everyone from killer 7
the talking head was badass

The High Prophet of Truth, although the interesting stuff is mostly in Contact Harvest. (EDIT: He's one of the bad guys in Halo, in case you're ignorant of who he is)

And Fenix from StarCraft just for: "Just because I'm 874 years of age does not mean I'm old. I can still, how do you Terrans say it, 'get down with the best of 'em'?"

harhol:
Pyramid Head

for real?
he was a sadist rapist, sonofoabitch
how can you like him/it/her?

Father Grigori from HL2.
So cleverly put in, you're alone in this place which is basically death and only death and you're introduced to a helpful human, if a bit bonkers. It made the level seem much more complete. Plus, I want to know what happened to him.

yeah the crazy preacehr was my fravorite charachter in the game, plus he reminds me of my paps

I'm gunna go out on a limb here but...

Sergeant Johnson from halo!

Draco Centaur from Puyo Puyo. She is an insecure girl that can only see herself through the eyes of others.

alwaysrockon:

harhol:
Pyramid Head

for real?
he was a sadist rapist, sonofoabitch
how can you like him/it/her?

Interesting doesn't mean likeable.

Yeah, Snake was pro, he seemed like a regular guy in a shitty situation.

But I've got to cross tracks to the (*gasp*) JRPGS. I have always considered Cloud Strife my favorite protagonist and Sephiroth my favorite antagonist in gaming, particularly because the lines blurred a bit.

Cloud was a merc, he only helped AVALANCHE because he wanted a buck, and we got to watch his character develop.

Sephiroth did terrible things, but he legitamately believed that they were the right thing to do, not only that, most of the reason for his evil was based on the company that created him and was attempting to exploit him.

Graustein:

alwaysrockon:

harhol:
Pyramid Head

for real?
he was a sadist rapist, sonofoabitch
how can you like him/it/her?

Interesting doesn't mean likeable.

Thank you.

:)

While her design isn't particularly original. I Love Sarah Kerrigan from Starcraft. I find her to be a very tragic villain in a way. She's still a twisted evil bitch though :)

Lord Zetta from Makai Kingdom!

kungfujoe:

But I've got to cross tracks to the (*gasp*) JRPGS. I have always considered Cloud Strife my favorite protagonist and Sephiroth my favorite antagonist in gaming, particularly because the lines blurred a bit.

Cloud was a merc, he only helped AVALANCHE because he wanted a buck, and we got to watch his character develop.

Sephiroth did terrible things, but he legitamately believed that they were the right thing to do, not only that, most of the reason for his evil was based on the company that created him and was attempting to exploit him.

Sephiroth pretty much snapped in Nibelheim when all the lies he was told growing up and what Genesis told him about Project S / JENOVA all came to a head. There's a great scene in Crisis Core where you can SEE the slow snap of his sanity and everything crashing down when he realizes that he was created, like Genesis and Angeal. Gast's misguided thesis about Jenova being an ancient convinced Sephiroth that this was what he was destined for - following in his "mother's" footsteps and destroying the world to become it's new God.

Cloud's probably the most mentally screwed up person I've played as. I actually wrote a paper on his psychological state, and it's incredible how his mind in its mako-poisoned state, combined with the trauma of having witnessed his childhood hero torching his hometown + the shame of not making SOLDIER, took in Zack's stories and Cloud convinced himself that they happened to him. It took me a while to realize that that was the case and it blew me away. Awesome.

/geeking out

Oh, also James Sunderland.

h311str0m:
I'd have to say with Big Boss from the Metal Gear series. The early incarnations of him are somewhat villainous, but after Metal Gear Solid 3, you get a better idea of what he's like (about identical to Solid Snake). Metal Gear Solid 4 I think added even more layers of depth to him as well.

Solid Snake's badass and everything, but I think Big Boss is just more interesting.

Totally!

I can honeslty say that he's the only character that I think is fascinating.

TBH I think the most interesting video game character I've ever seen is by far SHODAN from System Shocks 1 and 2.A quote of her's is my sig (obviously lol) Anyways I'm gonna play SS2 again.....

"Look at you hacker.P-Pathetic creature of meat and bone.Panting and sweating as you run through my corridors.How can you challenge a perfect,immortal machine?"

I like to think the following:

1) Saren, due to being aBad-Ass alien who those bad-ass actions

2) Max Payne, for being bad-ass and hardboilded

3) Barney, for somehow being able to survive Black Mesa snd the events of the other Half-Life games

4) Dog, due to being a bad-ass robot who kicks ass even though he's made out of scrap.

5) Raz, due to being a pychic with an abusing past and for being cursed by gipsies to allways die when in a large body of water

6) Shegorath, due to being a demented god with a serious case of Shizophrania represented in his personality and the landscape.

7) Sonic, due to being a dick (Power Rings reference!!!)

8) Shadow, due to possibly being made by Aliens

9) Andrew Ryan, due to being an extremely left wing turned extremely right wing eccentric billionaire who had enough mone to build an underwater Utopia turned Distopia.

10) The G-Man: due to being mysterious and god like. Seriously!!! That guy creeps me out!!! What the Fuck is his deal!!! I'm scared momy!!!

HK-47 is my first choice. He was, and is, awesome. Always.

2nd is the main character from Yager. His voice was always so bland and uninterested, even in moments of emotional high, like he didn't want to be there. It was awesome.

I adore Dante. I particularly wanted the next game to focus on why/how he and Vergil became estranged. They were clearly very close at one time. Instead we got stupid Nero. >.<

Kratos from the God of War series
He's just so tormented and evil

Kratos from the God of War series
He's just so tormented and evil

I usually don't repeat myself, but *points to avatar again*.

If you don't know who that is, this will help, but it does contain spoilers.

max payne is without doubt the deepest and most interesting character in a western video game (not that i consider the possibilty that there are more interesting characters in japaneese games, i just dont want to argue with those freaks who play them :D)
other characters can beat max payne just in the looking unusual/having crazy-back story/behaving like a weirdo aspect. but there is noone else id rather drink a few beers with.

BoneofMalkav:
TBH I think the most interesting video game character I've ever seen is by far SHODAN from System Shocks 1 and 2.A quote of her's is my sig (obviously lol) Anyways I'm gonna play SS2 again.....

"Look at you hacker.P-Pathetic creature of meat and bone.Panting and sweating as you run through my corridors.How can you challenge a perfect,immortal machine?"

Damn, someone beat me to it. :) Although I'd add every talking thing (turrets, GladOS, etc) in "Portal". but SHODAN is easily the best and most charismatic antagonist in any game I've played, ever.

My personal favorite SHODAN moments? The first elevator message in the original System Shock ("Who are you...?" - a feast of paranoid control-freakery) and her gleeful squeal of triumph when you destroy the shuttle with the Many's eggs on the Command deck in System Shock 2: "You murdered their children!" It's a genuinely uncomfortable moment, unique in any game that I've played so far. The Many only wish to survive and replicate, but SHODAN is so much worse than that.

Zelos from Tales of Symphonia... maybe interesting isn't the most perfect word, but I was interested every time again and again to see if he had some nice line >.>

The Shade:
I am absorbed with the mystery that is the G-Man. Half-Life gets my vote.

word, i think he is an alien!(ssssshhhhhhh)

Jon Irenicus from baldurs Gate 2, such a fully fleshed out antagonist, unusual for a bad guy. Great interesting backstory and so tragic.

Honourable mention for Jowy from Suikoden 2, now theres a character with emotional depth

Haven't played that many deep games. Don't remember much of Baulder's Gate, was like 12 when I played it, though I do remember Minsc (and Boo!) he was kind of cool, Edwin and Viconia (spelling?) too. I remember KotoR2 being mildly confusing, maybe I missed something in Revan everyone else seem to have gotten. And I never got around finishing Jedi Knight, Kyle was awesome in Jedi Academy and what little I played of Jedi Outcast though.

I'll just go with GLaDOS, she was pretty awesome after all ^^

althouhg ive mentioned Jaunty from ShadowMan but Graustein's post 'interesting doesn't mean likable' got me thinking and i instantly thought of the antagonists from the ShadowMan game who call themselves The Five. each of them have back stories that you can read up about but rather than being files you skip through and carry on without giving a second glance to, the files about them actually make interesting reading and gives the characters more depth than just 'another person to fight'.

g-man from half-life.

MAgus from CT. first he's revealed to be a violent psychopath, some monster with the ultimate destruction of humans on it's mind, with no concern for anyone or anything. Then it's only further shown by him summoning a destroyer off worlds tot he planet. What excelence. It's only later revealed, that he's a child, that was living a peacful, life in a super advanced utopia, where he was royalty. By the way this is some 13 thousand years earlier.

Then his mom goes batshit insane trying to harness the power of the same world destroyer, except, wit no that world destroyer crashed there millions of years ago. and it's an aliean just eating the planet. When it wakes up because of his mother previously mentioned bat shit insanity, it sucks everyone in to these creepy dark holes, and bang they are just gone. The last one aside form him self to go was his sister, that he loved with his entire heart.

When he watches his sister apparently die, he gets sucked into a hole, and bang he's suddenly in the future, which sucks, cause he's alone. And wait, now there are creepy monsters, and whats this, shit now I'm being kidnapped by some ugly talking toad. Then he's just screwed up enough to summon this world eater to his castle, to try and kill it himself which, is the same event which represented him as a mindless psychopath. Wait, thats not odd enough?

No when he summons that thing he's sent back 13,000 ears back to when he's a child, except now he's disguised as a prophet, so he as his older more powerful self can try and kill the world eater, before he's sucked into the crappy future, where his sister is dead. And he's a evil general. After he fails and he's still sucked into the future again (his older self flees), and bang now he joins his good guy enemies, and goes to eventually kill this world eater.

Excellent character, favorite character in my opinion ever. I just wish they had continued him into chrono cross like they innitially planned, as guile. I would never not take guile when I started. Anyway, Magus = win = best character ever

No love yet for The Nameless One, Morte, Dakkon and company? I'm shocked.

Albert Welsker, easily because we don't know anything about him!!!!!

And G-Man for the same reasons.

NIKOOOO BELLIC!!!! FW he has the most awesomly horrible past ever, he's funny sarcastic, and broken all at the same time, no charecter has ever made the gamer want to win more than he, except possibly Max Payne, what the hells with the new Max Payne movie, looks stupid!

This'll sound retarded, but I think Haggard from Battlefield Bad Company is awesome. His accent combined with his pyromaniacal attitude just makes me laugh every time.

Kefka. Need I say more?