Most video games, especially in the modern day, put the player in control of someone else’s story. A clearly defined character with their own personality and dialogue. When the player gets more control, it goes entirely the other way to an effectively nameless character with no clear identity because they’ve been created by the player.
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But some games land in a unique middle ground. A distinct, clearly identifiable character who has little-to-no dialogue within the world. The silent protagonist has helmed some of the most iconic game series of all time, only showcasing who they are through action and a few simple effort noises and nods.
10Gordon Freeman
The hero of theHalf-Lifeseries is iconic as much for his design as for his odd choice of weapon. Nearly every fan drawing or press image of Gordon shows him wielding his iconic crowbar. Half-Life tells a fantastic, sprawling sci-fi story that introduces Gordon to plenty of colorful characters and villains. His silence adds to the tense nature of some scenes and action set pieces. Half-Life simply wouldn’t be nearly as iconic if Gordon was cracking jokes the whole way through.
9Mario (RPG)
Mariois a silent protagonist in all of his games, but the RPG titles give him a shocking amount of personality despite this. By far the best example is Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. The game embraces the silent protagonist cliche in the most hilarious way possible, turning Mario into the greatest charades player the world has ever seen. It makes for a number of fantastic scenes recapping events that have happened in your journey to that point.
8The New Kid
Before The Stick of Truth, the world didn’t realize just how badly it needed a sprawling fantasy RPG epic set in theSouth Parkworld. But all of the characters are simply too iconic and far more interesting when reacting off of another character.
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Enter: The New Kid. By making the protagonist silent, the writers are able to fill the game with classic South Park dialogue all while creating a new dynamic to play within and giving the player more agency than if they were controlling Cartman or Kenny.
Sometimes you simply don’t need the protagonist to speak. It’s important for Portal’s worldbuilding that the player character be a real, clearly-defined person, but the game’s tone is far more impactful when GLADOS doesn’t have any quirky dialogue to play off of. She is fully in control…until she isn’t. By having a silent protagonist,Portalis able to make its villain far more imposing and iconic, all while making the player feel less in control until Chell is finally able to escape.
EveryPokemonprotagonist is silent and lacks any real defining character, so it would be easy to look at Red as little more than a cop-out of picking the player character from the first game in the franchise.
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However, not only has Red evolved as a figure in Pokemon lore through supplemental TV shows and comics, but he also has something that literally no other protagonist in a mainline game has. He remains silent when the player meets him in the final battle in Gold and Silver.
Although technically silent by player character terms, in-universe Serge actually does a lot of talking. He’s one of the few silent protagonists with real dialogue options throughout the game that aren’t simply translated into a nod or headshake. Even more unique, Serge actually gets real dialogue lines within the story due to a body swap situation. While he remains a silent character under the player’s control, he has more in-world personality and speaking parts than most silent protagonists.
IfDoomhad first been released in the modern era, Doomguy would probably have a proper name, a tragic backstory, and plenty of unfortunate one-liners as he blew up wave after wave of demonic monsters. Fortunately, Doom is a franchise that predates dialogue in games, and as such the series’ over-the-top violence and combat scenarios are only strengthened by the completely silent participation of the player character. Doomguy’s silence completely changes the tone of the games and puts the focus where it should be — shooting things.
Although eventually developing the ability to speak in later games, Jak is actually one of the few silent protagonists from thePlayStationplatformer era. Crash made plenty of noises andSpyrotalked more than most would prefer, but Jak stayed silent throughout his first outing. His silence further highlighted the dynamic between himself and the wisecracking Daxter. In some ways, it helped endear the player more to Jak since he was as much a passive observer of the story as the player was, but the player still had a connection to the dialogue through Daxter.
Whether all iterations of Link are different people, the same character reincarnated, or a series of parallel timelines, one thing remains consistent across the franchise — the dude cannot talk. Having a silent protagonist is ideal for an adventure game likeZeldasince the story is really just there to bridge the various doors, treasure chests, and puzzles. However, it has had the unfortunate consequence in some games of spotlighting the annoying traits of some of the more vocal participants in Link’s journey (we’re looking at you, Navi).
One of the original silent protagonists in a story-driven game, Chrono is an iconic hero of the SNES RPG era. He’s a character that unites his party through action rather than words, developing such loyalty in his companions that they will go to great lengths to alter the timeline and attempt to save his life. Chrono’s reaction sprites remain iconic to this day, giving some much-needed personality to the fiery protagonist that keeps his presence in line with the cast of colorful characters that join his adventure.
