Unlikeable Lead characters

[Programmed_For_Damage]

I ended up having more empathy for Marcus by the end of GoW3.

However, the one "protagonist" I can't stand is Kratos. I know he's supposed to be a bastard but he is loathsome in every aspect. I can't find one redeeming quality, and if that's what the developers were going for then mission accomplished.

 

[Mysticgamer]

FFXII. Vaan could spontaneously combusted and collapsed in a sewage ditch and I wouldn't have cared at all. Now Balthier, I would have shagged him hard enough that he would have walked funny for a week ...and Fran too. Bosch was pretty cool too, and a sexy blonde. Penelo was sweet, and useful in a fight.

Also, Ashe could have joined Vaan.

I feel the same way about Vaan but did you noticed he's not the lead in FF12. His whole story was to find his brother's killer and still something out of the castle. Within a couple of hours he gets caught up in Balthier and Fran's Quest and later Ashe's Quest and he just tags along. He finds out that because of his stupidity Penelo got kidnapped, they go save her and he finds out Basch didn't kill his brother...end of his quest.

Ahem ...

Basch was initially meant to be the main character of the story, but the focus was eventually shifted to Vaan and Penelo when the two characters were created later in development.[66] The development team explained that their previous game, Vagrant Story, which featured a "strong man in his prime" as the protagonist had been unsuccessful and unpopular; the change regarding Final Fantasy XII from a "big and tough" protagonist to a more effeminate one was thus decided after targeting demographics were considered. With the casting of dorama actor Kouhei Takeda for the voice acting and motion capture, Vaan became less feminine and more "active, upbeat bright and positive".[66][67] Comments were made about the similarity between main character designer and background design supervisor Akihiko Yoshida's creations and those of Tetsuya Nomura, another Square Enix character designer. Yoshida feels this connection is sparked by the style of color used by both artists, which involves a color consistency between the characters and the environments.[67] The designers stated that non-human characters and races feature a prominent role in the game,[65] which was influenced by an interest in history among the developers.[63]

This is from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_fantasy_12

So in conclusion, yes Vaan was the lead, and yes he sucked.

I didn't know that I've got to check out the article. It makes sense from a business point of view because I know almost nothing about Vagrant Story except the character was named Van too. Well, I hope they make a proper sequel (Other than revent wing) Where we get too see Al-Cid's country.

 

[Mysticgamer]

FFXII. Vaan could spontaneously combusted and collapsed in a sewage ditch and I wouldn't have cared at all. Now Balthier, I would have shagged him hard enough that he would have walked funny for a week ...and Fran too. Bosch was pretty cool too, and a sexy blonde. Penelo was sweet, and useful in a fight.

Also, Ashe could have joined Vaan.

I feel the same way about Vaan but did you noticed he's not the lead in FF12. His whole story was to find his brother's killer and still something out of the castle. Within a couple of hours he gets caught up in Balthier and Fran's Quest and later Ashe's Quest and he just tags along. He finds out that because of his stupidity Penelo got kidnapped, they go save her and he finds out Basch didn't kill his brother...end of his quest.

Ahem ...

Basch was initially meant to be the main character of the story, but the focus was eventually shifted to Vaan and Penelo when the two characters were created later in development.[66] The development team explained that their previous game, Vagrant Story, which featured a "strong man in his prime" as the protagonist had been unsuccessful and unpopular; the change regarding Final Fantasy XII from a "big and tough" protagonist to a more effeminate one was thus decided after targeting demographics were considered. With the casting of dorama actor Kouhei Takeda for the voice acting and motion capture, Vaan became less feminine and more "active, upbeat bright and positive".[66][67] Comments were made about the similarity between main character designer and background design supervisor Akihiko Yoshida's creations and those of Tetsuya Nomura, another Square Enix character designer. Yoshida feels this connection is sparked by the style of color used by both artists, which involves a color consistency between the characters and the environments.[67] The designers stated that non-human characters and races feature a prominent role in the game,[65] which was influenced by an interest in history among the developers.[63]

This is from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_fantasy_12

So in conclusion, yes Vaan was the lead, and yes he sucked.

I didn't know that I've got to check out the article. It makes sense from a business point of view because I know almost nothing about Vagrant Story except the character was named Van too. Well, I hope they make a proper sequel (Other than revent wing) Where we get too see Al-Cid's country.

 

[SteewpidZombie]

Deus Ex: Human Revolution...The main character has only ONE single vocal range and it consists of a low semi-raspy tone with little to no emotion even when getting mad or being happy.

 

[nukethetuna]

Ahem ...

Basch was initially meant to be the main character of the story, but the focus was eventually shifted to Vaan and Penelo when the two characters were created later in development.[66] The development team explained that their previous game, Vagrant Story, which featured a "strong man in his prime" as the protagonist had been unsuccessful and unpopular; the change regarding Final Fantasy XII from a "big and tough" protagonist to a more effeminate one was thus decided after targeting demographics were considered. With the casting of dorama actor Kouhei Takeda for the voice acting and motion capture, Vaan became less feminine and more "active, upbeat bright and positive".[66][67] Comments were made about the similarity between main character designer and background design supervisor Akihiko Yoshida's creations and those of Tetsuya Nomura, another Square Enix character designer. Yoshida feels this connection is sparked by the style of color used by both artists, which involves a color consistency between the characters and the environments.[67] The designers stated that non-human characters and races feature a prominent role in the game,[65] which was influenced by an interest in history among the developers.[63]

This is from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_fantasy_12

So in conclusion, yes Vaan was the lead, and yes he sucked.

Yeah, Vaan tops my list, as well. Look at it this way, Squeenix switched the main character to an androgynous, immature, teenage pretty-boy with no real relevance to the plot (Vaan) from a bad-ass disgraced Knight Captain (Basch) because they thought that the target demographic would relate to him better.

Squeenix thinks that if we can relate to a person in a fantasy game, it's the unsure, androgynous tag-a-long teenager... rather than the mature, honorable even in disgrace heroic knight.
They... don't think much of their target demographic in retrospect.

 

[MisterDyslexo]

You mean anybody who clearly isn;t a sociopath or clearly a "bad guy" (Kratos, Kane & Lynch, dude from Prototype)?

Pretty much every royal I've ever played. Pompous asses. Pretty much almost every game where you've played one, at a later time in the IP's universe, they turn into power hungry dictators or just plain psychos.

 

[DEAD34345]

If every answer isn't "Tidus" from Final Fantasy X then I will be greatly disappointed.

*Checks* Eh... close enough. He's mentioned multiple times on every page of this thread.

I can't believe I gave that douchebag my name.

 

[dagens24]

Unrelated to video games but Nancy Botwin from Weeds.

 

[dickywebster]

Honestly, with most games with a preset lead (not games like fallout 3 where u can make your own) i tend to like one of the support chaps or chapettes more, especially when everyone has such a thin backstory and all...

 

[Lord Kloo]

Don't see what everyone has against CJ from San Andreas.. its Ryder you've gotta hate on..

OT: Shepard.. what a twat, I suppose its how you play him/her
The Mason dude from Red Faction : Armageddon.. comes out with the most obvious commentary.. almost like the Duke but he's not making jokes about the obvious..

 

[Euhan01]

Nathan Drake - Reason's already explained
The protaganist (and gravel voiced veteran) from Vanquish, worst thing about the game.

 

[Sordak]

honestly i kinda liked fenix.

but yeah there are unlikeable main characters before, and i like that at times

 

[emeraldrafael]

Dante comes to mind. I could never get behind him as a character.

 

[BaronOfStuff]

Gordon Freeman; what is even likeable about this man?

 

[renegade7]

FF6, despite being one of my favorite games, had a really crappy main character IMO. She uses her magic to SET PEOPLE ON FIRE and then complains on several occasions about her inability to find true love or acceptance or what not.

 

[DestinyDriven]

So much hate for Nathan Drake and Alex Mercer.... O___O
Maybe it's just the females that like them, because I totally love them. <3

Also, seeing other people say how they don't like certain characters makes me Baww because I like them.

I don't really think I seriously have anything against any characters. If I had to choose though... maybe Duke Nukem or Grayson Hunt. I could do without the douchyness.

 

[Terminate421]

Nathan drake, every thing about him and uncharted series represents what is wrong with this generation of games. Perfect characters do not come from human beings. No ordinary human would kill hundreds and not be scarred by it. At least someone like niko bellic or master chief are used to or trained to kill things.

Also, super models dont do shit like that

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

Well, his only motivation is stealing the priceless artifact before the villain does it first. Oh, and his wisecracking is really annoying, especially since he does while ending the lives of those around him. But if you really want to know...There's a swimming pool at the top of the Hotel in the city level. Jump into it, and then out of it. Once you do, TRY to make it through the next 10 seconds or so without flinching. It's impossible.

You can't really take points away from a wisecracking protagonist if they crack wise after murdering someone... because that's part of what you do in a game, or read about in comics, or see in movies. Jak & Daxter, Ratchet & clank, Spider-Man, John McClane, and even Batman (sometimes) all crack wise after, or shortly before, murdering someone. And those are just off the top of my head.

And it's been a while since I played Uncharted 1 or 2, but I'm pretty sure he had other motivations. It might've been his initial motivation (you know, because he's a treasure hunter), but if someone saves the world, can ya really call them a douchebag just because their initial intentions were to steal something? People change, and that makes Drake all the more believable.

Seems to me like you're grasping at straws for reasons to hate him, but to each their own.

Oh, and sorry for going off topic...

i'm roughly gonna agree with this

i would say "haters gonna hate" but i'll get a non stop argument from someone who is just too jealous they cant be like nathan drake..


OT:

quite a few FF's, your main guy is generally a random douche who doesn't know wtf is going on but then they generally have some awesome supporting cast members.



i just realized i dont really mind most characters...can't really think of too many more.