Who's the first character you ever really cared for in a game?

SPOILERS. MAYBE?

My choice is obviously obvious. For me, I'm going to choose Clementine from the new amazingly fantastic The Walking Dead game by Telltale. I've never ever cared for a character as I do for her. Maybe it's because she's a child? Maybe because she's so damn adorably innocent? Maybe because the worlds gone to shit (in the game) and she's a little angel? I put that girl before anything in the game and will destroy planets if I have to if it means protecting her.

Spoilers ahead!

Whenever I do something that she sees as wrong

I feel terrible when she looks sad or scared. Exposing her to messed up shit kills me but I still make sure she's always safe. I only stopped HER when they were having dinner in episode 2. You know why dinner tasted so good.

So answer my question buddy/guy/friend.

Edit: So @digitaldemigod talked about FF7 and I was reminded about Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII which is an amazing game. I completely forgot that Zack Fair, the protagonist, is actually the first character I really ever cared about especially after

It may seem like a generic answer, but Aeris from FF7. I honestly don't remember caring that much about any character before then. Somehow there seemed to be a lot more emotional attachment in that game. I remember my sister watched me play FF7 almost every night and she was crying when Aeris died. Maybe I cried a little too. =)

Toad.

I'm trying to remember a character I actually cared about for a game. But I've played so many its hard to think of one.

I don't know. I really couldn't tell you.

I can't remember that far back, so I'll just say "any of the characters in Katawa Shoujo", since I'm in that kind of mood today.

Crono. I was a kid when I played it in the 90s so maybe it was just easier to get attached to him, but I was sad as hell during one event that happens a little bit before the side quests and final boss.

@digitaldemigod: I never played FF7 so I wouldn't know and holy crap did I mess up. I played Crisis Core and I loved Zack Fair. I really cared for him and

@SexyToad said:

Toad.

Of course.

Luigi. I have no idea why, but I always liked Luigi and wanted to play as him, even in single player.

@believer258 said:

I don't know. I really couldn't tell you.

You can never tell me anything!!!

@Soapy86 said:

Luigi.

@SexyToad said:

Toad.

You people are weird.

Fire Emblem on GBA is the first time I remember caring about a character in a game and in almost every Fire Emblem I've cared about all the good characters.

EDIT: Forgot about Banjo!! Banjo is probable the first one I really cared about.

Naked Snake and The Boss. MGS 3's ending is is one of the most briliant endings in history.

Nanako?

I did feel pretty bad for the Wookies in KOTOR. Even when playing as a Sith character I refused to enslave them.

The cast of Metal Gear Solid probably. Quite a few games around that time, actually, but I'm not sure which came first.

Pac-man.

I felt the same way when I played TWD. She isn't annoying like most kids are in games, and movies. I get all sentimental and protective like Denzel Washington in Man on Fire.

I'm not sure if people will count this as caring but, Jack in Mass Effect 2. I actually cared about all the characters (I really like most BioWare characters, fanboy I know) but something about Jack always made me want her to get better and move on from her trauma. And give her a hug. Oddly enough didn't romance her however. I went with Miranda (most people say I suck for this. I stand by it.)

Clementine is a great choice though. She's probably the character I've cared most about in any game.

I can't think of anyone at the moment, hm. I think I'll give a recent example instead, my companion(s) in Journey.

@SexyToad said:

Toad.

Ah, I see. Was it at that moment, when you finally came to love and accept yourself, that you became SexyToad?

Celes in FFVI probably. She is a tragic lady, and it probably helped that I identified with Locke the most.

Fire Emblem taught me to care about my characters. The first time I tried to play through it, I let a lot of people die--even characters I genuinely liked--mostly of of laziness. When I then realized I was completely stuck in the game's last chapter (I believe I only had 8 characters, and I was supposed to have at least 13), I played through the game again, but I actually gave a damn. When a character is useful, I care about them: when Sain slaughters a group of enemies, narrowly dodging death each time, I start to like him.

Solid Snake, or actually, it's not really the same as you, it's more like, the first character I recognized as bad-ass and had some depth to him. I don't know who the first character was that I cared for.

Can't remember if I played FF8 or FE7 first, but it was one of those two! I really enjoyed the story and characters in FF8 and I guess restarting to keep all my characters alive just creates care in Fire Emblem. Nothing quite like sending Florina out on her own and watching her take no damage as she clears like half the map.

Probably Marie Wilkans in Police Quest 2. I'm coming to save you, baby!

Fire Emblem is basically built around this idea, so I'm going to say Matthew Even though I'm sure theres was one before this, I remember getting pissed off and resetting whenever he died even though he's not a very good unit, and I had Legault in case I just needed a thief.

Kain from Final Fantasy IV. Also I first wrote Fanstasy and was just going to leave it cause I thought it was kinda funny but then I thought better of it. Bye.

Clementine or Protagonist from Journey, been a great year for caring

Shooting from the hip here. Uh. Jason (and frog) from Blaster Master.

Guile

perhaps Mega Man.

This is really hard to remember but wouldn't the first character you cared for would be the video game character you played as?I mean my first game was NES Mario(i think) and I cared for him whenever he "died", I got sad.

Helen Hots, and she broke my heart.

The cast of persona 3, even the protagonist

@revel said:

Shooting from the hip here. Uh. Jason (and frog) from Blaster Master.

Guile

perhaps Mega Man.

I like you.

Probably Alyx and/or Eli Vance (especially at the end of Episode 2). Can't really remember playing a game with a story or characters I actually cared about before Half-Life 2.

After them? I'd have to say Nanako.

Probably Meryl from MGS. I felt so bad (even at the age of around 9-10) when I gave up from the torture, and then all the worse to actually find her dead at the end =( But then I got me dat stealth off Otacon and shit was cool.

Either my Pokemon from Pokemon Red/Blue or Solid Snake from MGS1.

the members of SEES from Persona 3. Makes sense considering you spend nearly 80 hours hanging out with them throughout the game. 

Snake? SNAKE?! SNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKE??!!

Tali'Zorah nar Rayya , she almost made me cry (not really but I really felt bad for her, the first time I ever felt bad about the life and fate of a videogame character) in 2 occasions throughout the Mass Effect series.

Probably the entire Fire Emblem cast in Path Of Radiance, then the Persona 3 cast.

First? God, I have no idea. Do you want me to do it by game date or by when I actually played it? I cared about the Persona 2 characters, but I didn't play those until this year. Uh... Persona 4 I guess. That's literally all I can think of, though I know there's more.

By choice - Alyx Vance

Against my will - Yorda

I know it`s not strictly a character, but the West Coast of Fallout.

Spend 3 games there, building it back up from a crippled shitheap threatened by super mutants to a somewhat respectable civilization with electricity and plumbing and everything, and you don`t want to see it burn. Go figure.

That said, fuck the east coast.

Only one so far, John Marston, and I've played a fair amount of character based games.

Mylo Steamwitz from Crystal Caves.

That dude was my bro when I was a kid.

Rydia from Final Fantasy IV (or II in U.S)

She had such interesting character growth in the game.

snake

Well I actually care for a lot of characters as I really like to get into the games story etc but the first one has to be Princes Zelda in A Link To The Past, ever since then I always put her first no matter what even if most Zelda games you can only interact with her in the final parts of the game.

Yeah, as other people have mentioned, Metal Gear Solid was the first time I have seen characters in a game as anything other than avatars through which to shoot, climb etc. Even if they were really overdone and melodramatic.

Gotta be Snake.

@awesomeusername: I think Clem is kinda poorly written. At least in the one fucking episode the game even worked for, until it stopped working completely. She just seemed generic with few really awkward lines that were just bad.

For me, it's easy, Alyx Vance in a heartbeat. As the elevator descended, or I watched her being attacked, helpless to do anything, I had a pretty real emotional reaction.