20 Greatest Female Video Game Characters Of All Time

6. Cortana (Halo)

It was always a bit ironic that the human centre of the Halo franchise was actually an AI. Over the course of Bungie's trilogy, Cortana acted as the Master Chief's trusted companion, working as a sort of moral compass, and every bit a hero as the legendary Spartan himself. However, it wasn't until the fourth numbered release that Cortana was given a the chance to become a stand-out character. Malfunctioning and essentially on the road to becoming obsolete, a major plot point of the Chief's fourth outing had him trying to find a way to stop the closest friend he ever had from being obliterated. And, weirdly for a Halo game, the back-and-forth between the two characters worked as a hugely engaging emotional narrative in the overall title. As Cortana grew more and more volatile due to the decaying code over the course of the sequel, the more the game pulled at your heart-strings over the fact that you might be playing through the final hurrah for one of gaming's greatest characters.