10 Best Angsty Teenagers in Video Games

Highlights

• Teen video game characters deal with bigger stakes than just zits and crushes.
• Misunderstood and angsty, these characters battle villains and navigate tough environments.
• From rebellious rebels to serious warriors, these teens cope with real-world issues and insecurities.

Growing up is tough. There’s acne, unrequited crushes, and parents who just don’t understand. It’s really no surprise that almost every teenager has an angsty phase.

Teenagers in video games have just as much rage, but they’re facing higher stakes than zits and puppy love. These characters battle villains, navigate tough environments, and even get transported into alternate dimensions.

While some games tackle real-world issues like depression and anxiety, others feature teens who are angsty for the sake of being angsty. Some of these characters are rebellious, others shy, but all of them have a common thread of being misunderstood.

10 Illari

Overwatch 2

Illari is eighteen, so she’s right on the cusp of being an adult. Regardless of her age and her anti-social attitude, she’s still a formidable ally on the battlefield.

Because of her focus, Illari is one of the strongest playable characters in Overwatch 2. She can basically do it all, whether it’s shooting balls of solar energy or healing others in a matter of seconds. She’s a loner who’s very serious about her training, making her one of the most powerful warriors in video games.

9 Alice Liddell

Alice: Madness Returns

This Wonderland doesn’t have a hookah-smoking caterpillar or a loony, grinning cat. Instead, there are evil teapots and cannon crabs attacking at every turn.

Players control Alice Liddel, a teenager who grew up in a bleak orphanage after her family was killed in a fire. The Wonderland she enters is a symptom of her PTSD, and her angst is her way of coping with her tragic childhood. Luckily, she’s armed with a ticking rabbit bomb and a pepper grinder gun, so she’s ready to battle her demons!

8 Knuckles

Sonic Games

Knuckles may seem mature, but when he made his debut in Sonic the Hedgehog 3, he was only 16 years old. He is a serious character who has been both antagonist and hero in some of the best Sonic the Hedgehog games.

Where Sonic and Tails are friendly and social, Knuckles is significantly more gruff and anti-social. Despite his quick temper, he is a trained echidna warrior who takes his role as protector very seriously.

7 Jimmy Hopkins

Bully

As a character, Jimmy Hopkins is far from a relatable introvert. He’s more than willing to get into fights with anyone he believes has wronged him.

Some teenagers are mad for no reason, but Jimmy has good cause for being full of rage. He was kicked out of multiple schools causing his negligent mom and her fifth husband to dump him off at Bullworth Academy. The school has a reputation for being awful, which is why Jimmy has to be tough to make it through.

6 Chloe Price

Life is Strange

Some teenagers are sullen, but Chloe Price is a boisterous, wild child who gets into a lot of trouble. She’s a stubborn rebel who chain smokes, listens to overly loud punk music, and has more than her fair share of drunken moments.

Don’t be fooled by Chloe. She’s just as insecure as any other teenager, but she hides it behind bravado. Her tantrums are a coping mechanism because, deep down, she’s having a tough time with her mother’s remarriage and her best friend moving away.

5 April Ryan

The Longest Journey

April isn’t angry or bitter like some teenagers. She’s much more closed off and insecure. She has a tough life, but when she discovers her true powers, she fully embraces her destiny and rises to the challenge.

Like other misunderstood teens, April wears all black and keeps a diary. The difference is she’s a Shifter who can travel between dimensions. Upon learning her true identity, she grows out of her angsty feelings to become one of the most gifted artisans of magic of all time.

4 Josh Washington

Until Dawn

There are many tortured souls in video games, and Josh belongs in their company. After both his sisters disappear, he invites his friends to his family’s lodge to solve the mystery.

Until Dawn features some of the most immersive voice-over acting in games. Josh looks like and is voiced by Academy Award winner Rami Malek. As a teenage character in the game’s prologue, he may be depressed and a bit of a loner, but he’s loyal to his family and thoughtful about the feelings of those around him.

3 Raven

Twisted Metal: Black

Raven is a misunderstood teen in Twisted Metal: Black and Twisted Metal: Lost. In both games, she jumps at the chance to exact revenge on those who wronged her.

As a patient at Blackfield Asylum, Raven was diagnosed with PTSD and bipolar episodes after the death of her best friend, Kelly. The two were picked on by the cool kids in school until one prank went a bit too far. Raven gets her vengeance by driving the Shadow, an iconic vehicle known for its ghostly weapon.

2 Heather Mason

Silent Hill 3

Heather is a protagonist in Silent Hill 3, which is ranked one of the best games in the series. With her cutoff denim vest, choppy blonde haircut, and serious attitude, it’s easy to tell that Heather’s an angsty teen.

Most 17-year-olds are just like Heather – sarcastic, blunt, aggressive, and easily frustrated. However, the difference is Heather’s being pursued by a ruthless cult after a ritual goes wrong. She faces evil nurses, bulbous monsters, and other creepy creatures, so she has a good excuse to be angry.

1 Ellie Williams

The Last of Us

No teen is more iconically angsty than Ellie. She grew up in quarantine and is hunted down by government officials. Her anger is warranted in both post-apocalyptic games.

Ellie may be a little rough around the edges, but her heroism in both games shouldn’t be overlooked. She’s a playable character in The Last of Us Part II, and by the end, is a grizzled 20-year-old who has been through many hardships. Even though Ellie ends the game as an adult, she’ll always be an angsty teenager in the eyes of gamers.