RPGs Where You Play as the Anti-Hero

The good guy kind of sucks. It's true, and it's the reason why so many games have tried to get edgier and edgier throughout. The goodie two-shoes, super clean hero just ain't it. There's no substance; it's why Superman sucks as a superhero (yeah, I said it). RPGs have recognized this over the years, and that's why the protagonists have gotten closer and closer to the grey areas.

We're talking about the heroes that aren't afraid to get a little dirty, to break some eggs to make the omelet. There seems to be more and more of this in the RPG space and games in general because people get tired of the golden good guy rule.

We're going to check out some games that have heroes that don't sit nicely on either side of the morality fence.

10 Vampire: The Masquerade: Bloodlines 2

The Thirst Must Be Quelled

Vampire: The Masquerade: Bloodlines 2 might not have lived up to expectations as a sequel, but it at least nails the feeling of being a vampire in a modern city. That's exactly what you are here for. You play as Phyre, the horrendously named and long-dormant vampire who wakes up in the modern era and has to acclimate to how things are done these days. Part of that is figuring out how to maintain the masquerade. You need to hunt discreetly and ensure you're not caught, as most of the feeding is done on unsuspecting civilians.

You're pretty much a bad guy here, though you get chances to do plenty of good within reason throughout the game, but it's only good within the scheme of working for a vampire syndicate. You are what you are, and nothing can change that, and this world is dark and bloody, and the most you can hope to do is make sure the right people shed that blood.

9 Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin

The Douche of Destiny

Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin is a bizarre game, to say the least, as it's an action RPG posed in the form of a souls game and has some of the deepest combat imaginable in the process. The star of the game is Jack, who is one of the dumbest, rudest, and all-around most annoyingly edgy heroes a Final Fantasy game has ever seen. It's like he's trying to be an anti-hero so much that it feels pathetic.

He came here to listen to some atrocious early 2000s metal and kill chaos, and that's about it. However, he's still the (anti)hero of the story, and his attitude eventually gets a little bit of context, but until then, he's as edgy as humanly possible and reluctant about anything that doesn't involve killing chaos. But he gets the job done, and even if he's a douche while he does it, at the end of the day, he still does it.

8 The Outer Worlds

Corporate Shill

The Outer Worlds is only a semi-serious take on a sci-fi RPG, and calling you the hero of the story is quite the stretch. Throughout the game, you're basically choosing which corporation you want to take over. And the problem with that is that there is no good choice. Everyone sucks here in their own way, and it's up to you which group sucks less. So are you the hero? Eh, maybe, but only by the loosest definition of the word. Even the good deeds you do often end in someone else's misery.

You also rarely get a chance to even reflect on what you've done, as your silent protagonist only gets a chance to voice their opinion in the middle of conversations with others. There is no self-reflection, no character growth, just the cold-blooded corporate drone that you've become. It's a sad but realistic look at what the world could and probably will be like once we take to the stars.

7 Avowed

The Envoy of the Enemy

Avowed is a pretty solid title that released in 2025 in a unique space in the game world. You're the enemy, at least, that's how you start the RPG. As The Envoy, you were sent by The Aedyr Empire, who are none too good according to most citizens, and your mission is to investigate a strange plague that's spreading. You are treated harshly by most people you encounter due to your status, and while you have the opportunity to help out at many turns throughout the game, you don't even get to shed who you truly are.

This makes The Envoy the perfect antihero, as they are bound by duty to a force of evil, but spend so much of the plot trying to fix things in a foreign land. You get plenty of chances to do good during the game, but it always feels tainted because you're clearly someone working for the enemy, and no matter your deeds, you can't change that core face. It's an interesting dichotomy that you really don't see done that much video games.

6 Disco Elysium

No Good Guys in the Future

Disco Elysium is one of the more unique RPGs where there's basically no combat. Instead, your gameplay revolves around solving a mystery, charming the right people, and trying your best just to survive in this slightly twisted near-future scenario. You wake up from the worst hangover imaginable, and as a detective, your job is to piece together the night before and solve a murder case in the process.

Your character, Harry, can best be described as a dirt bag of a person. You're neither charming nor nefarious, but everything has this tinge of "ugh, this guy" when talking to people. It's a unique hero for a game to be sure, and hero is putting it loosely, as, despite your position with the law, you're far from the good guy. Although you never really venture into the path of being full-on evil, your character generally dabbles on both sides of the coin, giving a dour and scarily realistic look at what the world could be like in a future not too far away.

5 Vampyr

The Doctor Is In

Vamypr has a most fascinating premise because we play a doctor who is also a Vampyr. It's brilliant, and the backdrop of the Spanish Flu makes it all the more gripping a scenario. Throughout the game, you're simultaneously trying to figure out how to stop the spread of sickness while vanquishing an emerging evil in London.

During that time, many characters will fall ill, and you'll need to determine whether to cure them or feed on them. So much relies on you, and it's almost impossible to remain purely good or evil throughout the game. You can feed on nobody, sure, but then you don't get access to the fantastic powers that will help you defeat the enemies.

If you do feed, you get more powerful, but the city becomes far more dangerous with stronger enemies in areas that might normally be under control. Also, you lose your allies and characters that can provide further insight into just what's going on here. It's a wild back and forth, and while you're the hero to the sick, you're also their biggest predator. You can only be the doctor they need for so long until the blood thirst overwhelms you. You must feed at some point, it's just how much and how often that you need to balance.

4 Tyranny

The Lesser Evils

Who can be a hero in a world where evil has already won? That's the question that Tyranny poses to the player. It's not about doing good. Good is gone, and those who deserve mercy are either on the ground or are hiding dark secrets. You play as a general to this great evil, and it's your job to secure even more power in a decaying world.

How you go about that is up to you. You can be a savage, violent monster, or shepherd people to their horrific futures in a more nurturing way. Either way, though, it's tough to paint you as a good guy in this game in any way.

There are heroic deeds to be done, but you're generally not going to feel all that good no matter what choices you make throughout the game. It's a quick experience for an RPG, but one that asks you to be more brutal than you likely to have ever been in an RPG prior. You can be the best of the worst, but at the end of the day, you're still working for increasingly horrible forces.

3 Warhammer 40K: Rogue Trader

The Power Corrupts

Warhammer 40K: Rogue Trader is an enormous game with tons of characters, but you, the main one, is the Rogue Trader, a supremely powerful ruler type who is given this power at the beginning of the game, and it's clear from the get-go that you're not looked at all that fondly. That is to say, half your crew hates you at any given moment, entire cities rue your existence, and you're just generally not a well-liked person.

But you are feared, and, boy, do you get the chance to flex that fear in some creative and horrific ways if you so choose. You are the epitome of the anti-hero here. You're a hero to some, a monster to others, and it's literally impossible to make everyone happy. Your seemingly good deeds could damn entire swaths of people to their dooms, so no matter the approach you take, you come out of the equation every time in a shade of gray.

2 Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2

The Grey Jedi

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2 is the much darker follow-up to the iconic first game in the series, and with a game so dark, it makes sense that The Exile, the hero you play as, is far from squeaky clean. Look, there is a dark and light side system at play here, but it doesn't matter what side you choose. Your character, in its origin, is an exile from the Jedi Order. You start as somewhere in between the light and the dark, and no matter how many good deeds you perform, you're not going to be able to shake that core part of your reputation.

So you embrace it and play the grey Jedi here. There are no wrong or right answers throughout the game, as Kreia will often scold you for failing to see the repercussions of being good, and honestly, most of the time she has a point. The galaxy has no real right or wrong, as both choices can lead to the greater good or greater evil, but not necessarily in the direction you'd assume. It's a brilliant game in that way and one worth playing, no matter if it's 20 years old or not.

1 Cyberpunk 2077'

The Merc With a Heart of Gold

Cyberpunk 2077 has rounded up into one of the best RPGs out there, and it's partially due to a fantastic main character in V. Regardless of the gender you choose for V, they are as anti-hero as it gets. But that's life in Night City. There are no heroes. Everyone is just a different shade of dark. Even the best people have their skeletons, and V is no different. As a mercenary, it's made crystal clear off the bat that you're generally going to be working for some shady individuals.

Nobody in Night City is going to heave; they're all just scratching and clawing to not be in the 7th level of hell. Within the first few hours, you've likely gunned down countless people who could be considered innocent, and it doesn't get much better than that. You can make choices throughout the game, but very, very rarely are you in a situation where you come out of it looking like the good guy. You're just trying to survive, by any means necessary.