I played a lot of video games growing up and, let me tell you, there were some pretty memorable characters in these games. So, I am making a top ten list of my favorite video game characters to pay tribute to these memorable characters. In some ways, I'm sure that this list will reveal where some quirks in my personality come from.
Note: I tried to avoid characters that:
1.) Are real life people
2.) Are from other media such as television or movies (for instance, I was inclined to put The Joker from Batman: Arkham Asylum on here but The Joker isn't exclusively a video game character).
3.) Will appear on my Top 10 Most Attractive Video Game Characters list.
Oh...and...SPOILERS!!! HUGE SPOILER ALERT!!!
Don't read descriptions if you don't want the ending ruined for you!!!
With that out of the way, onto the list!!!
Number 10: Ollie the Magic Bum - Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4
Ollie the Magic Bum often brought a smile on my face. He would be stumbling around and slurring his words when asking you to gather the C-O-M-B-O letters for him. Sometimes he's sitting around in that barrel. And no matter how pissed you got at your inability to collect the hard-as-shit C-O-M-B-O letters, you still laughed everytime he would ask you to collect them again.
Number 9: Spyro - Spyro the Dragon
Spyro was a simple character. He spits fire, leads with his horns, and wants to kick ass! He's a fiery little fella that you could always root for. Enough said.
Number 8: Tanner - Driver
Tanner was always an interesting character. Yeah, he's an undercover cop but you always felt like you were playing the bad guy anyways. Checking his answering machine in the darkness of his apartment, committing all sorts of crime most of the game, his shady sounding voice, all of these things made it feel like you were playing as a badass. At the end you remember that he actually is a good guy when you save the president from the plot that the corrupt FBI officers had tried to execute. At the end, he throws his police badge on the ground and walks away in typical badass fashion. Gotta love this guy.
Number 7: Chris Jacobs - Mercenaries
Not only is this guy a badass, he's fucking hilarious too. The whole game he has some sort of wisecrack to make while he's kicking someone's ass. Basically, everything is a giant game to him. When he's blowing up tanks, buildings, or bases, he's having fucking fun while doing it. Even if he is getting bombed the shit out of. He doesn't care! He's getting paid!
Number 6: Yellow 13 - Ace Combat 4
One of my favorite characters of all-time from one of my favorite games of all time. Yellow 13 is the opposing faction's fighter ace that you eventually have to shoot down in the second to last level of the game. In the game's story, we follow a kid who has lost his parents in the war. Eventually, he ends up having to live with Yellow 13. What makes this an even bigger deal is that Yellow 13 is essentially the one who killed the kid's parents. So not only is he the enemy, but he is also responsible for the death of the kid's family! As the game goes on, he learns that just because Yellow 13 is the enemy doesn't mean that he's a bad guy. In fact, he grows extremely attached to Yellow 13 and Yellow 13 basically becomes his second father.
Yellow 13 is a special character to me because it was the first game I played where the 'bad guy' wasn't inherently evil. He was a person just like you are and he's just doing his job (and is very good at it). In fact, Yellow 13 has to be the most compassionate video game "villain" I've ever seen. Yellow 13 treats everyone in his squadron like they are brothers and sisters. When his wingman Yellow 4 gets shot down and killed, he holds onto her handkerchief that was fluttering down out of the sky. A really touching story to a really great game. Yellow 13 is certainly memorable.
Number 5: Lt. Harrison - Medal of Honor: Rising Sun
This guy is the craziest AI ever. After rescuing Lt. Harrison from a Japanese POW camp, he joins you as you go blowing artillery guns in the mountains. He isn't a very deep character. He just runs right in front of gun fire fucking yelling at Japanese soldiers like bullets don't do anything to him. In the multi-player, he is by far the most intense AI opponent you can play against. I have never beaten him. In fact, I get my ass kicked every time. Even when my best friend and I go two on one against him, we still get our ass kicked. He's fucking legendary and I will certainly not forgot how much his AI pisses me off.
Number 4: Odin - Final Fantasy Series
I know I said that I wanted to avoid using characters from other media. As you may or may not know, Odin is from Norse Mythology and is the father of Thor (who I suppose is more well known). Anyways, the reason why he is on this list is because of the portrayal of him in the Final Fantasy games. Every Final Fantasy, this guy is the biggest badass ever! If I had to pick my favorite portrayal, I would pick Final Fantasy VIII. He's a Guardian Force but the only Guardian Force that you can't summon on your own. He appears at random and you know when he comes because in the middle of battle, it randomly gets cloudy and starts raining. It then cuts over to Odin who's strutting on his horse in white and gold armor. He stops and whips out his curved saber and slices all of the enemies in half. Battle over.
It seems cheap but you do acquire him through a side quest where you have to climb some tower and defeat him in a boss fight. But, he is by far my favorite summon in any Final Fantasy game which is why he has earned the fourth spot on this list.
Number 3: Ted Lawless - Blitz: The League
This guy gambles, has a bitchy ex-wife, and won't get bailed out of jail because of his need to aggressively flirt with women. Basically, he's a huge dick. But, he's also a hero which makes him perhaps even more badass than Odin. When he's in jail, days before the championship game, he sells the defensive playbook to the opposing team in order to get the money needed to get out of jail. He's viewed as a traitor by the team for doing this but, at the end of the day, they learn that the playbook he sold was a fake and they win the game and be happy. Kinda stupid, yeah, but I just love how obnoxious this guy is. He likes bashing heads on the field, being a dick off of the field. For some reason, I can't help but to root for this guy.
Number 2: Solid Snake - Metal Gear Series
Solid Snake. Hero, stealth expert, weapons expert, etc. etc. ETC.!!! He can do it all. He's mentally tough, he's physically tough, he's smart, he pulls through no matter what. He's also a conflicted character which makes him much more relatable than most other video game characters. Deep down, the deaths of his comrades bother him. These emotions just rarely reach the surface. In fact, we learn in Metal Gear Solid 4 that his emotions all this time have been controlled by nano machines. So, I guess this takes away the glamor a bit but I still can't help but to idolize this guy. Towards the end of MGS4, he has to walk through a radiation chamber which is one of the most dramatic sequences I've seen in any game. The very end is also incredibly emotional. Especially if you've played all of the games prior to that like I had.
Watching Solid Snake just makes me think, yeah, I need to just be a little more like that to pull through and no matter what happens, things will work out.
Number 1: Squall Leonhart - Final Fantasy VIII
He's a talented fighter and gives the cold shoulder to everyone. Squall is definitely my favorite video game character. He's pessimistic, generally wants to be alone, and only focuses on the objective at hand. He doesn't care what others think of him. He's also incredibly afraid of getting emotionally attached to any other human being. He's very conflicted. I guess, he's my favorite because he's the most relatable for me. Especially at the time that I was playing this game. I couldn't help but to relate every quirk of his to myself.
Honorable Mentions:
Cecil Harvey - Final Fantasy IV
His character is an interesting concept. He overcomes his dark past to become a Paladin. He deeply cares about the others around him and tries to protect all of them so that everyone is okay. He was always inspiring to me. Especially his will to never give up.
N. Gin - Crash Bandicoot 2
This guy is fucking nuts! He's a science genious who has had some experiments go wrong in the past, leaving him as one fucked up dude. Most notably, he has a rocket sticking out of the side of his head that shoots fire out when he gets mad. Just a great, entertaining, character.
The Boss - Metal Gear Solid 3
Naked Snake's/Big Boss's mentor. She is a veteran special ops soldier from WWII. She's incredibly smart and selfless. At the end of the game she sacrifices herself and appears to die a traitor when in reality she's a hero for the United States by saving Naked Snake/Big Boss. Definitely one of the most admirable video game characters.
Bruno Battaglia - Blitz: The League
He's essentially the same guy as Ted Lawless. The only difference is that Bruno has no redeeming qualities like Lawless does. Therefore, he doesn't make the list.
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