Support NeoGAF

[Android18a]

I think it's because when designing a character, it's the personality and motivation of the character in the game that matters most, rather than what skin colour he or she has. Perhaps this is where games with create-a-hero modes are best, since you create the character how you want them to look.

Personally I don't even think about stuff like skin colour when I'm playing a game or choosing a character, it never comes into the equation for me, neither does gender or anything like that.

I don't think developers should make a hero black "for the sake of it" though. I'm not against black characters, I just think if a developer goes out of their way to do it its as if they're just doing it to please a crowd rather than making the game the way they wanted. If you know what I mean, I hope this doesn't sound offensive or anything...

 

[JCBossman]

James Earl Cash from Manhunt

Yep he was the Posterchild for sane, the way he could sneak up on an unsuspecting hunter and cut his head clean off with three whacks of his machete, then carry around the head on his belt, in case he might need it for a diversion, instead of using a rock or bottle like an INSANE person might do.

 

[CharminUltra]

nope, he's a Nicaraguan

That's what I said, he's a black Nicaraguan

 

[Son of Godzilla]

That's not true at all. There are TONS of Japanese and caucasian male leads that aren't wacky/ludicrous stereotypes at all:

Gordon Freeman

Okay... maybe... Kinda pushing it.

Leon from Resident Evil 4

what

Solid Snake

bigger what

main dude from Lost Planet

it came from outer what

main dude (Drake?) from Uncharted

Correct. In probably a bad way.

James Earl Cash from Manhunt

The dude is a tabula rasa mass murderer. If he gets to count then Barrett is definently getting added back to the list.

I think you've got a funny definition of stereotype. Snake, Leon, and their love child that stars in Lost Planet are the very definition of stereotypical Americans by way of Japan.

 

[EphemeralDream]

That's not true at all. There are TONS of Japanese and caucasian male leads that aren't wacky/ludicrous stereotypes at all:

Gordon Freeman
Leon from Resident Evil 4
Solid Snake
main dude from Lost Planet
main dude (Drake?) from Uncharted
James Earl Cash from Manhunt
instantly pop to mind, and there are numerous more.

I agree with most of these but you don't think Solid Snake is stereotypical? He's pretty much your average "grizzled armed forces vet" although not as much in #2. Actually the main character from Indigo Prophecy is a good choice for "normal" characters but the previously mentioned black character in the game is very badly written and stereotypical.

I think this is a good thread but I'd have to say it is due to the lack of black designers in the industry. In the last Retronauts podcast they criticized Jade Empire's over the top stereotypes and mentioned how it was developed by a bunch of white Canadians. Well would anyone here feel completely comfortable creating a character of another race without having lived the life of a person of that race? I guess most devs right now just write it with someone of their own race as the main character since that is what they can relate to most.

 

[abacab driver]

 

[Steroyd]

:O CANABILISM!!!

ZOMG LocoRoco got bundled with WHITE PSP.

Yorda Turns Black at the end so she must count.

For One Aggro is the main character and is Black and Wanda turns Black in the end.

 

[Shinobix]

So what's up Raven?

 

[Red Blaster]

I agree with most of these but you don't think Solid Snake is stereotypical? He's pretty much your average "grizzled armed forces vet" although not as much in #2.

What's interesting about Solid Snake is that if you've played all the games in the Metal Gear franchise, then you'll have seen him grow from a green and naive solider in the first Metal Gear. Even in MGS1, he's pretty naive at times and gets double-crossed all over the place. I'd say it wasn't until MGS2 when Snake fully stepped into the archetypical hardened badass soldier persona, and of course, they're running away with that even further in MGS4.

 

[cvxfreak]

 

[Shinobix]

And I would also like to say that a game with a gay main character would be really interesting

 

[Android18a]

And I would also like to say that a game with a gay main character would be really interesting

Resident Evil 4

 

[Karakand]

While not a main character, we should not forget Square's early steps forward in gaming civil rights:

Also, Jesus was jewish.

I mentioned that earlier but didn't want to post a screenshot. Nobody reads.

 

[Quagm1r3]

What's that game with that cop? It was on the PS2 I think. He was black.

50 cent: bulletproof.

Proof that rap based games don't prosper (in exception with the def jam series)

 

[dili]

What game is she from and what makes her mexican?

Her name is angel,she's from King of fighters 2001. She's mexican,because she's from mexico. :/

 

[fushi]

Tyler Miles from Indigo Prophecy / Fahrenheit

 

[G-Fex]

Timesplitters 3, funniest black guy around.

 

[GaimeGuy]

While not a main character, we should not forget Square's early steps forward in gaming civil rights:

That picture... :lol

It never gets old. :lol

 

[onegoodlogan]

was

for a time.

Does that count?

 

[Blackace]

Tyler Miles from Indigo Prophecy / Fahrenheit

Needs a basketball to relax...

(i liked him as a character even if he backed out of bets lost)

 

[Kabouter]

Main character from Paradise was completely normal
Not the least bit stereotypical.

 

[C- Warrior]

Cause there aren't many black people creating games?

Yup. Exactly.

Simple concept. The game industry is very much non-black by a extremely large amount. It is very difficult for a white/asian/other game creator to put himself in the shoes of a black person (or any other race that he is not).

Personally, it seems a lot of other non-white races have it worse than blacks...better not to be portrayed than to be constantly stereotyped as a super - crazy uber duper evil terrorist guy who wishes to bomb children.

 

[B!TCH]

There are a variety of possible reasons but the most likely answer is because video games are about "role-playing" and the majority of people playing video games aren't black.

Why are there no MAIN black characters in anime?

answer this, and you'll answer your own thread

There aren't any Asian characters in anime either, what's your point?

 

[kuYuri]

What game is she from and what makes her mexican?

Angel (pronounced the Spanish way) is from The King of Fighters 2001 and 2002. She's Mexican because well... she was born in Mexico. Duh.

 

[C- Warrior]

But, to add to the thread -- and answer the question, here are some black and minority leads or female leads in games.

 

[Pokeylongo]

All of the suggested black characters are stereotypes. Why are there no MAIN characters where you play as Emanuel Lewis?

 

[Kabouter]

All of the suggested black characters are stereotypes.

No.

 

[TheGreatDave]

How many games have any kind of character that isn't a stereotype?

 

[Kabouter]

How many games have any kind of character that isn't a stereotype?

Plenty? Most games I play anyway.

 

[Pokeylongo]

No.

What a stereotypical answer.

 

[Kabouter]

What a stereotypical answer.

No, that would have been by answering it with some sort of crazy GIF . That's the true stereotypical GAF reply .

 

[Matt_C]

Jesus is black.

Well, the Israelites were from Africa (technically from Eden, according to the Hebrew texts), migrated to Egypt for slavery purposes, settled in Palestine/Israel, rarely breed with the locals, and from this conclusion I vaguely understand that Jesus might be black (as in African decent).

Getting Up has a black lead and I hope I can try out that game at a good price.

 

[starchild excalibur]

Okay... maybe... Kinda pushing it.

what

bigger what

it came from outer what

Correct. In probably a bad way.

The dude is a tabula rasa mass murderer. If he gets to count then Barrett is definently getting added back to the list.

I think you've got a funny definition of stereotype. Snake, Leon, and their love child that stars in Lost Planet are the very definition of stereotypical Americans by way of Japan.

Notice that I said "wacky/ludicrous" stereotype as that was what the person I was quoting said as well. I don't deny that most characters in games are based off stereotypes, but to say that they're mostly wacky Japanese stereotypes is a little silly. All of the characters in my list (maybe with the exception of Cash) are characters that the typical gamer would aspire to have characteristics of. Most of the black guys mentioned in these threads 1) aren't even leads 2) aren't even characters that most black gamers would care to role play as and 3) don't have an ounce of coolness in their bodies. And hell, even stereotypes aside, after 6 pages of this thread we've only collectively come up with a total of what, 5 black leads?

The dude is a tabula rasa mass murderer. If he gets to count then Barrett is definently getting added back to the list.

Yeah, but he's also a protagonist who helps to unseat a corrupt mayor and bring down a fetishistic crime ring - that's my point. These characters are not necessarily good, but they're characters that at least have more than one dimension to them. I'd rather look up to this dude than ****ing Barret ("lulz, why'd ya wanna **** Barrett?!?!" i know, i know).

James Earl Cash from Manhunt

Yep he was the Posterchild for sane, the way he could sneak up on an unsuspecting hunter and cut his head clean off with three whacks of his machete, then carry around the head on his belt, in case he might need it for a diversion, instead of using a rock or bottle like an INSANE person might do.

At least he didn't go around spitting one-line quips and buy into every cliché idea of what an insane person would do. Christ, look at Hannibal Lector. No one here would deny that he was an evil character, but the reason why he's so famous in cinema is because he wasn't your cliché, cardboard cut-out serial killer. No one here is saying that all black leads, or even leads, need to be 100% positive. They just need to have something to them besides the same grab bag of gaming clichés.

 

[bishoptl]

No one here is saying that all black leads, or even leads, need to be 100% positive. They just need to have something to them besides the same grab bag of gaming clichés.

...aaaaaaaaand there you go. It only took the better part of a day for reason to prevail.

 

[Pokeylongo]

No, that would have been by answering it with some sort of crazy GIF . That's the true stereotypical GAF reply .

I know, but you know I was joking right? Emanuel Lewis is about as anti-black-stereotype as you can get. That's the joke. Just like he's the anti-[tall person] or the anti-[person with money].

 

[MaddenNFL64]

That dude is black.

 

[Steroyd]

How many games, movies or comics entertainment medium of any kind have a character that isn't a stereotype?

fixed.

From the American Hero who comes over against the odds obstacle, rescues the kidnapped girl gets her in the end to the typically Middle Eastern villain, you can ask the same question about anything.

 

[spoon!]

Notice that I said "wacky/ludicrous" stereotype as that was what the person I was quoting said as well. I don't deny that most characters in games are based off stereotypes, but to say that they're mostly wacky Japanese stereotypes is a little silly.

I said whacky japanese or a stereotype of any given race, not both of them together

 

[Kabouter]

I know, but you know I was joking right? Emanuel Lewis is about as anti-black-stereotype as you can get. That's the joke. Just like he's the anti-[tall person] or the anti-[person with money].

I knew

 

[ryan13ts]

I'd like to see a black lead (male or female) in an RPG game, along with a diverse mix of supporting characters just to expand the main cast from what you usually see in those types of games (Spikey haired, white guys; almost perfect white females). Considering Japan makes most RPG's though, I doubt we'll see this any time soon ( if ever ) since they don't tend to care much for blacks as a race in general... About the only instant I can think of a black guy playing any signifigant role in an RPG was Barrett in FFVII, but he wasn't the main character.

I guess I'm just tired of seeing black characters taking main roles in games where they're usually invovled with crime (GTA) or pretty much just grunt soldiers... the game industry isn't really helping with sterotypes there... then again, I guess they could care less.

 

[starchild excalibur]

I said whacky japanese or a stereotype of any given race, not both of them together

Well I suppose that I'd contend that if the latter were true, most of the games on the market would feature leads that either faced dance-offs as the final challenge or arduous inner-city driving challenges as the climax.

I guess we're so fortunate to have games that rarely feature other ethnicities or races outside the white/japanese/occassionally black mix that we don't have to worry about having to rise to the occassion of writing new stereotypes for other groups of people.

But still, stereotypes aside, we haven't even resolved the fact that there is a dearth of non white/japanese male leads in games. It doesn't really bother me tbh, it's just the notion of people trying to defend this pattern that does.

 

[Steroyd]

I doubt we'll see this any time soon ( if ever ) since they don't tend to care much for blacks as a race in general... About the only instant I can think of a black guy playing any signifigant role in an RPG was Barrett in FFVII, but he wasn't the main character.

What!?

I think other things need to take into consideration than "just" sticking a Black Guy in a Japaneese RPG, how weird would it be if you was playing a British White Londoner in a GTA game or a 50 cent game, it would just feel wrong.

Hell it doesn't even have to be a HUMAN in FFXII there's Fran as a main character i mean would you call her black or something.

 

[cilonen]

And I would also like to say that a game with a gay main character would be really interesting

Enchanted Arms? Not really the main character though. And very, very stereotyped.

 

[cilonen]

Hell it doesn't even have to be a HUMAN in FFXII there's Fran as a main character i mean would you call her black or something.

I'd call her whatever she wanted me to call her :lol

 

[daemonic]

Cause there aren't many black people creating games?

This would be the correct answer.

 

[ryan13ts]

What!?

I think other things need to take into consideration than "just" sticking a Black Guy in a Japaneese RPG, how weird would it be if you was playing a British White Londoner in a GTA game or a 50 cent game, it would just feel wrong.

Hell it doesn't even have to be a HUMAN in FFXII there's Fran as a main character i mean would you call her black or something.

I don't think that would be weird at all. In fact, I'd actually welcome a change like that, as long as the story revovled to where it made sense for a Londoner to be in a GTA game as a protagonist.

My point isn't just about "Throwing a black guy" into an RPG just for that sake alone, it's more about creating more diverse characters as leads for those sort of games as apposed to what we almost always expect from a lead characters in an RPG. I'd like to see more characters of color and other walks of life (any to be exact) given as much depth and development as they would a white protagonist.

 

[crazyscreenwriter]

Same reason there aren't a lot of African American leads in films and TV shows. Writers write what they know. If those writers trend toward being mostly white males well then that's what you have.

Its not fair, not right, not even good business but that's sort of reality.

 

[ryan13ts]

Enchanted Arms? Not really the main character though. And very, very stereotyped.

Another horribly sterotyped character. I couldn't figure out if it was a joke, or did they seriously think most gay people were that ridiculously flamboyant.

And his attacks.... :\

 

[Waku]

What!?

I think other things need to take into consideration than "just" sticking a Black Guy in a Japaneese RPG, how weird would it be if you was playing a British White Londoner in a GTA game or a 50 cent game, it would just feel wrong.

...

 

[Raist]

Also I dont mean sterotypes, like the thug or the big black guy. Why can't black characters be portrayed as "normal" people? Say for instance like the character in Uncharted.

99.9% of video game characters (irrespective of their ethnicity) are stereotypes.