What makes a hero? A villain?

[Dyne]

Well, he saves people, doesn't he? I'd call that heroic.

Then again I could be BSing, because I've never really wanted to play a Crash Bandicoot from start to end. Heh.

Well.. Mario's the greatest video game hero of all time, basically, because his series has sold so much over the years. A lot of millions. He's a video game market hero.. he helped revive the whole industry, not to mention all the adventures he's been in. Sephiroth may only be a one-timer because he was so well done. Both characters were revolutionary in a way.

Where can a writer stop and be sure that a hero has been created? I don't know particularily, but designers certainly are trying their hardest, but to no avail, in most cases. But we've seen some interesting things in the past years like Banjo/Kazooie or Jak/Daxter.

Are simple oppositions between a definite "good" and "evil" satisfying enough? In a huge game there can be tons of rivals/villians/bosses/enemies. It's not just, say, bowser the whole time. Plenty of opposition to the hero, which would justify him.

Will an ordinary action/reaction between a protagonist and antagonist suffice? Well, look at DMC2. Heh. The good ones have many different oppositions like I listed out, or not. It all depends on the gameplay/story balance.