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[SpaceCadetKeon]

One of my favorite video game characters is Lilac, the protagonist of the Freedom Planet games. But there was one thing about her design that I never really understood.

Just what the hell are those blue things on the sides of her head? They're right where her ears should be. And those things on top of her head are actually horns. I mean, they look neat I guess, but what are they, and why are they there?

Well as I discovered recently, they are actually hearing aids. It turns out that Lilac has a genetic defect that made her as good as deaf, so she wears those blue things over her ears to help her hear. I actually like her even more now that I know this about her.


It also got me wondering: what are some other video game protagonists that are disabled in some way, shape, or form?

EDIT: You know what? I'm not that picky. They don't necessarily have to be the main character. If they're playable at all, I'd love to hear about them.

 

[SixMachine]

From Guilty Gear there is

Zato-1 who is blind, though he wasn't born this way, it was the contract with his shadow demon that took his sight.

and Baiken, who lost her arm when Gears went batshit insane and blew up Japan. Though she keeps a whole armory of weapons in that sleeve of hers.

 

[lucebuce12]

Baiken from Guilty Gear.

One-armed and One-eyed. Yet kicks a lot of ass.

Spoiler

Not really a protagonist but still.

EDIT: GODDAMN IT SiXMACHiNE

 

[SixMachine]

Baiken from Guilty Gear.

One-armed and One-eyed. Yet kicks a lot of ass.

Spoiler

Not really a protagonist but still.

The way I see it, any character I want to play in a fighting game protagonist because I want them to win .

 

[SPCTRE]

Punished Snake?

 

[T.O.P]

The Surge's opening was actually a pretty clever way to start the game

Spoiler

 

[plasmawave]

Raiden from MGR.

 

[SomTervo]

This was a big spoiler for me (edit: heh, TOP going in without spoilers) because i went in blind, but the protagonist from the recent Souls-like sci fi action game

Spoiler

The Surge

begins the game in a wheelchair. Part of the reason you are at the facility is because the protag is signing up for a job where he can use a power suit.

You literally begin the game in

Spoiler

the wheelchair controlling it off the train into the facility.

It's amazing.

 

[poodaddy]

Senua from Hellblade is pretty severely depressed and schizophrenic, not to mentioning she suffers from intense PTSD and self loathing issues; she's extremely emotionally and psychologically disadvantaged.

 

[lucebuce12]

From X-Men: Mutant Academy 2.

 

[Rymuth]

Joker from Mass Effect was born with a condition that makes his bones incredibly brittle. He has to be very careful when walking because even a trip could result in his bones shattering.

 

[shmoglish]

Does this count (killer7)?

 

[chaobreaker]

Raiden from MGR.

I'm not super versed in MGS lore but wasn't becoming a cyborg killing machine completely voluntary?

 

[poodaddy]

From X-Men: Mutant Academy 2.

Lmfao Goddammit.

 

[KonradLaw]

There have been couple of interesting games recently, where the protagonist is blind, like Beyond Eyes or Perception.

 

[BomberMouse]

Bentley from the Sly Cooper series. It's quite shocking since he is fine in Sly Cooper 2 but he gets injured and adopts his wheelchair for Sly 3.

 

[Crossing Eden]

Joker from Mass Effect was born with a condition that makes his bones incredibly brittle. He has to be very careful when walking because even a trip could result in his bones shattering.

And my man still came through at the end of Mass Effect 2:

 

[Dark_castle]

Cloud counts?

 

[luulubuu]

This year has been pretty awesome about this

Senua, from Hellblade has Psychosis and the game adress it very well and...that's so so hard to watch, great game

Billy Lurg, from Dishonored

Missing an arm, an eye and who knows what more

The protagonist of

Spoiler

Saya no Uta

Has

Spoiler

agnosia which wont allow him to recognise his enviroement correctly

 

[Star Orpheus]

I'm not super versed in MGS lore but wasn't becoming a cyborg killing machine completely voluntary?

Nope. Captured by the Patriots and experimented on.

It's also notable that at least his first cyborg body required dialyses.

 

[lazygecko]

Most dudebro military FPS protagonists seem to be severely asthmatic and can only run for a few seconds at a time.

 

[StoneFox]

I'm not super versed in MGS lore but wasn't becoming a cyborg killing machine completely voluntary?

The exact opposite, he was forced.

 

[Jangowuzhere]

Any character that has some overpowered magic or weird sci-fi enhancement that totally undermines the character's disability hardly qualifies.

Yes, Big Boss and Raiden lose limbs and sight, but it hardly inconveniences them when they get their bionic/cyborg replacement. Honestly, It undermines the loss and horror that disabled people go through. Characters like these shouldn't talk about loss and shit. They got a free upgrade and can actually do their jobs better as a result.

 

[Kain-Nosgoth]

Not the protagonist but a very very important character in To The Moon :

Spoiler

River, who has asperger syndrome

 

[StoneFox]

Is amnesia a disability?

 

[SixMachine]

Is amnesia a disability?

If videogame anmesia worked like most cases of real life amnesia it would be very interesting, albeit difficult thing to do, which would be a pretty big disability in contrast to a character being totally fine but forgot their past. It would be more like Memento, where the character constantly forgets the context of where they are and what they are doing. Their short-term memory cannot seem to be processed into a long term memory, which IIRC is the much more common one.

 

[SMG]

Muncie of the Odyssey series.
A water based creature that needed a wheelchair to move at anything other than an awkward, stumbling hop on land.

 

[*Splinter]

Don't read posts about The Surge if you're planning on playing it. There's an interesting moment in the game that spoiler tags won't really protect. (It's just a small moment, I recommend the game regardless of spoilers).

The Surge's opening was actually a pretty clever way to start the game

Spoiler

It was especially surprising as you don't realise this until you gain control of the character. In fact

Spoiler

the wheelchair

is hidden from the initial camera angle so it's not until you actually move that you see it. You've just had a little bit of setup/backstory and it's like the character never felt the need to mention his disability because, hey, it's just a part of everyday life for him. Really clever, and it creates a memorable moment in a part of the game that's usually completely forgettable (and with what could easily have been a forgettable main character).

I know some people criticise the game for never really mentioning it again, but I don't know if that's actually a problem. His disability is a part of the reason for him being there, but it's not actually what the game is about, it's just a part of him.

 

[MrCinos]

Everyone needs to read REAL by Inoue Takehiko. I think it's his magnum opus and is even better than his other manga, Vagabond.

It's definitely my favorite title I've read that revolved around people with disabilites.

EDIT: Oops, it's gaming, not off-topic, but I'd still leave the recommendation as I've no notable game-related examples off the top of my mind.

 

[Wanderer5]

Not quite protagonist, but Symmetra from Overwatch was basically confirmed to be on the autism spectrum after a comic about her gave hints about it.

I don't think there is much examples of the spectrum in games, through I think Brigid Tenenbaum from Bioshock was confirmed to be highly functional in the spectrum.

 

[bugulu]

Not a protagonist but a memorable character nonetheless.

Sir Hammerlock from Borderlands 2

 

[Finaika]

Not quite protagonist, but Symmetra from Overwatch was basically confirmed to be on the autistic spectrum after a comic about her gave hints about it.

Torbjörn has a robotic arm.

 

[BananasWithGuns]

Joker from Mass Effect was born with a condition that makes his bones incredibly brittle. He has to be very careful when walking because even a trip could result in his bones shattering.

This is a pretty great one.

 

[shaneskim]

Barret from FF7.

 

[1upsuper]

Joker from Mass Effect was born with a condition that makes his bones incredibly brittle. He has to be very careful when walking because even a trip could result in his bones shattering.

Never played ME but my friends have told me I should play it because Joker has the same disability that I do.

As for my own contribution, most of the obvious choices are already here. There are pathetically few disabled characters in video games. While not playable, one of the main characters in Bloodborne uses a wheelchair, and I made a (very spoilery) thread a while back discussing what's good and bad about this character's portrayal.

 

[SatoAilDarko]

From X-Men: Mutant Academy 2.

This gift is incredible.

Does this count (killer7)?

I mean you actually play as him in some moments so yeah.

 

[Iriscomeback]

From X-Men: Mutant Academy 2.

Hahaha, I must play this now

 

[Kurtofan]

Bentley from the Sly Cooper series. It's quite shocking since he is fine in Sly Cooper 2 but he gets injured and adopts his wheelchair for Sly 3.

was going to mention him.

 

[Romars202129]

MGS3 Big Boss!
I really liked the way they blacked out part of the screen to simulate losing an eye after it happens.

 

[SprachBrooks]

Crash from Crash Bandicoot.

 

[AlexBasch]

The Surge's opening was actually a pretty clever way to start the game

Spoiler

Yeah! I downloaded the demo on XB1 and was surprised at the

Spoiler

guy actually sitting on his wheelchair instead of a train seat. Took me by surprise.

 

[Danjin44]

Zero from Drakengard 3.

She lost her hand and one of her eye.

Two if mental health counts.

There is very sad story behind how her mind broke.

 

[nOoblet16]

I think BJ Blazkowicz is paraplegic in The New Colossus.

 

[Screaming Meat]

Meagan Foster/

Spoiler

Billie Lurk

from Dishonored: Death of the Outsider. She has a prosthetic eye and arm.

 

[JustSomeone]

Geralt from the witcher is sterile. Does that count?

 

[Booker Dewitt]

Blood will Tell is literally a game about a disabled man fighting to regain his body.

 

[TheOGB]

There was that one game where you play as blind little girl, Beyond Eyes.

Torbjörn has a robotic arm.

A good chunk of Overwatch heroes have prosthetics. McCree, Symmetra, Junkrat, Torb, and Genji. Plus there's Ana who got shot in one of her eyes.

 

[Mifec]

Meagan Foster/

Spoiler

Billie Lurk

from Dishonored: Death of the Outsider. She has a prosthetic eye and arm.

They're patently better than what she had before though and fully usable.

The ones in that pic at least, Megan Foster in DH2 counts when she's missing an eye and arm.

 

[Steel]

The list of protagonists with super-cool high-tech prosthetics that make them stronger is ridiculously long(like half the characters in overwatch). The list of characters that actually have to deal with a disability beyond having a bit of an appearance change is a bit more interesting, imo.

 

[Fliesen]

There's plenty of games with NPC characters / side characters with a disability. I was assuming OP wanted to know how many and which games allowed for the player to take the roll of a disabled person - and how that affects gameplay and possibly creates empathy towards said condition. (i mean, no offense, but Hammerlock?!...)

The list of protagonists with super-cool high-tech prosthetics that make them stronger is ridiculously long(like half the characters in overwatch). The list of characters that actually have to deal with a disability beyond having a bit of an appearance change is a bit more interesting, imo.

also, this.


Hellblade is a great example, imho.

The prologue to Metal Gear Solid V also does a great job, having you play as a character who cannot move their legs.

Also, as silly as it sounds - i feel like the wheelchair in Dead Rising does an adequate job of putting you in the position of a person pushing a wheelchair. (Rescured survivors will actually sit in your wheelchair)
Less maneuverability, larger turn radius, tougher to naviagte crowds, stairs are the enemy.