| Cynic | Fenris | traumatized, bitter and snarky warrior |
|---|---|---|
|
Realists |
Varric & | the former as savvy, level-headed merchant prince;
the latter as protector and group conscience |
|
Optimists |
Merrill & | the former sweet and naive, wanting to help her people;
the latter deeply religious |
|
Conflicted |
Hawke | Your character oneself as a Sad Clown who tries to maintain the peace in Kirkwall and amongst the companions, but often lets desire for stability prevent him/her from being more proactive. |
| Apathetic | Isabela | flighty hedonist |
- Anders straddles the line between Cynic and Idealist, being a Well-Intentioned Extremist who combines self-sacrificing loyalty to his ideals with hostility and ruthlessness.
Ever 17 female cast:
|
Apathetics |
Cynic |
Realist |
Optimist |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sara & Coco | Tsugumi | Sora | Player Character |
|
Apathetic |
Cynic |
Realist |
Optimist |
Conflicted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Senna (somewhat) | Jalil | April | David | Christopher |
All of the opposing and antithetical factions in Fallout 4:
| Cynic | The Institute | Believing it is futile to allow the Commonwealth to continue existing and want to start anew in a new society underground. However, the same people they claim to want to help fear them due to many of their own actions. To them, the Synth is Just a Machine. |
|---|---|---|
|
Realist |
Brotherhood of Steel | Ten years after the war with the Enclave, the original teachings of Elder Lyons have been lost since his death and the death of his daughter, Sarah Lyons. Arthur Maxson is in charge and wants to try and expand into the Commonwealth to oppose the Institute. To them, Synths are abominations against technology and to be detroyed down to the last. |
|
Optimist |
The Minutemen | Their original goal was to protect settlements out of good will, but they were nearly wiped out after a string of bad luck. They can make a comeback, and they are even more idealistic than ever, despite all the crud they've been dragged through. They're flexible on policy when it comes to Synths. |
|
Apathetic |
The Railroad | Views the Synths as living, thinking beings worthy of respect, and wants to liberate all Synths from the Institute. The problem is that this is their only goal, and they don't really care about anyone else in the Commonwealth. |
- And then, your companions:
| Cynics | Cait | X6-88 | Old Longfellow |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Realists |
Piper | Deacon | Hancock |
|
Optimists |
Preston | Curie | Nick Valentine |
|
Conflicted |
Paladin Danse | Strong & Ada | Porter Gage |
| Apathetics | Dogmeat | Codsworth | MacCready |
The Turks from Final Fantasy VII fall into this category:
|
Apathetic |
Cynic |
Realist |
Optimist |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reno | Tseng | Rude | Elena |
|
Apathetic |
Cynic |
Realist |
Optimist |
Conflicted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fang | Hope | Lightning | Snow | Vanille & Sazh |
Gears of War 2:
|
Apathetic |
Cynic |
Realist |
Optimists |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dizzy | Baird | Marcus | Don & Cole |
The two main protagonists of Guilty Gear and Blaz Blue fit this trope:
|
Apathetic |
Cynic |
Realist |
Optimist |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ragna the Bloodedge | Jin Kisaragi | Sol Badguy | Ky Kiske |
|
Apathetic |
Cynic |
Realist |
Optimist |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dr. Mossman | Barney Calhoun | Dr. Kleiner | Alyx Vance |
The first Knights of the Old Republic:
|
Apathetic |
Cynic |
Realist |
Optimist |
Conflicted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canderous | Carth | Juhani | Mission (very much) | Bastila |
- Canderous counts in being a Mandalorian on a boatload of Jedi and Republic sympathizers, and has nothing better to do.
|
Apathetic |
Cynic |
Realist |
Optimist |
|---|---|---|---|
| zombie-knowledgeable Zoey | Francis who hates everything | Bill the experienced | Hopeful Louis |
|
Apathetic |
Cynic |
Realist |
Optimist |
Conflicted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Haschel, when he joins | Rose | Dart | Lavitz | Shana |
- This setup holds from the time when Rose joins all the way until Dragoon's It Was His Sled moment happens, where it transitions into a proper Five-Man Band.
Mega Man X: The Maverick Hunters, Commander, Mission Operator, and mechanic X5-X8:
| Cynic | Zero | the Anti-Hero, Unfettered, with a killer-instinct |
|---|---|---|
|
Realist |
Signas | the mediator who always admires X's pacifism, but always realistic about the need to fight for peace and justice. |
|
Optimist |
Douglas (X5-6); Axl (X7-8) | the former as idealistic and confident, although this is not expanded upon; the latter seeks to rectify the wrongs of his former affiliation and believes he can take on the world |
|
Conflicted |
X | Willing to fight for peace and justice at first, but a pacifist paranoid of breaking the first robotics rule (not to harm a human), then temporarily retires and reluctant to let Axl become a hunter |
| Apathetic | Alia | the Mission Operator, Computer Specialist and Navigator in the series, less in-story involvement otherwise |
- Counting only the three Hunters as far as their murder-restraint ethics, X's honor code for taking the high road shows his Optimist side, contrasting Zero (Cynic), in which case Trigger-Happy Axl is the middle-ground (Realist) between the two.
Mega Man Zero — Counting the 1st game's Four Guardians and the four bosses in the 2nd's "Chase Elpizo" mission (three of the same, totaling five):
| Cynic | Phantom | Out of fierce loyalty to Master X (a copy, rather), seldom thinks about anything besides antipathy toward "Mavericks" and, therefore, resorts easily to drastic Anti-Hero measures of explosive-detonation, for instance the factory in the first game. |
|---|---|---|
|
Realist |
Fefnir | Mostly just a competitive Blood Knight into defense as a Guardian for the fun of it, a lot like Leviathan, but a more encouraging character. |
|
Optimist |
Burble Hekelot | He does his job of protecting a Neo Arcadian forest very faithfully; driven least by selfish, prideful motives and farthest from Anti-Hero of all of them, besides Harpuia. |
|
Conflicted |
Harpuia | Sense of honor and most merciful of all like an Optimist (and does Guardian tasks for only the right reasons, contrasting Leviathan), yet still not easily trusting of anyone on the opposite side of the conflict; often pondering whether to lean more to Cynic or Optimist in many situations. |
| Apathetic | Leviathan | Preoccupied with her pride as a Worthy Opponent to any "Maverick" and not being condescended upon for being a female reploid; Sociopathic Hero retiring hundreds of Resistance soldiers in the second game out of sheer boredom. |
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption:
|
Apathetic |
Cynic |
Realist |
Optimist |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ghor | Rundas | Samus | Gandrayda |
The boys in Nameless:
|
Apathetic |
Cynic |
Realist |
Optimist |
Conflicted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yuri | Lance | Tei | Red | Yeonho |
- Yuri does care but either expects things to work themselves out or acts without consulting the others.
You and your many rivals in Pokémon Black and White (before Character Development):
|
Apathetic |
Cynic |
Realist |
Optimist |
|---|---|---|---|
| N | Cheren | Hilbert/Hilda | Bianca |
The crash survivors from Remember 11:
|
Apathetic |
Cynic |
Realist |
Optimist |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kuni | Mayuzumi | Yomogi | Kokoro |
| Cynic |
Realist |
Optimist |
Conflicted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bentley | Sly | Murray | Carmelita |
- Sly has a lot of Apathetic aspects to him as well.
The Star Fox team:
| Cynic |
Realist |
Optimist |
Conflicted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Falco | Fox | Slippy | Krystal |
- In earlier games, Fox was more the Conflicted while Peppy filled the Realist spot before Krystal replaced him.
| Cynics |
Realists |
Optimist |
Conflicted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jade & Anise | Guy & Tear | Natalia | Luke |
This actually becomes a gameplay mechanism in This War of Mine when it comes to emotion levels; the Optimist is much more eligible for mood swings than the Cynic, and the more emotional characters are better at curing depression.
| Cynics | Roman | Bruno | Emilia |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Realists |
Marco | Pavle | Katia |
|
Optimists |
Zlata | Boris | Cveta |
|
Apathetics |
Marin | Arica | Anton |
The playable characters of the Touhou project:
|
Apathetics |
Cynic |
Realist |
Optimist |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sakuya & Youmu
(taking turns) |
Reimu | Marisa | Sanae |