15 Greatest Ever Video Game Anti-Heroes

Everyone loves a hero. They show up, kick ass, defeat evil and get the love interest in the end. They don't take shortcuts, don't kill for immoral reasons and always strive to be the ideal protagonist. As admirable as this all may be, it can't help but get a bit boring.

Sometimes a good villain will pull people in just as easily as a good hero. Everyone loves the Joker despite is psychotic murder sprees purely because of how interesting and charismatic he is.

But what if we combine the two?

The antihero has long been a favourite of all entertainment mediums: Film, television, video games, comic books, wrestling etc.

George R.R. Martin made an entire universe of morally ambiguous characters and it is now seen as one of the greatest shows in the history of TV. There seems to be an undeniable longing to see the bad boy just do the right thing, or vice versa.

The gaming industry has seen many legendary antiheroes entertain the player for hours, whether it is an antihero that is a preset character or in more open-ended games where you can choose to be an antihero. Sometimes the best antiheroes are the sidekicks to the protagonist. We all love a character that just can't seem to keep their hands clean.

Detroit is a vastly differing game depending on the player's decisions. Playing as the androids Kara, Connor and Marcus, the players is forced to make snap decisions that will affect themselves, each other, and the world that they inhabit.

Because you engineer your own ending in the game based on your decisions (and how fast your reactions are for quick time events), it is possible to have each character choose the most honourable option, but when we take into consideration the ending that is deemed to be the 'true' ending, each character must delve into the morally dubious. None of the other protagonists do this quite like Marcus.

Marcus loved his owner, but when he succumbs to a heart attack and Marcus is accused of the murder, he is quickly gunned down and left to decay in an android graveyard. This is the beginning of Marcus' journey.

Marcus partakes in extreme vandalism in a later mission, including breaking into an android shop and turning all of the models in there deviant. He also leads a full-blown rebellion through the city streets, which results in the deaths of many androids and police officers alike. Despite the scale of these criminal acts, the noble message is clear for all to see: the androids will no longer stand for the segregation that they have faced in society.

No one makes it out of this story - the right way - with their hands clean.