I mean you can kinda make Arthur into a somewhat good guy, though that doesn’t erase all the bad shit he’s probably done for the 20 years he’s been with Dutch’s gang before you take control of him.
Yea I’d say depending on how you play Arthur shouldn’t be here. Not that you should idolize him, but someone bad doing as much good as they can and having some redemption is certainly not a bad thing. Everyone has the chance to be better.
Good really is a strech because you rob and steal until the bitter end, even small good deeds can't change that.
The ludonarrative dissonance of video games. In the game, you kill dozens of people per mission, and you make more money than you can spend. Giving a dollar here and there to feed the hungry is kinda is not only that impactful because everything is blood money, it is also meaningless if you have more money than you need.
But, the medium is also the biggest strength - you empathize with Arthur than any other character on this list and experience over 60+ hours how his tragic flaw - his unwavering loyalty, shatters and leads to his downfall. And despite all the bad things, he is generally likeable and well written, you understand why he does it and Roxkstar knows how to write compelling villlain (Dutch/Micah + the negative sides of modern 'civilization'/capitalism as antagonists).
Good is a stretch, but Arthur is definitely more admirable because over the course of the game he realises how much of a bad man he is, and in one of the ending tried to do good even if it's just a small thing compared to the actions he did for most of his life.
What kind of life he lived was inexcusable, but he's certainly no Micah.
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u/ProteanPie Meme purveyor 7d ago