10 Video Game Protagonists We Hated

Those video game characters you couldn't wait to get rid of.

by Jess McDonell
Fallout 4 Sole Survivor
Bethesda

There's a reasonable expectation that video game protagonists will be generally likeable, charismatic, and a delight to accompany throughout the course of their journey.

Of course, just like people in the real world, they can’t all be winners.

Sometimes due to some combination of poor writing, a bad story, or misguided line delivery, our central video game hero can downright suck. There are plenty of popular examples of this from the specific, like Bubsy, to the general, such as the raft of silent, personality-devoid protagonists. Then there is the opposite end of the spectrum, which is populated by extraordinarily melodramatic JRPG protagonists.

For whatever reason enough of you guys were so put off by the following protagonists that they’ve made our list of absolute duds. Bring on the trash parade.

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Jess has been a journalist and content creator in the games industry for over 15 years and has been WhatCulture's resident Australian import and sorry cop since 2020, upping the quotient of swearing and apologising in WhatCulture Gaming's annual blooper videos considerably. She previously worked at GameSpot for 10 years, most notably hosting GameSpot News in addition to E3 live shows, and PAX panels. She regularly livestreams a variety of games on her 'jessmcdonell' YouTube and Twitch channels and hosts the 'Do It On The Day' podcast. She has won awards for her news and feature work in gaming as well as an accolade for her comedic writing (likely an admin error). She can be found on X at @jessmcdonell and Instagram at @jessicamcdonell sharing her current videogame fixations, industry insights, and videos of her cat, Karma.