Most Courageous Video Game Protagonists?

We discuss who we think the most couragous protagonists or characters in video games are.

• cour·age Noun /ˈkərij/ /ˈkə-rij/
• noun: bravery, valour, valor, pluck, gallantry, nerve, heart, daring, boldness, mettle, spirit, hardihood, prowess, audacity, guts
• The ability to do something that frightens one
• she called on all her courage to face the ordeal
• Strength in the face of pain or grief
• he fought his illness with great courage

I nominate The Vault Dweller from Fallout 1.

Why: The Vault Dweller lived a sheltered life inside a Vault, surrounded by amenities and all his needs being taken care of. But then out of the blue, he is required to go out into a hellish wasteland which he knows nothing about without training or a large amount of supplies (yes he gets supplies, but it's not much.)

Other notable mentions are Isaac Clark from the Dead Space games, Link from the Legend of Zelda games, and the protagonists of the Silent Hill games (I haven't played them)

Please provide reasoning and evidence to support your nominations.

One example of a not-so-good nomination would be Master Chief from the Halo games. He's a biologically and technologically engineered super soldier with a lifetime of training and a huge arsenal, he can walk up to any challenge and know to himself that he very well might succeed. I'm not calling him a coward, or saying he doesn't have gall, I'm just saying he didn't have to sum up as much courage as the aforementioned characters.

I nominate Meat Boy. The number times that little dude threw himself into spikes/buzzsaws/generally deadly objects to save his girl. What a trooper.

Dude it's totally Soap, Captain Price and the Master Chefs! Only Master Chef and Jesus died so YOU could survive or something.

Kind of all of them or what's the point.

Master Chief is extremely trained, but he still goes against seemingly insurmountable odds. Unless you're playing on easy.

Look at what Jaffe says about the Superman Fallacy. The idea that Superman is too powerful to get any drama out of him, Jaffe categorically disagrees and says that you just aren't challenging him. This comes from the guy who made God of War, a game that makes you feel like a living god and yet still pushes you to the degree that your victory feels impressive.

Link. He has the Triforce with Courage.

The nameless hero from Shadow of the Colossus. What he does is outstanding.

Link. He has the Triforce with Courage.

Issac. Specifically dead space 1 issac. They did a good job of making him sound scared shitless and yet he pushed forward. Strong man....

Nathan Drake

That guy takes down whole armies of bad guys and then ends up fighting supernatural beasts.

Though he does have the extreme superpower of luck.

@Sackmanjones said:

Issac. Specifically dead space 1 issac. They did a good job of making him sound scared shitless and yet he pushed forward. Strong man....

Yep, that guy has Balls of Steel.

I gotta go with Luigi's Mansion Luigi. That guy was clearly scared of everything but kept on going.

@Brodehouse said:

Kind of all of them or what's the point. Master Chief is extremely trained, but he still goes against seemingly insurmountable odds. Unless you're playing on easy. Look at what Jaffe says about the Superman Fallacy. The idea that Superman is too powerful to get any drama out of him, Jaffe categorically disagrees and says that you just aren't challenging him. This comes from the guy who made God of War, a game that makes you feel like a living god and yet still pushes you to the degree that your victory feels impressive.

This pretty much, I'm wating for a game where you play as a guy/girl who doesn't want to save the world because he/she knows it's too hard and s/he'll probably die (without turning him into a whining anime cliche) so throughout his/her journey he/she attributes his/her achivements to luck so constants Phew's and all.

@schman42 said:

I gotta go with Luigi's Mansion Luigi. That guy was clearly scared of everything but kept on going.

This is clearly the right answer, he was scared but he kept going anyway. Sure Master Chief, Kratos, Nathan Drake, Shepard, Captain Price and Isaac all went through worse shit than Luigi, but they never seemed really scared.

Me

Jade from Beyond Good and Evil. She is the primary force behind a somewhat weak rebel force that plans to take out a huge, powerful tyranny and does so mostly by herself. Her primary weapon is her camera, intelligence, and a staff against people who have heavy weapons. She is one of the primary caretakers for an orphanage and continues to fight despite feeling responsible for their kidnapping and soon to be transformation into the enemies she's fighting. She's so influential that she gets the majority of the citizens of her world to fight with her.

@JasonR86:

Jade Raymond. She made Assassins Creed and then got pregnant. A true real world hero.

Johnny Sasaki from the Metal Gear Solid series. He was always known as a joke character, diarrhea man, the man who always got his butt kicked by Solid Snake. After years of enduring these stigmas he showed everyone what he's made of in Metal Gear Solid 4 and he also got the girl at the end.

The Arisen. There's not much depth to the character, but to go charging 80ft tall dragons with nothing but a steel sword and no armor takes balls. Not to mention, the psychological threshold of withstanding the Everfall, fighting the dragon, fighting mythological creatures, and the tough choices that needed to be made along the journey.

Honorable mention to Nier from well, Nier. Dude sacrifices absolutely EVERYTHING for his daughter over the course of that game. Even when faced with everything from the utmost betrayals to Armageddon itself.

@vault13dweller: He's a selfless character willing to take on any challenge regardless of the danger, I would say he's as courageous as any other protagonist.

the courier from Fallout NV this dude gets shot in the head and goes after the people who shot him/her with no equipment.(to start off with anyway.)

It's got to be Commander Shepard and everyone on the Normandy in Mass Effect 2.

They literally went on a suicide mission, knowing they would probably die and still no-one backed out.

I'd nominate Ethan Mars. While all of his decisions are guided by what you choose, this is still a father who would go through hell and back for his child.

I wouldn't call him purely courageous but a shining example of what a father can do when he loves his child so much.

@Village_Guy said:

@schman42 said:

I gotta go with Luigi's Mansion Luigi. That guy was clearly scared of everything but kept on going.

This is clearly the right answer, he was scared but he kept going anyway. Sure Master Chief, Kratos, Nathan Drake, Shepard, Captain Price and Isaac all went through worse shit than Luigi, but they never seemed really scared.

Luigi all the way. Plus, don't forget his role in the Mario and Luigi series. He was a pretty big crybaby there too. But he kept going to save the Mushroom Kingdom. That's courage.

The Prince from Katamari Damacy (the PersianPrince is a tool). Despite the whole universe being wrecked my his drunkard father and the abuse heaped upon Prince by said father, he nevertheless perseveres and returns the universe to its proper order.

Saving the universe from a threat is one thing. Completely rebuilding it from scratch is something else.

It's got to be Commander Shepard and everyone on the Normandy in Mass Effect 2.

They literally went on a suicide mission, knowing they would probably die and still no-one backed out.

Isaac from the Binding of Issac

that game's premise is just terrifying, not to mention the psychological horror that little kid goes through.

I nominate the Persona 3 protagonist, or Minato if you want to be that way.

Dude has to shoot himself in the head every time he wants to cast a spell.

He also sacrifices himself so that the world doesn't end, so theirs that.

Vivi from Final Fantasy 9 not really a protaginast. But whatever.

most courageous?

probably this dude.

Gordon Freeman

I'm going with link as well.

Blasto

@Fattony12000 said:

Very nice choice.

Also, Jebediah Motherfuckin' Kerman.

@Klei said:

The nameless hero from Shadow of the Colossus. What he does is outstanding.

Dude has a name.