Games That Elevated Fan Favorite Characters In The Sequel

Summary

• Never underestimate the power of thirsty fans. Unexpected characters often become fan favorites and even playable in sequels.
• Developers pay attention to breakout characters. Fan darling, like EDI in Mass Effect, may become fully integrated in the story.
• Characters like MacCready in Fallout and Bentley/Murray in Sly Cooper became playable due to fan popularity and positive reception.

Almost every game has at least one good and possibly comforting breakout character. You know how it goes. The developer never expected players to latch on to this one side figure who only gets a couple lines, but suddenly the fan art speaks for itself. It's even possible in games without stories. You know the I block in Tetris gets fan mail.

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Sometimes, the developer pays close attention to this phenomenon. Subsequently, once the sequel comes around, they'll proudly announce that Tumblr's unexpected darling is now part of the hero's crew, or maybe even fully playable. There are a surprising number of examples. Never underestimate the power of thirsty fans.

9 EDI

Mass Effect 3

Mass Effect 2 blew its predecessor out of the water almost immediately with its gameplay changes and a new approach to storytelling. Among the reasons it became so instantly beloved were its characters, including the new artificial intelligence EDI installed on your brand-new ship.

Fans fell in love with EDI's deadpan delivery and straightforward yet earnest attitude, so once Mass Effect 3 came along, it was obvious she had to be included, even becoming a squad member.

8 MacCready

Fallout 4

You first meet Robert MacCready as a child in Fallout 3, where he serves as mayor of Little Lamplight, a settlement comprised entirely of kids, and his foul mouth and even fouler attitude quickly caught fans' attention. Eh, different people become popular for different reasons.

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Developer Bethesda then made the inspired decision to bring MacCready back as a full companion in Fallout 4, but as an adult this time around, and luckily, he's toned down the language and demeanor this time around. Can you imagine trying to stealth around feral ghouls with that little snot?

7 Bentley And Murray

Sly 2: Band Of Thieves

Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus started life as a one-of-a-kind stealth platformer with a delightful cartoon aesthetic. You played as the titular sneaky raccoon across a series of charming levels and worlds, backed by his partners Bentley the nerdy tech turtle, and Murray the hungry hippo.

But as much as players adored both Bentley and Murray as characters, it wasn't until the sequel that they actually became playable. They were both much less precise than Sly, but Bentley's gadgets and Murray's brawn added some much-needed variety to the games, with Bentley even bringing some positive wheelchair representation in Sly 3.

6 Chloe Frazer

Uncharted: The Lost Legacy

Much like Mass Effect, the second game in the Uncharted series just so happened to introduce a new character who would become a fan favorite going forward. Unlike Mass Effect, Uncharted 2 and its following entries didn't need to resort to a sexy robot. But never say never.

Chloe Frazer was immediately popular with fans, partially thanks to her excellent voice performance from Claudia Black. But it wasn't until 8 years after her introduction that she finally nabbed the starring role in Uncharted: The Lost Legacy; many consider that shorter title to be the best in the series, with Chloe's flawless banter and less-than-flawless attempts at subtlety making it difficult to argue.

5 Vincent Valentine

Dirge Of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII

Look, you get it, it was 1997, we all had big feelings and My Chemical Romance wasn't around yet, so edgy kids needed to latch onto something. That's where Final Fantasy VII's Vincent came in as this glorious goth goof who took himself way too seriously and was naturally the coolest thing in the world.

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So, of course, he had to get his own game eventually, and Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII changed things up from its RPG roots into a full third-person shooter with Vincent as the lead. It's difficult to recommend due to repetitive gameplay and a debatably weak story, but then again, making the player suffer could just be called "immersion" in this case.

4 Raven

Gravity Rush 2

The old "enemies to friends" trope is tried and true, with the Gravity Rush games pulling off one of the more satisfying instances that don't involve romance (they deserve happiness, darn it). Raven initially shows up as a rival in the first game, only to eventually become friends with our hero Kat after realizing she's been manipulated.

In Gravity Rush 2, Raven enjoys a more substantial role alongside her friend including her own DLC, at least after she once again finds herself manipulated by villains. To be fair, it does make a certain amount of sense that someone with gravity-shifting powers would have trouble staying grounded.

3 Goro Majima

Yakuza 0

If Yakuza 0 is your first Yakuza/Like a Dragon game, it can be truly difficult to grasp just how wild it is that this suave eyepatch-wearing bouncer is the co-protagonist of a whole game, and in the original Yakuza on PlayStation 2, Majima was a boss who shared a bit of history with our hero Kiryu. Also, he was voiced by Mark Hamill; this information is provided without comment.

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In subsequent games, it was clear that fans loved Majima, so his role gradually rose until players finally got to see his backstory in Yakuza 0, where he and Kiryu shared the spotlight. Sure, you don't necessarily need to see where this leopard print jacket-wearing chaos gremlin's story began. But who could say no?

2 Fawful

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story

Fawful started in humble beginnings as a secondary antagonist to the comparatively forgettable Cackletta in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga. But his distinct speech patterns in particular quickly endeared him to players, earning him the primary villain role in the next game (everybody needs a dream to aspire to!).

In Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, Fawful feels truly powerful, regularly putting the hurt on the game's titular heroes and Bowser. So you come to feel just a little bit tense any time he's on screen, which plays remarkably and unnervingly well with his eternally silly side.

1 Isabela, Cassandra, And Harding

The Dragon Age Series

BioWare has a tradition in the Dragon Age series, and every game prominently features a fan-favorite character from the previous title. This began with pirate captain Isabela in Dragon Age: Origins, who taught you some rogue abilities and offered a particularly spicy encounter that remains infamous among fans. Come Dragon Age 2, she's now a party member, and probably one of the funniest ones in the series.

Meanwhile, Dragon Age 2 saw the interesting framing device of Seeker Cassandra Pentaghast interrogating the storyteller Varric Tethras, who then became a party member in Dragon Age: Inquisition, in which the capable Scout Harding was always your charming first point of contact in new regions. Guess what? Party member in Dragon Age: The Veilguard; notably, all three of these carry-overs are also romance options, because BioWare knows what the people want.

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