Why do people hate the common protagonist?

[amoamaremetallum]

I was just reading the common trend thread, when I saw someone make a point about how every shooter protagonist is a hyper-masculine raging bowl of testosterone, and how it pissed them off. I agreed slightly in my head, and then IMMEDIATELY rethought this.

When we play shooters, we want to feel like badasses, right? Mowing down tons of enemies is the whole point of shooters, am I right?

From what I'm currently aware of, there are only three types of characters that we can really use in a halo/modern warfare style shooter.

1: The hyper masculine etc etc etc AKA nearly every shooter protagonist ever.

2: The guy who's simply misunderstood. Someone who has to fight but just wants to be loved. See the Haze episode of ZP. Also, Yahtzee gives my main concern with this character type, in that 'i just want some loooooooooove' ALWAYS seems insincere aftered you've mowed down a bajillion troops, which is the point of FPS.

3: The crappy guy. I admit that fallout series does this okay, but you cant really have premises like Halo or COD with this type of character. Seriously, you play as a CIA agent or an Elite squadron of space soldiers, being crap really just doesn't work you know?

TL;DR I can't think of any decent alternative for an FPS protagonist to replace the hyper-masculine bowl of raging testosterone.

 

[Kiefer13]

I'm pretty sure a character can be badass without being a stereotype.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

I quite like the silent, amnesiac RPG protagonist.

Place one of those guys in a shooter!

 

[Axolotl]

TL;DR I can't think of any decent alternative for an FPS protagonist to replace the hyper-masculine bowl of raging testosterone.

How about a well devloped three-dimensional character with a unigue and interesting personality instead?

Here's a hint, if you're getting your character from a predefined type and it's not aa Alan Morre type deconsruction, then you're doing it wrong.

 

[manythings]

TL;DR I can't think of any decent alternative for an FPS protagonist to replace the hyper-masculine bowl of raging testosterone.

How about a well devloped three-dimensional character with a unigue and interesting personality instead?

Here's a hint, if you're getting your character from a predefined type and it's not aa Alan Morre type deconsruction, then you're doing it wrong.

I would argue it's more in the delivery that is the problem. How often does an FPS stop to allow character development? In my experience there is only enough of a pause to figure what room you need to shoot up next or people pretending that plot is happening. With a little more down time and story characters could really improve.

Also how many people are Alan Fucking Moore? Seriously, don't expect to find a recognisable and unique style of writing from every writer it's just impossible.

 

[Armored Prayer]

You know every time I hear people use the phrase 'muscled up testosterone gritty military guy' I can never think of a game that actually has that type of protagonist. Sure FPS hove those but not one has everything people love to complain about. Only game that comes close is Gears of War and they are not what people make them out to be.(Its the armor that makes them look huge)

I get what what the OP is saying and I'd love to see more 'just and average guy forced into this' type of protagonist.

 

[Axolotl]

TL;DR I can't think of any decent alternative for an FPS protagonist to replace the hyper-masculine bowl of raging testosterone.

How about a well devloped three-dimensional character with a unigue and interesting personality instead?

Here's a hint, if you're getting your character from a predefined type and it's not aa Alan Morre type deconsruction, then you're doing it wrong.

I would argue it's more in the delivery that is the problem. How often does an FPS stop to allow character development? In my experience there is only enough of a pause to figure what room you need to shoot up next or people pretending that plot is happening. With a little more down time and story characters could really improve.

Oh, of course there has to be changes in the game structure to allow for good character development but if you do that then the basic character neeeds to be something more than a "hyper-masculine bowl of raging testosterone" for it to worthwhile.

Also how many people are Alan Fucking Moore? Seriously, don't expect to find a recognisable and unique style of writing from every writer it's just impossible.

What I mean is that Alan Moore in alot of his works takes common predefined archetypes and then takes them apart to show what's wrong with them. Unless you're going to do something like that, you shouldn't bepicking yourcharacter out from a list of archetypes.

 

[Disgruntled_peasant]

Gordan freeman is pretty much the exact oposite of the FPS sterotype (ok he has a sort-of power armour suit, but even that is intended for scientific purposes) he is a godamn nerdy scientist with glasses.

To be believable in a FPS, yeah you're character will have to conform to some stereotypes, even freeman is pretty damn tough and built up, because if he were a TOTAL weedy dork then it would be totaly rediculous to see him chewing aliens for breakfast (even as he is you have to kinda turn a blind eye to the fact that he spent all his pre-alien days solving complex equations rather than at the rifle range)
but by no means do you have to have a big meathead hypermale arsehole, there are plenty of options out there, and so many that havent been explored yet.

EDIT: answering the actual question- its because the common protagonist is either a failed attempt at being 'cool' and is actually just a 12 year olds fantasy of what a 'badass' should be (read: "he shud hav 700 gunz and rokitz and be big and strong hav sex wiv 300 girlz at a timee and not be afriad of nobody!!11!"), or he is just irritating to the point that it detracts from the game.

 

[manythings]

I would argue it's more in the delivery that is the problem. How often does an FPS stop to allow character development? In my experience there is only enough of a pause to figure what room you need to shoot up next or people pretending that plot is happening. With a little more down time and story characters could really improve.

Oh, of course there has to be changes in the game structure to allow for good character development but if you do that then the basic character neeeds to be something more than a "hyper-masculine bowl of raging testosterone" for it to worthwhile.

Also how many people are Alan Fucking Moore? Seriously, don't expect to find a recognisable and unique style of writing from every writer it's just impossible.

What I mean is that Alan Moore in alot of his works takes common predefined archetypes and then takes them apart to show what's wrong with them. Unless you're going to do something like that, you shouldn't bepicking yourcharacter out from a list of archetypes.

Ok, I agree to that. Grizzle T. McGrizzlington is an unfortunate fixture of games but combined with the shitty plots and no interest in character progression he is in good company. That's why I don't play FPSs anymore... unless it is multiplayer with friends.

 

[Azure Knight-Zeo]

Why can't we have the "crappy guy" again? Hear me out, what if the player is just an average guy who is at ground zero when the bad guys come, then he has to fight against them to survive while getting stronger and more used to the war as it goes on. I know this sounds alot like Mobile Suit Gundam, but that worked didn't it?

 

[Celtic_Kerr]

I quite like the silent, amnesiac RPG protagonist.

Place one of those guys in a shooter!

I always remember when I play these games, and I imagine that he must have fun picking up a sword and hacking through enemies, because for someone with no memory, they pick it up rather well. I can imagine what it would be like for a shooter

Who? What? You expect me to fight?! I don't remember how to-"
BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!
Looks at dead Bodies
Sweet CHIRST! That was fun, can I do it again?

 

[Bobic]

You know every time I hear people use the phrase 'muscled up testosterone gritty military guy' I can never think of a game that actually has that type of protagonist.

Army of Two, Halo, Call of Duty, Modern Warfare, about a billion lesser-known shooters.

Do the Call of Duty's really have 'muscled up testosterone gritty military guys'? The protagonist doesn't even speak so you don't know his character at all - apart from the military guy bit, but he kind of has to be that in order to take part in the war.