A lot of the best horror games are defined by their protagonists. It doesn’t matter if you’re in outer space or shooting zombies in a metropolis, the characters you play as are an integral part of the experience, and when you ask people who their favorite of all time is, more often than not they say Resident Evil‘s Leon Kennedy.
Starting in Resident Evil 2 and most recently showing his face again in Requiem, Leon is everyone’s favorite cop-turned agent, and it is pretty easy to see why. He’s funny, brave, and has been through more than just about any other horror character ever will, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t a few protagonists that beat him to the top spot.
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Jill Valentine Is Resident Evil’s Original Survivor
A Capcom Hero Just As Iconic As Leon
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- Strong solo hero right from the start
- Put up with Nemesis and undersea threats
Jill Valentine is the Resident Evil hero that started it all. Beginning as an S.T.A.R.S. Alpha Team member who survived the Spencer Mansion in the original, she then escaped the doomed Raccoon City in Resident Evil 3 while being hunted by Nemesis, a relentless bioweapon built to eliminate her and her unit.
While it may be a lower point in the series, it is hard to ignore how expertly she handled the Ooze in Revelations, combating a whole new kind of threat that Mr. Kennedy never even encountered. Leon is the series’ action star, but Jill is its truest survivor and a veteran who keeps her head no matter what Umbrella throws her way.
2
James Sunderland Is Way More Complex Than Leon
His Greatest Enemy Is Himself
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- Suffered true psychological torment
- Guilt and grief drive him forward
Silent Hill 2 is a lot of people’s go-to pick for the greatest horror game of all time, and James Sunderland is exactly what makes the game so well-loved. His journey through the fog-choked town becomes filled with visions and guilt-ridden hallucinations that he has to contend with while dealing with grotesque monsters ripped straight out of his inner psyche.
As you progress further, it becomes much clearer what happened to Mary and why James is so set on finding her, but even when he has to get his hands dirty, he never wavers from his mission. He is a broken man who has to overcome the biggest challenge anyone can face: their own mind, and as great as Leon’s backflips and motorcycle tricks are, they don’t compare to James’ infallible will.
3
Alan Wake Isn’t An Action Hero But He Still Faces The Darkness
Writing His Own Horrors
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Alan Wake Remastered Cover -
Details:
- Strange and twisted mind that births his worst nightmares
- Power to rewrite the world around him
Alan Wake is a bestselling novelist whose own creativity becomes his downfall. His stories begin to come true, and armed with little more than a flashlight and a revolver, he must burn away the encroaching darkness while trying to make sense of a nightmare he seems to be writing himself.
Unlike Leon, who deals with horrors manufactured in a lab, Alan faces far more creative foes, and has to go so far as to physically rewrite the world around him in his own writing room. It’s the layers that make him a better hero, and as much as I love Leon’s wise-cracking, it is almost impossible to deny how incredible Alan Wake is.
4
Isaac Clarke Became Legendary Before Saying A Word
No One Can Hear Him Scream
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Isaac Clarke could well be the perfect answer to the Terminids in Helldivers 2. -
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- An engineer using work tools against monstrosities
- Strategic attacks and tactical use of arms
Dead Space is for many the premier sci-fi horror franchise, yet many people forget to credit Isaac Clarke for giving it a unique personality and character. He is nothing more than a spaceship engineer without a voice sent to repair the USG Ishimura, only to find it overrun by Necromorphs, and is then forced to fight back with mining tools and some quick thinking or face a brutal death.
By writing him this way, the devs give you a grounded and relatable character to play as, rather than putting you in the shoes of an unstoppable force who actually cracks jokes and danger. Across the series, he evolves from a silent everyman to a well-spoken, deeply traumatized survivor with a much deeper and more emotional arc than Leon’s.
5
Elster Deals With More Than Just Monsters
Love Is A Powerful Motivator
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- Stronger motives of love and identity
- Faces dreamlike visions of another world
Elster, a Replika technician, is the courageous warrior you play as in Signalis, and boy, does she have a lot going on. Searching for her missing partner, she explores a derelict facility filled to the brim with enemies, but it becomes very clear that it is the visions and voices in her head that are going to be the biggest challenge to overcome.
Having a classic love story at the center of the campaign means that Elster’s motives are already outlined right away, and as time goes on, you only get to see her determination grow stronger and stronger. Pressing on despite the unlikely odds, she combats her own mind and the nightmarish creatures before her, the latter of which is Leon’s only real job as a Resident Evil protagonist.
6
Clementine Is The Walking Dead
Forced To Grow Up
Details:
- A child in the middle of a zombie apocalypse
- Grows across four seasons into a formidable force
Where do you even begin with a character like Clementine? We first meet her in the first season of The Walking Dead, and right away a bond is formed between her and Lee, but due to a bad twist of fate, it is her shoes you step into throughout the next few chapters of the story.
Part of Clementine’s appeal is just how much she has to handle and deal with in a short amount of time. She loses her parents, friends, and so much more, yet still manages to knuckle down and keep pressing on, and in comparison, her personal triumphs and victories are far more impressive than even Leon’s long list of accolades.
7
Heather Mason Defies Absurd Odds
Fighting Back Against Fate
Details:
- Relatable yet capable teenager
- No-nonsense approach to threats despite obvious physical disadvantage
Silent Hill 3 introduced the world to Heather Mason, a teenager who stumbles into a nightmare after being stalked by a strange group of cultists. With each step she takes, the world around her shifts into rust and flesh, and she starts to realize that she is far from an ordinary teen and has ties to the town’s darkest secret.
Many players love Heather’s sarcastic, grounded personality, which serves as a refreshing contrast to the stoic horror hero, and her anger at being manipulated gives her a drive that feels personal in a way that Leon only really scratches. Unlike Leon, whose identity is never in doubt, Heather must confront who she really is, fighting back with whatever tools she can find and defying odds that would easily consume anyone else put in the same situation.
