10 Hugely Loveable Gaming Bosses We Didn't Want To Kill

5. Steve Burnside - Resident Evil Code: Veronica

Steve Burnside is one of the most tragic characters in the entire Resident Evil series, a prickly but well-meaning inmate of Rockfort Island who Claire Redfield meets and forms an increasingly friendly partnership with throughout the game. Steve saves Claire on occasion and helps out with odd tasks, and in return she helps him kill his zombified father in a moment of sheer panic, but both ultimately end up being captured by Alexia, and Steve is injected with the T-Veronica virus. Steve turns into a grotesque, green, Tyrant-esque creature who nevertheless is still somewhat recognisable as Steve, kick-starting a mini-boss fight of sorts as he tries to hack Claire to pieces with an axe. It is impossible to fight Steve, and trying to do so will result in your death after about two hits: you have to run away from him until you manage to lock yourself inside a cell, away from Steve's advances. However, one of Alexia's tentacles breaks into the cell to try and kill Claire, and so Steve breaks through the bars and, fighting his transformation, cuts away the tentacles. Steve ends up being mortally wounded by the tentacle, though, and transforms back into his human form as he begins to expire. Claire briefly comforts him in a horribly acted and hilariously cheesy exchange (ending with the impossible-to-take-seriously "I love you...Clai...re...") before he dies, and Claire breaks down into hysterics. The budding romance between Claire and Steve may not have been totally convincing, but we sure as Hell felt bad when a genuinely good guy like Steve bit the bullet to save Claire's life. We may not have been the result of his death directly, but he's the one grotesque monster boss in the Resident Evil games that we truly wished we could have saved.