10 Video Game Characters Better Than EVERYONE Expected
9. Sunny - Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
Introducing child characters into distinctly adult-skewing franchises can often be a recipe for disaster - Sherry Birkin in Resident Evil 2, anyone? - and so there was some justified concern when Metal Gear Solid 4 was announced to prominently feature a 7-year-old girl, Sunny.
The daughter of Olga Gurlukovich, Sunny is a child prodigy computer programmer held in the care of Otacon, who helps Naomi Hunter develop the FOXALIVE virus which is ultimately used to destroy the Patriots' AIs.
While the potential for a character like Sunny to be an obnoxiously precocious irritation rather than an organic addition to the franchise is high, Hideo Kojima clearly knew what he was doing here.
For starters, Sunny thankfully isn't playable nor does she get directly involved in the game's action, mostly sticking to the sidelines and being a cute comic relief sidekick whose biggest crime is that she can't fry a damn egg to save her life - at least at first.
She's smart, doesn't need continually rescuing, and rather sweetly wants Snake to quit smoking, while perfectly completing Otacon and Snake's "family." There's nothing to dislike here.