The OG Brutals

Doomguy / Doom Marine

Appearance: Muscular, broad-shouldered marine; short brown hair; green combat armor with a helmet, brown boots and gloves; usually carries himself like an absolute tank.

Personality: Mostly silent and intensely determined; courageous, stubborn, protective of innocents, and absolutely relentless against anything threatening humanity. His refusal to fire on civilians is a major part of his backstory.

Quake Ranger

Appearance: Rugged, heavily armed soldier; typically depicted in brown/tan combat gear with a helmet or headgear, military boots and a bulky sci-fi arsenal.

Personality: Quiet, hardened and mission-focused; practical rather than theatrical. He's basically the archetypal “drop me into Hell and I'll figure it out” FPS protagonist.

Serious Sam Stone

Appearance: Tall, extremely muscular man with long dark hair, sunglasses, a blue sleeveless shirt/vest, military trousers and boots.

Personality: Loud, confident, fearless and relentlessly sarcastic. Treats absurdly dangerous situations like they're another day at work, constantly cracking jokes while fighting.

Duke Nukem

Appearance: Huge, muscular blonde man with a distinctive flat-top haircut and sunglasses; red tank top, blue jeans, large belt buckle and heavy boots.

Personality: Extremely confident, arrogant, cocky and theatrical; loves one-liners and showing off. Beneath the massive ego, he's portrayed as genuinely heroic and willing to protect people.

Gordon Freeman

Appearance: Slim-to-average build, brown hair, goatee and glasses; usually wears the orange HEV suit, with a very recognizable crowbar as his signature tool.

Personality: Intelligent, quiet, analytical and adaptable. He's an MIT physicist rather than a career soldier, but repeatedly survives increasingly ridiculous situations and becomes an unwilling resistance hero.

Daniel Garner — Painkiller

Appearance: Tall, muscular man with long dark hair; rugged face and a dark, heavily worn outfit associated with his supernatural journey.

Personality: Angry, determined and blunt, but fundamentally driven by his desire to reunite with his wife. He's less of a jokey action hero and more of a “I have one thing left to accomplish, and Hell itself isn't stopping me” type.

Caleb — Blood

Appearance: Tall, pale, dark-haired gunslinger dressed in a long dark coat, boots and a wide-brimmed hat; deliberately evokes an Old West gunslinger.

Personality: Cynical, sardonic and extremely confident. Has a very dark sense of humor and tends to respond to supernatural insanity with basically “well, that's inconvenient.”

B.J. Blazkowicz — Wolfenstein

Appearance: Muscular blond-haired American soldier; military clothing and combat gear, with his appearance becoming progressively more rugged across the series.

Personality: Fierce, courageous and determined, but considerably more emotionally complex than many classic FPS protagonists. He's loyal to his friends, compassionate toward ordinary people and intensely opposed to the Nazis.

Turok

Appearance: Powerful Native American warrior, usually depicted with long dark hair, traditional-inspired clothing and extensive hunting/combat equipment.

Personality: Serious, disciplined and courageous. He's much more of a warrior/hunter archetype than the wisecracking Duke/Sam type—calm and focused when dealing with danger.

Postal Dude

Appearance: Very tall, pale man with ginger hair and a goatee/soul patch; dark sunglasses, long leather trench coat, jeans and combat boots. His exact appearance changes between games.

Personality: Sarcastic, cynical, detached and unpredictable. He has an intentionally ambiguous morality—the series leaves considerable room for the player to determine whether he's simply an asshole, genuinely dangerous, or something in between.

The Mutant — Mutant (2007)

Appearance: A heavily modified human with four arms, enhanced resistant skin, steel plates protecting his body's primary centers, advanced aiming systems and mechanical/motorized enhancements. His four arms allow him to wield multiple firearms simultaneously and attack several targets at once. His body has also been altered using human and non-terrestrial technology, giving him numerous special abilities, including telekinetic powers.

Personality: Originally an ordinary boy from a tiny Czech village, he was taken from his grandmother and subjected to years of experimentation and painful technological modification. After awakening and escaping the laboratory, he finds Prague almost completely deserted and overrun by hostile creatures. He's therefore quiet, independent, hardened and highly adaptable, with a strong survival instinct. He's not a naturally violent soldier or an overconfident action hero—he's someone who was forcibly transformed into a living weapon and now has to survive in the world that was left behind.

William “Bill” Sherman — Painkiller: Resurrection

Appearance: A muscular, rugged-looking man with short dark hair, facial stubble, and military-style clothing. He carries the distinctive Painkiller arsenal and has the hardened appearance of someone who's been through some seriously supernatural shit.

Personality: Hardened, aggressive and determined, with a soldier-like mentality. He's considerably more serious and grim than Duke or Serious Sam, and his motivations are heavily tied to his violent past and his attempts to survive the supernatural conflict surrounding him.

Isaac Clarke

Appearance: Isaac Clarke is a tall, athletic-built engineer with short dark brown hair, light skin, and a rugged, tired-looking face. He usually appears unshaven, with a short beard or stubble. His most recognizable outfit is his heavy engineering RIG suit, featuring bulky armored plating, a glowing spinal health indicator, reinforced boots and gloves, and a large industrial helmet with horizontal visor lights. His appearance becomes increasingly worn and battered throughout his experiences, reflecting the physical and psychological toll of everything he has survived.

Personality: Isaac is intelligent, practical, resourceful, and highly determined. As an engineer, he approaches problems logically and is skilled at repairing machinery, improvising with technology, and finding unconventional solutions. He is generally quiet and reserved, but can be sarcastic and occasionally cracks dry jokes. Despite the horrifying situations he faces, he repeatedly pushes himself forward to protect other people and accomplish his goals. Isaac can become frustrated, frightened, angry, and emotionally overwhelmed, but he rarely gives up. His experiences also leave him traumatized and increasingly troubled, particularly by the effects of the Marker and the loss of people close to him. Beneath his hardened exterior, he is compassionate and deeply cares about the people he loves.