The Top 5 Unsung Protagonists in Gaming
NOTE: This article contains spoilers for games that if you haven’t played, you should.
No, you won’t find Batman here. Or Snake. Or Cloud. But maybe you’ll find a character you realize has been woefully overlooked by gamers. SHAME ON YOU. YOU PERSONALLY. YOU ARE THE REASON I HAVE TO WRITE THIS ARTICLE. IT IS BECAUSE THERE ISN’T ENOUGH SLASH FICTION ABOUT THESE CHARACTERS ON OTHER SITES.
Alight, that’s not true, but hey, let’s hear it for the characters who aren’t getting enough cosplay or appreciation.
5. Clementine – Telltale Games’ The Walking Dead Season 2
The once immature and fragile girl from season 1 of Telltale Game’s Walking Dead is pretty much functioning on her own at the start of season 2, but the lessons she learned in the first season really come into play in making a believable character from this young girl, and the game is so much richer for its decision to have the player control the most inexperienced and physically vulnerable character.
This scene made me cringe more than any Saw movie.
Clementine manages to make choices that are very interesting throughout the game because they come from the perspective of innocence lost and responsibility forced too early. She’s got a lot of street smarts from having to kill Zombies and survive, but she still really does want some companionship and a bit of rest.
Mondays, right?
Oh, also, if you didn’t cry at the end of Season 2? You made THE WRONG CHOICE YOU HEARTLESS MONSTER.
4. George Stobbard and Nico Collard from the Broken Sword series
Long ago there was a genre of games known as ‘adventure’. Thankfully adventure games are experiencing something of a renaissance lately, however the games of today are a goddamn walk in the park compared to the games of yore, and Broken Sword is equally famous for its infuriating goat puzzle as it is for its incomparable adventure duo, George Stobbard and Nico Collard.
“YOU JUST HAVE TO MOVE AFTER IT BUTTS YOU”
Their appeal was their playful banter in perilous situations. Where as in normal games or movies you might hear ‘Run!’ or ‘Come on! We’ve got to get out of here’ Nico and George traded barbs and jabs that were truly delightful
George: I wonder if we’ll run into Petra, too.
Nico: There’s an expression on your face when you say that which I really don’t like.
George: Well, she is kind of-
Nico: Think very carefully before you finish that sentence.
George: Uh, a psychotic, scheming killer?
Nico: Good. Just remember that.
The best part was they really were a team as you would switch which character you played as, and though their dialogue was in no way ‘realistic’ it had the desired of effect of creating a thoroughly enjoyable duo for a light-hearted adventure in the spirit of Indiana Jones or The Mummy. Plus their lack of romantic entanglement simply showed that games were capable of being more mature than most Hollywood movies at the time
3. Scott Shelby – Heavy Rain
I really wanted to find an image of him drinking so I could write “Shot of Scott with Scotch.” and now the joke is even lamer that I didn’t
Despite its gameplay failings and numerous plot holes (WHY THE HELL DOES ETHAN WAKE UP NEAR THE SITE OF PREVIOUS DROWNINGS AFTER A BLACKOUT? IT MAKES NO SENSE) Heavy Rain was an interesting experiment in ‘narrative experience’ which is slightly less patronizing way of saying creator David Cage wanted to make a game that played really close to a movie. Although all four protagonists are interesting in their own way, Shelby shoulders the most burden since he has a very, very dark secret to hide and while the framework and structure provide context for this Shyamalanian twist, actually seeing the series of events through his world-weary eyes gives us a unique insight into the man.
2. Robert Cath from The Last Express
Let’s jump back to 1998, shall we? Nickelodeon was still on, those stupid Saturn-like pogo toys were popular, Saved by the Bell was at its peak, everyone was playing the SNES, and The Last Express was released. It was critically praised but largely ignored because after its release it received no marketing, plus it looked like you might learn something playing it which was anathema to games of that era.
“The Man at the store said this was quite popular” “Yeah, thanks Grandma”
The entire game takes place on the Orient Express’ final journey before World War I, and Robert Cath boards the train late, by leaping from a motorcycle to avoid some Gens D’armes (French for ‘The Fuzz’) at the station.
How do you board trains? That’s what I thought. Pussy.
We learn from his inventory that he has agreed to meet an old friend on the train, but when he reaches his compartment, he finds his friend – dead (DUN DUN DUN). Assuming the identity of his dead friend, Cath engages in a whodunit that embroils him in international scandal.
Law & Order: Paris… Oh, wait, that actually exists.
The Last Express was thrilling because it was one of the first games in which characters on the train had their own agendas. If you failed to be in the dining car when two characters argue, you miss that scene. But more compelling was Cath himself because he was as much a mystery as every other character. While the outcome of the game is somewhat foregone (Hint: IT WAS A WAR) what happens and how you deal with certain characters is not, and what you can figure out about Cath is up to the player themself… The game has since been re-released on tablet and if you ever get the chance, don’t miss this one.
Also Cath is pretty hot. Not quite my type but his witty one-liners and enigma are pretty engaging.
LOOK INTO HIS EYES DAMMIT
1. James Sunderland from Silent Hill 2
Are you touching your face to affirm your existence or was it just Taco night?
Oh James, you fool. To say James has issues is redundant because he’s in a bloody Silent Hill game (bloody both literally and figuratively). The thing is, even having played the game, it’s hard to get a handle on this character because he’s so complex. Is he a misogynistic douchebag who felt ‘owed’ a pretty wife or is Silent Hill just fucking with his mind, teasing him, trying to goad something from him? What’s fun about James is that this ‘regular schmuck’ approach kind of makes the game all the more terrifying and then even worse on replay.
Well at least we know there’s a Law & Order for this.
The Pseudo-Rape scene involving Pyramid Head and a a pair of legs attached to another pair of legs takes on a much darker element once the player realizes what James has done.
But did James deserve THAT much punishment? Were his thoughts SO dark that he was to be subjected to his wife’s death over and over and over again through Maria? I can’t answer these questions because Silent Hill 2 is a work of art as dense as the fog in its eponymous town.
And on that apposite simile, I’ll turn things over to you. Did I miss anyone? A protagonist you really felt just utterly made the game? Let us know in the comments below!
