For the most part, video games feature pretty charismatic protagonists who end up being quite likable while also driving forward the central narratives of their respective games. Most people assume that the majority of video games downright need a socially active and friendly main character for players to stay engaged with the title, but that isn't necessarily the case.
In fact, given how complex games have become and how demanding games are, there's been a shift in how protagonists are viewed in certain video games. Players don't mind games that have complex and misunderstood main characters who don't necessarily have great social skills. The following video game protagonists are pretty lonely for various reasons, though this doesn't necessarily impact one's experience with the game in a negative manner.
1 Sunny (Omori)
Omori is a psychological horror RPG that will leave most players in tears by the end of this emotional rollercoaster of an experience. The main character is a social recluse who has locked himself in his house for four years after a traumatic incident, retreating to a world of dreams to escape Something: an antagonistic force that has been haunting him for the longest time.
While Sunny can hang out with his friends and attain the means to face off against Something, he can also go down the route of a hikikomori and never leave his house until shifting day. The latter makes for a sadder route where Sunny has no hope of resolving his demons, with a strong implication that he will remain a loner for the rest of his days.
2 Susan Ashworth (The Cat Lady)
The Cat Lady is a scary title that deals with the life of a woman crippled by mental illness who decides to take her own life to escape the loneliness she deals with every day. However, this suicide attempt triggers a chain of events that form the story of The Cat Lady.
Susan's struggles with loneliness and depression are genuinely hard to witness at times and make players root for her as she gets through the game. It's a great and dark title that more fans of unique horror games should definitely make a point of checking out.
3 Neku Sakuraba (The World Ends With You)
The World Ends With You is a great and stylish JRPG in which players need to use pins and stay up-to-date with the latest fashion trends to effectively fight enemies. The game's story is great and stars an amnesiac named Neku Sakuraba who has to combine his attacks with the various people he's paired off with to fight his enemies.
Over time, Neku remembers that he prefers being alone and doesn't like being burdened by the many values society expects from him. Thankfully, he slowly gets over his loneliness and starts trusting the people around him once again.
4 Max Payne (Max Payne)
Max Payne has one of the most tragic stories in video game history, losing both his wife and child to drugged-up gangsters. Following this tragic event, Max only thinks about hunting down the people responsible for the death of his family, becoming pretty withdrawn and aloof in the process.
While he does have his fair share of friends in the force, Max never really bonds with anyone there. Fans were therefore glad to see this jaded detective get another shot at romance after meeting the femme fatale Mona Sax.
5 Demi-Fiend (Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne)
Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne is one of the hardest JRPGs of all time, featuring tight gameplay mechanics and hard-as-nails enemies that require perfect strategies to beat. At the center of this game is the Demi-Fiend, a character who used to be a human until a tragedy led to him becoming a half-devil.
Players only control a set of demons and generally travel alone through the game's devastated world. There might be people to talk to in-game, but the majority of the time players spend in Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne is by their lonesome, with an ever-changing group of demons being the only entities to keep them company.
6 The Doom Slayer (Doom)
Doom is one of the most popular FPS franchises of all time, with its reboot catapulting the Doom Slayer to the heights of popularity once again. That being said, most people acknowledge the fact that the Doom Slayer never really fights with any friends and deals with a wide array of demons alone almost all the time.
For what it's worth, it doesn't seem like being lonely fazes the Doom Slayer in any way. In fact, he seems to relish hunting down demons all by his lonesome. That's probably because his brutal antics will shock anyone trying to understand this murderous entity.
7 You (Lone Survivor)
Lone Survivor is a great psychological horror title that fans of such games should definitely check out. The protagonist — creepily called "You" — is one of the few survivors of a deadly pandemic that has turned people into zombie-like creatures.
Lone Survivor is a pretty chilling game that messes with the player's head and makes them second-guess their choices at every step of the way. This forced isolation can be quite taxing on the character's mind, with sleep being one of the few ways to prevent madness from taking over.
8 Squall Leonhart (Final Fantasy 8)
Squall's inner thoughts in Final Fantasy 8 make it clear that he finds it hard to deal with other people. He prefers to be left alone, feeling that his presence would be nothing more than a burden for others.
Over time, he meets Rinoa and falls in love with her cheerful spirit. This allows him to open his heart to others and form friendships that last long after the game reaches its end.
9 The Chosen Undead (Dark Souls)
It would be impossible to talk about loneliness in video games without talking about pretty much any FromSoftware title. In these games, players have to roam around a world all on their own; only getting to interact with and fight alongside other characters sporadically.
Dark Souls really hammers in the sense of isolation, with players feeling like it's them against the world in a game that tries to kill them off at every step of the way. It's this sense of oppression that makes progress in Dark Souls so rewarding and satisfying.
10 Bigby Wolf (The Wolf Among Us)
The Wolf Among Us is one of Telltale's best games, and fans are glad to see that this game is finally getting a long-awaited sequel that builds up on the cliffhanger at the end of the original. At the center of this game is protagonist Bigby Wolf, a grizzly detective who finds it hard to connect with people.
Given the villainous nature of his character in classic fairy tales, Bigby finds himself misunderstood and alienated by the other residents of Fabletown. Bigby decides to let this be and ends up being rather aloof, although there are times when he interacts with other characters while investigating the overarching case of this game.