7 Video Game Characters That Completely Changed After Fan Backlash

4. J.D. Fenix - Gears Of War 5

When Gears of War returned for a fourth instalment set decades after the original trilogy, it kind of made sense that the new developers would want to introduce some new blood to compliment the new threat. Of course, it wouldn't have made sense to cut ties with the established canon completely, so they came up with a compromise: keeping the old guard around in supporting roles while putting players in the shoes of their children.

Gears 4's new protagonist was J.D. Fenix, son of Marcus, but sadly he turned out to be the most boring character in his own game. The dude was incredibly generic, devoid of any real depth, and any friction he did have with other characters made him appear like little more than a petulant kid.

He just looked uninspired as well - at least Marcus had that killer soul patch.

When crafting the sequel, the devs took the criticism on board, and perhaps oversteered too much to compensate. For one, J.D. was now out of the main protagonist role in favour of Kate, but he was also was given a real, compelling reason to be mopey. His story revolved around him living up to the legacy of his father, and the reckless consequences and collateral damage that came from prioritising that during battle.

Oh, and he grew a sick beard as well, which admittedly trumped the old soul patch.

He was so reinvigorated, fans then got annoyed about not being able to play as him this time around. Sometimes you just can't win.