The majority of characters in video games serve as role models. The most famous athletes, the fiercest competitors, and the most lethal shooters in the world.
In many different contexts, the vast majority of us would gladly trade places with the protagonist of a video game. A few of the characters go through a hell of a struggle.
They go through horrible hardships, are beaten both physically and mentally, and by the time the culmination of their journey arrives, they are frequently a shell of their former selves.
In this article, I want to respect the unfortunate persons who have passed away. Those individuals seem to regularly receive a quick kick in the nuts from life. On the other hand, there are some voids in the world that nobody would want to fill.
On this list, we are counting down all the characters who have been put in a position where they have had to make difficult decisions, endure awful losses, and persevere through utterly devastating emotional sorrow.
Here is a list of the 11 depressed video game characters with the most terrible endings.
1. Desmond Miles – Assassin’s Creed
Desmond is one of the numerous depressed video game characters who have a more pessimistic outlook on the concept of hooking into a high-tech version of the Oculus Rift and stabbing bad guys, even though this would sound exciting and daring to others people.
Why? Throughout the first game, he is repeatedly coerced into entering the Animus against his will. By the time he finishes his session as Altair, he is aware that his actions are the lynchpin in a plan devised by the Templars to exert mental dominance over everyone on earth.
That must make him feel terrible, and we can certainly see why. And things only get worse for Desmond from here on out.
After being abducted by a hipster and a spectacled know-it-all, he is forced to spend even more time in the Animus in the second game.
2. Joel (The Last of Us)
Things aren’t looking good for Joel- who is also one of the depressed video game characters- at the start of The Last of Us. The loss of his wife, his unreliable job, and his upcoming birthday have all combined to make his life miserable.
But the massive mound of crap perched precariously above his bearded head doesn’t even register with him. After everything falls apart for Joel, he is left in one of the most desolate video game worlds ever created.
He is reduced to a shell of his former self as a result. A person with no qualms about killing hundreds of innocent people for a cause he never truly believed in.
No wonder Joel clings to Ellie with the desperation of a father and the desperation of a father who has lost everything. The ideal hugger would do more than hug Joel; they would also restore his sense of worth.
3. Ethan Mars (Heavy Rain)
Ethan, you poor, older man. He may go down in history as one of the most prominent depressed video game characters and the most heartbreaking gaming protagonist.
As Heavy Rain opens, he has just lost his oldest son, Jason, sending him into a feeling of deep sorrow. He’s been fired, his wife has left him, and he lost the home he was planning on retiring in (which Nintendo bought as a studio for all their soulless Wii U lifestyle photography).
Then, as if that wasn’t bad enough, the nut job known as “The Origami Killer” abducts Ethan’s second son, Sean. His father tells Ethan that he must cut off one of his fingers, crashing his car, and wiggle through electric fences to regain custody of his son.
After the woman he barely knows has bandaged his grotesque wounds, all he can do is have a quick, disconcerting sex session with her.
4. Max Payne (Max Payne)
Max may be partially responsible for his suffering, though. The holy trifecta of self-abuse is alcohol, tobacco, and the murder of another human being.
Yet, we can’t help but wonder if Max’s destructive behavior would be as extreme if he hadn’t had a string of personal disasters (including the death of his wife), had horrible dreams about floating babies and had to work as a contract assassin.
By the end of the third game, Max has lost almost all of his hair, been shot in every available limb by several private armies, and drank enough whiskey to make half of Scotland severely intoxicated.
Some of us think that the only reason Max, one depressed video game character, is still alive is that he can vent his dismal ideas to the player, much like a red-nosed alcoholic would vent about his ex-wife to a group of terrified college kids in a bar.
5. Dom Santiago (Gears of War)
This list of depressed video game characters will be incomplete without Dom. On the exterior, he is a cold-blooded murderer, but when looking for his wife in Gears 2, he shows his gentler side.
If we were cynical about the situation, we’d dismiss his reunion with Maria as a transparent effort to insert a shocking scene into Gears of War’s murder, death, kill, rinse, and repeat storyline.
But because we aren’t, we won’t. Dom’s cries for his unkempt wife make you question how emotional he is. So, does the thought of abandoned donkeys make him tear up a little?
Did he weep towards the conclusion of the Green Mile but pretend to Marcus and Cole that he just had an eye infection? Is he a fan of the sneezing panda video? We all know that, on the inside, Dom is a total softie.
Cut that massive Locust in two with a chainsaw; we promise not to tell anybody about your secret obsession with Sandra Bullock movies.
6. James Sunderland (Silent Hill 2)
James Sunderland is treated quite poorly by the town of Silent Hill. Yes, he slays his wife before coming, but the demons who skulk about in the fog savagely punish him for this act of (kind of) compassion.
He faces continual psychological anguish and physical peril from the devilish nurse-beasts, Pyramid Head, and the insane people living in Silent Hill.
James is continually tormented by Maria, who makes him face his unmet sexual urges before dying in front of him, rising from the dead, and eventually changing into a monstrous tentacle beast after the game.
Before James achieves one of the game’s six sad endings, Eddy, Angela, and Laura all work to make him feel as bad as they can.
7. Dwayne Forge (GTA IV)
Dwayne merely wants to make new friends. To satisfy his need for companionship, even a psychotic mass murderer like Niko will do.
Dwayne, one of the depressed video game characters, is very persistent in his phone messages to Niko, but when they finally meet in person, he seems a bit miserable and awkward.
He serves as a reliable emotional center. Still, Dwayne has our sympathy. Things are tough in Liberty City, regardless of whether you used to be a criminal or not.
He has no choice but to reside in one of the city’s most undesirable areas, in a tower block of apartments so hideous that they give Kevin McCloud nightmares.
And if Playboy X orders Niko to kill Dwayne, the police won’t even look into it. Aw, look at that sad expression.
8. Lee Everett (The Walking Dead: Season One)
In The Walking Dead: Season One, developed by Telltale Games, Lee Everett, among the depressed video game characters, gets a second shot at fatherhood after the apocalypse by adopting Clementine.
Like other depressed video game characters, Lee killed a senator he suspected of having an affair with his wife before the zombie apocalypse.
That Lee shows such genuine concern and care for Clementine makes his eventual separation from her even more heartbreaking, given that he would probably be languishing in a prison cell someplace if the epidemic hadn’t occurred.
9. Tim (Braid)
At first glance, Tim from Braid may appear to be your standard platform hero, although he is also regarded as one of the depressed video game characters.
He’s a good-looking boy on a quest to free a kidnapped princess as he hops around some colorful fantasy levels. Tim may seem light and breezy on the surface, but he has some very dark tendencies.
Even though Tim’s familiarity with the damsel is sketchy, the player is left to assume that he is primarily a Mario or Link-type character because of the diaries he keeps before each level, which detail his search for the princess.
The diaries eventually delve into some pretty dark territory, with Tim alluding to a past mistake that he’s either trying to atone for or run away from.
10. Sarah (The Last of Us)
Sarah only appears for a short time in The Last of Us, but her tragic end foreshadows the harsh truths of the game’s postapocalyptic world, making her one of the depressed video game characters.
Like Clementine from Season One of The Walking Dead, Sarah is a magnanimous and charming character, and we can empathize with her father, Joel, as he mourns her untimely death.
When we learn that Joel and his daughter share a special bond, we can better appreciate the bond he forms with Ellie on their journey to safety.
11. Argonar, Kaim (Lost Odyssey)
True transcendence is more of a curse than a blessing, and Kaim Argonar would be the first to tell you that. More wives and children have died over the centuries than he cares to remember.
After being ‘killed’ multiple times, including once by being struck by a meteor, he always awakens from his coma and resumes his seemingly endless existence.
Bits and pieces of Kaim’s life are revealed to you via the Thousand Dreams mechanism; most of the time, they’re depressing. You’ll be glad you’re only a mortal by the game’s end.
Mr. Solus Mordin (Mass Effect) Mordin Solus, a great scientist from the planet Salarian, has a complete circle tale in the Mass Effect games. He is also one of the most depressed video game characters ever created.
When the galaxy was at war with itself before the Reapers showed up, Mordin and the other Salarians made the difficult choice to eradicate the Krogan species to stop them from expanding their dominance.
They may have done what they did to save other fighting and casualties, but Mordin feels the weight of that choice.
Ezio Auditore Ezio Auditor, also one of the depressed video game characters, is pulled from the perks of aristocracy at a young age by the murders of his father and siblings.
He joins the Assassin Order on a mission of vengeance, but he’s hesitant to sign a lifetime commitment since he only wants to ensure his mom and sister are safe.
Later, Ezio sets off on a perilous adventure, directed by others, to kill many people and pursue mythical individuals.
