Father's Day is upon us, which for many means BBQs, hanging out with dad, and partaking in plenty of other fatherly activities. For gaming families, this may include a Mario Kart tournament, slaying enemies in split-screen online multiplayer in Call of Duty, or even dusting off the old Atari so dad can enjoy some Pong-fueled nostalgia. However one celebrates Father's Day, there are some virtual fathers that we may spend more time with than our real life ones.
Over the last 30+ years, gaming has seen its fair share of fathers. Not all of them are necessarily the "best" dads, but they are all certainly representative of fatherhood in gaming, and when people think of gaming dads, these 10 characters definitely come to mind first.
10. Mike Haggar (Final Fight)
Despite being created by Japanese company Capcom, Mike Haggar is about as American as a baseball-playing bald eagle eating apple pie. He's a mountain of a man, a former professional wrestler, and in his debut game, Final Fight, he's even working as mayor. Unfortunately for Haggar, his daughter Jessica is kidnapped by the devious Mad Gear gang, so Haggar does what any good father would do: he goes on a punching, stabbing, pile-driving rampage across Metro City to rescue his daughter.
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9. Michael De Santa (Grand Theft Auto 5)
At the start of Grand Theft Auto 5, Michael is in therapy, in part because he simply cannot connect with his children. His daughter is buzzing on every drug imaginable, sleeping her way across town, and his son is a burnout who can't be bothered to do much of anything except smoke pot and play video games. Despite all the trouble he went through to escape his dangerous life of crime, Michael's "normal" life with his dysfunctional family is far from ideal.
However, over the course of GTA 5, we see Michael rebuild his relationship with his kids, bonding with them over insane boat heists and saving them from stalkers. Michael may not win the Father of the Year Award any time soon, but surely he's done a much better job than Trevor ever could.
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Up Next: Best Dad or Worst Dad?
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8. Harry Mason (Silent Hill)
Like Mike Haggar, Harry Mason spends his time trying to save his kidnapped daughter. The difference is that Haggar's daughter was kidnapped by a bunch of thugs, whereas Harry's daughter Cheryl, well, she is kidnapped by the demonic entities of a terrifying ghostly town called Silent Hill. Depending on what the player does throughout their journey in Silent Hill, Harry is either partly successful in his attempt to rescue Cheryl, or he's kidnapped by aliens. But any guy that's willing to walk around a foggy town full of monsters in search of his lost daughter is a great dad by anyone's count.
Unfortunately for fans of the series, the next entry, Silent Hills, has been cancelled by Konami in a manner that Guillermo Del Toro has described as a "scorched Earth approach." Based on the P.T. playable teaser, it seemed as though Silent Hills was set to feature a father as the main protagonist as well, and it's a shame that we won't have a chance to see how it would've played out.
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7. Ethan Mars (Heavy Rain)
Press X to "Jason!" In case one hasn't caught on to the theme just yet, typically when video games prominently feature a father figure in the plot, they usually wind up having to save their children from evil people or otherworldly begins. Poor Ethan Mars experiences a parent's worst nightmare: his son is lost in the mall, and he may be in danger of being murdered by the notorious Origami Killer. Despite this thriller plot, players still get to experience some more traditional, low-key dad activities, such as playing with Ethan's kids and even making them supper.
Any new PlayStation players that missed out on Ethan's dinner-making adventures with his kids may have a chance to play Heavy Rain on PS4. Sony has confirmed that Heavy Rain as well as Beyond: Two Souls are being remastered for PS4, but currently that re-release is only slated for Europe.
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6. Barry Burton (Resident Evil)
Barry Burton's motives are entirely driven by his love of his family in the original Resident Evil, but with Barry stuck in a zombie-infested mansion, we were only able to see his dad jokes in action against his fellow S.T.A.R.S. colleagues. Barry was basically missing from the franchise since the first game in the series, though he had a brief cameo in Resident Evil 3. However, Barry returned in Resident Evil: Revelations 2, and this time he was joined by his estranged daughter, Moira. And as it turns out, nothing brings a daughter and father together like trying to survive on an island full of blood-thirsty creatures.
Those that want to check out what Barry Burton is all about, can see him in both Resident Evil HD Remaster and Resident Evil: Revelations 2.
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Up Next: What if Dad Was a Cowboy?
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5. James (Fallout 3)
Voiced by Liam Neeson, James from Fallout 3 takes the "parent trying to save child" dynamic discussed in the previous entries and flips it on its head. The player character of Fallout 3 leaves the general safety of the Vault in order to scour the Capital Wasteland in search of their missing father. Bethesda does an absolutely brilliant job with James, making it impossible to not care about the character within mere minutes of meeting him, giving the journey to find good old dad extreme emotional weightiness.
In the upcoming Fallout 4, players will instead have the option of controlling either a father or a mother, and we can't wait to see how Bethesda breaks our heart from that perspective instead.
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4. Joel (The Last of Us)
Out of all the entries on this list, Joel's experience with fatherhood is probably the most tragic. The opening scenes of The Last of Us are absolutely Earth-shattering for any father, and watching Joel's transformation and character arc throughout the game is truly something to behold. For the sake of avoiding spoilers, this blurb will be short, but rest assured Joel is one the most well-crafted fathers and characters in all of gaming.
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3. John Marston (Red Dead Redemption)
Out of all of Rockstar's protagonists, gun-toting cowboy John Marston is easily the most honorable. Throughout his country-spanning adventure, John is presented with numerous opportunities to cheat on his wife, but Marston stays loyal to his family. In fact, his entire quest is so that he may return to a quiet life on the homestead to be with his wife, as well as raise his son. The father/son relationship between John and his son is an integral element to the plot of Red Dead Redemption, as well as Marston's personal character.
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Next: This Dad Has Too Many Kids
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2. Eli Vance (Half-Life 2)
Eli is a great father to Half-Life 2 hero Alyx Vance, and his story is really fleshed out in the two "Episodes" that followed that game's release. Eli was a renowned scientist at Black Mesa, but despite his busy schedule, he managed to create a robotic pet, the aptly named Dog, in order to play with and protect his daughter. Unfortunately, Valve seems insistent on never finishing the story of the Vance family, with the last quasi-update for Half-Life 3 having came four years ago.
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1. Bowser (Super Mario Bros.)
And finally, we'd be remiss if we didn't mention the King of the Koopas, Bowser. Depending on who you ask, Bowser either has eight kids or one, as the status of the Koopalings as his offspring has remained ambiguous since the launch of Super Mario Bros. 3. However, Bowser Jr. is most certainly the direct offspring of Bowser himself, and we've had the opportunity to see their relationship develop across a variety of games and genres.
Bowser Jr. really takes after his father, what with his kidnapping of Princess Peach (believing her to be his mother) and his disdain for Mario. So while Bowser may want to visit Maury Povich to figure out whether the seven Koopalings are truly his kids, at least he seems to be pretty close to the one child with his namesake.
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From grizzled cowboys to fire-breathing dragons, video games have seen a wide variety of dads. Some of the fathers on this list may have been more successful in bonding with and protecting their children than others, but they're all dads, and all of them deserve some recognition on Father's Day.
Happy Father's Day, and don't forget to spend some quality time gaming with dad this weekend!