Top 5: Video Games Heroes

[Dave]

Top 5: Video Games Heroes

Having taken a lot of inspiration from Lee’s thread about your top five “mark out moments”, I decided that the top 5 series of threads could really become quite significant. So with that in mind, I came up with the idea of thinking about my top five video games heroes. I have been playing video games for about 15 years and I have played so many games that I literally could not put a number to it. However, when I am trying to decide which characters are my favourites of all time, only a few names come to mind. You see, video games heroes are a dime a dozen but only a few have ever transcended the norm and have become legendary heroes. These heroes are characters that people will talk about for as long as gaming is popular and beyond. In my opinion, only a few have managed to go that far and the choices that I pick may not be the popular consensus. However, that is why I am here, to help create some discussion.

Number 5: Tommy Vercetti

You know, I always thought that CJ was better. San Andreas was and still is my all time favourite game from the Grand Theft Auto series. However, when I went back and played the games over again, I realised that Tommy Vercetti was just an absolute beast. I really loved him for his wit, his story and basically how frickin’ awesome he was. Going back now, I realise that I was probably wrong about Vercetti and that he probably was better than CJ. Most people would call that normality but for a long time, I really did prefer him and it is a very close call between them still. Vercetti was a good guy at heart but just accomplished things a little bit differently.

Number 4: Altair

I don’t know if it because I love the game so much but Altair is one of my favourite all time heroes for any game that I have played. He is stealthy and does what is right. He is a fantastic character that had me wishing that I could do half of the things that he does. I mean assassinations are not usually the way of the best heroes but he was going u against tyranny and he won the day. He was a great character from start to finish and I cannot wait to see how his cousin is the new offering.

Number 3: Marcus Fenix

Now, I think that this one will raise a lot of questions but I think that Sergeant Fenix is probably one of the most awesome heroes ever to grace a gaming system. He is cool, calm and collected and leaves a trail of dead locusts in his wake, no matter where he goes. With that being said, he is infinitely more awesome as he battles against the tyranny of the Locust Horde as the humans of Serra battle for their lives. The COG are an elite fighting group and the humour, personality and sheer charisma of Fenix make it difficult for me not to love him. He has rocked my 360 for 2 games now and I am sure that he will be back for a third to give us more dead locust and sheer awesomeness.

Number 2: Cloud Strife

Call me a Final Fantasy fan boy, I don’t care. Anyway, I put Cloud in as number 2 because I have only one more character who is more awesome and more of a hero than cloud ever was or will be. However, more on that in a moment. So, for the last decade or so, I have been completely in love with the Final Fantasy games and I think it is because of the characters. You become banded to the story and you care about their development and no character in the Final Fantasy series will ever be more of a legend or more awesome than Cloud Strife. Since Final Fantasy 7 was released in Europe and the UK, more to the point, I have owned a copy of the game. The game is the best Final Fantasy out there and when you couple the villain with this hero, you have a recipe for success. His hair and huge frickin’ sword have become synonymous with gaming and he has gone down in the records as being legendary.

Number 1: It’s a me… Mario!

Oh, come on! You knew this was coming. Now, I have a feeling that a lot of people are going to be fighting to put Mario or Link as their number one but I have never, ever been a Zelda fan and I just don’t know enough about Link to be able to do him justice. Mario, on the other hand has been fighting against evil for the almost three decades and has been leaving candy asses draped all over the shop. From jumpman to Mario, this plumber has been fucking up evil since the day he was conceived and looks sure to continue. An everyman who fought the forces of evil and won and as all good heroes do, he got the girl.

 

[NSL]

5. Raiden

If you take away the shit the movie did to this character, you'd have the ultimate force against evil in the Mortal Kombat universe. He's a god, and is the one that recruits the mortals for the tournament.

4. Master Chief

I don't get why Halo catches so much crap, but it's a great game, and an even better series. Master Chief is the last hope for the human race, and has a little badass to him...It always helps.

3. Ash Ketchum w/ Pikachu

I'm not afraid to admit that I've played some Pokemon in my day, and it's hard to make a list like this, not including the protagonist of one of the most successful franchises ever, much less video game franchises. Add in his cuddly little friend, and you have a pair that define an era in video games.

2. Mario

I know that he'll be #1 on a lot of people's lists, but bear with me. We all know how great he is, but I'm knocking him to #2, because he gets a lot of help from Luigi.

1. The spaceship from Asteroids

I don't know if it has a name, or if it even qualifies as a character, but there's no doubt that it's a hero. It saves the universe for crying out loud.

 

[TheBigCheez-It]

#5-MegaMan.
That little blue robot was just gnarly as a kid growing up with his blaster destroying the Rock boss. Yeah I loved that game.

#4-Smoke(Cyborg)
Ever since I heard he was a secret charecter in MK2 I was stoked then are him as a borg?! Oh yeah.

#3-StarFox Huge fan of that game from Super Nintendo to the 64 alwys thought he was awesome a fox in outer space leading a command? Dude gnar points.

#2-Knuckles
Let's be honest, it was all bout him the whole time. He was equal to sonic in everyway and you know it.

#1-Luigi!!
Fuck Mario for taking Luigi's hard work, we know damn well he was doing the princess the whole time.

 

[Uncle Sam]

You want a list? I'll give you a list. I'm going to list like I've never listed before.

1.
Travis Touchdown
No More Heroes

There are very few games funnier than No More Heroes. Nay, there are no games funnier than No More Heroes. None that I've played anyway. Travis is a big part of that. He's the loser that we all simultaneously do and don't want to be. In a game populated by great - and even better - characters, Travis still may deserve the title of the game's funniest character. Probably not though. But he's the star of the show, so fuck you.

2.
Solid Snake
Metal Gear Solid​

Yeah, Snake's alright I guess. At least, he's pretty much the first person that came to mind when I saw this thread - other than Travis. He's been in a fair few games. He does things... in an entertaining way. Man, what a great character.

3.
Nathan Drake
Uncharted​

He's an every man... that can take out dozens of trained soldiers - provided they aren't American - at the drop of a hat and can climb mountains with nothing but his hands and some one-liners. Not to mention that he only ever tucks in half of his shirt and doesn't mind getting his jeans wet. That just screams badass.

4.
Kratos
God of War​

Dude doesn't mind killing innocent civilians in between dispatching seven foot tall... crazy shit. He was even an actual god at one point. Of war. And despite being haunted by the memory of the wife and daughter that he murdered, he'll still screw random bitches for health. Greatest moment in gaming history; having to mash X to pull your frightened daughter off your leg.

5.
Captain Qwark
Ratchet & Clank​

Sidekick, hero, whatever. Dude above me has Luigi and Knuckles for crying out loud. Whereas the titular characters have their moments, Qwark is a consistent source of actually sometimes being a bit funny. He's a playable character in some of the games. Which, really, is all I want from a videogames hero.

 

[The Doctor]

In no particular order:

Travis Touchdown (No More Heroes):
As Sam said, he was a hilarious loser. He reacted to a lot of things the same way I would react, and that made him utterly relatable. Of course, him reveling in killing was a little different, but oh well. Travis was hilarious, awesome, and...normal.

Phoenix Wright (Ace Attorney):
The Ace Attorney is littered with great characters, but none of it would be possible without good old Phoenix Wright. He was fun, sarcastic, and always won the trial. He made criminals sweat, despite his occasional "Durr" moments. Just a great hero.

Netto/Rockman.EXE
I'm lumping them together because really, they're a team. Netto was a great guy who knew when to get seriousness, and Rockman could be plain badass. Both characters interacted really well together and they took down crime syndicates and mad scientists with gusto.

U-1 (Gitaroo Man):
U-1 was a loser. Plain and simple. He couldn't get the girl, he couldn't do anything. Then, he finds out that he's the last descendant of the Gitaroo bloodline, and everything changes. Through the story, U-1 goes from coward, to extremely reluctant hero, to savior, and it's awesome.

Mario:
It's-a him! Mario! Come on, Mario is just plain awesome. The ever-happy, mushroom stomping Italian-American is iconic, and one of the greatest video game characters of all time. In every one of his portrayals, whether it be Captain Lou on the Super Mario Bros. Super Show, or his first sojourn into 3D in Super Mario 64, Mario has never failed to be great and save the day, keeping a smile on his face.

 

[Lee]

#2-Knuckles
Let's be honest, it was all bout him the whole time. He was equal to sonic in everyway and you know it.

Not really, the guy made an appearance is arguably the last great Sonic game (that would be 3) and he was a bad guy. How you make him number 2 greatest hero is beyond me.

#1-Luigi!!
Fuck Mario for taking Luigi's hard work, we know damn well he was doing the princess the whole time.

Again Luigi's not done much since Mario World, Mario is easily the superior here.

So my 5:

5: Solid Snake

Easily one of the best 'characters' in video games, his evolution from Metal Gear to the latest incarnation is great!

4: Bowie

Who the FUCK is Bowie I hear you ask? There's a game released for the MegaDrive called Shining Force II. His name is Bowie, essentially he's your classic RP hero in that he's just turned 18 or something then ends up saving the world because his village is burned down. Nice.

3: Link

Not much needed to be said here, Link has saved the day on many occasions keeping all those in Hyrule safe!

2: Pokemon trainers

They're always called Lee in my world, fuck Ash. Put these as one character and they're pretty damn good.

1: Mario

Could you see me picking anyone else?

 

[Phoenix]

I'm going to go with these as my top 5, but in no particular order:

1. Lara Croft
How was she not mentioned until now? She is literally the female version of Indiana Jones, she raids tombs, houses and your dreams. She was one of the icons of Playstation and she was the first female gaming icon that was a hero.

2. Solid Snake
The master of stealth, the grizzingly voice, the moves, the backstory. This was the perfect hero made by Kojima. He is the literally a hero anyone would want to be, he's been through winters, oil platforms, outer heavens and jungles, his games were always fresh and new settings despite same techniques. Definitely has to be named.

3. Mario
He's Mario, he's a plumber, he's super. If he's not on your list, you've had one mushroom too many!

4. Pokemon Trainer
One of the early versions of a customised character and yet he doesn't do any fighting, just reflects what you would tell your Pokemon you do. Essentually, they represent you, what bigger hero could you ask for?

5. Link
Someone I underrated until last week. But despite the different stories renewing the contiuity of Zelda, he's saved Hyrule many times and does it the Medieval way. And he's only a teenager as well!

 

[Dagger Dias]

Just a warning, my list is somewhat biased toward RPG's. I like classics such as Mario or Link too, I just don't feel that they deserve to make the cut on my all time 5 best heroes list. I also disqualified any Division Blade characters since I'd show even more bias in favor of characters that I actually created.


5. Alex (Lunar Silver Star)
Alex was a hero you could get behind and relate to. Most of the game had the "epic quest to save the girl" theme to it, and the whole time you couldn't help but want everything to work out for Alex in the end. Brave, smart, funny, and determined to save his love interest (Luna) from the villain, Ghaleon. He truly is a hero that characters from modern games could only hope to replicate.

4. Fei (Xenogears)
Fei was an interesting character from an interesting game. He had an evil side to him that he does not know about at first, and can recall memories of his ancestors.... oh, and did I mention fighting inside of huge robots?

3. Cloud (Final Fantasy 7)
No "Best heroes" list would be complete without Cloud. He is the hero of the legendary game, Final Fantasy 7. Spiky hair and huge swords became mainstream thanks to him, and his backstory is really interesting too!

2. Kain (Final Fantasy 4)
While not the MAIN hero of the game (that would be Cecil).... Kain remains such a popular character from this game after 18 years for a good reason. Kain was an awesome character with a lot of character development. He is also the standard that virtually EVERY heel turn in an RPG is held to. He turns heel at an unexpected moment during the game, and ends up redeeming himself towards the end.

1. Lloyd (Tales of Symphonia)
The ultimate video game hero. He has a lot of character development. He cares about his allies that he is traveling with, always looking out for the best way to help all of them out. Determined to save every living being in the world no matter what the cost, and trying to find a way to end discrimination of species. All while trying to impress and save his love interest, Collette, too. Lloyd is the ultimate hero and the standard that every other hero in a video game should be held to.