Summary
Video game protagonists tend to be designed with an archetypal appeal. One such popular archetype, of course, is the scowling, grimdark anti-hero. Armed with guns, claws, or blades, these brooding ghouls epitomize rage, vengeance, and rageful vengeance as they roam the apocalyptic landscape or dystopian supercities de jour on a quest to soothe the pain of their tragic pasts or, at the very least, make their enemies pay.
There’s a fine line between a bristling cool, “suffer-no-fools” hero and the juvenile tryhard who seeks out ways to shock others for the sake of attention. Whether it’s to reliveangsty teen timesor to indulge in those dark desires, these surly seven can help dim the mood by riding that sharp divide between cool and cringe.
After taking several life-changing injuries (including losing both arms and most of his organs) and receiving cybernetic augmentations without giving his consent, Adam Jenson has apretty sympathetic excusefor his prickly exterior.
As he constantly reminds everyone who will listen inDeus Ex: Human Revolution, he “didn’t ask for this.” Even with his all-black attire, brooding demeanor, and even-at-night sunglasses (which he can store inside his skull-holes), Jensen manages to come across as one of the more demure edgelords out there.
After being infused with years of dark eco, the young, bright,self-insert silent protagonistJak is transformed into an angst-ridden monster. Gone are the charming creatures, chatty characters, and colorful levels; in are the guns, T-rated cuss words, and the grungy, dystopian streets of Haven City.
The jump fromJak & DaxtertoJak 2might be one of the most jarring tone shifts in video game history, but thankfully, thanks to his sidekick, old “Orange Lightning,” Jak retains some of his humor in his new home. In the third in the trilogy, Jak is able to find a balance between his dark and light sides, making his lordship somewhat short-lived.
With blood-red eyes, an armored claw hand, a crimson cloak, and a penchant for posing with his pistol in front of the full moon, Vincent Valentine could potentially out-edge even Sephiroth himself. However, although Vincent has the bad-boy look down to a tee, his edginess extends only as far as his remorse and guilt and rarely manifests in the typical malevolence against others usually associated with an edgelord.
While he is a playable character,Vincent’s fate doedn’t end withFF7. He takes center stage inDirge of Cerberuswhen a nefarious group, Deepground, attempts to awaken a world-ending weapon known as Omega. Deepground takes a special interest in Valentine for his “Chaos Genes,” which are apparently key to controlling the weapon.
With a surname that sounds like “stab” or “puncture,” it’s no wonder thatWatch_Dogs' black-hat hacker has a legendary reputation that he does for hacking. With his baseball hat, mask, and very-2010s trench coat, Aiden rises above the agents, sympathizers, and benefactors of the system by turning it against itself.
Like all the best edgelords, Aiden has a tragic backstory and is torn between taking revenge for the murder of his niece and moving on from his pain, and of course, is completely willing toassault, rob, and murderas many people as he cares to in his mission for justice.
What if Sonic wasn’t afraid to do bad stuff, like use semi-automatics, use words stronger than “darn,” and drive over the speed limit? The answer, of course, is Shadow the Hedgehog. InShadow the Hedgehog, players guide Shadow between his light and dark side in the missions they choose to take on.
Shadow can help villains or heroes, but either way, he achieves his goals with the barrel of a gun. It’s one thing to be an edgelord in an already-dark universe, but it’s quite another to see a grimdark edgelord born into the typically chipper, kid-friendlySonicuniverse.
Meet Alex Mercer, a character more “anti-human” than “anti-human” thanks to his demonstrable penchant for creating collateral damage,gorily eating people for health points, and looking broodily down at the city below under his hood between gore sessions. Mercer has the textbook looks and psychopathic disregard for life that embody the spirit of a true edgelord.
As a living supervirus, Mercer is able to turn his body into weaponry (including giant, monstrous claws and a double-sided blade arm), shapeshift into the visage of his victims, military or civilian, and squirt blood out of his armpits to hang air over New York City.
While it may sound like a fever dream that pearl-clutching parents and reactionary politiciansmight want to fabricateto tar all video games as evil and corruptive,Hatredis a real product that exists that puts players in the shoes of Mr. Important (first name, Not), a man whose life mission is to end as many innocent lives as he can and die in the most violent way possible while running a monologue about how everyone else around him is too weak to live.
Hatedis a game with so much grimdark edginess that it would be considered satire had the developers not played the whole act straight. If the guns and mission statement weren’t overt enough, the game is unsubtly smeared in black and white to reflect Not’s outlook and morality, with only red neon signs and blood puddles offering a splash of color. While most gamers were not offended by Not’s cringy nihilism, they were somewhat shocked by how quickly the central gameplay loop could get old.
