Top Ten Thursday: Badass Video Game Characters

Ten Characters that Don't Know the Meaning to Giving Up

 This list may contain SPOILERS about the game the character stars in

 One thing to take note of before you read this list, this list DOES NOT include any villains. I will be doing a separate top ten list for best villain characters. A badass character isn't just someone who can blow stuff up, you got to have more than that. Although it helps if you can blow stuff up and clear out a room full of baddies. You also got to have confidence, whether it's the kind you lay out in the open or a more silent form of confidence. These ten characters all have the stuff it takes to be a true badass.

10. Max Payne

This man introduced bullet-time to the video game world, the ability to slow down time to make sure you don't miss a single shot. Nothing could stop Max Payne from seeking revenge on the people who not only killed his family, but also betrayed him. He was shot in the back, fell down a long hole, and took several baseball swings to the face, all that couldn't stop him from getting his revenge.

9. Leon S Kennedy

Sure Chris Redfield was the first out the door and has starred in more games, but Leon has risen to become the true hero in the Resident Evil universe. In Resident Evil 2, he was just some rookie cop on his first assignment and he managed to escape with his life, only to return several years later as a secret agent for the US government. From giant monsters to Mr. X nothing could stop Leon from reigning hell.

8. Gordon Freeman

 The silent protagonist that is Gordon Freeman, he doesn't need fancy one-liners or a big hulking body. All he needs is his crowbar and a gun to wreck hell on the Combine. The thing that makes Gordon Freeman a badass is the fact that he is a nerd like pretty much every gamer. No military background or any previous combat experience, just some random guy who picks up a crowbar and starts beating the crap out of enemies.

7. Dante

Dante gave new meaning to fancy showmanship, he beat up demons whiling eating a slice of pizza. He fell off a huge tower and preceded to beat the crap out of a bunch of demons on his way down. He defeated his own brother to save the human world (being half-demon himself). With his cocky attitude, nothing can cause Dante to back down from any challenger.

6. Samus Aran

 Before any of the other characters on this list were created Samus Aran was the original badass bounty hunter. She was also the original silent protagonist (not counting the recent Metroid: Other M game), who went from planet to planet fighting Space Pirates and her arch-rival, Ridley to keep the galaxy safe from the Metroids and Mother Brain.

5. Master Chief

He battled two races of creatures, the Covenant and the Flood, to save mankind from being overrun. A man of few words, but what he lacked in speech he made up with his fist. He took out the original Halo ring, killed Guilty Spark, and saved the human race. Now he just sleeps waiting for the next time the world is in need of his services.

4. Ryu Hayabusa

The original ninja badass became only more badass when he got to star in his first 3D game, Ninja Gaiden. From lightening fast swordplay to hacking away at his enemies limbs, not much could stop Ryu from defeating his enemies with his fancy swordplay, not even his big breasted partner.


3. Duke Nukem

Duke is like Master Chief's half brother, he takes down aliens races all by himself, only Duke does it whiling spitting out one-liners, drinking beer, and having sex with lots of women. The best way to describe Duke is that if you piss him off, he'll rip your head off and shit down your spine.

2. Solid Snake

When Solid Snake isn't listening to his codec or crawling in a box, he's beating up some pretty crazy enemies. From taking down giant Metal Gears to fighting strange people (Psycho Mantis , Beauty and Beast unit, Vamp), nothing can stop him, not even old age.

1. Kratos

The world of Greek Mythology doesn't have too many people left, you know since Kratos practically killed everyone. They say that sometimes the best hero is an anti-hero and Kratos fits that bill to a tee. They say no mortal can kill a god, but Kratos proved that it can be done time and time again.