10 Best RPG Characters Of All Time
One character per franchise. Let's go.
Filling out a list of the best RPG characters of all time is a rough job but I’ve independently decided I’m up to the task.
Of course, there are so many amazing characters I wish I could fit on here so please put your picks in the comments section and throw some likes to your favourites.
We’ve included protagonists, party members, and companions who snagged our hearts and charmed us through their complexity, character progression, and general badassery.
Whether human, vampire, alien, immortal, or engram, these characters dazzled us enough to make the list.
10. Garrus Vakarian - Mass Effect
We’re starting with a relatively innocuous crowd-favourite as I’d imagine there weren't too many people who played Mass Effect and came away from it without Garrus being your love interest or best bro.
While I’d plant myself in the latter camp there, Garrus Vakarian is the Turian sniper, previously of the Citadel cops, who endeared himself to all of us by doing something very basic; being a chill, interesting badass who wasn’t trying too hard.
BioWare does something with Garrus very few developers are keen to do with their suite of companions, and that is, create an actually relatable character who doesn’t need to lean back on a stereotype, a larger than life persona, or that typical Nathan Drake mischievous charming rogue shtick. Instead, Garrus is delightfully understated.
In a ship wall-to-wall with giant personalities, and without discounting his introduction in Mass Effect 2 as the deeply cool infiltrator operating under the name ‘Archangel’, Garrus is just an all out chill dude. He’s exceptional in a fight, he has his own strong moral footing and deep loyalties, and he bloody loves Shepard.
Games give us plenty of divisive companions and heroes with grand callings, sometimes it’s refreshing to team up with a good dude wrapped up in wild events that force him to second guess his binary view of justice.
And the ME3 scene where you shoot cans with him high up in the Presidium and you can choose to miss on purpose wherein he’ll say “I’m Garrus Vakarian and this is now my favourite spot on the Citadel” is just excellent.