Shattered Destinies

Art by ItsumiCarlo "Oh my stars, did I do all this?" Originally code-named Van Buren, the game that would become Fallout: New Vegas was originally intended to be the third mainline entry in the series. Facing financial issues, Black Isle Studios was forced to cancel the title in December of 2003. In 2007, Bethesda purchased the Fallout intellectual property, releasing their version of Fallout 3 the following year. With Bethesda already hard at work on Skyrim, the company sti

"Being noble has nothing to do with who you are as a person or how hard your life is." Introduced in 2019's Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Claude is the leader of the Golden Deer class which hails from the Leicester Alliance. Unlike the other houses the player can choose between the Golden Deer has a greater focus on commoners over nobility, and while Claude himself is set to lead the Alliance some day, he remains far more approachable, bordering on aloof. While he hides behind

"We will create our own path to follow." A young noblewoman, Estellise's upbringing was fairly restrictive, mostly limited to Zaphias Castle. As such, she gained most of her knowledge of the outside world from books, making her an avid reader who can recite passages from memory. Naturally skilled in the use of healing artes, made all the more impressive due to her ability to cast without the use of a blastia, she is also proficient in the use of swords, staves, and shields.

Art by Jenu the Angel "Anytime you need help, just give ol' Alfyn a holler!" While a few of the characters I've included have kind of skirted the line on the rules I set in place, Alfyn is probably the most blatant case of ignoring the rules for the sake of the narrative. Hailing from 2018's Octopath Traveler, Alfyn i s one of the eight party members that players can choose as their "main character." While I chose Minthara from Baldur's Gate III in part due to her role as on

Art by Ferilily "It's quite easy to throw your own life away... However, you must think of all who will mourn if you do!" Introduced in Suikoden II, Sierra is the Tenei Star, which generally serves as the "Sworn Protector", often protecting the protagonist or some other character, usually willing to risk their lives for them. Sierra wields the Moon Rune, one of the 27 True Runes, which form the backbone of the Suikoden universe which allow it to exist. The intense power conn

Art by Kidstainlab "What you're really asking is... 'Will you please beat the shit out of me, Kanji?" Introduced in 2008's Persona 4, Kanji is a first year high school student, making him among the youngest of the party. Despite this, he's easily the tallest and possibly the most physically intimidating. When we're first introduced to Kanji, he's presented as an infamous figure in the small town, having single-handedly run a biker gang out of town while in middle school. He

Art by crazlei "Give the word and I shall kill the clown. We would be praised as heroes!" After a lengthy early access period, lasting from 2020 to mid 2023, Baldur's Gate III took full advantage of the playtesting and community feedback to tweak and fine tune the experience of the final product. Among the numerous changes, certain characters were given more focus, with few among them benefiting more than Minthara. Initially intended as a companion character if you chose "ev

Artwork by general_din "You are looking for forgiveness, but I'm not the one who can give it to you." Introduced in Dragon Age II, Fenris goes against many standard conventions of the fantasy genre. He's an Elf, but instead of being elegant and frail he's a sturdy warrior who wields a two-handed greatsword. Instead of being prim and elegant, he's brash, rude, and at times vulgar. Instead of having a natural affinity for magic, he harbors a deep rooted hatred of the arcane. D

Art by Chewygummo "I can't believe they were still talking about what to do! What were they waiting for?" Released in 2004, Dragon Quest VIII saw a number of firsts for the series, including 3D graphics, limited voice acting, and the use of "Dragon Quest" as opposed to "Dragon Warrior" in western regions. It quickly became the best selling game in the series up until that point, particularly in the west, and has received near universal praise from critics, it is frequently b

Art by Metal Art "It's so much easier to see the world in black and white. Gray? I don't know what to do with gray." Introduced in 2007's Mass Effect, Garrus first appears as a member of Citadel Security (C-Sec), frustrated by the limitations of his position and, indeed, the law in general. This comes to a head when Garrus is all but told to drop his investigation into fellow Turian, Saren. Saren's position as a Spectre effectively puts him above the law, which greatly frus

Art by Viavaly Art "I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just saying you're not right either. But I do want to know what it's like to be on the side of right." Introduced in 2019's The Outer Worlds, Parvati is likely the first companion most players will encounter in the game. With some rather obvious inspiration from the character Kaylee Frye for the short lived series Firefly, she quickly became the favorite character among Obsidian staff due in large part to her likability an

Art by Indy K "The world before the fall, Lovely is the light of dawn, Noble is the heart of man..." While it might be considered cheating just a bit to include any of the cast of Final Fantasy VI, I feel as though Cyan is often overlooked as he's generally overshadowed by the more technically "good" characters in combat, and by characters whose growth is more directly seen over the course of the game. In the original version of the game, Cyan's special ability, Bushido, is

Spoiler warning for Live A Live, the Dragon Age franchise, and Final Fantasy VIII Releasing in Japan in 1994 as a Super Famicom exclusive, Live A Live puts a unique twist on the RPG genre. You begin with a choice of seven different characters, each in a different time period ranging from prehistory, the wild west, present day, and the far future. Each of these time periods sees us take control of different, unrelated characters, each with their own stories, allies, and goals

Debuting in 1999, Super Smash Bros. began life as Dragon King: The Fighting Game, and used generic polygonal character models as placeholders as director Masahiro Sakurai struggled with how to make the game stand out. His first idea was to have the game feature famous Nintendo characters, but he knew that he'd never get the greenlight to do so. At the urging of Satoru Iwata, who would later go on to be the President and CEO of Nintendo, Sakurai went ahead and developed a prot