Support NeoGAF

[DownGrader]

Morgan from Tales of Monkey Island doesn't get enough love

I am playing through ToMI right now (that was actually the reason I remembered about Stan) and, yes, she is a very solid character! I just wanted to talk about some of the more or less recurring characters of Monkey Island series...

 

[GaimeGuy]

Seven from 999.


Can't really discuss why without spoilers, but (don't read unless you have seen the True Ending)

Spoiler

the reason why he is dressed like a hobo is because he's been saving and investing every penny from his job as a government agent and detective in cradle pharmaceuticals to secure the funds for the operation. He's STILL working to save that little girl, years after he remembers doing it

 

[Red Hood]

Relatively speaking, I hear very little about Daud (Dishonored). I thought he was a great character in general, but him being voiced by Michael Madsen was icing on the cake.

 

[Thud]

Anna from Fire Emblem.

Well most don't recognize her in the old form, but this one:

 

[Jawmuncher]

The entire Resident Evil Outbreak cast. Such a great selection of characters that really never gets enough mention even in Resident Evil talk. When people talk about wanting more real life characters they forget we already had them and they were great.

 

[SPCTRE]

Well-realized, believable (even likeable, gasp) teenage characters. Hard to believe, but they're actually a thing.

 

[pastrami]

The goddess of the battlefield.

Until everyone else mentioned who she was, I thought it was that girl from Order of Ecclesia.

 

[Godcannon]

All hail the most powerful Demonic Skull in the world. MURRAY! MUHAHAHAHAH

I dunno if GAF talks about him a lot but Murray from Monkey Island 2 was one of my favorites. He also had cameos in the sequels. One of the funniest characters ever.

 

[DownGrader]

All hail the most powerful Demonic Skull in the world. MURRAY! MUHAHAHAHAH

I dunno if GAF talks about him a lot but Murray from Monkey Island 2 was one of my favorites. He also had cameos in the sequels. One of the funniest characters ever.

You have probably frainfarted - he's from Curse of Monkey Island (MI3). I haven't played Escape from Monkey Island, but he received a pretty nice treatment in Tales of Monkey Island. But, yeah, it was the best in CMI.

I like that a lot of people here love Monkey Island, that's surprising for me. Might want to bring back my old MI2 avatar.

 

[Bishop89]

skullomania - sf ex+alpha

Garuda - sf ex+alpha

Cortez - Timesplitters

Brayko - Alpha protocol

Iori - king of fighters

Rikimaru - tenchu

Lo Wang - Shadow Warrior

Hoji - Shadow Warrior

not 'characters', but have always loved these guys

.

 

[Baleoce]

Travis Touchdown

 

[Enduin]

One of my favorite characters ever. Guillo from Baten Kaitos Origins.

BKO had some truly awesome characters and character designs. Sagi and Milliarde were also pretty dope. Savyna and the Great Mizuti from BK were great too.

 

[Kikae]

One of my low tier megalomaniac characters.

 

[Nzyme32]

MURRAY, THE DEMONIC TALKING SKULL (Curse of Monkey Island)

HK-47 (Star Wars - KOTOR)

 

[NotLiquid]

The entire expanded, playable cast of Hotline Miami 2.

Many people will argue whether or not the choice to be less vague about Hotline Miami's narrative was a good choice going into Hotline Miami 2 but I think that where it mostly pays off is with the fact that for a majority of the game, each and every member of the cast is somehow reacting to the events of what happened in the first game, which is the main focus.

And for a while when playing I wasn't sure whether it was fully working, but the more I sit and think about it the more I come to realize how, despite how despicable all of the characters are and their crimes, I can't help but love them. They all tell some sort of interesting story and contribute to the narrative. The more I think about them, the more I love the small little details thrown in to enrich the experience.

Going to veer into spoiler territory here for all of them because there's really no other way to talk about them, so read at your own caution.

The Soldier -

Spoiler

or "Beard" as he's affectionately known as among fans, is one of the only characters in the game who could be considered a "good guy". It was safe to say that people were looking forward to know more about him and Hotline Miami 2 heavily divulges that info. His story is one of those things that the developers already had nailed down during the first game. Him and Jacket weren't just friends - they were war buddies who were a part of the same black ops squad in the Hawaiian conflict. Beard ended up saving Jacket "on the house" and handed him the photo they took together as a keepsake. Not only does this give context to what the item was that Jacket threw away at the end of the first game, but the game also reveals that Beard had actually been dead for years before the first game as part of the San Fran nuking. The twist here being that, Jacket most likely ends up joining 50 Blessings as a way of penance for Beard, as he never got to hang out with him more, and his comatose flashbacks are really just vivid hallucinations of his most prominent memories.

The Writer -

Spoiler

Evan represents a facet of Hotline Miami that heavily carried over into the sequel and I feel that is a curiosity of discovering what the story truly is. He's looking for the next big scoop, and he'll put himself in danger to make it happen. He doesn't kill people; but if he's pushed over the edge he will kill. And his obsession over the truth is tearing into his social life as a result. He's reminded that he doesn't have much time to make a choice. Much like the Janitors in the first game it feels like a way to make a statement about player investment, except in this case it's a matter of career vs life.

The Henchman -

Spoiler

A character who, in spite of his incredible talent for killing, is trying desperately to get out of the game. He's effectively a bit of a homage to Jules from Pulp Fiction. While he's dead set on getting out though, he's more concerned about outrunning his past and as such has no direction of what he wants. This not only leads to his girlfriend effectively not buying his flimsy argument of being out of the game, but it also leads to him getting his newfound fortune stolen, finding himself overdosing on drugs and effectively getting murdered during a takeover by the fans. He's one of the more tragic characters in the game who wanted to get out, but had no conviction to do so. He, as he put it, got too soft.

Jake -

Spoiler

Originally one of the dead 50 Blessings agents from which you received the Jake mask from, the developers chose to make a story for this particular character. It's through his inclusion that we're given more context to the circumstances of the US at present, as his strongly xenophobic hatred of Russians comes from the knowledge that the Russians currently control most of America. He's a crazy patriot insistent on his country's independence but the twist primarily lies in him being the only one of all the agents that actually found out what 50 Blessings was... and that gave him an even bigger impetus for continuing accepting the phonecalls. If you actually survive the final encounter he gets murdered by one of the actual higher ups instead.

The Detective -

Spoiler

Manny Pardo is a loose cannon who really puts the "bad" in "bad cop", and is actually based off of a real life incarcerated Florida officer under the same name. He's an officer who tackles stakeouts solo, and prefers slaughter over interrogation. It gets more interesting though that out of all of the potential copycat killers that effectively spawned in the wake of HM1, Pardo is the only one who actually has delusions of grandeur as he kills sorely for attention, and small hints depict him actually seeing a setting stage of there being a film crew, however this is something he seems to repress to a great degree, so much to the point that by the end of the game he's barricaded himself in his house.

The Pig Butcher -

Spoiler

In contrast to Pardo, Martin Brown is a character who has completely lost himself to his delusions and isn't bothering repressing them. While he's heavily built up as being an "actor" for a filmatization of Jacket's killings, but more than one hint in the game heavily implies this not to be the case. For the most of the part the game seems to heavily imply that the film "narrative" is just Martin's way of framing his murderous rampage. As he admits in the interview, killing is something he'd been wanting to do for quite some time now, and near the end of the game when the interview he was a part of is running, it cuts out his name, implying that the interview had to do with someone else.

Richter -

Spoiler

I never expected to like this character, but it turns out that much like Beard he's the closest the game has to a "good guy". The character who murdered Jacket's girlfriend turned out to almost be everything that you'd expect Jacket to be. While Jacket was retroactively confirmed to be a war veteran, Richter ended up just being a regular guy who was heavily concerned for his mother's safety and started killing out of sheer fear. This effectively makes him almost just as much of a series protagonist as Jacket, which is made just as much of a focus as the game ends with him and he leaves on good terms with Richard.

The Fans -

Spoiler

Unlike many of the other killers during Jacket's era who did so out of fear or attention, while the fans do desire the latter, they also committed killings because they believed in Jacket's vigilantism. In spite of this they all have their own rag tag group of personalities and they're each memorable in their own right, with fun dynamics. The sad thing is that compared to the other cast members the undoing of these guys purely comes down to severe misguidance. When it comes down to it you can't imagine a good ending for them, which makes the ramping bodycount of insanity and their final chapter all the more poignant when you realize what fate has in store for them.

The Son -

Spoiler

Much like Richter this is a character I didn't expect to like as much as I did, mostly because he's the son of the first game's final boss. Unlike Richter, I didn't exactly "sympathize" with him as much because he's effectively killing for the sake of his organized crime empire (and is also the only one of the playable characters who aligns himself with the Russians). But he is driven by a large level of naivety and wanting to make his dad proud. His items reflect on this as he keeps the shades of the family's late bodyguard, and a golden necklace with his father's date of death inscribed. And much like The Henchman this is a character who loses himself to his complete lack of guidance, but it's a little more ironic that despite his complete lack of knowledge of the fact, not only does him killing the fans serve as payback for the killing of The Henchman, but it simultaneously serves as karmic payback for Jacket killing his dad. And with that, the cycle fully completes itself.

 

[Jakoo]

Jade

Hey! Come on! There is a thread about her today

 

[The Lamonster]

No one ever talks about Gordon Freeman anymore because Valve let him die.

 

[Dunkley]

The GOAT.

Well, that's not necessarily true anymore as he DID become Warchief of the Horde after the Siege of Orgrimmar.

But I agree.

 

[Space Medafighter X]

Stocke from Radiant Historia.

Yooo! Stocke's a G.

Sticking with the DS I'd say Beat from the world ends with you.

Also my avatar, Yuji from grisaia no kajitsu. Possibly my favorite protagonist.

 

[Pwnsweet]

Jonathan Ingram - Policenauts

 

[mcz117chief]

Kain from Final Fantasy IV. Probably my favourite male character from the Final Fantasy series, he is so unpredictable, every time he shows up you know something is going to happen but you don't know if it will be good or bad. He is the most fun character in FFIV, he always shakes things up.

 

[nintendork666]

Billy Hatcher, and Vexx - yo.

Two of my favorite 3D platform stars of all-time. Sixth gen was the best gen.

EDIT: Also, Gato from Chrono Trigger deserves more love:

 

[uncleslappy]

The king and his junk.

 

[SolVanderlyn]

Emelia and her entourage from SaGa Frontier. She has one of the most unique stories in any game I've played. She's a supermodel whose boyfriend is murdered by The Joker (essentially), gets blamed for it, and ends up in prison, where she befriends a martial artist and a gun user and then becomes Prison's Charlie's Angels but actually cool and characterized efficiently beyond being girl power'd or sexualized. Then they break out and try to take down The Joker with the help of some underground group that the other two girls are a part of. Easily my favorite segment of that game.

Emelia:

Annie:

Liza:

Roufas, their leader:

It's cool, because her boyfriend was a cop. One of the other characters, Fuse, who is much more important in other scenarios, also happens to be a cop and is the one who interrogates you and decides to put you in prison.

 

[Mr. Poolman]

Fat Larry from Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines.

Never has a NPC make me laugh so much.

 

[Scooter155]

Not as obscure as some being posted but I've loved this cute little doll of destruction for a long time - Vivi from FFIX

I love the design being straight out of the first Final Fantasy, I love his little awkward walk, and in spite of how goofy he is he gets one of the most moving storylines in the game, complete with existential questions about identity, free will and the power to be better than your circumstances dictate.

Plus he's a powerful little mo-fo. So there's that.

 

[Wolf Dawgz]

Ghaleon from the Lunar series. Although as I'm typing this, I can see why it's hard to randomly discuss because

Spoiler

he's a 'twist' antagonist in Lunar 1, and lunar 2

 

[Mephala]

Fat Larry from Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines.

Never has a NPC make me laugh so much.

Too many great characters in VTMB.

 

[petran79]

Laverne from Day of the Tentacle


a creepy aspiring vivisectionist, pictured here wearing a tentacle disguise made from an altered United States flag. (and... am I smoking a colossal bowl o' crack, or does she look a little like her namesake, Lauren Laverne, Kenickie-era?)

 

[AcademicSaucer]

Stan may have pioneered active camouflage in videogames

My pick would be Nomad the Squid from Dillon's Rolling Western.
Love his design, along with Dillon himself. They should make a Nintendo Red Dead type game in that world.

edit: image

Seriously, Nintendo should make a big game with the dillon IP

 

[MrBadger]

Stan may have pioneered active camouflage in videogames

My pick would be Nomad the Squid from Dillon's Rolling Western.
Love his design, along with Dillon himself. They should make a Nintendo Red Dead type game in that world.

edit: image

I'm convinced Nomad has one of the best character designs of all time. Should be playable in Splatoon

 

[Sheriff_Battlesnake]

I mean, plenty people would know Raven on here, but in my day to day life I'd get a lot of "huh?"

Alllllllso given the recent news...

"This is my way of thanking you..." "Burn, baby, Burn!!" "Deep friiiiieeeeeed goodness!"

Ryudo is tight too. That game was basically the entire MGS VA cast.

 

[RootCause]

Dingo, Bucky, Sir Daniel. The list could go on, and on.

 

[Swamped]

Missile from Ghost Trick. A very excited little Pomeranian (he 'talks' in the game) who you just have to love.

YES. This dog is seriously the cutest dog in all of gaming. And he has such a sweet personality!

 

[AcademicSaucer]

I'm convinced Nomad has one of the best character designs of all time. Should be playable in Splatoon

Nintendo doesnt remember Nomad

 

[LiamR]

If you know who this funky fellow is, you have my respect.

 

[Hylian7]

The goddess of the battlefield.

This is Lin from Advance Wars: Days of Ruin. I really wish this franchise would come back.

Why did they always call her "sir" in the game? Was it just a typo or localization error or just some weird thing?

DoR was easily the best balanced AW game in the series, and one of my favorites just because of that. I'm sad that since Nintendo WFC is offline, you can't play that game online anymore.

 

[Aaronrules380]

Not as obscure as some being posted but I've loved this cute little doll of destruction for a long time - Vivi from FFIX

I love the design being straight out of the first Final Fantasy, I love his little awkward walk, and in spite of how goofy he is he gets one of the most moving storylines in the game, complete with existential questions about identity, free will and the power to be better than your circumstances dictate.

Plus he's a powerful little mo-fo. So there's that.

Vivi is pretty much the most universally loved part of FFIX, which is a pretty popular game, even if it's relevance is fading with time. I don't really think he qualifies

 

[Spinosaurus]

If you know who this funky fellow is, you have my respect.

Yessssss

AGENTS ARE GO

God I need a new Elite Beat Agents.

 

[Dr. Buni]

If you know who this funky fellow is, you have my respect.

I could never unlock him :/

Also, this is Commander Kahn from Elite Beat Agents, for those who don't know.

 

[Dunkley]

If you know who this funky fellow is, you have my respect.

That's nice but

 

[Toxi]

I love seeing badass old women in video games. There are plenty of badass old men in video games, but the majority of women who can kick ass are young and spritely, so any badass older woman (Who actually looks and sounds older) is a breath of fresh air.

Kreia from Knights of the Old Republic 2 is probably Obsidian's best-written character and just a really interesting look at Star Wars mythology in general. It's a pity her character kinda falls apart at the end of the game, but before then, she really shows the potential a different take on an established franchise can have.

Eileen the Crow from Bloodborne isn't nearly as deep or well-written as Kreia, but she's still a great character and probably my favorite from Bloodborne. The first time I did her quest line, I didn't complete it and was seriously teary-eyed at the final encounter with her under the Red Moon. The next playthrough I managed to finish her quest line, and I'm really happy I did.

Also, her armor is really cool-looking.

"A hoonter must hoont."

 

[ViolentP]

The one and only, Sgt. Joe.

 

[SMK]

Was going to post just Brenner, but I loved them both.

Spoiler

His theme is the best

 

[ThatStupidLion]

come oooonnnnnnnnn spin off


also, EVERY shining force character other than Jogurt.

Also, the badass dragon knight in my avatar

 

[KiraXD]

Sam Gideon!

 

[Tregard]

Vibri for PSASBR2

 

[ShroudOfFate]

Nilin from Remember Me. Great, strong character with an interesting back story and a great design.

 

[TheGreatMightyPoo]

 

[Mr Fahrenheit]

No one ever talks about Armored Core

I also think I'm one of the few people who think Asura's Wrath was awesome, the demo with Augus had me go out and pre order the game right away.

Sam Gideon!

The best ex-football player scientist super soldier alive.