I would be really interested to know which game had the first black protagonist. I don’t mean a game where the player had the option of choosing a black avatar, but a game where the protagonist was a specific character who was black. The only example of this I can think of is the 2006 game Paradise (which I’ve never played), where the protagonist is an African woman, but I’m sure there must be something earlier.
I can’t offhand think of any Latino game protagonists at all. There’ve been plenty of Asian ones of course, due largely to the many games produced in Japan.
*This is probably not the first, but in King’s Quest V (1990) King Graham comes out of retirement to rescue his family. I don’t think his age is stated, but he has adult children by that time and his hair is gray.
King’s Quest VII may be the first and is definitely one of the few games where there are two protagonists and both are female. The player alternates between Princess Rosella and her mother Queen Valanice. I can think of a few games where the player alternates between a male and female character (e.g. the second and third Gabriel Knight games), or has the choice to play the game through as either a man or women (Alone in the Dark), but I don’t know of any other games that have multiple female protagonists and no male protagonists.
While true, Dr. J and Larry Bird was a one on one game, and it was really sold on them. I’d consider it as valid as Tiger Woods Golf, if you could only play Tiger Woods.
Leaving aside whether to count sports games or not, I find it interesting that these are all real people (which most game protagonists certainly are not).
I remember a game called Bible Adventures or something on the NES where you played as Noah collecting animals for the ark. If you’re a young earther, then he probably wins since he was past the century mark by then.
As opposed to old characters, can anyone think of someone younger than Ness from SNES Earthbound at 13, or the main character from the prequel Mother at 12? (Lucas from Mother 3* is also 12, but since it wasn’t released in the States, maybe they don’t count.)
Obviously, with the young, races/creatures that only live to 15 don’t count.
*-If you haven’t played Mother 3, you’re really missing out. PM me if you need a link to the translated ROM
Most of those don’t have a well-defined character, though. Usually, the protagonist is just refered to as “you” (or occasionally “cretin” or other such perjoratives).
Billy Blaze aka Commander Keen was 8 years old. I’d be shocked if there isn’t a third-person shooter or platform-type game with a baby protagonist somewhere out there.
Personally, I wouldn’t count her. Even without a single lead, Terra, Locke, Edgar, Sabin, and Celes seemed a lot more important to the story. Relm almost felt like an afterthought, but YMMV. Although her bit with Ultros was one of my favorite scenes in the game…
Commander Keen! Beans With Bacon Mega-Rocket! How could I have forgotten him! :smack:
