Trabia Garden

I've been thinking recently about silent protagonists.

It tends to put me off trying a videogame if the protagonist is silent. I often find it hard to get invested in silent protagonists, and that can really impair my enjoyment of a game. If I'm going to spend hours inhabiting a particular character, I'd like to care about that character!

However, in recent years, I've discovered a couple of silent protagonists who really clicked for me. I thought it might be interesting - for me, if no one else - to consider which silent protagonists work for me, and what makes them work.

Therefore: here's a list of silent protagonists from games I've played, in roughly descending order of fondness!

I'm defining 'silent protagonist' here as a character who hits both of the following points:

a) They are unvoiced or minimally voiced. They might have voiced action grunts or brief battle quotes, but they're never going to say an eloquent line of dialogue aloud.
b) If they speak at all, it's exclusively or almost exclusively through occasional dialogue options chosen by the player. They don't paraphrase or elaborate on the dialogue option; the text in the option is all you get.

I've omitted characters from games I never really played enough of to form a strong impression of the protagonist, e.g. Bloodborne and the various Zelda games I've unsuccessfully attempted to get into. I've also probably omitted some characters just because they slipped my mind.


Silent protagonists I love:

Protagonist (Persona 5). I've never seen another silent protagonist with quite as much personality as Joker. Plenty of voiced protagonists don't have as much personality as Joker. His animations are stylish and distinctive; his dialogue options are frequently hilarious. He's a bold, playful, sarcastic little shit and I love him.

Sunny (Omori). The game really immerses you in Sunny's head, in a very literal way. Although he never speaks, I got a strong impression of his fears and delusions and psychological struggles, and I ended up getting very attached to this kid. Omori doesn't typically give you choices more complex than 'yes/no', but I found it interesting that the game would sometimes offer yes/no choices as a way of indicating hesitation, fear or reluctance; there are times when just the fact that you're being offered the choice tells you something about Sunny's character, because it means he's torn between the two options.

Kris (Deltarune). I find Kris fascinating. There's something so strange and dark and unsettling about them, and the glimpses we get of their character paint an interestingly complicated picture. They're lonely, they're bored, they're an outcast, they're sentimental, they have a cruel streak, their friends mean a lot to them. The player, in their role as the one controlling the protagonist, is able to make Kris do things against their will, but it's unclear how Kris feels about the player's presence overall. I'm so interested to see how the rest of Deltarune goes.


Silent protagonists I like:

Chell (Portal). Chell is truly silent, never gets so much as a dialogue option, but the gameplay conveys an impression of her character as relentlessly determined. She also stands out to me for being a female silent protagonist, which I haven't seen many of! It often feels like protagonists aren't allowed to be female unless there's somehow a reason for them to be female, so I appreciate the fact that Chell is a woman despite the fact that, if she were a man, pretty much nothing about the game would change. She's not a woman for plot purposes. She's not a woman for eye candy purposes; it's a first-person game and you almost never see her on screen. She just happens to be a woman.

Protagonist (Persona 3). I'm talking about the original game here, as I haven't yet played Reload. The Persona 3 protagonist doesn't have anywhere near the amount of personality that comes through in Persona 5's protagonist, but I still got a slight impression of his character. The Persona 3 protagonist generally comes across to me as clueless and eager to please, which is mildly endearing.

Protagonist (Persona 4). Again, I only got a faint sense of personality from Persona 4's protagonist, but there's still enough there for me to pick up on something: a quiet, serious, dedicated kid who cares very strongly about his friends. He also loves cats; that's important!

Sonic (Sonic the Hedgehog). Sonic gets an unfair advantage here because I used to watch The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog and read Sonic the Comic! But his animations still give him some cute personality as a silent protagonist, e.g. the way he gets visibly impatient if you leave him motionless.

Amaterasu (Okami). I considered putting Amaterasu in the 'basically indifferent to, but they get points for being cute' tier below! But, in addition to being cute, she gets extra points for the touch of personality in her reactions, and in being able to bite anyone.

Stanley (The Stanley Parable). As with Chell, Stanley is truly and completely silent, but the nature of the gameplay gives you an impression of his character: rebellious, contrary, curious. He's really only made interesting by the narrator's obsession with him, though.


Silent protagonists I'm basically indifferent to, but they get points for being cute:

Ori (Ori and the Blind Forest). Ori is, to be fair, very cute, and a little personality comes across in the story cutscenes. It's possible I'm ranking Ori down slightly because I hated the ending of Ori and the Will of the Wisps so much that it impacted my feelings about the entire series.

Dixie/Donkey/Diddy Kong (Donkey Kong Country). There's some personality in their animations, but I never became invested in them as characters.


Silent protagonists I'm indifferent to:

Frisk (Undertale). There's some cute personality in some of the ACT options, but overall I didn't get especially attached to Frisk.

Jak (Jak & Daxter). In the first game, I had no real interest in Jak; the most interesting thing about him is probably the fact that this quiet kid is friends with the non-stop chatterbox Daxter. (Which works out pretty well; as a quiet kid, I found it comfortable to be friends with other kids who were happy to talk without much input from me!) In Jak II he gained the ability to talk (and a lot of trauma) and immediately became a lot more interesting to me!

Reycho (World's End Club). This kid has basically no personality, but he escapes last place because he joined in the stupid 'A human, a human, a human!' dance that made me crack up.

Mario (Super Mario series). Mario is, of course, a classic videogame protagonist who has starred in a lot of well-crafted games! But I do not care about him as a character.


Separately, there's a 'this isn't a character; this is just me' section that doesn't really fit into the fondness ranking:

Protagonist (Pokémon). The protagonist of Pokémon games is just me. It's a kid, and it's often a boy; in Pokémon games where you choose the protagonist's gender, I'll just go with whichever protagonist I prefer the design of. But it's still me.

When I'm playing as a boy in Pokémon games, I usually name the protagonist Rakuni. (If I'm playing as a girl, of course, I'll go with Riona.) But 'Bulby is the protagonist's Bulbasaur' or 'Bulby is Rakuni's Bulbasaur' would be an absolutely insane thing to say. Bulby is my Bulbasaur.

There are Pokémon protagonist designs I like more than others; my favourite is the male protagonist (Hilbert) in Pokémon Black and White. But I can't rank the characters by fondness; they're all just me.


I'm not sure what conclusions I can draw from this exercise!

I suppose, looking back over this list, I find it interesting that my three favourite silent protagonists each caught my attention in different ways. Joker's personality shines through in his charming animations and fun dialogue options. Sunny's trauma and inner thoughts are conveyed to the player through the game's environments and mechanics. Kris is a mystery who you learn about primarily through the way other characters react to or talk about them.

So I suppose there are multiple ways to create an interesting silent protagonist! It's still rare for games to present me with a silent protagonist who really catches my attention, but it's good to know that it can be done.

Q: Riona, do you really have time to write mini-reviews of every game you've ever played?
A: I absolutely don't.
Q: And yet.
A: And yet!

Some of these are more just reminiscences than reviews, but I've said at least a line or two about every game. Possibly. I've almost certainly forgotten about some.

For the most part these are listed alphabetically, so you can easily track down any games you're interested in, but games in a series are listed together, so, for example, 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors, Virtue's Last Reward and Zero Time Dilemma are all under Z for Zero Escape, and World of Final Fantasy comes under F. I've put a (LP) next to games I've only experienced through Let's Plays. Flash games, text adventures and electronic versions of card, tile or board games are not included.

Games I first played after originally posting this entry are marked with an asterisk.


( Thoughts on every game I've ever played, or close enough. )


I'm glad I've put this very important and necessary entry into the waiting world.

I've been listening a lot to the music of Ōkami lately. It's got an absolutely outstanding soundtrack. Videogame music can be so beautiful; I wish it were more widely recognised.

Here are a couple of my favourite pieces:

Ryoshima Plains, which is a lovely soaring piece and makes me want to race across fields. I frequently find myself striking silly poses or conducting an imaginary orchestra whilst listening to it.
Giving Kushinada a Ride, which is excellent music to listen to if you are RACING AGAINST TIME TO STOP AN ANCIENT EVIL.

Oh, Ōkami. Possibly my favourite videogame ever. (But Issun's attitude to women is so frustrating. Graphics, gameplay, music, all spot-on, all beautiful, and then they had to make Issun completely incapable of respecting anything with breasts. You were so close to being a perfect game, Ōkami.

I'd still recommend the game to anyone with a PS2 (or a Wii, but if you have both I hear the PS2 version is better). The entire game is animated in the style of a brushpainting; you can even see the texture of the imaginary paper through the animation. It is indescribably gorgeous, and so much fun, and overall probably the best game I've ever played. But do be warned that it has some unpleasant gender issues.)


Speaking of characters who have trouble respecting women, although at least in this case it's treated as unacceptable: Ashes to Ashes! It's odd that I've talked so little about Ashes to Ashes in this journal, because I genuinely believe it's one of the best things I have ever seen on television. It had a shaky start, back at the very beginning, but that's almost added to the experience, in a way; I've progressed from disliking Alex in the first few episodes to being invested in her story by the end of the first series to adoring her by the ultimate finale. I think I might actually prefer it to Life on Mars, although I'd have to rewatch both shows before I could really come to a conclusion.


( A few thoughts on the Ashes to Ashes finale. )


You know what Ōkami should do? It should replace Issun with a tiny Gene Hunt. Tiny Alex Drake and/or Sam Tyler can come along as well, to help keep him in line.

This is possibly the most illogical crossover idea I've ever had.

EXTREMELY IMPORTANT POLL:




This is a picture (courtesy of lincolnimp) of Derren Brown lying on a great deal of broken glass.


[Poll #1456923]


Something Wicked This Way Comes was the first of Derren Brown's works I saw, and it is still one of my favourites. He hammers a nail up his nose and deprives himself of oxygen and walks on glass and has a man stand on his face and asks an audience member to slap him. I love it for all the wrong reasons.

(I swear I do not usually find pain this attractive. There is just something about Derren Brown injuring himself that is really, really hot.)


To finish on a slightly less horrifying note: here (YouTube link) is an incredibly lovely piece of music from Ōkami. I love that game so much. Its style is so beautiful, and it is so much fun, and, whilst I hesitate to pin down any one videogame as my absolute favourite, Ōkami would almost certainly be in my top three. Let's all listen to the piece and put this glasswalking business behind us.

There is a Female Characters Drabble-a-thon going on at the moment! If you're like me and feel that you don't write about female characters nearly often enough, here's your chance to redress the balance. (Sadly, there are almost no videogame prompts.)

Also, a rather fun meme. Stolen from eva_kasumi:

- Arrange the characters in your icons in alphabetical order.
- Pair the first character up with the second, the third up with the fourth and so on.
- Write a mini-ficlet about every pairing.
- Profit!

The results of my attempt at this are under the cut in varying degrees of cop-outness. It starts with Albus Dumbledore/Allison Cameron and goes downhill from there.

( Perhaps I shouldn't have included the Pokémon. )

Actually, Amaterasu would have the easiest time ever in Silent Hill, wouldn't she? She'd try to get out, find herself blocked by one of those rifts in the road, paint the road back in and stroll across it. Even if she were somehow forced to go farther into the town, no making handles out of wax and horseshoes for her; she'd just need to paint in the trapdoor handle. And she could use the wind ability to blow the fog out of her field of vision! You've met your match, Silent Hill.

Did I mention that you all need to play Ōkami? Well, you do. It is an extremely good game. (I still want to see Katamari Silent Hill, too. Katamari Other Video Games In General, in fact. It would be awesome. Brushpainting Katamari! Squall and company being swept up into a Katamari just before they go in to face the Sorceress! And I want the Silent Hill level to have the cheeriest music of the lot.)

One essay to go!

I spent Sunday afternoon with th_esaurus, whom I have met so many times that I believe I may now be able to consider her a Real-Life Person. We watched Rodney McKay fangirling over whales and we spent a good hour mocking Torchwood and I became convinced that Harrow had somehow incorporated bits of Silent Hill, and when the time came for us to part I didn't want to leave; I just wanted to stay there, on her comfortable bed in her warm room, and listen to her playing Guitar Hero for ever.

But apparently I am supposed to be doing some sort of university course or something. Tsch.

The topics that came up in our conversation included the concept of Ianto/Myfanwy-the-pterodactyl fic. I just thought that perhaps you should know.

In other news, I picked up a copy of Ōkami recently, because hopingly had been saying some very positive things about it, and I appear to have racked up nine hours of gameplay in about two days, which probably isn't terribly healthy. One slightly alarming side-effect is that I have begun to see the world in general in the game's art style. The style is beautiful, yes, but it is slightly disconcerting when you're strolling along and your mind is convinced that you're walking through a brush-painting.

Finally: thank you so much for your letter, sideshow_meg! If anyone's looking for a fic-prompt, you could consider her rather brilliant suggestion:

Jeremy and Richard become penpals, but Zombie!Piers the postman intercepts their letters to destroy their love AND THE WORLD OVER.

I'll want to read it when you've finished.