It’s Valentine’s Day! Hooray! Peace, love, etc. etc. Normally I wouldn’t do a post like this, because Valentine’s Day is a blatant corporate cashgrab, that makes people feel obligated to celebrate connection by, you guessed it, SPENDING MONEY. What was I saying? Oh yeah, but I’m putting aside my anti-corporate attitude this evening in the name of ~love~! Fun fact: back in high school, before I was a jaded, stone-cold crone, I used to photoshop my friends silly little cards to post on their Facebook walls (what a time to be alive). Remember when you were in grade school, and you’d buy those little cards and chocolates for your whole class? Such pure, wholesome times. Still a scam though.
Anyway, I saw a PlayStation Access video posted earlier this week, where the staff members (men included) talked about their video game boyfriends! I love this idea – I see a lot of girlfriend/waifu lists, but not the same love for the male characters. So, a la PlayStation Access, here is my list of top 3 video game boyfriends!
3. Axel – Kingdom Hearts series
Got it memorized? Toss up with this one between Axel and Roxas, but I decided to go with Axel. I didn’t realize Axel was so popular with the young female demographic (I guess I’m not that special?) but what’s not to love? He’s sarcastic, cool, and aloof, but he’s got a heart of gold. He cares deeply for his friends, even going so far as to betray Organization XIII for Roxas. What more could you ask for? Apparently he wasn’t originally intended to be a recurring character, but due to his immense popularity, became a regular. I think he was criminally underutilized in Kingdom Hearts III, which was disappointing. How could you sideline him like that? Just look at his hair! And his weapons are cool as hell! It quite literally doesn’t get any better.
2. Nero – Devil May Cry series
This is a pretty new one for me – I only picked up the series with Devil May Cry 5 this past month. That probably makes me a fake fangirl (because I’m pretty clueless when it comes to the overarching narrative of the series) but c’est la vie. As my first game in the franchise, I really clicked with Nero. His gameplay/combat is my favourite so far, and I love his design; his English voice actor also does a fantastic job. I for one, appreciate all the swearing he does. The character does a great job of selling all the overwrought, over-the-top ridiculousness that is Devil May Cry. Nero also demonstrates a lot of genuine grit, and determination from what I’ve seen. I mean, that’s pretty much it… he’s’ dramatic, hard-working, and cute as heck. What more do you want?
1. Ryuji Sakamoto – Persona 5
Ryuji is my boy. He’s absolutely hilarious, the quintessential punk, and a cornerstone of the Phantom Thieves. He is also criminally underappreciated – he bails the group out of many a danger, and all he gets is attitude, and called stupid constantly. I. Am. Having. None. Of. It. He was raised by his single mother (who he is very close to) and, although hot-headed, he does his best to support his friends both in the Metaverse, and outside of it. He calls out injustice when he sees it, and doesn’t take shit from anyone, especially the corrupt adults that compromise Persona 5‘s villains. I adore this character, and he deserves more love. For real!
Honourable mentions: Anri (Dark Souls 3), Ezio (Assassin’s Creed series), Allegretto (Eternal Sonata), Peter Parker (Marvel’s Spider-Man), Solaire (Dark Souls), and last but not least (also not a real character, technically) Finchy (Prepare to Try’s player character)
What about you guys? Who are your video game boyfriends? Let me know in the comments below~! And happy Valentines! Here are a couple of my old cards, as a treat:
Meghan Plays Games 
Nice list! I’ve been playing through DMC V here too! I love the over-the-top insanity of the games, especially once the series made it around to DMC 4 and the reboot and the stylized gameplay(juggling enemies and everything) finally clicked for me, so I intend to go back and play the older games too.
I’ve only played a few hours into the first Kingdom Hearts game, but have been meaning to make my way through at least the main numbered games. I have a coworker that was excited to the verge of tears when KH3 came out and was just recently trying their best to explain everything to me so I could play REmind…
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Thanks! I love it too – especially the music! I think the game is great so far; I’m hoping to finish it off before March when a bunch of new stuff starts dropping.
The story of Kingdom Hearts is a bit much, for sure… I would definitely recommend the first two games, but I was disappointed in 3. The gameplay was super fun, but the story was lackluster – especially as a finale of sorts. Still on the fence about going back for REmind.
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Yeah, Kingdom Hearts has always seemed to be a bit daunting. Having the story explained to me made it more so…🤯
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Liked because of the ‘L’ card which deserves extra.
But now you have me in a quandary, I’m not sure which characters I like. I used to do stuff like that as a teenage girl Squall from FF8 was a major crush when I was 11. But honestly can’t think of other male characters I would ‘like’.
Characters I had my protagonist romance include Anders from DA2, and that ended terribly, Solas from DA:I and that ended even worse. Tristain from Pathfinder: Kingmaker was pretty decent to romance, since it’s possible to have a future with him. Possibly Geralt after he settles with Yennefer, Geralt who settles with Triss has to suppress and give up most of who he is likely leading to a heavy depression, whereas Geralt with Yennefer can turn his destructive skills to more productive ones.
Then possibly also Bigby Wolf, whose gruff exterior is hiding a distinct pack mentality towards the rest of the fairytale outcasts, including one of the three pigs and of course his affection for Snow, which he slowly reveals more of over time.
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All good options, honestly! I feel like a lot of people would go for Geralt, especially because of the new Witcher show on Netflix!
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Hmm probably, I know him only from the books and video games, haven’t watched the show since I don’t have Netflix or watch TV much.
He’s definitely not an easy man to get along with, very much needs his independence (which is why curtailing his abilities to live with Triss in civilization is such a bad idea), but many women do also fantasize about taming a wild man so he likely would be popular.
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I haven’t played the games, read the books, or watched the show, so all I know is from random internet articles! The game has been sitting in my backlog forever, and I don’t know if I’ll ever get to it honestly.
For sure, I think his personality and looks probably help out a lot with his fangirls 🙂
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You appear to have a type hahaha
Hmm…video game boyfriends though…hmmmmmmm
I’mma go with Geiger from Fantasy Strike. He strikes me as a true gentleman and is a total sir.
I tried to think of something less obscure, but all the male characters I could think of from bigger titles are super macho, which is…blah.
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FREDERICK FROM FIRE EMBLEM: AWAKENING!
…I’ll show myself out.
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I don’t deny it, sir!
I think the guys I appreciate in video games are not necessarily the ones I would appreciate in real life, haha. But I have to agree that the super macho ones are definitely blah. I tend to like the outliers a bit more, though my choices here may not seem like it…
Frederick and Geiger are both excellent choices 🙂 Frederick for his armor alone honestly.
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That’s sorta the fun of video games though. It doesn’t have to be like for like with how things are in the real world. You may be into a more quiet reserved type, but when it comes to video game husbandos you’re all for the outspoken, hotheaded punks. 😛
I’d like for the record to show that I came back here to post that addendum in real time. That was not a planned goof.
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Absolutely – hence the reason for this list. It’s a fun thing to appreciate a kind of character in fiction that you would probably avoid like the plague in real life!
I actually love that you gave it enough thought to come back for a second answer! Please comment again if you come up with any other good ones 😀
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