Sure, they may not be the most boring and annoying things about video games, but casts of anonymous and uninspired characters are certainly a constant in the digital entertainment industry, as well as one of the few critical issues that can be found in both the most successful blockbusters and the most blatant flops.
Desmond Miles (Assassin’s Creed)
Of all the anonymous characters in the history of video games, Desmond Miles is the classic ‘textbook case’ of the improvised protagonist who ends up wearing the hero’s clothes against his will. To give shape to the first five chapters of the Assassin’s Creed saga, Ubisoft chose to entrust this very ordinary boy with the impossible task of carrying on his shoulders the entire narrative architecture of the series.
From his kidnapping by Abstergo to his escape to his new hideout, every single step of Desmond’s story seems to completely escape his control, with him ending up becoming almost a passive (and at times even disinterested) spectator of the events experienced by his ancestors and his companions in adventure… with the exception, perhaps, of the final moments of the narrative arc traced by Ubisoft to tell his deeds and say goodbye to this character who has now ended up on the margins of the lore and expanded narrative of the series.
Jack (BioShock)
Whether it’s due to the very structure of the BioShock plot, or the role-playing nature of the adventure outlined by the authors following Ken Levine, it’s really difficult to remember passages in the story in which the character of Jack really manages to stand out from the other elements of a simply marvelous plot and narration.
Throughout the main campaign, Jack simply puts together the pieces of the puzzle of a story in which he chooses to participate only superficially, almost as if he were the external narrator of a gothic fairy tale designed to make Rapture, and the disturbing figures that populate it, the true protagonists of the story. And he succeeds perfectly, by the way.
Corvo Attano (Dishonored)
The immersive sim nature of the interactive experience outlined by the authors of Arkane studios certainly does not contribute to projecting Corvo Attano into the pantheon of the most charismatic characters in the history of video games, but the narrative and authorial gap that emerges when trying to retrace the story of this silent hero is equally evident.
Despite ending up at the center of a plot full of twists and turns and political intrigue that threatens to destabilize the entire fictional dimension of Dunwall, our alter-ego does nothing to stand out, preferring to act in the shadows to fuel the aura of mystery that hovers over the entire gameplay and narrative framework of the series.
Frey Holland (Forspoken)
Among the causes of the heavy commercial flop of Forspoken it is impossible not to mention the deficient contribution given by Frey Holland: the bland characterization of the protagonist of the fantasy adventure by Luminous Productions ends up depressing the ambitions of the developers, and this despite the effort put into erecting the gameplay, narrative and content framework of this new IP.
A real shame, if we think about the original mix of magic, open world and parkour that enriches the combat system and the ‘exploratory dynamics’ of the first work of an intellectual property that threatens to slip into oblivion, and this also because of a protagonist who fails to leave her mark.
Noble Six (Halo Reach)
Bungie’s choice to distance itself from the iconic character of Master Chief was not a happy one, especially considering the questionable work that was done at the time by the American authors to make Noble Six the ‘permanent center of gravity’ of the story of Halo Reach.
Despite a compelling narrative and gameplay that would be a pale understatement to call sensational, the interactive story unraveled by Bungie shows obvious cracks precisely because of a character that cannot even begin to hold a candle to John-117. A less generic character, with a more marked characterization and a personality more inclined to manifest the fragilities of human nature would certainly have contributed to further raising the quality level of Halo Reach.
