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Byronic Heroes in video games.


  • Booker DeWitt of BioShock Infinite is not a nice man. Having served in the massacre of Wounded Knee at the age of 16 and refusing a baptism, 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 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.
  • BlazBlue:
    • Ragna the Bloodedge. His down-to-earth nature, snarking, Surrounded by Idiots attitude ("Why do I always seem to attract the A to Z of mental illness?!") and 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 most everybody would agree deserves it)
    • Jin Kisaragi, particularly after some character growth. He's a nihilist who had no real passion or drive for anything and was compelled to kill Ragna because his sword warps his mind. After some therapy though, he's as much of a nihilist as ever but actually finds some motivation to do something about the state his world is in.
  • Gabriel Belmont from Castlevania: Lords of Shadow ticks pretty much all traits mentioned above. He's a fatalistic, ambivalent, and revengeful individual who, nonetheless, is a decent, kindhearted, and assiduous hero who strives to make the world a better place. At least he tried to be one before the death of his childhood sweetheart disillusioned him. He became obsessed with trying to bring her back, often dismissing the havoc he had wreaked or how much pain he had caused along the way. This culminates in him abandoning everything that made him human and becoming the thing he had sworn to destroy.
  • Magus, or Prince Janus of Zeal, from Chrono Trigger. He unites the demi-humans of Zenan so they can fight the humans of Guardia, resulting in the most violent recorded conflict in that world's history. Most people consider him an antichrist figure, and the victory of the humans is celebrated centuries after the conflict ended. But Magus' real reason for being the Fiendlord is that he needs the resource to build a portal that would forcefully summon Lavos...so that he can personally destroy the thing that had taken everything from him: his kingdom, his mother, his big sister. It just happens that destroying Lavos will also save the world.
  • Nagito Komaeda in Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair is one of the best investigators in the franchise while also being one of the best manipulators (ostracizing him from the group early on). But his existence has been marred by a maddeningly turbulent sense of luck which has given and taken enough from him that by the start of the game he's seeking meaning in his life by whatever sort of hope he can leave behind, at absolutely any cost (with his final free-time event revealing that he doesn't have long to live and therefore has nothing to lose). Even if that turbulence informs a shaky definition of "hope." The only ones that ever came close to understanding Nagito's ideals were those he called enemies, people who had fallen into despair themselves and sought to inflict it on others. In Goodbye Despair, Mikan, after regaining her memories asked him if he was ever accepted by anyone, which he's taken aback by. In Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls, Monaca probably best sums him up as "fighting for hope despite falling into despair." On another note, the game also distinguishes him as handsome enough that he'd be able to fit Genocide Jill's MO of only killing handsome men.
  • Devil May Cry: Vergil qualifies as such. His sole motivation is to gain more power, but not to take over the world, but rather because he feels guilt over not being able to protect his loved ones. Vergil, unlike his twin brother (sans Dante's characterization in Devil May Cry 2), is very aloof, calculated, and cold-hearted. He will do anything to gain the same power that his father Sparda once had, even if that means opening the demon world (read: "undo daddy's little spell") in order to retrieve Sparda's old sword. Handsome is already a given, and his romantic element (possibly) stems from having a one-night stand with a woman in Fortuna and birthing his son Nero. The last part is heavily hinted at in the Deadly Fortune novel of Devil May Cry 4, with Sanctus presuming the woman being a prostitute.
  • Dragon Age:
    • Dragon Age II
      • By Act III of the storyline, Anders has become bitterly opposed to anyone who opposes freedom of mages, and becomes a hypocrite if Fenris was enslaved again, as he approves of such actions, topping it all with the destruction of the Chantry and starting a war between mages and templars.
      • Merrill, an endearingly awkward female elf, is actually one of the best examples of this trope in the franchise. She's a brooding, self-critical scholar; she's haunted by the loss of a dear friend, which she blames herself for; her passionate beliefs about blood magic and stubborn drive to act on these beliefs make her an outcast in her clan and human society, even causing her to be exiled; her beliefs go against the societal norm basically everywhere in Thedas except maybe Tevinter. Unsurprisingly, her arc ends in total tragedy.
    • Dragon Age: Inquisition:
      • The ruler of Orlais, Empress Celene Valmont I, is a rare female version. Celene wants to bring peace and prosperity to the world, but she's willing to make a mountain of corpses to see it happen. Her actions in pursuit of her goal are specifically what led to the Orlesian Civil War.
      • The Inquisitor has ample opportunity to play as a sarcastic jerk, and combine that with some of the more 'emotional' reaction choices, and you have your broody hero. Bonus points if they're an overly educated, persecuted Dalish elf.
      • Leliana: who used to be a murderous bard who used seduction turned highly religious and pure, until her faith was shattered by her mentor's death (who herself counts as she was vicious in working for the good of Thedas). Physically and personally beautiful, to the Warden in the first game romantically aggressive, lives in the I Did What I Had to Do trope and hates herself for it, highly-skilled, conflicted, and critical of her actions, her offer to train you as a bard amounts to spelling out just why not to do it, strongly believes in doing what's right no matter how repulsive and is even compared to Coryphemus for how driven and determined she is.
      • Post-reveal, Solas fits this trope to a T.
  • In The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Ulfric Stormcloak, Jarl of Eastmarch and the leader of the secessionist Stormcloak rebellion. A gifted and intelligent man, shrewd in rule and one of the few people to be able to use the Thuum besides the Dragonborn and the Greybeards. Deeply charismatic and able to unite half the country around his ideals of restoring the Nord kingdom to its former glory. A great warrior, generous to his followers yet merciless to his enemies and extolling courage and strength while punishing cowardice and corruption. Also gives a hell of a speech. But also deeply morally flawed (though well-intentioned), controversial among those who are not his followers, and at times even questions himself if he is the right man to lead Skyrim into a new age.
  • Final Fantasy:
    • Locke Cole in Final Fantasy VI. Though he's a Lovable Rogue at first blush, he's passionately anti-Empire, passionately pro-protecting any woman he meets, both owing to a personal tragedy that he still obsesses over. Oh, also Setzer, whose character quote describes him as not conforming to society's rules, and who's quite happy to gamble his own life away for a thrill because of his own personal tragedy. You could count Celes as a female example too, as a former Imperial general who's committed atrocities and has a hard time befriending the rest of the party. (For bonus points, Locke and Celes are the Official Couple.)
    • In Final Fantasy Tactics, Delita Hyral is this, as well as a Well-Intentioned Extremist. Interestingly, his significant loss occurs during the actual game, although in an extended flashback.
    • Seifer Almasy of Final Fantasy VIII takes this to a villainous extreme. Brooding, handsome, and charismatic enough to initially woo Rinoa, he reveals the motivation for his jerkassery to be his intense passion to become a knight like his childhood hero.
  • Fire Emblem:
    • Arvis from Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War. In a game full of Black-and-Gray Morality, he's one of the few NPCs who genuinely wants to do good but there are few lines that he won't cross in pursuit of his goals. It's not a surprise that, after he puts his plan into motion, Nothing Is the Same Anymore. Unfortunately for him, his ambitions, hidden insecurities, and willingness to do what he thinks he needs to do all make it possible for the Big Bad to manipulate him.
    • Edelgard von Hresvelg from Fire Emblem: Three Houses, at least in her Crimson Flower route. The game's whole setting is rife with Grey-and-Gray Morality, and she will stop at nothing to make her dream of a meritocratic revolution come true. While she has an iron will and is ready to prepare to turn the continent upside-down, she still has a strong sense of morality and knows where to draw the line as she herself was kidnapped and tortured as a child along with her 10 siblings, who all died. This is averted in the other routes of the game, however, where Edelgard does not have Byleth as her moral support to hold her back, and she is a classic archetype of The Emperor.
  • Genshin Impact:
    • Diluc is handsome and one of the most influential people in Mondstadt and enjoys high popularity throughout the country. After his father's death, he has become an Anti-Hero "with an attitude problem" (in Kaeya's words) who will stop at nothing to destroy the Fatui, who killed his father.
    • Xiao is good looking, incredibly skilled at what he does and serves dutifully under Rex Lapis for millennia - and suffers immensely under his karmic debt, as well as being generally unapproachable and dismissive, only slowly warming up to the Traveler.
  • Grand Theft Auto:
    • Grand Theft Auto IV: Niko Bellic, the Anti-Villain Protagonist; an intelligent, witty criminal mastermind who is involved with a life of crime because it's all he feels he's good at. He comes to Liberty City looking for a better life and to escape his past, which includes being chased by a Russian mobster who believes Niko owes him money. He's also looking for a man who got twelve of his childhood friends killed, hoping for revenge. Whether he remains this way depends on several situations in the game that force the player to choose between Niko's personal beliefs or money.
    • Grand Theft Auto V: Michael is an even more accurate example: As Michael Townley, his temper issues in high school 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, the ghosts he had been fighting for years reappear and sink him ever more. Things do finally start getting better for him however after choosing "Option C".
    Dr. Friedlander: And where did these opportunities get you, Michael?
    Michael: They got me right... fucking here! The end of the road! 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!
  • Sol Badguy from the Guilty Gear series is often boorish, slovenly, aloof, ill-mannered, far more intelligent and well-informed than his appearance would indicate, and is the perpetrator of one of the most awful crimes in that world: being the co-creator of the Gears. He might be a loose fit (perhaps more fitting as an Anti-Hero) due to his gruff concern for Dizzy, his (albeit rather violent) almost-brotherly relationship with Ky Kiske, and his deceptively high sense of self-sacrifice (in D&D parlance, he's very much Chaotic, but also mostly Good).
  • Dr. Catherine Halsey of the Halo universe is a ruthless, unapologetic woman who abducted young children in order to create an army of super-soldiers (even if she privately has a lot of guilt about it). She's one of the most brilliant human minds alive, but that doesn't stop most people who meet her from loathing her to their very core. Nonetheless, she's undeniably fighting for the advancement of the human race and has been shown to deeply care for those she sees as her "children", whether it be her Spartan-IIs or her actual daughter Miranda Keyes.
  • Kid Icarus: Uprising has two examples: Magnus, the World's Strongest Man who lost a child in war, and Dark Pit, Pit's Shadow Archetype determined to prove that he's more than an Evil Knockoff. Both are very cynical, aware of the failings of the Gods, and relentless fighters.
  • Chloe from Life Is Strange. 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, 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.
  • Mass Effect:
    • Garrus Vakarian becomes one in the sequel, as he is haunted by the death of his hit squad on Omega. Garrus is a man who constantly seeks to punish the wicked and finds himself brooding a lot during the 2nd game. A Paragon Shepard can begin to pull him out of this, while a Renegade can push him further into it. However, by the time Mass Effect 3 rolls around, he seems to have mellowed down, though he is still broods quite a bit here and there.
    • Commander Shepard, especially if they're Renegade. Their passion and desire to finish the Reapers and protect the human species will move the entire galaxy.
  • Halara Nightmare from Master Detective Archives: Rain Code is practically a token example of this trope, if not an exaggeration. Halara is an extremely difficult person to open up to, and is very reserved and 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 a very high pay rate as a result of self-confidence in their own abilities as being deserving of that amount of money and no less. They're extremely judgmental and are very much willing to hold grudges, make threats, and refuse to filter out anything they say to others, 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., 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 overwhelming adoration for cats, finding them to be intriguing 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 four times total over the course of their character arc, free of charge, at that, and later on, 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 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.
  • The titular Max Payne 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.
  • Metal Gear:
    • Solid Snake is not opposed to committing countless murders in order to achieve his goalsnote  — primarily concerned with his own interests rather than the greater good, even though he has inherent good in him, and does commit himself to achieving the greater good. Less so early on, when Snake was just a soldier following orders. It's not until Metal Gear Solid 2 that he starts operating on his own agenda. Which in the original series ending, saw him executed as a terrorist.
    • As the series went on Big Boss becomes one. His actions are reprehensible, but committed to achieving a vision of the world that he sincerely believes fits the ideals of his mentor, the Boss. The same could be said for everyone else who inherited the Philosopher's Legacy, which includes most of the series villains. Notably everyone on the list misinterpreted or corrupted the ideal they were fighting for, leading to a Crapsack World by the end of the series timeline. Most of them lived long enough to understand how badly they'd screwed up.
  • Travis Touchdown from No More Heroes seems to fit this trope quite nicely, being a heroic sociopath with more character flaws than an average politician. In the sequel, he steadily develops into a more and more sympathetic character, since he is becoming increasingly uneasy with the assassination game. In the end, he even vows to bring down the UAA permanently for all the lives they have destroyed and ruined. By the final game, he's still uncouth, but considers himself a true hero when alien criminals show up to endanger Santa Destroy, and tries to reason with them when he has a chance or doesn't show animosity for them.
  • Overwatch: Moira O'Deorain. A brilliant but cruel scientist whose unethical pursuit of knowledge has caused her to be cast out of society, and who will do anything to forward human advancement through biotechnology.
  • Daeran Arendae from Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous is a passionate, attractive male with limited integrity, intelligent and perceptive, self-centered, cynical, and disrespectful towards rank and privilege despite holding them himself. His emotionally sensitive side is more subtle (since he tries to drive people away), but as you get to know him it's clear he feels strongly about personal freedom and has been much more deeply affected by his tragic life than he lets on.
  • Red Dead Redemption 2: Arthur Morgan is... troubled. He's an unrepentant criminal with no desire to change his lifestyle yet everything he does is to take care of his own. He is also constantly stressed, mainly because every plan that his gang has to make money usually brings in a ton of unnecessary heat or fails entirely, forcing his gang to relocate. At several points he can apologize to his gang for being so angry all the time; and if he kills a lot of innocents he can confess to Sadie or Tilly that he doesn't know why he does it, he loses control of his anger.
  • The Boss in the Saints Row series on the best of days, which don't come too often. Complete and total disregard for authority? Check. Walking Disaster Area? Uh-huh. Cold, selfish, brutal and a total Jerkass? Yep. Causes tons of wanton destruction in their activities? Mm-hmm. Goes on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge? Bingo. Cusses a lot? You got it. One-Man Army who knows no concept of mercy? Totally. A wanted criminal? You don't even know... However, on occasion they can connect with a few of their friends, most notably their number two Johnny Gat.
  • Sonic the Hedgehog:
    • Shadow the Hedgehog. Motivated by great tragedy in his past, brooding and arrogant, and willing to do almost anything to achieve his goals, even if it puts him in conflict with the other heroes. He nonetheless is a powerful ally of Sonic's when the world is threatened.
    • Sonic's other rival, Knuckles the Echidna, especially during the Sonic Adventure era. A social outcast as a result of his responsibilities forcing him to live in an uninhabited Floating Continent, he acts stoic and antisocial, but deeply inside resents his loneliness and envies Sonic's freedom. Nevertheless, he's completely devoted to his duty of guarding the Master Emerald and always puts it above everything else, which occasionally leads to him clashing with Sonic and making things harder for him.
  • Atton Rand from Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords - a cocky outcast and smooth talker found on a backwater planet in the middle of nowhere by The Exile, his foolishness is a facade for deceptive cunning, and his background is shrouded in mystery. Turns out, he was a force-sensitive Sith Assassin under Revan's command who killed and tortured Jedi. And don't read his thoughts; provided you can get through the Psychic Static.
  • Tales Series:
    • Yuri Lowell from Tales of Vesperia. A nicer guy than some of the examples on this page, but also a cynical, sarcastic Vigilante Man, and a clear departure from the Idiot Hero 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 deconstructed the trope with Tales of Destiny's Leon Magnus, a sarcastic and brooding Anti-Hero with an abusive father who betrays the party, baffled that any of the party viewed him as their friend and claiming he'd be fine with killing any of them. When he returned in the sequel as Judas, he calmed down greatly as a result of having died and has become The Atoner. The remake toned down the deconstructive aspects and played Leon more straightly, earning him even more fans. It's probably not a coincidence he and Yuri are the series' most popular characters.
    • Tales of Rebirth: Subverted with Veigue, another aversion of the game's typical Idiot Hero protagonist. When we first meet Veigue he appears to be an antisocial, brooding character with no interest in anything besides saving Claire. It's later made clear Veigue is just painfully shy and under a lot of stress, and over the course of the game he defrosts into a quiet, but kind character.
    • Tales of Berseria's protagonist, Velvet Crowe, who Used to Be a Sweet Kid and a Cool Big Sis 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. 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.
  • Wylfred from Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume is essentially a petty, grudge-seeking man who blames the death of his sister and his mother's insanity on the fact that his dad was taken by the Valkyrie. He then goes on a plot to kill the Valkyrie.
  • Kenny from The Walking Dead (Telltale) can be described as this. Though The Leader at first, he gradually falls further and further from the top spot as he goes through a Trauma Conga Line. Most notably, Kenny is single-minded in protecting his family by getting to the coast and finding a boat to find a safe place. As the game goes on, and his family members die, he grows more and more cynical. He reaches his absolute lowest when the group makes it to the coast, only to find there are no boats left. Kenny ends up hitting the sauce in episode 4, before becoming a full-on Death Seeker in episode 5 that culminates in a Heroic Sacrifice to save either Ben or Christa. Notably, Kenny can also have Undying Loyalty towards Lee, but only if you side with him 100% of the time. In Season 2, 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 he tries to kill Jane when he thinks that she let Rebecca's baby die.
  • The Witcher 2 portrays the elven partisan Iorveth this way. In his heart, he dreams of building a world where the races of the Continent coexist in peace, but he’s become embittered by years of struggle to the point of near-nihilism. He’s highly intelligent, a fact he flaunts by delivering long, lyrical speeches in situations where a simple “fuck you” would suffice for most people. He’s also extremely handsome, with his looks marred only by the fact that the right side of his face is a mess of scar tissue swimming around an empty eye socket. Unlike Geralt, who is taciturn, aloof, and socially reserved, Iorveth is charismatic to the point that his elves hero-worship him.
  • William "B.J." Blazkowicz from the Wolfenstein franchise developed shades of this trope in The New Order. Though charismatic, handsome, and eloquent in his monologues, he's clearly damaged goods by all of the suffering he's endured over the war, whether it'd be all of the horrors committed by the Nazis or the deaths of those under his command. He even fears that once his fight with the Nazis will be over, that he may never be fit to live a normal life ever. The New Colossus gives him a new purpose: Anya is pregnant with his twins, and B.J. is gonna make damn sure he'll kill every last Nazi so that his kids won't be born into a living hellhole run by goose-stepping, jackass fascists and spineless greedy Quislings. He also promised himself to be a far better father than his own piss-poor, waste-of-space, sorry-ass excuse of a father Rip ever was.
  • World of Warcraft:
    • Illidan Stormrage is cunning and ruthless, yet in conflict between his heroic tendencies (regarding his actions in the "Well of Eternity"- Raid in Cataclysm and the books) and his craving for power. Rejected by the woman he loved, outcast by the people he wanted to save (unfortunately, post-apocalyptic nightelves had no need for his "present"). Plus his very intense speech in Warcraft 3: "In truth it was I, who was betrayed! (Dramatic lightning)". Additionally, Illidan had a highly charismatic, magically-gifted and intelligent personality, allowing him to rise quickly into the ranks of the Highborne before the Sundering and to become the Ruler of Outland after the Third War. His quotes in the Warcraft 3 strategy games expressed his tendency to cynism and arrogance- reasons for his downfall in "The Burning Crusade". Moreover, Illidan was one of the few persons who switched allies rapidly (he was ally and enemy of the burning legion several times), thus making him an Anti-Hero or Trickster.
    • Garrosh Hellscream is increasingly leaning towards this. He retains a strong warrior code of honor, but it's much harsher than the one the Horde was founded on. He is ruthless to his enemies, prone to lashing out as a demonstration of his superiority, and is openly racist towards members of the Horde he views as not contributing enough.


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