Back in the early days of gaming, developers didn't need to put too much time or effort into designing heroes for their games. After all, very few games even had stories and those which did were usually limited to a few lines of text every now and again. As time has gone on though, story-driven games have become the norm, and, in doing so, have completely changed the way that the industry views playable protagonists.
Thanks to cutting-edge graphics and hyperrealistic villains, the weight of a hero's actions is now much more easily felt. How they respond to certain situations and how they treat the people they encounter can make players love or despise them, though that's not to say that all heroes need to be saints. The best video game heroes are the ones with whom players can truly relate, so a flawed hero needn't always be a bad one providing their heart is still in the right place.
7 Geralt of Rivia (The Witcher)
Although player agency perhaps waters down his video game persona quite a bit, CD Projekt Red's The Witcher trilogy still does a pretty solid job of conveying who Geralt of Rivia really is and what he's all about. When all's said and done, he's actually a pretty good hero with a fairly righteous moral code.
Of course, there are things that players can do to turn Geralt into a villain, but, canonically, the titular witcher usually does what he believes is right. Whether or not his actions are always just is certainly up for debate, but players can generally see and understand how and why he arrives at the conclusions that he does.
6 Joel Miller (The Last of Us)
Some people may question whether it's right to even call Joel Miller a hero. After all, he did a lot of terrible things throughout The Last of Us and arguably deserved the grim fate which ultimately befell him in the game's sequel. However, his questionable actions are arguably what makes him such a great hero.
Joel did what he needed to do in order to keep himself and those he loved safe. He took no pleasure in it, nor did he have much of a choice unless one counts dying or watching loved ones die as a serious choice. Sure, he was flawed in a lot of ways, but this only made him more relatable and thus the perfect vessel with which to explore the series' terrifying post-apocalyptic world.
5 Solid Snake (Metal Gear)
The fact that the Metal Gear series played such a major role in bringing stealth-based gameplay to the masses gives Snake something of an advantage. After all, there aren't many characters who have almost single-handedly helped to create and define an entire genre of video games. That said, there's a lot more to Snake than just stealth.
Heavily inspired by Kurt Russel's Snake Plisskin character in John Carpenter's Escape from... movies, Snake is one of the industry's biggest badasses, not to mention one of the most capable combatants both with and without weapons. He's also a true hero who is willing to do whatever it takes to save lives, even if it means putting his own on the line.
4 Sonic (Sonic the Hedgehog)
For those who grew up in the nineties, the way that Sega mishandled Sonic the Hedgehog in the post-Dreamcast era was incredibly difficult to watch. Thankfully, the future seems to be quite a bit brighter for the blue blur, with Sonic Mania and the Sonic the Hedgehog movies helping to get both the franchise and the character back on track.
Sonic arrived at a time when attitude was all the rage and was absolutely drenched in the stuff. He was the perfect answer to Nintendo's domination of the home console market and even helped Sega to take the lead for a short while. He's one of the most recognizable video game characters of all time too and has made a lasting impression on countless players as well as the gaming industry itself.
3 Master Chief (Halo)
Up until fairly recently, the Xbox-exclusive Halo series had barely put a foot wrong since exploding onto the scene back in 2001. In particular, the first three Halo games are among the best video game trilogies of all time and a big part of that is down to the series' iconic main protagonist, Master Chief.
When it comes to both appearances and all-around ass-kicking skills, Master Chief is not too dissimilar to Doom Guy, but beneath the heavy combat armor and behind the orange visor is a much more well-defined character. He becomes all the more interesting with each subsequent installment and has now saved the galaxy on multiple occasions.
2 Lara Croft (Tomb Raider)
It would perhaps be fair to say that the original design of Lara Croft has not aged particularly well. Even so, despite being overly sexualized, classic Lara arguably still served as a positive role model for women at a time when the gaming industry was seriously lacking in the representation department.
Tomb Raider (2013) and the subsequent sequels did an excellent job of further fleshing out the character, while still holding onto the confidence and combat skills that made OG Lara such a badass in the first place. Few video game heroes are more iconic, nor have many had such a positive impact on the video game industry.
1 Mario (Super Mario Bros.)
Video games have come a long way over the past few decades, with narrative-driven titles having become increasingly popular in recent years. With them, these story-heavy games have brought a brand-new breed of hero, but that's not to say that all of the old ones have been cast aside to make space. In fact, Mario is still very much at the forefront of things.
With Super Mario Bros., Mario played a pivotal role in the revitalization of the home-console market and helped to shape and define the platform genre in the process. He then went on to redefine said genre on multiple occasions and all while barely speaking a word. He's arguably the best video character around and is easily the most recognizable to boot.