Roxas will always be my favorite kh character because of all the bullshit he goes through in 358/2 days and kh2. This is a dude, who is constantly being told he shouldn't exist, doing work for people he doesn't know what objectives they have, and on top of all that, is told that he, as a person who shouldn't exist, shouldn't even have feelings. Despite of this, he befriends axel and Xion, and constantly go though these feelings(that he's technically not supposed to have, he believes) about what to do. Then by the end of the tutorial section in 2, loses both of his friends, forgets one of them entirely, and basically has to stop existing just so someone else can. And all my dude wanted to do was have ice cream with his friends. Feels. (Yeah that gets changed in 3, but still)
As someone else who puts roxas up there as one of my main goto's with tragic protags and favorite character from the franchise I agree. Also not mentioned was how he was put into basically a self destructive suicidal state due to realizing what his existence really is, denouncing his friendship IN FRONT of his greatest friend, and also him having to finally accept the reality of his existence in Final Mix due the fight at the skyscraper where he tries his hardest to prove he can live as himself but still ends up losing and accepting he cant. Honestly the reunion scene in 3 with the sea salt trio is still the one that snags on my heartstrings the most.
Having to basically kill one of his closest friends and going full Darth Maul on Riku is so damn heavy at the end of 358/2. Roxas will probably always be one of my fave protags.
Just saying, but all KH Characters go through way too much bullshit. Even so, roxas and Xion were, to me the ones who hurt the most. I can´t express how happy i was to see them all together again
That is one of the most boring and overrated games I've ever played. It took me like a month to finish since I could only force myself to play like 30 minute sessions each 2-3 of days. The supposed "shocking" scene of burning civilians alive wasn't even that surprising
Brad from Lisa The Painful RPG absolutely deserves a mention here. Buddy from the sequel as well, but at least for her it's possible for a happy ending. Not so much for Brad.
"What am I fighting for" also the fact that he was supposed to be the Sigma like villain according to Dr. Wiley's design, but the virus just happened to jump out of him into Sigma, thank god lol.
It's sad, he doesn't believe in justice or care for humanity. He merely does what he does because that's what he knows. Then when he is forced to kill someone he cares for. So if he doesn't care for humanity and he killed someone he cares about, what is he fighting for? After X5 he becomes a lot more somber and smiles a lot less and after X6 stops smiling entirely. Then after the X games he's a old battered, depressed and angry veteran that just needs a goddamn hug.
The 5th hero from Dragon Quest definitely qualifies here. Sure, he may not speak, but he watched loving father get burned alive in front of him, was kept as a slave for a good chunk of his life, and is turned to stone along with his wife for 8 years. Sure, he does get better afterwards, avenging Pankraz, saving the world, all that good jazz, but man does he go through a lot.
i would argue that SH2's ending *SPOILERS, obviously* Where Mary's letter for him is kind, sympathetic and explains that she agreed with him is actually quite hopeful. The 'leave' ending, as it were. She told him to do what he needed to do to end the suffering of himself and... while she did not want to die, she was going to anyway. It is not as though he did it simply because she became ugly or ill, especially not if you fulfilled the conditions for the leave ending. Euthanasia is a rough topic in general, but James is clearly able to find peace with what happened at the end by finally working up the courage to read those last words of hers. That's how that ending reads to me. Forgiveness.
To be fair Ragna at the end manage to get what he wanted, resolution with his siblings, guaranteeing their bright future and went out smiling. Tragic sure, but his final fate was pretty happy even if he erased his existence, since Ragna was satisfied.
I definitely get that - however it was already shown as an "honorable mention" as the countdown screen, and the second I heard what the background music for the segment was, I knew what was coming... oof. Although, even as an insane fan of Braid I would've put these two in the opposite order.
Every single protagonist in the entire Mega Man series. Ever since discovering The Megas, I couldn't help but feel that the entire series is one big tragedy - Wily felt betrayed by Light taking all the limelight for their co-operative, and so starts the entire mess to show that he's just as smart as Light. This leads to him creating Zero with the Wily virus, which in turn leads to Sigma being corrupted, and everything that happens in the rest of the series. The Zero games' protagonists (even the ones that start as antagonists) are the very definition of tragic heroes. Just... wow, that series can go really deep.
I know the game is pretty obscure but I can definitely think of one from Squaresoft's Live a Live snes rpg, a game with numerous protagonists each with their own stories across differing time periods that ultimately converge by the end of the game. SPOILERS FOR THE LAST SEGMENT OF THE GAME The tragic protagonist is none other than the secret 8th protagonist, Oersted, a knight in the medieval setting who wins the right to marry the princess of the Kingdom only to have to set out on a journey to save her from the demon king. Very typical 'hero Knight saves damsel princess' story that always ends with a happily ever after. Except not really, as after defeating the demon king everything goes to shit. Oersted loses two of his companions, one of which his best friend, and his forced to return to the kingdom empty handed to regroup. WHile alseep, Oersted has a vision of the 'true evil' still lurking and wakes to seemingly find it in the throne room. He quickly kills it, only to find it was none other than the king he killed and suddenly everyone turns on him thinking him to be a demon rather than the previously beloved hero. After breaking out of jail thanks to his last party member who used the last of his strength to free Oersted, the lone knight is forced to kill more soldiers before running away, clinging to the last bit of hope that maybe he can turn things around by saving the princess. Upon returning to the temple and finding a secret passge he finds... Straybow. His once thought dead best friend. Upon being confronted, Straybow admits he was sick of playing second fiddle and orchestrated everything from faking his own death to tricking Oersted into killing the king and have everyone hate him. Oersted is left no choice but to kill his best friend, and when he does he finally gets to see the one last person that till believed in him. ...Except the princess shows nothing but disgust towards Oersted now for 'not coming to ave her' and his 'mistreatment of Straybow'. All very likely manipulation by Straybow, as the princess takes her own life to be with him. Needless to say, no longer having anyone who stilled believed in him, all his heroic deeds torn to shreds with no hope of redemption, Oersted breaks. his hatred gets the best of him, and ultimately he becomes the demon everyone thought him to be as he takes up the name 'Odie', the main antagonist that's been the boss of each of the 7 previous storylines in numerous names and forms. So yeah, dude got the shittiest hand in life ever and there is no happy ending for him, unless you count him destroying the fabric of time itself as 'happy' for him.
I just read about this guy and holy fuck was this guy basically knocked down and kicked constantly just trying to do the right thing and in the end all he got was being labelled a demon. This should have definitely been on the list somewhere.
I’m glad someone mentioned him, but tbh, the happiest ending for him imo is defeating him with one of the protagonists and putting him out of his misery
@@rarm5899 that's a fair reation. I've been playing some version of that game for a large portion of my life, so it's kind of weird to see newer fans of the game, especially with the limitations of the older versions. (I played the first remake of the game and pretty much never stopped.)
Jay Yeah the Switch remake was my first experience and I wasn’t in love with it. Stories can obviously work in 2D but I don’t think this one did, at least not with the typical lack of characterization for Link. While I played it just made me wish we could see a more cinematic version of it. Would’ve loved to see what the manga showed, in the game.
@@rarm5899 that's an interesting point, I haven't gotten to play the switch version, but I personally prefer the gameboy color version of the game, but I could be biased considering my three favorite games were the three gameboy color LOZ games
The thumbnail is accurate, Link is pretty much the most tragic Hero in all of video-gaming. The poor guy is reborn just to fight the same bad guy *every single time* and win or lose it starts over once he dies ... and he doesn't even get to have his name on the series, he's the hero of the *The Legend of Zelda* for Dinn's Sake! 😑😑😑 Thanks for another great vid RabbidLuigi 💙🐱💙
@@francoperalta5986 I honestly forgot all the non-Ganon villains … okay *most* of them since I know Majora (was Majora the villain or the Mask?) and the Tongue Guy from Twilight Princess. More often than not it’s Ganon’s fault in some capacity
Handsome Jack from Borderlands: the Pre-Sequel. Usually for the “hero turned villain” archetype, the transformation from good to evil happens all at once, either with an unexpected betrayal, or them revealing their true colors. But with Handsome Jack, you actually see him become corrupted in real time. Each choice he makes is a little less virtuous than the last, each sacrifice a little less noble. His goal is still righteous by the end, but at that point he had become too blinded by his own bloodlust and overdedication to his “greater good” than for it to really be “good” in the first place.
I'm glad that it ended with Silent Hill 2, but I'm genuinely surprised that the LISA Trilogy, or at least THE PAINFUL, isn't on here. Brad is absolutely a tragic protagonist (not that Buddy or Lisa aren't). Months later, it still keeps me up thinking about how badly Brad got it. He wasn't a bad person, he simply couldn't overcome his own trauma.
Ehh, I think tragic protagonists are better when it isn't obvious they are going to be one. When it's in the title/subtitle of a game/story that the characters are supposed to have stuff to them, I honestly care less for what occurs.
I think Brad is the most tragic of all. He at least was trying to do the right thing, and is one of the best people in the setting just on virtue of not being a would-be rapist, but he’s a broken man in a broken world. The best any Lisa protagonist can hope for is bittersweet ending (looking at you, Beltboy).
I'd pick Jack or subject delta from bioshock one and two. Jack learns his whole life is a lie and no matter the ending delta dies simply because of how much he loved eleanor.
How about a shoutout to the Drifter from Hyper Light Drifter. You're plopped into this bizarre post-apocalyptic world with a mysterious and incurable disease that's not so slowly killing you. You wonder about trying to find a cure without any real direction, just four directions to go in. You discover the horrors that have befallen the people of this world, slowly putting everything together through visuals alone and after everything you make your way to the final boss, defeat the corruption that was destroying the world and then... the Drifter starts bleeding. He falls to his knees and it suddenly becomes clear... he's not going to make it. The world is saved, yes, but its hero is left to die alone far from home and forgotten by the people who owe him everything. Seriously play Hyper Light Drifter, it's so good!
Tatsuya and Makoto from Persona would like to have a word on tragedy for one getting the worst in the end and the other at the beginning before the start of their journey.
cole mcgrath would be a good candidate considering the way his powers came to fruition literally cause cataclysm, destroys many things he loves and even helps create the primary antagonist of the 1st 2 games and all the while the only way for him to destroy the main villain of the 1st 2 games is to either destroy a massive number of those who have powers including himself or actually replace the main villain u were meant to destroy to continue their path of destruction
You know it was a good topic when I agree with every single entry, and still can think of another list's worth of candidates. What you said about Max Payne has stuck in my mind though, a protagonist whose journey is begun by such tragedy, there is no way for them to recover. It doesn't happen often in games, but when it's there you remember.
I always thought link from BOTW was the most tragic. Imagine waking up with no memory and being told to risk your life anyway for people you don’t remember. Then being told of the bond and relationship you had with these people and the guilt that must come for not remembering the people that are supposed to be important to you. Or hell the fact link only remembers his relationship with Zelda and the champions with a handful of memories. Not his mother or father or any friends or family he had before. People expecting you to be someone you don’t remember. I can’t even imagine
And it looks like something is going to happen to his arm in the sequel. Yeah the series of Links are all pretty tragic in general but the most tragic ones that come to mind are the hero of Legend who saw his uncle die once and became a fugative in A link to the Past, and destroyed an island in Links awakening. The hero of time who grew up an outcast and was tasked to save 2 worlds and all with nobody knowing about it and not being able to pass his skills to kin until twilight princess. And the hero of the wild who was a failed survivor of a calamity with no memory of anything or anyone and is tasked to help his nation alone with few people alive that do remember him put him on a pedastel like Impa, King Dorephan and his younger Zora friends or blame him like the elderly Zora.
Still sucks Velvet didn't make it since I think behind James, she's actually the very definition of a tragic protagonist especially even with the journey throwing out how she gradually became just as bad her arch enemy and her final fate is super bittersweet. I think if rabbid was more invested in Tales, he would've added her.
Luke isn’t THAT tragic. Pretty much standard JRPG non-silent protag tragic. And like most Tales games the ending is pretty hopeful! Anyone in RL’s list is definitely sadder.
Honestly, the Princess from The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince is quite the tragic protagonist, she blinded the prince by clawing his eyes just because of being afraid of being seen, had to ask witch to let her transform, went on a journey with him in order to bring him to said witch to fix his eyes, caused a forest fire, sure, the prince got his sight back, but she could no longer turn into her princess form, and lost her singing voice.
@@openinginawe5518 Seriously. Megaman as a series has a surprising amount of lore and character depth that most people overlook. People bust their nuts that Dark Souls doesn't tell you anything about it's story, but then you bring up Megaman and people start laughing.
Shadow of the Colossus, without a doubt in my mind. Poor Wander. Luke and Asch from Tales of the Abyss. Yes both of them. When you know the game's story, you know why.
Had a few on my end. One of them is from Advance Wars. Not the original trilogy, but in Days Of Ruin. This still has some comedy like the original, but this got real dark real fast. The one character is Brenner. He’s a really inspiring protagonist that helps out others and kept his duty as a soldier even when the world is in ruins. The mission that changed everything was the snow mission. The new mechanic of the game has you build up CO power... by putting the CO him/herself in a unit. The first time Waylon’s army blew up the tank with Brenner in it, I thought he was a goner until he radios saying to keep going. Once the mission ends, well... Greyfield basically orders a city to be nuked with Brenner in it, killing him. None of the other games have a protagonist die. For the most part, it was only the army. So seeing someone that has been in the journey and then dying, that really sucks. Though that gave Will the determination to lead and carry his banner, which made actual character development
Felix from golden sun was tragic because he was nearly killed, presumed dead, held hostage, had his parents held hostage, had to fight against his friends, fell off a lighthouse, was stranded on an island, continued to have to fight and eventually was tricked into almost murdering his parents.
So many tragic heroes that aren't in the list, ones who die notwithstanding. One that comes to mind is Alucard, from Castlevania. Half-vampire and half-human, his father is Dracula himself and after the death of his loving mother his father went down into a spiral of destruction. Being immortal, Alucard will see all his human allies dying either of old age or fighting his father, living throughout the centuries with his cursed blood and fighting Dracula. Ramza from Final Fantasy Tactics could also apply. He lived through a life of betrayal and conspiracy, lost many people dear to him, was against his own family and best friend, defeated a god and went down the history as a heretic and a villain despite his heroic acts. Now on to some others who die (spoilers ahead, but I think everybody knows at this point) the Persona 3 protagonist, who sacrifices his life as his soul becomes a seal to prevent a tragedy worse than Nyx to ever come to the world Noctis from Final Fantasy XV, the "king of kings" who was actually a sacrificial lamb and plaything of the gods of Eos, destined to be immolated long before he was born The entire Final Fantasy Type-0 class, in yet another world in which gods are jerks and people forget about those who die -- not only they died a grueling death in a world of war, but no-one will ever remember them
My theory in link’s awakening is that the people on the island are animals in real life The secret ending has link happy and an eagle passing by that could be Marin as she stated in the game she wish to become a bird and fly as far as she can go Also the part where her dad becomes a raccoon after eating a mushroom could suggest that even more imo It could be more happy than a sad ending but who knows
It was a seagull, and it tied to a line of Marin specifically(that she would like to be a seagull so she could sear the sky and know other lands). So I'm not sure
A video on Top 5 hidden stories/hidden lore in video games would be cool! Games like Undertale, The Witches House and The Five nights at Freddys games have story details that aren't explicitly told to the player. You have to uncover the larger story based on bits and pieces spread throughout the game and they often rely you playing close attention to details and a good memory providing you don't just look them up. Spoilers for Undertale and The Witches House below: For example, in the witches house true ending you discover that you were playing as the witch all along and the person chasing you was an innocent girl you decieved. Through Undertale's true pacifist and No mercy routes you uncover more and more about the human who fell before you. You find out that the player chose the name of this human and not the main character that the first human killed themself through buttercup poisoning in an effort in an attempt to free their new monster family and all the monsters by going through the barrier and taking the souls of humans. It is also implied through some lines of dialogue from asriel that they may have not had a happy life on the surface, then there's the whole gaster mystery and the question of just how much certain characters are aware of in terms of the resetting/time travel aspect of the game...
@Sea Biscuit Lol i get what your saying it wasn't the best example of a great game. I couldn't think of many on the spot tbh. I was thinking specifically of Undertale cus i love that game but i know there are plenty of other video games with hidden stories.
Spoilers for number 4 The saddest thing about RDR2 is that everything John and Arthur go through counts for nothing. John couldn’t ever get away from violence
Of all the games I’ve played, I think the most tragic protagonist is Niko from the indie game OneShot. The basic plot is that Niko has been brought from another world to save the world of the game, and you the player are the God guiding them. I'm gonna have to spoil the ending to explain why it's so tragic, but if you're at all interested in the premise, I highly recommend giving it a shot (heh) and going in blind. START OF SPOILERS: You discover right at the end that, in order to save the world, Niko has to stay behind. So either you let Niko return home, letting the game world end and, assuming Niko remembers the adventure, leaving them with a ton of guilt; OR the world is (temporarily) saved, with Niko’s fate being unclear. There was a third ending added later which allows Niko to save the world and go home, but they witness a lot of tragedy along the way as the world is falling apart at the seams, and they still have to leave behind not only the friends they made in the game world, but also you, the one who’s guided them all this way. ...Did I mention that Niko’s a child? So yeah, pretty tragic. Oh, and if the ending to the first chapter of DeltaRune is implying what I think it is - that Kris is being possessed by the red soul (us) and is not cool with it - then I think they could be a good candidate too. Gotta wait for the full game to come out to know for sure, of course.
Samus. She has lost essentially everyone that's ever been important to her in her life and she has unwillingly commited mass genocide. All she has left are a few animal friends.
@@Darxide23 not really, it's the same if you ignore it. She lost her parents and the whole colony she grew up with. She lost all the chozo, she lost all her bounty hunter friends in prime 3. And she lost the baby.
@@clickycal Well, yeah, but that's not unwilling genocide. I agree though, the loss of her parents and Old Bird and whatnot are absolutely tragic, and she lives every day trying to save the galaxy they wanted to believe in. That's sad enough on its own.
@@NorthernWind0 You were forced to wipe out the last 2 Elysians in Prime 3 in self defense. And you and Rundas pretty much wiped out the remainder of the Reptilicus, too
Zack from FF7 crisis core. Man was liveing the dream had the job he always wanted, had a great Girlfrend, good friends and mentors he looked up to and then it all fell apart as his mentors betray and go insane on him, his company leaves him for dead as experiment materials for a mad scientist, he is left in a coma for 5 years and finaly when he almost makes it home the private army of who he used to work for kills him just for defending his friend Cloud who was also experimented on by their former employer. He lost everything but he died what he always wanted to be , a hero. One that saved his friend from being a lab rat and gave him a chance to live.
Okay the links awakening one is sad but what about mipha from botw. She had sn unshakeable love for link that went unprofessed where she then was killed via those most prolonged method, and forced to lament her failures for a hundred years
Henry Knippling While her story (and the story of any of the other Champions, really), is quite tragic, I wouldn’t really classify her as a “protagonist.”
Crono Sapien she and the champions fit the description sure you can’t play as her but that doesn’t make her not a protagonist. She has a vital role as well. So I’d say it counts
Henry Knippling She’s definitely a protagonist, but not THE protagonist, or the central character that drives the story forward. Hence why I put “protagonist” in quotes. Otherwise this list would just be filled with JRPG party members rather than player characters.
I would also say Noble 6 from Halo Reach. From the moment the game was announced, anyone familiar with halo knew that story does not have a happy end (it was first described as the "Fall of Reach") and the protagonist was not making it out alive but to compound it, every victory for them in that game was met with another dead team mate or massive loss for humanity until even in their greatest heroic accomplishment, they are left stranded to die and ultimately, never see just how big an impact that last act made to winning the war and ultimately saving humanity from extinction because without them, none of the other games would have happened and Chief never would have saved humanity multiple times over. Also, not a single character and more an underlying tragic character trope, I kinda love the sci fi trope of a superhuman badass hero who is forced into circumstances that cost their humanity in exchange for making them the ultimate force for humanity's survival. Think the underlying backstories for Master Chief or the Doomslayer. Not really tragic characters, but badass characters molded by tragedy and a certain stripping of humanity into their badassness. Also unrelated but Aigis and Protag from Persona 3 because spoilers
"...Switches up the music for the Face Shrine from a few simple bleeps and bloops..." The original should've just used the "Southern Face Shrine" theme for both, honestly. (Can we also get an "HM" for Marcus Fenix? The guy's lost friends in literally every game, especially the third one where he lost "his brother" and watched his own dad die before his very eyes, as well as, depending on the player's choices, losing his son later on down the line...)
I consider 9S from Nier Automata to be a pretty tragic protagonist. While he does technically get a happy ending in Ending E, the amount of shit he goes through in Route C is utterly heartbreaking. Not to mention there is also what his purpose to 2B is which I won’t spoil but is also told rather vaguely in the game.
I'm a bit bummed out that Lucas from Mother 3 wasn't in the list but at least he's in the intro. If you think about it, he's the Nintendo version of steven universe. Both have dead moms, emotionally damaged dads, and had to save basically the universe/world.
I honestly believe that Kiryu from the the Yakuza series is the most tragic character, having to watch his close ones die in his life (i.e. his once former best friend, Akira Nishikiyama) and constantly getting pulled to the yakuza affairs, just wishing to have a peaceful life with his adoptive daughter and his orphanage.
I'd say Talion from Shadow of Mordor/War had it pretty rough. Lost his wife and son, banished from death, betrayed by his allies and left to fight a war alone for decades until finally being reduced to a Ring Wraith...
Caim and Zero from Drakengard 1 and 3 are pretty tragic considering I don't think they get any happy conclusions from the several endings of those games.
-Specter Knight -Isaac (BoI) Uhh I can't think of a third to round this list out. I'd suggest the protagonist of Hollow Knight but I don't think he really gives a shit.
I never saw Link's awakening as a tragic story. Since Koholint Island is just the focus of the Wind Fish's dream and maybe Link's it would make sense that most other characters in the game have no free will and are simply the manifestations of the subconscious. Their only important trait is that they affect canonically real characters emotionally and maybe bring insight or creative thought. Link may not have been the only one caught up in the Windfish's dream, because there may have been ocean wildlife present that fell asleep as well. I like the theory that Marin is actually a seagull and you free her at the end of the game. The creepiest thing in the game to me is undoubtedly the nightmares. I think that these may be canonically real in a way because of the way they break the fourth wall of the dream and keep the Windfish from waking up. As to what they are, the best thing I can think up is that they're a manifestation of Demise's curse and are able to posses living things and trap their consciousness in dreams. Their goal may have been to use the Windfish's body for evil. It seems like the Windfish was not doing this in the real world, which suggests that it was resisting to some degree if my theory is correct.
Not just in Link’s Awakening, but Link is a tragic hero in general, along with Zelda herself. The pair are cursed to always reincarnate along with Ganon, doomed to repeat an endless cycle of death, destruction and bloodshed. What makes it worse is that there seems to be no way for them to achieve a final victory; all they can do is delay the inevitable and try their best to minimise the damage caused by the forces of evil. Besides them, Doom Guy/Doom Slayer is pretty tragic in his own right. It is implied in DOOM 2016 that Doom Guy is an immortal being from another world, who swore revenge against the forces of Hell after they betrayed and slaughtered his people. Now he is trapped in an endless battle against the legions of Hell, his soul too damaged to attain ascension, never stopping, never relenting, never resting. As awesome as he is in action, knowing that Doom Guy may never find peace is just kind of sad.
MASSIVE SPOILERS AHEAD: YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. I honestly think Klonoa: Door to Phantomile's "It was a dream" twist hits harder than Link's Awakening's for one simple reason, scale. Is it bad that Link found out the island he was supposedly saving was all the Wind Fish's dream and saving it would mean that Koholint would vanish? Yes, absolutely. But consider this. Klonoa believed all his life that he was just an ordinary kid living in a small wind village with his best friend and grandfather until he went on his grand adventure to find the Moon Pendant and save the world from Ghadius and his nightmares. Everything seems like your standard platformer until about halfway through the game when Ghadius's henchman Joka destroys Klonoa's house and kills his grandfather while he watches helplessly. If that wasn't bad enough, he finds out after he beats the big bad that the person that he thought was his best friend had given him fake memories and that Klonoa was never from that world at all, and that he was to be sent back now that peace had returned. Imagine being told that every single memory of your life that you can recall was all fake, lies. Jesus, I still feel bad for the poor kid to this very day.
To be honest, the "scale" aspect isn't really important because the nature of the tragedy is completely different in both cases. Link's tragedy is about taking a destructive choice towards people he grew to care because of his own resolve and beliefs, while Klonoa's is about being an unwitting pawn into something that surpassed him from the moment he was born.
Torque from The Suffering games was thrown in prison onto death row for a crime he may or may not have committed, depending on our choices as him through the games. Is he a monster? Was he framed? All we know is, his wife and two kids are dead, and he blacked out the events. And now, on Carnate Island, he needs to survive...
@@rogankane6901 To be fair, K'Dash also has Kula and Maxima. So for all his shitty background things are going better for him. That's what Ash has over them, his end result is just crap.
Would Naked Snake/Big Boss have been too obvious, given that RabbidLuigi uses a scene from MGS3 in his outro? I feel like Naked Snake is a very tragic protagonist.
I believe it was said somewhere in a Zelda game that the chosen ones destined to wield the Triforce are 'Slaves to their destiny and to the Goddesses will'. That or I'm fucking crazy and just made that up.
Have you thought about top 5 real life parallel's? like how some game protaganists or side NPC's parallel realistic struggles just turned up to a different degree, for example Spec ops the line takes the PTSD struggle and turns it up, or The FNAF series started out as a parallel to the Chuckie Cheese murders ? Sometimes reality is stranger then fiction or makes the best stories. Someone else that is more creative then me can probably embelish the idea a bit more and flesh it out. Have a great day all :)
Nothing about Wander from Shadow of the Colossus? His girl is taken from him, he must become a mass murderer, he has no joy in what he does, he loses his only companion... he goes from good guy with good life to more monster than monsters. And that's BEFORE he gets his "reward"!
Roxas will always be my favorite kh character because of all the bullshit he goes through in 358/2 days and kh2.
This is a dude, who is constantly being told he shouldn't exist, doing work for people he doesn't know what objectives they have, and on top of all that, is told that he, as a person who shouldn't exist, shouldn't even have feelings.
Despite of this, he befriends axel and Xion, and constantly go though these feelings(that he's technically not supposed to have, he believes) about what to do.
Then by the end of the tutorial section in 2, loses both of his friends, forgets one of them entirely, and basically has to stop existing just so someone else can.
And all my dude wanted to do was have ice cream with his friends. Feels.
(Yeah that gets changed in 3, but still)
As someone else who puts roxas up there as one of my main goto's with tragic protags and favorite character from the franchise I agree. Also not mentioned was how he was put into basically a self destructive suicidal state due to realizing what his existence really is, denouncing his friendship IN FRONT of his greatest friend, and also him having to finally accept the reality of his existence in Final Mix due the fight at the skyscraper where he tries his hardest to prove he can live as himself but still ends up losing and accepting he cant. Honestly the reunion scene in 3 with the sea salt trio is still the one that snags on my heartstrings the most.
Having to basically kill one of his closest friends and going full Darth Maul on Riku is so damn heavy at the end of 358/2.
Roxas will probably always be one of my fave protags.
Just saying, but all KH Characters go through way too much bullshit. Even so, roxas and Xion were, to me the ones who hurt the most. I can´t express how happy i was to see them all together again
I for one am SHOCKED that Spec Ops: The Line didn't show up on this list.
Lmao at your profile picture
The protagonist isn't tragic in Spec Ops: The Line. He's just an asshole.
@@AloisAgos No, Walker is very tragic, all 3 of the men are.
That is one of the most boring and overrated games I've ever played. It took me like a month to finish since I could only force myself to play like 30 minute sessions each 2-3 of days. The supposed "shocking" scene of burning civilians alive wasn't even that surprising
Don't worry, Rabbid has said that the games used during the number transitions on his lists are an honorable mention, so it's there at least.
Brad from Lisa The Painful RPG absolutely deserves a mention here. Buddy from the sequel as well, but at least for her it's possible for a happy ending. Not so much for Brad.
ABSOLUTELY!
Honorable mention for Zero, secondary protagonist of Megaman X and protagonist of Megaman Zero. It's pretty tragic if you think about it.
"What am I fighting for" also the fact that he was supposed to be the Sigma like villain according to Dr. Wiley's design, but the virus just happened to jump out of him into Sigma, thank god lol.
Pretty much. Poking fun at his voice acting is one thing, but man, shit goes wrong in his life pretty much ALL the time
It's sad, he doesn't believe in justice or care for humanity. He merely does what he does because that's what he knows. Then when he is forced to kill someone he cares for.
So if he doesn't care for humanity and he killed someone he cares about, what is he fighting for?
After X5 he becomes a lot more somber and smiles a lot less and after X6 stops smiling entirely.
Then after the X games he's a old battered, depressed and angry veteran that just needs a goddamn hug.
The 5th hero from Dragon Quest definitely qualifies here. Sure, he may not speak, but he watched loving father get burned alive in front of him, was kept as a slave for a good chunk of his life, and is turned to stone along with his wife for 8 years. Sure, he does get better afterwards, avenging Pankraz, saving the world, all that good jazz, but man does he go through a lot.
One game that immediately comes to mind is Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War. I won't spoil but if you've played it, you know why.
Literally nothing went right for that poor dude.
What are you talking about? They played some badminton, went swimming... Arvis even got everyone together for a barbeque! What a nice guy!
Morgan with an Eevee you beat me to it
@@espurrhoodie1290 that's not true he was happy.......for a chapter
Definitely. I want a remake of GOTHW
i would argue that SH2's ending *SPOILERS, obviously*
Where Mary's letter for him is kind, sympathetic and explains that she agreed with him is actually quite hopeful. The 'leave' ending, as it were. She told him to do what he needed to do to end the suffering of himself and... while she did not want to die, she was going to anyway. It is not as though he did it simply because she became ugly or ill, especially not if you fulfilled the conditions for the leave ending. Euthanasia is a rough topic in general, but James is clearly able to find peace with what happened at the end by finally working up the courage to read those last words of hers. That's how that ending reads to me. Forgiveness.
Holy Shit... why are you the only one I ever heard that philosophy from.
I know he won't be on here because Rabbidluigi has not played Blazblue, but Ragna the bloodedge from blazblue absolutely deserves a spot on the list.
I hear you brother
To be fair Ragna at the end manage to get what he wanted, resolution with his siblings, guaranteeing their bright future and went out smiling. Tragic sure, but his final fate was pretty happy even if he erased his existence, since Ragna was satisfied.
So when he started this list talking about realizing you were the bad guy all this time, how many of us instantly thought “Spec Ops The Line?”
I definitely get that - however it was already shown as an "honorable mention" as the countdown screen, and the second I heard what the background music for the segment was, I knew what was coming... oof. Although, even as an insane fan of Braid I would've put these two in the opposite order.
Every single protagonist in the entire Mega Man series.
Ever since discovering The Megas, I couldn't help but feel that the entire series is one big tragedy - Wily felt betrayed by Light taking all the limelight for their co-operative, and so starts the entire mess to show that he's just as smart as Light. This leads to him creating Zero with the Wily virus, which in turn leads to Sigma being corrupted, and everything that happens in the rest of the series. The Zero games' protagonists (even the ones that start as antagonists) are the very definition of tragic heroes.
Just... wow, that series can go really deep.
Having just finished it I really feel the Android's from NieR automata deserve a spot on this list
Especially 9S. Dear lord poor 9S.
Even the OG Nier deserves a spot, nobody in that series comes out unscathed.
I know the game is pretty obscure but I can definitely think of one from Squaresoft's Live a Live snes rpg, a game with numerous protagonists each with their own stories across differing time periods that ultimately converge by the end of the game.
SPOILERS FOR THE LAST SEGMENT OF THE GAME
The tragic protagonist is none other than the secret 8th protagonist, Oersted, a knight in the medieval setting who wins the right to marry the princess of the Kingdom only to have to set out on a journey to save her from the demon king. Very typical 'hero Knight saves damsel princess' story that always ends with a happily ever after.
Except not really, as after defeating the demon king everything goes to shit. Oersted loses two of his companions, one of which his best friend, and his forced to return to the kingdom empty handed to regroup. WHile alseep, Oersted has a vision of the 'true evil' still lurking and wakes to seemingly find it in the throne room. He quickly kills it, only to find it was none other than the king he killed and suddenly everyone turns on him thinking him to be a demon rather than the previously beloved hero.
After breaking out of jail thanks to his last party member who used the last of his strength to free Oersted, the lone knight is forced to kill more soldiers before running away, clinging to the last bit of hope that maybe he can turn things around by saving the princess. Upon returning to the temple and finding a secret passge he finds... Straybow. His once thought dead best friend.
Upon being confronted, Straybow admits he was sick of playing second fiddle and orchestrated everything from faking his own death to tricking Oersted into killing the king and have everyone hate him. Oersted is left no choice but to kill his best friend, and when he does he finally gets to see the one last person that till believed in him. ...Except the princess shows nothing but disgust towards Oersted now for 'not coming to ave her' and his 'mistreatment of Straybow'. All very likely manipulation by Straybow, as the princess takes her own life to be with him.
Needless to say, no longer having anyone who stilled believed in him, all his heroic deeds torn to shreds with no hope of redemption, Oersted breaks. his hatred gets the best of him, and ultimately he becomes the demon everyone thought him to be as he takes up the name 'Odie', the main antagonist that's been the boss of each of the 7 previous storylines in numerous names and forms.
So yeah, dude got the shittiest hand in life ever and there is no happy ending for him, unless you count him destroying the fabric of time itself as 'happy' for him.
I just read about this guy and holy fuck was this guy basically knocked down and kicked constantly just trying to do the right thing and in the end all he got was being labelled a demon. This should have definitely been on the list somewhere.
That legit sounds awesome(in the horrible kind of way), guess I should look that game up at some point.
I’m glad someone mentioned him, but tbh, the happiest ending for him imo is defeating him with one of the protagonists and putting him out of his misery
I'm sorry, you said this is a SNES game?
Man, they were getting deep with storytelling early. That's wild.
Man, I am SO happy this game is getting an HD-2D remake. Now if Chrono Trigger or Bahamut Lagoon could get that same treatment, I'd be over the moon.
Spoiler:
Didn't even realize that Link's Awakening was eligible, holy criminy though, I wholeheartedly agree!
It’d stand out for me if there was any sense of Link’s reaction in-game.
@@rarm5899 that's a fair reation. I've been playing some version of that game for a large portion of my life, so it's kind of weird to see newer fans of the game, especially with the limitations of the older versions. (I played the first remake of the game and pretty much never stopped.)
Jay Yeah the Switch remake was my first experience and I wasn’t in love with it. Stories can obviously work in 2D but I don’t think this one did, at least not with the typical lack of characterization for Link. While I played it just made me wish we could see a more cinematic version of it. Would’ve loved to see what the manga showed, in the game.
@@rarm5899 that's an interesting point, I haven't gotten to play the switch version, but I personally prefer the gameboy color version of the game, but I could be biased considering my three favorite games were the three gameboy color LOZ games
Jay You referring to the Oracles as the other 2? I haven’t played them myself yet really hoping for a remake eventually.
Your countdowns are a regular part of my Sunday schedule.
Also, I predict Lucas from Mother 3.
EDIT: Well, he was in the intro.
The thumbnail is accurate, Link is pretty much the most tragic Hero in all of video-gaming. The poor guy is reborn just to fight the same bad guy *every single time* and win or lose it starts over once he dies ... and he doesn't even get to have his name on the series, he's the hero of the *The Legend of Zelda* for Dinn's Sake! 😑😑😑
Thanks for another great vid RabbidLuigi 💙🐱💙
not always the same bad guy
@@francoperalta5986 I honestly forgot all the non-Ganon villains … okay *most* of them since I know Majora (was Majora the villain or the Mask?) and the Tongue Guy from Twilight Princess. More often than not it’s Ganon’s fault in some capacity
Handsome Jack from Borderlands: the Pre-Sequel.
Usually for the “hero turned villain” archetype, the transformation from good to evil happens all at once, either with an unexpected betrayal, or them revealing their true colors. But with Handsome Jack, you actually see him become corrupted in real time. Each choice he makes is a little less virtuous than the last, each sacrifice a little less noble. His goal is still righteous by the end, but at that point he had become too blinded by his own bloodlust and overdedication to his “greater good” than for it to really be “good” in the first place.
I'm glad that it ended with Silent Hill 2, but I'm genuinely surprised that the LISA Trilogy, or at least THE PAINFUL, isn't on here. Brad is absolutely a tragic protagonist (not that Buddy or Lisa aren't). Months later, it still keeps me up thinking about how badly Brad got it. He wasn't a bad person, he simply couldn't overcome his own trauma.
To me, the most tragic protagonists in video games are,
*All 3 protagonists from the LISA trilogy*
Well, I wouldn't put Buddy on there. She has a future, she has hope. But yeah Lisa and Brad are strong picks.
Viktor laforce Yeah, it’s a total shame that Rabbid didn’t even mention Lisa.
That game truly deserves more love.
Ehh, I think tragic protagonists are better when it isn't obvious they are going to be one. When it's in the title/subtitle of a game/story that the characters are supposed to have stuff to them, I honestly care less for what occurs.
I think Brad is the most tragic of all. He at least was trying to do the right thing, and is one of the best people in the setting just on virtue of not being a would-be rapist, but he’s a broken man in a broken world. The best any Lisa protagonist can hope for is bittersweet ending (looking at you, Beltboy).
12:22 Dammit, one of these days I won't be caught by surprise by your antics Rabbidluigi!
I really like the sad rock ballad in transition I wonder what it is from. Also awesome video.
The rock ballad is from Conker: Live and Reloaded. The song title is "Sad Jugga".
I'd say Zack Fair in Crisis Core is one of my favorite tragic heroes.
I'd pick Jack or subject delta from bioshock one and two. Jack learns his whole life is a lie and no matter the ending delta dies simply because of how much he loved eleanor.
I'm just absolutely shocked that the P3 Protag didn't show up
NOT SiIvaGunner But in a way, he got his happy ending, which was saving everyone. So less tragic, and more self sacrificial.
Beat me to the punch!
@@snekyboi2100 I agree. Tatsuya, on the other hand... it's an old game anyway
I'm kinda surprised there was no Lucas from Mother 3 on this list. That kid had it hard.
Tragic heroes are very, very interesting.
We ought to have more such writing.
How about a shoutout to the Drifter from Hyper Light Drifter. You're plopped into this bizarre post-apocalyptic world with a mysterious and incurable disease that's not so slowly killing you. You wonder about trying to find a cure without any real direction, just four directions to go in. You discover the horrors that have befallen the people of this world, slowly putting everything together through visuals alone and after everything you make your way to the final boss, defeat the corruption that was destroying the world and then... the Drifter starts bleeding. He falls to his knees and it suddenly becomes clear... he's not going to make it. The world is saved, yes, but its hero is left to die alone far from home and forgotten by the people who owe him everything.
Seriously play Hyper Light Drifter, it's so good!
Tatsuya and Makoto from Persona would like to have a word on tragedy for one getting the worst in the end and the other at the beginning before the start of their journey.
thanks for the dedicated content. without you, most top gaming videos would be boring. never change.
cole mcgrath would be a good candidate considering the way his powers came to fruition literally cause cataclysm, destroys many things he loves and even helps create the primary antagonist of the 1st 2 games and all the while the only way for him to destroy the main villain of the 1st 2 games is to either destroy a massive number of those who have powers including himself or actually replace the main villain u were meant to destroy to continue their path of destruction
"Fly me to the mooooon and let me play among the staaaaars."
Live a Live (Evil) = The character of Oersted. I will not go further, but his story is just heartbreaking.
You know it was a good topic when I agree with every single entry, and still can think of another list's worth of candidates. What you said about Max Payne has stuck in my mind though, a protagonist whose journey is begun by such tragedy, there is no way for them to recover. It doesn't happen often in games, but when it's there you remember.
I always thought link from BOTW was the most tragic. Imagine waking up with no memory and being told to risk your life anyway for people you don’t remember. Then being told of the bond and relationship you had with these people and the guilt that must come for not remembering the people that are supposed to be important to you. Or hell the fact link only remembers his relationship with Zelda and the champions with a handful of memories. Not his mother or father or any friends or family he had before. People expecting you to be someone you don’t remember. I can’t even imagine
And it looks like something is going to happen to his arm in the sequel. Yeah the series of Links are all pretty tragic in general but the most tragic ones that come to mind are the hero of Legend who saw his uncle die once and became a fugative in A link to the Past, and destroyed an island in Links awakening.
The hero of time who grew up an outcast and was tasked to save 2 worlds and all with nobody knowing about it and not being able to pass his skills to kin until twilight princess.
And the hero of the wild who was a failed survivor of a calamity with no memory of anything or anyone and is tasked to help his nation alone with few people alive that do remember him put him on a pedastel like Impa, King Dorephan and his younger Zora friends or blame him like the elderly Zora.
When he said “braid” my ptsd kicked in and instead I heard “raid shadow legends has hundred of customizable champions”
I’ve read enough of these comments to know Rabbid needs to do this topic again sometime in the future.
Where’s Lucas from mother 3
He said the n word he’s banned permanently
@@wienerschnitzel1739 Lies!
I know what you did you can’t hide it
@@wienerschnitzel1739 lucas would never say that im literally shaking rn
Luke Fon Fabre and Velvet Crowe from Tales of the Abyss and Tales of Berseria respectively.
Then again, JRPG's might count as cheating.
This list could have been nothing but JRPG protagonist so I'd agree that would probably be cheating
Still sucks Velvet didn't make it since I think behind James, she's actually the very definition of a tragic protagonist especially even with the journey throwing out how she gradually became just as bad her arch enemy and her final fate is super bittersweet. I think if rabbid was more invested in Tales, he would've added her.
@@xtiandg0914 So far of the Tales games I've done/currently doing, Velvet is the most tragic protagonist for sure.
Luke isn’t THAT tragic. Pretty much standard JRPG non-silent protag tragic. And like most Tales games the ending is pretty hopeful! Anyone in RL’s list is definitely sadder.
@@ugxsan Maybe not the most tragic, but still deserves a mention.
Honestly, the Princess from The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince is quite the tragic protagonist, she blinded the prince by clawing his eyes just because of being afraid of being seen, had to ask witch to let her transform, went on a journey with him in order to bring him to said witch to fix his eyes, caused a forest fire, sure, the prince got his sight back, but she could no longer turn into her princess form, and lost her singing voice.
I haven't watched the video yet, and these are my guesses that might be included...
Asura's Wrath
Nier
Kingdom Hearts
Megaman X (Yes, seriously)
Nope.
@@robertlehto4667 And the list is lesser because of it.
Mega man in general
Light gets betrayed by his best friend
Sigma goes rogue
Zero loses everything
Heck the world they live in gets flooded.
Wow.
@@openinginawe5518 Seriously. Megaman as a series has a surprising amount of lore and character depth that most people overlook. People bust their nuts that Dark Souls doesn't tell you anything about it's story, but then you bring up Megaman and people start laughing.
The Hero from Drawn To Life is my main example for this, and it's quite similar to the situation of Link shown here.
@NanoPhoenix Eyy! Greetings!
Didn't expect to see a Drawn to Life fan here.
@@antimatter3084 Welcome to the party!
Shadow of the Colossus, without a doubt in my mind. Poor Wander.
Luke and Asch from Tales of the Abyss. Yes both of them. When you know the game's story, you know why.
What's that song between entries called? I'm sure i remember that epic guitar solo from somewhere...
I was wondering the same thing
Can anyone tell me the music used for the transitions in this one? Can't see it in the description
Had a few on my end. One of them is from Advance Wars. Not the original trilogy, but in Days Of Ruin. This still has some comedy like the original, but this got real dark real fast. The one character is Brenner. He’s a really inspiring protagonist that helps out others and kept his duty as a soldier even when the world is in ruins. The mission that changed everything was the snow mission. The new mechanic of the game has you build up CO power... by putting the CO him/herself in a unit. The first time Waylon’s army blew up the tank with Brenner in it, I thought he was a goner until he radios saying to keep going. Once the mission ends, well... Greyfield basically orders a city to be nuked with Brenner in it, killing him. None of the other games have a protagonist die. For the most part, it was only the army. So seeing someone that has been in the journey and then dying, that really sucks. Though that gave Will the determination to lead and carry his banner, which made actual character development
And why wasn't Klonoa on the list?
Felix from golden sun was tragic because he was nearly killed, presumed dead, held hostage, had his parents held hostage, had to fight against his friends, fell off a lighthouse, was stranded on an island, continued to have to fight and eventually was tricked into almost murdering his parents.
So many tragic heroes that aren't in the list, ones who die notwithstanding.
One that comes to mind is Alucard, from Castlevania. Half-vampire and half-human, his father is Dracula himself and after the death of his loving mother his father went down into a spiral of destruction. Being immortal, Alucard will see all his human allies dying either of old age or fighting his father, living throughout the centuries with his cursed blood and fighting Dracula.
Ramza from Final Fantasy Tactics could also apply. He lived through a life of betrayal and conspiracy, lost many people dear to him, was against his own family and best friend, defeated a god and went down the history as a heretic and a villain despite his heroic acts.
Now on to some others who die (spoilers ahead, but I think everybody knows at this point)
the Persona 3 protagonist, who sacrifices his life as his soul becomes a seal to prevent a tragedy worse than Nyx to ever come to the world
Noctis from Final Fantasy XV, the "king of kings" who was actually a sacrificial lamb and plaything of the gods of Eos, destined to be immolated long before he was born
The entire Final Fantasy Type-0 class, in yet another world in which gods are jerks and people forget about those who die -- not only they died a grueling death in a world of war, but no-one will ever remember them
My theory in link’s awakening is that the people on the island are animals in real life
The secret ending has link happy and an eagle passing by that could be Marin as she stated in the game she wish to become a bird and fly as far as she can go
Also the part where her dad becomes a raccoon after eating a mushroom could suggest that even more imo
It could be more happy than a sad ending but who knows
It was a seagull, and it tied to a line of Marin specifically(that she would like to be a seagull so she could sear the sky and know other lands).
So I'm not sure
After Crisis Core/FFVII Zack deserves a place on this list.
A video on Top 5 hidden stories/hidden lore in video games would be cool! Games like Undertale, The Witches House and The Five nights at Freddys games have story details that aren't explicitly told to the player. You have to uncover the larger story based on bits and pieces spread throughout the game and they often rely you playing close attention to details and a good memory providing you don't just look them up.
Spoilers for Undertale and The Witches House below:
For example, in the witches house true ending you discover that you were playing as the witch all along and the person chasing you was an innocent girl you decieved.
Through Undertale's true pacifist and No mercy routes you uncover more and more about the human who fell before you. You find out that the player chose the name of this human and not the main character that the first human killed themself through buttercup poisoning in an effort in an attempt to free their new monster family and all the monsters by going through the barrier and taking the souls of humans. It is also implied through some lines of dialogue from asriel that they may have not had a happy life on the surface, then there's the whole gaster mystery and the question of just how much certain characters are aware of in terms of the resetting/time travel aspect of the game...
@Sea Biscuit Lol i get what your saying it wasn't the best example of a great game. I couldn't think of many on the spot tbh. I was thinking specifically of Undertale cus i love that game but i know there are plenty of other video games with hidden stories.
Klonoa.
What the hell Bandai?
Spoilers for number 4
The saddest thing about RDR2 is that everything John and Arthur go through counts for nothing. John couldn’t ever get away from violence
So... Who's gonna tell Rabbid that The Odyssey is not a tragedy?
The Sexy Brutale is fairly tragic, everything of the ending considered. I'd recommend the game as a whole though.
Of all the games I’ve played, I think the most tragic protagonist is Niko from the indie game OneShot. The basic plot is that Niko has been brought from another world to save the world of the game, and you the player are the God guiding them. I'm gonna have to spoil the ending to explain why it's so tragic, but if you're at all interested in the premise, I highly recommend giving it a shot (heh) and going in blind.
START OF SPOILERS:
You discover right at the end that, in order to save the world, Niko has to stay behind. So either you let Niko return home, letting the game world end and, assuming Niko remembers the adventure, leaving them with a ton of guilt; OR the world is (temporarily) saved, with Niko’s fate being unclear. There was a third ending added later which allows Niko to save the world and go home, but they witness a lot of tragedy along the way as the world is falling apart at the seams, and they still have to leave behind not only the friends they made in the game world, but also you, the one who’s guided them all this way. ...Did I mention that Niko’s a child?
So yeah, pretty tragic.
Oh, and if the ending to the first chapter of DeltaRune is implying what I think it is - that Kris is being possessed by the red soul (us) and is not cool with it - then I think they could be a good candidate too. Gotta wait for the full game to come out to know for sure, of course.
I should've known that I wouldn't be able to watch a video like this when I've got such a long list of classic games I've yet to try.
Samus. She has lost essentially everyone that's ever been important to her in her life and she has unwillingly commited mass genocide. All she has left are a few animal friends.
"Unwillingly" is a loose term here. Let's not mince words: Samus is stone cold.
@@Darxide23 not really, it's the same if you ignore it. She lost her parents and the whole colony she grew up with. She lost all the chozo, she lost all her bounty hunter friends in prime 3. And she lost the baby.
@@NorthernWind0 she is, but she ultimately killed all the metroids because she thought it would be for the good of the universe.
@@clickycal Well, yeah, but that's not unwilling genocide. I agree though, the loss of her parents and Old Bird and whatnot are absolutely tragic, and she lives every day trying to save the galaxy they wanted to believe in. That's sad enough on its own.
@@NorthernWind0 You were forced to wipe out the last 2 Elysians in Prime 3 in self defense. And you and Rundas pretty much wiped out the remainder of the Reptilicus, too
Zack from FF7 crisis core. Man was liveing the dream had the job he always wanted, had a great Girlfrend, good friends and mentors he looked up to and then it all fell apart as his mentors betray and go insane on him, his company leaves him for dead as experiment materials for a mad scientist, he is left in a coma for 5 years and finaly when he almost makes it home the private army of who he used to work for kills him just for defending his friend Cloud who was also experimented on by their former employer. He lost everything but he died what he always wanted to be , a hero. One that saved his friend from being a lab rat and gave him a chance to live.
That reaching in the nba joke belongs in a top 5 rabbidluigis punchline vid
Okay the links awakening one is sad but what about mipha from botw. She had sn unshakeable love for link that went unprofessed where she then was killed via those most prolonged method, and forced to lament her failures for a hundred years
Henry Knippling While her story (and the story of any of the other Champions, really), is quite tragic, I wouldn’t really classify her as a “protagonist.”
Crono Sapien she and the champions fit the description sure you can’t play as her but that doesn’t make her not a protagonist. She has a vital role as well. So I’d say it counts
Henry Knippling She’s definitely a protagonist, but not THE protagonist, or the central character that drives the story forward. Hence why I put “protagonist” in quotes. Otherwise this list would just be filled with JRPG party members rather than player characters.
Crono Sapien okay but the list isn’t top 5 tragic playable protagonists, it’s top 5 tragic protagonists, but your point is still fair
I would also say Noble 6 from Halo Reach. From the moment the game was announced, anyone familiar with halo knew that story does not have a happy end (it was first described as the "Fall of Reach") and the protagonist was not making it out alive but to compound it, every victory for them in that game was met with another dead team mate or massive loss for humanity until even in their greatest heroic accomplishment, they are left stranded to die and ultimately, never see just how big an impact that last act made to winning the war and ultimately saving humanity from extinction because without them, none of the other games would have happened and Chief never would have saved humanity multiple times over. Also, not a single character and more an underlying tragic character trope, I kinda love the sci fi trope of a superhuman badass hero who is forced into circumstances that cost their humanity in exchange for making them the ultimate force for humanity's survival. Think the underlying backstories for Master Chief or the Doomslayer. Not really tragic characters, but badass characters molded by tragedy and a certain stripping of humanity into their badassness.
Also unrelated but Aigis and Protag from Persona 3 because spoilers
I would’ve put Zero from Mega Man, and the main character from Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky on this list.
"...Switches up the music for the Face Shrine from a few simple bleeps and bloops..." The original should've just used the "Southern Face Shrine" theme for both, honestly.
(Can we also get an "HM" for Marcus Fenix? The guy's lost friends in literally every game, especially the third one where he lost "his brother" and watched his own dad die before his very eyes, as well as, depending on the player's choices, losing his son later on down the line...)
My pick is Makoto Yuki/Minato Arisato from Persona 3 (though the final decision was his own choice)
I just *knew* James would be #1. Such a tragic mess of a human being, trying desperately to find some kind of atonement.
My list
1. Klonoa / Door to Phantomile
2. Arthur Morgan
3. John Marston
4. Commander Shepard / Mass Effect
5. Dom / Gears of War
Another great video Rabbid! Keep up the good work!
I consider 9S from Nier Automata to be a pretty tragic protagonist. While he does technically get a happy ending in Ending E, the amount of shit he goes through in Route C is utterly heartbreaking. Not to mention there is also what his purpose to 2B is which I won’t spoil but is also told rather vaguely in the game.
I'm a bit bummed out that Lucas from Mother 3 wasn't in the list but at least he's in the intro. If you think about it, he's the Nintendo version of steven universe. Both have dead moms, emotionally damaged dads, and had to save basically the universe/world.
Velvet Crowe from Tales of Berseria. That is all.
Also the P3 protagonist and Sigurd from FE4. Though the latter I understand cause Japan exclusive and all that
I honestly believe that Kiryu from the the Yakuza series is the most tragic character, having to watch his close ones die in his life (i.e. his once former best friend, Akira Nishikiyama) and constantly getting pulled to the yakuza affairs, just wishing to have a peaceful life with his adoptive daughter and his orphanage.
Just finished an English Essay on tragedy and the Tragic Heroes of Shakespearean Theatre, this was perfect timing!
If I don't see Sigurd or Dimitri in this list I'm gonna yeet
If I do see Cloud Strife on this list, I'll call BS.
Can't argue with that.
Prepare to yeet I guess
You forgot Edelgard.
@@RedNM Yes, Edelgard especially!
I'd say Talion from Shadow of Mordor/War had it pretty rough.
Lost his wife and son, banished from death, betrayed by his allies and left to fight a war alone for decades until finally being reduced to a Ring Wraith...
Might have wanted to wait to use this topic for a Top 10, Rabbid.
Caim and Zero from Drakengard 1 and 3 are pretty tragic considering I don't think they get any happy conclusions from the several endings of those games.
seeing footage from KH3 and TWEWY right after each other made me happy
Damnit, Rabbid, you keep dangling that Planescape: Torment Carrot, just talk about it already!
I’m glad there was a clip of Mother 3 in the beginning, acknowledging how sad that entire game is😢
That was a great video! I was expecting Soec Ops: The Line and was pleasantly surprised it wasn't there.
I think Arthur from RDR2 was a good tragic Protag too, every thing about that man just makes me so sad for him
Bradley from Lisa is probably my best example of a tragic protagonist
Velvet from Tales of Berseria
Good choice
-Specter Knight
-Isaac (BoI)
Uhh I can't think of a third to round this list out. I'd suggest the protagonist of Hollow Knight but I don't think he really gives a shit.
Hey Rabbidluigi! I think it's time for a second video of tragic characters.
I never saw Link's awakening as a tragic story. Since Koholint Island is just the focus of the Wind Fish's dream and maybe Link's it would make sense that most other characters in the game have no free will and are simply the manifestations of the subconscious. Their only important trait is that they affect canonically real characters emotionally and maybe bring insight or creative thought. Link may not have been the only one caught up in the Windfish's dream, because there may have been ocean wildlife present that fell asleep as well. I like the theory that Marin is actually a seagull and you free her at the end of the game. The creepiest thing in the game to me is undoubtedly the nightmares. I think that these may be canonically real in a way because of the way they break the fourth wall of the dream and keep the Windfish from waking up. As to what they are, the best thing I can think up is that they're a manifestation of Demise's curse and are able to posses living things and trap their consciousness in dreams. Their goal may have been to use the Windfish's body for evil. It seems like the Windfish was not doing this in the real world, which suggests that it was resisting to some degree if my theory is correct.
Sigurd is the top of my list beyond a doubt. Solid vid fho
Ok. Here's an idea. Top 5/10 fictional ecosystems from video games. Let's see what you make of that.
Very surprised Wander didn't make it onto this list.
Dead Man’s Gun is such a great song. On par with Far Away in the context of Red Dead Redemption.
Not just in Link’s Awakening, but Link is a tragic hero in general, along with Zelda herself. The pair are cursed to always reincarnate along with Ganon, doomed to repeat an endless cycle of death, destruction and bloodshed. What makes it worse is that there seems to be no way for them to achieve a final victory; all they can do is delay the inevitable and try their best to minimise the damage caused by the forces of evil.
Besides them, Doom Guy/Doom Slayer is pretty tragic in his own right. It is implied in DOOM 2016 that Doom Guy is an immortal being from another world, who swore revenge against the forces of Hell after they betrayed and slaughtered his people. Now he is trapped in an endless battle against the legions of Hell, his soul too damaged to attain ascension, never stopping, never relenting, never resting. As awesome as he is in action, knowing that Doom Guy may never find peace is just kind of sad.
What was the music used in the video before starting the list
MASSIVE SPOILERS AHEAD: YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
I honestly think Klonoa: Door to Phantomile's "It was a dream" twist hits harder than Link's Awakening's for one simple reason, scale. Is it bad that Link found out the island he was supposedly saving was all the Wind Fish's dream and saving it would mean that Koholint would vanish? Yes, absolutely. But consider this. Klonoa believed all his life that he was just an ordinary kid living in a small wind village with his best friend and grandfather until he went on his grand adventure to find the Moon Pendant and save the world from Ghadius and his nightmares. Everything seems like your standard platformer until about halfway through the game when Ghadius's henchman Joka destroys Klonoa's house and kills his grandfather while he watches helplessly. If that wasn't bad enough, he finds out after he beats the big bad that the person that he thought was his best friend had given him fake memories and that Klonoa was never from that world at all, and that he was to be sent back now that peace had returned. Imagine being told that every single memory of your life that you can recall was all fake, lies. Jesus, I still feel bad for the poor kid to this very day.
To be honest, the "scale" aspect isn't really important because the nature of the tragedy is completely different in both cases. Link's tragedy is about taking a destructive choice towards people he grew to care because of his own resolve and beliefs, while Klonoa's is about being an unwitting pawn into something that surpassed him from the moment he was born.
Torque from The Suffering games was thrown in prison onto death row for a crime he may or may not have committed, depending on our choices as him through the games. Is he a monster? Was he framed? All we know is, his wife and two kids are dead, and he blacked out the events. And now, on Carnate Island, he needs to survive...
Just started the video but I’m gonna call it, the main protagonist of persona 3 is gonna be on here.
Shit guess I was wrong but I won’t delete the comment and will accept my L
Ash Crimson from King of Fighters is not my favorite protagonist, he is bit of a jerk, but his death really made me sad.
Well, KoF has plenty tragic non protagonists. And Iori could qualify too but he's also an asshole
There's also K'dash too, He has no childhood memory and has no real name due to some clone addicted syndicate kidnapped him when he was a child.
@@rogankane6901 To be fair, K'Dash also has Kula and Maxima. So for all his shitty background things are going better for him. That's what Ash has over them, his end result is just crap.
@@scissorman44 Yeah... but... have you seen official invitation team's ending in KOF14?
Would Naked Snake/Big Boss have been too obvious, given that RabbidLuigi uses a scene from MGS3 in his outro? I feel like Naked Snake is a very tragic protagonist.
I believe it was said somewhere in a Zelda game that the chosen ones destined to wield the Triforce are 'Slaves to their destiny and to the Goddesses will'. That or I'm fucking crazy and just made that up.
Have you thought about top 5 real life parallel's? like how some game protaganists or side NPC's parallel realistic struggles just turned up to a different degree, for example Spec ops the line takes the PTSD struggle and turns it up, or The FNAF series started out as a parallel to the Chuckie Cheese murders ? Sometimes reality is stranger then fiction or makes the best stories. Someone else that is more creative then me can probably embelish the idea a bit more and flesh it out. Have a great day all :)
Nothing about Wander from Shadow of the Colossus? His girl is taken from him, he must become a mass murderer, he has no joy in what he does, he loses his only companion... he goes from good guy with good life to more monster than monsters. And that's BEFORE he gets his "reward"!