10. Silas Greaves - Call Of Juarez: Gunslinger
UbisoftSilas Greaves is an old fashioned Wild West bounty hunter with a fondness for booze and telling tales. Silas' story is one that seems to be made as its told, but one truth is certainly clear. He's killed a lot of men. Not just the odd causality from a stray bullet in a gunfight and a few bounties, either. Scores of gunslingers and warriors and even entire gangs meet their end at the end of Silas Greaves' gun. At least, that's the story he's spinning. Silas Greaves has a tendency to over-embellish at times, so when he says he's surrounded by an army of Apaches, perhaps it was really more like a dozen. It's not unbelievable that he would exaggerate his exploits n order to build up his Western legend. Though the exact magnitude of his kill count may remain unclear, the nugget of truth we can gather from his tale is that he has killed more than his fair share of people. Liquored up and surrounded by a few keen listeners in a dusty saloon, he's cordial, charming and even funny at times. From the player's perspective, he's a relentless killer capable of putting down entire gangs at the drop of a hat. This is unsurprising, considering that this is an arcade shooter, where over the top violence is rewarded with a numerical score. What makes Call of Juarez: Gunslinger an interesting beast is its self-awareness. Most arcade-style experiences opt for a very light story, but Gunslinger is very narrative-driven, causing ludonarrative dissonance to rear its ugly head once more. What saves the story of Silas Greaves from being yet another example of careless characterisation is how the hero acknowledges how far gone he is. In the later stages of the story, he beings to question the killing of hundreds (or perhaps just dozens) of people all for the sake of revenge against just one man. For that, Call of Juarez: Gunslinger deserves an opening spot on this list, not for being guilty of the trope, but for subverting it.