4. Batman (Batman Arkham Series)
Job: Caped Crusader Batman is a fan-favorite costumed hero who eschews the characterizations of traditionally super heroes by having no super powers of his own and being a brooding buzz kill capable of breaking every bone in your body. Necessary to that unique characterization is the unavoidable fact that Batman, like Max Payne, simply cant save everyone he sets out to rescue. In fact, sometimes hes inadvertently responsible for their deaths. Consider the opening to Arkham Asylum. Batman captures Joker, knows something fishy is going on, still brings him to the Asylum where Joker breaks free, unleashes the inmates of Arkham, and ends up killing countless guards and medical personnel. Batmans capture of Joker was a necessary part of villains plan, so Bats unwittingly contributes to the deaths of those personnel. Arkham City showcases Batmans inability to save Talia, Hugo Strange, and even the Joker despite his efforts. He still gets the job done, saving Gotham City from yet another doomsday plot, but at what he clearly considers to be a tremendous cost. Of course, none of this detracts from just how great a character Batman actually is since failure is an integral part of Bruce Wayne. His failure to prevent his parents death, his disgust at societys failure to protect law-abiding citizens, his failure at stopping the Joker from murdering Jason Todd in the comics, and on and on it goes, forever driving our dark knight to continue fighting a battle he can never win.