Video games face an entirely separate issue than other mediums such as books, television, and movies. They’re 100% interactive, requiring keeping the player engaged in what’s happening at all times. While every game is different, the people who play these games are even more so. Creating a character that appeals to the broadest spectrum of players has always been a challenge even for the greatest storytellers in gaming. As such, the silent protagonist has been a method to counter that.

In The Legend of Zelda series, Link was always the silent hero of his own adventures. Being called upon by powerful forces within Hyrule to defeat evil was a monumental task. Not everyone would have accepted and gone along with everything he did. Who would be willing to brave the innards of a whale god or lose 7 years of their life trapped in time such as Link did in Ocarina of Time? Keeping gamers solely focused on the events and Link completing them diminishes the gap between the player and the narrative.

Initially, the method was cited as a way to save resources. Why create voice acting in a game that really doesn’t tell a story. Mario only needs to jump on poor turtles and devour mushrooms like a maniac. Doomguy just needs to unload on the denizens of hell with his B.F.G. As gaming has continued, more games are taking different routes to reach the same goals. But when gameplay is the key factor for a development team, keeping the player as focused on game mechanics as possible is the main objective.

Gordon Freeman was a theoretical physicist working for a large research lab called Black Mesa. During an experiment, hostile aliens were summoned into their facilities and all hell broke loose. In Half-Life 2, the game takes place 20 years after that initial incident, with Freeman being dropped into City 17 by the mysterious G-Man. It is a desperate world, having been taken over by the alien forces Gordon Freeman saw unleashed that day. Joining forces with his ragtag group of allies, Gordon Freeman is tasked with saving the world and stopping the ruling extraterrestrial force known as the Combine.

One noticeable thing about Gordon is he almost never has a chance to speak. The dialogue and events are written in a way that he’s just not given the opportunity to. For an FPS, it was very narrative-heavy for its time, yet it was constantly shown through the first person perspective. You could completely move around during most dramatic scenes with a large degree of freedom. While it may have been just as effective if it had cutscenes and interjections from Gordon, it worked exceedingly well as it was, and might have stood out all the more because of its nature.

A silent protagonist doesn’t always have to be as mute as characters like Link and Gordon Freeman. The criteria for them only comes from not being voiced, making them stand out amongst other characters in the game. This is a prominent feature in visual novels and RPGs. Sometimes it’s more immersive to create a character’s voice in your mind than to hear the voice actor given their role.

The Grey Wardens protect the world from evil in the medieval fantasy world of Ferelden. As one of the last few remaining heroes left in the world faced with the upcoming onslaught of an entire army of evil, players guide their main character on a perilous quest. Over dozens of hours, you will journey across the map gaining allies and making enemies. Some noteworthy characters are voiced by prominent voice actors and actresses, and every scene they’re in is engaging and progresses the plot.

As the hero character in Bioware’s medieval fantasy RPG, you shape the fate of your character and the world. Almost all scenes were voice-acted, except for your main character’s. You had options to select dialogue, but you could only read it yourself and see NPCs’ reactions to it. This method has been employed in Visual Novels in the past, as well as Bioware’s previous games. However, it can be argued whether it was more or less effective, as when more resources were devoted, Bioware had fully voiced scenes with their next series, Mass Effect.

One notable advantage of a silent protagonist over Commander Shepard’s portrayals is diversity, or lack thereof. No matter your race, age, or ethnicity, the voice actor and actress are the same for both variants. If your character’s voice in your own head doesn’t match how you see them, it can create a subtle disconnect. Another point of contention is that when selecting options in Mass Effect, Shepard ad libbed. He often went more positive or negative than you intended. In Dragon Age, you selected your statement precisely, knowing exactly the emotion to convey.