Summary
While many gamers undoubtedly make their purchases on the premise of filling the shoes of a cool protagonist, it goes without saying that a compelling game world needs to be filled with other compelling characters. Some of these side names became so effective at grabbing the players' attention that they stole her show and snagged their own games.
As well as getting a chance to flesh out the lore from another point of view, spotlighting a side character allows developers to stretch their creative muscles and try out some new ideas that might not be a perfect fit for the mainline series or might offer completely different gameplay altogether.
Before Jak found his voice (literally), the frontman of the duo had always been the grinning, wise-cracking, orange ottsel, Daxter. Generally cautious and cowardly, Daxter found himself the protagonist of his own PSP game while Jak was stewing in dark eco baths betweenThe Precursor LegacyandJak 2.
Many of the game’s memorable moments are mini-game levels, which take place in cool dream sequences that sharean uncanny resemblance to popular moviesof the 2000s. This makes sense, considering Daxter’s somewhat inflated self-image.
Poor Raiden hasn’t had the easiest time in this world. First, he was born into the life of a child soldier; then he took a bad rap for replacing one of video games' most iconic protagonists right after the prologue ofSons of Liberty, and then he had his entire body removed from the jaw down and replaced with murderous synthetic cybertech.
However, despite his controversial takeover from Solid Snake inMetal Gear Solid 2,Raiden starred in his own cyber-slasher epic,Metal Gear Rising: Revengance,in which he cut andmemed his way into Metal Gear fans' hearts(thankfully without crushing them into pulp for health).
Mario’s evil doppelganger, Wario, debuted inSuper Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins,but is today known more for his rapid-fire, lightning-fast microgames, such as theWarioWareseries. Raunchy, crass, and just overall gross (just take Wario’s garlic-powered bad breath and fart abilities, for instance), Wario has allowed Nintendo to step outside the wholesome, polished, family-friendly brand that Mario and pals have so carefully cultivated.
While Mario’s platformer games have always innovatedthroughout the years, each one brings a comforting familiarity to their players. Meanwhile, Wario has always spearheaded games that can come across as downright alien, shocking, and bizarre.
Donkey Kong Jr.’s best friend and/or nephew (Nintendo’s telling of their relation is unclear at this point) began as a redesign for DK Jr. Nintendo said they didn’t like it and wanted the British company Rare to make him look like DK Sr. (as seen inMario Vs. Donkey Kong). Seeing as Rare loved their design so much, they kept him in and called him “Diddy,” a Britishism for little or small.
Diddy went on to get his own Quest (with Donkey Kong’s name on it for brand recognition), but since it sold so well, he was also allowed to head his own legendary N64 kart racing game (today a mostly underappreciated genre):Diddy Kong Racing.Diddy has been keeping it on the down-low for a while, but he’s made a few appearances in a fewMario Partyand sports games.
Half-Life: Alyxisn’t the first game in theHalf-Lifeseries to feature what was a minor character as a new protagonist.Blue ShiftandOpposing Force,expansions to the original Half-Life, featured a Black Mesa security guard and a disgruntled U.S. marine as protagonists, respectively.
Evidently, the visually-tactile VR exclusiveHalf-Life: Alyxhad a strong enough premise to get Valve to touch the franchise again, and based on audience reaction, with a bit of luck, it might be enough tobring a half-dead franchise back to life, but only time (and Valve) will tell.
It’s a little-known fact that the bear that can fly like a bird got his start as a playable racer inDiddy Kong Racing(itself another product of a spin-off character reaching stardom). In that game Banjo could indeed fly like a bird without the aid of his foul-mouthed, feathery friend, but only in the airplane racing sections.
Of course, most old-school gamers will know Banjo from his adventures collecting magical talking jigsaw pieces and fighting the rhyming, crimingwicked Witch of Spiral Mountainin a milestone platforming adventure game on the N64 or Xbox 360.
Although his hair is darker (but just as spiky), Zack Fair isn’t a moodier version of Cloud. Just the opposite, it might be said that Zack “inspired” Cloud’s whole deal (especially his background, without giving too much away).Crisis Coreand its remake,Reunion, gaveFinal Fantasyfans a chance to see what fights inFinal Fantasy 7might look like with an active battle system.
While it would be reasonable to say that he stole Cloud’s thunder, it wouldn’t entirely be accurate, as Cloud remainsone of the greatest Final Fantasy protagonists of all time. But Zack still shook out to be a fan favorite despite being a very minor (but important) character in the originalFinal Fantasy 7.
Despite being playable since 1983 inMario Bros., the red plumber’s anxious younger brother didn’t get his own title for around two decades, until 2001’sLuigi’s Mansion(except perhaps for the odd off-brandLuigi Hammer Tossand the educationalMario’s Missinggames from the early 90s, the latter of which was handed out as a gift in an “M” themed burger chain).
Whereas his older brother is more famous for his jumping skills, Luigi found his niche in sucking (ghosts into his vacuum cleaner, that is). His jumps in the titular haunted mansions are more out of fear than necessity, although he can jump slightly higher than Mario in some of the 2D games he’s appeared in.
