Some series will never be able to change their protagonist. They may be able to have someone else in the lead role for a spin-off or DLC, but they will never be able to have a newcomer or side character take over permanently.
This is because they’re so synonymous with the series itself. Mario will always need to be in Super Mario, while The Legend of Zelda will never be the same without Link. However, several series like this have swapped out their protagonists. Occasionally, this change has breathed new life into the games, while other times, it has ruined an entire series. Here are some series that have changed their protagonists.
Games where the protagonist changes regularly, like in Final Fantasy and Grand Theft Auto, have been excluded from this list. The only series that count are those that initially committed to one main character before changing after at least a few games.
8Like A Dragon Series
From Kazuma Kiryu To Ichiban Kasuga
Outside of some spin-off games, Kiryu was the main protagonist of Like A Dragon (aka Yakuza) for many years. He played the lead role in the first six numbered entries. In Yakuza: Like a Dragon, he was replaced by Ichiban Kasuga. Both characters have ties to the Yakuza but different backstories and personalities.
As Yakuza: Like A Dragon is considered one ofthe best games in the series, it’s clear that Ichiban has filled the role really well. Kiryu has still been around in the Ichiban era. He even shares the protagonist spot in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, which gives him a well-deserved send-off.
7Gears Series
From Marcus Fenix To JD Fenix To Kait Diaz
When people think of Gears of War, the first character they think of is Marcus Fenix. This is because the grizzled old veteran was the main protagonist of the first three games.
However, Gears of War 4 shifted focus to his son and fellow soldier, JD. Marcus is still featured in the game but is a secondary character. It feels like a passing of the torch moment. That is until Gears 5, when both Marcus and JD are side characters, while JD’s ally Kait Diaz is in the lead role. She feels like more of a natural protagonist than JD, which is perhaps why JD was demoted.
6Mass Effect Series
From Commander Shepard To Pathfinder Ryder
In the first three Mass Effect games, you play as the iconic Commander Shepard. The story of the trilogy revolves around Shepard bringing the Milky Way Galaxy together to take on the deadly force known as The Reapers. In the third game, the Milky Way makes its last stand, and Shepard’s story can come to an end in a few different ways.
Seemingly in an effort to avoid canonizing any of those conclusions, the next game takes place in another galaxy, featuring a new protagonist. The character’s name is Ryder, and they’re in charge of finding habitable planets in Andromeda. As Mass Effect Andromeda wasn’t a huge success, Ryder’s future in the series looks bleak.
5Wolfenstein Series
From B.J. Blazkowicz To Zofia And Jessie Blazkowicz
After debuting in Wolfenstein 3D, B.J. Blazkowicz became the series’s main protagonist. Most of his games are set during or shortly after World War 2, where he’s taking the fight to the Nazi Regime.
Wolfenstein: Youngblood, however, is set long after World War 2, and B.J. is pretty old by this point. So, the protagonist role is taken up by his two daughters, Zofia and Jessie, aka the Terror Twins. Whether or not these two remain series protagonists post-Youngblood remains to be seen.
4Half-Life Series
From Gordon Freeman To Alyx Vance
In the first few Half-Life games, you control Gordon Freeman. There aren’t cutscenes in these games, and Freeman has no voice, so he doesn’t have much of a defined personality, but he’s beloved nonetheless.
Another popular character is Alyx, who serves as Freeman’s ally in Half-Life 2 and is promoted to titular protagonist in Half-Life: Alyx. Thisinnovative VR gamefollows Alyx’s attempts to rescue her father. She adds more personality to the protagonist role than Freeman does, but it’s debatable whether she’s as iconic.
3Resistance Series
From Nathan Hale To Joseph Capelli
In the first two Resistance games, the star is rugged soldier Nathan Hale, who helps keep the alien force, Chimera, at bay. In the second game, he gets infected by a Chimeran virus that slowly transforms him into a monster.
His teammate, Joseph Capelli, is the one who ultimately has to put him out of his misery. Then, Capelli takes over as the protagonist for the third game. He struggles to be as memorable a main character as Nathan Hale. It doesn’t help that the resistance series quickly fizzled out, giving Capelli only one game as the protagonist to make his mark.
2Infamous Series
From Cole MacGrath To Delsin Rowe
Cole MacGrath is the protagonist in the first few Infamous games. In them, he uses his impressive lighting powers to either help or hurt humanity. In Infamous: Second Son, he’s replaced by Delsin Rowe. This new guy has different, but equally extraordinary powers as Cole.
As such, all instalments in the series rank amongthe best superhero games that aren’t based on characters from Marvel or DC. Yet, while his video game is comparable to Cole’s, Delsin isn’t as popular a character.
1Metal Gear Series
From Solid Snake To Raiden And Big Boss
Both the Metal Gear games and Metal Gear Solid feature Solid Snake as the main protagonist. For many, he’s still seen as the main character of the series. Yet, Metal Gear Solid 2 has Raiden as the protagonist, while Metal Gear Solid 3 has Naked Snake (aka Big Boss).
Solid Snake does return to the protagonist role for MGS4, in which he gets a proper send-off. After that, both Raiden and Big Boss became the series protagonists. Nobody minded Big Boss’s run as the main character, but the naive Raiden was a controversial choice as the lead in MGS2. That said, he won people around by the time he starred in Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance.
