It’s common for video games to put players in the shoes of a heroic character. Whether it be Link fromThe Legend of Zeldaor Master Chief of theHalofranchise, video game fans are accustomed to their characters having entire narratives centered on them. However, in a few cases,players instead control characters with less impact on the story.
In these titles from across video game history, players take control of a character who doesn’t carry as much narrative weight as non-playable characters in the same game. Whether they’re actually the antagonist, deuteragonist, or a supporting role, these games allow players to bear witness to a real hero’s journey rather than embody it themselves.
TheDragon Questfranchise has always been ambitious, but never more so thanDragon Quest V. The JRPG centers on the birth of a Hero, the player character. However, over the course of the adventure it becomes clear that they are not the Legendary Hero mythologized by their father, Pankraz, who spent his entire life searching for them in order to save his wife.
As the protagonist searches for the Legendary Hero, it becomes clear who it is: the player’s son, born twenty years after the story begins. As a result, it’s the player’s son who dons the legendary Zenithian Sword and armour set by the end of the game, whilethe standard Hero missed out on aSuper Smash Brosappearancefor not being a sword wielder.
The Wii U installment of theXenoblade Chroniclesfranchiseis often forgotten, but contains one of the best stories in a Nintendo IP.Xenoblade Chronicles Xcenters on a war between the humans of the planet Mira, led by the protective unit BLADE, against the Ganglion invasion. Players control an avatar refugee who crash-lands on Mira.
However, the game’s story places more of a focus on Elma, the first companion players encounter on Mira, and BLADE’s leader. It’s later revealed that Elma is a member of the Ganglion race who helped humanity escape Earth and survive on Mira. While players feel more like a soldier in the war, Elma is the one who set everything into motion at the start.
Even though Samus is one of the most iconic video game heroines of all time, there’s oneMetroidgame where players don’t control her. The 3DS titleMetroid Prime: Federation Forcefollows what happens when Samus is captured by Space Pirates, resulting in a rescue team of faceless Galactic Federation marines adventuring to save her.
The game released to mixed reviews, mostly due to how short the main story was. However, its incorporation of multiplayer invoked the series' past successes, likeMetroid Prime Hunterson DS. Perhaps if the Galactic Federation officers had more of a personality like Samus, fans would have revisited this 3DS title more.
Gamers who are well acquainted withThe Elder Scrolls V: Skyrimare probably used to the franchise deeming them the chosen one, or “Dragonborn.” However, that’s not the case forthe predecessor,The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. In this game, players attempt to thwart a cultish uprising that threatens the land of Tamriel, but one character is key to the solution.
That character is Martin, voiced by Sean Bean ofGame of Thrones, who players team up with after rescuing him from a cult assault on Kvatch. Eventually, it becomes clear that Martin is a bastard son of the emperor’s bloodline, making him the leader of a new resistance. However, his fate at the end of the story is ultimately tragic.
It wouldn’t be fair to say that the avatar character (named “Robin” by default) inFire Emblem Awakeningis unimportant to the story. The amateur magician becomes the strategist for the Shepherds, a mercenary group led by Chrom, the brother of Ylisse’s ruler. But as a war wages on against the barbaric Plegia, it’s Chrom who bears the emotional weight of the story.
Another vital character who some call the protagonist isLucina, Chrom’s daughter who travels from the futureto prevent her father’s death. It’s also implied that Chrom and Lucina share blood ties withFire Emblem’s original hero, Marth. Lucina even masquerades as Marth for nearly half the story, lending further credence to her importance to the franchise over Robin.
Final Fantasy 10was released on the PlayStation 2 in 2001, and like many games in the franchise, features a cavalcade of characters who could be considered heroic. The main playable character isTidus, though the athletic hero is merely a bodyguardto the real protagonist of the story: Yuna, who is quested with defeating the creature known as “Sin.”
Yuna gets her chance to be the main playable character inFinal Fantasy 10-2, in which Tidus goes missing. But even in the previous game, Yuna plays an integral part of the story as the hero who saves the world, while Tidus is merely her companion. Nevertheless, the synergy between the two heroes places them among the most popular characters in the series.
It’s hard to imagine aMetal Gear Solidgame that doesn’t feature Solid Snake, butSons of Libertyis the exception. In fact, the game’s protagonist was considered controversial at the time. Solid Snake only helps out in certain missions, while the game’s antagonist, Solidus Snake, is also a clone who leads the titular terrorist organization.
The main protagonist that players control instead is Raiden, a rookie agent later revealed to be a child soldier trained by the Sons of Liberty. Raiden re-appeared as the main character inMetal Gear Rising: Revengeance, but it’s safe to say that fans of the franchise are much more enamored with games wherethey can play as the true hero, Solid Snake.
It may seemobvious to call Joel Miller the protagonistofThe Last of Us, but many would disagree. The first game in the franchise finds players mainly controlling Joel as he escorts a young Ellie, who is immune to the Cordyceps virus that has zombified the world, to a Firefly outpost where they can use her for a cure, though Joel’s actions are that of an anti-hero.
As is made clear by the second game,The Last of Us: Part II, the real main character of the franchise is in fact Ellie, who is only briefly playable in the first game. The second game also allows players to control the antagonist, Abby, for a significant amount of time. Meanwhile, Joel is only playable for a short period at the beginning of the game.
