Top 10 Awkward Video Game Romances Part 1

In Mega Man X4, one of the many boss battles Zero will face is against Iris (who was a female robot that was in "love" with Zero before turning maverick.

You know, it is almost valentines day and I thought I would make a valentines day related post.  You know what that means (at least from a guy's perspective): girls and dates.  I hope you have picked out a gift for your special someone.  Believe it or not, even I had a girlfriend at one time too, back during my senior year of high school.  it was a girl I knew from Christ the King Lutheran church, named Samantha (note: won't give out her last name for privacy reasons).  Long story short, we dated for about a year and then after I went off to college, about a month later, I got one of those "dear john letters", you know those letters sometimes your former girlfriend will  send you a letter that basically says she wants to just "be friends" and found another guy she likes, and that was the end of that relationship (been single ever since).  By the way, Samantha was not my only love interest during my high school career too. For a while there, I was also crushing on a cute blonde girl named Kimberly (aka Kim C, though I won't give out her full last name for privacy reasons, so I will leave it at that), who was the classic hot blonde chick (don't know how else to put it) I knew during my middle school and high school years, though long story short, I will just say that sadly I let my bashfulness get the best of me and wasn't really able to get to know her like I did with Samantha and she ended up moving away (I think she moved to Tacoma last I saw her back in 2002 and btw Facebook didn't exist back then).  Lesson to be learned there kids: if you see a girl you like: don't hesitate to break the ice with her and at least take the time to get to know her.  Wait too long and either someone else will beat you to the punch or life happens (such as graduation or moving away) and you will miss your chance to get to know her.  Luckily I have learned from those mistakes myself.

Anyways, personal stuff aside, in this post I will talk about some interesting and awkward romances and relationships in the video game world (some movies and tv shows too).  Here are the top 10 I have seen:

******Spoiler Alert **********

In the following passages: I will assume you have played through these games or watched these shows and movies.

1. Zero and Iris - Mega Man X4

Here is a video below of the boss fight between Zero and Iris (occurs about midway through the second of the Sigma levels in the game):


If any relationship in the video game world were to resemble that of "Romeo and Juliet", it would probably be Zero and Iris in Mega Man X4.  Mega Man X4 was definitely my favorite of the Mega Man X series (along with MMX, MMX5 and MMX9) and was arguably probably the best of the post SNES Mega Man X games.  It was also the first one where you can actually play as Zero for the entire game (up through MMX3 you mainly played as X, though you do get to use Zero on a limited basis in X3).  Anyways, in Mega Man X4, the game is set several years after the events of Mega Man X3 and while X and Zero thought that the evil Sigma was gone for good, he is back and this time, as a part of his quest for world domination time he basically drives a wedge between the Maverick Hunters and the Repliforce (many of which become maverick during the course of the game presumably due to the Sigma virus which was spreading at the time).  He even manages to turn the Colonel (Iris' brother) against Zero by creating paranoia that the repliforce were turning maverick especially by inciting the Colonel and the General to start a military coup.  Further complicating matters is that Iris (a female cyborg) is madly in love with Zero and is torn between him and the Colonel once the war begins.  Eventually, the Colonel (who is obviously under the influence of the sigma virus and is intent on destroying the human race with a death star type of weapon) does turn maverick and challenges Zero a fight to the death (it is scripted and there is no avoiding it) in a huge boss battle (occurs in the first of the "sigma" stages that appear after you defeat the initial 8 maverick robot masters).  Sadly, Zero is forced to defeat Colonel and that enrages Iris too (talk about woman scorned).  She literally becomes the second boss for Zero to defeat in the following level much to his regret and reluctance.  The story probably could have gone better but she was probably under the influence of the sigma virus too by the time Colonel was gone.  Definitely a short lived relationship for Zero.

2. Mario / Luigi and Princess Peach

Here is a video below from New Super Mario Wii showing Mario defeating Bower for the nth time and rescuing Peach once again:

Princess Peach (aka Princess Toadstool) and Mario / Luigi is definitely another peculiar type of relationship. Both Luigi and Mario like her (though she seems to lean more toward Mario than Luigi as far as I can tell) and are definitely her rescuers and heroes in the games.  Of course, Princes Peach always seems to manage to get kidnapped by Bowser in each Mario bros. and so Mario and Luigi have to go and try to rescue Peach each time too.  It it is almost like Peach likes to get kidnapped by Bowser and have Mario come and rescue her.  How romantic?

3. CJ and Denise in Grand Theft Auto San Andreas

Here is a video of Denise chasing after CJ when he tries to date Millie (note this is from the PC version of the the game and doesn't seem to happen in the Xbox version as far as I can tell).  Pretty funny to watch too
 It is no surprise that in some of the newer grand theft auto games, your character can gain girlfriends.  In GTA San Andreas after the "Burning Desires" mission (happens somewhat early in the game) Carl Johnson (aka CJ) will gain his first girlfriend: Denise (another African american woman who lives in a nearby neighborhood close where CJ lives), how romantic?  She is probably the easiest one to date to compared to the other girls in the game in many ways (for example, she is cool with going to fast food restaurants as opposed to fancier restaurants that other girlfriends like to go to) and sometimes she does a drive by type of date too.  Unfortunately being a typical game like Grand Theft Auto, for Denise, CJ can take up to 6 girlfriends during the course of the game.  Other potential girlfriends for CJ includes: Millie (gained in Las Venturas), Barbara (an ex cop), Katie (she is a nurse lives in San Fierro), Helena (she lives on a farm near the Flint Intersection), and Michelle (also lives in San Fierro and even likes to take CJ for a drive sometimes too).  While you will also automatically gain Millie during the Las Venturas missions (much like how it was with Denise), Michelle, Helena, Katie, and Barbara are all optional girlfriends and normally you have to meet certain requirements and meet them in certain areas before you can date them (see http://www.gamefaqs.com/ps2/914983-grand-theft-auto-san-andreas/faqs/33260 for more info about girlfriends in GTA San Andreas.  In addition, if you manage to find all of the 50 hidden oysters (hidden in the oceans, lakes and rivers in the game) your sex appeal becomes unlimited and CJ can date any of them (or all of them) if he wants regardless on how he looks and all (my guy ended up with 6 girlfriends during the course of the game).  Apparently Denise and other girlfriends can get jealous and chase after you (like in the video above), though while it might be possible to encounter in the PC version, I am not sure how to trigger it in the Xbox version (will have to test it out sometime).  Now that is an awkward moment as not only is CJ dating Denise, he can also have up to 5 more girlfriends too (all at the same time).  Can't you imagine what might happen if you tried that in real life?  They would probably all get jealous and break up with you.  If you were married to any of them, then you would probably get divorced too. What happens in GTA San Andreas stays in GTA San Andreas

4. Nikko and Michelle (and later Katie Mcrerry) in GTA 4

As with Carl in GTA San Andreas, in Grand Theft Auto 4, Nikko (the main protagonist in GTA 4) can date at least 2 different girlfriends during the course of the game (there are probably optional ones too).  The first girlfriend Nikko encounters is Michelle (not the same Michelle from GTA San Andreas of course).  She starts out as a close friend of Nikko and even dates Nikko for a while.  However unbeknownst to Nikko is that she is actually an FBI agent keepin an eye on Nikko and obviously Nikko is a criminal type working for the mafia, drug dealers, and other kingpins that he encounters in Liberty City (btw, doesn't Liberty City feel alot like New York City?  It does to me).  Eventually after several missions, in the aftermath of the the "snow storm" mission, where Nikko is sent to raid a drug warehouse and steal some drugs for his boss at the time (I think it was Elizibetha) , which was definitely a challenging mission to beat in my opinion (especially when NOOSE gets involved), there is a clip scene where Michelle reveals herself basically as an FBI agent and effectively ends her relationship with him.  I guess on the positive note: she doesn't have Nikko arrested for his crimes in the previous missions I guess out of being merciful.  Can't you imagine what that might look like in real life.  Obviously I would never become a criminal type myself (such as joining gangs or the mob), but can't you imagine what it would be like if you were in Nikko's shoes and were dating an undercover cop or FBI agent?  You would probably want to stay on the right side of the law instead considering that she could have you arrested if you do things you shouldn't do like Nikko does.  Ironically it seems like Nikko moved to Liberty City trying to escape the criminal life style and yet he finds himself working for the criminal elements of liberty city.

Of course, Michelle is not the only love interest for Nikko either.  Later in the game, Nikko will encounter several Mcrearys', namely: Frances Mcreary, Katie Mcreary, Packie Mcreary and Derrick Mcreary. Katie becomes Nikko's love interest during the course of the game too.  Anyways, everything seems to be going well for Nikko and Katie at first, however there is a mission toward the end of the game, called "Blood Brothers", which occurs sometime after the "tunnel of death" mission where Derrick makes Nikko assasinate one of his rivals who was headed to prison (which was a pretty insane mission too as you had to bust the guy out of police custody take him to an isolated area and terminate him), where Francis McReary basically pulls a "Cain and Abel" (the story from the bible where one brother kills the other) and makes Nikko shoot either him or Derrick.  While it would probably would have been better for Nikko to stay out of their dispute, the game is scripted so that Nikko kills either Derrick or Frances (which one Nikko kills is up to the player and I went with Derrick myself in the game) and in the following mission (Undertaker), Nikko has to attend Derrick or Francis' funeral (depending on Nikko kills).  Now that had to make things awkward for Nikko and Katie considering that Nikko kills one of ther brothers.  Can't you imagine trying to date someone who killed a family member (even if he/she was forced to do so by his/her brother)?  I know I wouldn't want to date someone like that and I would probably be pressing charges against that person too.  Definitely another awkward relationship in the game in my opinion.


Just for some reference: here is a youtube video of the blood brothers mission (by the way,  the poster also has videos showing the effects of killing either brother, but I won't spoil those for you:


Important disclaimer / warning about GTA 4 and SA: Obviously, the game is rated M being a typical grand theft auto type game and will likely be offensive for some people.  Definitely not recommended for kids or anyone don't like violent video games.  Also, for your own good never try anything you see in GTA at home, ever.  Doing those things can probably land you in jail or worse.  What you see in Grand Theft auto is for entertainment purposes only and should never be done in real life for obvious reasons.

 5. Scott Pilgrim and Ramona in Scott Pilgrim vs the World

Here is a youtube video showing all of the boss fights in Scott Pilgrim (including he 7 evil exes).

 I admit, I have both played the Xbox 360 game, Scott Pilgrim vs the World and later watched the movie version (watched it last year).  It was pretty enteraining in my opinion.  Anyways, talk about "skeletons in the closet". I know lots of people have pasts and sometimes they might even have secrets they don't want everyone else to know about for obvious reasons.  Some girls may have only had one boyfriend in their entire lives, while others might have gone through several.  I am sure the same can be said for us guys too (hey, I only have one ex, just for the record).  Anyways, fellow guys, if you were dating a girl you like, would you beat up her ex boyfriends if she asked you to?  This is exactly the dilema for Scott in Scott Pilgrim vs the world (both in the movie and the video game version).  In the movie version, initially, Scott was initially dating Knives Chau (who was an asian woman Scott liked), but soon into the movie he later meets Ramona, who quickly becomes Scott's latest crush.  Subsequently, he breaks up with Knives and starts dating Ramona.  Unbeknownst to Scott was that she had gone through at least 7 evil ex boyfriends (with their leader being the evil Gideon Graves) and he soon learns the hard way that if he wants to date Ramona, he will have to defeat her 7 evil ex boyfriends (usually in Mortal Kombat style matches to the death where the person defeated literally turns into coins, at least that is how it was both the movie and the game version).  The video game version of the movie plays out much like Castle Crashers and similar arcade style beat em up games, where you can play either as Scott, Kim Pine (a drummer who was also a former girlfriend of Scott at one time and seemed to be indifferent to Scott and Ramon at the time of the movie as far as I can tell), Ramona, or Stills, going through several unique levels with their own unique designs, enemies and obstacles.  At the end of each level is a major boss battle where you fight one of the exes (the final boss is Gideon b the way and is probably the most epic of them). In the end, Scott defeats all of the evil exes (including Gideon though he almost defeats Scott) and gets the girl (Ramona), but it was definitely an experience he will never forget.  By the way, in real life would you do something like that?  How about if your gf had lots of exes and they are all bigger and stronger than you?

Well, that is all for now, and stay tuned for part 2.

In part 2, I will talk about:

1. The Love Triangle in the Mass Effect series
2. Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson in Spider-man Series
3. Anakin Skywalker and Padme - Star Wars Saga
4. Amy Rose and Sonic in the Sonic the Hedgehog series
5. Thor and Jane Foster (from Thor and the Avengers).
Note: this list is subject to change by the way.

That is all for this post.  Do you have any you want to add?  Feel free to leave a comment below.