“I locked myself in a cage, once, when I was a child. For an entire day. Ahh, good times.”
We’re now into the meat and potatoes as the top 25 continues. Tomorrow, our list continues the countdown to the #1 male video game character of all-time on Aug. 31.
22) Alistair (Dragon Age) – 2 votes/106 points
Shaun: Twilight. Justin Bieber. Transformers. Snapchat. Sometimes in life, certain things get popular, and I don’t possess the insight necessary to understand why. Alistair is one of those things. Want to shed some light on this, ladies?
Cary: Pretty, pretty Alistair. ♥ Soooooo…..preeeetttyyy. ♥ Um, what? Oh, uh… yeah, yeah he had a fine backstory and was good in a fight. A good addition to the team he was, the Grey Wardens and all that jazz. Sure. Whatever.
Simpleek: What makes Alistair really stand out for me (and will always have a huge spot in my heart when it comes to BioWare romances) is how he isn’t the typical male video game character. He’s sensitive, a romantic, goofy, and adorably awkward. Alistair could have been written as, “I’m a tough man who doesn’t cry,” but thankfully the writers stayed away from that. Those qualities made him instantly believable and relatable, which made it very easy to be charmed by him when I played Dragon Age: Origins.
Shaun: If being “not tough” and crying all the time is all it takes to be a great character, then I’d be the greatest character in all of gaming (and maybe I am! Stay tuned…).
But I will give Alistair some credit — especially at the time this game was released, we had not seen a lot of male characters portrayed like this, and it was a breath of fresh air. Bioware’s ability to craft truly unique characters started way before Mass Effect came out, and Alistair is a great example of this. Rather than a tough, inspiring, grizzled knight who’s always dependable and an anchor for your main character, both physically and emotionally, we instead got Alistair…who’s more like an awkward Paul Rudd, and about as good with a sword….
No, I’m kidding. He’s probably better than Paul Rudd with a sword.
Chris: Look, Alistair’s certainly pretty. His voice sounds like what would happen if velvet had sex with a panther. He can be your main romantic interest and he’s willing to sacrifice himself in the end because he loves you. He has the opportunity to become king and rule over all his subjects with a handsome fist. All of these things are valid.
But…Paul Rudd with a sword? Paul Rudd’s a pretty funny guy, and attractive to boot. That’s a tough call.
Jason: Why did Alistair make this list? Oh, right; because their were females voting. Don’t get me wrong, he wasn’t a bad character, I just didn’t care for him. Of course, I also played a female Warden who totally screwed him over and ended up having to just listen to him whine all the time (even in Dragon Age 2!). So that might have something to do with it.
Joseph: Sadly, I only watched people playing installments of the Dragon Age series. I caught glimpses of Alistair, but even then they were not character moments. I hope he is worthy of this list.
Objection Network 