20 most fascinating male RPG Characters

Cafe Society
1

Yea, I imagine that 20 is ALOT to ask, but I tried it and here’s my list:

1.Leon Magnus(Tales of Destiny)–I absolutly HATED him at first and actually wanted him DEAD. Yes, DEAD. But…then I didn’t want that anymore because he’s much more than he seems. He is intelligent, passionate, complex and strong.

  1. Kielle(Tales of Destiny 2)–A true scholar and a very powerful mage. Wonderfully intelligant and despite a cold demeanor, he is quite passionate, articulate and carries a lot of knowledge.

  2. Gremio(Suikoden)–Wonderfully devoted and passionate(pattern? You bet).

  3. Bel Cain(Elemental Gearbolt)–A very beautiful, calm and not a stereotypical Prince.

  4. Ialu(Elemental Geatbolt)–Any ill feelings he has for his little brother, Bel Cain, he keeps carefully hidden. Devoted and strong, he loves his brother dearly and would always support him.

  5. Sasarai(Suikoden 2 and 3)–Mysterious and beautiful boy. Has the face of a Buddha and I bet money that he has the heart of a scorpion. One of the few “bad guys” that I consider “delicious” and not just because of his looks.

  6. Shu(Suikoden 2)–He may not be quite as good as Leon, but he can sure hold his own as a strategiest. He is highly intelligent, strong, blunt and despite his cool demeanor, passionate.

  7. Miklotov(Suikoden 2)–“Breaking a pledge…breaking a pledge of loyalty is a Knight’s highest disgrace. But…But I am…I am…I AM!!! I AM a human first and a Knight second!!! I don’t need your title! I resign myself to your disgrace! But I will never forgive you!!! I can never look idly by while lives are being thrown away!!!” Need I say more?

  8. Camus(Suikoden 2)–Smooth and tough as nails, just as Richmond said.

  9. Citan(Xenogears)–Who I call “The Good Doctor”. He’s gentle, devoted and wonderfully kind. Intelligent is an understatement.

  10. Zack(Final Fantasy 9)–I consider him a stronger version of Cloud. Not much is known about him, but it’s so easy to see him as one who is quite determined and solid.

  11. Luca Blight(Suikoden 2)–An insane person who does insane things because he is insane. Yet quite intelligent and VERY passionate. Course the passionate part is an understatement. ehehe A GREAT warrior! No matter how much you hate him, you HAVE to respect his ability!

  12. Vaynard(Brigandine)–Yet another warrior King, but who cares? He COMMANDS respect. He may be harsh, but he DOES have a strong heart and it capable of doing more than Conaning everything. heehe

  13. Cecil(Final Fantasy 2)–What can I say? When I even LOOK at him, I think, “He is perfection…”

  14. Necrosaro(Dragonwarrior 4)–He wasn’t your typical villian. He had someone he loved very deeply and he lost her. He’s one of the few villians I pitied.

  15. Sephiroth(Final Fantasy 7)–It’s not just because he’s beautiful. No, really. He was a genius and immesurably strong. He had one hell of a past and one bleak future. No wonder he went insane.

  16. Tatsuya Suou(Persona 2)–A angsty, moody, fiery, tormented young man who has a haunting prescence.

  17. Ghaleon(Lunar:SSSC/Eternal Blue)–A dynamic and fun villian! Wondefully devious and very powerful. Another character that simply commands respect.

  18. Jowy(Suikoden 2)–I’m pretty hard on him, but it’s because I DO happen to like him. When I’m overly critical of him, it’s because I’m mad at him. At any rate, he is a beautiful boy with intelligence, complexity and kindness. He’s not easy to forget and he has a doll-like quality to him.

And last, but not least:

  1. Delita(Final Fantasy Tactics)–A couple of years ago, I used to be VERY hard him! People thought I hated him, but the truth is, I had very high expectations and him and was furious when they weren’t met. It lasted for quite awhile! I got over it and realized that he’s not so easy to even judge, much less harshly. Much of what he did was the result of he himself being used and did what he could to try to even the odds. He is vastly intelligent, passionate (yes, that again), complex and the ultimate grey character (second only to Claude Frollo, of course! ehehe)

What say you? And, no, it doesn’t have to be 20. HEheehehe…

2

Here’s a few I’ll add. Warning! Some spoilers!

  1. Hero [Named by player] (Dragon Warrior IV): For once, the chosen one doesn’t know everything. He gets shuffled around the world by lots of other warriors and wayfarers, but ultimately is just as 16 year old kid who just lost everything that he knew when monsters raided his village. He doesn’t brood. He doesn’t act like a jerk. He just does what’s needed and sucks it up.

  2. Taloon (Dragon Warrior IV): He’s portly. He’s poor. He’s a merchant. He can’t do magic, or anything really fantastic, but neither is he a world-class warrior. Why is he a character? I love it! You get to play him during Chapter III as a merchant! Meaning, you go to work! Eventually you work up the cash to start your own shop! Brilliant!

  3. Cristo (Dragon Warrior IV): This guy’s the basic White Mage healer type – and he’s a GUY – and he’s a sidekick to a chick – AND the chick is the best bare-hand fighter in the game! Cool.
    He is not burdened with angst about it, neither.

  4. Barrett (Final Fantasy VII): I know that the tough-guy-who-is-a-softie-in-disguise is pretty standard, but I really liked Barrett. He was the most selfless character in the game (with the possible exception of Aeris). He works tirelessly to improve the lives of other people, and doesn’t seek fame or glory. What little he has, he gives to his kid.

  5. Percy the Persimmon (Princess Tomato and the Salad Kingdom): Perhaps not entirely fascinating, but one of the most amusing comic sidekicks ever. He always had something funny to say. Plus, he’s a persimmon, so the lack of character development otherwise doesn’t really matter, does it?

  6. Black Mage (many games, esp. Final Fantasy IX and, oddly, Chocobo Racing): He’s mysterious. He’s magical. And he wears a straw hat; he’s got to be secure in his masculinity (assuming he’s male. He’s male…right??). I don’t know why, but I am truly fascinated by the Black Mage characters. They are cute, short, childlike and cuddly, but masters of black magic!

Ok, I was a bit flippant, but these are some of my favorites, anyway. I also have to tip my hat to the chick in one of the Dragon Warrior games who ‘cries ruby teardrops’. Her story was so sad that I cried, and the only time I ever cried after that was when Aeris died, and I think part of that bit was that her limit breaks were so damn sweet.

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I’m not impressed. Real RPG characters (the ones you create and play at a table with your friends) have the potential to be so much deeper and more satisfying to play that they render this discussion moot.

4

For me, it’s a tossup between Lord British and Bob Newbie.

5

But isn’t that… normal for games? :smiley:

K

Crude’s comment notwithstanding,

In no particular order:
The entire cast of Planescape: Torment (which practically is an PnP RPG), Chrono Trigger, Lunar, Eternal Blue, and many more, too numerous to mention.

6

I was quite partial to Evil King Stan from Okage: Demon Warrior. Actually that entire game is quite entertaining.

7

Man o man. You just came from Gen Con didn’t you?
Oh wait, you have to play dice ‘n’ paper games or LARPs to go to Gencon.

If it ain’t face to face, it’s not a roleplaying game.

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I think I’ll add that I find it extremely nauseating that “dice ‘n’ paper” roleplayers who don’t play computer/console RPGs have to come into a thread and knock them. I play pen and paper RPGs, too, but that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy computer/console RPGs, and whether or not it’s really “roleplaying”, that’s what the freakin’ genre is called.

(In short, I think you’re being rude.)

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I won’t say that “computer RPG” is not a valid or entertaining genre, but it is not the sum total of all RPGs. If you want to start a thread about computer RPGs, then say so.

The most fascinating male RPG character I’ve ever seen would be either Tulin Thistleknickers or the Archdruid Alodar. Never heard of either one of them? I wouldn’t expect you to. But they’re both a lot more interesting than any of the computer characters.

10

“I think I’ll add that I find it extremely nauseating that “dice ‘n’ paper” roleplayers who don’t play computer/console RPGs have to come into a thread and knock them.”

Yea, same here. I think it should have been rather obvious that it wouldn’t be about paper/pen RPGs because paper/pen would have been too unfamiliar to those not involved in the particular campaign. Those who claim that Paper/pen RPG characters are more interesting simply should not have participated in this thread. Or perhaps I could have simply said video game characters PERIOD. But, it’s too late to change that now.

“But they’re both a lot more interesting than any of the computer characters.”

That’s fine, but like I said, it should have been obvious that it wouldn’t be about paper/dice and those who are “not impressed” with the current lists given should have just stayed out of it.

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And for the smart asses, no you don’t have to be impressed with my list. I simply meant that if VIDEO GAME RPG characters were too distasteful for ya, then simply don’t participate. shrug

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General Leo (Final Fantasy 3/6) - A good person forced by his own sense of honor to obey a corrupt ruler, struck down when he finally turns on his evil Emperor.

Jon Irenicus (Baldur’s Gate II) - Hangs out with vampires, dark elves, has a great voice and some awesome lines. Sure the bad-ass supervillian is done to death, but Irenicus did it with style.

Magus (Chrono Trigger) - Pragmatist to the end, driven by a rather selfish but ultimately heroic goal at the expense of all else.

13

I want to point out, as some one who plays a lot of both paper and PC RPGs, that some (if not most) of the characters mentioned here aren’t from RPGs. The Final Fantasy franchise, for example. Admittedly, I’ve only played a few of them (and only X through to the end) but they aren’t role-playing games, because they involve zero roleplaying. A roleplaying game ought to give you at least some control over what sort of character you’re playing. Pre-scripted cut-scenes interspersed with a bunch of fighting does not an RPG make. AFAIK, a lot of the other games listed here fit into that mold. Not that these are bad games, necessarily. But they are, at best, combat-heavy adventure games.

So, my list (considerably shorter than the twenty called for in the OP), in order of best to worst:

The protagonist from Fallout 2: Can’t tell you too much about him or her, because what sort of a person they turn out to be is entirely up to the player.

The protagonist from Baldur’s Gate 2: Ditto.

The protagonist from Arcanum: Ditto again.

Nameless, from Torment: Mostly ditto, but with a prescripted (and brilliant) backstory that directly effects everything in the game.

JC Denton, from Deus Ex: Lightly prescipted character, with a lot of leeway in personality and in whose side you end up taking as the game unfolds. A model of faked non-linear gaming.

The Avatar, from the Ultima games: Another game where you have a fairly limited role, but a lot of leeway within that role to create your own personality.

I suppose I could throw EverQuest out there. Certainly there was the potential there for some true roleplaying, but in the two years I spent on it, I seldom saw anyone make use of it.

14

I think the player chars in the CRPG’s should be not considered, but the supporting cast is fair game.

Minsc from Baldurs Gate series.
The mutant friend in Fallout 2, cool guy.

Werdna Evil, but you get to play him in the third installment.

as for RPG’s, their have been many characters played by others in the games I was in that were fun, but the names would mean nothing to the most of you.