The Main Character

[Digitalpotato]

You know I actually want to see a few more female leads in video games, especially ones with no romance.

You know...Jeanne d'Arc. There's no implication that Jeanne OR Liane love Roger or Gilles at all, if anything Jeanne is mostly wanting to save Roger from that reaper because she thought the rest of her fellow villagers were dead (including Liane at that point) and probably felt some connection to him even if he WAS suddenly evil and voiced by the person who did the voice of Sasuke Uch-Emo.

To top it off...Jeanne actually dresses like a REAL WOMAN! :O

P.S....Gordon Freeman was mentioned....he's really just little more than Link only he's one of the over nine thousand shiny-power-suit wearing heroes, except he wears GLASSES ZOMG ORIGINAL!

 

[Anarchemitis]

Team Fortress 2 has somewhat vaguely human characters...

 

[Silver]

Why hasnt Mafia been mentioned yet? Dialoge and caracters in that game is awesome.

Yeah, sure, but the main character is really boring.

 

[Zeldadudes]

So I was wondering what your take on what makes a good main character.

In what kind of game? In FPS's I usually prefer ones that don't talk or make frequent noises that sound like they're having a painful bowel movement. In RPG's, I usually prefer The One I Make Myself with a hope that the writer gave them Some Interesting Dialog Options.

The Prince of Persia games are the only ones I can think of off the top of my head that had a genuine "Main Character".

I agree, all i generally hear from Master Chief is "Arrrgggggrrr" (Thats as i get sniped in the face).
I'd say in The World Ends With You i really liked the main character but other than that The Prince of Persia games have always had a pretty genuine main character.

 

[MintyFreshBreathGuy]

Team Fortress 2 has somewhat vaguely human characters...

They're more so parodies of humans. In fact they're more parodies of already existing stereotypes. Ever watch one of those war movies with the multiple ethnic soldiers who are all touch and bad@$$, and they are normally racist toward each other. You know how by the end they they learn the valuable lesson of teamwork and ethnic acceptance. Oh and they all have obvious accents.
Yeah TF2 is kind of a parody of them.

 

[MintyFreshBreathGuy]

Valkyria chronicles's main cast is pretty humane, although being a little bit unflawless they still only want to live a normal life.

I agree I do like their characters but the two main character (tankman w/e his name is and the love interest) are a little too generic for my taste. One is very friggen cute (she looks like May from Pokemon ftr) and the main character acts like 99% of the stereotypical main male character anime cast. Abnormal interests, not a lot of muscle, a humane voice and short brown hair. Aside from them I loved the rest of the characters.

 

[shiajun]

It's my very biased opinion but I think as long as the adventure genre lays in obscurity, good characters will be rarer. Granted, the way those games play are so reminiscent of reading a book or watching a movie that good character development is easier. Who can ever deny that Manny Calavera is not one of the best characters ever? Curiously (or rather, not so) it's the genre with the most examples of properly written female characters, and who are usually fully clothed: Mereces Colomar, Zoe Castillo, April Ryan, Kate Walker, Grace Nakamura, Elaine Marley,Victoria McPherson, etc, etc...

If a game's gameplay mechanics rely on things that make dialogue or cutscenes a little hard to pay attention to, then character development tends to go out the window. I think that is why the Prince and Farrah are interesting, as they share a very well written banter even while you're pulling levers and what not. Crystal Dynamics tried to do that in Tomb Raider Legend (haven't played Underworld yet) to mixed reactions. In that case, had the people on the other side of the conversation hadn't been so annoying, perhaps it could have gone better. Lara felt much more like a character in that game than the ones before (again, to mixed reactions).

I disagree fullheartedly that a blank slate character is a good character. It isn't. Depending on who's playing they can or cannot become a good character. It's up to the player if they want or not to add in something to flesh out the avatar. As a stand-alone creation, they're void. One can only say Master Chief is a good character because I made him so . If that's the point, they play an RPG were you are expected to make the characters act like you want them to....at least in theory.

 

[tikiwargod]

I think it really depends on what you intend to do with a main character, if (s)he's going to die at the end of the game/series then (s)he needs to be a tragic hero (must have a flaw that makes him(her) human and causes his(her) downfall). If (s)he is ment to be the hero by force then (s)he should be forced into the role by some underlying circumstance, (s)he must have character traits that make us identify with him (her) just like in any movie and they should usually have a personnal goal which is unrelated to their journey but forces them into it/ along and they need to be the hero in order to achieve that goal. (no one likes being the guy who does teh crazy heroic stuff just to fit in/be accepted by the guys. So don't make us play as that)

 

[Shellsh0cker]

Master Chief's surprisingly subtle, really, you get the sense he's quiet for a reason.

I quite agree. It especially comes through in moments like the scene in Halo 2, where you land on Halo Delta for the first time, and Cortana says "Could we possibly make any more noise?" and instead of replying, Chief pulls out a rocket launcher. You get the sense that he's simply a man of few words.

 

[JMeganSnow]

I've been contemplating giving the evil path in Neverwinter Nights 2 a shot, and I just can't believe how bland even the *evil* personality is. Where are the witty comebacks? Where are the veiled threats, the innuendo, the posturing and flashing a little fang?

*sigh*

 

[hypothetical fact]

The main character should NEVER look like they are dead so we can have a dramatic pause where they burst from the rubble. It is cliche and makes me feel like the designers are trying to force the player to feel for the character.

 

[MindBullets]

I find the best protagonists are silent. Or at least, as in Mass Effect, they only say what you want them to.

Does wonders for immersion, which I think actually makes a game more fun. You're more into it and it becomes more like an experience than just pulling puppet strings.

 

[Toner]

I find the best protagonists are silent. Or at least, as in Mass Effect, they only say what you want them to.

Does wonders for immersion, which I think actually makes a game more fun. You're more into it and it becomes more like an experience than just pulling puppet strings.

I have to agree with this....

Sometimes I sit in a game and think to myself...
"Why the HELL is this character spouting all this crap?"

Of course in most cames this set restriction is necessary to continue the plot. If in Bioshock your character had thought that this is too much and offed himself, it wouldn't make for a very good story now, would it?

RPG's are usually the savior of character choice, along with all the benefits and problems this causes.

Choice in a game...is usually a HUGE pain in the bee-hind for the people developing that game. Choice means that more things have to be implemented, usually with a rather large exponential increase in content needed. But choice also gives the player a way to mold the main character into the way THEY perceive them to be. Do what they think they would do in each situation etcetera. But in most cases, doing that would be just way too much work for those that have to make it work.

Besides, with some games it's GOOD to question whether the character you're playing as is a complete pants-on-head-retarded person. When you watch say, a James Bond film, sometimes he's a real moron, and YOU know it. But it's still telling a story, and maybe him being a real moron will continue the story, in such a way that benefits the player/person watching it. Sometimes being stupid is the best method of continuing a plot. Sure it ain't that pretty, but sometimes it just works.

Ok I'ma going to cut this short as I can see it turning into a relatively lengthy post about character scope with story trigger integration and lots of other levely phrases with long words that I've just made up, so....

Choice for characters usually = good for players.
Choice for characters usually = bad for designers.
Choice also is a pain in the behind for designers who are trying to TELL you a story.

Think of it as an adventure book. Sure you can make of it what you will, but you're still limited to the pages IN that book. And if more choices were available, that book would become insanely large and unwieldy, and probably crush your legs/desk every time you want to read it.

 

[The Eaten Cake]

The main character from Persona 3.

Also, Leon from Resi 4 is win.

 

[K_Dub]

Forget all your main character stereotypes right now. I'm about to completely re-define what the main character of a game is all about.

Right, so the main dude, who I will refer to as Gooby, will start off with his arm getting removed. And not just cut off in some awsome battle, but maybe a tiger tearing it off, or a boulder falling on his arm and crushing it.

Gooby will become a badass warrior after losing his arm. Then he'll be dragged into the story for some stupid reason where he will get his ass handed to him in every battle. Afterwards, once a group of friends has been gathered, Gooby will begin a type of romance with some chick...or dude, in the end it doesn't matter.

Then Gooby's BFF will totally jack his love interest right from under his nose! And we will never see either of the two characters ever again. It'll make for a great twist!

Finally, just afew boss battles before the main boss, Gooby will be killed. He won't die in a blaze of glory or by sacrificing himself for his friends though. Instead he'll go out like a total ***** and try to run away. And while trying to get away, Gooby will fall for some really stupid trap, i.e. a pit of spikes or maybe even another boulder. Just use your imagination!

 

[Mizaki]

stuffitystuffs

I think you're on to something awesome here. The fact that you specified "not an awesome battle" is what makes that a good idea. It's tiresome seeing characters with scars or something for just cosmetic reasons. Plus that goes, in the best way possible, against the whole "silent protagonist" thing because well.. relatable characters = boring characters because real people are well.. real. And plain. And fill-in-the-blank characters are a bit much when I want to be entertained.