Our relationship with videogame characters got off to a rocky start. To begin with, we didn’t even want them to be here, so we shot them out of the skies. Or we chased after them and ate them for laughs. Anything, but they had to die. After a while, however, we began seeing rudimentary avatars as people we cared about, like a guy called Mario and Pauline, or Spike and Molly. We want much more than headshots now; we want heartache. So let’s bring it.
Princess Prin Prin and Arthur
One of the earliest examples of a lover going out on a limb to impress a soulmate is Knight Arthur in Capcom’s Ghosts 'n Goblins series (1985––). Most famously, Arthur’s mission in Ghouls ’n Ghosts required him to run a gauntlet of zombies, skeletons and demons twice over, before facing the devil incarnate for an audience with Princess Prin Prin.
Mario and Peach
Clearly this Brooklyn plumber soon forgot his old flame when a girl from another dimension appeared (Super Mario Bros, 1985) Doesn’t matter that Princess Peach of the Mushroom Kingdom is repeatedly kidnapped by a ferocious dino-sorcerer, and held in a castle preceded by rivers of fire and puzzle bricks of doom. Nothing else will do, they must be together!
Nathan and Elena
Throughout the Uncharted series (2007––), the romantic tension between treasure hunter Nathan Drake and journalist Elena Fisher is electrifying because it is convincing. Dialogue between these adventurers at heart has always been nuanced and sincere, but by the time we get to Uncharted 4: A Thief's End on PlayStation 4, they express so much with just a look.
John and Abigail Marston
Rockstar Games’ Red Dead Redemption (2010) caught gamers off-guard with a husband and wife scenario that is less than ideal but an unbreakable bond. An early 20th century outlaw, John Marston, falls for a prostitute with whom he starts a family. Though John strives for a better life, the couple cannot escape their past. Sadly, this does not end at all well.
Marcus and Anya
The Gears of War series (2006––) is unsubtle in its handling of… almost everything, and yet somehow its writers have a knack for making us care very deeply about its characters. The most obvious scenario was Dominic and Maria Santiago, which ends horrifically, in Gears 2. However, it is the restraint shown by Marcus Fenix and Anya Stroud that cuts the deepest.
Ellie and Riley
When Ellie kisses Riley in The Last of Us: Left Behind (2014), it is, like the drama throughout the main TLoU story, the truest of moments. It isn’t there to shock, to feel cheap. It is purely a romantic moment, and from that point on we accept the decision that they make together regarding the value of life chosen over death. It says so much on many levels.
Chloe and Rachel
Exactly what is between high-school dropout Chloe Price and over-achiever Rachel Amber is up to us, via key waypoint decisions in DONTNOD’s Life is Strange (2015). But no matter in which way we choose to keep them enthralled, the sense of inescapability is spine-tingling. It makes your scalp itch. It makes the hairs on your arms stand on end. It is incredible.
Geralt and Triss
The graphic depiction of the Witcher series’ (2007––) steamy love affair between Triss Merigold of Maribor and Geralt of Rivia is enough for gamers to sit up and pay attention. However, the subtlety of Geralt’s decision between true love Yennefer of Aedirn and the Temerian sorceress is how we may assist Geralt in trying to become a ‘better’ man.
Tracer and Emily
Blizzard Entertainment responded to the Overwatch (2016) community’s clamouring for a canonical relationship by giving us something remarkably charming and private to Tracer. Simply, the game’s charismatic mascot has a gf based in London, with whom she shares a flat. In the digital comic Reflections, Emily kisses Tracer after opening a surprise Holiday gift.
Cloud and Tifa
There are so many relationships within the Final Fantasy franchise, and fans become fixated on just about all of them. However, the mysterious past of Cloud Strife in Final Fantasy VII (1997) becomes poignant when we observe one night beneath the stars in the company of childhood sweetheart Tifa Lockhart. We feel that Cloud would move mountains for her.
Zelda and Link
While this originated as a simplistic ‘damsel in distress’ device in The Legend of Zelda (1986) for NES, Nintendo has pursued increasingly more empowering ways for this relationship to manifest. In Ocarina of Time, for example, the Princess Zelda disguises herself as enigmatic, male warrior Sheik, who mentors the comparatively weak and inexperienced hero Link.
Jackie and Jenny
To ignore this gem from The Darkness (2007) would be a crime because the story of Jackie Estacado and long-term partner Jenny Romano is so powerful. They grow up together in an orphanage, where they fall in love. The venue is later cruelly chosen to be the site of Jenny’s execution at the hands of Jackie’s mobster boss, fuelling the revenge scene grand finale.
Commander Shepard and literally anyone
Easily the most notorious pairings in videogame history have been between Commander Shepard and associates throughout the Mass Effect series (2007––). Players may create a male or female avatar for their interplanetary sci-fi adventures, after which they may pursue romantic interest with the same or opposite sex, also between beings from other worlds.
Haytham Kenway and Kaniehtí:io
With Assassin’s Creed III (2012), Ubisoft moved away from the swashbuckling escapades of fan-favorite Ezio Auditore da Firenze and presented a more sombre depiction of Assassin history. The seafaring Templar Haytham Kenway attempts to manipulate a native American warrior and negotiator named Kaniehtí:io. Their fated pairing conceives a conflicted child.