Loved / Loathed Game Characters.

ironictoaster

The voiceover guy from the crackdown games.

Skills for Kills, Agent. Skills for Kills.

Greyfox

My username comes from my 2nd favourite character ever (by a mile the best character of the MGS series), also thought Snake was pretty cool in MGS 1&2
For me the greatest character ever from any film, book or game is Sephiroth from FF7, the cool backstory, the only Sephiroth could of done this, a man with a dark cloak was here etc, whenever Sephiroth made an appearance the story got more exciting.

Most annoying character ever is definitely Raiden (MGS 2&4)

ProjectColossus

HK-47 from Star Wars KOTOR,

and Manny Calavera from Grim Fandango

are two that I immediately think of that I loved. I'll think of some others later

Mr.Nice Guy

Like:

Solid Snake - The ultimate hero.

Grey Fox - The best of the cyborg ninjas.

Raiden - So much hate for this guy but I've always liked him.

Cloud Strife - Was my favourite character as a kid.

Auron from FF X - Thought he was the coolest of that game and had a great theme.

Hate:

Can't think of many characters I hated. I disliked Meryl in MGS4 but I liked her in the original MGS so I'll give her a pass.

I never warmed to the lead character Zidane in FF IX. He looked weird and I found him quite forgettable (I had to look up his name just now :pac:)

Retr0gamer

Hated the cast of Legend of Dragoon. All of them.

landsleaving

I forgot Master Chief... what a dull lead character. Nothing interesting about him in the slightest. It was almost comedy when they tried make him look 'cool' on the Halo 2 cover with his 2 guns at once. :rolleyes:

Retr0gamer

He is awful alright. Terrible art design, no personality. Really dull.

Jazzy

wtf is wrong with guile?! the greatest haircut in game history

like:
kane in the original c&c

maximilien rovais in eternal darkness "may the rats eat your eyes!"

samus aran - my future wife. lets hope they dont fuk her up in the new metroid game. ive a sneaking suspicion that team ninja might take a gigantic crap on the metroid series

robo in crono trigger. lazer time baby!

edmond honda

megaman

dislike:
rikku in ffx

red headed bitch in ff13. vanille isnt it? id love to fukin throttle whatever character designer thought her up. what an absolute ditchpig of a character.

EE or whatever that bitches name was in metal gear solid 2

any character retr0gaymer has in his 'like' section

Retr0gamer

Like:

Jazzy's ma

tonydude

Like
Ocelot, Greyfox,The end, Vulcan Raven and of course snake from mgs series

Sir Daniel Fortesque from medievil

Hale from Resistance 1&2

Vivi from ff9

Alec Mason, Red faction

Dislike
Raiden, Such a disappointment

All of ff13

nico from gta

sackboy

Burning Eclipse

When I saw the thread title I immediately though of Balrog. Then I saw who posted the thread and lol'd, literally.

Characters I hate:

I hate Balrog. I think he's just a scumbag for want of a better word. I know he's not meant to be likeable, but that's not the point. "My fight moneeeeeeyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!" Dudley - now there's a gentleman.

Almost every final boss in a fighting game from the last 10 years... Seth, Alpha 152, etc.

Actually, while I'm on the subject, what happened to decent 'final boss' characters. We used to get Bison, Geese Howard and Cervantes... True Ogre get's the blame for starting the crap as far as I'm concerned.

Vanille in FFXIII
Vaan in FFXII
Tidus in FFX

Nigel West Dickens in Red Dead Redemption.


Characters I love:
HK47 (as pointed out by ProjectColossus)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vg1gTas7OAA

He is up there with the greats imo. Just a brilliantly written and acted homicidal droid.

Claire Redfield from Resident Evil

Garrus Vakarian from Mass Effect

Nathan Drake from Uncharted (sure, he's not complicated or overly deep, but I think he's a great character)

Augustus Cole Train from Gears of War, but that's just because of Lester Speight and the TTT stuff tbh.

Pretty much the whole cast of Skies of Arcadia One of my favourite games.

Xiuying Hong from Shenmue II.

Jazzy

YES! Guilder from Skies of Arcadia rocks socks

Fnz

Retr0gamer wrote: »

(Master Chief) is awful alright. Terrible art design, no personality. Really dull.

Ah, but do you feel the same about Gordon Freeman? Also, Master Chief armour seems functional and fitting for the Halo universe.

tonydude wrote: »

Dislike
...
sackboy

Have you no heart? Sackpersons are adorable.

Retr0gamer

Fnz wrote: »

Ah, but do you feel the same about Gordon Freeman? Also, Master Chief armour seems functional and fitting for the Halo universe.

Functional and fitting? Well I suppose both the master cheif and the halo universe are both dull and generic. At bit of flair in the character design and a bit of personality wouldn't have gone a miss instead of generic armoured space marine.

As for Gordon Freeman, he is a much better design. Sure he doesn't say anything and you never see him but the genius was in making him a skinny goatee'd 20 something year old geek which tapped straight into the majority of the player base of the game. Better than something that looks like a green dildo.

Menengroth™

Fnz wrote: »

Ah, but do you feel the same about Gordon Freeman?

Gordon is whoever you make of him.
Masterchief is a plank.


Love:
Magus - Chrono Trigger

Gman - Half Life series

Jon Irenicus - Baldur's Gate II (such an awesome bad guy.)

Minsc - Baldur's Gate II

GLaDOS - Portal (so good, so so good.)


Hate:
Everyone in Unreal II

The Flood - Halo (so lame.)

Roman - GTA IV

Scout, Nighthound - Heroes of Newerth

Fnz

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Functional and fitting? Well I suppose both the master cheif and the halo universe are both dull and generic. At bit of flair in the character design and a bit of personality wouldn't have gone a miss instead of generic armoured space marine.

As for Gordon Freeman, he is a much better design. Sure he doesn't say anything and you never see him but the genius was in making him a skinny goatee'd 20 something year old geek which tapped straight into the majority of the player base of the game. Better than something that looks like a green dildo.

Speaking to one of your peeves about the character. Art design wise, the 'pile of armour' seems fine to me. By functional - I mean it seems more appropriate than, say, the Valkyria Chronicles' stylish battle-wear. It is kinda good to sometimes see character wearing full body armour in battle - rather than having his head poking out for some reason. I agree that the character is as charismatic as a mop. Freeman says nothing at all - but also has no personality.

Also, you never see Freeman in-game so his 'design' is less relevant, at least to me.

Retr0gamer

He's still a geeky scientist with a phd in theoretical physics which makes him far less generic than any armoured space marine. He's also in all the promotional material so it's not like his look hasn't been defined.

Leave Valkyria Chronicles alone, the female uniform was hot! I don't mind games following the 'rule of cool' if the game isn't trying to be a simulation which Halo cetainly isn't. Even if armoured space marine has been done to death there's no reason you can't still do good design work, just look at the excellent space marine design that games workshop has done. Master Chief is just a bad character full stop.

I think being as charismatic as a mop is a bit of a problem in character design.

the incredible pudding

Retr0gamer wrote: »

He's still a geeky scientist with a phd in theoretical physics

Who's prowess in the field is demonstrated by his momentous task of pushing a trolley into a field generator/energy beam. He is pretty awesome at getting the best out of a see-saw.

I love Gordon

Currently playing Batman: Arkham Asylum and i must say I hate batman whenever he talks, his responses to everything are always awful. I guess maybe it keeps in line with his humourless character but when his only retorts to villains or crises are "I'll handle it, you stay here", "not for long" or "i'll get you" it starts to grate. Great game though!

Mr. K

The fact that Gordon Freeman says nothing actually kinda helps us inhabit him, he doesn't have any voice to lessen our immersion. I don't mind Master Chief, but his having a voice made him more his own character (and a pretty shallow one!).

My character picks

Love:

Solid Snake (Metal Gear Solid)- One of the coolest games characters ever. I can say little that hasn't already been said. I remember being exhausted after the

microwave corridor

in MGS4, I just wanted him to

make it through and frantically hit the button to keep him crawling

!

Albert Wesker (Resident Evil) - He's much more shallow, but very cool. I preferred when his motives were a mystery and he's mocking and nonchalant, rather than the

raving nutter at the end of RE5

. But I can forgive that lapse.

Garrus/Liara/Legion (Mass Effect) - Great voice actors, interesting backstories. And blue hotness in Liara's case.

Cloud Strife (Final Fantasy VII) - A cool looking character with an interesting past. There's also a huge nostalgia factor here.

Nathan Drake (Uncharted) - A pseudo-Indy everyman and a charming guy.

Hate:

The "wacky" characters in Rockstar's games - Most recently Irish and Nigel West Dickens in Red Dead Redemption. They put me off playing the game for a while, until I went back and finished their missions. No one in the GTA series bothered me like they did though, dunno why.

No one else comes to mind that I felt strongly enough about to hate.

Love/Hate:

Steve Burnside (Resident Evil: Code Veronica) - So, so annoying. But I find his "Father...father..." line so funny, I can't really hate him!

NeoKubrick

Menengroth™ wrote: »

Masterchief is a plank.

Fnz wrote: »

I agree that the character is as charismatic as a mop.

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Master Chief is just a bad character full stop.

Halo's Master Chief was good fit in the context of the Halo Universe and the first-person shooter. Steve Downes' voice is unique and has personality. Beyond that, it's pointless and illogical to criticize a character designed to be minimalistic (concealed face; terse dialogue) for being minimalistic.

Retr0gamer

A shit character is a shit character no matter what way you try to spin it. Just because he is designed to be 'minimalistic' doesn't excuse piss poor art and character writing. His voice was also obviously trying to mimic solid snake.

rizzla

Master Chief probably tapped into the Spider-man philosophy. Have him in a mask/helmut so the player can imagine it's them underneath. Gordon Freeman only applies to White nerds. Master Chief could be any race under that helmut, with any type of facial hair. In saying that though, I don't like him or Gordon Freeman.

Fnz

Retr0gamer wrote: »

I think being as charismatic as a mop is a bit of a problem in character design.

I don't disagree, Master Chief is shallow; as a character.

Jazzy

Menengroth™ wrote: »

Hate:


Scout, Nighthound - Heroes of Newerth

hahahahahahaha. you're officially a n00b. been saying it for years but this seals it



master chief is a character? didnt notice

NeoKubrick

Retr0gamer wrote: »

A shit character is a shit character no matter what way you try to spin it. Just because he is designed to be 'minimalistic' doesn't excuse piss poor art and character writing. His voice was also obviously trying to mimic solid snake.

There's no spin to the truth. Here, Steve Downes claims that Marty O'Donnell's only direction was to think "Clint Eastwood, Fistful of Dollars, man-of-few-words" type. The minimalist depiction of the character in the final product is consistent with that direction both in expression and dialogue (three and half minutes of dialogue in cinematics; none in gameplay). There are probably two or three lines where the writers wrote him charismatic in the trilogy.

Furthermore, Downes' voice isn't that removed from the voice of the Master Chief. So, unless Mr. Downes slithered out of his Mother's womb in '60s and decided to mimic a character not invented and whose voice was not heard yet, I doubt he was mimicking Hayter's Solid Snake (or maybe he hung around Kurt Russell back in the day). And, Downes isn't a fan of computer games and he didn't even remember the character's name he played (as claimed in the cited youtube video): it's more unlikely that he knew of or played Metal Gear Solid.

Master Chief isn't a shit character. He's as iconic as Mario, now. While I wouldn't list him as my favourite characters, because he is virtually an avatar, it's a discredit to the success of his design to say he's a shit character.

Retr0gamer

NeoKubrick wrote: »

There's no spin to the truth. Here, Steve Downes claims that Marty O'Donnell's only direction was to think "Clint Eastwood, Fistful of Dollars, man-of-few-words" type. The minimalist depiction of the character in the final product is consistent with that direction both in expression and dialogue (three and half minutes of dialogue in cinematics; none in gameplay). There are probably two or three lines where the writers wrote him charismatic in the trilogy.

Again the difference between clint eastwoods man of few words character in a fist full of dollars is that he was a great character well acted and written. Master Chief pales in comparison because he's just a bad character.

Master Chief is iconic, unfortunately so, because he is the main character from a very popular game series. When has popularity ever been a mark of quality. I said unfortunately so because having master chief with his utterly generic space marine look as a representative of gaming will just make people not familiar with gaming think that medium hasn't moved on for the last 30 years and how can blame them.

Downes may not have heard of solid snake but his director could well have showed him of directed him that way. Master chief just stinks of focus testing. Space Marine + gruff voice = $

landsleaving

rizzla wrote: »

Master Chief probably tapped into the Spider-man philosophy. Have him in a mask/helmut so the player can imagine it's them underneath. Gordon Freeman only applies to White nerds. Master Chief could be any race under that helmut, with any type of facial hair. In saying that though, I don't like him or Gordon Freeman.

It's a good point, but I would have said what makes Spider-man identifiable as a character is the humanity of Peter Parker's struggles. There's plenty of masked heroes, there's a good reason Spider-man is the most popular. Master Chief lacks any discernible humanity, he's just an extra tall, extra strong, boring soldier in a dull coloured bodysuit, and nothing more. Gordon Freeman may not be a well rounded character in story terms, but he is the perfect extension of the player because he never speaks, whereas bungie gave Master Chief a voice and a personality, and one as dull as the design itself.

Freeman is good because he's supposed to look like a somewhat boring, average guy in armour. Master Chief is rubbish, because he isn't, and does.

Menengroth™

Jazzy wrote: »

hahahahahahaha. you're officially a n00b. been saying it for years but this seals it

haha, pretty much put that in there for you babes

Jazzy

NeoKubrick wrote: »

Master Chief isn't a shit character. He's as iconic as Mario, now. While I wouldn't list him as my favourite characters, because he is virtually an avatar, it's a discredit to the success of his design to say he's a shit character.

no its not. cheryl cole may be a success but shes still sh1t. same for master chief. he was rammed down our throats and we were basically told how great he was and how hes the man and so forth. i remember those overly epic ads were they were trying to pimp master chief as much as possible for the 3rd game. they over saturated us with master chief semen and some people lapped it up.
i love how they tried saying he was "minimalist" like clint eastwoods characters or something >< what a load of bullsh1t ****. god they can talk themselves up to 11 these bungie lads. master chief is just some lad. theres nothing there. in the 3rd game they tried making the computer thingy that told you what to do into something important and between that and the petey pirhana ripoff that controlled the headcrabs from half life, they just kept interrupting you to try and make the game more epic or whatnot. John (thats his name innit?) doesnt bat an eyelid or do anything about this. just sorta carries on down the corridor or whatnot... point being - he has no character. eastwood in those films does.
in fact, see that guy in my sig below? ive decided his name is dave and he was inspired by John Hurts portrayal of John Merrick in the elephant man. he now has as much depth as master chief

NeoKubrick

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Again the difference between clint eastwoods man of few words character in a fist full of dollars is that he was a great character well acted and written. Master Chief pales in comparison because he's just a bad character.

Master Chief is iconic, unfortunately so, because he is the main character from a very popular game series. When has popularity ever been a mark of quality. I said unfortunately so because having master chief with his utterly generic space marine look as a representative of gaming will just make people not familiar with gaming think that medium hasn't moved on for the last 30 years and how can blame them.

Downes may not have heard of solid snake but his director could well have showed him of directed him that way. Master chief just stinks of focus testing. Space Marine + gruff voice = $

No, the main difference is that one purpose fit one medium and another, fit another. Sergie Leone and his writers wrote Clint Eastwood's character to be more expressive, because the character is driving the movie, and also is equipped with Eastwood's distinctive face and Leone's fetishism for extreme close-ups. Master Chief's design is more restrictive, because he's not in a movie; it's a computer game. There are sub-differences in that Eastwood and Leone is great actor and director, respectively.

Maybe, the director showed him Victor Sjöström, but that's all hearsay and no grounds for claims like he was designed to mimic Solid Snake. Unless you're willing to drop your selective criticism and apply it to most games including your favourites, I don't think you should criticize a single game for focus testing (evidence?), because one method or another, obvious or subtle, every developer plays off the player's needs and wants, especially in a genre game (e.g. JRPG set in a Japanese high-school). And if that sum was correct, Bungie would maximize the dollars by maximizing the amount the Space Marine uses his 'gruff voice' and they didn't.

Jazzy wrote: »

no its not. cheryl cole may be a success but shes still sh1t. same for master chief. he was rammed down our throats and we were basically told how great he was and how hes the man and so forth. i remember those overly epic ads were they were trying to pimp master chief as much as possible for the 3rd game. they over saturated us with master chief semen and some people lapped it up.
i love how they tried saying he was "minimalist" like clint eastwoods characters or something >< what a load of bullsh1t ****. god they can talk themselves up to 11 these bungie lads. master chief is just some lad. theres nothing there. in the 3rd game they tried making the computer thingy that told you what to do into something important and between that and the petey pirhana ripoff that controlled the headcrabs from half life, they just kept interrupting you to try and make the game more epic or whatnot. John (thats his name innit?) doesnt bat an eyelid or do anything about this. just sorta carries on down the corridor or whatnot... point being - he has no character. eastwood in those films does.
in fact, see that guy in my sig below? ive decided his name is dave and he was inspired by John Hurts portrayal of John Merrick in the elephant man. he now has as much depth as master chief

You criticize people for talking themselves up a character, but then proceed to talk down the character to compensate. With an 'Eye for an Eye' mentality, you can't take the moral high ground.

I think you're contradicting imaginary arguments and flinging feces at imaginary people. The voice director Marty O'Donnell directed Steve Downes to the type of Clint Eastwood Fistful of Dollars character recording in 2000, a year before the actual release of the game (before the fact). There's nothing wrong with a director pointing to a short reference of what he wants from his actors. I stated this to shoot down Retr0's incorrect claim that Master Chief was designed to mimic Solid Snake.

I used "minimalist" to describe the fact that he expresses nothing visually and the small amount of dialogue he does have, he expresses very little other than matter-of-fact statements. He is designed to be virtually an avatar. I don't you two, or anyone else in union, have grasped the notion that criticizing a character for what he was designed to be is the same as criticizing a football for being round.