Luke Skywalker (Star Wars Battlefront)
Maybe it’s cheating to add in Luke, but we just don’t care. With Star Wars back in the forefront thanks to that pretty awesome movie, the original trilogy is washing the stink off the prequels to bring the franchise back to where it belongs.
After Return of the Jedi showed that its lead character had become a Jedi Master, Battlefront lets us wield his power. Plenty of games have let you play as a Jedi, but controlling Luke gives you that feeling of power that you had when you were 10 and just waving a stick around. You may play as Luke a bit more cruelly than he would, but you’re still the hero who brought the galaxy out of darkness. Gaming is all about wish fulfillment, and wrecking shit as the guy who brought balance to the Force is a wish we can all get behind.
Sam (Until Dawn)
In every horror movie, there’s always that one character who viewers grow attached to. They’re the one meant to be enough like the other characters for you to dislike them while also being identifiable to the viewer so they don’t want a grisly fate to befall them. With Until Dawn, that character is our very own Sam.
Until Dawn is filled with characters and tropes out the wazoo, but Sam was the closest thing to normal in that nutso game. Her kind nature was endearing, even during the worst moments of the game, and her bravery and cleverness make you want to keep her alive. Even though the game is centered around these eight friends, she’s arguably the star of the whole show, and that alone makes her worth saving over everyone else.
Loaderbot (Tales from the Borderlands)
Borderlands has quickly become one of the biggest breakout gaming franchises, and a lot of that can be attributed to its odd, yet likable cast of characters. The series’ newest success story is Loaderbot, which may set the new bar for instantly quotable robots in games.
We could explain why Loaderbot is great, or we could just show you:
Who can hate a robot that has existential dread, but does it so hilariously?
Nick Valentine (Fallout 4)
Fallout 4 centers around a person removed from time, and in Nick Valentine, players find a brother in arms. His brain’s been around for 200+ years from before the Wasteland, and even though he was confused as hell upon waking up, Nick eventually became Diamond City’s private investigator.
Everything about Valentine screams film noir, from his get up to the way he walks and speaks. It’s to the point where every time he shows up, a black and white filter should go over the screen and smooth jazz should play. All of the Fallout 4 companions are great, but Valentine is one who feels like he has tangible history in the world outside of when they first come across the player. The man just oozes swagger, and combined with his skills as a detective and hacker, he’s one character you’ll always want to have around.
Yennefer (Witcher 3)
The past two Witcher games were centered on gaming’s most cat-eyed hero Geralt searching for his lost love, Yennfer of Vengerberg. After all that time that she spent trying to get in contact with him and on the run from warring countries, the two finally reunite, and she’s nearly as deadly as him.
Yennefer is, in short, a badass unwilling to take anyone’s shit. That’s pretty much a given, since she’s a powerful sorceress, but her skills make her very different from Geralt and Ciri. Her necromancy and mastery of magic make her vital in Geralt’s search for Ciri and fight against the Wild Hunt. Yennefer is more than just a romance option for Geralt and could probably handle a solo adventure on her own.
Max Caulfield (Life is Strange)
A lot of games this year (okay, nearly all of them) were centered on its lead protagonist answering a higher calling. They’re destined to save the world and have to leave everything behind just for the greater good. While Life is Strange certainly presents that option to you during the tail end of the game, its lead hero Max doesn’t care about that so much as she does just saving her friend.
In stepping into Max’s shoes, players find themselves in control of a caring, down to earth hero who always tried to do the right thing. Even with her abilities of time manipulation, Max uses them for the benefit of others and not herself (usually). The choices presented to her were tough, but they never made her whine or complain about her situation, just steel her resolve and get on with things. Just her resolve alone makes her one worthy hero. That, and her awesome taste in music.
Olympia Vale (Halo 5)
Halo 5 aims to be a big universe changing game for the franchise, and nowhere is that more apparent than with Fireteam Osiris. A mixture of four different branches of the Human military, Osiris is comprised of characters found only in the expanded universe stuff.
Fans are already familiar with Nathan Fillion’s ODST turned Spartan Buck, Locke was the star of the Nightfall miniseries, Tanaka first made her appearance in the Halo comics, and Vale first showed up in the novel Hunters in the Dark. Vale’s job in Osiris is to translate the Elite language, but she’s more than just a walking Wikipedia. Her brains and curiosity in the in-game dialogue end up helping Osiris figure just what the hell is going on in the game before everyone else does. Her skills in and out of battle help humanity figure out the goal of the Guardians. If this gaming juggernaut is going to bring more expanded universe stuff going forward, Vale’s a great example of how to do it.
Cayde-6 (Destiny: The Taken King)
Just in case we didn’t make this clear when we told you that Cayde-6 was the man: CAYDE-6. IS. THE MAN. Well, robot. But same rule still applies. I mean, c’mon, he’s voiced by Nathan Fillion, the George Clooney of voice acting. Has the guy ever voiced someone who wasn’t The Man?
Cayde is no exception, and thanks to the increased emphasis on story with The Taken King gives him a chance to shine as the Guardian’s ally. Here’s hoping he sticks around for the next game.
Cassie Cage (Mortal Kombat X)
Gaming franchises built around fighting are generally lacking on characterization and focused more on punching people into paste, but the Mortal Kombat series is a different beast. Mortal Kombat X has a surprisingly deep and involving story that spans across decades of continuity like it’s a very violent comic book, and like other comics, it introduces brand new characters.
MKX is a game all about legacies, and no one’s got a bigger one to uphold than Cassie Cage. As the daughter of Johnny and Sonya, she leads fellow offspring Takeda (Kenshi’s son), Jacqui (Jax’s daughter), and Kung Jin (Lao’s cousin) through the Netherrealm and back to save the world. If that weren’t enough, she has to find her own place in the world being caught between her dad’s fame and mom’s by the book mentality. While she’s compelling on a story level, gameplay is where she truly shines, combining the best aspects of her parents to create one badass character.
Evie Frye (Assassin’s Creed Syndicate)
Let’s be real here: Evie Frye sort of needed to happen for Assassin’s Creed after the backlash from Unity. While there have been previous playable female Assassins in other games, they were confined to the smaller scale games on handhelds. Evie’s the first one to be fully acknowledged by the canon (sorry, Shao Jun and Aveline), and is thankfully easy to animate.
Even though she shares the spotlight with her twin brother Jacob, Evie is a bit more of a fun and interesting character to play. Her investment in the lore of the series will be of particular interest to anyone who plays this series for that exact same reason, and her quips with Jacob are a particular highlight. Whether she’s alone or interacting with the various historical figures, Evie’s a fantastic character and a standout of great heroes from this year in gaming.
Who was your favorite gaming hero from this year? Let us know in the comments below.
About the author
