10 Most Tragic RPG Protagonists

Some of my favorite stories come from RPGs, and it's an area where the protagonist can truly shine. In a lot of other media, like books or movies, my favorite character is rarely the protagonist, but RPGs give you creative license in some important ways.

Killing off an RPG protagonist is always risky business, as you never know if you'll need them again for a sequel. This means that tragedy and pain need to strike in other ways, often through watching their friends and loved ones die, or making it through impossible odds only to see it was all for nothing. The RPG protagonists here take every form, and some of them go through such hardship that death would be a kindness.

10 The Watcher - Pillars of Eternity

Having Your Identity Torn Apart

The Watcher is a supremely unlucky individual who not only awakens an ability that makes them reviled in Eora, but they're also central in the events of Pillars of Eternity 2. Thanks to the nature of reincarnation in Pillars of Eternity, the Watcher learns they were a brutal ally of the main antagonist of PoE.

A side effect of their awakening is their ability to see the past lives and souls of others, an ability that slowly drives Watchers insane. The Watcher is open to a barrage of thoughts and memories that aren't their own, and gives way to questions about identity. The overall plot of the Pillars of Eternity games also has the opportunity to give a crisis of faith, and would lead anyone to despair.

9 Commander Shepard - Mass Effect Trilogy

A Hopeless Struggle

Shepard is my favorite video game protagonist. You play as them for three games, and that does a lot to personalize them and forge a connection between them and NPCs. You have the chance to give Shepard a miserable backstory rife with tragedy that involves slavers, the deaths of their entire family, and being the sole survivor of a mission gone terribly wrong.

This is just the start for Shepard, though, as they're sent across the galaxy to do a job, then left to watch as those in charge can't do theirs. Shepard dies, is resurrected, and may have to watch members of their team die because of their decisions. Mass Effect 3 is where it hits rock bottom, with beloved friends dying horribly, watching the Reapers invade planets, and possibly the end of this cycle.

8 The Jedi Exile - Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II

There is Only You

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II - The Sith Lords was a departure not just from its predecessor, but from Star Wars in general. It told a very dark story of the long-term consequences of war and genocide, and the fates of those who played a role in it. You play as the Jedi Exile, a General from the First Jedi Civil War who ordered the deployment of a weapon that destroyed Malachor V and much of the Mandalorian people.

The destruction of this planet and all the people on it caused the Jedi Exile to become a wound in the Force. The Exile left known space during the events of KotOR, and finds the galaxy to be a very different place upon their return. Their past haunts them, and is a culmunation of their grief, regrets, and trauma of battle. While other characters may have gone through worse, KotOR II never lets you forget the impact that the past has on the present.

7 Hawke - Dragon Age II

An Endless Parade of Once-in-a-Lifetime Events

For a video game protagonist, Hawke has a pretty miserable existence. Over the eight in-game years of Dragon Age II, they're driven from their home because of the Blight, lose every member of their family, deal with a Qunari uprising, and watch their friend deteriorate to the point that they blow up the most important building in Kirkwall.

Hawke also doesn't have any options for a happy ending. In Dragon Age: Inquisition, they're either left in the Fade to probable death, or leave with the Grey Wardens. Dragon Age: The Veilguard shows the Wardens in chaos, so it's unlikely that option turned out well for Hawke. There's a lot of regret and failure in their story, with a couple of bright spots in between.

6 The Dark Urge - Baldur's Gate 3

Dead and Forgotten

The Dark Urge is completely optional, but it can be argued that they're the intended protagonist of Baldur's Gate 3 as they follow in the Bhaalspawn tradition and were one of the instigators behind the Absolute plot. It's hinted at over and over again that before their amnesia, they were constantly trying to fight their Urge and fate.

There are several sad outcomes for the Dark Urge, with the worst ending in the game belonging to them. Not defying Bhaal in the temple, but defying him at the last moment instead, leads to Bhaal punishing the Dark Urge in the worst possible way. They lose their mind and become a wandering maniac, obsessed with only the need to kill and create more Bhaalspawn. For a character who saved the world to be reduced to this is tragic, and even Withers has a lot to say on the matter.

5 The Sole Survivor - Fallout 4

Doing the Right Thing

Fallout 4's main storyline isn't the most compelling of Bethesda's games, but there are some tough choices to be made because of how personal it is, and is bound to end in tragedy one way or another. The Sole Survivor lives through the Great War in Boston, then sees their baby kidnapped and their partner murdered.

They awake to a completely different world that they need to adjust to. Along the way, Fallout 4's factions make themselves known, and the son you've been looking for is revealed to be the leader of arguably the worst one. Shaun is responsible for a lot of pain in the Commonwealth, and his actions directly impact several of your companions. Deciding to let Shaun live or die is awful, and is the cherry on top of the Sole Survivor's tragedy.

4 The Nameless One - Planescape: Torment

Thousands of Lives Worth of Guilt

Planescape: Torment's protagonist is one who is haunted by regret and the deeds he committed in his past lives. Amnesia is often a compelling storytelling tool, and it works well here as the Nameless One endeavors to discover the secret behind his immortality and the kind of person he is.

The weight of his sins and the lives he has taken across his reincarnations is heavy, though, and he eventually accepts his fate on the Lower Planes. This is not a happy ending, but it's one that the Nameless One accepts as just. Sometimes, dying and its subsequent punishment is the best outcome, but it doesn't make the character any less tragic.

Failure then Madness

Oblivion may not seem like a tragic game, especially with all the memes about its jank and how very few people actually finish its main storyline. But its main quest, particularly its ending, turns the Hero of Kvatch from a generic hero to something of a tragic figure as they watch Martin sacrifice himself.

Martin's sacrifice is the ending of the norm in the Empire, and the Hero of Kvatch lives to see the chaos it causes. On top of it all, if you complete Shivering Isles post-main quest, it tells the story of a hero who lost themselves to madness. The Hero never quite gets over their time in Oblivion, as Sheogorath in Skyrim still often talks about the event, much to Pelagius the Mad's ire.

2 V - CyberPunk 2077

Losing Everything

Losing your sense of self is one of the most tragic story types out there, and it's what concerns CyberPunk 2077's V. They start off struggling to take off in Night City, see their best friend die, and then have to deal with their mind and personhood slowly being replaced by the consciousness of a dead terrorist.

What's worse is when V develops a friendship with Johnny. It makes the ending choices more difficult, as there will be the loss of someone no matter what happens. Going through all the trauma and danger just to end up losing yet another friend, or to disappear entirely, is a sad way for V's story to end.

1 Verso - Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

A Ghost Forced to Endure

Verso is a character you love or hate, and I unapologetically fall into the love category. I love sad, tragic stories, and Verso's one ticks every box. He's the replacement of a dead man, he has all the dead man's memories, he remembers a childhood that he never had, he died and left his family behind, so now he's doomed to watch everyone he loves die as he lives forever.

Both endings for Verso are tragic. He either finally finds the peace he's been seeking for over a century, or he's forced to watch the sister he once died to save deteriorate before his eyes. Verso makes a lot of mistakes, but his reasoning is heartbreakingly human and is a tale of tragedy from beginning to end.