Personality:
Nathan Drake is a pretty likeable guy. He's pretty smart and I assume he's a bit of an archaeologist. He's good at thinking on his feet, too. Drake will smile in your face and talk to you to keep you off guard--but all the while, he's biding his time, waiting for his chance to shoot the explosive barrel behind you. He's a loyal friend, too.
Marcus Fenix has been through hell. He doesn't fight for fame or glory. He fights for survival. He cares about his team and his "brother", Dominic Santiago and he would die for any one of them. Marcus went from being a prisoner in Gears of War 1 to being the leader of Delta Squad by the end of the game. He follows orders that would make a weaker man's knees buckle and he gets results. Fenix comes from a world that has seen so much death and destruction (whole cities have been vaporized) that he doesn't let anybody know how he feels....but he's hurting. And Marcus is haunted by memories of his father.
Training:
Drake has to have had some sort of formal training. Here's a guy that can take out a thousand armed men. He's very good at hand to hand combat although luck seems to play a part in it. Sometimes, Drake seems more surprised that his tricks worked than the bad guy! He appears to be very good at mountain climbing, spelunking, etc., too. Nathan would never have made it through clown college (U2 fans know what I'm talking about).
Marcus Fenix is a soldier and as such, he's a professional killer. A two-foot Wretch or a thirty-foot tall Bruhmak--it makes no difference. Marcus has the skill set and the tactics to take them all on. Also well versed in hand to hand tactics, Fenix's technique is brutal and to the point. He'll punch a Locust in the face or stab them with a chainsaw bayonette. Marcus is not a fucking botanist (GeoW2 fans know what I'm talking about!).
Defining Moment:
Nathan Drake proved that he was more than just a pretty face when he survived a train wreck and a bullet to the stomach. With nothing to get by on but sheer will, Drake drug himself off of a cliff and through a snow filled wasteland. It would have been easy to roll over and die but Drake carried on.
Marcus Fenix and his team were eaten by a giant worm. While it would have been easy for he and his team to cut their way out to safety, Fenix knew that this would mean the end for countless other cities where humanity was already barely clinging to survival. He made the call. Delta Squad wasn't turning back. Either that creature, which was easily the size of a skyscraper, was dead....or they were. And without a second thought, they walked into the unknown like they had many times before and would many times again.
And the winner is......neither. While Drake and Fenix are the stars of two of my most favoritest franchises, both are pretty boring and generic characters. One is a smug douche bag that's always smiling and talking to himself. The other is a stereotypical tough guy that's always spouting generic one-liners like he's Duke Nukem ("Come get some!"). Neither man would fit my favorite character list because both could be created by an eigth grade student. And that's the way it is.
