In some video games, you play as a set hero, or are even given the ability to custom create your protagonist of choice. This list is not in honor of those games. This list describes my favorite playable characters from games with character selects. If a game presents the option to take control of a variety of characters but leaves the choice of WHO up to the player, then they are in consideration for this list. Think fighting and competitive multiplayer games! (For the sake of a potential future list, no RPG party members will be included, despite technically qualifying by my standards).
10) Fortune ~ Agents of Mayhem
Agents of Mayhem flew right under the radar of most gamers, and it isn’t hard to see why. It’s a relatively empty and simple open-world shooter, though one with plenty of flair and visual style. That style is best represented in its eclectic cast of playable heroes, and Fortune takes the cake amongst them. Her nimble, light-on-her-feet, glass cannon playstyle was right up my alley, as were her dual SMGs mowing down foes. She even has a little robot friend AND one heck of a bass-thumping theme song whenever you activate her special ultimate move! She’s having fun, and I’m having fun too.
9) Kirino ~ Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax
Speaking of flying under radars, I don’t believe I’ve heard almost anyone mention this little gem of a fighting game. I’m a pretty big fighting game fan (and also very bad at fighting games), and this anime-focused game really accentuates ease of play and flashy visual madness. After vigorously testing each character, I came to love Kirino the most. Her spunk and sass are off the charts, and she dances around the screen with ease, rapidly changing costumes depending on the move she’s using. It also never ceases to make me laugh seeing her dunk someone to the ground and slap them silly for her grab attack. She’s the best.
8) Skye ~ Paladins
Get your “Paladins is a ripoff of Overwatch” jokes out now, because Paladins has spent the past few years redefining itself into its own standalone beast of a multiplayer hero shooter. From the moment I first began playing I was drawn to Skye’s shadowy, sneaky playstyle (I’m a big fan of stealth, what can I say), and I’ve never stopped playing Skye since. Running invisibly around the battlefield, tossing smoke canisters, popping out to decimate foes with her crossbow, and then fading back into shadows is great fun. This is to say nothing of her gigantic pulse bomb ultimate attack, which is almost always at least one guaranteed elimination.
7) Juri ~ Street Fighter
Uh oh. Another character dressed primarily in purple and black? Yeah, I really like Juri, too. It’s fun, sometimes, to play as the villain, and Juri is a much lighter and agile fighter compared to some of the other heavy-hitting sluggers. She builds up combos with her fancy footwork then lets loose with sweeping purple flames and lunges so fast they could qualify as teleporting. Her incessant cackling during a fight is pure delicious hamminess, and her cocky attitude and acerbic wit in the story mode is consistently a delight.
6) Athena ~ Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel
After three failed attempts to play Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel as Nisha (darn you corrupted save data), I finally just picked Athena instead. I’m so glad I did. Athena rules, from her invincible ricocheting shield to her stoic demeanor outside of combat yet battle-crazed sword-swinging emotion in combat. I love her dry observations to the wacky cast around her, and her interactions with the goofball Janey. I also love the way in which you can build a whirlwind melee tornado of destruction out of Athena’s kit, flying around the low-gravity environment blasting foes to pieces without cease. Suffice to say, I was thrilled to see her hugely expanded role in the spinoff, Tales from the Borderlands.
5) Lana ~ Hyrule Warriors
Somehow, the least Zelda-like character in the entire roster ended up becoming my favorite. I’m not entirely sure how it happened, but nowadays I can hardly bring myself to play this game for over an hour and NOT use Lana at least once. It could be because of her peppy, bouncy animations and bottomless enthusiasm for world-saving. It could be because of her devastating juggling combos and area-wide explosions of light constructs. It could also be because, at this point, she’s one hundred levels above any other character and is functionally unstoppable. Probably a combination of all three, plus that dang adorable smile!
4) Orendi ~ Battleborn
My friends know of my love for the Battleborn character Phoebe, but if I had to pick just one absolute favorite from this game, it’d be Orendi. To put it simply, Orendi feels like cheating, in that she is so ludicrously good and unstoppable in battle, I feel like my opponents don’t stand a chance. It’s amazing fun. She creates pillars of explosive shadowfire, and can learn to double spawn them. She then has a move that pushes her to safety and readies her shadowfire again. Her ultimate destruction move is great, and ALSO charges her shadowfire. She blanekts the arena in shadowfire, and nothing lives. It’s great fun (plus, Orendi’s unhinged and psycho animations and dialogue are a nice treat)!
3) Neith ~ Smite
Smite is my favorite MOBA by far, and Neith is actually the very first character they teach you to use in the tutorial. Well, I latched onto her pretty hard during that tutorial, and now hours and hours later, my diamond-ranked Neith is ready to take the world by storm. I love her highly damaging and stunning arrow shot, and her ground blast that tops up her healing. I love backflipping to safety every time the enemy thinks they’ve got me cornered. I LOVE sniping weak opponents from across the map with the arrow of light. Neith’s got it all. She’s simple, but she’s oh-so effective. It helps that she’s also got a ton of awesome skins to change between, a cheerful and sunny disposition, and a very meme-able victory dance.
2) Lucina ~ Super Smash Bros
I really love Lucina’s character in the Fire Emblem series, so it’s little surprise that I’d end up trying her out in Super Smash Bros. Well, I had no way of knowing that when I picked her up back in Smash 4, she’d become my most played and overall favorite character across the entire series. Sword heroes have almost always been my go-to, and Lucina takes the cake in my eyes. Her lightning fast speed and strong slices strike fear into foes, and her graceful movements around the battlefield enable counters and retaliations from all directions, keeping your opponent on their toes. She even packs an insta-kill Final Smash, as well as the impeccable voice performance of Laura Bailey!
1) Sombra ~ Overwatch
Oh…a character who dresses primarily in purple and black AND utilizes a shadowy and stealthy playstyle? Well, was it any wonder she ended up as number one?
I have an embarrassingly high amount of playtime as Sombra, and an even more embarrassingly high love for her character and everything about her. She’s perfect. I love her permanent stealth that only breaks when I want it to, and the ability to hack enemies and health packs. I love her teleportation that allows for speedy escapes and impeccable flanking maneuvers. I love her insane SMG damage, and her flashy taunts and dance moves. Words can’t describe how amazing her ability to hack another Play of the Game and instead show her own is. Her voice lines are phenomenal, as are her skins, and she is continuously a delightfully presence in the comics and animated shorts.
Perhaps, to put it simply…Sombra is my main to end all mains!
But hey, that’s just my opinion!
The Contrarian Corner 