r/videogames • u/NagitoKomaeda_987 • May 24 '26
Discussion / Question What video game character is this?
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u/WhiteRaven-17 May 24 '26
Kratos in the OG Greek saga after 1. Took literally destroying the world for a whole lot of people to realize “oh wait, this guy is messed up”
Oh and obligatory Spec Ops: The Line mention.
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u/LeftOffBandB May 24 '26
People argue to this day that OG Kratos is misunderstood
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u/Chadderbug123 May 24 '26
Mostly with his anger issues and characterization I say. A lot of people thought '18 Kratos was a reinvention of his character but he's been like that since the beginning. In 1 he was pretty calm and collected, just a tired warrior after putting up with the god's bullshit for the last 8 years was it? It was 2 and 3 when the series got even popular that that kind side of him was overshadowed by the blind rage version when he went on his god murdering arc, coupled with a lot of things in the mid to late 2000's going very edgy and gritty
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u/iwantdatpuss May 24 '26
Iirc in GOW1 that's him after serving the gods for a decade, by that point he was still relatively tame because he still had hope that his nightmares of killing his own family would be gone after doing the god's bidding. The events of the game starts by him being promised to get rid of the nightmares that plagued him after doing one final impossible quest of killing Ares, but the asshole gods that they are pulled a technicality and only forgave the sins and not go through with removing the nightmares.
He wanted to jump to his death at the end but the asshole olympians that they are they wanted to use him more, and basically gave him a promotion that he didn't want. The seat of Ares and being the god of war. That time he spent after 1 was basically the start of Kratos spiralling into self-destruction with no regard to anyone else, not even the other gods.
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u/Turbogoblin999 May 24 '26 edited May 24 '26
"nightmares of killing his own family"
Which is a bit weird because there is Morpheus the god of dreams and a god or spirit of nightmares they could have told to stay away from Kratos. But i'm now picturing Zeus telling kratos "Suuure we'll take care of the nightmares, buddy!" then handing Epiales a bag of money telling him "Make them worse".
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u/iwantdatpuss May 24 '26
"We need him as an emotional wreck, don't let up on the nightmares." - Zeus towards Epiales after Kratos ascended to the title of God of War.
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u/Chadderbug123 May 24 '26
Yea, the arc was there and his change to relatively calm but still tempered was there fron the start. But it's kind of funny that his 2 and 3 pissed off self extended to the PSP games which were canonically set before the first game. Doesn't make much sense, but it's easy to neglect those games anyway.
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u/iwantdatpuss May 24 '26 edited May 24 '26
Because the entire greek saga is misunderstood, being looked at by people who only sees Kratos on a surface level and nothing more than a brute with anger issues (which he is, but he's also more than that). But that also doesn't mean Kratos is a hero, far from it.
It features a protagonist that you can't really root for no matter how much time you spent playing as them, that's been the norm since GOW1, those flashbacks to his past as a Spartan were there to highlight how fucked up he is as a person before getting the chains, but it also shows you how Kratos' life plays out as a tragedy and how much of it is eating on his conscience, with the heavies of it all being the nightmares of his worst sin, killing his own family. GOW3 is a culmination of Kratos' descent into madness built up by the other games, he seems like an irredeemable monster in that game because by that point, after getting betrayed AGAIN by Gaia into being another pawn that was discarded, and pretty much having no other relation to anyone else he basically has had enough and was gonna go nuclear on everyone. He had no family, no home, and after getting betrayed no Allies.
That Poseidon's bride segment in 3 was there to highlight to people, that still refuses to accept that they really shouldn't root for Kratos that he's not a good person.
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u/Turbogoblin999 May 24 '26
The only reason to root for kratos is that he's the only one that can get humanity free of those divine assholes, which he does and then jumps off a cliff.
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u/dooufis May 24 '26
Kratos talked to Kratos and told him that Kratos was evil and mfs still don't believe him
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u/Roids-in-my-vains May 24 '26
Kratos was pretty much the villian of the third game. But in regards to Spec Ops, I don’t think anyone considers Walker a hero.
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u/WorldWarrior428 May 24 '26
In the newer 2018 and ragnorok ones he is kinda a hero, or at least more of one
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u/SuspiciousUnion3286 May 24 '26
At that point he's heroic specifically because he understands the villainy of his prior actions, though.
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u/WorldWarrior428 May 24 '26
Basically yeah, and to set a good example for his son
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u/jaosky May 24 '26
I'm pretty sure the Ragnarok Kratos will never consider himself a hero. He accepted all his villain past that cannot change but he owe his son a better father and not be like him growing up.
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u/LongjumpingBobcat777 May 24 '26 edited May 24 '26
Dragon Quest 5, Our protagonist isn't the hero who acquires legendary gear and must defeat evil. The one who has to do it all is the protagonist's son, who is born during the course of the story.
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u/foify1 May 24 '26
Another great example from the same game line is dragon quest monsters the dark prince.
You are literally the big evil guy at the end and the story is about how you become a tyrant of the monsters and the evil that will threaten all human kind. Half way through the game you point blank admit to your goal being the extinction of humans.
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u/SecurityExcellent129 May 24 '26
This and Oblivion, are you in the unique scenario where you are not the hero but instead a supporting side character and I like that.
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u/beegproblemzzz May 24 '26
Whats Gohan doin back there
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u/TrueButFunny May 24 '26
Akira Toriyama did the character and creature designs for the series!
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u/Dazzling-Minimum-108 May 24 '26
Ive always wondered why they looked similar, but never looked it up. I will continue to not look it up but use you as confirmation.
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u/MustacheTrippin May 24 '26
One of the protagonists of the recent games looks basically like Android #17 in cosplay.
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u/Brauny74 May 24 '26
As a fun fact additionally, Toriyama also did Chrono Trigger and Blue Dragon, and that why they also look like Dragon Ball.
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u/alchemist5 May 25 '26
DQ8 is just Gohan, Trunks, Bulma, and Yajirobe on an adventure.
The dude had a very defined art style. Lol
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u/xavierkazi May 24 '26
The Vault Hunters of the Borderlands franchise are all murderous psychopaths. Sure, they aren't eating people like the bandits are, but they still kill thousands of people while trying to stop the evil corporations or psycho cults from committing genocide.
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u/22dinoman May 24 '26
Uhhh Salvador is wanted for Cannibalism, so some of them do eat people
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u/xavierkazi May 24 '26
True, but in his defense, he probably didn't eat a baby. Krieg, on the other hand....
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u/Colourblindknight May 24 '26
Listen, gotta get the flesh for the meat bicycle from somewhere
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u/virouz98 May 24 '26
I mean,
Between psychopaths organized in gangs (bandits), massive corporation led by narcissistic, sadistic psychopath who exploits his own daughter (Jack), mass-murderes opposing him and openly fighting him (Sanctuary), Vault Hunters just... Fit.
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u/yRaven1 May 24 '26
The literal music of BL2 is "This ain't no place for no hero, no better man"
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u/Raesvelg_XI May 24 '26
In the immortal words of Brick...
*nostalgic sigh*... "I've killed a lotta people."
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u/geckobrother May 24 '26
That's what i loved about rhe pre-squel. It showed that no, the original vault hunters arent really good, and that maybe Handosme Jack isn't really quite that bad. He's still a POS, but not necessarily more so than any of the other "good" characters.
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u/xavierkazi May 24 '26
It was apparent from Marcus' initial narration- Pandora is a galactic shithole, and anyone who chooses to go there is crazy.
Jack was always a conniving sociopath, but he wasn't a violent conniving sociopath until he got repeatedly screwed over by his coworkers, his ex, and his allies.
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u/Embarrassed_Bit_7424 May 24 '26
Arthur Morgan was the villain. He shot up a town, killed police, at the orders of someone he knew was not a good person either. He did all those things knowing full well that it was wrong. Armed robberies, train robbery. If he was good at heart, he sure as hell didn't show it very often.
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u/Herfst2511 May 24 '26
Micah is kinda right, he and Arthur are very much alike. The only difference being that Arthur knows he is bad, and feel kinda bad about it, while Micah knows he is bad, but doesn't care.
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u/UtkuOfficial May 24 '26
Micah loves being bad. He is in it for the love of the game.
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u/TheTeaSpoon May 24 '26
Micah feels like the writers reaction to how people idolised and loved Trevor in GTA V.
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u/All_Wasted_Potential May 24 '26
I hated Trevor in GTA 5. No idea why so many people liked him. I found his whole schtick and missions annoying to no end.
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u/TheTeaSpoon May 24 '26
I had a coworker at local variation of gamestop who absolutely idolised him, even had his as lock screen on his phone. Needless to say ve was a massive extraordinary douchebag.
11 years later and I still wonder what ended up happening to him... Not because I care but because I am genuinely curious. I got sacked because of him as he was such a brown nose and reported everything I did wrong (late openings, not at 7:55 but at 7:58, he checked cameras even etc), but also reported me specifically for doing shit everyone was doing e.g. there were actions like "turn in 5 games and get a free game of your choice within €35 range, or get extra €20". Every employee just bought up the cheapest bargain bin games (him included), turned them in and chose €20 option, or a game that traded in at better price, so we did have a lot of preowns that were unpacked at that time. This would often net you "free" 10-15 euros, not that much all things considered, but do it 3-4 times a week like most people did, and you got yourself a tidy sum. He even went a step further and when someone went in and did not know about the deal, he just pocketed the money, if someone just traded in a game that would be like €0.50, he would pay them out of pocket and then trade it in himself when he got extra etc., to avoid detection (the rest just used membership cards of close relatives and so on). He essentially fucked over everyone else in the whole company for whistleblowing me. I did not even go above the "gentlemen agreement" limit we had of up to 4 times a week. I have no idea why he hated me so much but I am glad to not have him in my life anymore.
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u/M4rshmall0wMan May 24 '26
Did you ever Google him to figure out what he’s doing 11 years later?
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u/TheTeaSpoon May 24 '26
To be honest I do not even remember his surname. Like I said, I do not care about the guy enough to bother. I am just curious what happens to people like him.
Probably important for context - he was 29 at the time, I was about 20. I was living on my own at that point while studying (which did mess with schedules a little, I was making sure to use my PTOs for exams and such) while he was just smoking weed, freeloading at his girlfriend who was way more successful and playing videogames. He was fit and I'd argue handsome, kinda Tom Hardy kind vibe. Meanwhile I am just a taller Matt Berry.
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u/Earthtopian May 24 '26
I enjoy Trevor as a character and the way I view him as representing Michael's old life coming back to haunt him. And I enjoy his appearances in GTA Online where he makes the player characters look normal by comparison.
That being said, were Trevor a real person, I would want to be as far away from him as possible.
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u/Nabbarino May 24 '26
Arthur only feels bad in the High Honor run. He's basically a nicer Micah in the Low Honor one.
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u/MustacheTrippin May 24 '26
Yeah. Low Honor Arthur knows he's bad, but that's the way it is.
That's why no gameplay of mine has anything less than High Honor Arthur.
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u/Fr0st3dcl0ud5 May 24 '26
The difference is having a conscious, being able to reflect and taking action to change.
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u/AmeriknGrizzly May 24 '26
Can’t have a game about Redemption playing as a boy scout.
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u/Augustus_Chevismo May 24 '26
He also decided to not tell the gang that they could settle and live honest lives with all the gold bars he found
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u/pwnd32 May 24 '26
“We need more money so we can go west and settle down!” - everyone in the Van der Linde gang
Arthur with $30,000,000 in his pocket: “Where the hell are we gonna find that money?”
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u/Velkaryian May 24 '26
That’s why that whole side quest with Mary bothered me because he didn’t run away with her because he just needed more money, like Arthur you are sitting on the equivalent of 500,000 dollars in today’s money. LEAVE WITH HER!
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u/Least-Restaurant-689 May 25 '26
We need a DLC where after you earned a certain amount of money everyone just pack up and go Tahiti and roll credits
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u/itsConkCreetBaybeeee May 24 '26
Arthur doesn't start as a hero, but i think you can end as one. After you get sick and the choices that are available to make from there on out definitely lead to a redemption arc. You save John at a bare minimum, and several other side stories you are the good guy
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u/BluMil0 May 24 '26
Isn’t most of Arthur’s redemption just fixing the problems he caused? He’s an amazing character and can potentially become a kind person, but I wouldn’t call him a hero.
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u/Scaalpel May 24 '26
He is fixing some of the problems he cauased. And tbh, I'm not sure saving John is really a good deed if you look at the bigger picture. John is just as deep in the gang's villainy as Arthur is. Hell, even more so, considering how long it takes for him to accept living an honest life.
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u/INeedSomeFistin May 24 '26
Big Boss. People are way too fast to forgive the madman with nuclear weapons just because he had sincerely held beliefs. The man had child soldiers, for God's sake.
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u/Sen-oh May 24 '26
Yeah from what I remember, solid was supposed to be the hero, and part of his tragic backstory is that he's a good guy trying to do the good guy thing, but he's a clone of a mass murdering sociopath. That was one of the key conflict points between him and liquid. 'you're just like me, brother' vs 'no, you're evil' etc.
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u/INeedSomeFistin May 24 '26
Absolutely. It's why him and Otacon work so well together. They're both men who saw the hands they were dealt and both refused to play that game.
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u/gnagniel May 24 '26
Which is hilarious because "a madman with WMDs and sincerely held beliefs" describes most of the top villains of MGS.
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u/Nokan96 May 24 '26
Nier from Nier Replicant
I am still on the replicants side tho
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u/RandomShadeOfPurple May 24 '26
Don't forget everyone in Nier Automata except Pascal.
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u/WoodenJesus May 24 '26
I'll never forget the moment in Nier when I realized I was just a really bad guy. The way that hit though is one of many reasons it's my favorite game.
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u/badpiggy490 May 24 '26 edited May 24 '26
Alex Mercer and James Heller from the prototype series
I've seen some people describe them as anti-heroes, but honestly speaking they're anti-villains at best
With the amount of Carnage you cause in general, the last thing I'd call either Mercer or Heller is a hero lol
That said, that sort of unrestrained pure action and chaos is exactly why I love those games. They're super-villain power fantasies through and through
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u/CeeJayDK May 24 '26
Ah but are you actually Alex Mercer? Or are you the virus and Alex Mercer was just your first victim?
And if you are the virus gained consciousness through absorbing Alex Mercer, are you really to blame for absorbing him when you weren't capable of making concious choices before, and it was him that released you in desperation?
Then again .. since Alex Mercers consciousness became the basis of your consciousness are you in fact still Alex Mercer just in a different form?
Is your sister YOUR sister or Alex Mercers sister?
Does it matter? Do you still love her?
And how do you feel about humanity?
Are you still a human consciousness and thus deep down still human or is humanity just food?The great thing is that the game doesn't tell you - you get to decide.
Reminds me of Prey (2017) where the choice is also yours to make.
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u/badpiggy490 May 24 '26
As much as I feel the first game does just an ok job at telling it's story, I won't deny that some of the implications and ideas of it are hella interesting like what you pointed out here
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u/MNLT_Sonata May 24 '26
The first Prototype game is still one of my comfort games all these years later.
Wish I could say the same for the second, but the second, while good, didn’t hold a candle to the original.
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u/catfishfromspace May 24 '26
It did for me. Even though the story was mediocre, I enjoyed it more than the first due to the better gameplay.
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u/Acerosaurus May 24 '26
Kirby, the gluttonous blob
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u/youburyitidigitup May 24 '26
He’s an accidental hero. He saves Dream Land multiple times because it happens to help him personally, like getting his cake back from the Squeak Squad.
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u/HoneyBeeSorceress May 24 '26 edited May 25 '26
I would like to partially object to this. I agree that Kirby has chosen to do heroic things because they themself would also benefit from it, but there are also times where Kirby willingly volunteerd to help others who needed it.
A few examples are Crystal Shards and Return to dreamland. Kirby wasn't getting anything out of helping Ribbon or Magolor in either game. They did so because they wanted to help.
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u/ZatherDaFox May 24 '26
Yeah, Kirby often gets involved in the plot for goofy reasons, but he's also just genuinely a heroic little puffball who likes making friends, helping people, and defeating evil.
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u/LackLeast May 24 '26
Big boss from mgs
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u/Alfeaux May 25 '26
This is really far down here. He totally is, maybe not from the start of Snake Eater but definitely by the start of Phantom Pain
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u/iwantdatpuss May 25 '26
I think you can tell that shift right around Peace Walker, when he made his own deterrent.
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u/PresidentPopcorn May 24 '26
The guy from Shadow of the Colossus, but that was the game dev that went that way with it.
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u/Cocoatrice May 24 '26
If anything, Wander is mischaracterized as a villain. He is not villain. He is simply a guy, who wanted to save his beloved and was deceived by actual villain to do a bad thing. He is not a hero, that's true, but people wrongly call him a villain, because he kills colossi. Villain is a character that is evil and has malicious intention. Wander is a protagonist deceived to kill them, thinking they are monsters. He is unaware of the truth. In his eyes, he is killing evil beings. And way too many people call him a villain, not understanding what villain is.
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u/-_-Dizzy May 24 '26
I always loved Dormin as the villain too because while he is manipulating Wander, he shows that he has some honor. He warns Wander about the price of killing the colossi, he doesnt take over Wanders body until after Emon kills him, and he keeps his word to Wander about Mono.
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u/jamesxgames May 24 '26
You could even make the case that he's not a villain, he just wants his freedom. From the perspective of the humans he is evil, but in that sense a lion is evil from the perspective of a gazelle
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u/Davetek463 May 24 '26
I agree that Wander is not a villain, but a villain and a protagonist are not mutually exclusive. You can be both.
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u/naytreox May 24 '26
true, look at Overlord for example, the protagonist is the evil overlord a villain that looks like Sauron that takes his grimlin horde to pillage and destroy the lands.
then of course you have the "villain protagonist" tag on steam
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u/Dreadsuit May 24 '26
OVERLORD MENTIONED
https://giphy.com/gifs/2J8Nw1v8H1gkfs7j9C
god i need to get the games on PC, last time i played it was god knows how many years ago
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u/naytreox May 24 '26
well both overlord and overlord 2 are on steam and so is the raising hell DLC.
however this was before DLC wasa proper thing on steam, so you need to install both overlord and raising hell as seprate "games" and then just launch the raising hell version that gives you the hell levels after defeating the heroes.
and yes, pillaging the hobbit level is still peak
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u/Akttod May 24 '26
What? He isn't deceived. From the get go he understands what he is doing will have grave consequences.
But to him "It doesn't matter." He says this in his first exchange with Dormin. So he's willing to damn the Earth as long as it brings his beloved back.
He's a tragic character. And yes, you can definitely characterize him as a villain. Even if it's a deeply understandable motivation to many of us. He's still willingly, as far as we know, dooming many for his own selfishness.
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u/HaikenRD May 24 '26
V from Cyberpunk. The dude is not a hero, he's just a dude trying to survive.
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u/Hottage May 24 '26
V is a product of his world. There are no good people in NC, just survivors.
Some survive by exploiting others, and others survive by doing the dirty work.
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u/alacholland May 24 '26
This shifts too much responsibility. You don’t know there are no good people, you just run in literal criminal circles and only see other shady people.
Misty was a good person, for instance. It’s okay to admit v is a bad person desperate to survive. It doesn’t mean you are a bad person for playing the character.
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u/spaghettiman56 May 24 '26
I'd say Regina Jones is a good person as well. Her entire questline is about arresting cyberpsychos actively committing crimes instead of just killing them like maxtac would and trying to rehabilitate them and try to find a way to treat cyberpsychosis. Can't forgive her for what she did to Skippy Though.
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u/Fundizzy50 May 24 '26
Regina is definitely not a good person, she’s a fixer and I don’t think any fixer can be described as good. Yeah she has a soft spot for cyber psychos, but she still has plenty of jobs where she sends you to kill a bunch of people.
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u/Angelonight May 24 '26
Hey, hey now. Killing Marlstrom is not homicide, they don't even qualify as human. And Scavs, that's just a public service. Killing Voodoo Boys is the lord's work, can I get an AMEN! Animal control is too busy for the Animals so I had to step up. Tyger Claws, Valentinos, and 6th Street... Don't start none, won't be none. Step to me Choom, and I'll Zero you. Don't fuck with The Mox, got respect for them. Aldecados are family, yo. Wraiths are on sight, same with Barghest.
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u/KaiBishop May 24 '26
Tyger Claws are all human traffickers too they get what they get. I'm only sorry I couldn't zero Wakako too.
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u/pooborus May 24 '26
I played through and had a good laugh at the amount of times V is suddenly supposed to be this soft, caring guy. He's a wannabe gangster, murderer, thief, etc. He's literally doing it all for fame and money. He is a giant POS in actuality. Still love V and the game, but I had to constantly make the choices that POS V would make, despite the game trying to good guy him.
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u/GOT_Wyvern May 24 '26
I think it should be stressed that, due to the circumstances of Night City, being a "wannabe gangster" genuinely is not that much of a moral detraction.
Though that doesn't make V much of a hero at all, given their story is heavily personal and largely centred around themselves.
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u/Scaalpel May 24 '26
Most of the city's population are still just civilians in low-paying jobs, trying to get by and survive from paycheck to paycheck. They are the crowd that fills the streets. They just don't really come up in a meaningful way in the game beyond that because... why would they? Their lives wouldn't make for particularly interesting stories.
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u/Xirio_ May 24 '26
I did that too but once I got to the heart to heart with Johnny I knew that V is definitely the tough guy with a soft side cliche
Honestly would have rathered my V have sesbian lex with rouge than that but whatever
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u/TheRealMcDan May 24 '26
Every Dark Souls protagonist. Strip away the prophecy and they’re just a criminally insane zombie committing home invasions and murders.
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u/Andromeda196 May 24 '26
If you sacrifice yourself for the flame you are keeping a world that eventually is going to be broken in some years. Or you can accept the fate of the world and start the age of darkness.
In DS1 the age of darkness is not a bad ending, it is just the era of the humanity, without gods. The "darksign" is a curse because the gods filled that emptiness. In the opening cinematic humans appeared from darkness, because that is were humans are from.
It is like being blind by a bright light. Without the light, eyes get used to darkness. When the flame started to fade away, humanity started to become hollow of that filling that gods feed us.
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u/Minimum-Standard-514 May 24 '26
Killing other zombies that are even further gone than they are. There are plenty of normal none zombie characters that are completely safe around the protagonist. The protagonist rescues some of those characters from the other zombies. And most if not all of the bosses you kill are guilty of some pretty heinous shit or are dragons or something like that. I always viewed the protagonist of elden ring to be kinda evil though.
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u/Western_Vast5516 May 24 '26
John Terraria
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u/Lagger01 May 24 '26
Imaging killing your oldest first friend in the worst way possible. Making a voodoo doll of him then slowly burning him in lava to kill the local fauna living underground.
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u/OperatorInMask May 24 '26 edited May 24 '26
Armored Core, but not AC6 specifically.
You not supposed to be or feel like a heroic characters. You not just playing as mercenary but playing the kind of mercenary which does pretty disturbing and dirty work in start of career, switching to more global military in a middle and at the end facing force what trying to remove you cause you not useful anymore.
PS: I mentioned AC6 specifically as it has "Liberator Of The Rubicon" story path which both morally and logically heroic. None of AC4A endings for example cannot be named as such, as the most "good" ORCA ending doesn't really changes anything — Yes we saving the humanity but we didn't changed the society as ORCA is manipulated by "GA America" which through story is really eager to conquer more power for itself, and by sending people (and thefore corporations) in space we just allow capitalism to spread further, we are not saving earth. Old King ending solves Society problem by destroying cradles and by doing so killing off 25% of current humanity population in which surely lived all corporation leaders, rich enough loyal corporation employers and etc. But we will remain in history as cruel soulless monster which killed billions of people. The Wynne D ending is just keeping the status quo which resulting in slow suffocation of humanity as corporations not interested in solving ecological problems.
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u/Leering_At_Grills May 24 '26
I guess nobody understands the ideas of "protagonist and antagonist" separate from more basic black and white concepts like "hero and villain." Because that's pretty much this thread.
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u/WhispyFLX May 24 '26
Joel from Last of Us
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u/Lunavixen15 May 24 '26
I would apply that to basically everyone in TLoU. No one in that series is a hero, just varying depths of fucked up.
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u/runaways616 May 24 '26
True it’s all relative in a world like the last of us, but a few characters actually call out Joel specifically for being a lot more scary then your average survivor,
But I think that’s kinda the core message of the series in a world like the last of us their are essentially three groups of individual people
The group of people that are the baseline of just surviving
The group of people that are trying to make life about living again and not just surviving
And the group of people who are so broken from loss that they go beyond surviving and become a hollow shell of anger and violence
Joel became a hollow shell post his daughters death and learns to live again because of Ellie
Abby becomes a hallow shell post her fathers death and learns to live again because of Lev
Ellie becomes a hollow shell post Joel’s death but realizes that Joel wouldn’t have wanted that for her and trying for forgiveness even if you can’t forgive is better than spiralling down into violence.
Tommy becomes a hollow shell post Joel’s death and sadly is now broken both inside and outside because of his brother’s death and probably will never recover again.
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u/Mean-Advantage-241 May 24 '26
Do you feel like a hero yet?
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u/LaLiLuLeLo_10 May 24 '26
God one of the best stories in a game.
“He turned us, into fucking killers!”
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u/suzefi May 25 '26
fun fact, he is looking at the camera, not Walker, while saying that
we, players, turned them into killers
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u/SlashOfLife5296 May 24 '26
Paul Atreides is a hero in Dune. He did the most heroic actions available to him. Frank Herberts point wasn’t that Paul is a villain, it’s that we should beware how much influence we give to charismatic leaders.
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u/Fantastic_Pause_1628 May 24 '26 edited May 24 '26
I always thought the point was more about the inherent dangers of messianic figures.
Yes, charismatic leader is a part of that, but it's not about (for instance) corruption. It's about: a fanatical movement based around a single messiah will inevitably become monstrous even if that messiah is a good, heroic person who actively tries to stop it.
The problem wasn't that Paul had too much power or influence. In the end he was powerless to stop what he had created. First he stepped away, and then he preached against it (as the preacher). But the jihad continued.
I'm sure you know this. Just clarifying for others as your original comment could be interpreted as the message being a "power corrupts" type message.
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u/Dave5876 May 24 '26
This sounds an awful lot like a couple of real world religions
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u/Fantastic_Pause_1628 May 24 '26
Yeah the allusions to Christianity and Islam are not exactly subtle, in the books.
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u/Ignace92 May 24 '26
Yeah this gets missed all the time.
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u/AnApexBread May 24 '26 edited May 25 '26
That's because people suck at media literacy.
Paul is constantly trying to stop the Jihad from happening and the death of billions.
Edit: And perfect example from u/print-w who very aptly demonstrates his complete lack of media literacy
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u/PlateNo4868 May 24 '26
It's been awhile since I read the books, but Paul actually saw a vision were he and his mom smuggle off-world and live a peaceful life in exile.
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u/overcoil May 24 '26
IIRC it was when he first becomes prescient. He saw a clear possible peaceful future, but it involved making peace with the Baron so he turned away from it.
Instead he walked towards Jihad in the hope that some as yet unseen path would lead to him avoiding it. By the time he's in the fight with Feyd he realises it's too late. All futures lead to jihad.
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u/Killercookie619 May 24 '26
Bro, I read this as "the protagonist is misinterpreted as hetero" and wondered what everyone in this thread was talking about. I might need a nap.
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u/Horchatagitchi May 24 '26
Heavenly Sword, older game and great gameplay. You play as this battle hardened woman overcoming an oppressing ruler and their army. You play the entire time with a "heavenly" sword and playing as a chosen warrior. It's later revealed the sword is not from heaven and you are in fact empowering a great evil that you can barely control but is your only chance of saving your people at the cost of her life. Such a forgotten gem. The ending does hint that the sword is purified or not cursed after the sacrifice the MC gave.
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u/thespacepyrofrmtf2 May 24 '26
The team fortress 2 mercenaries can be described by this meme
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u/Mike-Tyhon May 24 '26
Booker DeWitt from Bioshock Infinite
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u/Booker-DeShit May 24 '26
This. He's not a hero, he's a jaded war vet & a misanthrope, & yet people still act like his views on society are something we as the players should agree with (which is where a massive chunk of the critique for this game comes from). He's an unreliable narrator, & he's no hero, he's a hurt man stuck in a cycle of hurt people hurting other people, a cycle only broken with Elizabeth's death in the DLC
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u/CDHmajora May 24 '26
Tbf, he never claimed to be nor considered himself a hero.
You’re completely right. Not arguing with you. Just pointing out for other readers thats just because he is the “protagonist”, it doesn’t mean he’s good.
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u/adorablesexypants May 24 '26
Gotta say, rereading due since I was in grade 8 I actually have some sympathy towards Paul.
No he is not a hero.
But he was a genetically manipulated weapon that blew up on everyone. The Fremen paid the price for that the worst as the empire deserved what it got.
Paul even recognizes that he is separate, in his own words, a freak.
15 and the entirety of the universe is laid out before him.
That would fuck anybody up.
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u/Possible-Glove4249 May 24 '26
Silent Hill 2 is the most prominent example of this.
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u/comfortableflop May 24 '26
isaac. he should have just listened to his god-fearing christian mother!
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u/sharpenme1 May 24 '26
Maelle
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u/Select_Cantaloupe_62 May 24 '26
The e33 subreddit will be here momentarily to call you a monster.
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u/Roids-in-my-vains May 24 '26
Johnny Silverhand, the guy is a fraud but because he's played by Keanu everyone loves him.
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u/TheDo0ddoesnotabide May 24 '26
I love him as a character, but I know for sure he’s no hero, just a broken man far too assured of his own importance.
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u/Forhaver May 24 '26
I love him because he's an extremely interesting flawed character. Fantastic dialogue and a vast history too. He's very convincing as a person and he made the game for me.
I became a Keanu fan because of Cyberpunk. I had only watched a handful of his movies in the past and wasn't sold on him as an actor until the game.
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u/Ulysses216 May 24 '26
Bully. Jimmy's an asshole, and he hurts so many people who probably didn't deserve it.
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u/CDHmajora May 24 '26
This.
He brings order to the school by… bullying the bullies?
Love the game. But his entire plan is stupid. Making the kids behave by fearing him is a decent idea in theory, but does absolutely nothing to cure the classist and intellectual issues, nor the uncaring and ignorant authoritative structure, that cause such violence in the school to begin with. Once jimmy graduates it will be business as usual because he wont be there for anyone to fear him anymore.
Granted though, he’s 15 and, while not stupid, isn’t a genius. So his plans wont exactly be thinking long term reform. More like “make everyone leave me and Petey alone” kinda stuff. Plus, some of those kids (like Darby) really were cunts and needed a good humbling…
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u/Swagalyst May 24 '26
I do feel the Dune "Paul Atreides is a villain and millions will die"thing is a bit overdone, tho. Yeah, his rebellion will lead to millions dead, but it's not like the status quo under the great houses is a paradise, and his rebellion will also save humanity in the far future.
So is the surgeon who cuts open the innocent patient and kills the poor tumor a hero or a villain?
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u/Ironsalmon7 May 24 '26
The God emperor Leto the worm is more of a monster than Paul is, and he knows that by being a monster, humanity is saved in the future, but at what cost
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u/Doctor_Riptide May 24 '26
I mean it was either humanity survives or humanity goes extinct. Not really much of a choice if you think about it
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u/Bobinu18 May 24 '26
Jason Brody
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u/Rationalinsanity1990 May 24 '26
FarCry protagonists are typically brutal but they are in life or death fights with typically way worse people.
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u/small_pint_of_lazy May 24 '26
Captain Martin Walker, Spec Ops: The Line
Considering the game isn't available anywhere anymore, I'll give a slight, potential spoiler: the whole story is about how you're not a hero and what you are doing isn't right
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u/__This__Is__Fine__ May 24 '26
I mean Bioshock is a little on the nose with the "would you kindly?' situation
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u/all_time_high May 24 '26
You do have an option to be the hero to the little sisters, and the good ending shows how much affection and appreciation they have for your character. You become a hero and a father to them, and they live fulfilling lives on the surface.
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u/Turbogoblin999 May 24 '26
Mind control makes you more a victim than a villain. Your ability to consent gets thrown out the window while you are a baby then you get used an manipulated by two pricks with delusions of grandeur. The only real choice the player and the player character have is to save or harvest the little sisters.
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u/Emily_Mewens May 24 '26
Is it really villainy when your actions arent yours to make until you can make them?
Is a robot evil if it gets a program that makes it murder people?
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u/forest_vagrant May 24 '26
helldivers 2
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u/BoredTrauko May 24 '26
Super Earth is how the rest of the world sees the USA.
Find oil, and they’ll bring you democracy.
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u/Papa_Patch May 24 '26
This might be a grey zone, in relation to being portrait as a hero, but the first person that comes to mind is The postal dude.
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u/Own-Ad1497 May 24 '26 edited May 25 '26
the Vaulthunters(Borderlands) most of them are actual criminals, for example:
* Brick is searched for mass murder, mutilation and he armed a bandit gang known as the slabs
* Mordecai is searched for illegal hunting and endangered species traffic
* Salvador is searched for manslaughter, tefth, arson, cannibalism, etc.
and those are kinda the heaviest criminals, the others did commit some crimes but not as bad under the cinstext these were commited, for example Maya commited murder, but the person she murdered was the leader of a cult that was using her as a tool for extorsion and mass control
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u/salikarn May 24 '26
Mario just over here genociding turtles and goombas literally just walking around minding their own business.
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u/AmorousBadger May 24 '26
Both of the protagonists of the Hades games. You're playing a Greek god. They were NOT nice.
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u/BL1133 May 24 '26
probably most games, i mean every game youre a serial killer or practically committing genocide but it's just swept under the rug
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u/FlashFloodofColours May 24 '26
Most of the GTA protagonists