I wrote about narrators a short while ago. I loved that article — it was challenging for me since I’m used to writing about stuff relating to Spider-Man and, instead, I wrote about Holden Caulfield. It was a ton of fun, though. This time I wanna write about a similar thing. Not a narrator, but a kind of protagonist. In certain games, some of the main characters are silent. Well, not entirely silent. It’s kinda weird, but it’s also a super niche topic that no one talks about. What better way to give the silent character attention than write about it?
It’s interesting, mainly because I thought other mediums had silent protagonists. Of course, video games are my favorite medium so I wanna focus on them, but I could have sworn there were some books or shows with silent protagonists as well. Doing research on this topic, the main entries in databases and various web sites all listed video games as the main source of silent main characters. I challenge any creator out there to make a book with a silent main character. That would probably be great I bet.
That’s an entirely different article though. I’m pretty deep into the video game community. I do research on the scene a lot. By research, I mean watching videos on various series I have an interest in while I do work. And by work, I mean writing, playing games or going to the gym, and … well yeah you get it by now. What I’m saying is I’m a bona fide expert and extraordinarily humble. So, I have a good amount of skin in the game.
When I think of a game with a silent protagonist, my mind goes to one of the most famous game franchises ever conceived. The Legend of Zelda is a household name. It’s one of those games that you’d find a Hollywood nerd playing in a teen movie from the 90s. It’s just too iconic. Would you believe me if I told you that the main character of the series, Link, has been silent in the games ever since the 80s? Yeah, believe it or not. This multi-million dollar hero takes the phrase “money talks” a little too seriously.
That says a lot though. Silent protagonists can’t be that bad if one of the biggest video game franchises has one. What makes this borderline comedic is the amount of lore in this series. There is deadass a book called “The Hyrule Historia” that is dedicated to the lore and worlds of this iconic franchise. That’s how deep this rabbit hole goes. But again, that’s not a bad thing. Zelda has a cool silent hero, so be it. Let’s shift gears.
Full transparency here. I want to talk about Persona. Not Carl Jung or any of that mumbo jumbo, I’m talking about the Japanese video game series, which were actually inspired by Jung — so, respect. Persona is a really cool series for many reasons. It dates back to the late 90s and it was originally a spin-off series of a greater franchise called Shin Megami Tensei. Yeah, this is all very confusing, but don’t worry. The Persona series is so popular nowadays it damn near eclipses its father franchise.
This game series has had silent protagonists for a while. Ever since Persona Three (P3), specifically, the series had a much more modern appeal when it comes to combat design. Every main series game since the third installment has had a silent protagonist that modern fans take a liking to. These games are just so damn cool and unique. I’ll be speaking on the modern games by the way — I have yet to play the first or second installments. These modern games are super popular as well, so it all works out.
These modern Persona games are two games in one. They’re one half social stimulator, in which you hang out with the characters, and another half dungeon crawlers, in which you roam a supernatural plane and kill demons. My buddy once walked in on me playing the game and he was very perplexed. I tried explaining it to him and he just didn’t get it. So yeah, these games have a ton of cool stuff. The playable characters, though, are all quiet as hell. Why?
On one hand, it doesn’t really matter. The side characters’ charisma make up for the lack of dialogue. Otherwise, these main characters usually have some kind of pre-defined personality. The guy in Persona Five was wrongfully arrested, so he’s this cool, quiet rebel. In P3, the guy is quiet and emo but still cool. Persona Four’s main guy is just quiet and perfect, but that’s fine. These games let the player make their own dialogue decisions, so they can craft what kind of character they want to be. It’s still cool to have this baseline personality, and just mold it into different ways. It gives the player freedom.
Is it a bit bland? Yeah, I can see why you would think that. I’d rather a character have an entire personality than just a half of one. But, I get it. I believe if it’s up to the player’s choice enough, silent protagonists can be cool. It’s like living out a fantasy in this unique world. That’s escapism. It’s kinda why video games were made to begin with. Quiet main characters are no issue. Make more of them, why don’t ya? The more I think about it, maybe I like these quiet smooth talkers because they’re the opposite of me.
Nicolas Scagnelli is a senior majoring in English.
Views expressed in the opinions pages represent the opinions of the columnists. The only piece which represents the views of the Pipe Dream Editorial Board is the Staff Editorial.