Some games are beloved experiences overall but they just have one of those protagonists that the player wishes they could launch out of their party, either because of subpar stats or annoying personalities (sometimes both). Other games actually let the players do just that, so the player only has to deal with looking at them when the plot dictates.
Then there's the problem of some games trying so hard to make it so the protagonist is a blank slate for the player to project themselves onto that they have no depth or substance. While that's awesome for immersion, it also makes it so the NPCs of the world are way more interesting than the hero ever could be.
10 The Dragonborn Is So Flat That Nothing They Do Matters (Skyrim)
No matter what the player chooses while playing Skyrim, nothing ever changes. Sure, one side might win the civil war, but even any derogatory racial comments cease quickly in the storyline. Suddenly everyone treats them as the heroic Nord savior, even if they've been burning down the countryside and murdering everyone in their path.
While having a blank slate protagonist is great in these sorts of games so the player can be whomever they want, it's a little weird that such a complex game doesn't care what they do. It makes them feel so flat no matter how the player tries to swing it, giving all of the NPCs of the world— even those with only a sliver of personality— more interest than the Dragonborn themselves.
9 Cloud Is Not Great At Anything In Particular (Final Fantasy VII)
Cloud Strife might be a gaming icon, but that doesn't mean he's great at much other than being recognizable despite having a pretty standard blond-haired, blue-eyed visage. Final Fantasy VII is his game for sure, but he's so statistically awful that it's more of a chore keeping him in the party half the time than anything.
He's not even a great materia user to make up for it, and any other strictly fighting types just take up room for more versatile characters. So on top of being dragged through his overdramatic sob story and edgy attitude, the players are forced to keep a guy in their party that really should just be swapped out with someone like Cid instead for the same effect, just better.
8 Every Game With Master Chief Just Showcases How Bland He Is (Halo)
Master Chief might be one of the most recognizable characters in his genre, having ushered in Halo in all of its disastrous glory. However, the second any other character appears on screen, they have infinitely more life and interest than Master Chief does, driving home just how sadly flat he is as a character.
He doesn't have much in the means of motivation when he's the star of the show, and even when it seems he's about to turn into an enemy in later installments, the game just cuts out instead, robbing him of any real characterization. Any time there is a powerful moment involving Master Chief, it's usually because it's delivered by/involving Cortana anyway.
7 Just About Every Pokémon Protagonist Is Basically Following Everyone Else's Stories (Pokémon)
Pokémon always has a silent protagonist, once again done so that the player can project themselves into the role. And that's great, but even after they become the Champion of the region and thus the strongest Trainer there, very few games even acknowledge this fact outside of a few minor instances.
It's become even more evident how flat the protagonists are in recent years when the story starts following the protagonist's friends, having them help out more than embarking on their own quest that happens to save the region in the process just as Red did back in the original games. Even Red had more life than most of the others, as he keeps showing up in different media with his own ideas.
6 Dart Should Just Be Replaced With Someone Else (Legend Of Dragoon)
If there was ever a game where the player begs to remove the protagonist from the party, it was going to be sleeper hit PS1 game Legend of Dragoon. Everything about Dart is subpar: He's not exceptional at magic, he's not a heavy-hitter, and he's even weirdly slow in his additions in a way that none of the others really are.
So many of the other characters are much better at everything than he is. There are so many other characters who pack a punch and have better-suited stories, motivations, and complex additions that actually pack a punch and if they don't, they have stellar magic instead. So all Dart is really good for in a party is to hold the items, if he can even move fast enough there to be useful.
5 Atsuma Is Too Much Of A Stereotypical Dummy (Enchanted Arms)
One thing a lot of games just love to do is to make their protagonists idiots in order to have a reason to explain the game mechanics to the player. Atsuma in Enchanted Arms is even mocked throughout the game for not being very bright, and it shows in most of his decision-making that overrides the player's own ideas.
At least he isn't all bad statistically, but any sort of character development he has gets immediately squashed five seconds later when he just goes back to being a complete dunce.
4 Lazlo Has A Curse That Makes Him Practically Unusable Until The End (Suikoden IV)
Suikoden IV was the first in the series to offer voice acting, at least during the cutscenes. The problem is, that doesn't include Lazlo at all. That would be fine, but it's so awkward when there are clearly moments he should be responding and just blankly stares.
To top it off, he has a cursed rune. If the player gets all 108 characters, that curse goes away, but it's only useful in the final battle. To add even more salt to the wound, this was the first game to drop the party down to three members only but does still require a secondary team at the end. So he has to grind up five other characters to use out of a massive cast, only for a payoff that he's only going to be able to use once.
3 Wilson Gets Kicked To The Curb The Second Others Are Unlocked (Don't Starve)
Wilson is technically the protagonist of Don't Starve. Following along with Klei's animated shorts, he was the one that was tricked into making Maxwell's door, he was the one who freed Maxwell from the Nightmare Throne, and he was the one that Charlie takes the place of for the events of Don't Starve Together.
However, his only perk is that he gains an insulating beard where other players typically don't. However, that insulation is pretty much null compared to some other gear that can be crafted, and his boring blank slate with no real perks outside of that has players kicking him to the curb the second they unlock someone more useful and interesting.
2 Yuna Was So Much More Interesting Than Tidus That She Got Her Own Sequel (Final Fantasy X)
Tidus is king of annoying protagonists nobody wants to do anything with. The bonus is that he can be kicked out of the party and his role literally assigned to someone else. Someone who is more useful and interesting.
Unfortunately, that doesn't solve the fact that he's boring, has shallow motivations, and still is the protagonist and thus is still being followed and listened to by the party. He's tiresome to drag around, especially when it feels more like the game should be following Yuna instead, something that was rectified when she got her own sequel without him.
1 Playa Just Gets Weirder As The Series Progresses (Saints Row)
Saints Row had a handful of flaws, one of which is the fact that they let the highly customizable protagonist technically be the same character throughout all of the main series games. Then as the series tries to ramp up its weirdness and escalates to the point of the world exploding, it throws Playa all over the place in terms of personality and motivations, fighting against the player themselves.
It's a shame all things considered since the series has some amazing characters that are deeply interesting and useful to keep around. While sometimes it's cool that they don't have to make it weird for whatever identity the player is projecting onto them, other times it just makes it difficult to care about Playa since they're fighting so hard against the player and just ramps up the weirdness without caring what the player wants.