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  1. Games

Gaming's most dysfunctional families [ClassicRadar]

Features
By GamesRadar Staff published 31 December 2013

Think the Sopranos have issues? Get a load of these wackos

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Someone call a therapist

Someone call a therapist

You might not realize it, but for every game youve played where aliens and terrorists are the cause of untold trouble, theres another in which the real problem is poor family dynamics. The issue may be caused by sibling rivalry or might stem from daddy hurling junior into a volcano.

Either way, immediate relatives can create an awful lot of sticky situations. Just check out this little lot

Page 1 of 10
Page 1 of 10
The Monroe family

The Monroe family

If you were investigating a Japanese village famed for rumors of human sacrifice, would you really bring your six-year-old daughter along for the ride? Thats what Sam Monroe and Melissa Gale do. It takes all of five seconds for disaster to occur, culminating in Bella the unfortunate child in question being blasted back through time and transformed into an evil, immortal, flesh-eating nun.

Page 2 of 10
Page 2 of 10
The McReary family

The McReary family

Grand Theft Auto IV

Drugs. Corruption. Violence. Thats GTAs McReary family. Theres corrupt cop Frankie, mob boss Gerry, thug Packie and down-and-out Derrick, whom Frankie decides to have assassinated on the off-chance he might tell the press about his brothers penchant for backhanders. Despite living among these nut-jobs for years, sister Kate stays free from trouble for quite a while. But the very second she attends Romans wedding she gets gunned down on the church steps. See, ladies bad guys may be glamorous but theyre also dangerous. Why not try games journalists instead?

Page 3 of 10
Page 3 of 10
Orvus and Clank

Orvus and Clank

Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time

Orvus and Clank are a bit like Geppetto and Pinocchio, but are a scientist and robot instead of a carpenter and puppet. In A Crack in Time, it transpires that Orvus built The Great Clock to heal the universe and then made a robot Clank to look after it, promptly passing his guarding responsibilities to his son. If we were Clank, wed be pretty peeved at this. But then, if we were Clank, wed be able to make multiple copies of ourselves and travel through time. Which must be some sort of consolation for years of zero parenting.

Page 4 of 10
Page 4 of 10
The Snake family

The Snake family

After Big Boss falls into a coma in 1972, he must be surprised to wake up and discover three sons he didnt have before. Unfortunately, the boys Liquid, Solid and Solidus have been created from his DNA to become genetically enhanced super-soldiers. Liquid ends up dying before having his mind taken over and his arm transplanted onto Revolver Ocelot, and Solidus somehow lucks his way into becoming president of the USA. And Solid? He smokes a lot of cigarettes and kills his father. Well, among other things

Page 5 of 10
Page 5 of 10
The Mishima family

The Mishima family

Tekkens Heihachi Mishima is not a nice man. He throws his son Kazuya over a cliff when hes only little, and then into a volcano once hes grown up. Then there are Jin and Lee, Kazuya's sons (Lee being adopted), who have perhaps understandably given their granddads behavior established an unhealthy obsession with beating up their own family. Heihachi has an ace up his sleeve, though, in the shape of his bodyguard a massive, slavering, bloodthirsty bear. Dont look at us like that, we dont write this rubbish.

Page 6 of 10
Page 6 of 10
The Bayonetta family

The Bayonetta family

Bayonetta

Bayonetta mom, if you can call her that is a witch. Her "daughter" Cereza doesnt exist at the start of the game but flashes into existence aged about six. Then theres Baldur, a crackpot and demi-god oh, and Bayonettas dad. Not only has he created Cereza by kidnapping a younger version of Bayonetta yes, she is her own "daughter" - and bringing her to the present day, he also wants to destroy the universe. Wed just strike him off the Christmas card list, but Bayo chooses to give him a good thrashing instead.

Page 7 of 10
Page 7 of 10
The Wander family

The Wander family

Shadow of the Colossus

Oh, so you dont think Wander and his girlfriend Mono are a dysfunctional unit? How else would you interpret the games climax? Wanders transformed into a baby containing, perhaps, some of the evil spirit of Domus while Mono awakes, finds her boyfriend is an infant and has to bring him up. This means that Wanders girlfriend is now, in effect, his mom. If thats not twisted, we dont know what is. God only knows what Agro makes of it all.

Page 8 of 10
Page 8 of 10
The Mars family

The Mars family

Heavy Rain

In one of gamings less uplifting opening segments, Heavy Rains Jason Mars is hit by a car and dies. Then his brother Shaun turns into a complete brat and gets kidnapped by an asthmatic fake detective. Dad Ethan, meanwhile, has blackouts and thinks a locked part of his mind has set him a stack of trials with which to demonstrate his dad worth most of them seem to involve lacerating or electrocuting himself. There are special clubs to visit if youre into that sort of thing, Ethan err, apparently.

Page 9 of 10
Page 9 of 10
We are family

We are family

Can you think of any other gaming families that could use a little therapy? Let us know in the comments!

Want more happy times? Check out the reasons the 10 most distracting things about Heavy Rain and gaming's most twisted royalty.

Page 10 of 10
Page 10 of 10
GamesRadar Staff
Social Links Navigation

GamesRadar+ was first founded in 1999, and since then has been dedicated to delivering video game-related news, reviews, previews, features, and more. Since late 2014, the website has been the online home of Total Film, SFX, Edge, and PLAY magazines, with comics site Newsarama joining the fold in 2020. Our aim as the global GamesRadar Staff team is to take you closer to the games, movies, TV shows, and comics that you love. We want to upgrade your downtime, and help you make the most of your time, money, and skills. We always aim to entertain, inform, and inspire through our mix of content - which includes news, reviews, features, tips, buying guides, and videos.

In honor of the holiday season, we're sharing some of our favorite stories from GamesRadar's past over the seasonal break. Enjoy it!

This feature comes courtesy of PSM3 UK

You might not realize it, but for every game you’ve played where aliens and terrorists are the cause of untold trouble, there’s another in which the real problem is poor family dynamics. The issue may be caused by sibling rivalry or might stem from daddy hurling junior into a volcano. Either way, immediate relatives can create an awful lot of sticky situations. Just check out this little lot…

You may like
  • Resident Evil Village The 25 best video game villains you just love to hate
  • Mass Effect 2 - Garrus The 25 best video game stories to play right now
  • Best co op games: a screenshot of Cody and May in the game It Takes Two. The 25 best co-op games of all time

The Monroe family

As seen in Siren: Blood Curse

If you were investigating a Japanese village famed for rumors of human sacrifice, would you really bring your six-year-old daughter along for the ride? That’s what Sam Monroe and Melissa Gale do. It takes all of five seconds for disaster to occur, culminating in Bella – the unfortunate child in question – being blasted back through time and transformed into an evil, immortal, flesh-eating nun.

The McReary family

As seen in Grand Theft Auto IV

Drugs. Corruption. Violence. That’s GTA’s McReary family. There’s corrupt cop Frankie, mob boss Gerry, thug Packie and down-and-out Derrick, whom Frankie decides to have assassinated on the off-chance he might tell the press about his brother’s penchant for backhanders. Despite living among these nut-jobs for years, sister Kate stays free from trouble for quite a while. But the very second she attends Roman’s wedding she gets gunned down on the church steps. See, ladies – bad guys may be glamorous but they’re also dangerous. Why not try games journalists instead?

Orvus and Clank

As seen in Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time


Above: Clank deserves huge recognition sometimes

Orvus and Clank are a bit like Geppetto and Pinocchio, but are a scientist and robot instead of a carpenter and puppet. In A Crack in Time, it transpires that Orvus built The Great Clock to heal the universe and then made a robot – Clank – to look after it, promptly passing his guarding responsibilities to his ‘son’. If we were Clank, we’d be pretty peeved at this. But then, if we were Clank, we’d be able to make multiple copies of ourselves and travel through time. Which must be some sort of consolation for years of zero parenting.

The Snake family

As seen in the Metal Gear series

After Big Boss falls into a coma in 1972, he must be surprised to wake up and discover three sons he didn’t have before. Unfortunately, the boys – Liquid, Solid and Solidus – have been created from his DNA to become genetically enhanced super-soldiers. Liquid ends up dying before having his mind taken over and his arm transplanted onto Revolver Ocelot, and Solidus somehow lucks his way into becoming president of the USA. And Solid? He smokes a lot of cigarettes and kills his father. Well, among other things…

The Mishima family

As seen in the Tekken series

Tekken’s Heihachi Mishima is not a nice man. He throws his son Kazuya over a cliff when he’s only little, and then into a volcano once he’s grown up. Then there are Jin and Lee, Kazuya's sons (Lee being adopted), who have – perhaps understandably given their granddad’s behavior – established an unhealthy obsession with beating up their own family. Heihachi has an ace up his sleeve, though, in the shape of his bodyguard – a massive, slavering, bloodthirsty bear. Don’t look at us like that, we don’t write this rubbish.

The Bayonetta family

As seen in Bayonetta

Bayonetta – mom, if you can call her that – is a witch. Her "daughter" Cereza doesn’t exist at the start of the game but flashes into existence aged about six. Then there’s Baldur, a crackpot and demi-god – oh, and Bayonetta’s dad. Not only has he created Cereza by kidnapping a younger version of Bayonetta – yes, she is her own "daughter" - and bringing her to the present day, he also wants to destroy the universe. We’d just strike him off the Christmas card list, but Bayo chooses to give him a good thrashing instead.

The Wander %26lsquo;family%26rsquo;

As seen in Shadow of the Colossus

Oh, so you don’t think Wander and his girlfriend Mono are a dysfunctional unit? How else would you interpret the game’s climax? Wander’s transformed into a baby – containing, perhaps, some of the evil spirit of Domus – while Mono awakes, finds her boyfriend is an infant and has to bring him up. This means that Wander’s girlfriend is now, in effect, his mom. If that’s not twisted, we don’t know what is. God only knows what Agro makes of it all.

The Mars family

As seen in Heavy Rain

In one of gaming’s less uplifting opening segments, Heavy Rain’s Jason Mars is hit by a car and dies. Then his brother Shaun turns into a complete brat and gets kidnapped by an asthmatic fake detective. Dad Ethan, meanwhile, has blackouts and thinks a locked part of his mind has set him a stack of trials with which to demonstrate his ‘dad worth’ – most of them seem to involve lacerating or electrocuting himself. There are special clubs to visit if you’re into that sort of thing, Ethan – err, apparently.

Sep 20, 2010

If you'd like to see more articles from PSM3, you can get a subscriptionhere.

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