Current Events > JRPGs where the protagonists aren't afraid to kill?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Like Triangle Strategy. They don't aim to kill as a first option, sure, but then there's stuff like Frederika's character arc where it culminates in "I have no problem with killing my abusive siblings" and then she does it
And just in general, if their hand is forced they don't go out of their way to save anyone, and will kill the enemy because its easier and makes sense

Literally Tales of Vesperia

VeggetaX posted...

Literally Tales of Vesperia

Came to say this Yuri also sneaks away from the rest of the party to do it

He would prefer not to, but Ramza definitely kills people.

Rika_Furude posted...

Like Triangle Strategy. They don't aim to kill as a first option, sure, but then there's stuff like Frederika's character arc where it culminates in "I have no problem with killing my abusive siblings" and then she does it
And just in general, if their hand is forced they don't go out of their way to save anyone, and will kill the enemy because its easier and makes sense

Don't most kill. I assume when we fight human enemies in a random battle some of them surely die

VeggetaX posted...

Literally Tales of Vesperia

Good pick. I think Abyss might be a better pick though, since it's an actual part of the hero's development arc.

RetuenOfDevsman posted...

Good pick. I think Abyss might be a better pick though, since it's an actual part of the hero's development arc.

I never played abyss it in vesperia I was like oh shit with how he handled the one I can remember off the top of my head but I think he does it twice.

Most of them, only Tales of the Abyss presents a protagonist who doesn't want to kill humans

Sufferedphoenix posted...

Don't most kill. I assume when we fight human enemies in a random battle some of them surely die

i mean more like, named characters in the story (particularly important ones), with an impact to the narrative. not like Mook 1 and 2 died in a random battle when you were grinding

Bravery Default.

Almost to a morally questionable degree

Besides Pokemon I haven't played any JRPGs where the protagonists ARE afraid to kill.
Even Mario kills some of his villains.

Rika_Furude posted...

i mean more like, named characters in the story (particularly important ones), with an impact to the narrative. not like Mook 1 and 2 died in a random battle when you were grinding

They typically still kill the main villain.

Infinite Undiscovery

Also while it didn't happen king in type 0 showed a case where he was willing to kill one of his own countrymen for the sake of confidentiality. One would assume the majority of the class would be as loyal to their orders except maybe machina and rem.

Like it seriously was a case of they received a top secret report from a guy and king was gonna kill him because he was ordered to. Only thing that saved the guys life was he spat out some info showing he had the clearance to know what the report said they checked in and he was telling the truth.

Final Fantasy 4 starts off with the protagonist butchering a whole bunch of people before you even get control of him.

Tyranthraxus posted...

Final Fantasy 4 starts off with the protagonist butchering a whole bunch of people before you even get control of him.

He did feel horrible about it though

He got punished for questioning the kings orders after the fact

Sufferedphoenix posted...

He did feel horrible about it though

He got punished for questioning the kings orders after the fact

FF4 is such a good game.

RetuenOfDevsman posted...

FF4 is such a good game.

I call it my pound for pound favorite. Like it didn't wow me as much as some other entries. But unlike other entries I can't find many gripes.

Like my legit only gripe was they overdid the whole a character "dying" but they show up again later.

But either way it's the one I've replayed the most

All of them

FFXIV has that too, though it's definitely somewhat common that "major characters" get spared or happen to survive somehow. Plenty of people bite it though.

In fact, it becomes a point of the Dark Knight quest line in Stormblood that your character feels so guilty at how many people they've killed that it manifests itself as a physical entity.

Tales of Vesperia

Yuri goes off to dispense vigilante justice himself at least twice.

Sufferedphoenix posted...

I call it my pound for pound favorite. Like it didn't wow me as much as some other entries. But unlike other entries I can't find many gripes.

Like my legit only gripe was they overdid the whole a character "dying" but they show up again later.

But either way it's the one I've replayed the most

Depends on the release. In some versions, death is more permanent than in others.

Though there's at least one character (Rydia) who has come back in every version I'm familiar with.

RetuenOfDevsman posted...

Depends on the release. In some versions, death is more permanent than in others.

Never got to play the og snes one. I had the gba one and the psp one

I kinda had a feeling this might be the case just so you'd still be able to play all the party members

VeggetaX posted...

Literally Tales of Vesperia

This. He actually kinda seems like a psycho sometimes lol

Nier

Smackems posted...

This. He actually kinda seems like a psycho sometimes lol

I have no problem with Yuri feeling like he needs to kill villains in order to save the world. I just think it's weird the devs decided that him making these decisions isn't a product of his own growth and manifestation. In Yuri's view, he isn't changing. He believes the world is changing and he's merely adapting to it. So yeah he's a bit off there with that justification.

FF7. The initial party are literally terrorists who frequently and knowingly kill innocents. One is a mercenary.

legendary_zell posted...

FF7. The initial party are literally terrorists who frequently and knowingly kill innocents. One is a mercenary.

Shinra military are not innocents, unless you're referring to someone else that avalanche kills?

Japanties posted...

Shinra military are not innocents, unless you're referring to someone else that avalanche kills?

I think the reactor bombings killed innocent people and regular workers, not just Shinra militants. As terrorists typically do.

RetuenOfDevsman posted...

Depends on the release. In some versions, death is more permanent than in others.

Though there's at least one character (Rydia) who has come back in every version I'm familiar with.

Can you elaborate on this? The only version of FFIV I'm not all that familiar with is the DS remake. Every other version follows the same story beats and has the same character death fake-outs as the original.

Kuro no Kiseki. Van doesn't hesitate to do it most of time, but the player is given the choice to do so or not.

Dragon quest games

TheSavageDragon posted...

Can you elaborate on this? The only version of FFIV I'm not all that familiar with is the DS remake. Every other version follows the same story beats and has the same character death fake-outs as the original.

They're completely misunderstanding what's being said.

Tales of Berseria should have been one of the first mentioned.

Velvet intentionally set up a prison riot to be able to escape. The other inmates? Who gives a shit about them!

Amakusa posted...

They're completely misunderstanding what's being said.

Figured as much as there is absolutely no version of FFIV where "death is more permanent" that I'm aware of.

Tactics Ogre

if drakengard counts then drakengard

Radiant Dawn gets pretty brutal at times. The protagonists occasionally resist killing (but generally for good reasons, like "this will bite us in the ass later" or "we're being coerced into the murder of an ally") but more often than not, it's war crimes simulator.

legendary_zell posted...

I think the reactor bombings killed innocent people and regular workers, not just Shinra militants. As terrorists typically do.

Could be wrong on this, but as I understand it:

In original FF7, only the reactors blow up, with relatively minimal collateral damage. There may be some civilian casualty from power loss, but it's unclear.

In Remake, the Avalanche bomb is a dud entirely, and Shinra had a much bigger bomb in place that they detonated with extensive collateral damage, as a deliberate false flag. Additionally, in Intergrade, Barret's faction is explained as labeled as a splinter cell that was cut off from the main Avalanche group for being too extremist.

Either way, the party murks plenty of Shinra grunts.

marthsheretoo posted...

Radiant Dawn gets pretty brutal at times. The protagonists occasionally resist killing (but generally for good reasons, like "this will bite us in the ass later" or "we're being coerced into the murder of an ally") but more often than not, it's war crimes simulator.

Every Fire Emblem has everyone killing enemy generals and leaders with no regrets. Closest to being scared of killing is Conquest Corrin and even they become bloodthirsty against bandits in their child's paralogue.