Smartest video game protagonists?

Intelligence is not a trait found too often in video game protagonists. It would make it harder for the writers to justify them blindly following their Voice with an Internet Connection from objective to objective, repeating what other people say for exposition, and constantly being duped, betrayed, or used by the bad guys, plus, it would make programmers to be more creative in the character's behavior. For the most part, we don't care- we just want him to blow things up.

But I was thinking about Deus Ex's ending and how it basically turns the decision of the fate of the world over to the gruff-voiced, gun-toting player character, and what a terrible idea that would be ordinarily. But then I realized that JC Denton is not your ordinary shooter protagonist. No matter how badass Master Chief or Lara Croft is, I wouldn't trust them with that responsibility.

But after playing the game as JC, I felt completely comfortable making that choice, because he's clearly an extremely intelligent person. Not just book-smart, but cunning, perceptive, independent-thinking, and a tactical genius (unless you play the game poorly). He often seeks clever nonviolent solutions (at least in the average playthough), is a skilled hacker, and uses smart tactics in combat instead of charging ahead. He never lets his manipulative Mission Control characters with their own agendas use him as a pawn, debates federalism with bartenders and philosophy with A.I.s, and so on. And it occurred to me that JC Denton is probably one of the smartest player characters in any video game, and almost certainly one of the smartest P Cs in a shooter.

So I'm curious- are there any other video game P Cs who strike you as that intelligent? Who do you think is the smartest? And by smartest, I'm talking about characters who legitimately feel really smart and demonstrate it, not just "the manual says he has an IQ of 300".

Any genre- RTS, RPG, puzzle games,... discuss.

I haven't played the game myself, unfortunately, but I've heard that Kaim Argonar fits pretty well.

Many Megami protagonists could count, if you make the right choices. The downside is, since said choices make your character Genre Savvy, that also makes him/her the Only Sane Man.

Also, the player characters of Trauma Center: New Blood. Unlike Derek, who is fresh out of med school, Markus and Valerie are experienced doctors.

edited 2nd Jan '11 8:07:53 PM by TsundeRay

I'd nominate Solid Snake, at least from the first two Metal Gear Solid games. Not only did he behave like an expert in his field, but also showed that he wasn't your typical brainless grunt whenever talking to Naomi or Nastasha. He only got somewhat dumber in MGS 4, but that could be attributed to his age and the sense of disillusionment of his own ideals he had in that game.

Another one would be Professor Layton from his own game series, even his apprentice.

How broadly are we defining protagonist here? The main character only? Anyone in your active party?

Agent 47 and the Nameless One are pretty smart dudes.

Gordon Freeman.

Gordon doesn't really illustrate his intelligence at all though, its all just hearsay from other characters.

^He's good at solving puzzles. I mean just look at the way he handled the teleporter at the beginning of hl2. And that's why he has a PHD.

Plus, watch Freemans Mind, he demonstrates his intelligence there, sorta.

I'd nominate Welkin Gunther for the title.

edited 3rd Jan '11 1:54:52 AM by Belle-Mage

I'd want to mention Alex Mercer, cause he's eaten so many scientists by now that he's gotta be a genius, but I dunno if he's really done anything that smart in the story. Maybe he'll show off his skill in the sequel (although he won't be a protagonist in this one it seems)

Mao from Disgaea3 gets my nomination. Sure, it's pure Genre Savvy. But hell. It works. Depending on how you play him/her Shepard can be pretty smart too, solving as many problems with words as with guns.

Isaac Clarke. Bad ass engineer. He doesn't talk much but back story reveals he is quite accomplished.

Professor Layton, anyone?

Layton's almost too obvious. :P

Jade also gets major props for being quick-thinking and generally sensible in addition to her usual game-hero combo of bravery and badassitude.

High Intelligence characters in the Fallout series are well, very intelligent.

Depends on your definition of "intelligent" just because you can hack a bunch of computers doesn't mean you'll be any "smarter" then a person who can solve a rubix cube in eight seconds, while hacking and stuff may be hard it is not really a full measure of "intelligence" the only very vague measure of intelligence we do have is an IQ test so saying that Mao has an IQ of 3mil makes him smart not counting the value of "street" smarts and the like.

edited 4th Jan '11 4:42:27 PM by WORLDTree

Agreed on Deus Ex. The moment that did it for me was just before the final level when everybody's stoked that you've managed to prevent the missile strike on Savage and you're all about to return to base and regroup… Except J.C. is all “Screw that, I'm retargeting it to nuke the top off Page's Area 51 hideyhole so I can stomp in through the glowing wreckage and finish things now. Let's blow this dump, Jock.”

Eric, could you please stop signing posts? We can just read your name. You even have space for your signiture.

It would make me very happy.

The Roivas Family, Kazuya Mishima and his family, Agent G, Issac Washington, CJ and his ilk, the Raptor from Jurassic Park, The Evil Genius, Olimar, the Hit Man...

...come to think of it, since when are video game characters known for being stupid? They mostly don't know what you don't know. Think about it, Mario, The Halo Master Chief, Jak and Daxter, Alex Mercer, Laura Croft, Pacman, intelligence may not be their defining trait, but neither is stupidity. Dumb Protagonist seems much more prevalent in cartoons and comic books.

edited 6th Jan '11 5:39:57 PM by Cider

The thing about most of them is that they're Xanatos Suckers to a fault, totally lacking in initiative or motivation, so they function more as Pinball Protagonists than real characters. The PC generally knows everything I do as a player, but they usually come across as such patsies compared to whoever's doing Mission Control.

edited 6th Jan '11 10:17:18 PM by EricDVH

Considering he's been falling into the same goddamn situation over and over for 25 years, Mario is definitely a stupid protagonist

How? He's failed to actually track down and defeat Bowser once. As opposed to the eight times he just found him and beat him.

I think Barney Calhoun counts, if only because he seems to be smarter than the rest of the security guards at Black Mesa.