Mike Haggar – Final Fight
This doesn’t mean that all patriotism is only possible on the macro scale, though. It’s also important that, at the local level, there are those who work to keep their communities safe from elements that would threaten its residents.
As the mayor of Metro City, Mike Haggar may have an entire police force under his jurisdiction, but that doesn’t mean that he’s one to needlessly put others in harm’s way. Haggar has a much more hands-on approach to fighting crime in his city, putting his ample muscles and years as a pro wrestler to use as he knocks around Metro City’s various gangs, street toughs and other ne’er-do-wells. A happy city is a crime-free city, and it’s the least that Haggar can do to make sure his little slice of America as a great place to live. Sorry, I have a patriotic tear in my eye.
Zachary Hale Comstock – BioShock Infinite
Of course, it’s also possible to get a little… overzealous in one’s patriotism. Case in point: Zachary Hale Comstock, the primary antagonist of BioShock Infinite takes the idea of patriotism to its extremes.
What do you do when even America isn’t American enough for your ideals? Use some weird science to build a floating city in the clouds and govern your own way. From here, you can rule your utopia to the exact specifications of your ideals – concentrating on the pillars of knowledge, order and justice, culminating in the deification of the Founding Fathers.
Never mind the extreme racism, religious zealotry and caste inequality that come from this way of thinking; they’re just necessary side effects of your perfect world. Caging up your daughter in an enormous tower is just the icing on the cake. So, yes, perhaps there is such a thing as being too patriotic, though what would be the polar opposite of such fierce and harmful beliefs?
The Boss – Metal Gear Solid 3
In my eyes, you can’t get much more patriotic than The Boss from Metal Gear Solid 3. A former war hero, who else could falsely defect to the Soviet Union during the Cold War, sacrifice all the members of her old military unit, watch her own protégé get brutally tortured, allow that same protégé to destroy her allies’ monstrous war machine, then get killed and be forever marked as one of the most hated traitors of the United States, all as part of a secret plan to depose a powerful despot and prevent World War III?
The Boss is just about the most patriotic game character there is, not only agreeing to make the ultimate sacrifice for her country, but also knowing that peace is only possible if she is forever regarded as an international war criminal. To those privy to the truth, however, they know her as what she really is: a hero and a true patriot. So, with all that in mind, who could possibly be an even bigger patriot? Well… there is one person I can think of.
