Unlikeable Lead characters

[ABLb0y]

Lightning from Final Fantasy 13. The funny thing is she would be likable, if Squeenix would just acknoledge she'd be better as a supporting character. They announced they would be giving her a happy ending in 13-2. Whilst Vanille and Fang, two characters who are actually likable, are trapped in Hell for eternity. Also, Noelle Kriess from 13-2. Not even out yet, and I already want to strangle him.

Duke Nukem, a misoginistic prick with all the depth and emotion of a puddle.

Eddie Rigg from Brutal Legend. Driving your girlfriend to suicide and making your roadie cry isn't funny, it's just cruel.

Kane & Lynch. Despite how much I like the game, I will say that I hated them. Lynch is a sadistic unfeeling bastard (And can't even do it right. Rubi from WET is a good example of a sadistic unfeeling character.) And Kane is just bland.

That's all I can think of right now.

 

[ReservoirAngel]

Also, when it comes to unlikable protagonists, few can compare to this ****.

Spoiler

I feel like I'm the only person on Earth who actually liked Raiden... he was just cool to me. I actually prefer him to Snake *ducks thrown bottle*

 

[drummond13]

Geez, am I the only one who doesn't think Nathan Drake's a bad character?

And don't give me that "mass murderer" BS that Yahtzee started; he's no more a mass murder than Sam Fisher, Lara Croft, Jim Raynor, Number 47, Captain Price, and dozens of other characters are. I don't see why he's the only one that gets slapped with that title.

It's because he is written like a normal guy who goes on whacky adventures. All of those other people are assassins, soldiers and the like, so it's to be expected from them. I hate him for other reasons though...

I guess I just don't see it that way. Lara Croft isn't exactly a soldier, but even letting that go for a moment Nathan Drake is a guy who looks for treasure, gets shot at, and then shoots back at the people trying to kill him. I don't see this as an amoral act on his part, whether he's a soldier or no. Certainly no less moral than the actions of Number 47 who, despite actually BEING a mass murderer, doesn't seem to bother anybody.

Hey if you don't like him that's totally cool. Characters like this are subjective; I like the way he's written quite a lot. It's when I hear all these people on this site parroting Yahtzee about him being a killer that I feel like people need to take a step backwards and look again at the hundreds of video game protagonists who kill just as many people with the same, or less, amount of provocation.

 

[genericusername64]

I gotta say that every iteration of Hawke in Dragon Age II is completely unlikable. At least without a voice, there was some ambiguity in the delivery and I could make it up as I went.

Thats the problem with the dialogue wheel, You don't get to make the character, bioware does.
You could play as a Whiny *****, a sarcastic douche, or 'roid rage personified

 

[virus_2049]

Jack Marston. After "the event" and having to play as Jack Marston, I didn't want to explore anymore, only because he was so damn annoying.

 

[virus_2049]

deleted.

 

[Spencer Petersen]

Ah yes, THAT problem with Mass Effect 2... If I'm honest Cerberus should have had next to no hold on you after a few missions since "We resurrected you" as leverage should only get them so far.

Off Topic: Is it ever explained why Cerberus knows about the Reapers but basically nobody else does?

Well its obviously because no one else has the foresight and genius IQ to believe a mentally taxed, possibly PTSD suffering soldier who openly admits to having hallucinations that we need to drop everything to prepare our army to face a threat he still has absolutely no idea how to actually fight.

Then again, we have on multiple occasions had physical evidence of the existence of the reapers and their technology. He *had* it, because the only 2 choices offered to us has been to either destroy it or leave it entirely to the stupid and inept terrorists who have not yet actually had a successful cell operate without going rogue or killing themselves. He *had* a fully intact Reaper that we could have flown a citadel team to investigate from a safe distance. But our grand plan was to destroy it because "its evil!" is a valid enough excuse to sacrifice indisputable proof of the existence of a life scouring race of robo-crabs.

So really, no one should even believe Shepard under the current circumstances, and the reason Cerberus does is just because the plot demands it.

 

[WonderWillard]

So, I see some people bitching about Shepard not walking away from Cerberus. There are two very logical reasons he stays with Cerberus for the duration of Mass Effect 2:

Spoiler

Well, as you can recall, Shepard DIES at the beginning of the game. Cerberus spends a fortune to bring him back. Shepard kind of owes Cerberus now, even if he wanted to leave, the Illusive Man is the only reason he's alive at that point. And if Shepard tried to just walk away, the Illusive Man would probably try to have him killed

and

Spoiler

The Collectors are blowing through human colonies, and the Alliance and the Council are doing nothing about it. The Illusive Man gives Shepard a new ship, options for a new crew, and the information he needs to stop the Collectors, well, Shepard has to make the best out of a bad situation.

Seriously, of all the things to ***** about in Mass Effect 2, this seemed pretty damn retarded.

I still don't like Cerberus, then again, they're a necessary evil. They're still more reliable than these three drooling and bubbling idiots.

If only we had the option to join the STG, now there's a badass group that never f*** s*** up!

That would be badass indeed... Option for post-ME trilogy game? But yeah, necessary evil definitely. I don't think anyone who played all of the first Mass Effect, after mowing through countless Cerberus experiments gone wrong, will like Cerberus. I mean I sure as hell don't. but I understand that we have to side with them in Mass Effect 2. Besides, sticking it the council when you visit the Citadel is just oh-so-satisfying.

 

[BarbaricGoose]

Batman never crack wise
And Batman and Spider-man don't kill anybody (in the recent comics anyway, for Batman).
Sorry about the nitpicking...

I think he cracked wise once or twice in the Dark Knight movie. Which is what I was goin' by. And he (And Spider-Man) have killed a few people. Hell, Batman snapped a guy's neck--with his foot.

 

[Panzervaughn]

Cryptosporidium137 - Destroy All Humans "What? You want me to go over there?! Outrageous! Sexual Innuendo!, violent Outburst! Violently Sexual innuendoburst!! Okay i guess i have to, sorry sir."

 

[Mr. In-between]

Chrono Trigger has Magus.

 

[Jazoni89]

Cole Phelps from L.A Noire

He has less charisma than a old wooden brush.

 

[No_Remainders]

So having just finished Gears 3 I found myself watching the end cut scene and thinking to myself 'Marcus Fenix is as likeable and charasmatic as a damp sponge'

You're talking about a series which had no real story until mid-way through the second one when we found out about Dom's wife, and even then, story took a back seat.

What did you REALLY expect here?

 

[Yopaz]

Zelos and Kratos from Tales of Symphonia. Not that I hate Lloyd, I love Lloyd, but both Zelos and Kratos are great characters that I really love in that game.

 

[Savagezion]

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...

First, his motivations are more pure than stealing it before the bad guys get it:

Spoiler: Uncharted Spoilers! :You have been warned:

In Uncharted 1, he found the location of the treasure, the bad guys followed him. He gave up on the treasure halfway through. At that point, they were just trying to leave the island. In the end, he sacrificed the treasure to save himself and Elena. Saving Elena and Sully and getting off the island was priority 1 in the last half of the first game. Elena was more about finding the treasure than Drake was.

Uncharted 2, was about beating Flynn to the treasure for his betrayal. Drake knew Flynn wasn't that good - even with Chloe. (Who he suspected was in on the betrayal.) Drake knew he was better and so did Chloe and Flynn, otherwise why would they ever need him? That isn't cockiness, it is justified confidence. Again, in the village Nate gave up seeking the treasure claiming it wasn't worth it. (As he did in 1) But the monk talked him into exploring the cave to find the remains of his men or something that went looking for the stone before. He returns to the village to find it under siege and the monk kidnapped and he goes to save him while they are busy looking for the treasure. Again a rescue mission turns into "a battle against the secret behind the treasure". (Not a fight for the treasure) Again, Drake leaves empty handed from the expedition.

Both games, the bad guys were trying to get the treasure before Drake. When the danger level got too high, Drake bowed out claiming it wasn't worth it. In which a rescue mission was the final part of the game. In the first game, he had to find a way off the island himself anyways. In the second one he could have been a douche and left the monk up to his fate but he didn't.

A lot of people think Drake is a douche. I can't see it either. He doesn't wisecrack all the way through the game. Most of what he says is "Oh shit" or "Oh no, no, no, don't..." or "Not this again". That isn't wisecracks. That is reactionary response. He does make wisecracks here and there but not to the degree everyone makes it out to be. There is probably a good 30m-1h of play between his actual wisecracks. Some of which are actually worth a chuckle.

OT: I probably have to go with Tidus from FFX. He is a whiny entitled prick who is full of himself. THAT is a douche. Also, Ezio from Assassin's Creed. I can't put my finger on why completely but he seems a bit of a dope for one thing.

 

[hazabaza1]

You know what? I'm just going to say EVERYONE voiced by Nolan North. I'm sure he's a nice guy, but every single on of his characters make me want to murder puppies.

Go and play Alpha Protocol right the fuck now.

OT: Though I've never played it myself, I'm going to nominate every single character from Magna Carta 2.
God they all fucking sucked.