Why do we like tough, stoic characters in video games?

Geralt of Rivia, Cloud Strife, Joel Miller, and Kratos.

What do those four characters have in common? Each of these characters are vastly different, whether that be from the genre or their motivations, but once you get to the nitty-gritty of what makes them what they are, you start to see the similarities.

Protagonists in any story have an arc, whether for the worse or the better, the protagonist changes by the end of the story. Character growth is vital to the narrative, it is why the audience invests in the characters. If the protagonist ends the story and they are the exact same from the beginning of the story then it makes the ending and the story feel like a build-up to nothing.

We see examples of these character arcs all the time. A specific narrative tool to explicitly show how the character changed, a tool I use extensively, is throwing that character back into a situation that was once familiar to them.

Say the protagonist was a mercenary and is used to killing and making the hard calls, later down the road, the same character is starting to develop a stronger moral compass at the behest of their companions. Then in comes in a choice they have to make, revert to their old ways and lose what progress they had made along the way or make the choice that the old them wouldn’t do. This adds conflict for more than just the protagonist, the people who are trying to help or corrupt the protagonist are also invested in what the protagonist will do.

So why do we like these archetypes? Why do we keep playing and buying games if these protagonists are all the same?

If a character shows no emotion, never smiles, and never cracks a joke at the beginning, but towards the end, they are laughing and giving and taking playful banter with the rest of their group, it is a stark change. It’s an arc that any person could follow and see directly.

The first time they crack the smallest of smirks at a stupid joke or if they are starting to make the stupid joke that shocks the rest of the group, feels earned especially if the character starts as an absolute hard-ass.

We like seeing characters grow, by starting to trust the people they are around or by opening up about their fears or insecurities. It makes the audience feel like they are chipping away at the hard exterior and finding out who the real character is beneath all the layers of flippantness and general IDGAF attitude they carry close to the chest.