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[YAWN]

Just wondering which RPG main leads and bad guys GAF loves. I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot of Kefka and Sephiroth, but hey, they deserve it after all. As for the heroes, well, I've noticed fanbases are very divided when it comes to, say, Cloud Strife, Luke fon Fabre, or Asbel Lhant to name a few, so that should prove interesting at least. Keep in mind these have to be the primary hero and villain, not just any old party member.
As for mine?

Protagonist: Zidane Tribal (Final Fantasy IX)

Favourite hero. Favourite RPG. I'd love to have said Laguna, but Squall is undoubtedly the lead of FFVIII. Anyway, Zidane was great. I guess he's well liked due to his upbeat attitude after coming off of VII and VIII, but IX was my first FF, so I never got a chance to "inhale that fresh air". I just like him because he's a bro. Funny, cool, and and a great design to boot (well, Amano's rendition at least). He was an older brother to Vivi and was always there for him, through thick and thin, constantly lifting his spirits and snapping him out of his funk. He didn't even let his own depression keep him down for too long, and was even

Spoiler

willing to risk his life for the bad guy, just because he was his brother

, plus great banter with the whole cast, especially Steiner, Garnet, and Freya, helped flesh out his character more so than others.
I know some guys at Square were thinking of creating an IX sequel, and honestly, it's what I'm hoping Ito's current project is. I'd love to have another adventure with IX's cast, especially with Zidane.

Villain: Fawful (Mario and Luigi SSS/BIS)

Amazingly hilarious. This guy needs to make a reappearance somewhere down the line. C'mon Smash 4...

So, who do you guys like?

 

[Levyne]

I can name antagonist off the top of my head, Albedo (Xenosaga)

I will have to think on a protagonist.

 

[Hot Coldman]

Charles Barkley

 

[HK-47]

Delita and Ramza are my favorite pair. They play off each other really well.

 

[Hayama Akito]

The best protagonist ever in a RPG.

 

[MrT-Tar]

Choosing a favourite protagonist is tough, but I'm going with Vyse from Skies of Arcadia:

Antagonist has to be Kefka from Final Fantasy VI, nothing has topped him imo. My favourite game villain regardless of genre:

Spoiler

I would say Magus from Chrono Trigger, but he kind of goes in both

 

[Mondriaan]

It's not really an RPG, but my vote would go to Ace Combat 4.

 

[VeryGooster]

Definitely has to be Zidane for me and OP covers it well.

I love everything about Kefka.

 

[LProtag]

Hardest question ever.

 

[SolsticeZero]

Protagonist: Ramza from Final Fantasy Tactics
Antagonist: Kefka, easily.

 

[DJ_Lae]

Jon Irenicus from Baldur's Gate 2 would be my pick for villain. The voice acting helped a lot, but he had some pretty serious dedication to his goal and went so far as to steal your soul in the process.

Can't think of a protagonist, though. Most WRPG ones are uninteresting, most JRPG ones are annoying.

 

[ComputerMKII]

Shepard from Mass Effect. Female and Renegade.

Also, Morrigan from Dragon Age.

 

[FluxWaveZ]

Neku Sakuraba - The World Ends With You (Protagonist)

For being a memorable protagonist who fundamentally changes, psychologically, as the story progresses.

Sho Minamimoto - The World Ends With You (Antagonist)

For being absolutely crazy.

Notable protagonist mention: Stocke from Radiant Historia.
Notable antagonist mention: Mr. L from Super Paper Mario (not really an RPG, but whatevs).

 

[NotLiquid]

Mario in Paper Mario 2.

The guy's motherfucking blank reaction to just about everyhing makes it all look so fucking silly and charming. He's also got some wonderful expression all the same.

Luigi in the Mario & Luigi series comes second

Spoiler

banana.

Favorite antagonist is (Persona 4 spoiler)

Spoiler

Adachi. As obvious as it was him being the culprit there's something to how you eventually find out he was the bad guy that turns him into such an unlikable, evil motherfucker with no redeeming qualities that's endearing. It's like Hazama from BlazBlue, the dude is just so evil you kind of like him for it. Also helps that him practically being on your level makes it almost feel like you're facing off against everything that's opposite of what you are.

 

[jWILL253]

That OP makes happy.

Zidane is definitely my favorite protagonist character. He's the first RPG character I discovered that didn't come off as corny in one way or another.

My favorite antagonists is THE WHOLE ENTIRE CAST OF FINAL FANTASY XIII. Since you can never have a set idea of who the bad guy actually is in XIII, I only assume that THEY ARE ALL EVIL!

 

[Mauricio_Magus]

Leads:
Yuri- Tales of Vesperia

Shulk- Xenoblade Chronicles

Demifiend- Nocturne

Mario- Paper Mario

Villians:
Kekfa- FF VI

YHVH- SMT2

Magus- Chrono Trigger

 

[RobbieH]

The Nameless One

 

[Psycho_Mantis]

 

[Byronic Hero]

Leads:
Yuri- Tales of Vesperia

16 posts. We gotta do better than that.

For villian though I'd have to go with

 

[kurahador]

Protagonist: Ramza Beoulve

Antagonist: Delita Heiral

 

[Durante]

Antagonist: The Transcendent One

Unlike the vast majority of antagonist in RPGs, his actions are make sense, are effective, and are driven by motives which go beyond an out-of-universe need to have someone oppose the player. Furthermore, when you finally track him down, the confrontation need not boil down to a simple physical battle, and whichever way it goes, it will certainly be memorable.

 

[mikeGFG]

 

[ilMikhail]

Terra and Kefka from FF6

 

[Yuterald]

Cool guys.

Bad dudes.

 

[Psxphile]

I wonder how long it'd take until someone seriously lists Marche from Final Fantasy Tactics Advance as the Antagonist.

 

[Mauricio_Magus]

I wonder how long it'd take until someone seriously lists Marche from Final Fantasy Tactics Advance as the Antagonist.

I was sooo going to do it

 

[Omegasquash]

Protagonist: Ramza Beoulve

Antagonist: Delita Heiral

Very nice. Delita did not give a SHIT, and his character progression and growth, combine with the ending was an amazing example of someone becoming exactly what they fought against.

 

[Vashetti]

Yuna - Final Fantasy X/X-2

Ashelia B'nargin Dalmasca - Final Fantasy XII/XII: Revenant Wings

 

[whyreggielie]

I think Seymour, one of the earlier voiced antagonists with an awesome aeon.

I can't pick a lead protagonist, not a fan of most but my favorite all around protagonist would be Vivi.

 

[Tummi Gummi]

I think BG1 & 2's antagonists are pretty solid - if relatively unambitious - characters. I'm not holding them up as paragons of sophisticated characterization or anything, but they do the job. Irenicus is obviously the more complicated of the two, but Sarevok is pretty much everything you'd want or need from a "Dark Knight" archetype. ToB's final boss is entirely forgettable - all I recall of her is the fact that they gave her big cans in the adverts.

 

[dot]

This dood right here. The Terror of Death!

Can't think of an antagonist...

 

[Memento_Mori15]

Leads:
Yuri- Tales of Vesperia
http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mcu166BzsU1qzfqxx.png[IMG]
[/QUOTE]
Should have been first post.

For villains, I think it goes to Kekfa easily. Seymour made be a runner up from him.

 

[Supermanisdead]

Best lead:

 

[Beth Cyra]

Lead: Cloud Strife

Villian: Ultimecia

 

[PsionBolt]

Protagonist(s): Ban, Dai, and Namko, from Guadia Quest (part of Retro Game Challenge, aka Game Center CX).

I really just wanted to pick a silent protagonist, and Guadia Quest has three. You can never go wrong with the Hero / Mage knight / Full mage party configuration, either. Plus, it was one of the best RPGs I've played in a long while, and it deserves more love.


Antagonist(s):

Spoiler

Ban, Dai, and Namko

, from Guadia Quest Saga.

The reasoning behind this choice is tied to the first choice, of course, since GQS is the third game in the GQ series. Identities are spoilered and no image is attached because there's definitely no way you could have called this shocking development from a mile away, no sir.

Spoiler

The ending for GQ1 has each hero becoming lord of their own kingdom. In GQ3, they're the secret end villains, who you don't actually have to defeat to progress in GCCX2. The tale of their fall from grace - GQ2 - was never actually made.

 

[crazygambit]

Lightning / Sephiroth and I'm not even kidding.

 

[iDotDotDot]

Protagonist

Antagonist

 

[Anival]

Charles Barkley and Shadow Barkley

 

[sibarraz]

the real mastermind in Phantasy Star 2

Don't know how to put spoilers

 

[Var]

the main character from Knights of the Old Republic and Magus from Chrono Trigger

 

[Sir Garbageman]

Geralt of Rivia

 

[Nyunpa]

Antagonist:

Has to be Kefka, however a villain that I personally loved was Richter Abend from Tales of Symphonia: DotNW.

I really can't come up with a favorite protagonist...

 

[Host Samurai]

ID from XenoGears

 

[Sorian]

I'm always into protags and antags that go against the norm.

Protagonist has to be Yuri from Tales of Vesperia (duh) Reason being that he took the vigilante thing to the next level was really willing to get his hands dirty which is rare for an RPG main character.

Antagonist has to be Kefka only for the reason that (mid game spoilers)

Spoiler

he actually succeeds destroying the world which is a rare feat in games like this

Also helps that he is totally crazy.

 

[DocSeuss]

Geralt is awesome. Love his sense of humor.

The King of the Wild Hunt is one of the best villains I've ever encountered, because he's not there, all the time, being annoying, his motives make sense, and The Wild Hunt is terrifying.

 

[DJIzana]

Favorite protagonist:

Favorite antagonist:

 

[CorvoSol]

My favorite protagonist is this guy:

Bartz Klauser is a happy-go-lucky kinda guy who wanders dimensions with two hot babes and also a little girl and his pet chocobo. He can be or do anything. Dancing, piano, warp time and space to his whim, summon dragons, sword fighting, chemistry, you name it. Bartz can do it. He's also something of an idiot hero.

Runner up is this fine lady:

Terra Branford of FFVI. Nowadays people seem to think she was some kind of pushover, but as a kid, Terra was a nonstop killing machine who walked around in a red bikini slinging fireballs at Imperial Chumps. And she piloted her own giant robot, with custom features, and could go into Super Mode. Kinda nothing about her that isn't awesome.

And for a non FF example:

Trainer Red, Pokemon RBY/GSC (and remakes). Yeah, maybe Red isn't that notable a character, but as an avatar/interface with the child-like adventure of Pokemon, he was perfect. Especially when I found out he was a total boss at the end of Silver.

My favorite villain is this hunk of man:

Golbez is Darth Vader and he fuses with a dragon made out of shadows to drop giant meteors on your face while he rides around in his GIANT ROBOT. He can pimp-slap you from across the freaking world, makes your lady disappear into his man-cape, and his theme song plays whenever you're around. HIS SEVERED HAND IS MORE POWERFUL THAN ANY DANG HERO. He once got hit square in the face by a giant meteor (you know, the kind that make things go extinct) and WALKED IT OFF. He's like, eight feet tall and the only reason he doesn't have a beard is so people don't mistake him for God.

Hey remember how scary Jenova was? Golbez beat up something that was like Jenova on CRYSTAL METH. And that's after he took on the literal embodiment of hatred with only an old man for back up. Yeah, that's right, Golbez almost solos the guy who used to be the last boss of FF4 and was jerking his chains around.

Oh, and Golbez outwits the GODS. Do you know of any other slick-dressed, armor wearing, muscles of glory villains, who are able to manipulate otherwise expert manipulators and Gods at their whim?

I can't hear how good your villains are supposed to be over the amazing theme song of awesome that is the life of Golbez. You don't even need to click, because you can hear it in your soul.

Runner up villain:

Darth Traya, Knights of the Old Republic II, The Sith Lords.

SITH LORDS SPOILERS FOLLOW!

Now, I'm sorry that your favorite Sith Lord isn't as cool as mine, but that's the way it is. Some Sith are in it for vengeance, some to conquer the galaxy. Some are tragic characters, others utterly despicable. None of them are as good as Darth Traya, though. The former Jedi Master of Sith Lord extraordinaire, Darth Revan, Darth Traya's objective is singular, defined, and terrifying in a way no Star Wars villain's goal has ever been.

Darth Traya is out to kill The Force. It's like killing a God, what with all the talk of a Living Force, but not as easy to do. The best part, though, is that the player

Spoiler

knows almost the entire game who Darth Traya is, that she's up to no good, and that they will inevitably have to stop her

. Traya is

Spoiler

with the Exile the whole game.

But it still works. It plays perfectly into one of her best lines: "It is such a quiet thing, to fall. But far more terrible is to admit it."

Spoiler

Kreia's reveal as Darth Traya

is an incredibly simple shift, but one which has grand effect on everything.

Darth Traya, ladies and gents, is probably the best written character in the Star Wars EU.

 

[kurahador]

Very nice. Delita did not give a SHIT, and his character progression and growth, combine with the ending was an amazing example of someone becoming exactly what they fought against.

Yeah. That ending sequence with Delita depress the hell out of me.

 

[Seda]

Antagonist:

Has to be Kefka, however a villain that I personally loved was Richter Abend from Tales of Symphonia: DotNW.

I really can't come up with a favorite protagonist...

Richter is another one of my favorites. The vast majority of antagonists disappoint me, yet Richter as well as Albedo (my earlier post) impressed me. I found Richter to be significantly better than than other Tales antagonists (of games I've played of course).

 

[A Huge Battleship]

Protagonist:

Lord Zetta from Makai Kingdom. Fully lives up to his (self-accredited) title of the most badass freakin' Overlord in the entire cosmos. All the Disgaea wannabes could stand to take a page out of his book.

Antagonist(s):

Shitframe-sama Harvestasya Vista from Ar Tonelico 3. Taking an amalgamation of her 5 personalities (6 if you count her 'fixed' one, but I don't usually include it because

Spoiler

it's flatter than Tyria

) her... er, personality is fantastic. I can't recall another villain whose scenes made me laugh so much.

Mir from Ar Tonelico 1. Primarily for her transformation from

Spoiler

final boss

in the first game to

Spoiler

absolute boss

in the second. Whether in her role as antihero or Antivirus's Worst Nightmare, everyone else is always dancing to the tune of her Song Magic. Proud owner of my favourite RPG attack.