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I'm sure we've all played our fair share of RPGs, so I ask you this fine people of EoFF. Who has been one of the worst protagonists you've had to deal with? Were they just a total pill and unlikable, or the more dreaded, "boring as watching paint dry" variety? Let's discuss bad protagonists. :D
Zael from The Last Story. For such an interesting, genuinely fun crew that you get to control in the game, it’s a real shame that the main breeding pair is so insanely bland. Granted, their role in the plot is interesting and subversive, but what does that matter when they have all the personality of a toothbrush with an impaired sense of smell?
I'd agree Zael does no favors for The Last Story. I feel one of my choices would be Shion Uzuki from Xenosaga, I initially liked her but by the end of the trilogy, I was grateful the game let me have a chance to kick the crap out of her.
Worst in RPGs in general is pretty broad territory to cover. I will say that FFXII is notable in that the ostensible protagonist and the actual protagonist together cover both categories of bad protagonist you mentioned. I don't think I'd go so far as to say worst in all RPGs though.
I don't know if I can count the protagonist of Suikoden IV, because he's silent, but everyone else in the game, especially Snowe. Maybe Snowe counts. Probably closest to being the proxy protagonist.
I wouldn't really count Snowe, hell he's less important than most "buddy" characters in the series after the initial opening. He's no Ted or Jowy, but Ted had even less screen time, but was ultimately more important for the narrative than Snowe was in IV. Lazlo is also not that bad of a main protagonist if you ask me, at least all the stuff with him and the Rune of Punishment and the not-so-subtle hints that he's Lino En Kulde's lost son were actually pretty neat. Now if you wanted to nail a Suikoden title for worst protagonist, I'd say Kyril from Suikoden Tactics. The fact he was more likable when he was a silent protagonist in the prologue sections says all you need about him.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lord Golbez
I don't know about the worst overall, but there are a lot that have annoyed me to the point that I don't enjoy their games, like Edge in SO 4, Rena and Claude from SO2, and Luke from ToA. Tidus used to be on the list too, but he's more of a shake-my-head-at-and-move-on character for me now.
Asbel and Sophie from Tales of Graces are two of the biggest idiots. There's this scene that still annoys me to this day.
Richard: I HATE YOU!
*Boss fight insues*
Richard: I REALLY HATE YOU!
Cheria and Hubert start talking him down. Getting plot and character development.
Asbel: Let's hug him!
Sophie: FRIENDSHIP HUG!
Richard flies away in rage.
And I forgot about Shion. She becomes so much worse with each game. And so do her costumes.
Must fight urge to argue against some of the characters mentioned :p
Anyway, not sure about worst, but a few that are pretty high up the list for me:
Senel Coolidge from Tales of Legendia - easily my least favorite Tales protagonist, which is saying a lot in a world where Tales of Innocence's Luca exists.
Jude Maverick from Wild ARMs 4 - In this case I'll admit it's been ages and I don't remember that much from the game, but I certainly remember not liking Jude.
Edge Maverick from Star Ocean 4 - Another Maverick in another 4th installment, Edge isn't always bad but at best he's bland and generic, and at worst he's "EVERYTHING EVERYTHING EVERYTHING".
Tidus from FFX - Yeah I went there. :p
I would put Zael from The Last Story in there, but my biggest problem with him is not the actual character, it's his love story with Calista.
As a note, these aren't actually the worst protagonists from RPGs I've ever played, but the very worst ones are the ones I simply don't remember from bad PS2 RPGs.
Couldn't handle Luke from Tales of the Abyss. He does get slightly better though.
I'll take that. Kyril's at least bad enough that I don't really remember a thing about him and I'm all too happy to ascribe the ridiculous garbage of the plot of that game to his character.Quote:
Originally Posted by Wolf Kanno
Do the non-personality ones count? Like, Skyrim hero, or FFI characters? Because obviously those are the worst for me. Although Tidus/Yuna are right up there in FFX mostly because I couldn't stand Yuna's voice or timid personality, nor could I stand Tidus being stroppy or whiney.
It probably depends on your POV. To me personally they don’t count, since they’re obviously meant to be player avatars, so they can’t really be judged on the same merits as actual character protagonists
I agree, and groused about him a lot. Though I felt that was the point? Was he supposed to be sympathetic? If so, then he's 5x worse than I currently feel about him.Quote:
Originally Posted by maybee