Artyom, the protagonist of the Metro franchise, is not one of those characters who love monologuing and talking to people. In fact, when playing as Artyom, you'll find yourself alone most of the time... or in the company of nefarious mutants who want to kill you. However, the interactions with his friends and wife are deeply emotional considering the current state of post-apocalyptic Russia.

Artyom is for sure one of the best heroes of 2019. Yet, he's just a human, with a lot of flaws, fears, and regrets. We don't want to spoil the story by going over all the perils the Aurora crew had to face, so go play Metro Exodus! Artyom is a character that feels extremely real despite the fictional context of this video game, and that's why he deserves a spot in our 2019 list. He went through a lot just to find a little piece for himself, but also salvation for his people.

How could we miss the protagonist of what many consider the best action game of the year? Sekiro, also known as Wolf even though we don't know his real name, is a man who lost it all and is then given a second opportunity. However, this doesn't mean he's allowed to have a normal life...

Being a shinobi who also happens to use a lot of prosthetic tools and weapons, Sekiro is not only deadly but incredibly cool! Trained by a father figure we know as Owl, and granted with a rare ability that lets him come back to life for back-stabbing revenge, what's not to envy from him? Besides, the whole setting of Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice makes of its protagonist one of the most interesting characters ever.

Look, we all know the Star Wars Universe is kind of a mess now, at least in what has to do with the latest movies released. When it comes to games though, we can't forget about EA's loot-show in Battlefront 2, so there was almost no hype for a new Star Wars entry. However, Jedi: Fallen Order managed to not only become a new sensation but also introduce a likable and interesting new Jedi protagonist: Cal Kestis.

As a Force-sensitive young boy, Kal was trained by a Jedi Master... but by now we should know there can't be a good Star Wars story if there's no tragedy for a padawan, right? Alone after his mentor's death and now being chased by the Galactic Empire, it's not that hard to sympathize with Cal in his quest for answers. All in all, the spectacular narrative of Jedi: Fallen Order has a lot to do with Cal's popularity, and we can't but recommend this game to everyone we come across.

We could start by mentioning how important is for modern games to have non-binary characters, but let's leave that for another day, shall we? In fact, this is not about gender equality at all; it's just that not knowing who or what FL4K really is—and we really hope it stays that way!—is what makes this character so amazing... that, and their stupidly overpowered builds!

All we know about FL4K is that it's a Beastmaster AI who can critical-hit you while invisible or use their 3 sidekick pets to wreak havoc. And that's more than enough! If you're here for the looks, FL4K does indeed look great; if you fancy a deadly character, FL4K definitely is one of them; and if all you need is a Vault Hunter that's fun to play but also gives you enough room for crazy or rather unique builds, FL4K fits that role too! Borderlands 3 is an excellent game overall, but we definitely think FL4K is one of the many reasons we all love it.

So here we are, talking about the best male video game character of 2019, and yet we can't talk too much about him without spoiling the story. While discovering the origins and motivations of any character is always one of the strongest points of a video game, if your protagonist is an alcoholic bastard who wakes up naked and amnesic, then you know you're up to something big. And that's just the start of Disco Elysium, a fantastic role-playing game that's all about exploration and narrative.

Just to reveal the protagonist's name feels like spoiling a portion of the game for you. What we can say though is that we're talking about a police detective in a dystopic reality full of peculiar characters willing to mess with you in more than one way, and there's an unsolved mystery to keep you going. Both the narrative and freedom of Disco Elysium are key to enjoy its protagonist from start to finish, and more so when all these customization options and different skills give you a lot of replay value. Only those who play Disco Elysium will understand why this character is our #1 leading male of 2019, so what are you waiting for??