4Stack #11 — answers & breakdown

Friday, July 24, 2026

Protagonists sorted by series. The difficulty ramp here is really a ramp in how many entries each franchise has — the more games, the more names you have to keep straight.

The sixteen cards in this puzzle were: CJ, Niko, Trevor, Tommy Vercetti, Ezio, Altaïr, Kassandra, Eivor, Cloud, Squall, Tidus, Noctis, Master Chief, Cortana, Arbiter, Sgt. Johnson.

The four stacks

GTA protagonists

CJ, Niko, Trevor, Tommy Vercetti

Grand Theft Auto leads, spanning Vice City through V.

Assassin's Creed protagonists

Ezio, Altaïr, Kassandra, Eivor

Assassin's Creed leads. Altaïr came first in 2007, Ezio is the fan favourite across three games, and Kassandra and Eivor represent the later RPG-shaped entries.

Final Fantasy protagonists

Cloud, Squall, Tidus, Noctis

Final Fantasy leads from VII, VIII, X and XV respectively. Note that none of them are from the numbered entries before VII, which is where a lot of people's knowledge either starts or stops.

Halo characters

Master Chief, Cortana, Arbiter, Sgt. Johnson

Halo, and the only group here that mixes protagonists with supporting characters — Cortana and Sgt. Johnson are not playable, which is the wrinkle.

Want to try it yourself? Play puzzle #11 — archive plays don't affect your streak. Or jump into today's puzzle.