03-09-2015, 11:06 PM
I think the best kind of protagonist is one you like right off the bat, or one you grow to like. Take for example the character I use as my Avatar, Haseo. The dude starts off in his series of games being harsh and uncaring, but if you watched the anime that the game is connected to you know why. This allows you to have a feeling of understanding, but still a little bit of disdain for the character as well. Even not watching the anime, you find out what happens during the game, so at one point you will get that feeling. Slowly as time goes on through the three games you play Haseo as though, he grows kinder, to the point where he let's a character take their frustrations out on him, which is something he never would have done in the start of the game. I guess what I'm really getting at, is that the best protagonist, is one with great character development, and for me, the best one, or at least the one I've come to like the most is Haseo.
That said, sometimes you can feel for a protagonist that never speaks, like Chrono from chrono trigger or even for me, Toan from Dark Cloud. I think the reason I feel for these kinds of characters is because they never speak but you see them and who they are through their actions which is what makes them likable.
I think it also helps to have a character in a long game, or in a series of games so that they grow on you, even if you don't always realize it. Nathan Drake comes to mind when I think about protagonists like that. I couldn't stand him in the first game, but by the end of the third, I found him to be one of my favorite characters. Sometimes changing a character helps as well. Jak for example, is a character I never cared about as much until after he spoke in Jak 2 and by the end of Jak 3, he also was one of my favorite protagonists.
I guess there's a lot to consider, but it helps if you enjoy the character at some point, even if not right off the bat.
That said, sometimes you can feel for a protagonist that never speaks, like Chrono from chrono trigger or even for me, Toan from Dark Cloud. I think the reason I feel for these kinds of characters is because they never speak but you see them and who they are through their actions which is what makes them likable.
I think it also helps to have a character in a long game, or in a series of games so that they grow on you, even if you don't always realize it. Nathan Drake comes to mind when I think about protagonists like that. I couldn't stand him in the first game, but by the end of the third, I found him to be one of my favorite characters. Sometimes changing a character helps as well. Jak for example, is a character I never cared about as much until after he spoke in Jak 2 and by the end of Jak 3, he also was one of my favorite protagonists.
I guess there's a lot to consider, but it helps if you enjoy the character at some point, even if not right off the bat.