SPOILER ALERT! Because of the nature of discussion, ending spoilers for several video games/series may and will most likely be present here; be on the lookout. By the same token, please remember to be considerate and denote spoilers in your own posts. There are some games where your player character is a typical hero; he gathers his merry band of nakama, he saves his damsel in distress, he defeats the villain of the month, and everyone goes home and has a party. Then there are other games. Games where you have the option of taking it a step further. Games where the hero becomes far more than just a hero; he brings about a phenomenal change in the world, ends a vicious cycle of war and suffering, or simply becomes the absolute best ever at his profession. Of course, everyone will have different standards of which of their favorite protagonists qualifies as a legend. So which heroes are legendary to you? Now, obviously there is plenty of subjectivity involved here, but bear in mind that we're attempting to focus on in-universe legends, not characters that are legendary among fans, and that the idea is that the characters become legends due to the events of the story (i.e. if the person is legendary at the outset, they don't count). It's also not necessary for the legends to be player characters, but that's the focus, as it's somewhat more common; after all, making the player a legend feels awesome, while making a sideliner legendary makes us jealous. I'll just name two to get us started, but I'm sure I'll think of more soon. Quote (Cave Story): Spoiler Cave Story has several endings relating to the fate of the floating island upon which you spend the game. In the bad one, you leave the inhabitants of the island to their fate; in the decent ending, you kill the current holder of an artifact that grants great and terrible power; and in the best ending, you kill the creator of this artifact, a significantly more powerful being, and end the cycle of suffering that traps the island's residents. The final ending makes a profound statement about going farther than anyone before you has managed, as it requires you to save many lives that would otherwise end to ensure your victory, and it is implied that you have predecessors who have fought carriers of the artifact but have never discovered the truth, or else were unable to defeat the creator. The story of the artifact's creation and that of its creator's imprisonment both contain elements of tragedy, and the artifact itself stands a chance of bringing certain doom to far more than just the island upon which it is contained, and Quote is the one to bring it all to closure. Thanks to the isolated nature of the game, the world will never sing praises in his name; but they might never have been the same if not for his valiant efforts. And all with the resolute silence characteristic of the classic speechless hero. Red (Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow/FireRed/LeafGreen): Spoiler I'll admit that this may have a bit of overlap with fan legend, but there really is no denying that Red is at the top of the game; as a player character he is one of the first Pokemon League champions, and as an NPC he still holds the record for highest-level Pokemon after about eight games spanning three generations of Pokemon. No one, not even Lance or Steven, is as committed to Pokemon as he is; what's more, he defeated the leader of what is highly regarded as the most formidable evil organization in the history of Pokemon, and at their prime to boot. In fact, he pretty much disbanded them single-handedly, leading to their highly crippled state in Gold and Silver. With this outstanding civil service and the championship under his belt, as well as an unfailing devotion to his training, Red no doubt deserves the title of Pokemon legend.
I think in almost every single RPG, you achieve a legendary status, coming from nothing to something. Fable serie, Persona Series, Elder Scrolls series, etc. Would Master Chief count? I mean, he was always special being a Spartan, but becoming humanity's saviour seems like a big leap. Anyway since I adore Bioware's archive of games, i'll talk about only one for the moment. Mass Effect: Commander Shepherd Spoiler At the start of the first game, you play Shepherd, an XO whose job is a simple test of a new Alliance spaceship. Events unfold where he discovers an ancient beacon that tells of an ancient spacefaring species destroyed by a race of sentient machines that wiped out all life in the galaxy, the Reapers. And they're trying to be brought back by a turian rogue Spectre, Saren. Spectres are an elite group that work above the law to fulfill the goals of the Council (of aliens). Shepherd is promoted to this exclusive rank, the first human to do so in order to hunt down Saren, though the Council don't believe about the Reapers, though. Through continual quests and such, he gathers an elite team of humans and aliens alike, where they come face-to-face with a living Reaper who is bent on their destruction by awakening its siblings in Dark Space. It's a race against time to find and stop Saren from activating the signal to awaken the Reapers. The story ends in a giant space battle, where Shepherd defeats both Saren and the Reaper vanguard, saving the entire galaxy from destruction. Believe me, Shepherd becomes the paragon or Renegade of humanity, proving Humanity is an integral species in the galaxy. That's a legend in my book.
