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Best JRPG protagonists?
- Thread starter Tye The Czar
- Start date
Tizoc
Member
It may be an ARPG, but it's still Japanese
Adol Gets-shit-done Christin
EDIT:
My man *fist bump*
Adol Gets-shit-done Christin
EDIT:
This one should Ysy, it's Adol Christin of course.
No bs just straight out action and adventure junky!
My man *fist bump*
Earthpainting
Member
I think it's because a lot of JRPGs let you switch your party lead. I instinctively put the person in charge who would know most about the area they are in. This can make your perception of the protagonist seem pretty fluid. I personally see all of my playable party members as protagonists because of this.
AquaWateria
Member
![url]](http://[url]http://vgz.cx/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/51mt7qwxpjl_2.jpg[/url])
One of my favorite protagonist from Persona 3, I mean he's straight up badass and towards the end he's even more badass and amazing.
Dark_castle
Junior Member
Yeah, but that still doesn't make them the protagonist of the game. Vivi is a great character, we all know that, but in no universe he replaced Zidane as the protagonist of FFIX.
maverick41
Neo Member
There's a severe lack of Final Fantasy Tactics on this thread.
This. Ramza easily for me. Betrayed by pretty much everyone but still carries on and pushes forward like a badass.
Yuri Lowell is also definitely in the discussion.
cat litter
Member
Chris from suikoden 3
Straight away thought:
I usually find JRPG protags that aren't silent to be extremely annoying, but Stocke is the complete opposite. He talks when needed and his actions make complete sense. Not baby-faced either.
Stocke from Radiant Historia[...]
I usually find JRPG protags that aren't silent to be extremely annoying, but Stocke is the complete opposite. He talks when needed and his actions make complete sense. Not baby-faced either.
thewhitehawk
Member
I appreciated both his and Delita's role in the story. Actually, no. I appreciate most of the characters in the story that weren't just mindless corrupt enemies.
LaunchpadMcQ
Banned
Yuri Lowell.
This guy. Instantly likable for his laid-back brand of justice, but also has an almost un-Tales-like amount of depth to him. The entire cast is amazing, but he's the glue that holds the whole thing together.
I'm going to go with something of a more unorthodox choice:
I'm usually not a fan of silent main characters, but I'll make an exception for the hero of Dragon Quest V. Talk about taking everything life can throw at you. He didn't need spoken lines because however you were feeling at any particular moment is probably how he was feeling too.
I'm usually not a fan of silent main characters, but I'll make an exception for the hero of Dragon Quest V. Talk about taking everything life can throw at you. He didn't need spoken lines because however you were feeling at any particular moment is probably how he was feeling too.
QuantumZebra
Member
Tie between Cloud and Lightning (honestly... they are the male and female versions of the same character... so I guess I just like that style).
Exactly!! When he
kills Cumore
AgentLampshade
Member
From a sheer design standpoint, I'd go with the hero of Dragon Quest VIII:
He doesn't say a single word in the whole 100+ game, yet he's instantly likeable.
From a personality standpoint, this jackass from Grandia II:
In contrast to the DQVIII hero, this guy has plenty to say. I still laugh at his snarky "go-fuck-yourself" attitude from the start of the game, and I love how his personality develops over the course of it. Even his voice deepens.
He doesn't say a single word in the whole 100+ game, yet he's instantly likeable.
From a personality standpoint, this jackass from Grandia II:
In contrast to the DQVIII hero, this guy has plenty to say. I still laugh at his snarky "go-fuck-yourself" attitude from the start of the game, and I love how his personality develops over the course of it. Even his voice deepens.
Sapphire Dreams
Member
Brawly Likes to Brawl
Member
I love this guy. DQV is my favorite DQ just due to the crazy tribulations this guy went through.
Sapphire Dreams
Member
I know the design might be inspired by him but they're really different characters with Cloud being far deeper compared to Lightning.
thewhitehawk
Member
They might share some similar attributes (being stoic and arrogant) but Cloud has with much greater detail, meaning and complexity as a character.
thunder_snail
Member
Fantastic choice! She's one the most likeable characters in JRPGs. So many other great characters in that game to. Scherazard and Olivier are hilarious and Tita is just too fucking adorable. I usually can't stand little kid characters in JRPGs (FF13, Xenosaga, Star Ocean: TLH, urgh..) but Tita is an exception.
Omegasquash
Member
Ramza: Gets everything taken from him and still fights to do what's right, receiving no recognition in the end (well, sort of) and even remains branded as a heretic. He had motivation and goals that weren't just "do the right thing" to be sure, but what he had to go through to get there...
Citan Uzuki: If not one of the most confusing motherfuckers ever written, definitely one of the most fulfilling. I remember thinking the entire time "this guy is way stronger, faster and smarter than he lets on." Then you find out what he really is. And then he tells the main protagonist that he will be stronger than Citan, because Citan didn't start until later in life. Very big father/son moment there, even if it wasn't really that way.
Adol Christin: Simple, straight forward and predictable to a fault but still comes out on top JUST BECAUSE HE WANTS TO.
Locke Cole: Just because. Not particularly deep, unclear motivation for a bit, but always managed to stay charming, do the right thing. Also managed to solve his own problems without much outside help, IIRC.
There are others, but I could write an essay about why Crono isn't just awesome, but important.
Begaria
Member
Lots and lots of great choices here, but the one I came here into say is:
Hell to the freakin' yes! He's my avatar for a reason.
He's a badass:
He has an intriguing background, central to the main antagonists' plan, unrelenting in his pursuit, sometimes unsure of what's real but in the end realizes it doesn't matter, and takes on a responsibility that was thrust upon him with determination. He's an amazingly well written character.
Hell to the freakin' yes! He's my avatar for a reason.
He's a badass:
He has an intriguing background, central to the main antagonists' plan, unrelenting in his pursuit, sometimes unsure of what's real but in the end realizes it doesn't matter, and takes on a responsibility that was thrust upon him with determination. He's an amazingly well written character.
SoraanTribal
Member
Personally, I consider Vivi and Zidane to be dual-protagonists. You start the game as Zidane for a brief tutorial/story setup, then you are thrown into Vivi's shoes. After that point and for almost 75% of the game, the story of FFIX is about Vivi - his past, finding out the truth about his character, and how he deals with it. It's only once you reach
Terra
But on paper, yeah Zidane is the true main character (at least in terms of who SE would label as the main character). I would disagree, though. At least partially.
DiipuSurotu
Banned
Locke Cole, Ramza Beoulve, Basch, Ashley Riot, Vivi Ornitier... It's funny how the best JRPG protagonists are those that are the least "JRPG-ish" in design and characterization.
QuantumZebra
Member
That's debatable. If you played the XIII trilogy you could say that Lightning developed more as a character and became much more meaningful in the grand scheme of things. Hence why I say it's a tie. I'm sure the XIII hate bandwagon will scoff at this but to each their own.
R_thanatos
Member
I actually agree with you.
Both characters have their fair share of misteps and very weird moments
wyvern_bloodfist
Member
Areus from "Trinity Souls of Zill O'll"
Honorary mention for Gongos from Dragon Force. He's ugly, he's stupid but he's a damn good guy who does things none of the other heroes manage.
He wants so badly to be the charming hero who saves the world and gets the girl but no-one believes in him, none of the other countries join him, they all run off and join the handsome white knight Wein instead, even when he beats Wein the others rally around Wein against Gongos. Wein gets the girl he was after too, but even after all that, when their group is defeated and they're all captured, Gongos is a big damn hero and saves them all, even befriending Wein.
Nocturno999
Member
People give a lot of shit to Squall but jumping to space to save Rinoa was beyond epic.
Silvawuff
Member
It may be an ARPG, but it's still Japanese
Adol Gets-shit-done Christin
EDIT:
My man *fist bump*
This, so this. Adol is the best ever -- his supporting cast isn't bad either!
Morrigan Stark
Arrogant Smirk
Ohhh good call. Yeah, Ramza's probably one of the best protags out there.There's a severe lack of Final Fantasy Tactics on this thread.
Another good one. Can't believe I forgot about her. Geddoe was badass too.
thewhitehawk
Member
I was being polite in my previous answer. I only played the first game of the Final Fantasy XIII series, I admit, but I'm not going to endure two more sequels to a game I detested to find out that Lightning's paper-thin personality actually has the depth of a small puddle of water, if even that.
This isn't a singular opinion, part of the gaming press openly mocks this. I've heard that in Lightning returns her lack of personality is even part of the plot but that's as far as my interest for that game went.
If after 20+ hours of gameplay I still see no semblance of a personality in FFXIII, just a "character" being tough and cold to everyone around her, then you lost your chance to gain my interest.
I've seen better personalities in the Tales series, which I consider to be somewhat of the Mc Donald's of jRPGs. Or even in really mediocre jRPGs like, let's say, the first Legend of Heroes on the PSP which was an average cliche game that didn't stand out in any way.
If you've had a very limited exposure to games in general then I can understand why seemingly a powerful female character with nice hair could seem attractive to you as a character, but if you expand your jRPG knowledge a little bit and play a game with decent characters like the Last Story, as an example, and afterwards still believe Lightning is as good as you say, then I honestly think you have very poor taste and judgement.
thewhitehawk
Member
Damnit why is everyone only calling out Ramza? There are two characters on that image, I like them both, not just Ramza!
Yoshichan
And they made him a Lord of Cinder. Not for virtue, but for might. Such is a lord, I suppose. But here I ask. Do we have a sodding chance?
Also the best FF.
PLEASE elaborate. It is pretty much known that Vaan was just placed in the game just so that they could have a young person as a main character - but Bash was the real main character in the game. Vaan did nothing throughout the entire thing.
He certainly has the best chest hair of the bunch...
OniBarubary
Banned
Because he's not a protagonist.
Also, I can't say I ever thought Ramza was a great character. He was alright I guess.
That's a necklace.
Sgt.Pepper
Banned
Bowser. Badass, funny, charming and full of personality.
I can see why people would like him. But
Personally my favorite protag of the Ys series.
Amazeballs
Member
Ramza is the game's protagonist, Delita is his foil. Although from a narrative perspective I do agree they should be treated as two halves to a greater whole, the game's focus is on Ramza as an unsung hero.
Then again, people here have been making liberal usage of the term "protagonist."