What are some unintentionally unlikeable game characters?

[trickybus]

You're meant to sympathize with his tormented past. You're meant to think he's a total badass. He's suppose to be a power fantasy for the player (and was literally that for the creator)... but I absolutely detest just about everything about him until the reboot.

David Jaffe has admitted that he's a pizza cutter (all edge, no point), so this is all, unfortunately, on brand.

 

[Ian Naxieas]

I'm going to go with Kai Leng from Mass Effect. It seemed like they were trying really hard to make him a memorable and iconic villain of the series, but he was kinda just a small annoyance and a waste of vocal and programming talent. He did not exist until the third game and he just kind of came out of nowhere and you were expected to feel threatened by him, maybe even see him as a rival for your party. But like, he was a whole lot of nothing. I guess he potentially kills one of your allies, for me that was a terminally ill drell that almost beat his ass despite his condition. Otherwise, you fight him a couple times, kick his ass and his plot armor saves him.

I did think of one worthwhile thing he did! The renegade interrupt for when he tries to kill Commander Shepard is the most badass Shepard moment in the whole series. He must fall like a bitch so Shepard can soar. Not much else to say. I know he's in two of the books and some of the comics and I hear that fleshes him out some, but you get basically zero information on him in the game and the game is what matters. I don't care about the books and the comics came out after the game. The Final Fantasy 15 style of character building and storytelling is just a bad idea. Period.

 

[Leon]

Kalas from baten kaitos, won't go into details of why but if you've played the game you'll know.

i don't like shion from xenosaga. i don't know if she gets better on in the story, but she did not make a good first impression with me.

Shion is terrible and no, she only get's worse, i always switch her out of my party and put either chaos or jr as my main character as soon as possible.
The second game focuses more on jr, the third game focuses alot on shion, but in general there's no one i'd call "the protagonist" of 3, unlike 1.

Post automatically merged: Mar 1, 2025

I'm going to go with Kai Leng from Mass Effect. It seemed like they were trying really hard to make him a memorable and iconic villain of the series, but he was kinda just a small annoyance and a waste of vocal and programming talent. He did not exist until the third game and he just kind of came out of nowhere and you were expected to feel threatened by him, maybe even see him as a rival for your party. But like, he was a whole lot of nothing. I guess he potentially kills one of your allies, for me that was a terminally ill drell that almost beat his ass despite his condition. Otherwise, you fight him a couple times, kick his ass and his plot armor saves him.

I did think of one worthwhile thing he did! The renegade interrupt for when he tries to kill Commander Shepard is the most badass Shepard moment in the whole series. He must fall like a bitch so Shepard can soar. Not much else to say. I know he's in two of the books and some of the comics and I hear that fleshes him out some, but you get basically zero information on him in the game and the game is what matters. I don't care about the books and the comics came out after the game. The Final Fantasy 15 style of character building and storytelling is just a bad idea. Period.

Best part of kai leng is his battle theme, flat out the character was flat.

Hmm half the new cast of mass effect 3 is unlikable to me tbh, and of course chobot or whatever her name is sucks.

 

[Big Finger Jim]

Every Persona mascot who isn't Koromaru is fucking annoying as hell.
What were they thinking with Morgana and Teddie? Do the Japanese think these type of characters are endearing or something? I don't get it.View attachment 28589

I fucking despise Teddie and I've never, EVER seen anyone mention how he hits on a six year old girl MULTIPLE TIMES.

 

[J.F.C]

I fucking despise Teddie and I've never, EVER seen anyone mention how he hits on a six year old girl MULTIPLE TIMES.

I hate Teddy but he never hit on Nanako, what are you talking about?

 

[Big Finger Jim]

Chole from life is strange may genuinely be the worst character ever made, period.

 

[MasterEn]

Shion is terrible and no, she only get's worse, i always switch her out of my party and put either chaos or jr as my main character as soon as possible.
The second game focuses more on jr, the third game focuses alot on shion, but in general there's no one i'd call "the protagonist" of 3, unlike 1.

i had to look both of those up; i forgot about them. a kid version of lupin the 3rd and an angel who hangs out with space truckers would have mad for both better protags and better games/stories.
good to know that shion doesn't get better; i was at the end of the first game before i stopped. i got curious to see what happened to my favorite character, and kos-mos apparently burns up in the earth's atmosphere. shion seemed to live, so i was quite nettled upon learning that.

 

[Leon]

i had to look both of those up; i forgot about them. a kid version of lupin the 3rd and an angel who hangs out with space truckers would have mad for both better protags and better games/stories.
good to know that shion doesn't get better; i was at the end of the first game before i stopped. i got curious to see what happened to my favorite character, and kos-mos apparently burns up in the earth's atmosphere. shion seemed to live, so i was quite nettled upon learning that.

You should play through 2 and 3, 2 seems to be a base breaker for alot of people but i love the game, the story of 2 and 3 are MUCH better than 1 imo and more importantly it fills in alot of the plotholes of 1, plus the mechs in 2 and 3 are MUCH better.

As for Kos-Mos, i will say that there's more to that than what your thinking.

 

[MasterEn]

You should play through 2 and 3, 2 seems to be a base breaker for alot of people but i love the game, the story of 2 and 3 are MUCH better than 1 imo and more importantly it fills in alot of the plotholes of 1, plus the mechs in 2 and 3 are MUCH better.

As for Kos-Mos, i will say that there's more to that than what your thinking.

i read up on kos-mos on the wiki, and i learned that the xeno games are weirdly connected together; she is essentially in the next game, xenoblade.

i'm not very inclined to keep playing the games. i might if i had a friend or two to pay with me, mostly just to see their reactions to stuff happening in the game.
but right now, i'm playing dragon warrior monsters 2 and final fantasy tactics; and i'm having a lot of fun with those at the moment.

 

[oxyhime]

I'm going to go with Kai Leng from Mass Effect

I played through Mass Effect multiple times as a teen. Even now I'm still hazy on how he fit into the story, because I had completely forgotten about him. I watched that video and all I could think was "Wait; that happened? Who the fuck is that guy?"

And I'm a ME3 defender! Amazing renegade interrupt though.

My own answer is Yukiko Amagi from Persona 4. I think they tried something like creating a contrast between her role as the Ultimate Proper Daughter and her having an obnoxious, WaCkY sense of humor, but neither of those things (or their friction, which there is none) give her much depth. She's just kinda there, and I guess that's what her arc is partly about getting over in a way (for how short it is), but it never felt resolved for me.

And the romance route (so-to-speak) doesn't help in the slightest. Might have even made her more empty as a character, since it feels just as disconnected as the rest.

I hope knocking down a Persona girlie isn't a kicking a bee's nest. But she was the "and Yukiko is also there." character for me.

 

[NatalieZaki]

Leo Alvarez from Echo. I dont know if this counts, since the text does sort of make him out to be an asshole, but like everyone i see talking about this game always love Leo, like dude. did we play the same game.

 

[RageBurner]

View attachment 28584
I think she’s charming, but people seem really offended by her presence. I don’t deny that she can be obnoxious, but I never got the ultra-hate.

They just really forced the excitable ditz trope on her so hard that it's annoying; it feels like she's about to piss herself every time something new happens. That and she gets into trouble constantly and it's up to you to save her butt every time. Just really, really annoying.

To be perfectly honest, though MHW was really important for allowing Monster Hunter to reach mainstream (this comes with both good and bad), I always felt this hard push for story and characterization and "oh, let's make relatable characters!" failed spectacularly.

They tried it again in Wilds, and thankfully, this time around it's a lot less forced.

 

[Neopolitan]

Just chiming in to say I 100% agree with Kratos, Ava, and Zack. The first two I hate (and I'm pretty sure you aren't supposed to), whilst Zack just annoys me, and I don't get why he is so popular. I like Cloud much more, and it bugged me seeing FF7 setting focus more and more on Zack. I'd also throw in Rhys from Tales and 3, and it still p*sses me off that 3 brought Rhys and Vaughn back, but not Fiona or Sasha.

I kinda like Laguna, though. Are you supposed to like him a bunch? I got the impression FF8 wanted you to see him as Squall's embarrassing dorky dad, and that's exactly how I saw him. Unlike characters like Ava or Zack, I don't think you were meant to see Laguna as some awesome badass or hero. He's a doofus that manages to do a few things right (and a bunch of things wrong), and I never felt like FF8 shilled him to me.

 

[TerquitelDes]

I really love Persona 4, but i can't with Tedie, specially because his voice

 

[MasterEn]

Just chiming in to say I 100% agree with Kratos, Ava, and Zack. The first two I hate (and I'm pretty sure you aren't supposed to), whilst Zack just annoys me, and I don't get why he is so popular. I like Cloud much more, and it bugged me seeing FF7 setting focus more and more on Zack. I'd also throw in Rhys from Tales and 3, and it still p*sses me off that 3 brought Rhys and Vaughn back, but not Fiona or Sasha.

I kinda like Laguna, though. Are you supposed to like him a bunch? I got the impression FF8 wanted you to see him as Squall's embarrassing dorky dad, and that's exactly how I saw him. Unlike characters like Ava or Zack, I don't think you were meant to see Laguna as some awesome badass or hero. He's a doofus that manages to do a few things right (and a bunch of things wrong), and I never felt like FF8 shilled him to me.

i'm guessing when you mention kratos, you mean the god of war one? if so, you aren't really meant to like or dislike him. understanding him is the key point.
i don't know who ava is, so no comment.
as for zack, most people tend to like the more bombastic, energetic kinds of people. i certainly like zack far more than cloud, though i think my dislike comes from the events of 7, since cloud seemed more like an actual character in crisis core.
don't know this character either, so no comment.
laguna is strongly hinted at being squall's dad, but due to the rushed production and cut content, we will never know. i would say that you are at least meant to like him. laguna is a more relatable character. my sister was playing through the game and i saw a few scenes with laguna in it, and he tries to a few times to act all suave and cool, but unfortunately never gets to quite pull off what he had in mind, which happens a lot in real life. he is a good guy, and he isn't really afraid to show that off.

 

[Leon]

View attachment 29533
Both of them. Now I need to say I LOVE Final Fantasy X, it's one of my favorite games... but these two really tested my patience. Yuna got way better in the sequel, and I can't say I mind Tidus as much as some people seem to, but... yeah, given they're both the main characters and there's nothing indicating they're meant to be unlikable... they immediately came to mind.

View attachment 29535
You're meant to sympathize with his tormented past. You're meant to think he's a total badass. He's suppose to be a power fantasy for the player (and was literally that for the creator)... but I absolutely detest just about everything about him until the reboot.

Most of his plight is entirely his fault, he takes his anger out on countless innocent people and even several gods who did NOTHING wrong to him whatsoever. The thing that really clinched it, though? In God of War 3 there's a lever that needs to be held up, so he grabs Poseidon's princess and forces her to hold it, despite it taking HIM effort to move. Naturally, it absolutely OBLITERATES her. He literally did not have to do it that way, and she did absolutely nothing wrong. He did that entirely to spite Poseidon, which is worse given all Poseidon EVER did to him was defend Olympus. Fuck Kratos.

Yuna would need to be more than a block of wood for me to dislike her, i agree on titus though.
As for kratos, to be honest if your supposed to like him i didn't see it, i literally refuse to play god of war games just because of how much i hate him, i consider him one of the most vile characters in any game, even worse than many villain characters in other games.
Heck i think zeus was right, kratos needed to die (though to be fair, there is a argument for how terrible the greek gods were too).

Post automatically merged: Mar 2, 2025

I really love Persona 4, but i can't with Tedie, specially because his voice

Feel the same way about teddie, but i'd add kanji to it, not because of kanji himself, but all the drama over people trying to claim he's gay (pretty sure the game's director had to come out and outright say people were missing the point with that).

 

[Big Finger Jim]

Feel the same way about teddie, but i'd add kanji to it, not because of kanji himself, but all the drama over people trying to claim he's gay (pretty sure the game's director had to come out and outright say people were missing the point with that).

Just steer clear of the fandom at all costs.

 

[Kid Dynamite]