Poll: What do you think of Connor Kenway, protagonist of Assassin's Creed 3?

[RJ 17]

Snip.

As I said, I just didn't see it. But as with most things of this nature it's purely open to interpretation. I've reached a point where I really don't mind what other people see in games even if I heavily disagree with them on a given topic. If you liked Connor and the game, good for you. Truly, I'm happy for your enjoyment. Personally, though, ACIII was the game that made me lose interest in the series to the point that I promised myself I wouldn't buy ACIV. I found the story to be paced far too sluggishly, overrun by tedious minigames and side-quests, and the protagonist was an arrogant, hot-headed twat who cared little to nothing for the war (other than the obvious "He's the good guy so of course he supports freedom" sentiments he should have) and tried to make the story as much about his personal revenge as it was about any of the other themes being worked with. He might spout out about the ideals of freedom, but above all else all he cared about was his own vengeance. This, of course, just being my experience of the game.

 

[Byte2222]

I'm all for flawed characters. Humans are naturally flawed, after all. Having said that, Connor is a bit... bland. I like that he fails but he didn't really engage me like, say, Ezio did.

 

[trollnystan]

I found him a bit bi-polar. One minute he's helping people around the homestead all kind and calm and I really like him. The next he's blowing up in Achilles' face for no real good reason. Achilles had the patience of a saint.

 

[Cabisco]

From Connor to the environment everything about Assassins Creed 3 was down right terrible apart from Kenway. I feel the writers got far to into the usual buzz words of 'dark', 'grey', 'mature' and 'atmospheric' and applied it to a series known for beautiful vistas and locales with disasterous results.

Connor to me symbolised a lot of what is wrong with modern gaming characters, this stoic betrayed by the world 'hey kids you like the batman movies?' protagonist that lacks any sort of personality, a misguided attempt to make a character seem deep.

I was very happy 4 gave me a money loving cheeky pirate, and an environment with colours! Sweet beautiful colours beyond shades of grey and brown.

 

[Something Amyss]

I wouldn't even say he was the protagonist. He was just some dude killing people for a while.

didn't you just describe most video game protagonists?

 

[white_wolf]

I hated him he was a brick and a Forest Gump the whole game. What little personality he did show was primarily anger and most of it wasn't justified next to my glitching horse who could arrive in all colors and states including apocalypse ribcage peaking out and redeyed his personality was equally as bi-polar whenever it made its appearance. The most forgettable of the AC leading men and his characterization is actually worse then brick male shep from his ME days.

Look wise was worse not to mention how in every AC game it magically changes Desmond who in this game looked like a caveman Conner ended up looking like a brick house nothing I could dress him in look right he seem like a constant bouncer I wish they would've kept his teen form because I can go along with that smaller frame work when he's moving through trees adult Conner just seems like he should be breaking any branch he tries to balance on.

 

[Roofstone]

Achilles had the patience of a saint.

Ten saints.

Connor was a horrible man and the scum of the earth, he treated his friends like dirt and demanded what he want like a toddle. I really disliked him..

I'll admit he had his good moments, but overall? Yeah, he is fairly bad.

 

[C F]

So there's all of that. A lot of which was seen in the main story. I mean, its obvious in retrospect that the Homestead missions gave him a lot of character development that shouldn't have been left in the side missions, but there's still a lot to dissect.

Ah, oops. Shouldn't have avoided those like the plague then.
But I did. Sort of because I didn't like him from the outset. If you follow that logic, it's quite the vicious cycle of apathy I'm afraid.

Glad to hear he might possibly have some redeeming qualities I didn't get to see as I played through his story.

...Huh. This whole post sounds horribly sarcastic, but it's actually not? I'm not quite sure.
On the one hand, I really do feel bad for Connor on a sort-of meta level because he's not presented as a character I like, his whole Assassin's quest for freedom is lost to me in the shadow of the setting's exact same historical imperative (and as an American I find it incredibly boring and over-done already), and as such he's resigned to a small cell in the back of my memory for crimes of circumstance he couldn't help.
But on the other hand, I don't find Assassin's Creed III sandbox and controls fun enough to go back and play those missions, so I guess he's going to stay that way? I elect to drop the whole issue because the underlying line is still "I don't care." His father/antagonist counterpart did more for me in the first hour of the game than the remainder of III could live up to.

 

[stroopwafel]

Connor and the story in AC3 in general left me pretty much indifferent but I did really like the game itself though. Exploration was awesome and it did gave me a feel about how life on the Frontier must have been like. And it introduced naval combat! My favorite element of the entire game which more than made up for the somewhat clumsy combat and lackustre story/characters. AC4 is my favorite AC game by far but this game probably wouldn't exist without AC3 as a stepping stone. For that alone it deserves some credit.

 

[TakerFoxx]

As a character he was...okay, I guess, but I really didn't like his game.

 

[Asita]

Like so much in that game, Ratonhnhaké:ton felt...disjointed. Really, it seemed more like he was being molded to the needs of the story rather than letting the story fit him. "The audience already knows about his relationship to Haytham! Let's make it common knowledge and taken as a given by both Achilles and Ratonhnhaké:ton at their first meeting!" "We need conflict! Quick let's make the now adult (and assassin for years) Ratonhnhaké:ton act like an angsting 14 year old boy and insist that Achilles had done nothing for him!" "You know what, we should make him want peace between the Assassins and Templars...despite his belief that the Templars knowingly torched his village providing the bulk of his drive" And then of course there was the reaction to Washington's letter...I mean really, Ratonhnhaké:ton's story was not well written, and the apparent 'central' characterization of him as a patient, understanding man didn't fit particularly well with his character development and seemed to be abandoned and reinforced at the oddest moments.

 

[bat32391]

I found him to be pretty dull, much preferred playing as his grandfather in 4.

 

[debtcollector]

Edward - I WANT GOLD LOADS AND LOADS OF GOLD!!!!! AND I WANT IT ALL NOW!

Yeah how appealing....

That was sort of the point, honestly. It was the beginning of character development on his part: eventually he realizes that his greed has only led to his friends getting killed and he starts acting with a little bit more altruism. Which is more than I could say for Connor's character arc, which, if I remember correctly went something like: "Where is Charles Lee? Where is Charles Lee? WHERE IS CHARLES LEE?" Seriously, I can't remember dick about what Connor even did, beyond getting angry for no reason.

 

[William Ossiss]

I think he was a whiner. Yeah, I get the revenge story but the way he went about it... Only ever serving his own purpose like that. He was a whiner of Anakin Skywalker proportions. "You underestimate my power!"

Yeesh...

 

[Jamieson 90]

Edward - I WANT GOLD LOADS AND LOADS OF GOLD!!!!! AND I WANT IT ALL NOW!

Yeah how appealing....

That was sort of the point, honestly. It was the beginning of character development on his part: eventually he realizes that his greed has only led to his friends getting killed and he starts acting with a little bit more altruism. Which is more than I could say for Connor's character arc, which, if I remember correctly went something like: "Where is Charles Lee? Where is Charles Lee? WHERE IS CHARLES LEE?" Seriously, I can't remember dick about what Connor even did, beyond getting angry for no reason.

You mean this?

But in all seriousness there's more to Connor's character than just revenge, it's just more subtle and between the lines; I think you learn more from the homestead missions for example, and anyway, how is Connor wanting revenge any different than Ezio who's catch line was "I'll kill you for this!"

 

[debtcollector]

Edward - I WANT GOLD LOADS AND LOADS OF GOLD!!!!! AND I WANT IT ALL NOW!

Yeah how appealing....

That was sort of the point, honestly. It was the beginning of character development on his part: eventually he realizes that his greed has only led to his friends getting killed and he starts acting with a little bit more altruism. Which is more than I could say for Connor's character arc, which, if I remember correctly went something like: "Where is Charles Lee? Where is Charles Lee? WHERE IS CHARLES LEE?" Seriously, I can't remember dick about what Connor even did, beyond getting angry for no reason.

You mean this?

But in all seriousness there's more to Connor's character than just revenge, it's just more subtle and between the lines; I think you learn more from the homestead missions for example, and anyway, how is Connor wanting revenge any different than Ezio who's catch line was "I'll kill you for this!"

That's fair, I didn't do many of the side missions in AC3, so my homestead was a boring, empty place. Looking at how popular Edward and Ezio (and even Haytham) seem to have been, I guess glib and roguish characters just stick better with audiences.

Also, oh God that video. Yakety Sax makes everything perfect.

 

[Evonisia]

He was just boring to me, I never really pay'd much attention to his story purely because he wasn't interesting.

 

[hermes]

He was alright. Not great, not abysmal.

He had the problem of having a pretty poor middle section. The best parts of Connor as a character happen at the beginning and the last chapters of his story, and in the second half of the frontier sidequest (even though the gameplay there was awful, the writing was pretty good). Because of that, the character, as well as everything else in the game, felt disjointed.

The issue is that, in order to get there, one has to go through a lot of bad, bad sections in between, to the point I waited for the Desmond sections as a welcome respite. I wouldn't be surprised if most people that comment here didn't get to finish the game.