There's been some legendary videogame characters in the history of the media - from the vine-swinging little pixel dude from Pitfall to the neck-snapping Solid Snake - but who do we here at Beer.com hold as the most bad ass videogame characters of all time?
Take a look...
Kratos (God of War)
First seen in God of War (2005), he's seen a sequel, a cell-phone game (God of War: Betrayal), a PSP game (God of War: Chains of Olympus) and another sequel for the PS3 has been announced.
Kratos is the former captain of the Spartan army - which, if you've seen 300, you know is bad ass all in itself. Well if that's not hardcore enough for you, Kratos gets tapped by Ares, the God of War himself, to be his personal servant.
He commits acts like sacrificing innocents, slaying monsters, and gets contracted to assassinate a God. If that's not bad ass I don't know what is.
Duke Nukem (Duke Nukem 3D)
Duke is the kick-ass title character from Duke Nukem, Duke Nukem II, Duke Nukem 3D, a slew of horrible spin-off games, and the upcoming Duke Nukem Forever.
At first Duke might appear to be your typical Stallone/Schwarzenegger muscle-bound hero-type... to which you'd be right. He's a kick-ass brute, who is originally hired by the CIA to take out a rogue mad scientist bent on world domination.
But it's not until Duke gets a voice in Duke Nukem 3D (1996) that he solidifies his bad-ass-ness. Spouting one-liners like "I'm gonna kick ass and chew some gum... and I'm all out of gum." His best line is before vanquishing a massive alien foe, he proclaims "I'm gonna rip off your head and sh*t down your neck." He then proceeds to follow through on his boast. Bad. Ass.
Solid Snake (Metal Gear Solid)
A throwback to the 16-bit era, Solid appeared in Metal Gear (1987), but has gone on to appear in 9 more games, including this year's Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots and Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
Solid Snake is rumored (but never confirmed) to be a translation of Snake Pliskin from the Escape films (played by Kurt Russell). Whether that's true or not has never been 100% confirmed, but if it is then we're not going to complain!
But in Metal Gear Solid (1998), the first Metal Gear game on the Playstation, Solid Snake really showed off his kick-ass skills in 3D. Sneaking into a heavily-guarded facility (snapping necks along the way), Snake proceeds to take out several ridiculously named villains (Psycho Mantis, Sniper Wolf, Revolver Ocelot), withstand torture, and destroy a nuclear-capable mech weapons platform!
Frank West (Dead Rising)
In 2006 Capcom released the semi-sandbox, hybrid action/rpg game Dead Rising on the Xbox 360. In it, you're tasked to discover the source of the zombie infestation that's plaguing Williamette, Colorado. And in true Dawn of the Dead-style, you've got to do it from a shopping mall.
You play as Frank, a simple photojournalist who goes to Colorado for "a scoop of a lifetime", but instead uncovers a massive zombie infestation - and the resulting government cover-up.
Through the course of the game you've got to help Frank rescue survivors, and leave a swath of zombie destruction in your path using anything you can find - shovels, chainsaws, swords, lawnmowers, umbrellas... When you can say proudly that you've literally mowed down a hoard of zombies, you're officially bad ass.
Commander Shepard (Mass Effect)
Last year's game-of-the-year nominated Mass Effect was one of the best reviewed games of the year - it had action, adventure, and galaxy-spanning excitement. On such an epic scale that it rivals STAR WARS in terms of its absolutely breadth - and rightly so, as Bioware, the team behind Mass Effect also created the amazing Star Wars: Knight of the Old Republic Series.
In Mass Effect, like in KoTOR, your choices and speech options can lead you down the side of good or the side of evil - either a hero or a villain. For the most bad assed effect, we're going to take a look at Captain Shepard, the first human Specter (intergalactic secret agent) and his (or her!) descent into darkness.
The choices you make can save lives or destroy them, allowing you to execute prisoners, commit genocide, abandon hope in survivors, and stand idly by while people die. This cold, callousness of the evil Commander Shepard only lends to how he's a total bad ass.
Niko Belic (GTA IV)
"Niko, my cousin!" If you're not tired of hearing that from this year's record-breaking top selling game Grand Theft Auto IV, then you're not paying enough attention.
Niko Belic is the Serbian immigrant, fresh off the boat in Liberty City (a fictional New York). Conflicted over his past, and whether to abandon his... less reputable behavior, Niko is faced with descending back into the life of crime he hope America would help him escape.
Escaping a life of crime doesn't last long as Niko quickly finds himself stealing cars, extorting business owners, whacking thugs, and can even watch his own cousin Roman die. How cold is that? And if you factor in all the possibilities in the sandbox world, what with the cop-killing and all, Niko is one cold bastard.
Gordon Freeman (Half-Life)
Freeman is a tragic character - that star of 1998's Half-Life, and the sequels that followed (most notably Half-Life 2in 2004) - and arguably the most kick-ass mute nerd ever.
Gordon Freeman, a genius in the field of teleportation technology, decided to leave his education for a job at Black Mesa, a shady research company that was making leaps and bounds in tech. When Freeman and his team successfully open a portal to another dimension, our world is invaded by organic alien lifeforms - and a hero is born.
Armed with his trusty crowbar, this formerly mild-mannered and untrained scientist must fend for his life against an onslaught of oncoming aliens. There's nothing like busting a few skulls with a crowbar to make you feel like a hero, I always say.
Max Payne (Max Payne)
In 2001's Max Payne we meet the title character, and we catch up with him once again in 2003's Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne. He's a hard-ass, and one of the toughest SOB's you'll ever play as.
Max is introduced to us just as some junkies kill his wife and newborn child - how's that for motivation? It turns out he's an undercover cop, and a few years after the death of his family, he's set up for the murder of another cop. Wow, that's some bad luck... but it gets worse when the death blows his cover, and the Mafia Family he's working for puts out a hit on him.
Max then has to fight against all odds - the cops, feds, and mafia - to clear his name, destroy a drug distribution ring, and get revenge for his dead family. Sounds like a great plot for a movie...
Sam Fisher (Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell)
Sam Fisher is the CIA agent and former Navy Seal we've all grown accustomed to seeing in the Splinter Cell games, the first released in 2002. Since then there's been 5 sequels, all starring Mr-Double-Agent.
Fisher is a decorated CIA agent, Delta Force member, US Navy Seal, and single father. He's trained in espionage, hand-to-hand combat, parenting, and all around tough-guy-ness. While stationed in Afghanistan, Fisher was forced to hide under a pile of corpses to remain undiscovered - that's pretty hardcore right there.
Stealth tactics, being a double-agent, giving his daughter "the sex talk", and dangling upside-down like Spider-Man while slitting throats - how does that sound? It's another day at the office for Sam Fisher.
Augustus Cole (Gears of War)
Cole is the kick-ass COG soldier you fight along side of in Gears of War (2006). He's "The Cole Train", and he'll run right over you!
Augustus "The Cole Train" Cole is a COG soldier and former "Thrashball" (future football) player, number 83 according to his squad mates. He's the bloodthirsty, over-aggressive COG soldier that's more muscle than finesse - opting to run straight in to fray than attack from the outskirts.
Cole is the teammate who you'll hear whooping and hollering as he runs his Lancer through some Locust soldiers - "Whoo - that's a whole lotta juice!"
And the hits just keep coming - God of War 3, Duke Nukem Forever, and Gears of War 2 are all on the way. There's no stopping these kick-ass dudes from dominating aliens, mythical creatures, or terrorists... they're just too bad ass!
There's some awesome characters on that list but I'm sure we forgot some - if you don't like any of our choices let us know below!
Chris the Creep
