Top 5 Video Game Boys!

Hello dear readers and welcome to Shoot the Rookie! Today’s post should be a really fun one, as I’m going to be listing my top 5 boys from video games! Why not join me to find out who made the cut!

In my last post I took a look at my top 5 video game girls. If you read that post, you will know that every girl in the list came from a game in the JRPG genre. Thankfully I’ve been able to branch out a bit with the boys.

That said, it could have been a different story. When trying to decide on my top 5 video game boys I started with a long-list of 41 (forty one!) names. Only through a gruelling series of mini-leagues and head-to-heads was I able to get the list down to five. Suffice to say I lost a lot of much loved characters along the way, including not one but two names who were in my top 5 JRPG characters list. There was even one game that had five names on the long-list but none in the final five!

What game was it? Well let’s see if you can work it out as I now present to you my top 5 boys from video games!

Manny (Grim Fandango)

The bread of the dead

The land of the dead’s best boy is perhaps a bit of a surprise inclusion in this list, but my partner’s patented system doesn’t lie, and Manny beat off the competition, living and dead. Suave (at least most of the time), sharp tongued and the best travel agent the afterlife has ever seen, there is nothing not to like about him. He even dresses exquisitely, although if I have one criticism it would be that his poetry could use some work.

Noah (Xenoblade Chronicles 3)

Let me just… fix this.

Again, Noah’s inclusion in this list is a bit of a surprise to me. Obviously I have history with the Xenoblade series but the reason it surprises me is that I don’t usually go for protagonists. Noah is different though. He has something, however undefinable, that stands out to me. He is a natural leader. A perfect of combination of calm soldier, caring friend and that mysterious something else. Right from the start of the game he sees what no one else sees and I fell for him instantly and never looked back.

Leon (Resident Evil Series)

Where’s everyone going? Bingo?

The man of the moment just had to make this list. Resident Evil 4 was my first experience with the series and Leon’s ridiculous humour and never ending ability to look cool under pressure really stuck with me. Later seeing him in Resident Evil 2 and the Project X Zone series built on my initial impressions of him as the most laid back and flippant law enforcement officer in history, although I do worry that one day he might take that too far.

Yashiro (Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE)

How do you people usually fend off starvation?

I have written about this boy many times. What I love most about him is that he is a constant contradiction. He is strong, incomparably talented and not lacking in confidence. And yet, he seemingly has zero ability to function without assistance in the real world. He is the classic lone hero who begrudgingly accepts that life is better with friends, but for all his standoffish traits, he really does bring something exceptional to the crew at Fortuna Entertainment.

Riki (Xenoblade Chronicles)

Victory to Riki!

Riki is the ultimate comfort character, and I love him for his cheek and his thoughtfulness equally. Like most Nopon characters, he is not afraid to say exactly what he thinks and he has absolute belief in his own awesomeness. This sometimes annoys his teammates, but Riki is fully aware of the impact his actions can have and he manages to make everything better for everyone with some well chosen words here and there. He is simply a joy to spend time with and is a lynchpin for the emotional development of the rest of the team and for the depths to which I love the game.

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So there we have it! A definitive (for now) list of my top 5 boys from video games. But what do think? Did I go with the right Resident Evil boy? Maybe you would have included someone from Xenoblade Chronicles 2? Do you feel slighted by the lack of Persona boys? Let me know below in comments and don’t forget to join me next time for more video game and anime nonsense!

Thanks for reading,

Pix1001 x