One of the most important aspects of a video game is the characters that both the player controls, as well as the others that inhabit their worlds. A boring character can easily sink even the most interesting narratives available in video games, so when a character stands out and makes an impression on the community, it really means something special.
In 2019, with so many great games breaking out and reshaping the landscape of modern gaming, the characters that appeared on screens across the world have certainly left their impressions. Each of the following characters has landed on this list thanks to being loved by fans and their impact in the last year of gaming.
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Amicia de Rune (Plague Tale: Innocence)
Amicia de Rune’s compelling journey throughPlague Tale: Innocenceearns her a shout out as one of the most intriguing characters of 2019. Born into wealth, Amicia is thrown into a difficult situation when the game opens and has to find the strength to move forward with her estranged, and chronically ill, younger brother. The resolve and determination that she shows in the wake of so much adversitythroughout the dark story ofPlague Tale: Innocenceis captivating.
BB (Death Stranding)
While BB doesn’t exactly speak throughout the journey ofDeath Stranding,the tiny, premature baby trapped in a little capsule throughout the game has quickly taken off as a fan favorite likeThe Mandalorian’s Baby Yoda. When first introduced to BB, the “child” is referred to only as “equipment”, as it is the only way for Sam and other Porters to see the BTs that threaten their lives. It doesn’t take long, though, for most players to grow an attachment to the little “Bridge Baby” that sits on Sam’s chest.
Sam also grows an attachment to BB, eventually referring to it with a more familiar title as he travels across America. Some of the other characters in the game even have a fondness for BB, with Deadman growing attached after “re-calibrating” the little one. That attachment makes the encounters with Cliff over BB all the more intense, as it also means losing the players surrogate child should they lose.
BD-1 (Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order)
Another small sidekick joins from another one of the biggest games of the Fall, this time the title beingStar Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. While thestellar combat isFallen Order’smost impressive aspect, its characters don’t take too far of a backseat. BD-1 in particular fills a number of rolls, as both a lovable droid companion that has been a mainstay for the film franchise, but also offers some of his own gameplay mechanics into the mix.
Thanks to his storage of stim cartridges, BD-1 becomes the players medic, as well as a health meter that hangs on the players back, if they don’t want to cut focus from a fight to stair at their health bar. Aside from these practical applications, itsBD-1’s designthat really sets him apart from most sidekicks. Having been designed to emulate a dog, complete with antennae stand ins for ears, BD-1 is one of the most expressive droids to date, created specifically to win hearts.
Cliff Unger (Death Stranding)
Another entry fromDeath Strandingis the devoted father and war veteran Clifford Unger, better known simply as Cliff. Since his first introduction in the game’s second trailer, Mads Mikklesen’s characterCliff exuded a sinister presenceonto the world. His presence in-game is somewhat different, however, as he spends most of the game speaking softly to the player through BB’s eyes.
While Cliff does appear as a boss fight on a few occasions throughout the game, its the brief cutscenes where he visits BB, seen whenever Sam connects to BB, that garnered him the attention from theDeath Strandingcommunity that he maintains today. This is a character who is so strangely entangled into the overall narrative, that he is responsible for four out of the tenmost surprising moments inDeath Stranding. And without giving too much away for players who have yet to conquer the beast that isDeath Stranding, he easily becomes one of the most sympathetic characters in the title.
Farah Karim (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare)
Coming fromCall of Duty: Modern Warfare, a game that has been gaining praise for being a return to form for theCall of Dutyseries' high quality campaignmodes, Farah Karim makes a bold introduction into the franchise. Farah is one of many playable characters in theModern Warfarecampaign, and as such, an amount of her perceived skill can be dependent on the player. However, this doesn’t mean that Farah’s excellence stops at her battle prowess.
Having become the leader of the Urzikstan Liberation Force and dedicating her life to fighting to end the occupation of her home country, Farah walks a fine line between “freedom fighter” and “terrorist” as the Russian government has labeled her. It’s Farah’s convictions and choices to end her push at the edge of Urzikstan territory that sets her apart as a protector. She doesn’t wish to attack her enemies on their own land, even when given the chance for a counter offensive, and its that strength of character to stick to her guns that makes Farah such afantastic character to watch in action.
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FL4K (Borderlands 3)
On a far less serious note than the previous entry, FL4K comes in as one of the four new Vault Hunters that players can take control of in Gearbox’s latest title in theBorderlandsfranchise. His inclusion is rare when considering the franchise, as previous games didn’t go far to make the playable Vault Hunters all too expressive, instead choosing to tell thestory primarily through NPCs.Borderlands 3instead includes a sort of call and response between the player characters and the NPCs offering a slightly deeper insight into the Vault Hunters' personalities.
FL4K’s personality is especially intriguing, as it would seem that the robot among the cast is one of the most expressive and interesting ofBorderlands 3’s Vault Hunters. His responses to other characters are often sarcastic and are torn between both valuing life and trivializing it, as FL4K has become self-aware, but is still tackling that whole morality thing. On top of all of that,FL4K’s pets, which can break the game on occasion, are some of the best companions in the series so far.
Goose (Untitled Goose Game)
Untitled Goose Gameis easily one of the biggest breakout indie titles of 2019, coming to the Nintendo Switch out of nowhere and taking the gaming world by storm. The titular character, The Goose, never speaks throughout the game, nor do any other characters throughout the several hours of gameplay. That doesn’t mean that The Goose is completely silent, as some may still rememberthat sinister honk in their nightmares.
What makes The Goose such an impressive character for having no actual spoken lines, comes from the To-Do List that players must fill out to proceed through the game. The List includes a number of ways that The Goose wants to torment the inhabitants of the small village that it lives on the edge of. Playing as The Goose is proof that somewhere deep down, there is evil in the heart of everyone, and that evil comes out as an annoying honking Goose that won’t stop stealing farming equipment.
Greez Dritus (Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order)
Greez is a Latero, an alien race first introduced inFallen Order, and the trusty pilot that escorts Cal around the galaxy for the duration of the game’s campaign. For most of the story, Greez works as comic relief, offering an air of brevity during the otherwise serious narrative ofFallen Order, hopefully keeping his positive demeanor forward through therumoredFallen Ordersequel.
At a certain point in the story, however, a running joke with Greez comes to haunt the player in one of themost random and unresolved sequencesin the game. Greez has a gambling problem and it stirs up some trouble, creating a plot point inFallen Orderthat introduces Bounty Hunters into the game and gives Cal even more adversaries to face off against. In one of his more serious moments, Greez reveals that Cal and Cere have become his reason to keep going forward in the reign of the relatively young Empire.
Jesse Faden (Control)
Controlhas one of the strangest and most fascinating stories of any title in 2019 and Jesse Faden sits at the center of it. At first, her somewhat standoffish approach to the strange, shifting world around her seems somehow bland, but as the player continues tounravel the mystery around Jesseand her past, the more drawn in they become. Soon the player realizes that its not that Jesse is simply aloof to the strangeness around her, but she herself is already twisted by the strange happenings that she’s already come across.
Interwoven into the convoluted, but masterful narrative ofControlis the story of Jesse Faden, the woman who would become the FBC’s Director and stand against the HISS. As such, Jesse becomes the throughline for one of the best titles in the Metroidvania genre of the year, in a year that delivereda number of stellar titleswithin the previously unexplored genre.
Kait Diaz (Gears 5)
While Kait Diaz wasn’t originally introduced in 2019, her promotion to primary protagonist inGears 5makes her a prime candidate for one of the best characters of the year. Kait brings all of the grit and grime to the stage that theGearsfranchise is well known for, without being delegated to “Girl Marcus” or some other mirror of a past character. Instead, she comes forward as her own character with a fascinating relationship to both the members of the previous trilogy as well as the Locust hoard and their Myrrah, Kait’s grandmother.
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