A video game is a medium an interactive medium of entertainment that can have some of the worst protagonists ever. We have talked about really likeable characters previously, from different genres, regardless of the fact if they are male or female.
In the list below, we will be looking exactly at those imperfect individuals in gaming. Discussing what makes them some of the worst protagonists ever.
Video Game Protagonists Who Are Absolutely Hated
Frey (Forspoken)
Forspoken was supposed to be one of Square Enix’s new pillar IPs. Blending whatever they developed with modern real-time combat Final Fantasy games with Western action games. But unfortunately, they took all the overused, unoriginal tropes from those games to make one of the most hated IPs
This was further ignited by the protagonist, Frey, who is also regarded as one of the worst protagonists in a Square Enix game ever. She is portrayed pretty well by Ella Balinska. But the biggest problem is with the writing of the character itself.
Frey embodies all the worst tropes that we have absorbed throughout the past decades, in action-comedies that have been overdone.
Richard Marcinko (Rogue Warrior)
First-person shooters are pretty straightforward most of the time and do not do anything to interrupt the flow of the gameplay. This has been proven through single-player games such as the Call of Duty campaigns and others, such as Far Cry titles.
Except when it comes to Rogue Warrior, which follows a typical U.S. Navy SEAL veteran infiltrating North Korea. Richard Macinko might be one of the worst video game protagonists ever, just because of his big mouth.
Every once in a while, in the heat of firefights, you might pause to laugh at the screen. Because of the unrealistic amount of comedic and racist rebukes this guy has in store.
Jake Conway (Ride to Hell: Retribution)
Ride to Hell is often cited as one of the worst video games ever created. It is the literal embodiment of what not to do in a video game that tackles motorcycles and heavy metal themes.
For those unaware, this was a game published by Deep Silver for all major platforms back in 2013. It was supposed to be an open-world game with biker gangs. You follow the story of one of the worst video game protagonists ever, Jake Conway.
Once again, another military veteran is being made fun of as he is tailing down the notorious Devil’s Hand in order to get revenge for his dead brother. But he is caught in between some awful cutscenes and dialogues that make him very unlikable.
Raiden (Metal Gear Solid 2)
Long before Devil May Cry or the Bayonetta series tried the whole newcomer protagonist trying to take over for the previous lead, the Metal Gear series had done it. But it was executed really poorly, so much so that this character never returned for a main game ever.
We are obviously talking about Raiden. Long before the hack-and-slash spinoff, Metal Gear Rising Revengeance saved his reputation; he was the most hated video game character. His biggest flaw as a character is that he falls short of everything that made Solid Snake or Big Boss what they are.
Sergey Nachaev (Atomic Heart)
A lot of us like video game characters with good quips and a sense of humour. Sometimes they may come off as obnoxious, but still make up for the attitude with brilliant and comedic dialogue. Such is not the case with Serget Nachaev.
Atomic Heart is a first-person shooter game that is set in an alternate history Soviet Russia. It gives us a protagonist who wants to be a contemporary of someone like Duke Nukem.
But Sergey falls flat, becoming one of the worst characters to grace a video game ever. His negativity towards anyone and everything throughout the game comes off as the most boring characterization ever.
Alex Eagleston (YIIK: A Postmodern RPG)
We have been talking a lot of trash about the general action games and first-person shooters. Let’s divert our attention to a title from another genre, RPGs. YIIK: A Postmodern RPG was going to be an indie game heavily inspired by turn-based JRPGs.
It was going to be released around the right time when the genre was about standing back up on its feet, with games such as Persona 5 having just been released. The trailers were looking great, and the music and characters looked amazing.
Then it was released with one of the most frustratingly annoying protagonists in all of indie video game history. Alex Eagleston is the most unlikable RPG protagonist ever created, with some of the worst quips, making him insanely unlikable. Thus, leading the game to be incredibly unappealing.
Trevor (Grand Theft Auto V)
Oh, you thought we were only going to talk about characters who are unlikable and badly written? When we speak about ‘worst’, it also extends to characters who are very likable, but for all the wrong reasons in the context of reality.
Trevor is exactly one of those characters. Everyone who has played Grand Theft Auto V will unconditionally say that it is one of their favourites. But let’s not forget that the show is always about criminals, who are involved with some really dark deeds. Trevor obviously takes things a bit too far compared to any other GTA protagonists.
Rufus (Deponia)
Let’s talk about another genre of game that is not mentioned much: adventure games. Particularly, the Deponia series, because it has one of the worst video game protagonists ever written.
The character in question is Rufus, who is a resident of the titular planet is one of the most miserable individuals in gaming. He has a similar kind of vibe to Alex from YIIK: A Post Modern RPG, but more edgy, which will make players turn off the game.
What is worse is apparently he is apparently deliberately written in such a manner. This sparked a hilarious conflict between the players and the game’s community manager once. Because their name was Rufus.
The Postal Dude (Postal)
Another video game protagonist who is one of the worst ever, but not to the detriment of the game. The Postal Dude is ‘worst’ simply because he is one of the worst human beings in a video game.
The Postal games follow this person as players take control of him, allowing mass murder of video game NPCs. Heinous acts revolving around the fictional Arizona, believing he is curing the populace of ‘hateplague. Anyone who likes The Postal Dude in real life needs to be avoided.
Abel (Street Fighter 4)
This might come as a surprise to many, but yeah, Ryu is not always the main protagonist of every Street Fighter game. Of course, he is the face of the fighting game franchise along with Ken and Chun-Li.
But every Street Fighter also introduces us to a complete newcomer who has a dominant presence in the overarching story. One of these characters is Abel, and possibly one of the worst protagonists in the franchise.
This is because he is very badly written, almost serving no importance to the main plot other than having a lacklustre backstory.
