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It takes a lot of energy to be the main character. When you are called the protagonist, you are immediately thrown into a whirl of twists and turns and endless plot progressions. How can a story be interesting if nothing happens to you?
Still, some stories seem to drag their protagonist through the wringer more than others. Sometimes you can take on the role of a flower and literally blow through life. Other times, you step into the shoes of a protagonist who really deserves to take at least one day of the best nap of their lives. Check out some of gaming’s most tired MCs who need a break.
Spoiler Alert: Some of these entries ruin a few plot points for their respective games.
12/12 Dante – Devil May Cry
In the Devil May Cry series, Dante is the recurring protagonist. As the strongest demon slayer known to mankind, Dante has been going to hell and back for years and years. Every time he gets the chance to settle down, a rogue demon has other ideas in mind.
As if this wasn’t enough, he eventually faces numerous betrayals and even goes up against his twin brother, Vergil, several times throughout the series. Dante tries to save Vergil a few times, but their brotherhood never seems to work due to their vastly different ideals.
If Dante is not the protector of the human plane, he must fend off both family and foe in the Demon World. Give this man an energy drink.
11/12 Mario Mario – Super Mario Bros
Your life should be interesting with a canonical name like Mario Mario. You just can’t sit at home with that title. Fortunately, Mario gets involved in all sorts of adventures, leaping through deadly canyons, dodging fireballs and bullets, and racing against almost everyone he’s ever rescued and fought on the tracks.
Mario is already a hot mid-twenties and with the wild variety of titles we’ve seen him in, he seems to be living the longest years anyone should ever endure. It doesn’t justify his blatant kidnapping of Donkey Kong, but hey, a brave Italian plumber can only have so much before he breaks.
10/12 Master Chief – Halo
Master Chief has been raised for battle from an early age, reason enough to give him some rest. From there, he faces endless barrages of war and invasion as he must protect Cortana and work with him for the good of humanity.
The Master Chief has been so busy fending off the Covenant that no one bothers to know his name anymore. It’s John! The only time he gets “rest” is when he is put into cryosleep, but even that isn’t satisfying.
9/12 Ethan Mars – Heavy Rain
Ethan Mars is one of those poor souls who has had an exceptionally hard time. Before the main events of Heavy Rain, he loses his son Jason to a tragic hit-and-run. Oh, and he’s in a coma that lasts half a year. He wakes up, but of course he is going to divorce his loving wife.
That should be enough trauma for a single lifetime, but the game has yet to begin! So, of course, Ethan’s other son Shaun is kidnapped by the Origami Killer. In his frantic search for his son, he faces agoraphobia, increasingly gruesome trials of a mad serial killer, and a host of bad endings.
Dead bodies, murders, lost limbs, you name it. Ethan has had to deal with it. Even if you manage to find his son, it’s a lot to experience.
8/12 The Only Survivor – Fallout 4
The Fallout series is arguably filled with characters who all deserve a long nap. After all, post-nuclear America is not a friendly place to live.
However, the main character of Fallout 4 has a hard time after being plucked from their idyllic life. You must enter a vault to escape nuclear fallout, but in the process you are unwittingly placed under cryogenic stasis as your husband is murdered and your child is taken away. When you wake up 200 years later, you find that all your fellow vault members are long dead and you enter a very different world as The Sole Survivor.
Because life is a mess, you must find your son, make huge choices that will affect the fate of humanity and face a variety of disgusting enemies. Even Diamond City Radio’s sweet tunes aren’t enough to make up for this.
7/12 Jesse Faden – Control
In Control, Jesse must accept her new role as Director of the Federal Bureau of Control as she must contain a Hiss invasion, various reality changes and items, and try to save her brother. While it may seem cool to land a managerial position just because you were looking for a boyfriend, there’s a lot that goes into your first day of work.
As the new director, Jesse cleans up the mess left and right. Every time you contain something disturbing that shouldn’t react that way, something else happens. Of course it does. You’re not supposed to rush through the oldest house, but Jesse has to do it anyway. There must be a modified bed somewhere in the Panopticon where everyone can take the best naps they can dream of.
6/12 The Stray Cat – Stray
In Stray, you must navigate a long-forgotten city of robots and all-consuming bacteria that will try to kill you and everyone around them. On this journey, the cat must find its way back to the outside world while navigating hazards left and right.
Take a moment to think about the fact that cats are meant to sleep about 12 to 16 hours a day. There may be many places to sleep around the world, but there never seems to be enough time to do that. This little kitty should be getting the best pets and the best naps under the sun after all this effort.
5/12 Senua – Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice is a beautiful game that skillfully combines mythology and mental health in one immersive adventure. It has its fair share of twists while still respecting the true nature of mental illness.
Senua goes through a lot as the main character. Not only must she fight her inner demons, but she must also confront the horrors inherent in the Viking Age. In addition, Senua has dark rot, which steadily spreads on her flesh as you progress through the story. It also spreads if you ever fail in points of the game.
It’s hard to have so much on your mind, and Senua takes it to heart. Hopefully she’ll get a moment of reprieve before the Saga comes along.
4/12 Leon Kennedy – Resident Evil
Leon Kennedy has changed a lot over the years, but can we blame him? After escaping from a childhood filled with crime and the death of his entire family, he becomes a police officer. He decides to work in Raccoon City, but breaks up with his girlfriend and finds the whole city being bombarded with zombies.
First, fighting zombies is not easy. Second, have you seen the giants he has to face? A hit from the El Gigante is a lifetime supply of plush pillows and melatonin.
Leon’s journey doesn’t end there either. So much is happening to this man with civil wars, corporate takedowns and covert military missions with barely a moment’s rest.
3/12 Rico Rodriguez – Just Cause
Explosions, gunfights and flying through the air trying not to crash into the ground – these are all ordinary events in the life of one Rico Rodriguez. There are many conflicting reports in the world of Just Cause about his background, but everything that happens in the series is exhausting enough.
He is called the hero of San Esperito, the king of Panau and the son of Medici. You don’t just let those titles rest on your laurels. Everywhere Rico goes, people seem to rely on him as their great savior. The ones who don’t normally want to kill him. weft.
2/12 Cassandra the Eagle Bearer – Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey
The mighty Cassandra carries much more than her trusty eagle in Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey. It’s hard to pick a place to start talking about all the tough choices and otherworldly experiences Cassandra has to go through, but she has to travel a lot through ancient Greece.
The whole adventure takes her ten years to complete, which is understandable considering it’s been called an ‘Odyssey’. Her journey doesn’t necessarily end there either. After taking down multiple cults and beasts anointed by the gods, she is responsible in more ways than one for forming the Brotherhood as it is known today.
1/12 Kratos – God Of War
Behold, God of War’s Kratos – the God Slayer, the Ghost of Sparta, Olympus’ Fallen God, disgruntled father! After bloody raids through Sparta and battling the gods of the Greek pantheon, Kratos heads for Midgard. With the ghosts of his actions behind him, he tries to start over, but now faces Norse gods.
As if raising your son wasn’t exhausting enough, all you need to do is look at Kratos’ list of powerful enemies to feel just how tired this protagonist is. Hades, Freya, Helios, Hera, Medusa and Baldur are just some of the big names who wanted Kratos dead. At this point, Kratos will have to find a whole other planet to take a decent nap without interruption.
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