The 7 Most Famous Orphan Characters in Video Games

With the release of Batman: Arkham Knight, this is a huge week for the Caped Crusader. However, he would have never grown up to become the Dark Knight if it weren't for a single tragic moment in his youth that went on to define his character. As it turns out, he's not the only orphan in the gaming universe whose loss ended up making them great. Here are some of the most famous orphans you get to meet in video games.

Batman [Batman Series]

There's no question that Batman's brooding personality is directly linked to the loss of his parents, which is oftentimes depicted as an additional link between him and Joker. Everyone must know the story by now. A young Bruce Wayne loses both his parents in an alleyway, grows up under the care of the butler, Alfred, and later becomes the most feared vigilante in Gotham City. Is this what happens when your guardian is also your employee?

Lara Croft [Tomb Raider Series]

Although Lara doesn't normally make a big deal about it, her adventures are sometimes guided by her father, Lord Richard James Croft. Lord Croft is killed when Lara is fifteen years old, and she often refers to his journals to help guide her to mythological locations around the world. The series reboot continues to use this story path, with Lara out to redeem her father's name by proving the validity of his research. Proving that her father's discoveries are more than just myths is what leads her to the island of Yamatai, which in turn sets the course of her life in Rise of the Tomb Raider.

Chell [Portal Series]

One of the most famous orphans in gaming doesn't say a word throughout the two games she's featured in. Chell's history is a big mystery, and GlaDOS provides a vague account of it. Judging from the clues, it seems clear that Chell was an orphaned as a baby (perhaps lending credit to the idea that she was abandoned at birth), but was later adopted by a scientist (which GlaDOS taunts her about). Then, GlaDOS came online on the same day as Aperture Science's Bring Your Daughter to Work Day, where Chell was one of the science fair participants. If it weren't for the incredible series of events, Chell would have never been trapped within the Aperture testing chambers, where she grows up to be the test subject GlaDOS loves to hate.

Clementine [The Walking Dead]

[SPOILERS] If The Walking Dead shows anything, it's that parental figures don't have long lifespans in the zombie apocalypse. Lee discovers Clementine trapped in a tree house, where she would have probably starved to death if he didn't adopt her. Every guardian she has had since then ends up dead. Her biological parents are found dead and zombified in Savannah, and Lee gets bitten while heading out to search for her. Omid meets an untimely end. Even Kenny, his wife Katjaa, and his post widowing girlfriend Sarita meet terrible and violent ends. There is a chance that Christa is still alive, but the odds are against them ever reuniting. But, each person teaches Clementine how to survive in a crappy world. Now, Clementine has to take care of an adopted baby of her own. Hopefully, her new status as guardian isn't a sign of her impending doom.

Amanda Ripley [Alien Isolation]

Technically, Amanda Ripley's mother, Ellen, is alive but in hypersleep and lost in space during the events of Alien Isolation. However, for all intents and purposes, Amanda grew into adulthood as an orphan, but she never gave up looking for the truth behind her mother's disappearance. The search for the truth is what brings Amanda into deep space in Alien Isolation, aboard the crumbling Sevastopol Station. There, she finds out that she has both her mother's ingenuity and unrelenting will to live.

Dante and Vergil [Devil May Cry Series]

As the twin sons of the demon Sparda and (the not-demonic) Eva may look the same, but they couldn't be any more different from each other. Dante is a hot-headed demon hunter, while Vergil is cold, controlling, and power hungry. Although both attribute their special powers to their father Sparda, a powerful demon, the DMC reboot gives a little more credit to the maternal side by making Eva an angel instead of the vaguely referenced human she was in the original series. But no matter what species their mother happens to be, the fates of these two are sealed on the day they're born, as only children born with the kind of power their parents passed on to them can possibly defeat the evil and powerful demon, Mundus.

Agent 47

You would think it would be rather difficult for someone with five fathers to be completely orphaned, but Agent 47 finds a way... by personally assassinating all his parents, including the scientist who created and trained him. No one should hold it against the man, though. After all, the whole point of the Five Father contributing genetic material toward making a clone was to create a master assassin that is unmatched in skill and ruthlessness. They should be proud that their son grew up to be everything they hoped for and more.