Black Protagonists in Gaming: A Black History Month Special

Introduction
February 1^st is the start of a Great American Tradition: SuperBowl XLIII (43). But an even greater American tradition commenced on this day is Black History Month. It also happens to be home of some of this year’s most anticipated games, a number of which will be the center of discussion within the next twenty-eight days.

This February, Prime Player is proud to present four articles involving and dedicated to the individuals with African ancestry and/or subject matter directly related to the respective heritage, be it factual or fictional, under the lifestyle-umbrella which is the game industry and community.

Each of the four articles will be posted on every Sunday of the month, consisting of opinionated editorials in addition to objective outlooks. Now, let’s have fun in celebrating and discussing some gaming cultural history!

Special
Black characters in video games aren’t difficult to find if you look hard enough. But to some extent, a rare gem to discover is the well-rounded and positive black protagonist. Characters within entertainment are generally a means of identification and more creatively, personas that enhance one’s experience on various social fronts. Social–in this case racial–awareness in the game industry hasn’t quite reached the level of say, the movie industry, and that is understandable, seeing how it is a younger business in comparison. My concern is this: black characters in games habitually range from stereotypical to non-existent. In addition, black gamers consume a great deal of the medium and are a vastly growing and contributing demographic in the community. Why not create and implement characters that are actually relatable or who boast innovative societal behaviors?

Now, as a black gamer, I don’t want to single myself out in saying that creative black characters should entirely cater to representing me in whatever fashion. Nor do I exclusively desire to experience the personage of the black-American. What’s even more imperative is the element of portrayal, seen through the eyes and respective thought processes of all gamers. This unfortunately, is most commonly based on worldwide mainstream media and/or simple unfamiliarity. It’s no secret that the game industry–in the Western hemisphere–is mostly populated by white males, be they designers, artists, programmers, public relations executives, etc. Fairly and honestly, those in creative positions will more than not, imagine and implement characters in their likeness. The same can be said in the Eastern world of development, though what they are more successful at in doing is designing the white male character, and they do it often.

Particularly, the Japanese’s portrayal of black characters has been poor as a whole. Not singularly poor, but also lacking in lead roles. Take Barrett from ‘Final Fantasy VII’ (7), a likeable Mr. T-esque, though stereotypical character with his loud and potty-mouthed antics to his short tempered and defensive attitude. In addition, he has a gun permanently attached to his arm which can invoke even more faulty ideas/perceptions. It doesn’t end there within the worlds of this legendary franchise; Fran (pic here) of ‘Final Fantasy XII’ (12) is an attractive, philosophical black female sub-lead character. Though one problem remains: she and her entire race of black characters–exclusively women–, possess actual bunny ears in lieu of real ones. What? It can be called creative from an artistic viewpoint, but they are seemingly the only black characters in the game.

Finally, what does the future of the series’ interpretation hold for black characters? What’s that you say about ‘Final Fantasy XIII’ (13)? There’s a 1970’s inspired black guy named Sazh Katzroy who has an afro and a pet baby Chocobo (fictional take on chicken/ostrich)? Not only that, it’s reported that Sazh's afro is exploited as a ‘nest’ of sorts for his feathered friend. From recent Famitsu magazine scans it has been divulged that he is the “wise” mentor like sub-lead, which honestly sounds great on paper. Let’s just hope he doesn’t speak jive and hit on women (which from the article’s pictures seem likely). This could either turn out bad or good, I’m hoping for the latter.

It seems as if a black character depicted by Japanese minds must possess some form of gimmick. This even extends into other entertainment mediums such as anime which hold a myriad of similarities to Japanese games - be it hair, clothes, or media-induced personality. In addition to the correlating characters above, another prime example of this is ‘Dead or Alive’s’ Zack (pic here), a Dennis Rodman-looking, money and fame hungry, goofy, womanizing Muay Thai expert. ‘DOA’ is a game in the fighter genre, so every character can be considered a protagonist one way or another, but up until the latest installment, the lone black character in the game was this dude? He’s not identifiable or relatable to 99% of black gamers (unless Dennis Rodman's family and friends play DOA).

‘Metal Gear Solid 4’ introduced a fresh face to laugh at in Drebin. He is a Sisqo look-a-like (video here) who speaks with a dialect and vocabulary that is loosely derived from American “jive” slang. Oh, and did I mention he has a pet hairless monkey that loves to drink soda? I do admit his personality and character grew on me during the progression of the game’s story, as he isn’t one dimensional, but the inspiration can not be discounted. Japanese anime and games commonly have weird characters, however black characters are substantially goofier–for lack of a better term–and caricatures of cultural ignorance. It’s often laughed off as the Japanese are not nearly as diverse a culture as most in the west, but it would be exponentially nice to see their perceptions and design of black characters expand from outdated and defective archetypes.

Before we depart from exploring examples of black characters from Japanese developers, I’ll commend Capcom in their creation of Sheva Alomar, who stars in ‘Resident Evil 5’. As an African protagonist the player controls, she can easily be considered a role-model for any young black girl and even a model of design for other developers as well. Seemingly, she is a tough, well-educated, and attractive woman with no external gimmickry of any kind. Her visual design, dialogue, and behavior are even authentic to her portrayed background and not reliant on media perceptions. Considering that ‘Resident Evil 5’ is set in Africa, it was a natural and smart decision to include a playable character from that geographical region. If there were one thing I’d alter, it would be that the player had the option to choose to play with her or the main protagonist Chris Redfield (who is white) at anytime. I have no issue with his ethnicity, but Sheva is only controllable for the second player, otherwise Chris is the default for single play. Nevertheless, thank you Capcom, this is a component of the future that I envision for black characters in games.

Now back to America and the western world of game design and marketing. Like I stated previously, a creator of whatever medium will more likely than not, design aspects of their product around his/her vision and likeness. This isn’t necessarily a problem, but a reality no doubt. This is a key reason as to why we see the white, grizzled space marine male all too often in games. It isn’t the sole motivation though; marketing that image is easier and takes less creative effort as well. Since games sales numbers are progressively passing those of even the movie industry, it may seem to some, a moot point to change anything as the demand is climbing. “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it”, right? Not exactly.

To evolve and explore social and cultural ideas benefits the narratives to the reception of games as a maturing medium. Mending the creative facets of development will only promote more creativity and growth. And seeing how the audience doesn’t remain the same, should our games remain the same? As an evolving industry, pulling your audience’s emotional, social, and mental triggers are vital to potentially greater fiscal and critical success. Video games, however, have a certain advantage that other forms of entertainment don’t: interactivity, the physical realm of stimulation. Honestly, in comparison to movies which have more or less peaked as far as social commentary goes, games are considered child’s play, and rightfully so. That’s where the impending growth lies, coupled with gaming’s unique interpretation and execution.

In its embryonic timeline, movies have come from black faced-painted white men, to blaxploitation, to genuinely talented black actors starring in films and winning awards. All forms of commentary have been explored, some exclusive to the black communities worldwide to roles that aren’t your typical “black role”. Take 2007’s ‘I Am Legend’ for example, Will Smith presumed the identity of a lone scientist surviving on post-apocalyptic earth. This was the third iteration of the source material, whereas the former two used white actors to take on the character.

Imagining ‘I Am Legend’s’ script on paper, one could commonly assume that the role would be offered to a white actor, yet this wasn’t the case. Affix the key word: scientist to the notion and you can truly understand where I’m coming from. Robert Neville, Smith’s character, is a complex individual with a traumatic background which further affects his dilemma of loneliness. I won’t delve into spoiler territory, but it’s evident he is a strong-willed and loving genius. He is the sole protagonist and human character the viewer can relate to. This drives home a stark realization from imagery to execution because it’s not something one would normally envision a black character representing, especially since there’s no form of socially trite dialogue or objects. Furthermore, where do characters and narratives akin to this concept exist in gaming?

Let me continue by saying that I entirely admire two characters that PC developer Valve crafted for their critically acclaimed game ‘Half-Life 2’: Dr. Eli Vance and his daughter, Alyx Vance. Dr. Vance is a black-American scientist, who mentors the game’s playable protagonist–and fellow scientist–, Gordon Freeman. Going by ‘Half-Life 2’s’ unique story-telling, Eli presumably had an interracial marriage with an Asian woman (pic here) and thus his daughter Alyx was born. Alyx, who isn’t dissimilar to Sheva’s description above, is a charismatic sub-protagonist, and close friend to Gordon. The killer here is that she is not playable, whereas the silent hero, Gordon Freeman is.

As much of an esteemed character he is, I wonder what the barrier to him originally being black was. Note that Gordon has no personality or dialogue, so unfamiliarity or lack of sampling remains a non-factor. Perchance it was favorable to market a soulless white male on the box art? Regardless, kudos to Valve’s implementation of believable, intricate social experiences, even if it doesn’t completely get to what game design should aspire to. Their implementation is undoubtedly much more respectable and inspired than say, inserting characters for diversity’s sake.

Augustus “Cole Train” Cole: a former sports superstar who is the loud and obnoxious, comic relief character of Epic Game’s ‘Gears of War’ franchise. Gotta love ‘em. With no further knowledge, and having read that description, you would already know that he’s “black”. It seems like Epic went to the length of creating a diverse set of characters, but shot “creativity” in the head once ingenuity and research came into play. Cole is a sub-protagonist accompanied by other stereotypical ethnic characters (which I won’t get into). Set in an alternate universe, this futuristic action game takes place on an originally imagined planet named “Sera”. However, his personality shows resemblances of outmoded “urban-American” behavior, you know, a country that’s on Earth.

Personally, I’d be keen on experiencing some inventive social comportment sprouted by the culture of the alternate world the characters live in. In addition, Cole’s favorite taglines include: “Bring it on, sucka!” and “This my kinda shit!” If that wasn’t bad enough, the end credits to ‘Gears of War’ comprises of a nice musical (if you could call it that) number containing various “Cole Train” quotes laid over a hip-hopish beat (video here; starts around 1:00). Well, I won’t criticize in excess because he is an entertaining character, in all of his antics and exploits. Whereas Augustus lacks depth concerning his relative narrative and individuality, there’s one particularly infamous character that doesn’t.

‘Grand Theft Auto’ as a franchise is not alien to controversy, but 2004’s ‘Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas’ took it to new territories. The game takes place in fictional cities strictly inspired by the 1990’s American west coast “gangsta” era. First and foremost, I’m appreciative that such a mainstream title is piloted by a creatively complex African-American male. Conversely, I’m distraught behind the notion that this game unquestionably summons ill-impressions based on an existing American ethos. ‘San Andreas’ only playable character and protagonist, Carl “CJ” Johnson, is a young member of one of his hometown gangs. The story and social interactions present in San Andreas is definitely a fresh experience for game narratives. And to developer Rockstar Games’ credit, CJ is a multifaceted character enthralled into an intriguing chronicle that echoes likenesses to American film classics such as ‘Boyz N the Hood’ and “Menace II Society”. A key difference is that the game remains within video game-standard fantasy and doesn’t solely spin around the axis of “black on black” crime.

A plethora of gamers have played through previous ‘Grand Theft Auto’ narratives which explored numerous Mafioso stereotypes. Formerly, Italian-Americans and mobsters were one in the same, though that widespread perception and media obsession died with the 1940’s. The dilemmas that African-Americans face is a grim parallel, as an alarming number of people worldwide still associate gangster lifestyles–amongst other labels–to them as a whole. Visualize if the game industry was as advanced as it is today in America’s prohibition era. If ‘Mafia’, a game whose plot revolves around 1930’s mob life, were to see release, its reception would range from vindictive criticism, reinforced “fears”, and outcries of victimization. A similar situation ‘San Andreas’ and African-American’s are positioned in today’s world.

To further complicate my outlook of this game, CJ is somewhat identifiable as a young black man, “trapped” in American life’s harsher realities, whatever the degree may be. What makes him relatable to an interactive extent is the game’s role-playing elements. The player can maintain CJ’s health, appearance, relationships, and even purchase houses. This modifies the quality of his virtual life and affects the player’s experience, allowing a sense of ownership and promoting increased interest in him as a character. Rockstar has put the first foot for black protagonists with artistic narratives into mainstream gaming’s door. The question is, was the best foot first? More important than character creations of the past are character creations of the future.

The current generation of gaming is introducing more and more player-created avatars as it progresses. Developers let the player totally customize their character’s gender, skin tone, and features such as hair and eyes. Allowing the protagonist of a game to be made into each and every player’s likeness is a clever way of reaching the widest audience possible. The developer created personas of these heroes can be silent types, like in ‘Fallout 3’, where the character doesn’t speak at all and possesses limited-to-no personality. Or identical to BioWare’s ‘Mass Effect’, where the protagonist is given a persona and voice molded around an archetype amiable for all gamers.

Some may inquire, “How do you market such a protagonist?” In most cases, games that have customizable heroes don’t need promotion on the character front, because they focus on advertising the title’s game play feature-set and plot. When it comes to an image of a character that aides the sell, ‘Mass Effect’ was handled perfectly. During promotion, “Commander *player given name here* Shepard” was a generic male figure sharing facial traits of several ethnic groups. He can easily be supposed as black, white, or Hispanic. In numerous promo-screenshots, it was rumored that BioWare even modeled him as a black male. Though when the game released, gamers everywhere customized him to how they saw fit, some even into a her. Having this option available in games is also enjoyable, as we at Prime Player can attest to that:

Site admin Darius White’s hero gets down with some girls in Mass Effect.

After my investigation and discussion on a broad array of characters, developers, and issues, many questions and desires linger. What hurdles do developers face in evolving a game’s social outlook or premise? Moreover, is it the lack of diverse talent or does the industry not want to boldly break from a tried and true mold? In time of those queries being answered, what we should desire is less ignorance and more endeavors in the artistic extensions of ourselves and game narrative. As gamers grow and mature, the industry must too. And as the community becomes more diverse, the industry should respond by providing more diverse content. After all, we gamers are what drive the industry, even if it’s monetarily superficial.

Communities are capable of materializing into tide-changing voices, especially with the resources and communicative knowledge gamers control. I don’t suggest petitioning games that are ethnically challenged; in fact I expect and wish the opposite. We are a social bunch you and I, rummaging about message boards, playing online with and against one another. If our games provided more socially imaginative avenues of inspiration, we would welcome them with open arms. Thus, this subject matter isn’t an exclusive concern to the population of black individuals, real or fictional. Much of this topic is left untouched, and we’d like to see your opinions and discussion in the comment section, or anywhere on the net.