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00:00 Welcome to Mojo Plays and today we are looking back at 10 characters and games who fans either
00:13 hated or were completely ambivalent about when they first emerged that became more loved
00:18 as time went on.
00:20 Some of these entries took years, some took hours but all of them started meh and became
00:25 meh?
00:27 Possible spoilers ahead.
00:28 Before we continue, we publish content all week long so be sure to subscribe and ring
00:33 the bell to get notified of our latest videos.
00:37 Ethan Winters
00:43 Resident Evil has a long history of colourful and dramatic characters who have held the
00:47 helm of protagonists in one or more entries.
00:50 Leon Kennedy, Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, all of these characters brought a certain
00:56 level of competence and power to their respective games, a certain je ne sais quoi if you will.
01:01 In Resident Evil 7 we got a new protagonist in the form of Ethan Winters who blasted onto
01:07 our screens, sorry he jumped onto our screens, no that's still not right, he tripped onto
01:12 our screens and sat down because he hurt his ankle.
01:15 Although hate might be too harsh a word, Ethan Winters did have a hell of a hurdle to jump
01:20 coming into this series as tonally and especially when comparing him to previous characters
01:25 some found Ethan bland and unremarkable.
01:28 He was even the target of memes and mocking online, albeit with a light hearted tone.
01:34 In Resident Evil Village Ethan is written a little differently and while still understated
01:38 the high stress situations caused him to become significantly more emotive when it made sense.
01:45 Ethan's reputation improved so vastly that the final moments of Resident Evil Village
01:50 that revolve around him are considered some of the best in the series.
02:00 Abby Anderson Hold on, just hear me out for the love of
02:07 god don't run away.
02:08 Abby Anderson not only began her journey in The Last of Us Part 2 as the most hated character
02:13 in the series, but possibly the most hated video game character of all time.
02:18 The reception of The Last of Us Part 2 is one of the most significant dead splits we've
02:23 ever seen in gaming, with fans either loving or hating this entry, and Abby Anderson does
02:29 not escape this split.
02:30 The reason she's worth mentioning is because at the beginning of The Last of Us Part 2
02:35 100% of players hated her, and by the end a good 50% of players grew to understand her
02:41 and dare we say, even like her.
02:44 That's a pretty solid turnaround for a character who was responsible for one of the most upsetting
02:48 character deaths in gaming history.
02:51 The pace, the writing and the structure of The Last of Us Part 2 was a risk for Naughty
02:55 Dog as it relied on the player to take control of someone they hated more than words could
02:59 describe, but this choice has earned their story a place in gaming history, for better
03:04 or for worse.
03:06 Me personally, I'd say for better.
03:13 Aden or Jack
03:22 There aren't many gaming protagonists as iconic as Metal Gear Solid's Solid Snake.
03:27 The perfect balance of gruff and cool, Snake led the first two Metal Gear entries on the
03:31 NES, and the first Metal Gear Solid game on the PS1 with passion and ferocity.
03:37 Metal Gear Solid 2 Sons of Liberty began with one of the most epic game prologues to have
03:41 ever been created, with Snake super hero landing on a terrorist occupied tanker and showing
03:47 players at the time just how cool he could be with the PS2's power driving his adventure.
03:52 MGS fans were left speechless following this prologue as they learned the game would be
03:56 led by a different protagonist, the angsty, pale and unimpressive Jack, codename Raiden.
04:03 Raiden was a rookie operative who behaved like a rookie operative.
04:07 Luckily he handled himself across this adventure, and the game was a solid experience on its
04:11 own, but it wasn't till he returned in MGS4 and the later Metal Gear Rising games that
04:16 Kojima let go of his angsty vibe and pumped up his cool points by about 1 million, turning
04:22 him into a ninja cyborg who could easily take down Snake in a hand to hand fight.
04:35 Nero The decision to replace the beloved protagonist
04:44 in a popular video game always stirs up debate, and when it was revealed that Nero, not the
04:48 iconic Dante, would be the lead character in Devil May Cry 4, fans were quick to express
04:54 their dissatisfaction.
04:56 Despite some subsequent marketing efforts that alleviated some of the discontent, a
05:00 significant number of fans remained resentful throughout the game.
05:03 Nevertheless, Nero managed to prove himself in the game, gaining more favour with some
05:08 fans.
05:09 The highly divisive reboot DMC, Devil May Cry, prompted many fans to re-evaluate Nero's
05:14 role as the protagonist.
05:16 By the time Devil May Cry 5 came around, many fans had come to appreciate both Dante and
05:20 Nero as deserving main characters in their own right.
05:25 Toad Toad?
05:27 How could anyone possibly hate Toad?
05:31 The high-voiced cutie that strolls the Mushroom Kingdom, Toad has not only become a staple
05:34 of the series, but appears in almost every single iteration of Super Mario Bros to delight
05:39 fans.
05:40 But Toad wasn't always the pleasant little scamp we've come to know.
05:44 In fact, in the first entry, his face and character was attached to one of the most
05:47 annoying repeated moments across the game.
05:50 Thank you Mario, but our princess is in another castle.
05:53 Beating a castle and hoping this is the final objective, only to see this little turd sitting
05:58 there letting us know AFTER we'd fought Tooth and Nail to get to him that we were in the
06:02 wrong location was a punishment we didn't deserve.
06:05 Luckily it was only in the following entry, Super Mario Bros 2, that players fell in love
06:10 with Toad as he was the fastest and strongest character we had to choose from.
06:14 Toad, all is forgiven, but I will also never forgive you.
06:22 Big Boss
06:35 Seems like Kojima knows how to turn a character around.
06:38 Big Boss was the epic antagonist villain of the first two Metal Gear games released on
06:42 the NES, technically not the first game, but we didn't learn this till 30 years later so
06:47 lets just ignore that for now.
06:48 Big Boss as our corrupt leader betrays Solid Snake, revealing he's stealing military intelligence
06:54 to fund his own mercenary force.
06:56 In the second game he returns with an equally devious base of operations and is eventually
07:00 and finally killed by Snake.
07:03 Throughout the events of Metal Gear Solid 1 and 2, Big Boss is spoken about as this
07:07 godly evil figure who was the hero and leader of almost every villain we face.
07:13 Big Boss is the stormy cloud that haunts the world of Solid Snake, even years after his
07:17 death.
07:18 In the prequel games, MGS3, MGS Peace Walker and MGS5, at least some of MGS5, we take control
07:24 of Naked Snake, the man who we knew would eventually become Big Boss, and we got a deeper
07:29 look at the man behind the persona, what his values were and what his goals were.
07:35 Not only was Big Boss not really a bad person, but he was often fighting against a corrupt
07:40 world government.
07:41 This didn't just make Big Boss seem like a hero, but it almost made Solid Snake seem
07:45 like a villain.
07:55 Duck Hunt Dog
08:00 When Duck Hunt was released on the NES in 1984, we were introduced to a fun little home
08:04 console shooter, but there was one character who we wished we'd never been introduced to,
08:09 and that was the Duck Hunt Dog.
08:13 Laughing to accompany our failings, this dog made us want to readjust our aim and work
08:17 on a new game called Dog Hunt.
08:19 I mean in the bonus rounds the dog actively tries to distract you, and if you hit him,
08:23 you get punished, fuck this shit man.
08:25 In Super Mario Bros Ultimate, the famed Duck Hunt duo returns with the duck and dog joining
08:31 forces as a combo character that gives the dog a much more lovable design and persona.
08:36 Fine, I love you dog, I'm sorry I shot you.
08:46 Squall Leonhart
08:48 Final Fantasy 7 was a landmark game.
08:50 It gave us a roster of awesome characters who we grew to love and respect, and a game
08:54 protagonist who led the story with a perfect combo of cool and inquisitive.
08:59 Then came Final Fantasy 8, which gave us one of the more divisive entries in the series.
09:04 Not a bad Final Fantasy game by any stretch of the imagination, but wedged between power
09:08 houses like 7 and 9, with its consistently attacked junction and levelling system, it
09:13 rarely makes anyone's top 5.
09:16 Squall Leonhart led this game as its protagonist, and is often considered lesser than other
09:21 entries main characters.
09:23 Moody, angsty, lethargic and a little gothic, Squall reacted and behaved in situations that
09:29 felt a little high school, even for players who were actually in high school.
09:33 Luckily for him, his entire character was turned around in Kingdom Hearts, where he
09:37 was presented as a cool, calm and collected warrior, with a deep knowledge of the situation
09:41 affecting their world, and a voice acting job that matched this new persona.
09:46 He was still a little goth, but he made it work.
09:56 The Arbiter
09:57 Following the original Halo, which predominantly centred on Master Chief's narrative, Halo
10:01 2 took a different approach by dividing its storyline.
10:04 While a portion of the game continued to depict Master Chief's efforts to fend off the Covenant
10:08 on Earth and Delta Halo, a significant part delved into the experiences of the Arbiter,
10:13 Thel Vadam, a member of the antagonistic Covenant, as he discovered more about his own people,
10:19 and grappled with a treacherous betrayal.
10:21 Initially, the Arbiter faced mixed reactions from the fanbase, primarily because he had
10:25 previously been on the opposing side and occupied a substantial portion of the game's narrative.
10:30 However, his genuinely emotional character arc and the evolving relationship with Master
10:34 Chief throughout both Halo 2 and Halo 3 transformed him into a beloved character among fans, to
10:40 such an extent that many fans now wish to see him as a co-protagonist in future Halo
10:44 titles.
10:45 Johnny Cage
10:55 Johnny Cage admittedly is a bit of a tool, and has garnered his fair share of disdain
11:00 from players and fans over the years.
11:02 The reason for this animosity varies.
11:05 Some dislike his often boastful and egotistical personality, which can come across as arrogant.
11:10 Others find his over-the-top antics and one-liners irritating or out of place in the game's intense
11:15 and brutal combat setting.
11:17 Some players simply prefer other characters in the franchise, and have a natural aversion
11:21 to Johnny Cage.
11:22 Despite the hate, Johnny Cage's character has endured and fought on, and even grown
11:27 some depth as a character, balancing both fervent fans and vocal detractors throughout
11:31 the series history, and still remains a series regular.
11:35 Johnny Cage, you're alright by me mate.
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11:46 [outro music]