Watch Dogs’ Aiden Pierce Was Inspired By A Drug Lord And A Serial Killer

Talk about casting your protagonist as an anti-hero. Aiden Pierce is the protagonist of Watch Dogs and while he might be doing good in the long run, the way he goes about dealing justice is less than valiant. He manipulates the system to his will, he is calculated and will use whatever means necessary to reach an end. He may also exploit his hacking abilities for personal gain but he doesn’t have a dead uncle to tell him about responsibilities and morality so we’ll let it slide.

Aiden is perhaps the first protagonist to be based on two of TV’s most loved characters who really shouldn’t be lovable based on their reprehensible actions and questionable moral judgement. Yes, Aiden Pierce is loosely based on Bugs Bunny and Barney The Dinosaur.

Seriously though, Ubisoft drew inspiration for the character from Breaking Bad’s Walter White and Dexter from, well… Dexter.

“The way we designed him is that he would not necessarily be a good guy or a bad guy,” Guay said. “So we’re inspired by characters like Dexter or the series like Breaking Bad, where the main character is not necessarily a good guy, but he’s a person with flaws, with qualities; someone we can relate to and that you will bond with even though he does sometimes things that are not necessarily good.”

Guay explained that Aiden will “evolve” throughout the course of the game, with players able to determine, to an extent, just how much the character will change.

“But Aiden is not a bad guy,” Guay added. “He becomes a vigilante, so he is there to inflict his justice on the city of Chicago.”

This certainly paints Aiden as more intriguing than he has looked in trailers, serving more as a vehicle for all the hacking and gameplay rather than a relatable character so I’m hoping there are some fleshed out character-driven moments in the game.

Name: A-G Sonday
Location: Cape Town
Position: Editor, Reviews

A-G has published 3673 posts. Read all of A-G's posts.

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