Board 8 > KP'S Top 40 Characters - Featuring Dante From The Devil May Cry Series

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6. Raiden (Metal Gear Solid series)
7. The Nameless One (Planescape: Torment)
8. Phoenix Wright (Ace Attorney series)
9. Kaine (Nier)
10. James Sunderland (Silent Hill 2)
11. Ike (Fire Emblem series)
12. Vivi (Final Fantasy IX)
13. 9S (Nier Automata)
14. Dante (Devil May Cry series)
15. Hero (Dragon Quest V)
16. The Boss (Metal Gear Solid 3)
18 & 17. Joel & Ellie (The Last of Us)
19. Alistair (Dragon Age: Origins)
20. Yosuke Hanamura (Persona 4)
21. Yuri Hyuga (Shadow Hearts series)
22. Roxas (Kingdom Hearts series)
23. Garcian Smith (Killer7)
24. Zidane Tribal (Final Fantasy IX)
25. Sans (Undertale)
26. Tidus (Final Fantasy X)
27. Ramza Beoulve (Final Fantasy Tactics)
28. Auron (Final Fantasy X)
29. Yuri Lowell (Tales of Vesperia)
30. Futaba Sakura (Persona 5)
31. Otacon (Metal Gear series)
32. Monika (Doki Doki Literature Club)
33. Laphicet (Tales of Berseria)
34. Delita Hyral (Final Fantasy Tactics)
35. Luca Blight (Suikoden II)
36. Eleanor Hume (Tales of Berseria)
37. Lee Everett (The Walking Dead)
38. Tali (Mass Effect series)
39. Morte (Planescape: Torment)
40. Wrex (Mass Effects series)
~Rhys (Tales From the Borderlands)
~Flowey (Undertale)
~Miles Edgeworth (Ace Attorney series)

HM:
Magilou (Tales of Berseria)
Eizen (Tales of Berseria)
Ness (Earthbound)
Nier (Nier)
Emil (Nier series)
2B (Nier Automata)
Zelos Wilder (Tales of Symphonia)
Maya Fay (Ace Attorney series)
Makoto Yuki (Persona 3)
Soren (Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance)
Lucina (Fire Emblem: Awakening)
Lyon (Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones)
Elincia (Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn)
Stocke (Radiant Historia)
Jowy Atreides (Suikoden II)
Mordin Solus (Mass Effect series)
Garrus (Mass Effect series)

Will start to the Top 5 a bit later.
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ya go my raiden
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Will continue tomorrow - I'm busy today and these writeups always end up a lot longer than I thought they would.
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im afraid i cant let you past here
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one of these days I'll try playing Rising again
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5. Velvet Crowe (Tales of Berseria)

https://pa1.narvii.com/6333/90b76ea7e1be65bb4e9a4cbf544fe8abb9f5cbfc_hq.gif

"I really thought I could have my old life back, and I could forget everything else. I tried to act like I was doing it for him, but it was all for myself.
...But I can't forget. I shouldn't forget."

The 'Tales of' series is one that gets harder to appreciate the older you get. Symphonia will always have a special nostalgia-filled place in my heart but it definitely hasn't aged well in any way whatsoever. Vesperia's flaws are starting to stick out more; a big problem being that Yuri Lowell is the soul of that game and he just isn't as special of a character as he used to be. Graces constrained its amazing gameplay with some poor design decisions and its plot was a mess. Xillia came and Xillia went - that's about all I can say on the game! I haven't played Zestiria but considering the public reception it had, I feel safe in my decision not to. In general the Tales series feels like it has been on a slow downward spiral since Symphonia, and I was fairly content in not playing any more of them. Then Berseria went on sale and I figured...why not? Aside from blowing away my expectations and giving me renewed faith in the series (that I know is bound to be broken), Berseria's plot gripped me in ways the series hadn't been able to since I was 13 years old, and at the heart of that plot is its main character, Velvet Crowe.

I'll get the negatives out of the way. Velvet's outfit design is bad - it was in the first promotional material I ever saw for the game and immediately made me roll my eyes. It legitimately looks like something an edgy deviantart teen would make as an outfit for a female lead. Velvet is also prone to monolouging a bit too much at times, and every now and then (especially early on in the game) her voice actress Cristina Vee sounds like she's trying too hard to be dark and brooding. And Velvet makes you ignore all that because of how damn compelling her story arc is. While the rest of the cast of Tales of Berseria is largely stellar, you might as well not have the game without her. There is a more typical save-the-world JRPG plot in Tales of Berseria, but it wisely takes a backseat to Velvet's journey that's full of a lot of emotional highs and lows. This is the kind of bet you take only if you think you have a compelling main character on your hands, and fortunately for Berseria, it paid off.

The concept of a Revenge Story is not even close to being an original one, but Velvet's sheer unbridled pain over what she experienced in the prologue manages to keep tensions high even after dozens of hours into the game. Velvet is an extremely emotional person who is trying to be bottle up all of her pain for the sake of carrying out her glorious revenge. Yeah, because that always makes people feel better. While Velvet usually speaks calmly, preferring to talk in varying combinations of sarcastic, dismissive, or resigned, you always get the sense that there's something bubbling under the surface just waiting to burst out. This is continuously reinforced by the various emotional outbursts Velvet experiences throughout Berseria. Rage, grief, sadness, regret...there is no one-note emotion that defines Velvet, and you'll see all the ones she has before the game is over. Considering the context of each bit where Velvet loses some of her shit, they tend to make for the absolute best scenes in the game, especially since Cristina Vee really brings her A-game when it comes time to scream. They're also paced very well; any more would have veered into melodrama, while any fewer would have dulled the impact. Velvet is one of those rare protagonists that keeps you on your toes even when she isn't doing anything, which is important for sustaining emotional gravitas over 80 hours of JRPG gameplay.
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To add on to that - Velvet makes being in the world of Tales of Berseria interesting, no matter where you are or what you're doing. An extremely common building block of plot structure in fiction is that villains act, while heroes react. Velvet is considered to be the hero of the story by absolutely no one (least of all herself), so have I got good news for you! The first major thing Velvet does in Berseria is start a prison riot to use as a distraction for escaping. The second major thing she does is set fire to a town's main economic resource to use as a distraction for stealing a boat. She drives the plot instead of taking part in it, and it is oh so fun to take part in. Later on in the game when it's finally time to have a showdown with some of the main antagonists, Velvet is the one to threaten them to come fight her where she is, not the other way around. At some point even just walking around as Velvet becomes fun, simply because the notion of a pariah feared by the entire world heading into town to buy Apple Gels is a novelty in and of itself. Berseria makes full use of Velvet's status as the game's 'villain' to strong dramatic (and sometimes comedic) effect.

In keeping with her personality and role in the world, Velvet's fighting style does a great job at reinforcing her characterization through gameplay. Having been 'gifted' a big scary red demon arm through the power of plot, Velvet uses her new body to its full effect by beating the crap out of things with it. Activating the arm makes Velvet belt on an impressive scream and hulk out on the enemies, with the screams being increasingly pain-filled when she fights people directly related to her main mission of revenge. You also have a lot of slashing and kicking moves courtesy of some Assassin's Creed hidden-blade esque weapons, but they resemble less of a fighting style and more Velvet slamming into things until they break. She also has a mechanic where she can fall to 1 HP and stay there as long as you keep a combo going, and on tougher difficulties you'll...be spending most of the game at 1 HP. All of this makes playing as Velvet feel desperate, reckless, destructive, and showcasing a supreme lack of self-care. It ties in perfectly with her character and it's pretty fuckin' fun too. Velvet is the easiest character in the game to play and is pretty spammy but it's hard to care when I had a smile on my face almost the entire time.

Velvet is a character I was extremely invested in from start to finish. Her character, despite evolving greatly throughout the course of Berseria, never loses the main driving focus that makes it so compelling. Her relationships with Laphicet and Eleanor (especially Laphicet) are captivating to watch. Her journey summoned legitimate emotion out of me, which is not nearly as easy to do as it was when I was young and playing these kinds of games for the first time. Velvet does what any truly great protagonist does - she takes the experience and elevates it.

Not bad, Tales Of. You've earned the right to disappoint me with your next game.
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Figured shed be on here but didnt expect her this high! I love Velvet, probably my favorite new character from last year. I honestly dont even mind the outfit. Its stupid looking for sure, but I ended up not really caring.

Plus the game lets you play dress up so you can ditch it pretty early on.
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Velvet made me not care about the outfit by being a great character, but it definitely wasn't a great first impression!

I appreciate that games are giving you more dress-up opportunities, but for soemthing like Tales I stick pretty close to the defaults simply because it's jarring to see them looking different in their menu portraits, skit portraits, anime cutscenes, ect. A friend I have specifically does not do this and likes to give characters a really dumb outfit the first chance he can. This did not work for Berseria, as he ashamedly told me he changed Velvet back to default after another scene popped up that reminded him that there was actually a plot to care about this time, and that the top-hat was kind of messing with the atmosphere.
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I just had Velvet wear her villager tunic all game. I don't think I gave her anything too silly either.

Laphicet wore the top hat all game though. It just works.
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Best Tales protagonist since Luke.

Speaking of which, you didn't mention Abyss when you were talking about the series there. I assume you didn't care for that one either?
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I'm not a huge fan of Abyss, no, although Luke is aight.

Also, why were there so many Normin costumes?
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4. Vyse (Skies of Arcadia)

http://www.renders-graphiques.fr/image/upload/normal/vyse-skies-of-arcadia.png

"Impossible is just a word to let people feel good about themselves when they quit."

I'll openly admit Vyse is a legacy character. I seriously doubt I would care about him if I played SoA for the first time today.

I also don't care. To me, Vyse will forever represent the spirit of adventure. All Vyse wants to do is everything he possibly can, and most importantly, he wants to do it with style. Vyse is arrogant and confident but backs up his attitude with boundless bravery and determination. He accomplishes never-before-done things on a regular basis - not even really because he's more competent than everyone else, but mostly because he's oftenttimes the first one with balls big enough to even try it. And when he does fail, he dusts himself off and gets back to it, because doing anything else would be betraying the very core of his character.

Vyse is practically a shonen anime protagonist within a video game. Skies of Arcadia can be boiled down to a lot of "That's impossible!" followed by Vyse going "Oh really?" and then jumping headfirst into danger as a crowd by people giving reaction shots can be seen in the background. I wouldn't have it any other way. Skies of Arcadia is an extremely lighthearted, uplifting game, and its cast of characters - Vyse obviously included - is the biggest reason why. They're simple, but not boring or flat; they just refuse to let themselves to fail when there's even a sliver of a chance left remaining for them to succeed. They're a such a positive force on that world that it's hard not to smile when playing as them. Vyse and crew leave every place they find in a better situation than when they first found it, which is...the exact opposite of what every explorer through actual human history did, but ignore that. Point is, playing as Vyse is fun. Lots of fun.

And besides all that, Vyse is a freaking sky pirate. He's got cutlasses and sails through the air to find navy ships to relieve of their valuables. You take a wrong turn somewhere and oh look! You found a long-lost momument only talked about in myth and legend. Despite sky pirates being an incredibly cool concept, no games before or after Skies of Arcadia have managed to the execute the theme as well as SoA did. The world it created is one that's timeless, and Vyse is the perfect guy to help take you exploring through it.

What? This writeup's not two posts long? You'll get a longer one whenever SEGA re-releases Skies of Arcadia in HD. Preferably on Steam.
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No strong feelings for Vyse either way.
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3. Shulk (Xenoblade Chronicles)

http://i.neoseeker.com/n/2/super_smash_bros_shulk_wii_u_01.jpg

"...I won't do it."

"If you do not kill me now, my blade will annihalate every last one of your people. Even then?"

"I can't kill you, but I can stop your blade. And I'll do it. Over and over again. Until...we understand each other."

The JRPG genre struggles with its protagonists. While my list may have a decent number of them, for every Velvet and Vyse there's two Lloyds or Lightnings, or - god forbid - even a Marche. Due to the story-driven nature of the genre and the highly visible role of the protagonist (unlike say, an FPS, where you will literally never see Gordon Freeman) it's important that the player can invest themselves into the protagonist. That means either taking the cop-out answer by utilizing a self-insert silent protagonist, which is safe but almost never improves the overall experience, or creating a protagonist that is his/her own character. The result is usually a character with a weak personality, or a poorly-written story arc, or a questionably overdone character design, or a character whose decisions frustrate the player, or some combination of the above. They may not even be a bad character, just decidedly underwhelming.

Then there's Shulk, who I consider to be the perfect JRPG protagonist. Characters like Velvet or Tidus have more unique characterization, but if a developer wanted to make a more 'normal' JRPG protagonist who could act as a vehicle for the player to immerse themselves in the world while also being a good character at the same time, I would point them straight to Shulk. He avoids all of the pitfalls endemic to the genre. He has plenty of room to grow at the start of the game but doesn't start off as so weak or immature that it's frustrating. He's intelligent but not a genius to the point where it becomes unrelatable. His character motivations always makes sense, even when the actions he takes sometimes surprise you. He possesses a lot of inner strength but isn't perfect, showing emotional vulnerability when things get really bad. He accomplishes great things but it's by no means guaranteed that he succeeds in everything he does - and some of his failures have real, tangible consequences. He's very honest and generally optimistic but never comes across as naive. He's a special case and the only one who can wield the Monado without frying their nerves, but also never loses his status as a relatable everyman even when stuff starts getting wacky in the endgame.

What it all boils down to is that Shulk has the best possible personality and characterization for his archetype. There was never a moment in Xenoblade where I stopped wanting to be Shulk, and that's saying something as that game has a lot of playable characters with interesting gameplay mechanics. It just felt wrong to experience the world of Xenoblade through anything but his eyes.
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A lot of this has to do with two things: the smart writing of Xenoblade Chronicles and Shulk's voice acting. Xenoblade's plot doesn't break the genre mold but it does execute everything to a tee while cutting out the stupid stuff. It's really easy to get invested in Shulk's story when you aren't rolling your eyes at some scenes. Additionally, Adam Howden's rendition of Shulk is one of my favorite VA performances of all time. It brings such a genuine feeling to what Shulk is saying, immersing you in the small scenes and putting you on the edge of your seat in the big ones. Xenoblade's laborious and baffling localization story ended up being a blessing in disguise, because if Nintendo of America had done the localization instead of Nintendo of Europe, we'd have heard the same guys we always do. I really like the core group of voice actors that get used in games but sometimes it gets old hearing everyone from the Persona series in everything else. New blood keeps things fresh and Xenoblade's voice acting did just that, with Shulk being the standout among an extremely charming cast of characters.

It's a bit hard or me to describe why I like Shulk so much. A big part of it is definitely because Xenoblade is my favorite game, but Shulk is also a big part of why Xenoblade is my favorite game. You could theoretically replace Shulk with a silent protagonist or even a similar protagonist from another game and the story wouldn't change much, but the overall experience would have been so much worse. He's not the spirit of adventure like Vyse, or a lifelong journey like the Dragon Quest V Hero, he's just...Shulk. And Shulk is awesome.
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How did you feel about the IM REALLY FEELING IT memes when Smash 4 reveal happened
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Slightly annoyed that his character was getting boiled down to a meme, but way too psyched about him actually getting in Smash 4 to care.
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2. Francis York Morgan (Deadly Premonition)



"Did you see that, Zach?! Clear as a crisp spring morning! F.K... In the coffee!"

I think that for a character to become truly memorable, most of the time that character has to be charismatic. By that I don't mean they have to be cool or badass - charisma is simply the character's ability to hold a reader's interest while on screen. This can come in many forms. Delita is charismatic because every meeting with him is a surprise filled new developments concerning his increasingly unscrupulous plans. Dante is charismatic because he owns every scene like he's having the time of his life. Phoenix Wright is charismatic because his constant uphill struggle in the courtroom leads to some frantic, desperate thinking that sells his role as the ultimate underdog.

Francis York Morgan is the most charasmatic character I've ever seen. There is no scene with York in it that isn't a delight to watch. York's initial character setup is pretty standard when boiled down to its base elements; he's an FBI agent tasked with solving a murder case. That's about where York stops being standard. He has this off-kilter way of speaking that makes every comment ranging from the quality of his toast to a breakthrough discovery in the case sound like the most interesting thing in the world. He speaks a little more slowly than the average person, making you unconsciouslessly hang on every word he says. These factors are compounded by the things he says, which are as off-kilter as his speaking patterns. York can say things that make a sort of half sense but are just...weird. He always seems to be coming into conclusions in his head using trains of thought that no normal person would. Never too out-there to be written off as complete nonsense, but rarely so normal that you don't take at least a split second to wonder what the hell he's on about. That York is consistently proven to be competent and intelligent by his handling of the case and his interactions with the townsfolk only furthers the air of mystery he possesses. You spend all of Deadly Premonition trying to figure out what this guy's deal is.

You never do. No one in Deadly Premonition, from the townsfolk to the villains - and definitely not you - are able to completely 100% understand York. Some later events in the game shed a lot of light on some of his mannerisms and his character as a whole, but they don't fully explain why he can be so damn weird, and that's great. York is York and I wouldn't have him any other way. There's one scene midway through the game that I love where York explains to one of his fellow officers why he frequently speaks out loud to an an apprently invisible entity named Zach, who seems to be his close friend and confidant. And she just rolls with it, because even if it's totally out there, why bother fighting it? It's York.
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Oh yeah, did I forgot to mention that he has an seemingly imaginary friend named Zach that he talks to all the time? Because he does. York will even put his hand to the side of his head like he's talking into a headset despite there obviously being nothing there. The truth behind Zach is one of the craziest and memorable parts of the game, but even before then it's probably the most interesting/entertaining of York's many quirks. Speaking of York's quirks, I'm also quite fond of his many physical mannerisms. He often uses his hands as speaking implements and has a tendency to smile in a pretty unnerving way that doesn't match the context of the scene at all. The smile is undoubtedly a result of Deadly Premonition's low budget and incompetent dev team leading to poorly-animated expressions, but much like basically everything in Deadly Premonition, I'm going to chalk it up as a happy accident.

York's weirdness is well-balanced by how seriously takes his job. Many people in the game think that York is treating the case like a joke because of how he acts, but nothing could be further from the truth. York dishes out the occasional burn to people who totally had it coming, but overall he's very straightforward and honest. It's not his fault they can't understand him half the time! York is putting his best foot forward into solving the case, and after a while people become unable to argue with the mounting pile of evidence he gathers. There's also the conservations he sometimes has with Zach while driving around in his car, where York monologues about past cases that are just as extreme as the one he's currently investigating. They really add believability to York's character, reminding the player that this weirdo is an accomplished FBI agent who's seen some shit over the years.

I just love watching York. The man operates like he's on a different plane of existence (which really, really fits in with the supernatural stuff that Deadly Premonition throws your way) but never feels so alien that I can't relate to him. The quintessential York scene is definitely the Sinner's Sandwich scene - the way he acts with skepticism over the Sandwich, followed by his unbridled joy at finding it delicious, is so understandable but at the same time so not understandable, understand? It's amazing how completely he salvages his game. Even outside of how entertaining he is, I'm almost certain that the way he forces you to think laterally is part of the reason why it's way easier to forgive Deadly Premonition's major flaws than it is for other games. Much like his fellow officer in the scene where he explains Zach, you learn to roll with it and accept - no, embrace the things that are different. I've played the game twice and I still want more York, and if that's not the sign of a truly memorable character, I don't know what is.
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Apologies for the slow updates - been tired recently and a single character post can take up to a half hour to write because I don't know how to keep things concise. Tomorrow is the grand unveiling of the #1, where correct guesses on the identity of the mystery character will result in cash prizes*!

*Disclaimer: Correct guesses will not actually result in cash prizes.
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Shulk is good times

I wanna replay the first Xenoblade after I beat the second one
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Xenoblade is one of those games that I really want to replay eventually, but will have to wait because of how long it is. Looking forward to trying out the HD Dolphin version though.
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Not many in the top ten I have much personal experience with except Phoenix Wright, who's solid
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You've never played the MGS series? It seems like something you would like.
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Pretty good top 5 so far. I haven't played Berseria, but I want to, and part of that is because Velvet looks like the kind of character I'd like.
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#1 is Battler
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LeonhartFour posted...

#1 is Battler

No fake cash prize for you
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oh I guess I picked the wrong Umineko character
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oh right I did forget visual novel characters are technically allowed on a list like this
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Velvet is awesome

I was going to revise my predix with Vyse, but I decided I'd not show off by being right for once.......also wow, Vergil #1 sure is great
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1. Solid Snake (Metal Gear Solid series)

http://www.startlr.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/gamescom-2017-solid-snake-creeps-on-android-in-metal-gear-solid-2-hd-for-nvidia-shield.jpg

"I'm no hero. Never was. Never will be."

Is there any part of Snake that isn't amazing? His voice as performed by David Hayter is the most iconic voice in gaming outside of Charles Martinet as Mario. His character arc is engrossing and stretches over more than a decade, both in-game and out of game. He's gets a redesign every game and manages to look awesome every time - no one else would be able to make that mustache in MGS4 work, but Snake is Snake. I could write a literal essay on all the ways, both big and small, that combine to make Snake the incredibly popular character that he is, but I'll keep it...within 3 posts.

Snake got a pretty good headstart in the way of good timing. Back when Metal Gear Solid was released, games were in their awkward transitional period between 16 bit graphics and high-def 3D. Cinematic games with a huge story focus like Final Fantasy VII had already come out, but it still had lego graphics and no voice acting. Then Metal Gear Solid happened. I played MGS1 like 5 years after it actually came out and it still felt like it was miles ahead of everything else in terms of production values and storytelling. It helps that everyone was a lot younger back when MGS1 came out (wait was that really 20 years ago, jesus fucking christ) so the game's more mature/realistic tone was pretty memorable. In a time period where games had simple plots or were anime as all fuck, MGS1 was discussing nuclear proliferation. Not that Metal Gear Solid was lacking at all in the weirdness department, sporting wonders like the cyborg ninja and Kojima's ideas on how dominant/recessive genes work, but it definitely had a more mature edge to things. It created a new benchmark for cinematography and storytelling in gaming.

I'm talking a lot about Metal Gear Solid itself instead of Snake himself, but here's the thing - it's impossible to seperate the two. Much like MGS1, Snake was a protagonist unlike any other in gaming up until that point. You had your badass soldier dudes, some of them even wearing bandanas, but none were in 3D, none were fully voiced, and few of them had characterization or life stories that were delved into as much as Snake's were. And much like MGS1, he was both mature and weird enough to become memorable. Snake is a supersoldier capable of taking on a heavily-guarded base almost entirely on his own, but he also sneaks cigarettes onto missions and uses ketchup to escape a prison cell. By the end of the game he's discussing his views on life after learning he was infected with FOXDIE, but that's only after he fistfights Liquid on top of a Metal Gear and rides off into the sunset on a snowmobile. Snake is the perfect protagonist for a game like Metal Gear Solid. He elevates the game, and at the same time, the game elevates him.

Of course, Snake wouldn't be as iconic as he is without more than one game under his belt. Each MGS game that was released afterwards only solidified his status as being inseparable from the series. MGS2 is the only game where some version of a Snake isn't a protagonist, and despite Solid Snake being there in full badass mentor glory, people fucking rioted. MGS3 told the story of Big Boss but kept the exact same design and voice (because Solid Snake being a clone of BB made for a really easy excuse even despite Liquid looking/sounding nothing like him). And as Snake built himself up a mythos in the real world, the world of Metal Gear Solid did the same. Solid Snake, depending on who you ask, is a myth, a menace, a legend, a terrorist. Wherever he goes, changes follow. At one point his visage gets carved into Mount goddamn Rushmore - courtesy of Liquid Ocelot, but still.
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And discussing all of that is important, because Snake is the only person in the world who strongly disagrees that he's a legend or a hero. Snake knows better than anyone else how terrible war is. He's fought through more battles than any other living human on the planet (with the exception of maybe Big Boss but he's AWOL for 99% of the Solid series anyway) and knows that it results only in death, pain, and destruction. And unfortunately for him, it seems that the life of a soldier is the only one available to him. Snake tried to get out of the game before and chose a life of isolation raising Huskies - which is adorable - but he gets sucked back in far too easily, simply because there's no one else who can do what Snake can do. Well, that and the uncomfortable fact that Snake enjoys the killing, a point that Psycho Mantis is eager to point out and that Snake is ashamed to be aware of.

It's inevitable that he would, on some level, enjoy what he does. Snake was created - not born, created - and raised to be a soldier, and he's damn good at it. It's what the world wants from him - to be able to use him, point him in any given direction, and then not be asked too many questions. What makes Snake's personal story over the Metal Gear Solid series so poignant is how it's all about Snake rebelling against the system that made him and is now trying to shackle him. The whole 'nurture vs nature' theme is a major one in the story and Snake is the one that proves that it's possible to become something more than what you were shaped by others to be. The most obvious examplle is when he defeats Liquid, who was literally engineered to be stronger than him, but it appears all the time in other places as well. He's constantly lied to and manipulated but always ends up discovering the truth. He was meant to be an unthinking soldier, less than human, but strikes up close friendships with several people and helps raise his adoptive daughter. He's meant to be a tool of the government, but ends up being a rebel/terrorist/whatever and fighting against any practice he believes is wrong. He was engineered to never have kids, but passes on his will to so many others regardless.

And possibly more than anything else, Snake's willingness to take on insane odds for the good of the world at large is ridiculous. There's many other people with backgrounds similar to Snake's, and all of them turned into villains (more or less). The one exception is The Boss, who is essentially Snake's progenitor despite Snake knowing almost nothing about her. Every other person who actually knew her failed to carry on her will, but Snake manages to despite the odds being stacked against him more than anyone else. The scene that most represents this part of Snake's scene is the microwave hallway, where he fries himself to get to the data center, eventually crawling on all fours due to the sheer amount of pain being inflicted on him, and he just keeps going. Not Big Boss, not Liquid, not Ocelot, not Zero, not anyone else did what Snake managed to. If you don't believe me, believe Big Boss, who spends most of the ending cutscene of MGS4 acknowledging that Snake fixed all of their fuckups.
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Wow, it took you forever to post that writeup. I guess you could say that you..

Kept us waiting, huh?
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I have to give special mention to the ending of Snake's story, which I love. Some disliked that he hesitated in shooting himself to end the threat of a FOXDIE epidemic, but I think it served as a good reminder that Snake is human. Despite being created to be a soldier over all else, despite being near the end of his engineered lifespan...Snake still doesn't want to die. He wants to live and be able to cherish the life he has with the people he cares about. It's noted in some post-game dialogue that, after the game is over, Snake quits smoking and asks people to start calling him by his real name, and it was so incredibly satisfying to read that. He more than deserved a few years just to...live. Not fight, but live.

It's been 20 years since MGS1, and while the series now faces a lot of stiff competition in the storytelling department, I don't think there's ever been another protagonist like Snake. A badass, a weirdo, and a compelling story, all wrapped up in one guy. I wish we maybe could have gotten one more game detailing his adventures in between MGS2 and MGS4, but it's okay. His saga is complete, and it's one I'll never forget. Like virtually everyone but Snake himself, I think the guy is a hero, and he's my favorite character in all of gaming.
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NFUN posted...

Wow, it took you forever to post that writeup. I guess you could say that you..

Kept us waiting, huh?

way to botch the timing

should've kept waiting a little longer
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I knew that would happen when I broke two posts !!
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And with that, the list is done! Many thanks to everyone who followed, read, and/or commented - I appreciate it all.

LeonhartFour posted...

oh I guess I picked the wrong Umineko character

Now that I can comment on this, while I like Umineko's cast, I think it works better as a group than any one character. The exceptions may have been Battler or Beatrice, but Chiru wasn't kind to their characters.
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Oh yeah, forgot to post the final list in its entirety.

1. Solid Snake (Metal Gear Solid series)
2. Francis York/Zach Morgan (Deadly Premonition)
3. Shulk (Xenoblade)
4. Vyse (Skies of Arcadia: Legends)
5. Velvet Crowe (Tales of Berseria)
6. Raiden (Metal Gear Solid series)
7. The Nameless One (Planescape: Torment)
8. Phoenix Wright (Ace Attorney series)
9. Kaine (Nier)
10. James Sunderland (Silent Hill 2)
11. Ike (Fire Emblem series)
12. Vivi (Final Fantasy IX)
13. 9S (Nier Automata)
14. Dante (Devil May Cry series)
15. Hero (Dragon Quest V)
16. The Boss (Metal Gear Solid 3)
18 & 17. Joel & Ellie (The Last of Us)
19. Alistair (Dragon Age: Origins)
20. Yosuke Hanamura (Persona 4)
21. Yuri Hyuga (Shadow Hearts series)
22. Roxas (Kingdom Hearts series)
23. Garcian Smith (Killer7)
24. Zidane Tribal (Final Fantasy IX)
25. Sans (Undertale)
26. Tidus (Final Fantasy X)
27. Ramza Beoulve (Final Fantasy Tactics)
28. Auron (Final Fantasy X)
29. Yuri Lowell (Tales of Vesperia)
30. Futaba Sakura (Persona 5)
31. Otacon (Metal Gear series)
32. Monika (Doki Doki Literature Club)
33. Laphicet (Tales of Berseria)
34. Delita Hyral (Final Fantasy Tactics)
35. Luca Blight (Suikoden II)
36. Eleanor Hume (Tales of Berseria)
37. Lee Everett (The Walking Dead)
38. Tali (Mass Effect series)
39. Morte (Planescape: Torment)
40. Wrex (Mass Effects series)
~Rhys (Tales From the Borderlands)
~Flowey (Undertale)
~Miles Edgeworth (Ace Attorney series)

HM:
Magilou (Tales of Berseria)
Eizen (Tales of Berseria)
Ness (Earthbound)
Nier (Nier)
Emil (Nier series)
2B (Nier Automata)
Zelos Wilder (Tales of Symphonia)
Maya Fay (Ace Attorney series)
Makoto Yuki (Persona 3)
Soren (Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance)
Lucina (Fire Emblem: Awakening)
Lyon (Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones)
Elincia (Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn)
Stocke (Radiant Historia)
Jowy Atreides (Suikoden II)
Mordin Solus (Mass Effect series)
Garrus (Mass Effect series)
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KamikazePotato posted...

(with the exception of maybe Big Boss but he's AWOL for 99% of the Solid series anyway)

hey now Big Boss probably has as much screen time as Solid Snake by this point...!

KamikazePotato posted...

(because Solid Snake being a clone of BB made for a really easy excuse even despite Liquid looking/sounding nothing like him)

I like the probably unintentional irony that despite Big Boss supposedly having all these "soldier genes," he looks the most like the son that supposedly had the recessive genes.

also one of my favorite things ever is the fact that Kojima made Liquid Snake the scapegoat after everyone mocked his genetics plotline in MGS1 by just saying Liquid is stupid when it comes to science

KamikazePotato posted...

If you don't believe me, believe Big Boss, who spends most of the ending cutscene of MGS4 acknowledging that Snake fixed all of their f***ups.

Yeah, I quote that dialogue whenever someone tries to claim Big Boss is the real hero of MGS instead of Solid Snake. Big Boss himself acknowledges that Snake was a better man than he is and probably would've handled everything better if he had been in his shoes.

So yeah, while I like Big Boss better because of his fall from grace, both of them are top 5 characters for me, and Snake is the true hero of the series.
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Yeah, Big Boss is a good character but I never took to him or MGS3 like I took to Solid Snake. Doesn't help that it's pretty apparent that Kojima rushed to the ending of Snake's story so he could go make a bunch of BB games afterwards !

LeonhartFour posted...

also one of my favorite things ever is the fact that Kojima made Liquid Snake the scapegoat after everyone mocked his genetics plotline in MGS1 by just saying Liquid is stupid when it comes to science

Wait really? That's amazing, I didn't know that.
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oh yeah Kojima backpedaled super hard

he should've just embraced it as part of MGS insanity
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Ocelot mentions the dominant/recessive genes thing in the MGS1 ending phone call as well. Either he's making fun of Liquid or everyone in the MGS universe is bad at biology.
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.
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I also much prefer Solid Snake to Big boss
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