My "Manliest Men" in Games

            Last week, I posted my response to Joey Esposito’s “10 Manliest Men in Video Games”, so this week, I want to include some characters that did not make the list. These characters have been very popular over the years, and I feel that it is a disgrace that they did not make Mr. Esposito’s cut. Here are just a few…

Dante

            Dante – Devil May Cry series – Just what every main male character needs - a smart mouth. Dante has delivered on that aspect of himself in spades with each installment of his journeys to take out the demons that walk the Earth. More often than not, he can also back up his over the top loud mouth, which makes him one of those characters that can easily be enjoyed as you play through their games. There is one other thing that makes Dante stand out from the masses, and that is his impenetrable devilish arrogance to go along with his mouth. While this could be seen as the same thing, he does not see it that way. They are two different abilities he has been building on since he first appeared on the scene in 2001. We just keep asking for more and Dante is more than willing to help us out.

Chris Redfield

            Chris Redfield – Resident Evil series – What sucks more? Having your entire special teams unit wiped out with the exception of a super skilled female, Jill, and loyal near veteran, Barry, along with Albert Wesker, the reason for your team's obliteration to be left alive or facing hordes and hordes of zombies? Yeah, so you kind of know how Chris feels about the world around him. What's more, take into consideration you spend almost all of your time trying to fight off zombies and ravenous dogs, and then eat green plants to heal yourself. Right, you'd feel the same way. If those were not bad enough, imagine being forced into video game hiatus, even if you did spring from the shadows looking cooler and sleeker than you ever have before. Of course, now you will be facing even more zombies and vile creatures. Oh, and the vile man who put you in this place to begin with will be somewhere sharpening the bullet with your name on it.

Master Chief

            Master Chief – Halo series – What kind of man takes on an entire race of vile creatures and lives to tell the tale? A man like Master Chief, that's who. While the good Master Chief's story is a little convoluted at times, there's nothing that denies him from appearing on the list of some of the greatest male characters in video game history. He's the kind of guy that sees the mission in front of him and does whatever it takes to get the job done even if that means stowing away on an enemy's ship in order to finish the job. Of course, there's much left to be told about his mission, but I'm sure nothing will sway my opinion of the toughest space Marine out there.

Sonic

            Sonic the Hedgehog – Sonic the Hedgehog games – Sonic's just your regular, blue teenage hedgehog. One who's able to blitz across the screen at ludicrously high speed. Oh, and survive all the centrifugal pressure you'd expect to endure when spinning about on your rear as you perform loop-de-loops in bizarrely well-designed circles of earth littered around the golden-ring covered landscape. Just a blue anthropomorphised hedgehog. Sonic's charm is in his swagger, his speed, and that shocked little face he pulls when he loses all his rings on a spike. Gaming's answer to The Flash, his sheer speediness and unhinged desire for thrill-taking is what makes him so playable, a fluid, fun-loving mentalist who can roll into a perfectly spherical ball at an extreme pace. His dialogue may not win any awards, but he's a super fast blue spiny hedgehog, what more do you want?

Link

            Link – The Legend of Zelda series – Determination is one of the key factors to being any kind of main male character. Courage is another factor heavily required to be any main male character. However, there is one trait that any male character has to have to be atop a list such as this, and that is the ability to wear a tunic and tights looking cool all the while. There is only one character that can pull this off and continuously save the day; his name is Link. If you have never experienced the joys and sense of completion you receive when playing through one of Link's many adventures, then you must. As for the courage he has, there is no question about this; he is, after all, constantly paired with the Tri-Force of Courage piece. So what if all of his games generally have the same plot? Link has more than made up for the repetitive storylines by proving that not only does he carry off the tunic and tights look without a snicker, but that he is not required to speak. The silent hero is sometimes the best character, and in this case, those words could not be truer.

            So, that’s my list of male characters that should have made it to Joey Esposito’s list of “Manliest Men in Video Games”. Next week, I’ll look into sexually objectified males represented in video games.