The 10 best Black video game protagonists
The 10 best Black video game protagonists
Representation ways a lot in whatsoever entertainment medium. Though video games have arguably done a better job of creating Black protagonists than motion-picture show and television, there's still a long way to go. In a 2014 study past Ithaca College graduate student Ross Orlando, Black leads were present in only iii per centum of the nigh highly rated games between 2007 and 2012. Compare and contrast to white protagonists, who fabricated up 67 percentage of master characters.
Black leads exist not only within mainstream, big-budget games, but also in lesser-known cult classics and smaller budget indie games, too. Hither are some of the best Black protagonists in gaming.
Barret Wallace (Last Fantasy VII / Final Fantasy Vii Remake)
When Final Fantasy 7 begins, Cloud Strife is a freelance soldier for a terrorist organisation called AVALANCHE. The grouping only has but one goal: to destroy the Shinra Electrical Power Company at all costs. AVALANCHE'due south leader, Barret Wallace, is a chaingun-welding loudmouth, whose fight confronting the tyrannical megacorporation is personal. That's because Shinra is responsible for murdering both Barret's wife and his close friend. The company also shot off Barret's correct arm, and wants to drain the world's lifestream dry. Underlying themes of environmentalism and eco-terrorism are at the core of Final Fantasy VII's main narrative. Barret'southward revolution against an oppressive entity makes him 1 of the most popular Black protagonists of whatever Japanese RPG to engagement, despite some cringe-worthy dialogue steeped in ethnic stereotypes.
CJ Johnson (Grand Theft Automobile San Andreas)
Every mainline entry in Rockstar Games' controversial Grand Theft Auto series satirizes American misdeed in an over-the-top manner. In 1000 Theft Auto: San Andreas, early on '90s Los Angeles serves as the perfect properties for the franchise's first Blackness protagonist. CJ Johnson's epic adventure — finding the one responsible for his female parent'south murder — is filled with existent-world allusions to gang culture, corrupt police departments and the failed war on drugs. The game even concludes with a massive anarchism in Los Santos, sparked by police force brutality. Lending to CJ's authenticity, West Coast rapper Young Maylay voiced him, while rapper-turned-screenwriter DJ Pooh (Friday, Three Strikes) co-wrote the game with Dan Houser and James Worrall.
Alyx Vance (One-half-Life 2 / Half-Life: Alyx)
Alyx Vance began her digital life as Gordon Freeman's ally confronting the Combine in Half-Life ii. The biracial girl of scientist Dr. Eli Vance and Azian Vance (killed during the events of Loftier Life), Alyx keeps Freeman out of trouble on several occasions. Her intelligence and combat abilities make her just as capable as the franchise'due south leading human being. Every bit such, information technology makes sense that the VR-only spinoff Half-Life: Alyx puts players in her shoes. Valve Software'south first game in the serial since 2007, One-half-Life: Alyx was a game-changer for the medium thanks to its tight controls and ambitious narrative.
Garcian Smith (Killer 7)
In the wicked cel-shaded globe of Killer 7, nations around the globe destroy all of their nuclear weapons in a fireworks display of international peace. Air travel is shut down, and public Internet use is banned. When a new radical group of virus-infected suicide bombers called Sky Smile begin committing acts of terrorism all around the world, information technology's up to the Smith Syndicate a.k.a. the Killer 7 to terminate them. The group of assassins are actually all concrete representations of a frail, wheelchair-bound man, Harman Smith, who can transform freely into any i of them. Leading the team is Garcian Smith, who can revive slain assassins. He serves as the Killer vii's ascendant personality, and becomes fundamental to confusing-on-purpose plot.
James Heller (Epitome two)
Epitome two took a bold risk by making the previous entry's hero, Alex Mercer, a villain. Sometime U.Southward. Marine sergeant James Heller serves as the sequel's protagonist. Mercer infects Heller with the Blacklight virus. This leads to a quest to kill the former hero, whom Heller believes has caused a new outbreak of the Blacklight virus that killed the ex-Marine's family. Heller is just as powerful and capable every bit Mercer, and proves his strength all the style to their final explosive confrontation.
Michael LeRoi (Shadow Homo)
Based on the early '90s Valiant Comics, Shadow Man and its PlayStation 2-exclusive sequel, Shadow Human being: 2econd Coming, became cult favorites for many reasons. The voodoo-influenced atmosphere set the stage for a captivating story about Michael LeRoi, who has the power to traverse the worlds of the living and the dead, in a quest to stop the apocalypse. It doesn't hurt that the title featured a fairly interesting open-ended design, which blended Metroidvania tropes and third-person shooter gameplay that wouldn't feel out of place in Tomb Raider. The game has become enough of a cult archetype that Nightdive Studios recently announced a re-release of the original Shadow Human on current-gen consoles.
Marlow Briggs (Marlow Briggs and the Mask of Death)
On the surface, Marlow Briggs and the Mask of Decease is an indie homage to God of War and Devil May Weep. However, veteran voice actor Arif Kinchen brings a great deal of personality to the game's titular hero. The story revolves around Marlow attempting to enjoy a vacation with his Mayan archeologist girlfriend, who works for the shady Heng Long. Things get turned upside-down when the Marlow, a smokejumper by merchandise, gets turned into the "Sacred Warrior" by long-dead Mayan king Tepechalic Ix. What happens adjacent is a story that'southward over-the-superlative in both its design and its sense of humor.
Lincoln Clay (Mafia Three)
1960s New Orleans is the inspiration for Mafia III's open up-world setting of New Bordeaux. The time catamenia and location allowed developer Hangar 13 to explore race within the criminal underworld. Racist mob boss Sal Marcano double-crosses protagonist Lincoln Clay in Mafia III'southward opening section, and their rivalry leads into some explosive moments later on. These include the popular "The Privileged Dice Slow" and "There'due south a War Goin' On" chapters, in which you destroy a white supremacist group inspired by the Ku Klux Klan.
Lee Everett (The Walking Dead: A Telltale Game Serial)
The most tragic character on the list, Flavour One of The Walking Expressionless: A Telltale Game Series revolves around Lee Everett. When we first meet this history professor, he'due south on his way to prison for killing a state senator, who was having an affair with Lee's wife. Plans change when a zombie apocalypse breaks out, and Lee must now survive in a harsh new earth. Along the way, he develops a deep male parent/daughter bond with a young girl named Clementine. Although players will ultimately decide the complexities of Lee'south moral compass and personality, his arc leads to an ending that'due south pretty heartbreaking.
Franklin Clinton (Grand Theft Automobile V)
Nearly 10 years after Chiliad Theft Auto: San Andreas' satirical gang fantasy, Rockstar returned to a reimagined Los Santos with three alternating protagonists. Although Michael De Santa and Trevor Philips brand upwardly the bulk of Grand Theft Auto V's narrative weight, Franklin Clinton becomes the nigh sympathetic of the three protagonists in his attempt to leave gang life backside. The first scattering of missions even feature him legally repossessing vehicles for his boss, in typical GTA mode. By the time the single-role player campaign concludes, Franklin has get the slickest getaway driver in Los Santos.
Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/round-up/best-games-black-protagonists
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