Is the main character usually your favorite?

[Taco-Calamitous]

I came to the realization a long time ago that in most games, the main character just doesn't catch my interest as a side character, whether it be that s/he doesn't talk (Mario, Crono, Ness) s/he's bland and uninteresting (Cecil, Ramza, Sora, Vaan) s/he's an asshole (Cloud, Squall, Lightning) or s/he's just annoying (Tidus). Sometimes I like the main character a lot (Terra Branford, Zidane Tribal) but they get overshadowed by someone else in the cast (Locke Cole, Freya Crescent). There's a handful of main characters I can think of who are actually my favorite from that franchise: Fox McCloud, Sonic the Hedgehog, Solid Snake.

It's not just this way with video games, either; I tend to like the second fiddle a lot of the time, or the goofy sidekick, or the dashing rogue. Or the character who's hiding/has a checkered past. Generally, the character with the most unique personality and/or look, though not always. It seems to me though that the main character much of the time is a stereotype or archetypal hero, especially in JRPG's. How many Vaans, Soras, Ramzas, Roddicks, and Tiduses have there been anyway? And then they try to make the main character brooding and bad ass, like Cloud, Squall, and Lightning, and they forget to give the characters a sense of humor or sense of compassion-y'know, things to make them likable.

Anyone else feel the same way? Maybe I'm just not playing the right games. Anyhoo...

Wuv, Yer Mom

[Zidane77]

Sometimes my main characters are my favorite.
Those i can mention are Cloud, Squall, Zidane, Terra, Yuri, Koudelka, Yuna and Link.
Thats alot but most of the time i like other characters, the only thing i always dislike about the main character, he usually can't be taken out of the party so you can grow tired of him.

[Angel of Iniquity]

Well, as the main character, their story is usually focused on more than the subsidiaries.
So in turn, I learn more about the main character than the others, which is enough for me to create some type of connection with them.
Wether it be and "ass" as in the case of squall, I found to have similar way with people.
Then there are characters have no personal touch with, but I still like them because, like in the case of Tidus, this is their story.

However, I hate lightning with a passion. Her attitude outweighs Squalls and Clouds vastly. Yes, from what I know, it is because of her sister but, she doesn't have to hit and or argue with every living person who goes against what she says in any form possible, and I didn't get the feeling that she was the absolute main character.

Here is my final out take.

Main character- Poster of the story, in which I take full feel with and root for their success.

Bad-ass- This is usually my second character of choice. More or less, the tank of the game, or had been through some rough events, and it shows in a different manor.

In games where there is only one main character, I always side with them, or the main antagonist, just because, as the Angel of Iniquity, I cannot seem to fashion out the idea of an inevitable end.

[Dodie16]

Oh, there have been plenty of times where I felt the main character got upstaged by someone who was more of a secondary character. I guess I'd have to agree with the above statements that say the main character sometimes can be focused on a bit too much, and you just grow tired of him/her after a while. So you're not alone.

I think as long as a game or whatever does include a character that you grow to like, then it's all good. We all relate to different circumstances and personalities.

[Dan558]

Nope, main character in RPGs are rarely ever my favorite. This becomes especially annoying when there is no choice to replace them in the main party, ala Cloud or Zidane. Sora is a good main character I hate how in so many side-games hes replaced (Roxas is the only decent one)

In many non-RPGs its usually not the case. In plat formers the sidekick is sometimes better like Luigi but in games like MGS where someone like Snake is really the only consistent one or the only one qualified (Otacon couldn't sneak around) the main character is more of a likable one.

Of the Final Fantasys I've played:
FFIV: Don't really like Cecil, I haven't played enough to remember who I liked better, Kain if that counts
FFV: Bartz is boring, Galuf is better
FFVI: Terra is terrible shes usually on my C-team. Setzer is best followed by the Figaro brothers
FFVII: Cloud is middle tier. Cid, Vincent and Nanaki are better in that order.
FFVIII: didn't like any characters
FFIX: Zidane is ok but Vivi and Amarant are better.
FFX: Tidus is annoying. Wakka and Auron are better.
FFX-2: all sluts. don't like any of them, Paine is most tolerable.
FFXII: barely registers as a final fantasy game they are all so bland. Balthier and Basch barely scrape through as worthy of FF characters.
FFXIII: Lightning is meh but she barely has any competition with all the terrible charcters (Fang, Hope and Vanille are terrible). Sazh is the best.
FFT: Ramza is great. probably the only FF main character I clearly like.

[motscroises]

I don't usually like the main characters. I think a lot of times they try so hard to make the main character seem cool, it just turns me off. It also may have something to do with the fact that if I die, I instantly blame the party leader. ^^

[Freya]

Usually I don't like the main character most. But sometimes I do. :>
As for Final Fantasy, I like the main characters, but mostly there are some who are so AWESOME that they overshadow the mains easily! (Auron, Basch, Celes, Freya, Faris, Ingus, Sazh, Kain, etc. etc.)

As for other games, I do like the main characters more. Like in Brütal Legend: I really loved Eddie. <3 In Tomb Raider, I love Lara. <3 Must be because there aren't many characters at all in most games. ^^""

Though, there are also games like that in which I dislike nearly everyone. (Devil May Cry...)

Or games in which I like the main character but he/she isn't as great as a favorite character should be. (Assassin's Creed...)

But all in all I'd say that I like all main characters, but in RPGs I mostly like some other character more. :>

[Kyreaan]

When it comes to the Final Fantasy series, my favorite usually ends up being the one with gambling abilities. This has shown up in a few of the series. However, a must character usually for me is the party's thief. Stealing items and also the option in some games to steal abilities and/or magic I really enjoy. You can get some of the best stuff in the game that in a lot of cases.

[Locke4God]

No, definately no always,


In Final Fantasy, Vivi was my favorite in 9, not Zidane. Auron was my favorite in 10, not Tidus or Yuna. Cecil was probably my favorite in 4, so yes that's a main charater, but definately it's not a rule or something I strive for.

[Zargabaath]

Not always. In some Final Fantasys I like the main character the most [Cecil, Cloud, Squall] & in others I like a support/side-character more [Galuf, Quina, Auron, Gabranth]. Games like Shadow Hearts I like the a lot of the cast pretty evenly the same goes for Xenogears, though in SH:FTNW I like Frank more than than Johnny.

In the Suikoden series, mainly in Suikoden IV & V, I tend to like side-characters more. I did like the three main characters in Suikoden III. Xenosaga Episode 1 I like Rubido, Gaignan, & Albedo more than Shion. I like the friends in Persona 4 more than the main character, though main character is more of an extension of the player and not an unique character.

[Xanatos]

Depends really, though in most cases the main character ends up being overshadowed by one, or several other characters appearing in game. When it comes to Final Fantasy there are like two main characters I like the most in their respective games, Zack Fair, and Zidane Tribal, later one only if you don't count the NPC-s.

[FF9isthebest]

Never has the lead been my favorite, unless you count Terra as the lead from FF6 I loved her and Celes.

[Vivi1994]

Well the only lead I liked was lighting but my dabs were
Aeris why did they kill you
Vivi legend
Lulu the cold heartless bitch
And of course quistis

[Tepsha]

Depends entirely on the game for me. In FF7 (my favorite game ever) I like cloud and Vincent and cid all equally pretty much. It really all depends on the game. In FF13 i didnt like lightning that much, I liked Hope and Snow the most so... It's really all how they design which characters

[Superjord]

In Final Fantasy's and other RPG's I'm the same as a few others in the fact that I need a connection. It doesn't matter if they're the main role as long as you have another set of characters who are more 'like you' perhaps, but that's just how I role, whoever's most like me is the one who gets my backing and favour. Like Locke, Wakka, Vincent, Ashe, Kain..

Of course as far as most other genre mains go, I think it would be fun to point out a few more no choices..
Crash Bandicoot, Kratos (HELL YEAH), Raziel, Abe, Megaman, Pacman, the dolphin from ecco, Chief, Niko, Tommy Vercetti, Gordon Freeman, Leon Kennedy, The Rock from WWE.. Oh wait..

[ZantetsukeN]

It's hard for the main character to not become your favourite. Thing is, you're controlling them for most, if not all of the game, and you can't help but grow attached to them.

Thing with FF, and other RPGs for that matter, you get a number of characters to control, so you get to make more of a choice. My top 5 characters from FF go like this:
1. Squall
2. Sephiroth
3. Vincent
4. Balthier
5. Auron

Of those, only Squall is considered the main character. You are given a wider choice in RPGs. However, for example, games like Devil May Cry, Resident Evil etc, it's more likely that the main character will be your favourite, because you can play for hours on end at a time without interacting with another character. You don't really have much of a choice.

[Block]

I am the main character.

[che]

I am the main character.

So yes, or no?!

I pretend I'm the main character amplified into my own awesomeness and I'm always the ****ing favorite.

[Block]

of ****ing course.

[OceanEyes28]

Sometimes the main character is my favorite character, and sometimes it isn't. Like there are times when my favorite is the main character and I'm glad he/she's the main character. Other times? Nope.

[Block]

Sometimes the main character is my favorite character, and sometimes it isn't. Like there are times when my favorite is the main character and I'm glad he/she's the main character. Other times? Nope.

The vagueness of this post is incredible.

[loaf]

I really like the guy Crash, in Crash Banditcoot. He's the main character, and you're on his adventure.

But mostly I like certain characters.

[Block]

I really like the guy Crash, in Crash Banditcoot. He's the main character, and you're on his adventure.

But mostly I like certain characters.

by certain characters he means he has characters he likes, and he considers those characters his main character. So he does like the main character.

[Rocky]

I came to the realization a long time ago that in most games, the main character just doesn't catch my interest as a side character, whether it be that s/he doesn't talk (Mario, Crono, Ness) s/he's bland and uninteresting (Cecil, Ramza, Sora, Vaan) s/he's an asshole (Cloud, Squall, Lightning) or s/he's just annoying (Tidus). Sometimes I like the main character a lot (Terra Branford, Zidane Tribal) but they get overshadowed by someone else in the cast (Locke Cole, Freya Crescent). There's a handful of main characters I can think of who are actually my favorite from that franchise: Fox McCloud, Sonic the Hedgehog, Solid Snake.

It's not just this way with video games, either; I tend to like the second fiddle a lot of the time, or the goofy sidekick, or the dashing rogue. Or the character who's hiding/has a checkered past. Generally, the character with the most unique personality and/or look, though not always. It seems to me though that the main character much of the time is a stereotype or archetypal hero, especially in JRPG's. How many Vaans, Soras, Ramzas, Roddicks, and Tiduses have there been anyway? And then they try to make the main character brooding and bad ass, like Cloud, Squall, and Lightning, and they forget to give the characters a sense of humor or sense of compassion-y'know, things to make them likable.

Anyone else feel the same way? Maybe I'm just not playing the right games. Anyhoo...

Wuv, Yer Mom

Do I usually like the main character the most?



But if they are interesting characters who have alter egos, kinda like alternate accounts, then