after playing games all my life it struck me..

It struck me that I can't think of any games that has a hero you control as a main character who is black(african).

Maybe I've overlooked it but why is that so?

Me and a friend was watchfing lord of the rings the other day and a few days later she said the trilogy was racist. I haven't really thought alot about that until she said that. I actually think she is right.

Even in lord of the rings online you can't really make a human who is ebony.

Now there might actually be a game where the hero is afro american or whatever these folks are called but I can't think of one.

In almost all of the western games they are white people, except maybe assasin's creed.

What about call of duty, there are blacks in the army in us ,but I've played mw2 and don't recall any blacks there.

I actually think that games are fun, but do blacks of america not play video games and if they do they must kinda have noticed this?

We live in 2015 almost 2016, this is kinda strange actually.

@Guerdonmyth: GTA5 one of the main characters was black. Awesome character.

Yes and no. I can give you numerous examples of games where the main character was black (and not one of "several" main characters where one of them was black, just a single protagonist who is black). Some of these games are Grand Theft Auto San Adreas, the "50 Cent" video game, every "Spawn" video game (Al Simmons was black), Shadow Man (based on the comic of the same name), and several others.

However, you're right in that the vast majority games out there usually feature a white, male, and straight protagonist as this is considered the "default". I wouldn't go so far as to call a game that -doesn't- feature a minority character in a lead role (or at all) racist because racism implies intent. Not including a minority in your story does not make you racist, although it's true that not including a minority in your story might be something that you could do -because- you're racist, but we shouldn't assume that's the case without evidence supporting that position.

In the case of Tolkien, well, that guy -was- pretty racist so as far as -that- particular series there's some truth to that in that paricular instance. I can't fault the games for keeping to the source material and shoehorning in characters who were not part of the original story for the sake of diversity is not something I necessarily agree with.

What I think the bigger problem here is the idea that there's a "default" character type. People come in all kinds of shapes, sizes, colors, etc. The idea of a "default" type of person is something that's largely perpetuated by western media (movies, tv shows, etc). It's getting better, but it still has a long way to go.

-Byshop

Most of the black playable characters that I can think of are in games with multiple players. Dead Island, GTA5, Left 4 Dead.

It's worth noting that GTA San Andreas had a black PC. Also, most games with character creation have skin color options.

This post struck an interesting thought for me - What if some of our staple franchises produced games where the playable protagonist was black? Silent Hill or Resident Evil for example. I, for one, think it would be cool.

Have you played Telltale's The Walking Dead? It features a black protagonist.

What about Latino, Chinese, Russian, Philippine, ect. Why are you only noticing black is missing ?

I think saying that Lord of the Rings is racist because it doesn't have a main character who is black, is drawing a massively long bow tbh... So does that mean that every movie or book or game that doesn't have a character from every race on Earth in them, they're racist too? Come on...

But would I like to see more variety in character races in games in general, yes I would.

Exactly, it ain't only about one race not in the cards. Stop noticing just that particular card people. So immature.

The answer is simple, there are more white people playing videogames than black here in the west so western videogames/movies usually have a white protaganist in order to gain the most sales for the developers/producers. Tbh, do you think for instance Read Dead Redemtion would sell just as good if the protagonist was black or latino? This is not a qustion of rasicm, it's all about marketing and gaining the most profit.

As already said GTA San Andreas, GTA5, Prototype, Assassin's creed on the Vita ( can't remember the name ) on top of being black it is a female, games made by Bethesda offer you to be black

Hi guys, it seems like there are some games with other ethnic groups but not alot, and that white people play mostly.

I just can't see why a game wouldn't sell if the character was not white. is it uncomfortable for a white guy to play some other race. there are alot of fantasy races in rpg's and people play least human in some of those like WoW or EQ for example. But yeah maybe the erudite was not the most popular.

But anyway why wouldn't read dead redemption not selll just because the hero was mexican, why can white people not enjoy playing another human race, when they sure as the sky is blue, can play orcs in WoW?

Are there like 10% games out there where the hero is not white. I'm not talking about where you can choose to be black I'm talking about a game where there are no other options, as alot of games there are no other options than to be white.

As a black, i feel were slowly being included and represented in video games at a rate where i'm satisfied. I find myself wondering why there's no east or south asian's more nowadays.

If blacks were in the asian's and natives etc... situation's, we'd be up in arms over that. But that's the kinda privilege you get when you were treated worst than animals in this country for a couple centuries.

Even though I am of African/Native American decent, I have to agree! "BUT" as you have said, the TC might not be at a mature level.

I can think of a few games i've played with black main characters...

GTA San Andreas the main character is black.

You play as a black female cop in the game Urban Chaos, which was a semi open world game that came out a bit before gta 3.

Some of the main characters in Broforce are black.

If you play as the Zulu's in Civilization, the leader is black. (Shaka = god)

and most new games let you customize your character. So you can easily make them any skin color you want.

SiN on PC (old FPS) had a black dude named John Blade (not related to the comic/movies) as the main character. He was pretty cool and the game was good. Also, Kratos is actually voiced by a black guy. Does that count? hehe ;)

@Guerdonmyth: It's about what you relate to i guess, not that it feels uncofortable to play as a black or latino protagonist. One of my favorite games are the Shenmue series and the maincharacter in those games is Japanese so i personally don't care what type of race the protagonist has but im pretty sure from a marketing standpoint, these are factors that the developers are taking into account early on in the proccess when they plan on making a videogame, again it's not rasicm, it's all about the $$$

I think every game should have the option to edit the player in what color, or looks you want. It can't be that hard to make every game like that right ?

@da_funk4: You play as a black Asian man in GTA Chinatown Wars.

I only know of Marlon Briggs and Prototype 2.

So uhm yeah.... two games is plenty if you ask me. Lets get some More Asians in the lime light. I don't I've played any game of any kind where the protagonist was any kind of Asian.

Edit: Wait hangon..... what nationality are those Boys from Devil May Cry ?

Afro Samurai