Gaming's greatest badass mo-fos

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From Agent 47 to Duke Nukem, we look at gaming's antiest anti-heroes

Oct 16, 2007

Ever find yourself rooting for the bad guy? After all, even the best old-lady-helping, cat-saving gameplay would likely get dull if you did nothing else. And so many cultural icons are interesting because they stray from the straight and narrow once in a while. For instance, we'd argue Han Solo>Luke Skywalker. Dick Dastardly and Muttley>Penelope Pitstop. Sin City's Marv>Spider-Man. And if you ever find yourself cheering on the more interesting characters, you'll be right at home here as we take a look at gaming's finest examples of the antihero specimenwe call'the badass'. Bring it on.

Marcus Fenix - Gears of War
He's built like a tank, chainsaws his enemies into little gooey chunks and carries an expression like he just ate a 500g bar of laxative chocolate. He also doesn't care for fame, likes to use complex battle tactics like 'shoot things lots with big guns' and stamps on people's heads while they're biting kerbs. And he doesn't even mind the mess on his boots. What a hero.

Tommy Vercetti - Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
While San Andreas' CJ has got a hint of morality, Tommy Vercetti is just a plain badass mo-fo. Reasons? Well, let's see. He jacks cars. Like Fenix, he chainsaws people and makes blood spatter on the camera lens. He lives in '80s Miami. He takes pics of VIPS in compromising situations with pornstars and blackmails them with the results. He does insane stunts in any vehicle he can find, has gunfights on power boats, takes part in demolition derby races for fun and takes any helicopter he can find for a quick spin, before leaving the burned-out wreckage in front of the cop shop. Niiice.

Justin Towell
Justin Towell
Freelance Writer

Justin was a GamesRadar+ staffer for 10 years but is now a freelance writer, musician and videographer. He's big on retro, Sega and racing games (especially retro Sega racing games) and currently also writes for Play Magazine, Traxion.gg, PC Gamer and TopTenReviews, as well as running his own YouTube channel. Having learned to love all platforms equally after Sega left the hardware industry (sniff), his favourite games include Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams, Zelda BotW, Sea of Thieves, Sega Rally Championship and Treasure Island Dizzy.