Back in the early days of gaming, video game plots were usually fairly simple and limited in scope. Going to the wrong castle by mistake was about as bad as things got. As narrative driven games have grown in popularity however, so too has the plight of protagonists.
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The modern industry features scores of tragic heroes. Some are too broken to function normally in society whilst others are too deplorable to pity. Given what some of these characters go through though, it’s easy to see why they behave the way they do.
10 John Marston (Red Dead Redemption)
John Marston was an orphan by the age of eight and committed his first murder just three years later. Although he was taken in by Dutch, the guidance he’s given lead him down a dark path and he soon found himself on the wrong end of the law.
By the time justice caught up with him, he chose to face his pursuers in the hopes that his death would allow his wife and child to live a normal life. What makes John’s death so tragic though is that it was completely in vain.
Three years after John is gunned down, his wife Abigail dies from unknown causes and his son goes on to follow in his father’s footsteps. John’s sacrifice was all for nothing and the cycle of despair is seemingly destined to repeat itself.
9 Connor Kenway (Assassin’s Creed 3)
Connor was violently assaulted by the Templars when he was just four years old. After they knocked him unconscious, he awoke to find his village in flames. Although he was able to find his mother amongst the chaos, she was mortally wounded and a young Connor could do nothing but watch as she dies in the fire. Unfortunately for Connor, fate wasn’t finished with him just yet.
As the events of Assassin’s Creed 3 unfold, Connor eventually finds himself in a position where he must kill his own father. He succeeds and with his father’s death, there was no chance that Connor could live a normal life.
8 Kratos (God of War)
Kratos’ body is adorned with an array of battle scars, but it is perhaps the internal scars which cause him the most pain. Whilst it’s true that most of them came as a result of his own actions, the wounds are no less tragic for having been self-inflicted.
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The Spartan carries with him the guilt of having killed his first wife and their daughter and the burden of knowing that he killed his own father. In spite of these hardships though, he still pursues a normal life and is lucky enough to find one when he meets and subsequently marries his second wife Faye.
Tragically however, his marriage to Faye also ends prematurely. After her death, Kratos is left to father their young child, but lacks the skills required to be the father that Atreus needs. He does acquire them throughout their journey together, but it’s likely that Atreus will serve as another reminder of the things that Kratos has lost.
7 Aerith Gainsbrough (Final Fantasy VII)
Many of Final Fantasy VII’s core cast experiences hardships in the events leading up to the game, but it’s perhaps Aerith who has it roughest.
She spends much of her childhood being experimented on by the insane Dr. Hojo and later watches her mother die before her very eyes. Even after escaping Shinra’s clutches, she is hunted like an animal by the Turks. She also bears the responsibility of being the last surviving ancient and, once the game’s events begin to unfold, must sacrifice her life to protect the planet.
6 Samus Aran (Metroid)
Samus is the sole survivor after a gang of space pirates destroys her colony. She is just a child, and with her family and everyone she ever knew dead, she’s left scared and alone.
Luckily for Samus, she’s taken in by an alien species called the Chozo. They train her and Samus swears to take revenge on the space pirates who had taken everything from her. Unfortunately however, she’s not fast enough.
The space pirates return and proceed to ransack her new home in the pursuit of the Chozos’ advanced technology. Like her birth parents, her new adoptive father is killed and Samus is once again left with no-one.
5 Marcus Fenix (Gears of War)
A warzone is no place for emotions, but carnage and mayhem often have a habit of eliciting them from even the most stoic of soldiers. Marcus Fenix does exceptionally well to hold himself together though given the countless people he’s lost and the monstrosities he’s witnessed.
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After risking his life for the coalition on countless occasions, he is sentenced to 40 years in a maximum security prison. His crime? He left his post in an attempt to rescue his father. Although he only serves five years, that’s a pretty tough pill to swallow. What’s worse is that he failed to save his dad who is now missing and presumed dead.
4 Kaim Argonar (Lost Odyssey)
Immortality isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Lost Odyssey’s Kaim Argonar can certainly attest to that. He’s lived for a thousand years and just about the only thing he hasn’t experienced is a real death. Much of the game is spent exploring his lost memories - and with each one - more tragedy is revealed.
Through the death of his daughter and the crippling depression that her passing inflicts on both Kaim and his wife Sarah, the player sees that an everlasting life is more of a curse than it is a blessing.
By the end of the game, players will likely be questioning whether Kaim’s memories were truly lost to time or whether he surrendered them willingly. Given what they reveal, the latter would certainly make living forever a lot easier.
3 Max Payne (Max Payne)
When players are first introduced to Max Payne, he is contemplating suicide. Broken by the death of his wife and child, the only thing that he can do to pull himself back together is to fight. Anger is a very powerful emotion and Max’s rage is strong enough to drag him through hell and back to punish those responsible for his loss.
By the time the series concludes, Max has seemingly reached a point of acceptance. That’s not to say that the series provides him with a happy ending though. Sure, he no longer wishes to die, but his life remains completely bereft of purpose. As he himself best puts it, “This was the longest suicide attempt in history”.
2 Wander (Shadow Of The Colossus)
Wander’s life before the events of Shadow of the Colossus is shrouded in mystery. The player learns only of his lost love Mono and it is through his yearning to be reunited with her that the events of the game unfold.
The pain he carries with him is clear for all to see and the deal he makes with Dormin perfectly conveys the desperation that this pain spawns. He knows that there will be consequences, but he doesn’t care. Perhaps he should have though.
After a painstaking journey, the final colossus falls beneath his blade and for a brief moment, Wander tastes joy for the first time in a long time. The moment is fleeting however, as too late Wander learns the true nature of his deal with Dormin. He dies in the same way as the colossi he had slain before ever being able to reunite with the newly resurrected Mono.
1 Ethan Mars (Heavy Rain)
Prior to the events of Heavy Rain, Ethan Mars is living a perfectly normal life. He’s happily married, has two wonderful sons and is a very successful architect. It’s perhaps this normalcy which makes the events that follow so much more tragic.
Just before his son Jason’s tenth birthday, Ethan and Jason are hit by a car. Jason is killed instantly, but Ethan falls into a deep coma. When he wakes up six months later, he’s a broken man. His bitterness leads to the breakdown of his marriage and he is left alone to wallow in his own misery. Just as it seems as though his life has hit rock bottom, his younger son Shaun is kidnapped by a serial killer.
Whether or not Ethan is successful in rescuing Shaun is entirely dependent on the actions of the player. In the event that he fails however, Ethan takes his own life.
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