10 Video Game Protagonists Everyone Hates

10 Video Game Protagonists Everyone Hates

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In video games, people are introduced to fantastical worlds, immersive stories, and intense conflicts. We’re generally introduced to this medium through the lens of a protagonist, through which we can experience these fictional stories.

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Players generally seem to develop a strong bond with protagonists, cheering them on as they triumph over adversity or empathizing with them in their struggles. However, not every video game makes its protagonists likable to the audience, whether it’s intentionally or unintentionally.

Sometimes, it’s because they’re poorly written, morally ambiguous, frustrating to play as, or simply annoying when they talk. But hey, at least they end up being memorable, maybe just not in a good way.

We’ve assembled a list of the video game protagonists that left almost every player feeling quite negative towards them.

10

Abby

The Last of Us Part 2

Abby TLOU 2

Starting this list off as controversially as we can, Abby is an emotionally complex character that ruffled a lot of players’ feathers. We’re introduced to her in The Last of Us Part 2 and watch her as she commits a heinous act of revenge, setting off a brutal chain reaction of events. Once it’s all over, it’s hard for anyone not to despise her existence.

However, the Last of Us Part 2 forces you to play as her for long stretches of the game, as Naughty Dog sought to humanize her character. Her close bond and journey with Lev and Yara also helped push her from hated antagonist to Anti-hero territory.

Many players also found parallels between Abby and Ellie, as the two characters acted out in an ugly state of revenge. However, most players could not get over the fact that she had killed one of the most likable characters in gaming and, in turn, made her character irredeemable for them.

9

Aidan Pearce

Watch Dogs

Watch_Dogs - Aiden and Jordi

I’ll be honest, when I first played Watch Dogs as a young kid, I found Aidan Pearce to be quite a cool character. That’s until I grew up and replayed the game and found how deeply boring this man was.

Ubisoft tried super hard to give him a rough side as a Vigilante hacker out for revenge and, in the process, pushed him into the edge lord category. Playing as Aidan Pearce made me realize why the game has a mixed reputation with other players.

I still enjoyed the game; however, there’s not much depth to his character other than acting like a menace to society, and he shows little to no emotion.

Even though you do pull off some cool tricks with your hacking and parkour skills, there’s only so much you can find interesting in a protagonist who is constantly monotone.

8

Lo Wang

Shadow Warrior

shadow-warrior-3-4

Man, it was hard getting through the rebooted Shadow Warrior title without cringing into oblivion. All of that came down to the main character, Lo Wang, the loudmouthed, quip-spewing ninja.

The amount of bad jokes the players must suffer to experience the fast-paced gameplay is innumerable. It is enough to want to mute your game and have a relaxing time without hearing his grating voice repeatedly.

Don’t get me wrong, Lo Wang is a skilled ninja, but his constant barrage of unfunny one-liners might make you never want to play the game again.

7

Postal Dude

Postal

Postal 4 gameplay screenshot

If anyone even remotely likes the Postal dude from Postal, then I think they might be a genuine psychopath. This is one of those characters whose only intention was to be deeply offensive. He pulls that job off well as a killer on a mission to terrorize the fictional town of Paradise, Arizona.

His character just has that look of someone you’d never get sick of slapping, as he sports red hair, a trench coat, and his signature sunglasses.

You might find yourself chuckling at first as he wreaks havoc with a dark sense of humor, but players often soon find out the extent to which he’s willing to go all in the name of chaos.

He even possesses a weird set of powers that almost make him invincible, and a disturbing skill for manipulating his urine. If that last bit doesn’t turn you off to him, then I think you might need some help.

6

Trevor

GTA V

gta-v-gameplay-trevor

From one psychopath to another, Trevor is undoubtedly a highly entertaining and wild personality, but don’t get it twisted; he is still a deeply unlikeable protagonist.

Coming in as the embodiment of chaos in the world of GTA V, his terrible antics are enough to make your skin crawl.

From torture to harassment to dark personal jokes with every character he interacts with, his ugly nature is enough to make a grown adult sick to their stomach. His characterization seems to personify the players who only seek to destroy once they seep into the world of GTA.

However, Trevor isn’t all about mayhem, as beneath his bloodthirsty and often cruel exterior is someone haunted by his past. Even though he commits terrible acts that make you want to look away, he also has moments of compassion. So, in the end, even if you hate him, you’re still drawn to his eclectic world.

5

Duke Nukem

Duke Nukem Series

The cover art for Duke Nukem Forever.

If you’ve been into video games for a while, then you probably know who Duke Nukem is, and I suppose we can all collectively agree that we all love to hate him.

The super-macho, wise-cracking action-hero archetype has been done to death and seems quite outdated now, and Duke Nukem embodies that character obnoxiously well.

The hypermasculine blonde-haired has been controversial since the early 90s, due to his over-the-top attitude and crass one-liners. The character was made to be a satire of early Arnold Schwarzenegger, turning into an instant icon upon his debut in 1991.

However, following the infamously long delay of Duke Nukem Forever, many were left puzzled if the character would ever make a return. But once it was released, it became clear that we should have left this character in the past.

His often crude, even sexist jokes were unbearable to sit through and seemed to scream that this character was meant to be a relic of a bygone era. Unfortunately, Duke Nukem couldn’t save himself from becoming a cringe machine rather than a daring action star, a far cry from his popularity on debut.

4

Raiden

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of LibertyWorst Kojima - Raiden and Snake Talking

So, we’re all in agreement that the creators included Raiden as the main protagonist in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty as part of a major troll, right? We all fell for it as well, as we were forced to play with a tween-looking J-pop idol instead of the rugged and seasoned veteran Solid Snake for most of the title.

Raiden’s introduction was a bold move on Hideo Kojima’s part, but it was a major letdown for many fans eager to play control Solid Snake again. T

The bait and switch incited a lot of rage, and that was enough reason for them to dislike him, but his whiny attitude and melodramatic arc in the 2nd installment of the series made things worse.

We do have to note that Raiden, who would be reintroduced in later games as a cyborg ninja who loved to hack and slash, was one of the best remodels in gaming history.

However, the initial reaction of mostly all players to Raiden was quite mediocre, as he seemed only to have been included to spoil our fun.

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3

Kane and Lynch

Kane & Lynch Series

kane_and_lynch_2_dog_days

These characters are so ugly in their behavior that perhaps even their mother wouldn’t love them, let alone the players. Some people would think that it would be hard to make a game where you actively dislike a main character, let alone two, but the Kane and Lynch series would prove you wrong.

These two anti-heroes are the definition of love-to-hate characters in video games. It all came down to the insistence on making them so morally bankrupt that they eventually became the bad guys.

You’re given control of these characters; your job is to help them kill, steal, and betray their way through the title.

Imagine if you were playing the bank robbers from a Michael Mann movie, without any sense of code or redeeming quality. The nature of this divisive duo would also seep into the nature of these games, owing to the brutal, gritty reality that would give the series a mixed reputation.

2

Frey

Forspoken

Forspoken DLC Release Date

Frey from Forspoken, unfortunately, committed one of the worst sins as a central protagonist, that being, she was quite bland.

There’s an effort to give her some sort of character with the constant quips and pop-culture references, but she comes off as if she’s trying to compete in a popularity contest in high school.

Many players had high hopes for the game, with its elements of magic and parkour, but many of their hopes were dashed once they started playing as her. It sucks because she had the potential to become a likable character to the masses, but much of her character came off as pretentious and annoying.

It also didn’t help her case that a magic talking bracelet on her hand was insistent on making players cringe with his puns. There’s also an attempt to make the banter between them come off as witty, but that fails miserably as you feel like a young kid’s first-ever try at stand-up comedy.

1

P-3

Atomic Heart

Atomic Heart

This one stung me quite a bit as I’d been anticipating playing Atomic Heart for a while last year, but its protagonist dragged it down so hard. Major Sergey Alekseyevich Nechaye, also known as P-3, is so rotten that he often spoiled the rather enjoyable first-person shooter title.

You navigate an alternate 1955 Soviet Union that’s significantly advanced as P-3, with many applauding the world-building aspect of the tile. However, such a mean-mouthed protagonist that he turned off many fans from completing the game.

Now, it’s okay for someone to be grumpy since characters can’t exude optimism and courage and are a ball of energy all the time. But many would agree these rude characters are becoming a chore to play as.

He is also drastically picking up a reputation as one of the most annoying characters in modern gaming. I can attest to the fact that he is one of the first protagonists that has made me turn off a game for some time since I could not sit through any more of his complaints.

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