I imagine it wouldn't be uncommon to have some favorite male characters since we've had many good (and bad) ones over the years. What are some that you would call your favorite?
Here's mine!
- Venom Snake aka Big Boss (Metal Gear Solid V)
- Dante Sparda (Devil May Cry 1-5)
- Vergil Sparda (Devil May Cry 1-5)
- Connor Kenway aka Ratonhnhaké:ton (Assassin's Creed 3/Assassin's Creed 4 : Black Flag's Aveline DLC)
- Gohan (Dragon Ball Z)
If we’re talking protagonist, I really love Corvo Attano from Dishonored. He was so fucking cool to me, even as a silent protagonist.
NPC wise, probably Astarion from BG3, or Garrus Vakarian from Mass Effect.
Joel Miller, Hancock, Arthur Morgan, Nick Valentine, Big Man, Bill (the last of us)
Kiryu Kazuma
Goro Majima
Dante
Vergil
Leon S Kennedy
Luis Sera
We all love Kim Kitsuragi
Geralt from the first Witcher (I prefer the lean look to the bulked up look he was given in later games)
John Marston from first RDR
Arthur Morgan from RDR2
Generally, I avoid games where I can’t play as a woman, however these guys I vibed with enough to finish the games they feature in.
Edit: Also Origin Astarion in BG3, but I haven’t finished this playthough yet.
Edit2: I just wanted to return and add Joel Miller from Last of Us. I didn’t get very far in the game myself. I just couldn’t get into the gameplay, but it’s one of my husband’s favourite games and I feel very familiar with the character through him. I think Joel is a great complex character.
Cal Kestis
Nathan Drake (Uncharted), Desmond Miles and Edward Kenway (Assassin’s Creed), Jr. (Xenosaga), and Garrus Vakarian (Mass Effect)
Astarion from BG3; Lev from The Last of Us Part 2; Micolash and Djura from Bloodborne; Patches from the Soulsborne series; The Riddler, but specifically the version from the Arkham games; Wheatley from Portal 2; Silver, Wally and N from Pokémon; Hanzo and Genji from Overwatch
fenris from dragon age 2, dorian from dragon age inquisition, astarion from baldur’s gate 3, terra from kingdom hearts, thanatos from hades, balthier from final fantasy xii, thancred from final fantasy xiv, genji from overwatch, mikleo from tales of zestiria, sylvain and felix from fire emblem three houses
Cal Kestis (Star Wars: Jedi fallen order), Arthur Morgan (red dead 2), Nick valentine, danse, & deacon (Fo4), link (Zelda), varric (dragon age), Mordin (mad effect), and Jin Sakai (ghosts of Tsushima)
Emet-Selch, Leon S Kennedy, Hanzo Hasashi/Scorpion, N Harmonia, Wyll(BG3). These are just off the top of my head.
I love Jin from ghost of Tsushima, Arthur Morgan is a no brainer, I really liked eivor from ac Valhalla
Male video game characters in no real order:
Caleb (Blood)
Corvo Attano (Dishonored)
Crypto (Destroy All Humans)
Dante (Devil May Cry)
Doomslayer
Duke Nukem
Leon S Kennedy (Resident Evil 4)
K’ (King of Figthers)
Kain (Legacy of Kain)
Raziel (Legacy of Kain)
Reptile (Mortal Kombat)
Postal Dude (From Postal 2 and onwards. Not Postal 1)
Ryu (Street Figther)
Solid Snake
Terry (Fatal Fury)
Link, Hank from DBH (and Connor, but I like Hank more), Khelgar and Sand from NWN2. Sylvain (yeah, yeah, I know…) and Linhardt from FE3H, Ephraim.
With all the success of BG3, they should really make a Dragonlance game, because 99% of those male characters would make this list in a heartbeat. (In case you couldn’t tell by the NWN, I love DND style things lol.)
Arthur Morgan
Leon S Kennedy
Edward Kenway
Astarion
Zegram and Deego from Rogue Galaxy, Lee from Tekken, Vincent Valentine from FF7, Solid Snake from mgs 1&2, Piers Nivans from Resident Evil 6, and I could go on, but I won’t.
Link from the Legend of Zelda
Edit: clarification
Roxas, Axel, Riku, Terra, and Ventus from Kingdom Hearts, Vamp, David Emmerich, Hal Emmerich, Revolver Ocelot, and Raiden from Metal Gear, Thel Vadam from Halo, Phoenix Wright and Miles Edgeworth, and Seedos, Willy Builder, and Professor Pester from Viva Pinata.
Ah yes a person of discerning taste. Big Boss from MGSV is my all-time fave too. <3
Also if we’re talking hotness, playing Rise of the Ronin right now and it’s a feast for the eyeballs. I can’t decide which guy is the hottest. They’re everywhere, the hot guys!
Hm, let me think about it…
Definitely Malik from the original Assassin’s Creed. Sergeant Randall from Call of Duty 2 and Montez from Battlefield 3. Radi Jaeger from the first Valkyria Chronicles game and Ocelot from the Metal Gear franchise. Matt Horner of Starcraft 2 and… i think I have a type somewhere…
Geralt from the Witcher
Astarion from BG3 (current obsession 🩸)
Minsc from BG 1, 2, and 3, I think he’s hilarious!
Vaas from Far Cry 3
Corvo Attano & Daud from Dishonored
Deacon St. John from Days Gone
Kratos and Thor from the God of War Franchise
Gordon Freeman from the Half-life series
Godzilla
Joel from TLOU, Leon in RE6, Cid & Rufus in FF7, Zell from FF8, Balthier from FF12, Astarion from BG3, Raiden in MGS4, aaand I’m sure I’m forgetting a ton of them right now.
Theo (Celeste)
Gale (Baldur’s Gate 3)
Willy (Starfew Valley)
Ghirahim (Skyward Sword)
Arthur (RDR2)
John (both RDR games)
Garrus (Mass Effect)
Kaiden (Mass Effect)
Nick Rye (Far Cry 5)
Brynjolf (Skyrim)
Henry (Firewatch)
And I would like to make it known that this is not based on liking them as people so this is a different category of favorite because their actors do a damn fine job and their script is decently well-handled enough that they’re interesting to me – All three Seed brothers from Far Cry 5.
Honestly I have a soft spot for all the Assassin’s Creed protags, male or female, but I agree with you OP, i think Connor is also my favourite.
Joel (Last of Us)
Cal Kestis (Stars War)
Alan Wake (game of same name)
Raiden (Metal Gear, he’s in a couple but I’m specifically thinking of him in Rising)
Kratos and Atreus/Loki (God of War 4 and 5)
arthur morgan RDR2, joel TLOU, jin sakai ghost of tsushima
that’s probably it, i don’t remember others
Soap from the MW series. Both iterations.
Price from MW… both times, lol.
Mega Man and X… grew up with em.
Future Trunks from DBZ.
Fox McCloud from… well, Star Fox.
Handsome Jack. Yes, he’s a villain, but he’s my favorite bad guy of all time.
There’s more but they’re at the top.
https://preview.redd.it/nhvsrthg7axc1.png?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cdebc8458ee3f97936c83d843c1787846b6bd9d3
Shannan from FE4. Swordsmen with long black hair GRAHHHH and PURPLE CLOTHES. And his art in the mobile game jesus christ, boob windows with skintight bodysuits (male) my beloved.
Also I like his whole lamenting failing Sigurd and raising his son in his stead, and Balmung is probably my favorite video game sword. But yeah mostly his giant pecs.
Hmm, good question. Probably easier to name favorite female characters. The first ones that come to mind are Kaidan Alenko from Mass Effect, Reyes Vidal from Mass Effect: Andromeda, Booker DeWitt from Bioshock: Infinite, and Anders from Dragon Age 2.
Obviously Crono (Chrono Trigger), Cloud (FFVII), Auron (FFX).
Hancock, Nick Valentine, MacCready (in both his foul-mouthed Fallout 3 kid version and and reformed 4 version).
Alucard in Symphony of the Night.
Brynjolf in Skyrim, I LOVE that guy.
Pretty much all the male party members in BG3.
Arthur morgan
Solid snake
Venom snake
Raiden
Viktor Vektor in Cyberpunk 2077 is my all- time favorite male character. Also Jackie, & sometimes Johnnie.
Nick Valentine, MaCready, Hancock, and Preston in Fo4. Razum-dar, Loremaster Celerus, & Jorunn the Skald-King in ESO.
For playable male characters, I prefer those we get to customize. I have 1 in CP 2077, another in Fallout 4, and several in Sims 4.
Laphicet from Tales of Berseria. He’s my sweet boy and I love him.
It takes a lot for me to like a male character. I can count every fictional male character I like on two hands and that’s across at least fifty properties and fandoms.
But Laphicet is probably my favorite. He’s just a sweet boy! Then there’s also Garret from the Thief series, Brady from Fire Emblem Awakening, Garp from the live action One Piece, Jonathan Reid from Vampyr, Thistle from Dungeon Meshi, Abel Nightroad from Trinity Blood, Jorgen from The Old Republic, Zaeed from Mass Effect, Anders from Dragon Age, and umm… I think that’s it.
That’s not “some.” That’s every male fictional character I care about. I’m sure I missed some but they aren’t coming to mind.
Goro Majima (Yakuza Series), Kiryu Kazuma (Yakuza Series), Monkey (Enslaved: Odyssey to the West), Kratos (God of War Series), Zegram (Rogue Galaxy), EMIYA (Archer) (Fate Series), Gohan (Dragon Ball Z), Trevor Belmont (Castlevania Animated Series), Issac (Castlevania Animated Series), Olrox (Castlevania Nocturne), Batman, Ryuji Sakamoto (Persona 5), Tanjiro Kamodo (Demon Slayer), Kyōjurō Rengoku (Demon Slayer), Akaza (Demon Slayer), and many many many more.
Phoenix Wright, love of my life. Takemura from Cyberpunk, Astarion from BG3, Nathan Drake, Ezio Auditore.
Non-video game favourites. I LOVE The Hound from Game of Thrones/ASOIAF. Scar from Fullmetal Alchemist. Seto Kaiba.
As somebody already mentioned corvo I love the first game outsider and daud
Kratos from God of War
Leon s Kennedy resident evil, Krauser, Luis, Ethan, Jack baker
I like sean from life is strange 2
Makoto persona 3 reload and aragaki, ken
Deacon from days gone
Dante devil may cry
Cloud ff and Noctis, barret and ignis
Joel from last of us
Handsome Jack borderlands love zer0 as well, torgue
I love Ellis from left for dead 2
Connor from Detroit become human
Link OOT, majora and twilight princess
Arthur Morgan
Goro akechi and maruki persona 5
Reever fable 2 (he’s meh in 3)
Guildmaster fable anniversary and thunder
Alan wake
Jimmy hopkins and johnny Vincent bully
Lee the walking dead
Jack I believe his name was bioshock 1 protagonist
booker DeWitt as well
I like the riddler in Arkham
Asylum and the scarecrow
Z pokemon
I like death from darksiders 2
Could go all night but I got food