Support NeoGAF

[conman]

Isn't the Shadows of the Damned main character Latino?

I think you mean Fucking Latino.

 

[PKrockin]

I'm not really keeping track here, but one that came to mind that nobody mentioned yet is the Agent from Crackdown.

We're not counting Japanese as white are we?

 

[Nirolak]

Most Japanese games feature Japanese or Japanese-looking protagonists...

They do, but a lot of people do the "hair color isn't black" -> "this is a white person" association.

 

[sixteen-bit]

Wait, I thought Commander Shepard from ME was black?

The default one? He's a Dutch male model.

 

[Mista Koo]

He's middle eastern. Full name is Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, he's from Syria

Since when was middle eastern a race?

Spoiler

I prefer Arab.

 

[Conor 419]

I'm just questioning why he chose Samus...lol

The OP initially asked for female leads as well, no doubt he doubled back when he remembered there were a lot.

 

[Semblance]

Just Cause series, you play as Latino Superman, Rico Rodriguez.

 

[hayguyz]

OP is asking for non-white.

 

[Nirolak]

He's middle eastern. Full name is Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, he's from Syria

Since when was middle eastern a race?

Spoiler

I prefer Arab.

Well, if we go by the U.S. government's standards, middle eastern people are considered white, as are people from Northern Africa.

 

[LiK]

The OP initially asked for female leads as well, no doubt he doubled back when he remembered there were a lot.

ah, that explains it. I see he edited OP again. my bad.

 

[thefro]

Jade from Beyond Good and Evil

 

[TheOGB]

Thar really isn't that hard... Japanese games?

I assumed we weren't counting those because a Japanese game made by Japanese people (sometimes set in Japan) is likely going to have a Japanese protagonist.

 

[DangerousDave]

Limbo

 

[Kong]

Pajama Sam

 

[Mista Koo]

Well, if we go by the U.S. government's standards, middle eastern people are considered white, as are people from Northern Africa.

Really? Even if they were dark skinned?

 

[TheOGB]

Well, if we go by the U.S. government's standards, middle eastern people are considered white, as are people from Northern Africa.

This is why US government standards are fucking stupid.

Well, that and everything else wrong with them

 

[Nirolak]

Really? Even if they were dark skinned?

This is why US government standards are fucking stupid.

Well, that and everything else wrong with them

Yeah, they go by the definition of Caucasian (the 2000 stuff is still mostly used):

The following definitions apply to the 2000 census only.

"White. A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa. It includes people who indicate their race as "White" or report entries such as Irish, German, Italian, Lebanese, Near Easterner, Arab, or Polish."

Which still mostly holds and derives from this:

The term Caucasian race (also Caucasoid, Europid, or Europoid[1]) has been used to denote the general physical type of some or all of the populations of Europe, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, Western Asia (the Middle East), Central Asia and South Asia.[2] Historically, the term has been used to describe the entire population of these regions, without regard necessarily to skin tone.

So people from the Middle East, India, and countries like Algeria are considered White.

 

[MidnightScott]

Isn't the Shadows of the Damned main character Latino?

Garcia Fucking Hotspur

 

[sixteen-bit]

Just Cause series, you play as Latino Superman, Rico Rodriguez.

They say he's the best...

 

[Deleted member 81567]

idk, u got me.

 

[Orayn]

Altaïr is an interesting complication. He's a member of a non-European, Semitic ethnic group, but many would still consider him "white."

 

[The Lamonster]

Is OP looking to expose white character dominance or something? Because as evidenced in this thread, I don't think it exists, and I'm not sure what the point of this exercise was.

 

[NoirVisage]

Limbo

it wasn't funny the first time, even seriously speaking his race is undefined.

 

[Emitan]

Spoiler

his real name isnt nathan drake either

wtf?!

 

[Mista Koo]

Yeah, they go by the definition of Caucasian (the 2000 stuff is still mostly used):



Which still mostly holds and derives from this:



So people from the Middle East, India, and countries like Algeria are considered White.

But I don't want to be grouped with you people
(Just kidding.. I swear).

 

[conman]

What about Altair? Would you consider that, white/Caucasian?

If by "white," you mean "Western European," then no, he's not "white." But he is Caucasian, along with most everyone else from the Middle East.

It seems as though many posters are taking "non-white" to mean "not Western European," and even that is questionable since I believe Garcia Fucking Hotspur is Spanish, not Latino. So maybe people here think "white" means "speaks English natively and looks Anglo-Saxon."

In any event, yes, the games industry sucks when it comes to providing a diversity of main characters.

 

[IdreamofHIME]

The Rookie from the Marines campaign of AvP

Nico Bellic - GTA4

...Serbs aren't White?

 

[methane47]

ManShep is modelled after Mark Vanderloo, who is Dutch.

Holy crap.

They didn't take any creative liberties at all.

 

[Seth Balmore]

What the hell at some responses on this thread. Does white exclusively equal North American now?

First character that comes to mind is Kratos (under the ashes, obviously).

 

[Auto_aim1]

wtf?!

Yep, it's true.

Story spoiler:

Spoiler

Nathan Drake was not actually born "Nathan Drake"-- he created this name (or a part of it) for himself when he was older. His real name is unknown. By the time Drake turned five, his mother had committed suicide and his father relinquished custody of him to the state. Drake ended up in the Saint Francis Boys' Home, where he was raised by nuns and taught Latin.

 

[dark10x]

Let's not forget that a lot of modern games rely on character creation systems rather than a set protagonist.

 

[Dreams-Visions]

Not enough.

Let's not forget that a lot of modern games rely on character creation systems rather than a set protagonist.

only a handful. let's not kid ourselves.

 

[Megadragon15]

Kameo.

 

[Kabouter]

Not enough.

Yeah, games are severely lacking in diversity, and gaming as a whole is worse off for it. I guess it's down to game developers also being mostly white, because the customer base certainly isn't the problem, more than diverse enough.

 

[sixteen-bit]

Holy crap.

They didn't take any creative liberties at all.

Liara and Miranda are based on models/actresses too.

 

[conman]

Let's not forget that a lot of modern games rely on character creation systems rather than a set protagonist.

In RPGs and sports games, sure, but even then the default setting is almost always a white male (to whom you then just "add" color/gender). Regardless, 90% of Western-made games with human protagonists force you to play as a light-skinned male.

 

[Risk Breaker]

So maybe people here think "white" means "speaks English natively and looks Anglo-Saxon."

That's what it looks like. Annoying :/

 

[Phonomezer]

Chell from Portal, I guess

...but it just seems to me like Valve wanted to 'cover all bases' rather than have her identify to any particular ethnicity.

I'll include Sheva

I quite liked Sheva as a character, but it's just such a ridiculous portrayal of a black African woman.

 

[sixteen-bit]

wtf?!

UC3 Spoiler:

Spoiler

Drake is not his last name, it's a persona he created for himself after running away from home as a youth. He isn not related to Sir Francis Drake.

 

[LiK]

I quite liked Sheva as a character, but it's just such a ridiculous portrayal of a black African woman.

What's ridiculous about her?

 

[Emitan]

Yep, it's true.

Story spoiler:

Spoiler

Nathan Drake was not actually born "Nathan Drake"-- he created this name (or a part of it) for himself when he was older. His real name is unknown. By the time Drake turned five, his mother had committed suicide and his father relinquished custody of him to the state. Drake ended up in the Saint Francis Boys' Home, where he was raised by nuns and taught Latin.

Spoiler

Wasn't a big part of the first game's plot the fact that he was related to Sir Francis Drake?

UC3 Spoiler:

Spoiler

Drake is not his last name, it's a persona he created for himself after running away from home as a youth. He isn not related to Sir Francis Drake.

wtf?!

 

[Mr. B Natural]

What's ridiculous about her?

Nothing because they didn't bother to give her any character.

 

[Phonomezer]

What's ridiculous about her?

The Anglo features and blue eyes.

 

[obonicus]

Ballad of Gay Tony?
TES Adventures: Redguard, I guess.

 

[FunkyPajamas]

Spoiler

Wasn't a big part of the first game's plot the fact that he was related to Sir Francis Drake?

wtf?!

He still might be (!!!)

 

[LiK]

The Anglo features and blue eyes.

I noticed that her in-game model was slightly different from her face in the cutscenes. more Anglo in-game but maybe she's mixed in those scenes.

 

[ColonelColon]

Just Cause 2.
Also, Shaq Fu.

 

[Data West]

Ballad of Gay Tony?
TES Adventures: Redguard, I guess.

Main character in Lost and the Damned was Jewish. Of course, OP seems to have a fascination strictly with skin color rather than racial makeup.

 

[sentry65]

Is OP looking to expose white character dominance or something? Because as evidenced in this thread, I don't think it exists, and I'm not sure what the point of this exercise was.

My wife and I were talking about trends in modern literature and she asked roughly how many non-white protagonist main characters there are in games and I could only come up with a few.

So far we've collectively come up with maybe around 15-20 western oriented games out of the hundreds or even thousands of western-styled games that have been made.

 

[Data West]

Also, there's a lot of white guys making video games. Definitely the majority. It's safer to make that than have a bunch of white guys make a black character and botch it horribly.

Spoiler

Leave that to Japan