Top 10 JRPG protagonists!

[@scottsclassrom]

I really like Yuri Lowell from Tales of Vesperia. I love how he was a soldier until he found he could do more good as a mercenary.

[@R3GARnator]

Velvet and Bestelle are GOATs.

[@HellFireRPGs]

Definitely!

[@tunperak1256]

Estelle Bright best protagonist for imo.

[@HellFireRPGs]

She's a keeper!

[@nelsonw9483]

Liked for Trails

[@HellFireRPGs]

Thanks

[@---nd2yx]

In a world of Cloud, Terra, Squall and Tidus I have always found FF9’s Zidane to be wildly underrated and under appreciated in this discussion. He’s kind without being a generic cardboard cutout nice guy. He’s brave and capable and the natural leader of their group without ever viewing himself that way or developing an ego. He’s very charismatic and likable but he spends the entire game doing selfless things and staying true to himself and following what he believes to be right. He also has some darkness and complexity within him. He’s a layered character. His actions in the FF9 ending sequence are also easily among the best in the series and blow Cloud and Squall and the others out of the water in this regard. I also appreciate his unique and memorable aesthetic. The man has a tail after all. While FF9 isn’t my personal favorite Final Fantasy game (for both you and I Hellfire; it’s FF8), for me Zidane is the best Final Fantasy protagonist and one of the best in all of JRPGs.

[@Sr.DudeGuy]

I totally agree, Zidane is definitely underrated and probably the best of the series. And FF8 was my favorite in the series as well!

[@ak47dragunov]

Great call, Zidane is a fantastic protagonist in a game with no shortage of incredible characters

[@HellFireRPGs]

Yeah, FF9s ending is easily my favourite in the entire series. It was so emotional! I loved Zidane, too, but not as much as Squall and Cloud.

[@robdiquattro5590]

Zidane leveled me. I just thought he was whatever when I first played back in middleschool. Kind of a dork putting his foot in his mouth sometimes and not your typical cool guy. BUT THEN, during the you are not alone sequence, for the first time, I saw myself in Zidane. I wanna do well, I don't always have the best answers, and when it all becomes too much I break. Not sure a game has ever caught me off guard quite like that moment and I will forever hold Zidane dear to my heart.

[@SieffrePlays]

Viese Blanchimont from Atelier Iris 2, Ludger Kresnik from Tales of Xillia 2, Alicia from Valkyrie Profile 2, Freyjadour from Suikoden V, Dana from Ys VIII, Alicia Melchiott from Valkyria Chronicles are some of my favorites. Ichiban is definitely a winner. I love Like a Dragon simply for having an older cast.

[@HibiTeamQueso]

Velvet in the Thumbnail? This is a banger already

[@GanRPG]

Yuri Hyuga is my favorite protag. You were right when you said Shadow Hearts may be dead, but Yuri will never be forgotten. His struggles throughout both of his games left an impression on me, and I will always love him for it!

[@HellFireRPGs]

Great to see there's others out there who appreciate him as much as I do.

[@Antagonopolis]

What's ironic is that Yuri basically struggles only against himself [for one reason or another], but when it comes to actual antagonists... "Sure, I'll waste 'em" ...and that he does

[@Squall12398]

Its so nice seeing squall ranked so high I absolutely love him sm and seeing people love the character is great

[@Sr.DudeGuy]

Suikoden III was amazing! My favorite of the series.

[@HellFireRPGs]

Yeah, definitely underrated. I really hope it gets a remaster with some QoL additions.

[@samflood5631]

My favorite JRPG protagonists are 1. Sora 2. Dart 3. Tidus 4. Velvet 5. Alphen 6. 2B 7. Clive

[@michaeldehart3253]

Arc stands out for me. He was the ideal noble hero. Gave his life at the beginning of the first game and was resurrected by the spirits, and gladly gave it again to seal away the dark one along with Kukuru. He was stoic from start to finish.

[@adamcampbell3263]

Solid list mate, nice to see Velvet getting some love

[@HellFireRPGs]

Thanks!

[@ash8244]

Estelle should be #1 she's Bestelle for a reason.

[@Antagonopolis]

Yuri Hyuga is by far my fav protagonist in JRPGs [and games in general] for nearly 20 years now. I was not surprised when I saw him here, cos' I know that you love SH games too, my friend. Still good to know that you haven't forgot about this underappreciated treasure of a game. I appreciate all the work you've done for the community throughout the years. Thank you.

[@HellFireRPGs]

Thanks so much! I do it for the rare nice comments like this one :) appreciate your support!

[@chris-098]

Yuri Lowell from Tales of Vesperia is one of the best imo, that game wouldn't be as good if he wasn't in it.

[@vitorhenriquebatista]

Amazing list! Very Great similar to mine. Great characters! My list: 1. Estelle Bright - Trails in the Sky 2. Yuri Lowell - Tales of Vesperia 3. Luke von Fabre - Tales of the Abyss 4. Zero - Drakengard 3 5. Squall Leonhart - Final Fantasy VIII 6. Yuri Hyuga - Shadow Hearts 7. Velvet Crowe - Tales of Berseria 8. Alicia Melchiot - Valkyria Chronicles 9. Ichiban Kasuga - Yakuza Like a Dragon 10. Alicia - Valkyrie Profile 2

[@madkaiser4887]

Fantastic picks, mate!

[@HellFireRPGs]

Thanks!

[@JQuitoriano]

Damn. No Adol. Anyways fantastic list.

[@cwavygaming6615]

Velvet one of my favorite characters that ending HIT hard

[@g-bear83]

Adell - Disgaea 2 Ichiban Kasuga - Yakuza: Like a Dragon Jaster - Rogue Galaxy Kaim Argonar - Lost Odyssey Kalas - Baten Kaitos Fei - Xenogears Terra - FF6 Tidus - FF10 Luigi - Mario and Luigi Dream Team Chrom - Fire Emblem Awakening

[@tiagocosmos]

Yuri Hyuga! I absolutely love him. Love Shadow Hearts, would give anything for remasters/remakes, bc it seems Penny Blood is in trouble.

[@uppernimbus]

Great list man! I've yet to play Xenogears, but I really love Fei Fong Wong's character design. I'll have to find a way to play it sometime soon!

[@HellFireRPGs]

Thanks mate! You should definitely give it a shot! Bit rough around the edges, but a must play!

[@AshflowEX]

McDhol, Riou Zidane and Ramza Yu Narukami, Tatsuya Suou Alphen, Jude, Yuri Kazuki Takemura (Front Mission 3) Ryu (BOF4) Aya Brea

[@femtrooper]

Love it! So many great characters! I need to play Trails in the Sky!

[@robdiquattro5590]

Queen Estelle! also awesome to see a shadow hearts shout. My only argument (and it's just for fun) is that Igor disagrees with your persona pick. Igor's favorite is P3 MC, confirmed in the persona dance game spin offs haha

[@HellFireRPGs]

Haven't played those dancing games yet. There's some pretty decent music, so I probably should.

[@marcgriffiths24]

Estelle number 1 and its not even close

[@devinreed21]

I agree. Ichiban is awesome. And I also love Squall. FF8 is one of my favorite final fantasy games. Top 3 for me.

[@zeusapollo6504]

Cecil the Dark Knight in FF IV - original SNES version Fou-Lu in Breath of Fire IV - he is a protagonist and the antagonist and you got to play him a lot, he is overpowered and pretty cool.

[@lilbirdmuse8938]

Estelle and Ichiban, the two great goats. xD

[@003SONE]

Great video! I love your number 1 spot and completely agree!

[@HellFireRPGs]

Yay, thank you!

[@redstratus97]

I gotta give props to Shion from the Xenosaga trilogy here. Someone who I feel is a very underrated protagonist when it comes to lists like these.

[@HellFireRPGs]

Yeah, Shion was on my short list, too.

[@michaelcoffey1991]

@Hellfire loved the list and any top 10 lists are fun to agree with and loose your mind about lol. Got enough in you to do this with western rpg protagonists?

[@HellFireRPGs]

Haha, thanks. I don't think so, unfortunately. I haven't played enough of them, and many protagonists are user created and completely different between different gamers.

[@shadowsquid1351]

Yuri Hyuga, Dimitri Blaiddyd, Stocke from Radisnt Historia are among my favorited I really need to play Yakuza, Ichiban seems interesting.

[@toolman4745]

Totally agree with you. Ichiban is the greatest protagonist in any game ever. I beat Yakuza: Like a Dragon for the first time last night and the ending scene right before the credits at the lockers....the voice actor's work and the work in giving the character's face expression...I wept. Amazing and I can't wait to play Infinite Wealth.

[@HellFireRPGs]

You're in for a treat! I played both of them pretty much back to back and had such a good time. I have a feeling you'll like Ichiban even more after Infinite Wealth.

[@toolman4745]

@@HellFireRPGs i think I want a break between the two. I don't want to get overloaded with it. Great video man.

[@SuperSupersoda]

I love Zidane from FF 9 as a protagonist so much, most underrated FF protag for sure. However, #1 overall is Estelle, and it's not close in my opinion. Estelle is unique in a world RPG protags: like Schera once said, her strength is like the Shinning Sun. Most protags overcome and defeat their foes, Estelle can do that too, but she just radiates so much goodness that she can often convince the bad guys to switch sides: Joshua, Renne, Loewe, etc. Estelle has the strongest sense of self of any protag, and she is every bit as strong as her father, her strength is just of a different kind than Cassius'. She's authentic without being stubborn. She's smart enough to learn and grow from her experiences, but she never loses her sense of self. Besides, you knew that putting Estelle and Velvet in the thumbnail would get you more clicks than other combinations, so deep down inside, you know it too.

[@HellFireRPGs]

Estelle and Velvet. The perfect combination!

[@xenomaster1773]

My top favorites are the main Xenoblade protagonists including the dlc in 2 and 3

[@redmoonbloodmoon3161]

jokingly, the two legends: 1. Lord British (Ultima) 2. Erdrick (Dragon Quest/Warrior) ------------- best/favorite jrpg characters: (NOT ranked, just listed) 1. Terra Branford (FF6) 2. Katt (BoF2) 3. Aya Brea (PE1) 4. Selan (Lufia 2) 5. "Iris" (Erim) (Lufia 2) 6. Tifa Lockhart (FF7) 7. Rydia (FF4) 8. Celes Chere (FF6) 9. Rosa (FF4) 10. Mina (BoF2) // yes, Mina, with a 'M', not Nina 11. Valerie (BoF2) 12. Ayla (CT) 13. Angela (SD3) 14. Charlotte ("Carlie") (SD3) 15. Duran (SD3) // one of the few males, lol 16. Mint (ToP) 17. Arche (ToP) 18. Feena (Grandia 1) 19. Sue (Grandia 1) 20. Tia (Lufia 2) 21. "Isabella" (Bigieu) (SD3) 22. "Bleu" (Deis) (BoF series) 23. Rinoa Heartilly (FF8) 24. Yuffie Kisaragi (FF7) 25. Quistis Trepe (FF8) 26. Lulu (FF10) 27. "Melissa" (Eve) (PE1) 28. Alis Landale (PS1) 29. Sana (fire shaman) (BoF2) 30. Edea (FF8) 31. Dekar (Lufia 2) // one of the few males, lol 32. "the girl" (SD2/SoM) 33. "Patty" (Yua) (BoF2)

[@CBZero]

Yep, Sky is the best in the series!

[@trentsticles6198]

Idk if this is an unpopular opinion but Lucas from mother 3 is one of the best protagonists in any game I’ve played

[@TotallyTubularJonathan]

#1 is perfect

[@HellFireRPGs]

Totally!

[@HellFireRPGs]

Tubular!

[@HellFireRPGs]

Jonathan!

[@MDog_FPV]

Zidane (FF9) Tidus (FF10), Fayt (Star Ocean 3) and maybe even Ash (Pokemon Gen1)

[@johnwillhite1723]

I am not surprise to find out someone really loves Cloud and Squall ,but I prefer Cecil Harvey. Alex from Lunar Tir McDohl from Suikoden Vyse from Skies of Arcadia Ryza Stoudt from Atelier Ryza Yuri Lowell from Tales of Vesperia Lenneth from Valkyrie Profile Maxim from Lufia II Abel from Dragon Quest V Crono from Chrono Trigger Rudy Roughnight from Wild Arms Those protagonists do deserve to be in spotlight as well.

[@HellFireRPGs]

Got some good ones in there! Vyse is another one of my favourites that was unlucky to not make it.

[@krzysztofpaweczyk1515]

Oh yeah, Velvet was great!

[@TruePerception]

Protagonists are not always the best characters. I'd love a follow-up for supporting cast, as well as one for side characters.

[@HellFireRPGs]

Yeah, I agree. Top 10 characters would be so much harder to choose :D

[@michaeldehart3253]

Great idea. Vitkor and Flik instantly came to mind lol.

[@xtradany5398]

I don't believe a silent protagonist can should be in a top 10; unless you're going by design/aesthetics. A few fluff dialouge options can't compare to a deep/well written character. Not that I'm trying to police anyone's opinion, but its not like we're lacking in choices.

[@dobadobadooo]

My top 10 JRPG protagonists would have to be (only one per franchise): 10. *Ryudo* _(Grandia II)_ 9. *Fang* _(Fairy Fencer F: Dark Advent Force)_ 8. *Kalas* _(Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean)_ 7. *Kazuma Kiryu* _(Yakuza 0)_ 6. *Estelle Bright* _(The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky)_ 5. *Clive Rosfield* _(Final Fantasy XVI)_ 4. *Luke fon Fabre* _(Tales of the Abyss)_ 3. *Vyse* _(Skies of Arcadia Legends)_ 2. *Stocke* _(Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology)_ 1. *Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd* _(Fire Emblem: Three Houses)_ I'll admit that I often think the protagonist is one of the weakest aspects of most JRPGs, but as my list should demonstrate there are thankfully plenty of exceptions to this rule.

[@HellFireRPGs]

Nice list! Clive definitely would have made the top 10 if it wasn't for my 2 per series rule.

[@dobadobadooo]

@@HellFireRPGs Thanks mate! Totally get why you would go for Cloud and Squall though. The latter in particular is a pretty neat pick since people so rarely talk about him.

[@shadowsquid1351]

Wow great list! Dimitri, Vyse & Stocke, refind taste 👍🏼

[@dobadobadooo]

​@@shadowsquid1351 Thanks bud!

[@TruePerception]

I love Geddoe!

[@Xenohaste]

yeah i'd replace Cloud with Ceil Harvey, Joker with Raidou Kuzunoha XIV, and Velvet Crow with Milla Maxwell. When playing ff7 I liked Cloud at the beginning and hated him by the end at some point i realized that i liked zack not cloud. Velvet is a great character but i find Milla way more compelling! I do wish i could fit Tiz Arrior in here somewhere dude deserves it (but i guess you could make just as good of an argument for Seth). As for fei he deffently wins most mentally unstable mc. Would also want to try and fit Aleph and Luacs in the list but it's hard to move people around. I'd also need to stop myself from just putting all the xeno protags on a list of top ten.

[@MDog_FPV]

Zidane, Tidus, or Fayt (Star Ocean 3) maybe an argument for Ash (Pokemon)

[@HellFireRPGs]

I know, and that's so sad :( Fingers crossed someone picks the game up.

[@danielengelmann3791]

Love your videos!!!!!

[@HellFireRPGs]

Thanks mate!

[@Haseo55]

I liked Yuri and Velvet. Other characters fir me would be Ringo(soul hackers 2), Haseo(.hackGU) and Clive FF16.

[@HellFireRPGs]

Clive definitely would have made my list if it wasn't for the 2 per series rule.

[@threeswordssama]

As good as the character development was in Persona 5 I'm just not a fan of the silent protagonist in RPGs with tons of dialogue.

[@Herozuya]

I know this is your personal take but not having Adol Christin here feels like a crime.

[@emvatomix]

Yes, im part of ichibanNation🎉

[@shepard507]

Personally I think Sora, Crono, Lenneth, Yuri Lowell and Clive Rosfield were more deserving than Joker and Squall

[@__BlacklotuS__]

Pyra/Mythra are the best

[@windwaker0rules]

keerrrbluuunnnnkkkk

[@BigBossCQCLegend]

Squall is Terrible 😞

[@HellFireRPGs]

@@BigBossCQCLegend Terribly good looking!!!!!!

[@mindblockandroid]

Cloud and Squall over Cecil Harvey?? Naaahhhhh 😅

[@reyntime1950]

Yangus is best mc

[@ZerosGameInn]

All great picks, but where's Aya Brea 😊

[@HellFireRPGs]

I really liked her in PE1, but haven't played the other two yet.

[@ZerosGameInn]

@@HellFireRPGs you gotta fix that ^_^

[@reyntime1950]

Terrible list. No balan No Fray Holland No Kamala Kahn

[@HellFireRPGs]

@reyntime1950 You must have missed the start of the video where I said that it was my opinion and it will be different to yours. Try watching the whole video next time.

[@reyntime1950]

@@HellFireRPGs nah. You're wrong. Your favourite protagonists are from balan, forspoken and avengers.

[@HellFireRPGs]

@@reyntime1950 stay tuned for my top 1000 protagonists of all time. They'll all make an appearance in there ;)

[@reyntime1950]

@@HellFireRPGs lol

[@doram.a8475]

Shion from Xenosaga has better writing and character development than half the list, lol, and yes, Estelle is actually a good protagonist. Where is Terra? In what universe is Squall better than Fei Fong? You are obviously trolling. Joker is not even the best protagonist in the Persona series-Makoto is far superior. But that's your list."

[@HellFireRPGs]

Phew. Good thing I put that Disclaimer at the start of the video.