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

spy Fox

Yorda from ICO is definetly one, surprised no one has mentioned her yet, (that I've seen).

The Prince, from Prince of Persia (the original version that I played as a kid on PC)

Mine was Ryu from Shenmue I was 12 when I played it , the story really hooked me and I loved that world I was at the right age to not notice all the flaws, bad voice acting etc .

Probably Jill Valentine when I played RE1, which is why I get bummed when she's not in the new RE's.

I can't remember my first, but yeah Clementine is a person I care about.

Alys Brangwin ... and the tank from Combat.

I was always very fond of Liara.

I can't even remember... Probably a few of my Pokemon from the original games. Hell, it probably goes even further back.

Max Payne is the only one. I feel for the fucking guy!

I think a game that sticks out as my very first character oriented game have to be the original Suikoden for Playstation. It was one of those experiences where you play it from start to finish in a marathon fashion for a week straight. I had summer break from school and all the time in the world. Within that game there are 108 stars of destiny but truth be told there's only a handful you'll eventually bond with one way or the other. The core group of them was always interesting, such as Gremio, Cleo, Victor, Flik, etc. etc. but I always had a soft spot for Odessa, the leader of the Liberation Army. The scene when she dies to this day still brings tears to my eyes, though possibly a lot having to do with the fantastic music. I was really bummed out that she died and it also sort of marks the start of the real adventure.

Following her was probably Snake in Metal Gear Solid. Sure, Meryl, but the fact that they gave Snake a personality, a set of morals and principles and ideas really made him likable. And the fact that I could relate to him as a loner made it all the more fitting. I to this day still enjoy the exchange between Meryl and Snake because he reminded me so much of myself at the time;

Meryl: Is there anyone you like?

Snake: I've never been interested in anyone else's life...

Meryl: So you are all alone. Just like Mantis said...

Snake: Other people just complicate my life. I don't like to get involved.

Meryl: ...You're a sad, lonely man.

Hitman and Max Payne.

Alisia Dragoon. I was very young and she didn't wear many clothes. There was a point in the ending, after the epic Baldur boss battle, where she's flying home on her dragon, all tired, and the music gets all mournful-sexy... I was all like 'dawwww shucks'.

First one would be Alyx in Half-Life 2, when she stops for a breather after the whole train sequence thing. Never have I felt so helpless and unable to console someone.

I did push E though.

:/

Charmander

Link. I loved that he was left handed. So I thought we were bros.

The girlfriend at the end of Shatterhand. You fight the whole game to rescue her and finally face off against a giant robot which you, as you have done with every other enemy you come across, tear it apart with your augmented robot hands. Then, through the rubble, you see the body of your girlfriend as you arch nemesis explains that she was inside the robot he whole time and you just beat her to death.

Final Fantasy IV's Polom and Porom. They turn themselves to stone in order to save your group from a trap. My brother and I went back to that screen dozens of times trying to figure out a way to free them.

I remember reading a Nintendo Power article about a guy tearing up over the ending with Shadow on Sonic Adventure 2. I think that, in turn, gave me some kind of sympathy over the hedgehog. So there, I guess. I remember feeling kind of bad for Tim in Braid when it turned out he was this super-obsessive shitty guy, otherwise.

Phoenix Wright or my Persona 4 main, don't remember which one I played earlier.

Like guys have said, Fire Emblem really teaches you to care about the characters you have, simply because of how everything seems so fragile. For me, Eirika from The Sacred Stones was the person I always protected-with Seth, no less.

Squall Leonheart. He was too shy to get the girl. I was too shy to get the girl. I really identified with his angsty struggles, because I was an angsty teenager when I played the game.

Thinking back it's only recently I got really involved in caring for characters, I LOVE the metal gear franchise but I wouldn't really care if any of the characters died.

For me it's probably The Uncharted trio of Drake, Sully, and Elena. They were some of the first "human" characters that are just so well written it's hard not to care for them.

Atlus does a great job of making me care for characters. Chie, Yosuke, and Naoto from Persona are awesome and Vincent and Erika from Catherine are great too.

And as you say Clementine is one of the only characters in Walking Dead I really care about. I like Carly too but that might be because shes the only other loyal member in the group. I did care about Kenny before he became a huge cunt at the end of episode 2.

I'm probably missing a ton of characters but these are the ones that come to mind.

Xion in that one Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days game, as far as caring the most goes.

Otherwise, probably my pokemon!

The cast of Chrono Trigger (cigarette-burning-scenario answer: Robo. When his brothers fuck him up, WHEW! That was hard to watch...).

@StarvingGamer said:

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

This is a very close second.

I was surprised at how Clem from TWD wasn't some annoying little shit with bad dialogue lines.

Well done, Telltale, well done.

If you're referring to a character you as the main character have around you, I would probably say Mission Vao

Lately, Clem without a doubt. Telltale managed to create a kid that's at times brighter than some of the adults.

Luna

@PhatSeeJay: I don't get the love for Clem. I just find her annoying or only there for when they need a cheap "WILL SOME ONE THINK OF THE KIDS!" moment in some scene.

@crusader8463 said:

@PhatSeeJay: I don't get the love for Clem. I just find her annoying or only there for when they need a cheap "WILL SOME ONE THINK OF THE KIDS!" moment in some scene.

Can't say I would call it cheap, if anything I would call it the first proper source of conscience for me. Because it's the first time I have regretted murdering someone in a video game for the simple reason that she sees it.

The other kid(s) I don't give a flying toss about. It's just her. She wants to help, don't get into any unnecessary trouble that most other kids does and she has saved Lee's life. Gives her a lot of credit in my book.

i'm not really sure but the first thing that comes to mind is fox from star fox 64.

a guy trying to save the galaxy, avenge his father. gets really emotional when you see your dad at the end, whether he's a ghost or not

Roger Wilco - naturally. The Space Quest Intro Music alone... the memories. The Nostalgia. The gruesome deaths. What a guy!

Lara Croft. I've always wanted to protect her ever since I saw those big triangles on her chest.

It's hard to remember that far back. I remember feeling for Link in OoT, I wanted to beat the game because Link needed saving and so did the rest of Hyrule including each area and it's inhabitants. Link was just a kid in a fucked up world and instantly he becomes an adult without the time in between so he didn't have any of the experience of getting older. I especially felt bad for the people in Kakariko Village because their town was so small and shitty but their graveyard was so big. The second you see the zombies near Hyrule Castle I knew shit was bleak.

Ark from Terranigma.

@PhatSeeJay said:

If you're referring to a character you as the main character have around you, I would probably say Mission Vao

Aw jeez. I forced Zaalbar into killing Mission and I still feel bad about it sometimes.

Link, probably.

"Karate Man in white suit" from Karate Champ.

Anna from FFIV(US 2). Even with just a little characterization, her death impacted me a lot.

And then just everything with Rydia. FFIV was probably the first game I ever really connected with the characters.

Only one thing comes to mind recently, and that's Raven from Tales of Vesperia.

Link.

Really, besides characters that I spent a lot of time building up in RPGs because of time investment, the only one that comes to mind is Clementine.

That pitchfork moment in episode two has pretty much made The Walking Dead the game to beat for my favorite of the year. It actually intentionally made me feel regret, which isn't an emotion I recall ever feeling in a game before.

Drizzt and my character in Neverwinter Nights. Tough one but probably the strongest I've ever felt for a character aside from Shepard would be Big Boss/Solid Snake and the characters in Heavy Rain.

River and Johnny from To the Moon were probably the most I've ever cared about characters ever. I also really cared about Bastila in Knights of the Old Republic, mostly because that game is awesome, but also she was an awesome part of the story.

Haseo from .hack//G.U probably. It was one of the first series that I could call myself a fan of so I cared for many of the characters in the games.

Rise from P4, i played it before P3 so agis and Yukari were too late

The prostitute in Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards. Or maybe Larry Laffer himself.

Thinking about it, it's probably one of the characters from the KOTOR games, although I can't pick one yet. All those characters were so good. It'd be a toss-up between Mission, Carth, Atton and Kreia. And maybe HK-47, just because he's crazy cool.

Hrm. I'm trying to think.

I played Super Mario RPG when I was 12 or 13, and at the end your friend Geno returns to the stars, leaving behind the doll he used. That shook me up as a kid, the idea that your friends can just leave and you'll never see them again.

I don't think I actually got that attached to the characters in FF6 when I first played it, not in a personal way. I thought they were cool but I couldn't really empathize with them yet.

It was when I was 14 playing Final Fantasy 8. It wasn't even Squall and Rinoa (though an introverted teenager spending all his time being miserable in his room certainly was a reflection), it was Selphie and Irvine. I wanted them to be happy with each other, I think that's the first time that's happened. Being pleased that the characters are happy.

I think that's a big thing BioWare figured out. It's not always so much that people want their Shepard to get with some characters, but they want to play matchmaker and talk EDI into dating Joker, or find out Garrus and Tali hooked up.

I agree, Clementine is the first child in a video game that hasn't annoyed the shit out of me. I just want to protect her the best I can.

Alyx Vance