The figure of the father has now entered forcefully for several years as a protagonist in video games, with characters that have turned out to be different from the classic hero all in one piece, committed to saving the world, or his beloved kidnapped by the bad guy on duty. Titles like Silent Hill or The Last of Us, for example, have given us back normal figures even within imaginative contexts. Ordinary people, however, able to fight with all of themselves to protect their children, natural and otherwise, and their loved ones from dangers. So, to celebrate Father's Day, we have chosen those who for us are the best five of the best fathers in the world of video games, always without the presumption of creating a definitive list or finding the consensus of all our readers, who perhaps would have added a John Marston (Red Dead Redemption) or a Mike Haggar (Final Fight), just to give two examples.
ATTENTION: the article contains some spoilers on the characters and on the video games that have seen them as protagonists.
Joel Miller (The Last of Us)
The unconditional love of a father towards his son is something indescribable in words: you can try as much as you want, but words alone are not enough . Even in the devastated and complicated scenario of a post-apocalyptic world like that of Naughty Dog's The Last of Us. Like a cold flash, at the beginning of the game the hearts of Joel Miller and that of the players are struck by the premature death of little Sarah. An excruciating, insane, irrepressible pain, a moment that also has a tender in its drama that mixes anger and anguish, terror and fury, while Joel's soul dies and dies with the life of his daughter. But that love that now seemed buried in the most hidden meanders of his soul, comes back forcefully when twenty years later the man runs into the young Ellie, with whom a relationship similar to that between father and daughter is gradually created. , while among hordes of infected, military and gangs of unscrupulous criminals, they pass through desolate realities such as what remains of Pittsburgh and other abandoned urban centers.
Lee Everett (The Walking Dead)
He is not the biological father of Clementine, the protagonist, but Lee Everett of The Walking Dead by TellTale Games certainly has nothing to envy to the real parent of the little girl. Lee is a former college professor convicted of killing a Georgia state senator who stumbles upon Clementine after he escapes from the police car that was taking him to prison. From then on, day after day, a very intense relationship arises between the two, and the former teacher will become a father figure for the child always ready to protect her physically and morally. Lee and Clementine experience dozens of dramatic moments in their journey, until the tragic epilogue, when Clementine finds herself with a Lee seriously injured by the bite of a living dead and close to death and transformation. And in the final dialogue between the two, in the loving words of a Lee who almost suffers from not being able to be with Clementine, that for the imminent end of her, there is all the love of a father. A story that sooner or later we hope will find the deserved space even in a TV show, all the more so given the shortage of ideas and characters that have buried the original series in recent seasons.
Emile Chaillon (Valiant Hearts: The Great War)
Emile is another of the most "beautiful", sentimentally credible and lovable fathers met in a video game. He is a French farmer who despite him lives the horrors of the First World War. After enlisting, a series of vicissitudes led him, on April 16, 1917, to involuntarily kill an officer of his army who had ordered him and his unit to charge, despite this meant certain death. Emile Chaillon strikes his direct superior because, as was the custom at the time, he had the duty to shoot at the subordinates who, during the assaults, refused to fight. Unfortunately, however, his blow proves fatal, and he is sentenced to death by court martial. The letter that the man writes to his daughter Marie describes everything about the horrors of war, but also about the infinite love of a father: "My dear Marie, the war is over for me. I have no regrets, I have seen too many horrors. I hope that fate is more kind to you. Our time on Earth is short, and mine has been blessed with so much joy. I am grateful for what I have received. But most of all, for the amazement you have brought into my life. " And then, in his last words that take up the concluding part of the missive, while the firing squad opens fire: "Remember me in your prayers. Your dad. Forever".
Harry Mason ( Silent Hill)
A father is willing to do anything to protect his son, even to go down to Hell if necessary. And this regardless of his nature, as Harry Mason demonstrates in Silent Hill: he is the man next door, he writes non-fiction books, but he is also a devoted father who for the love of his child does not hesitate for a moment to enter a city perpetually. shrouded in fog and bristling with threats. In fact, when little Cheryl Mason, her adopted daughter, is literally swallowed by the blanket of clouds that covers every corner and street of the silent city, she launches in search of her. After dealing with monstrosities of all kinds and learning about a highly dramatic story, Mr. Mason will rescue her little girl, change her name and carry her away, hoping to keep her out of harm's way, in vain. Him up to sacrifice himself for her in the third installment of the series.
Ethan Mars (Heavy Rain)
Heavy Rain is one of the most emotionally engaging games of recent years. The title of the French studio Quantic Dream has a plot that captures the user from the beginning, and which proposes a series of highly dramatic situations. Among these, one of the most moving of all, concerns the story starring Ethan Mars, father of two children. During the prologue, where the character has played in the garden with both of them, the user sees his young son Jason die in dismay in front of a shopping center. Ethan's pain is so deep that it almost seems to perceive it, to the point of feeling a certain empathy and identifying with this man with a soul devastated by guilt, that two years after this tragic event will be hit by another trauma, that of the kidnapping of the second child. Yet, between a psychological breakdown and moments of desperation Ethan finds the strength to fight, not to lose hope and fight to hug his second child again, showing us how far a parent can go to save the life of someone he loves.
