Summary
- Duke Nukem’s extreme misogyny didn’t evolve with the times, losing its edge and becoming distasteful.
- Shane from Haze shifts from the rebels to a dark path, showcasing a messy narrative and disconnect with players.
- Trevor Philips pushes the limits with his unreasonable and off-the-rails behavior in Grand Theft Auto 5.
Anti-heroes are a great way to add depth and complexity to a character, but can it go too far? At what point do anti-heroes become straight-up villains or at least lose the audience’s sympathy? The characters below are not necessarily bad characters. They just went a little overboard when it comes to their anti-hero status.
As a result, many players might feel a disconnect. This could be exactly what the developers wanted, or else they thought they were doing something smart and it came out more grotesque than thought-provoking. Some people like the grotesque and transgressive, so some of these characters might be right up their alley.
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8
Duke Nukem (Duke Nukem Forever)
Outdated Gameplay And Outdated Humor
- Released
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June 14, 2011
- ESRB
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m
Duke Nukem Forever famously took over a decade to come out. Duke Nukem 3D is one of the most celebrated games of its era, so fans were expecting a long-awaited follow-up to live up to that game’s legacy. The lackluster product is not what puts Duke on this list, though. He’s here because his personality has not changed since the 1990s. His extreme misogyny was already on the edge of bad taste in the late 1990s, and in 2011, it stuck out like a sore thumb.
Teenagers who might have found it edgy in Duke Nukem 3D were fifteen years older and their sense of humor had evolved. Being a skirt chaser is one thing, but there’s something wrong with exclusively viewing women as sexual objects like Duke Nukem does.
7
Shane Carpenter (Haze)
Joins The Rebels, Who End Up Being Just As Bad
Haze
- Released
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May 20, 2008
- ESRB
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m
Haze’s campaign is split into two distinct halves. The first part sees the protagonist Shane Carpenter fighting as part of the Mantel corporation as they invade a South American country under the guise of liberating it from rebel forces committing genocide. He, along with all Mantel soldiers, is also under the influence of the game’s fictional drug, Nectar.
Eventually, Shane discovers this was all a lie and joins the rebels. Mantel was there to destroy Nectar plants not owned by Mantel. The game ends as he and the rest of the rebels drive the company out of the country. Before the credits roll, the rebel leader reveals he intends to use Nectar for his own forces, claiming that it will be used for good now that it is in the right hands. Shane saw the evils of Nectar firsthand. Instead of destroying it, he let it fall into new hands.
6
Kane (Kane And Lynch)
A Bad Person Doing Bad Things To Bad People
- Released
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November 13, 2007
- ESRB
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m
- Publisher(s)
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Eidos Interactive
Some anti-heroes fight for some greater good, but the two titular protagonists in Kane & Lynch are purely out for themselves. It is bad guys shooting at other bad guys, with no regard for innocent people caught in the crossfire.
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Kane’s actions get his wife killed and put his daughter in mortal danger. In the sequel, Dog Days, he and his partner shoot their way through Thailand after a deal goes wrong. The world would be a better place if Kane and his partner, Lynch, did not exist.
5
Trevor Philips (Grand Theft Auto 5)
The Loosest Cannon In A World Of Loose Cannons
- Released
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September 17, 2013
- ESRB
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M For Mature 17+ due to Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Mature Humor, Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, Use of Drugs and Alcohol
- Developer(s)
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Rockstar North
Every main character in Grand Theft Auto is a criminal. It is the nature of the game. Trevor Philips from Grand Theft Auto 5, though, takes it to another level. He is completely unreasonable, plays by his own rules, and seems to take pleasure in the carnage he unleashes.
At least the other protagonists are reasonable and have friends. Trevor is completely off the rails. He tortures an innocent man, forces himself into an acquaintance’s home and decides to live there, and he might even be a cannibal.
4
Jacket (Hotline Miami)
Killing For Almost No Reason
- Released
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October 23, 2012
- ESRB
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M For Mature 17+ due to Intense Violence, Blood and Gore, Drug Reference, Strong Language, Crude Humor
- Developer(s)
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Dennaton Games
Hotline Miami is about an unnamed protagonist, dubbed “Jacket,” massacring drug dealers and other criminal lowlifes in intensely graphic ways. He does this after receiving anonymous calls detailing the criminals’ locations. The pixelated graphics oddly make the violence more disturbing. While these are bad people that he kills, the fact he does it seemingly without motivation and without flinching puts him on this list. It is partly the point of the game.
Players only find out the truth about the calls through a secret ending. The regular ending mocks the playable characters, implying they don’t really want the reason to kill so much as an excuse.
3
Cole McGrath (Infamous)
An Evil Path That’s Just Too Obviously Evil
- Released
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May 26, 2009
- ESRB
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T For Teen // Blood, Drug Reference, Language, Mild Suggestive Themes, Violence
Infamous offers players choices during the narrative that affect whether Cole is seen as a hero or a villain. Player choice was a big selling point of games at the time thanks to the popularity of titles like Mass Effect. Unfortunately, Infamous fails to make these decisions interesting or morally ambiguous, even though the gameplay is always fun.
If people want to make Cole an anti-hero and pick the morally devious options, he turns out as more of a straightforward villain. It makes the character less interesting, and makes the choices easier to make. Players do not have to think about the consequences of their actions and generally know what choice to make without pondering it.
2
The Boss (Saints Row)
He Turns His Back On The Saints’ Original Goal
- Released
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October 14, 2008
It might be difficult to remember, but the Saints of Saints Row formed with the goal of stopping gang violence. The player-created protagonist is introduced to the gang in the debut entry after being shot as an innocent bystander. The first game’s ending sees the Boss almost die in an explosion.
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The second game reveals Julius Little to be the traitor to the saints. As the Boss and Julius come face-to-face, the latter says he feels that the leader of the gang has lost his way and forgot about why the Saints formed in the first place. The especially heinous criminal acts players do in the second game, like tricking a rival gang leader into unknowingly killing their girlfriend, show that the Boss has no interest in stopping street violence.
1
Ellie (The Last Of Us Part 2)
Losing Everything Just To Get Revenge
- Released
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June 19, 2020
- ESRB
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M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Use of Drugs
The world will end two times over before fans come to a consensus over whether Joel Miller is a villain for what he did at the end of the first game. The sequel stays in the realm of moral ambiguity with its story about revenge and the circle of violence. Anybody else in Ellie’s shoes would probably want revenge on the group who killed their paternal figure. She takes out most of those who participated in the killing, but is initially unable to kill Abby, who delivered Joel’s killing blow.
By the end of the game, she practically throws away everything for the shot at vengeance, something Joel would not have wanted. The weight of all she threw away in the name of revenge is tragically symbolized in her lost fingers. She can no longer play guitar properly, a skill she learned from Joel.
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