Silent Protagonists - Pros and Cons?

Recommended Videos

MindFragged

New member
Apr 2, 2009
104
0
0
I was just womdering this, because the three best written games I have played (CoD4, Portal, and Shadown of the Colossus (I can justify these choices, but not here)) all feature silent protagonists.

I think there are many reasons why the choice of having a protagonist who never speaks is particularly beneficial, and in these games in particular I think the best is made of it. In Portal, there is simply no need for the woman to speak, and if she did perhaps it would only be to spoil one of the many juicy mysteries the game provides. The same goes for SotC. Admittedly the wanderer does speak, but only 'Aggro!' which, when that thing happens (those that have played will know) his cry is all the more poignant. I could write pages on why I love SotC's story (or lack thereof). CoD4 provides a very balanced portrayal of warfare and I think that if Soap ever spoke it would only provide a 'definite' perspective on it that would spoil the games many ambiguities. More than anything though I think that providing a PC without a personality allows me to put myself into the game just a little bit more. Like I've already said, having a PC who speaks places a 'definite' perspective on the game's events that as the player we are sort of forced to share in our facilitating of the hero's in game actions.
The silent protagonist is in my opinion on of the great virtues of videogames, because when used correctly it provides a story that no other medium could effectively mimic.


HOWEVER, one of the reasons that I think that developers more often put a voice to their main characters is because to write a long and complex story around a silent protagonist can be difficult. Two of the games I have mentioned are written so they do not really require the main character to interact with anyone else. There are points in games where the protagonist's silence can be very jarring. More than anything I think developers fear those jarring moments, as well as the fact that it means that they can't brag about long cinematics and an attempt-at-hollywood story. In fact, both SotC and Portal both have very simple stories relatively speaking, though this is not detrimental to the enjoyment of the story by any means; however, I think the most common action when wanting to write a story based game is to go for narrative complexity and character development, not clever plotting and atmosphere, and it is with this choice, as I have already said, that the silent protagonist becomes problematic.

So, what do you guys think? Does playing a story where the protagonist doesn't speak bug you outright? Like me, do you think that developers should make more use of it? Do you think it doesn't really matter? Any other thoughts?
 

MindDemon

New member
May 18, 2009
103
0
0
Well I think the fact that whether or not they speak brings out their own emotion to the player, even going as far to say that I think that it lets the player get to know their protagonist better. Look at Gordon Freeman, gamers everywhere look up to him, he was even rated the world's #1 VG hero.
 

MiracleOfSound

Fight like a Krogan
Jan 3, 2009
17,776
0
0
I prefer games with a silent protagonist sometimes, as it lets you really BE the character.

My F3 wasteland wanderer is me.
 

Generator

New member
May 8, 2009
1,771
0
0
MindFragged said:
The silent protagonist is in my opinion on of the great virtues of videogames, because when used correctly it provides a story that no other medium could effectively mimic.
So true. And, luckily, so many developers know how to effectively use a silent protagonist to draw the player deeper into the story and give them the feeling of being "part of the game".
 

Cieloftw

New member
Aug 18, 2009
10
0
0
Like miracle said before, a silent protagonist allows you to feel like you are your character.

Besides, I'd rather go with a silent protagonist than one with a rather annoying voice.
 

lasherman

New member
Mar 11, 2009
621
0
0
I find that sometimes, it makes it hard to actually care about the character. Like the most recent game I played with a silent protagonist, Modern Warfare 2. When they killed your character (Any of the many, many times that happens) I just found it hard to give a rat's ass. All I know about this guy is his name, and that he's in the army. I don't know if he's a good person or anything; hell, maybe he kicks puppies into rivers in his spare time.

miracleofsound said:
I prefer games with a silent protagonist sometimes, as it lets you really BE the character.

My F3 wasteland wanderer is me.
This is one of the few times I like the idea of a silent protagonist. In a game where your character is able to develop and change, instead of just running around shooting terrorists for fun.
 

b1u3too

New member
Jul 14, 2009
126
0
0
I'm not big on Oblivion or F3 (I blame my 12" tube TV banning me from reading ANY of the game text.), but I've foind a mixed bag. Being a JRPG fan however, I see a fair number of them. Between Persona 3 and 4, the muted protagonists served well and allowed for the player to make the character their own. In SMT: Nocturne, well... really, the atmosphere of the game almost required minimal amounts of talking.

BUT THEN, THE HORRIBLE GAME ROSE OUT OF THE DEPTHS! I finally realised how important execution is to muted characters when an attempt at making Deckard seem the cunning thief he ought to be wrapped it's lips around the tootsie pop from hell, and-- Well, he said nothing.

Imagine if you will, a theif breaking into a locked museum display. All cool, he pulls out his gadgets and gets to work. The camera turns to his face.
Which is when you finally learn that the animators did all of their research on cunning theif body language via renting an anthology of Mr. Bean shorts.

It can go either way. In games where decisions are needed, they can offer a link for empathy very well, but put a mute where they're not needed and all they'll do is look silly. ='(
 

BookBeast

New member
Jan 2, 2010
43
0
0
I think that silent protagonists can be done well or done badly. For instance, I've heard a lot of people say they can't relate to or care about Isaac Clarke, the silent protagonist of Dead Space. In contrast, two of the OP's examples - Portal and Shadow of the Colossus - both use silent protagonists well. So does one of my old favorites, Chrono Trigger.

Of course, let's not forget that non-silent protagonists can fall flat too...
 

spacepope22

New member
Dec 4, 2009
193
0
0
Silent protagonist don't have the problem of bad voice actors and stupid translations to worry about.
 

Et3rnalLegend64

New member
Jan 9, 2009
2,448
0
0
The character has little characterization, which is bad if they can't work around it properly. On the other hand, it kind of gives you the opportunity to paste yourself onto the character. A good example is when some of the NPCs early in Half Life 2 react with special dialog when you mess around with stuff.
 

prinxess

New member
Feb 28, 2009
1,513
0
0
Pros on silent - No stupid and/or annoying voices/grunts/screams/cheers.
Cons on silent - No funny/cool/epic quotes or anything.

:S
 

Lotet

New member
Aug 28, 2009
250
0
0
well Link is a silent protagonist but I hardly notice, most people talk for him and your only dialogue options was yes/no. but when applicable he got facial expressions. but Link has the archtypical Hero personality so I suppose you don't need much filling in
 

annoyinglizardvoice

New member
Apr 29, 2009
1,024
0
0
new_age_reject said:
Well everyone wants to BE a crowbar wielding physicist.
I'd rather be a crow-bar wielding biologist personally :)

Personally, I prefer the bioware style lists of things to say rather then complete silence, but at least it's not some emo teen doing his usually irrelevant "poor me" speech :)
 

BENZOOKA

This is the most wittiest title
Oct 26, 2009
3,920
0
0
Biggest pro:
You can relate to it better, as it is more neutral

No cons for me

I prefer silent protagonists any day.