History ByronicHero / VideoGames

* ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'':
** Ragna The Bloodedge. His down-to-earth nature, [[DeadpanSnarker snarking]], SurroundedByIdiots attitude ("Why do I always seem to attract the A to Z of mental illness?!") and [[JerkwithaHeartofGold surprising compassion for others]] obscures the fact that he has murdered hundreds of NOL personnel in pursuit of personal vengeance against one person (albeit one who [[HateSink most everybody would]] [[ForTheEvulz agree deserves it]])

* Chloe from ''VideoGame/LifeIsStrange''. While she is the deuteragonist, she makes a lot of highly amoral decisions like stealing her step-fathers gun, or breaking and entering into the school,[[spoiler: or stealing several thousand dollars from the school's fund that would have been used to make the dorms ADA compliant]]). She performed well as a student before being kicked out for her violent outbursts. She is so charismatic though that Max (whom one could argue Chole treats more like a tool than a friend) rarely calls her out on most of her bad behavior.

* Halara Nightmare from ''VideoGame/MasterDetectiveArchivesRainCode'' is practically a token example of this trope, if not an [[ExaggeratedTrope exaggeration]]. Halara is an extremely difficult person to open up to, and is very reserved and [[HatesEveryoneEqually openly despises everyone in humanity]], being a shameless cynic and misanthrope with a huge ego and a grand sense of self-entitlement that urges them to demand extra money from clients to simply ''do their job'' as a result of self-confidence in their own abilities. They're extremely judgmental and are very much willing to hold grudges, make threats, and [[BrutalHonesty refuse to filter out anything they say to others]], [[WhatTheHellHero even callouts of the other heroic figures in the plot]]. Despite this, Halara isn't fundamentally a bad person, and in fact ''hates'' truly evil people, such as con artists, dictators, etc., [[GoodIsNotSoft serving them any karma cold on a silver platter]], and is actually a seemingly compassionate individual despite everything aforementioned. Their most significant trait, first and foremost, is their [[KindheartedCatLover overwhelming adoration for cats]], finding them to be intriguing [[spoiler:for a reason they themselves are unsure of, that mystery of which being ''why'' they find them so intriguing]]. They also save the protagonist from the Peacekeepers [[spoiler:four times total over the course of their character arc]], free of charge, at that, and later on, [[spoiler:show great care for Chief Yakou when he's about to die in Amaterasu's research lab, trying as desperately as possible to revive him on their own and feeling guilt over their failure. Heck, Halara even [[DueToTheDead demands that they be given the identity of the Great Global Mystery for his sake following his death, not just to honor him, but the various other detectives that died due to being left unaware]].]] To put it simply, while Halara is ''very'' much a harsh individual outwardly, on the flip side, they can be equally as caring to others, and still have a sense of honor and responsibility.

** ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV'': Michael is an even more accurate example: As Michael Townley, [[HairTriggerTemper his temper issues]] in high school [[ICouldaBeenAContender spoiled his chances in pro football]], turning instead to a life of crime, which ended by faking his death and changing his surname to "De Santa". Almost a decade later, [[DarkAndTroubledPast the ghosts he had been fighting for years]] reappear and sink him ever more...

'''Michael''': They got me right... fucking here! The end of the road! [[LonelyAtTheTop With a big house and a useless kid and I'm stuck talking to you because no one else gives a shit]]. Oh, I'm living the dream, baby, and that dream is fucked! It is... fucking fucked! \\
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However, [[spoiler:after choosing "Option C"]] at the end, his life [[spoiler:gets better]].

* ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'':

* ''Video/Game/TalesSeries:''

* Yuri Lowell from ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia''. A [[NiceGuy nicer guy]] than some of the examples on this page, but also a cynical, sarcastic VigilanteMan, and a clear departure from the IdiotHero common in Tales games. He's strongly opposed to the corruption of the empire he lives in and especially the way particularly powerful and evil figures within it use their position to avoid justice. Ultimately, he decides to start "dispensing his own justice" by killing them outright, leading to a major clash of ideals with his best friend, Internal Reformist Flynn.
* Before Yuri Lowell, the Tales Series had one in the form of ''VideoGame/TalesOfDestiny'''s [[DeadpanSnarker Leon]] [[StrawNihilist Magnus]]. It's probably not a coincidence they are the series' most popular characters.
* ''VideoGame/TalesOfBerseria'''s protagonist, Velvet Crowe, who UsedToBeASweetKid and a CoolBigSis to her little brother, before being betrayed by her brother-in-law Artorius, who murdered said little brother and cut off her arm. Fast-forward three years, and Velvet has become a vengeance-driven badass with a demonic arm that consumes any being she kills with it, who primarily seeks to kill Artorius for what he's done to the both of them. [[spoiler:And the revelations that her little brother ''let'' Artorius kill him as part of a plan to make a "better world" and Artorius's true reasons for his betrayal sends her into a spiral of denial and self-loathing that very nearly consumes her before she recovers.]]

** ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV'': Michael is an even more accurate example: As Michael Townley, [[HairTriggerTemper his temper issues in high school]] [[ICouldaBeenAContender spoiled his chances in pro football]], turning instead to a life of crime, which ended by faking his death and changing his surname to "De Santa". Almost a decade later, [[DarkAndTroubledPast the ghosts he had been fighting for years]] reappear and sink him ever more...

* Yuri Lowell from ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia''. A [[NiceGuy nicer guy]] than some of the examples on this page, but also a cynical, sarcastic [[spoiler: VigilanteMan]], and a clear departure from the IdiotHero common in Tales games.

'''Michael''': They got me right... [[PrecisionFStrike fucking here!]] The end of the road! [[LonelyAtTheTop With a big house and a useless kid and I'm stuck talking to you because no one else gives a shit]]. Oh, I'm living the dream, baby, and that dream is fucked! It is... fucking fucked! \\

* The titular ''VideoGame/MaxPayne'' is a cynical, moody, and self-destructive man, constantly haunted by the death of his loved ones, whether it'd be his wife and baby daughter or his friends. He even finds himself in exile from New York in the third game, on the run from mobsters after shooting the son of a very powerful crime boss. Max was even physically attractive back in the day, but his indulgence in drugs and alcohol has since diminished what looks he had.

* Before Yuri Lowell, the Tales Series had one in the form of ''[[VideoGame/TalesOfDestiny Tales Of Destiny's]]'' [[DeadpanSnarker Leon]] [[StrawNihilist Magnus]]. It's probably not a coincidence they are the series' most popular characters.

* Kenny from ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDead'' can be described as this. Though TheLeader at first, he gradually falls further and further from the top spot as he goes through a TraumaCongaLine. Most notably, Kenny is single-minded in protecting his family by getting to the coast and finding a boat to find a safe place. [[spoiler:As the game goes on, and his family members die, he grows more and more cynical. He reaches his absolute lowest when the group [[HopeSpot makes it to the coast]], only to find [[DownerEnding there are no boats left]]. Kenny ends up [[INeedAFreakingDrink hitting the sauce]] in episode 4, before becoming a full-on DeathSeeker in episode 5 that culminates in a HeroicSacrifice to save either Ben or Christa.]] Notably, Kenny can also have UndyingLoyalty towards [[PlayerCharacter Lee]], but only if you side with him 100% of the time. In Season 2, [[spoiler:Kenny returns]] and tries to be a substitute for Lee to Clementine. Unfortunately, the death of his second love makes him even more unstable as well as his obsession with protecting the children of the group causes him to alienate everyone from him, ultimately reaching a climax at the end, where [[spoiler:he tries to kill Jane when he thinks that she let Rebecca's baby die]].

* Booker [=DeWitt=] of ''VideoGame/BioshockInfinite'' is not a nice man. Having served in the massacre of Wounded Knee at the age of 16 and refusing a baptism [[spoiler: and that's not even getting into the stuff relating to his daughter]], it would be healthy to say he's a cynical fellow. Later, Booker would find himself spiral into an abyss of gambling debts that piled up by the truckload and rampant alcoholism. He's given a chance to [[TheAtoner atone]] for all of the things he's done by retrieving a mysterious girl by the name of Elizabeth and as the game progresses, he's more than willing to tear Columbia a new one to rescue her.