldier. I honestly enjoy being a faceless soldier (Whether in Dark Souls or World War 4), who can just be a badass in a neat suit of (body)armor.

 

[Rabbitboy]

It was difficult to pick between floating hands and the white guy with brown hair. But it was the first one

 

[ExDeath730]

Guy with Power Armor, because...Have you seen some of those power armors? They look cool! I mean, playing Warhammer 40k Space Marine was awesome because of that, same thing with Crysis. You always feel like a badass.