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Who is your favorite protagonist?

WarChiefZekeWarChiefZeke Member Posts: 2,651
edited July 2020 in Off-Topic
Title is fairly self explanatory. Who is your favorite protagonist from any form of media, be it video games, books, etc, and why?

I think mine would have to be Ramza Beoluve from Final Fantasy Tactics. In return for going against the grain of society for what he thought was right, his brothers disowned him, his deeds were erased from history, and his best friend took all the credit for what he did. He wasn't exceptionally cool or heroic, he didn't "get the girl" in the end or anything like that. He was simply an ordinary person, bound by circumstances beyond his control, and tried to do something about what he saw as unjust. This is a lot closer to reality, where there is often little reward for virtue.

BallpointManGrond0ThacoBellRedRodentJuliusBorisov

Comments

  • jjstraka34jjstraka34 Member Posts: 9,850
    edited July 2020
    I usually only find the villains interesting, but Holly Gibney from the recent HBO Stephen King vehicle "The Outsider" stood out to me. The character is in other work of his as well, and I'd like to see the same actress play her in other adaptations. She is an obsessive compulsive private investigator whose powers of observation are pretty much unrivaled.
    WarChiefZekeJuliusBorisovBalrog99
  • BallpointManBallpointMan Member Posts: 1,659
    Title is fairly self explanatory. Who is your favorite protagonist from any form of media, be it video games, books, etc, and why?

    I think mine would have to be Ramza Beoluve from Final Fantasy Tactics. In return for going against the grain of society for what he thought was right, his brothers disowned him, his deeds were erased from history, and his best friend took all the credit for what he did. He wasn't exceptionally cool or heroic, he didn't "get the girl" in the end or anything like that. He was simply an ordinary person, bound by circumstances beyond his control, and tried to do something about what he saw as unjust. This is a lot closer to reality, where there is often little reward for virtue.

    Tactics is also just a really (really) good game. He's an excellent vehicle for the story to be consumed by the player.

    I dont know that I can limit myself to one protagonist, particularly since it can be from any media. So I'll just pick perhaps the first video game protagonist that comes to mind: Nathan Drake. The uncharted franchise really hits the Indiana Jones nostalgia vibe on the head, and Nathan Drake is both extremely well written as well as fantastically voiced (Nolan North, IIRC).

    As a side note - video game protagonists are an interesting set of characters. In RPGs, they are commonly silent or at least are malleable so that the player can make meaningful choices for them - they sort of become who you want them to be in a lot of circumstances. For that reason, I struggle to think of too many mainstream RPG protagonists that I really adored.
    WarChiefZekeThacoBellJuliusBorisov
  • deltagodeltago Member Posts: 7,811
    This is a good question and one that takes a lot of thought.

    My mind keeps going to Arthur Morgan from RDR2 as he is the most recent, well written protagonist of a game I played. His loyalty, ‘ah shucks’ attitude and awkward unsociable nature make him an unique character when it comes to protagonists.
    WarChiefZekeJuliusBorisov
  • Grond0Grond0 Member Posts: 7,305
    I've got a soft spot for Honor Harrington in the books by David Weber. While she is certainly a goodie-goodie, there is a bit of a frisson added by making it clear that's her conscious decision - and every now and then her unconscious side peeks out and it's not so nice ...
    WarChiefZekeJuliusBorisov
  • ThacoBellThacoBell Member Posts: 12,235
    This is a toughie, I usually gravitate to side characters more than protagonists, hmmm.

    I guess I'd go with Lucas from Mother 3. A young child when the game starts, he lives in small, almost utopian village. The game VERY quickly sees his family fall apart, and strangers invading his home and making it unrecognizeable. Fast forward a few years, and his little village is a city, with all the good and bad that entails. Becoming an outcast for sticking to the old, simple life, he eventually leaves to try and find what remains of his family and put it back together. There's a save the world plot in there, but its not the main draw for me.
    WarChiefZeke
  • RedRodentRedRodent Member Posts: 78
    It's always hard to choose favourites, but I guess the first one that comes to mind is Leslie Knope from Parks and Rec. Positive to a fault, tenacious and pretty damn sharp (even if she finds herself in Lawful Dumb territory every now and then). Cares deeply for everyone around her and becomes the catalyst for all of her friends' lives improving. Really great character.
    WarChiefZekeJuliusBorisov
  • WarChiefZekeWarChiefZeke Member Posts: 2,651
    ThacoBell wrote: »
    This is a toughie, I usually gravitate to side characters more than protagonists, hmmm.

    I guess I'd go with Lucas from Mother 3. A young child when the game starts, he lives in small, almost utopian village. The game VERY quickly sees his family fall apart, and strangers invading his home and making it unrecognizeable. Fast forward a few years, and his little village is a city, with all the good and bad that entails. Becoming an outcast for sticking to the old, simple life, he eventually leaves to try and find what remains of his family and put it back together. There's a save the world plot in there, but its not the main draw for me.

    I really have to try Mother 3 sometime. Earthbound on the SNES was bursting at the seams with charm and personality, I can't see them going wrong with 3.
    ThacoBell
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,714
    Tyrion Lannister. I think he's the most intelligent person in Westeros and the show in the final season didn't give him justice he deserved. I have a feeling in the books he won't let Daenerys out-smarten him.

    I admire everything about Tyrion, from his humour to his courage. But most of all, I admire his brilliant mind.
    Grond0Balrog99Zaxares
  • jjstraka34jjstraka34 Member Posts: 9,850
    edited July 2020
    Tyrion Lannister. I think he's the most intelligent person in Westeros and the show in the final season didn't give him justice he deserved. I have a feeling in the books he won't let Daenerys out-smarten him.

    I admire everything about Tyrion, from his humour to his courage. But most of all, I admire his brilliant mind.

    He was reduced to nothing but a character whose lines amounted to "hey, remember when we did this in Season x" for all of seasons 7 and 8. He went from one of the best characters ever to a totally incompetent moron. That show was lost the moment they ran out of book material, but no one's dialogue suffered more than Tyrion's. Check out his earlier conversations with his sister compared to his last one for evidence.
    JuliusBorisovBalrog99
  • hybridialhybridial Member Posts: 291
    edited July 2020
    Jun Fudo in the anime version of Devilman Lady. And yes, I know, who and wtf is Devilman Lady and that's a weird title. So quick explanation, Devilman is a manga by Go Nagai from 1973 that has endured quite a bit in popularity, Devilman lady was a pseudo sequel to that that ran from 1997 to 2001 and is really just a case of "lets make the protagonist female", well there was a bit more to it than that, but anyway, then anime adaptation in 1998. And the anime adaptation was very different, partly probably because the manga's content was too gratuitous for what is generally allowed on TV in Japan, and the manga was early days so they just decided to do their own thing.

    So what I like so much about this character is her grounded relatability. In Devilman the protagonist was a teenager, whilst it ended up an epic work of horror, its initial creation as a shonen work is fairly clear and Akira is kind of a prototypical type of hero. Jun on the other hand is an adult woman who works as a fashion model. And her vocation isn't considered from any kind of romantic or glamorous perspective, its shown to be a job that she is starting to feel unfulfilled by. And her mindset is one of an introvert. She's the kind of personality that is ill suited to be any kind of superhero, and that's great because its something that keeps the show from any kind of comic book feeling. It's horror, she becomes a monster, she has to fight other monsters, and she struggles to cope knowing she's got this other side. It makes her internal struggles her main obstacle, its an interesting concept put against otherwise her monster form being OP and usually not having much trouble defeating other beasts till towards the end.

    Its my fascination with her character that has me writing my own adaptation of the series, its mainly to explore it from some slightly different angles.
    Post edited by hybridial on
    WarChiefZeke
  • ThacoBellThacoBell Member Posts: 12,235
    ThacoBell wrote: »
    This is a toughie, I usually gravitate to side characters more than protagonists, hmmm.

    I guess I'd go with Lucas from Mother 3. A young child when the game starts, he lives in small, almost utopian village. The game VERY quickly sees his family fall apart, and strangers invading his home and making it unrecognizeable. Fast forward a few years, and his little village is a city, with all the good and bad that entails. Becoming an outcast for sticking to the old, simple life, he eventually leaves to try and find what remains of his family and put it back together. There's a save the world plot in there, but its not the main draw for me.

    I really have to try Mother 3 sometime. Earthbound on the SNES was bursting at the seams with charm and personality, I can't see them going wrong with 3.

    You should! Its my personal favorite entry in the series, but uh, be warned that it gets very emotional. The game's tagline is "No crying until the end."
  • themazingnessthemazingness Member, Mobile Tester Posts: 702
    edited July 2020
    Samwise Gamgee. I love his loyalty and innocence. I feel like everybody needs a Samwise Gamgee in dark times.
    ThacoBellWarChiefZekeMoomintrollBalrog99
  • ThacoBellThacoBell Member Posts: 12,235
    Good old Sam. He is my favorite book protaganist for sure.
  • KamigoroshiKamigoroshi Member Posts: 5,870
    Roland Mist: coffee addicted chaotic neutral Necromancer, Cryomancer, ex-Holy Knight, prankster, judge and lich with aspirations towards godhood. All-in-one. Protagonist of the Chinese Web Novel known as The Experimental Log of the Crazy Lich. Or as I call it... “the fantasy trope killer“

    Daaaaaaammmn good stuff. Sprouting almost 800 currently translated chapters. May or may not involve cleanly shaved, perfumed and tea-drinking dwarves.
  • lroumenlroumen Member Posts: 2,508
    edited July 2020
    From books: Gerald Tarrant from the coldfire trilogy by Celia S Friedman. A real necromancer sorcerer that ends up tied in fate to a priest in order to save the realms from all sorts of strange magic. He actually starts as a prophet of the main religion but made sacrifices to extend life to see his words and lessons come to fruition. It is in these books that I actually started to appreciate religion as a whole while still not following one. Even in the face of life mitigation he still found ways to extend it further.

    From video games the old pc: Lara Croft. The teenage infatuation with video game characters.... Ah... The remakes are surprisingly good too I think. If I can extend to a similar character it would be from playstation, Aloy from horizon zero dawn. An unexpected heroin in a tale about the past. Slowly you learn bits and pieces and see the protagonist grow. I really like the character and the different directions you can take (good, neutral, bad) feel genuine and not forced. I guess the curiosity of these protagonists are what makes me like them.


    Except for Sam, I have no idea who you are all taking about. Haha
    WarChiefZekeThacoBell
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