He's hardly a ethnic or national minority in (video game) culture though.

Angry black American rapper != minority in (video game) culture

If memory serves, didn't Master Chief turn out to be dark skinned underneath that helmet? I don't know if ethnicity can be applied to a custom organism like the Chief though- perhaps his genetic engineers just gave him an extra big helping of Kenyan DNA to make him better at running, or they decided that higher melanin levels would give him better rad protection.

Gordon Freeman hasn't opened his gob yet so we don't know where he's from- only that he attended university in the States. I like to think of him as either a German chap or a Scandinavian dude that sounds like the Swedish Chef from the Muppets. I think he's worth bringing up here regardless of country of origin because if you want to talk minorities- how many other game action heroes have you seen with actual prescription glasses (as opposed to, say, a pair of Ray Bans to cover up their fluorescent cyber-vision)?

Ooh! The fella from Project IGI was Welsh! Way to represent there, Llewllyn!

-Nick

Kayevcee:

Gordon Freeman hasn't opened his gob yet so we don't know where he's from- only that he attended university in the States.
-Nick

Gordon Freeman is a Yorkshireman, only a Yorkshireman would be so stubborn as to face off an alien invasion with nothing but a crowbar.

Eggo:
He's hardly a ethnic or national minority in (video game) culture though.

Angry black American rapper != minority in (video game) culture

The fact that 50 cent comes up is sad on so many levels.

Eggo:

windfish:
Hey, what about all those Japanese-made games! Surely there would be some Japanese protagonists...

Never mind. Even in Anime, they're all white. Weird.

I've always wondered why that is...Does anyone have any explanations or insight?

As has been said, the manga style was greatly influenced by western styles.

Maybe the entire culture is, instead of tanning centres to get your brownish skin they have the stores piled up with whitening creams & sunblockers ;)

Eggo:

The problem here is that the lack of diversity in protagonists is indicative of the memetic inflexibility of Western culture.

Again, I think you're overstating the case. Jet Set Willy and Manic Miner had no real 'culture', and neither did Mario in Donkey Kong.

Apart from the ones already mentioned, most MMO's give you the choice to be of any chromatic appearance; and you're already limiting the games to Contempary Human Era.

Could you even place Raziel's (Psychonauts) Racial Origins?

As for specifics...China Miner, Barrett (FF7), Dhalsim, E.Honda, Fei Long, Sagat, Big Bear, Tam Tam, Shadowman, Roadblock(G.I.Joe), the guy from Quartet...It's kind of hard to create a racial archetype without making it a racial stereotype; which would be worse. I'm sure most of us are fed up with playing a short haired butch American soldier/space marine.

The_root_of_all_evil:

Eggo:

The problem here is that the lack of diversity in protagonists is indicative of the memetic inflexibility of Western culture.

Again, I think you're overstating the case. Jet Set Willy and Manic Miner had no real 'culture', and neither did Mario in Donkey Kong.

Apart from the ones already mentioned, most MMO's give you the choice to be of any chromatic appearance; and you're already limiting the games to Contempary Human Era.

Could you even place Raziel's (Psychonauts) Racial Origins?

As for specifics...China Miner, Barrett (FF7), Dhalsim, E.Honda, Fei Long, Sagat, Big Bear, Tam Tam, Shadowman, Roadblock(G.I.Joe), the guy from Quartet...It's kind of hard to create a racial archetype without making it a racial stereotype; which would be worse. I'm sure most of us are fed up with playing a short haired butch American soldier/space marine.

He's not overstating a thing in that sentence. Just look at how terrified certain segments of the American population become when black people try to better themselves and articulate methods to do so. Or when the whole topic of race comes up period. Think of the idea that marketing execs may really believe (Not without some sort of proof.) that having a main character be non white would not appeal to a wide audience.

shadow skill:
He's not overstating a thing in that sentence.

Disagree, and so do you, surprisingly.

He's applying the idea falsely to Western Culture. You have, and I agree with you, rightly put the blame on the Marketing aspects. The same aspects that give us MANLY MEN AND BUSTY WOMEN.

Just because we're forcefed these images doesn't mean our entire culture is saturated with them.

Again, the biggest White vs. Black manufacturer is Nintendo or Sony, which are mostly Oriental guys.

Did you read what I said? It's not that the marketing execs created the situation, they merely propagate it. The problem isn't originating with them, it's originating in the culture itself.

The_root_of_all_evil:
He's applying the idea falsely to Western Culture. You have, and I agree with you, rightly put the blame on the Marketing aspects

And where do you think Western "marketing" aspects come from?

If your answer is Western culture, ding ding ding.

The_root_of_all_evil:
The same aspects that give us MANLY MEN AND BUSTY WOMEN.

Actually, the cross cultural attraction towards muscularity and large breasts comes from evolutionary psychology.

Not "marketing."

Eggo:
50 Cent is hardly a cultural minority.

Cultural cesspool maybe...
Of all the rappers I hate, he's the only one as bad as Eminem.

Share more of your totally fascinating insights on rappers, Khell_Sennet.

windfish:
Hey, what about all those Japanese-made games! Surely there would be some Japanese protagonists...

Never mind. Even in Anime, they're all white. Weird.

The thing about anime characters is that eye size and hair color don't matter when determining their race. I've seen characters with blue/pink/not black colored hair considered Japanese.

It is sad to see the lack of diversity in games. (Even with the examples presented, it's still very few) Personally, I think it's that it happens when there's a lack of diversity in the development team. This leads to stereotypes (usually with females), stock characters(all african-americans are hard-ass sarges in squad shooters), and less diversity (Name me one character in a Tales game that isn't caucasian/asian in a minute).

What I would like to see is some real racial variety in games. Hell, why isn't there an Indian (from India, not a 'Native American') protagonist yet? What about a Russian that isn't in a plot to start WWIII? Just sayin'.

shadow skill:
Did you read what I said? It's not that the marketing execs created the situation, they merely propagate it. The problem isn't originating with them, it's originating in the culture itself.

But it's the propagation that's feeding the culture now. Not the actual culture creating it. And it's not just the "White" Culture, but most racial cultures that originate the idea of xenophobia. Most cultures will tend to accept and champion causes of people that there culturally aware of. Media & Marketing like to starve them of that because it allows them to still use archetypes.

Western and Eastern Culture started with these ideas, but most of us have evolved beyond that, but take a look at the guys behind Hidden and Dangerous. All Polish, but because they're doing World War 2, there will be very few Pakistani or Poles in their game because...there weren't many during that period.

You also have to be ultra careful because of the PC aspect. Consider a Pakistani Protagonist who is into Kabaddi, if the papers hear him saying "kaBADDi kaBADDi" then that's going to be interpreted as "bud bud", which will be taken as a racial slur.

Like I said though, most MMO's allow you to have a Pakistani character (despite Pakistan being unlikely to exist in that world) but a LOT of Protagonists have either no racial history or have a specific one based on the time they're in.

Name an Irish or Welsh Protagonist?

my favorite is hands down Jackie Estacado.

Altair was white as a sheet and spoke with a flawless American accent.

Billy from Call of Juarez was good though.

dr.void:
Cutter Slade, the protagonist in Outcast.

Huzzah, someone else who's played that game!

Admittedly, it's been like six years (at least) since I played it, but I don't remember him being a minority; I know Marion was black, but that's about it for the human characters, and everyone else was an alien.

PedroSteckecilo:

poleboy:

ElArabDeMagnifico:
Altair is the whitest Arab I've seen so I dunno what to think lol.

And I just remembered that the Prince has blue eyes... not very Persian.

I could be wrong about this, but the current people living in Iraq/Iran are more Turkish than classically Persian, the classic Persians were closer to what we consider Greeks.

If we are talking Persians before Islam even existed as a religion then yes, you're probably right. But those people were integrated into other societies almost a thousand years ago. Ancient Persia was similar to ancient Greece. Modern Persians (after Islam) are more or less the people who have lived in Iran for the last 1000 years or so.

I'm not sure exactly when the PoP games are supposed to take place, but the architecture and feel of the games are distinctly muslim. So I'm thinking he's a "modern" Persian.

The main character from Unreal 2 - Marshal John something. What I appreciated about him was that he just happened to be black - there was no apparent agenda, more a case of, hey, why not?

C.J. from San Andreas
Tommy from vice city
Tony Montana, from Scarface
Niko Bellic from GTA IV
cant think of anymore.

Khell_Sennet:
Tommy Vercetti - Italian - GTA Vice City (Italian is a Minority in the US)

He's American, not Italian.

Kayevcee:
If memory serves, didn't Master Chief turn out to be dark skinned underneath that helmet?

Never heard of his appearance being revealed anywhere. At least not in the games.

Gordon Freeman hasn't opened his gob yet so we don't know where he's from- only that he attended university in the States. I like to think of him as either a German chap or a Scandinavian dude that sounds like the Swedish Chef from the Muppets.

Freeman is a native of Seattle.

frontier psychiatrist:

Freeman is a native of Seattle.

And unknown to most people, he played the drums in Pearl Jam before they made it big. He quit because it took too much time away from his MIT studies.

poleboy:
And unknown to most people, he played the drums in Pearl Jam before they made it big. He quit because it took too much time away from his MIT studies.

Freeman's bio has been known since Half-Life was released.

frontier psychiatrist:

poleboy:
And unknown to most people, he played the drums in Pearl Jam before they made it big. He quit because it took too much time away from his MIT studies.

Freeman's bio has been known since Half-Life was released.

Stop ruining my fun with science.

My KOTOR Jedi was black.

and my Mass Effect character looked chinese.

Altorin:
My KOTOR Jedi was black.

and my Mass Effect character looked chinese.

Doesn't count.

Tony Montana - Scarface The World Is Yours

If aliens count as minorities on Earth, then

Superman, from a superman game. As far as I know, he's the only Kryptonian.

Cryptosporidium 138 - Destroy All Humans.

frontier psychiatrist:

Altorin:
My KOTOR Jedi was black.

and my Mass Effect character looked chinese.

Doesn't count.

yes it does. If you're given the option to make a character that has no "canon" appearance, let alone gender, it deserves a nod.

In anycase, I was joking, althought he was black.

There is also the Diablo II Paladin

are we not allowing him because he's not "african american" but rather some other crazy fantasy nationality? what about the Sorcerer from DI? He's black too. And the Sorceress is also a visible minority.

Altorin:
yes it does. If you're given the option to make a character that has no "canon" appearance, let alone gender, it deserves a nod.

I really don't see how.

then we shall have to agree to disagree.

Dingo from Zone of Enders: Second Runner.

I dunno what his ethnicity is, but he wasn't white, that's for sure.

As for anime, there are tons of anime characters who aren't Japanese or white. Sometimes it's tough to tell unless it's specifically stated what their background is though.

Wolfwind:
Dingo from Zone of Enders: Second Runner.

I dunno what his ethnicity is, but he wasn't white, that's for sure.

As for anime, there are tons of anime characters who aren't Japanese or white. Sometimes it's tough to tell unless it's specifically stated what their background is though.

those are dark japanese people.

Are we talking ethnic/national minorities where the game is created or the setting of the game? What genres?

Super Mario - as far as I can tell, Mario, Luigi, and the Princess are the only human looking people in the game. Now you could make a case that the Princess is in the true minority as she's the only one of her people to look like she does while Mario and Luigi are both Italian. 2 is great than 1.

What else can we consider a minority? People who single-handedly save the world? In most game settings, that only includes one person, so there you go. People with super powers have to be rare too, so that's another minority right there.

We're on a roll, what else? Oh, how about games about Earth being invaded by an alien race. Do you count the population globally? Sometimes that futzes with the "minority" definition as most people see it. I guess you could make a case for the alien invaders being a minority, in which case the whole game is a hate crime.

Then again, I bet if you tallied the number of ethnic/national minority protagonists in games, they would probably be on par with the actual percentage of that minority in the given region. In which case, they'd be fairly represented. After all, the gaming companies wouldn't want to look like they were favoring any one group by exaggerating their place in a population. That would be racist.

Yes, I'm mocking anyone who takes this issue seriously. If you're buying a game and actually paying attention to the ethnicity of the protagonist, you have issues. Ethnicity doesn't matter to some of us, and if it matters to you then you should probably get a job in the gaming industry so you can make a difference instead of posting about it on an internet forum.

Altorin:
then we shall have to agree to disagree.

The player character in, say, Mass Effect is not intended to be of a specific gender or have a specific appearance. It's all up to the player. By contrast, the protagonist of San Andreas is specifically a black male. Mass Effect doesn't count.