The Mushroom Kingdom is in danger and only Mario can save the day. The Princess was kidnapped by Bowser and he has locked her in a castle! Now, Mario must fight his way through various areas and enemies to find the beloved Princess and save her. For most of the Mushroom Kingdom, Bowser is too power. That’s why only Mario can defeat Bowser and save the day!

Beginning our list of our Top 10 Silent Protagonists in Games, we look at Mario from Super Mario Bros. With his iconic red outfit, players felt like an everyday hero as they saved a princess. While Mario would later get a voice, we would never forget when he was just a silent hero running and jumping on the heads of his enemies. That’s why no matter how little Mario talks, he is still a great silent protagonist in our hearts!

The Elder Scrolls series has always given players a means of creating their own characters. The idea is to become one with the world they are placed into thanks to having your own avatar to embody. However, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition does it slightly different by giving you a title, The Dragonborn. While you’re still able create your own custom character and make him/her any race, they would always be given the moniker of The Dragonborn. Now if you somehow have never played The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition, let us explain why The Dragonborn is one of the coolest silent protagonists ever.

Since players are able to do whatever they want in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition, it ultimately equates to you making The Dragonborn the way you want him/her to be. Want to be a tough warrior who saves the day? Want to be a villain and use your power for bad? Those are all viable choices and thus The Dragonborn’s legend becomes yours to meld and shape however you want. While the only thing you might hear from your Dragonborn is the shouts they make—which is their power after all—beyond that they will always be silent and waiting for your choices to shape their destiny.

After surviving a sudden plane crash a young man named Jack finds himself in a precarious situation. Somewhere in the ocean, Jack swims towards a lighthouse in the distance. Within the lighthouse, Jack finds a strange device that launches him into the depths of the ocean. It is here that Jack learns of Andrew Ryan and his city under the water known as Rapture. However, while Rapture was to be a beautiful place, Jack finds the place to be a hellish landscape where he must survive against the once normal denizens.

The world of Rapture was a horrific one of mystery and intrigue. What made it more unnerving is that your controlled character named Jack was dead silent throughout 95% of the game. While initially, Jack does talk, until the various endings of the game, Jack remains silent creating a sense of immersion as you see the decrepit tunnels of Rapture. There is also another reason why Jack is dead silent after his initial opening monologue but in case you wish to play Bioshock we won’t spoil it for you.

What risks and trials would you try to overcome to save a loved one? While there have been many protagonists that have explained why they do what they do for someone they care for, there is one hero who never speaks of why he does what he does. Known as Wander, our hero is out to save a woman who may or may not be his wife/girlfriend and endures numerous trials and tribulations to bring her back from the dead. You’ll never hear Wander speak beyond calling out for his horse Agro but that’s what makes his character so heroic. Then there’s also the fact that Wander faces giant beings known simply as Colossus.

Told early on in Shadow of the Colossus that fighting these giant beasts would restore the woman’s life, Wander picks up his sword and bow and goes off into battle. As the player, we are the ones guiding his trust blade and climbing the various beasts but we have to wonder why is Wander doing all this? Is this woman so precious that he’s willing to die against the towering Colossus? That remains a mystery to most gamers but to us here at Honey’s Anime that makes Wander a hero. That’s why he indeed deserves a spot on our list of Top 10 Silent Protagonists in Games list.

Most gamers are privy to the shocking revelation revealed in Metroid for the NES. The fact that their silent space warrior was secretly a girl, made gamers flip out. That’s what made Super Metroid so much better. The realization that you aren’t controlling a super strong guy but instead a super strong woman. Quiet, strong and silent, Samus Aran is the ultimate female silent protagonist indeed.

Now, some of you might now want to argue that Samus Aran has been given a voice thus she’s not exactly silent anymore. With the more recent games such as Metroid: Other M, Samus Aran went from being mute to being quiet talkative. However, we here at Honey’s Anime—and most of those who played Metroid: Other M—will agree that Samus Aran still is best when she was killing Metroid enemies without ever talking about her melodramatic background. Plus, in most of the games still, Samus Aran doesn’t speak so we think she still deserves to be on our silent protagonists in games list. If however you don’t fully agree, feel free to comment down below but for us Samus Aran will always be the strong silent female heroine from the Metroid series.

At number 5 on our list is the protagonist from Persona 5. While we did do this on purpose, the protagonist from Persona 5 is also on this list for a reason. As with most of the Persona franchise, the main character is usually left mute in the main games. Not including spin offs, the player is meant to make choices to tailor the story. This is the main idea in Persona 5 just like in most of the other Persona games, but there’s also another reason we chose Persona 5’s main man for this top 10.

The protagonist from Persona 5 is just one of the coolest silent protagonists in the series. With the looks to drive the girls wild and an air of mystery to him, the protagonist from Persona 5 shines above the others. While there are names that people have come up with for his default series name—in the manga he is called Kurusu Akira—the beauty of changing his name to whatever you want makes Persona 5 main lead your character. You guide his fate and change him to be either a ladies man, a shy hero and or a mixture of the two.

In a world not too unlike ours, a story is about to unfold around a young man named Crono. During the Millennial Fair, Crono witnesses his childhood friend Marie get sucked into a teleporter Lucca’s—another of Crono’s friends—created. Knowing that his friend is in danger, Crono and his allies go through the portal in search of her. Now they must travel into a different time period to save their friend. However, this task won’t be an easy one as they end up in the middle of a dangerous battle…

Chrono Trigger was an amazing sci-fi fantasy game that even today is considered one of the best JRPGs around. Though we feel this was thanks to its amazing story and the main protagonist Crono. While Crono wasn’t talkative—thus the silent protagonist moniker—players watched as he jumped headlong into battles to keep his friends safe. There’s an old saying out there in the world, actions speak louder than words. For Crono this was why his character shined as not only a warrior but as a cool main character.

Haven’t you ever wanted to feel super powered? To run around and kill demons and other baddies with various weapons and feel unstoppable? Then you probably have played Doom and that’s why for our Top 10 Silent Protagonists in Games list, we look at the main man himself known as Doom Guy. Never saying a word besides odd grunts—depending on the game—Doom Guy embodies what many wish they could be. Tough, brutal and a literal walking one-man army.

Now Doom Guy appears so high on our list because ever since the early 1990s, Doom Guy has always been the silent warrior we know and love. Even in the more recent 2016 series reboot, Doom Guy still says nothing but equally still beats the ever-loving crap out of enemies. Regardless of what part of Mars he’s on, Doom Guy can defeat all that stand before him. Now, we only hope that Doom Guy always stays quiet for the rest of time. We still want to feel like a powerful space marine and if he begins talking that illusion will be forever removed.

What is your usual perception of nerdy or scientific people? Most likely, you think that if someone is like that all they do is talk about smart theories and facts. Though we have a rebuttal to this stereotype in the form of Gordon Freeman from the Half-Life series. Despite clearly being a smart dude—just look at various hints in game that show his prestigious college degree—Gordon Freeman stays silent in all of the Half-Life games.

Let’s also examine what Gordon Freeman does in every Half-Life game. From the very first title to Half-Life 2: Episode 2, Gordon Freeman dons his orange HEV Suit and kills various alien monsters. Not only does he kill with guns, rockets and his trusty crowbar but Gordon Freeman never utters a single sound. We almost have to wonder if Gordon Freeman is actually mute and that’s why he never talks. However, regardless of why Gordon Freeman doesn’t talk that doesn’t stop him from being literally one of the coolest mute scientists we’ve ever seen in any video game series.

Honestly, we wonder how many of you out there didn’t see Link from The Legend of Zelda franchise taking number one on our list of the Top 10 Silent Protagonists in Games. Link might make noises when he swings a blade or gets hurt—though this only applies to games after the NES days—but beyond that our hero is quiet. Never shouting out cool lines or phrases, Link uses his mighty sword skills and arrangement of tools do the talking. Though why does this make Link so cool? Well, we have a means of explaining that to you all.

Link is the hero that we all wish to be. Saving people, rescuing princesses and fighting off huge armies with only a sword and usually some talkative guide to keep the silence from being a constant thing. However, the silence of Link allows us to take over as the green tunic clad hero and be him during his latest quest. That is why silent protagonists are so amazing and Link is the best of the best in that regard. Though we here at Honey’s Anime don’t think many of you will disagree with Link being number one on our list as many consider him an amazing silent hero.