The Mute Protagonist
 

RPGs may sometimes feature a hero who does not "speak" in the story. Instead, the hero’s responses are limited to what the player chooses.

How do you feel about mute heroes? Does the lack of speech affect your experience with a game?

I sometimes find it amusing to watch how the other characters in a game interact with a mute protagonist. I generally prefer main characters who have their own lines simply because they seem to have more personality.

In some games it works, in some it doesn't. Personally, I prefer the protagonist to be voiced, because it helps me understand him or her more, get a better grasp of his or her motivations. In Knights of the Old Republic, the main character is mute in the sense that s/he does not have any lines of dialog that you do not choose yourself, but there are a lot of dialog choices for you to make, so that works pretty well. But then there are games like Suikoden 4, where the main character never speaks and you really have no idea what's going on inside his head. It gets tiresome having the other characters speak for the protagonist all the time, with the protagonist having little input into what is going on.

yeah me too I prefer a hero with they own lines, I don't really like when the other talk to this character and they like repeat what he just said so that we understan the conversation (which you didn't here or read any text because because he's a mute character)

you know it's like those old cliché phone call:

me: hi Rydia it's me Inhert what are you doing today... oh you're doing your laundry and you will go watch a movie after that...yeah me too I love to go to cinema the weekend....oh you talked to Russ too! NO! He did not said that mute character can work and sometime not! really?

you know where you hear only one side of the coversation and the person repeat what the other said >.>

Honestly, I'm neutral about it. I really don't mind either way. I feel the Suikoden games for example have always done a good job with it, but I didn't mind the switch from that in the third one. I understand what they're trying to get across by having a mute protaganist. They obviously want the player to input himself into the role. So doesn't really matter to me.

I do like it when characters poke fun at it. Like in Chrono Trigger.

It really depends on the game for me. SMT: Nocturne pulled the mute protagonist pretty perfectly in my mind because it was really all about how you delt with the events of the story. In SMT: DDS it was kinda annoying but it worked pretty good because you felt like you were that character and yet being him as well.

I usually tend to favor those that speak though.

I dunno why, but I'm a sucker for character development. Specifically, a romance story on the side. Mute main character immediately blares this to me: zero character development. That or finding out about the main character's past will be hard to impossible ;__;

Mute main characters in, say, Suikoden are well done. But most other games do them poorly. I'd like a chatty main character though >__<

It's a mechanic I rather like...Too often, my interest in a game wanes because I just don't like the main character (not just RPG's) and the way they handle themselves, so taking the focus off the main guy and putting it on the events and characters around them is a good idea.

So far, the only game I've encountered where I didn't like this was Chrono Cross, but that was because:

1. There was no reason for everyone to be rallying around Serge and joining the party...It just kind of "happened". Like most events in the game.
2. I didn't care for almost any of the party members or NPC's, so Serge ended up looking even more pathetic.

Conversely, the Suikoden series does it to great effect because the character is right in the middle of everything and usually in high standings, so it spreads the responsibility around the rest of the party to advance the storyline and introduces new characters to great effect. Really though, I'm glad Suikoden 2 wasn't bogged down with scenes of the hero and Jowy going back and forth word-for-word. Or when Hero McDohl just picked up Gremio's axe after he died and didn't say a word...I don't think a long-standing speech would have worked as well as that did.

If you think about it, mute charcters tend to let you actually be a part of the game more--since you choose their answers. However, more and more game makers are getting involved with graphics and FMVs, and in-game clips. Thus, there's more talking, and since it's the Hero, then he/she is going to talk.

Suikoden IV had several of those in-game scenes, and the Hero still didn't talk. Their only concession to the speaking hero was: "Choose his battle voice." It still worked for me.

But some games have you choose responses, and the Hero speaks them--giving them the personality you want.

Same for V. Lyon makes an effective mouth-piece though and there are a lot of instances where you get to make decisions.

I don't like the mute protagonist. I don't mind a quiet protagonist, but mute just makes the conversations look stupid

Character: "Where did you go today?"
Protagonist: "...."
Character: "Oh, to the libarary? Did you find what you were looking for?"
Protagonist: "..."
Character: "Oh, it was out?"

If the character won't say even those things it was blindingly obvious that they have said, that's annoying to me.

I prefer a mute protagonist, because it's much easier to assume the role of that person when you don't have to turn around and conform to their personality. Some of the more top tier titles in my list, such as SMT: Nocturne, Suikoden II, and Dragon Quest VIII were kickass games that didn't require the character to be vocal at all.

This can easily be reproduced to work and give varying dialogue without having to fuck with the necessity of making protagonist look like an idiot while giving you choices.

Character: "Where did you go today?"
Protagonist: -Select- "To the library." or "To the park." or "None of your business."
Character: (with first selection chosen) "Oh, to the library? Did you find what you were looking for?"
Protagonist: -Select- "Yeah, I found it." or "It was out." or "The hell do you care?"
Character: (with second selection chosen) "Oh, it was out?"

The hero may be mute normally, but under the circumstance giving them a personality makes things smooth out overall.

After all, who the FUCK wants to end up controlling a whiny little assmongrel like Tidus? There's where the mute protagonist should have come into play.

For Dragon quest 8, i don't think you can choose what the hero will say

and about the mute hero, i don't like it, i can't identify myself to an empty shell

i have never seen any movie where the main protagonist doesn't say anything to help you identify to him...

nor read any book where the hero doesn't say anything too...

One of the reasons why I didn't like the RPGs of old was because the hero or heroes were mute. The developers come up with a 'the hero is supposed to be you, so you make up his/her personality' excuse, but honestly, I find that a total cop-out. No, the hero isn't supposed to be me, dammit. I seriously can't relate to anyone who doesn't say a single word, and that ruins whatever feelings I have for those people. Unfortunately, even new RPGs have mute heroes for whatever bizarre reason.

I didn't start liking RPGs until the heroes actually started talking, and that RPG was FFIV.

I've gotten so tired of the mute protagonist. If he was actually "mute" in that the other characters acknowledge his silence as well (like in something like Half-Life 2. "Man of few words, aren't you?") then it works somewhat, but most of the time it's simply that the hero speaks, only you don't hear it.

It doesn't work because you often don't have enough control over the hero's choices and personality in order to properly shape him into an image of yourself, and yet since he never says anything, you are left with a character that isn't you, but doesn't have enough of a personality of any sort to be their own person, much less an interesting one.

It was annoying in Zelda games, but it was just doable because Zelda never relied on story. Meanwhile, Crono was a massively dull character because of this and you only felt some form of sympathy for Serge because of all he had to go through, not particularly because of how he was.

The same way, as much as I love Suikoden 2, the silent hero is quite simply boring to follow for me in a long RPG. Tiny dialogue choices which almost never properly affect the outcome of anything isn't enough, I'd much rather have a fully formed character like Locke in FF6 or Ashley in Vagrant Story, or even a slightly more annoying character like Justin in Grandia, they're still far more interesting and likeable.

Are we talking about squall here? Oh wait

Suikoden Series is good doing the whole "Silent Protagonist" Chrono Series too.

Laughing Scene, anyone?

Actually, the voice wasn't so bad--it was the dialogue. They need to start having Teen-Agers write the scripts for teen heros.

As others have said, it depends, but as stories become more story-centric, I think silent mains become increasingly inexcusable. My friends have praised WA1 Rudy as a decent silent main, but the whole sense of comradeship in the game would have been much better if he actually interacted with the others.

I'm also not too fond of the way the Suikoden games handled their mains. Yes, you make decisions, but it's somewhat rare that you aren't just getting pushed around by your bodyguard/sister/strategist. Suikoden V was a bit better because the Prince's choices had some impact, but the game's interaction would have been much better if they actually gave him some lines to go along with each choice.

Mario was mute in Super Mario RPG, kinda, it was funny to watch him act out everything he would say. Oh and he whistles in the shower.

Ness is mute in Earthbound except for your choice of Yes/No, but Earthbound rules, and Ness is the man.

EXACTLY. Fuck. I'm seriously tired of that second type that you mentioned, the classic Mute Protagonis. The first kind is OK, and I would actually describe that type as a "Silent Protagonist", to make the distinction. The mute speaks, but can we neither read nor hear what he says. the silent simply does not speak.

Was it the voice, or the dialog? Personally, I didn't find his dialogue quite so annoying as some people seem to have, but I did find his voice grated on me after some time. Mind you, I didn't like the voices in general. Unless they are going to actually hire decent actors, and write good lines, I suggest that games would do well to avoid voiced dialog.

To clarify my own position for the main topic of the thread, I believe that we are speaking of a "mute protagonist" against the background of game theory, which means that he doesn't say anything. I'm not discussing the presence or absence of voice acting, which is what some people seem to be discussing.

The purpose of the mute protagonist, according to game theory, is to allow the player to project their own words into the mouth of Our Hero. I don't find it works, personally.

I think the main argument people have in favor of mutes is that if they don't like the main character and his/her personality, it'll negatively affect their take on the game. Especially if the bulk of the game is centered around them. If you don't like the main FF lead, you're generally screwed as far as really getting into the game's story unless you pick up on someone else and they get sufficient facetime. FFVI worked well, since I thought Terra was downright boring, but the whole of the cast was what made it stand out. They easily could have muted her and not lost much of anything. Personally, I was more than content with not knowing what happened to Tidus at the end of FFX because I didn't care about him or the supposed impact he had on the world. Ditto for Squall and Cloud, though both grew on me simply for their actual gameplay roles.

Think of wrestling and say you think the current champ is a douche. Yet, all of the major storylines revolve around him. At best, you're rooting for something bad to happen to him. At worst, you lose interest in the whole thing. That's why I like the idea of eliminating the lead and passing the torch onto the remainder of the party, because I'm much more likely to pick up on a favorite character than to have one forced onto me by the game's storyline.

Then again, there's always the occasional lead character who gets by with a certain amount of charisma and I actually care what happens with them...Valkyrie was a good example of this and it made the events later on in the game have more of an impact, once her past was uncovered. Grandia leads are generally pretty good (I haven't played 3, but Justin and Ryudo were good). And I haven't seen a Nippon Ichi strat lead I haven't liked yet...The Prince wouldn't be nearly as great as a mute.

That's true, but it's not going to make me like mute protagonists any more. I tend to just avoid those games entirely, this far into my gaming life.
You didn't play Phantom Brave, then? The lead character of Disgaea 2 is nothing to write home about either.

Not trying to convince you at all, but I don't think offering a good explanation hurts.


Guess I should have just said La Pucelle and Disgaea to avoid confusion.

I really didn't have a problem with the voice, but there are only so many times you can hear, "My old man" before you wish someone would gag him. The voice actor was okay--when he wasn't told to really emote as much.

Think about it. When the main characters who do speak are in the emotional scenes--they get a little shrilly. When they speak normally, they're okay.

Using Tidus--again--as an example:

Compare his voice when he says: "Listen to my story." to well, the rest of the game.....

I really don't like mute protagonists because they don't inflect any personality, and you rarely get to control the actions of the character. In many Japanese RPGs, the story is driven for you where you have little control what do to do. In that respect, I like the character to speak his mind regardless of how whiny he is or how arrogant he is. Make me care about him! The worst thing to happen is I show no emotion towards the character. That right there is worse than someone not liking the character.

If the game designers insist on putting in a mute character, than let me control the character and project my own personality on there by allowing my actions to affect gameplay and story. Some great examples are Fallout, Knights of the Old Republic, Baldur's Gate and many other PC centric games.

The thing that annoyed me most about the dialogue in FFX was not the VA, but that you could pick your own name. I fucking hated that.
"Okay, Rikku, Yuna, me aaaaand... the new guy. We go fight Seymour, ya?"
The way they avoid saying his name was, I dunno, it seemed completely unnatural.

Gordon Freeman is the way to make a silent protagonist. Gordon is a vessel to experience the story.

With such crappy voicing these days, having a mute protagonist is a blessing.

But I like it, I think it adds a someone air of mystery to the guy. And it makes everyone infinitely more likeable when they're not spouting either/or depressing angst, peppy enthusiasm at every moment.

Ditto on that.

I don't see how a mute person with absolutely no personalty would be more likable than someone who talks and actually has a personalty.

Well, it depends on what you mean by "mute". In your example where your character simply only says what you can choose, it can work out fine (for example Fallout or KOTOR where you always select your response, although sometimes you're limited to only saying one thing to progress the conversation). If you're supposed to "be" the character, then it makes sense that you'd envision your character saying the lines as you read them instead of needing to hear voice acting for them, even though every other character in the game has a voice (well in KOTOR, anyway). In non-RPG games like Half-life, a totally mute character will usually work as long as the interactions you have with others still flow naturally.

In RPGs with TOTAL mutes like Chrono Trigger or Chrono Cross, hmm, well it does get annoying after a while seeing everyone boss you around and tell you what THEY think without your character ever getting a word in. In that case, they don't really seem like characters as much they are shells, which kinda hurts the whole understanding-the-characters thing. I've never seen a case where it makes me "feel" like my character as it's supposed to, I guess my imagination just isn't wild enough to envision myself as a delivery boy that never talks. They could at least give a REASON for your character not talking though...old war injury, birth defect, whatever. It's a little strange thinking that you're supposed to be a character that simply refuses to talk.

It's even more bizarre when games like Shining Force 3 take the half-way route: your character DOES talk to others, but you can't see what they're saying. While I like it a bit better than mutes (at least they're doing more than just standing around waiting for people to tell them what to do), it still makes it a bit confusing since you have no idea what your character is actually saying at that point. However, in Shining Force 3, it was nice that you could at least see what the characters said in the scenarios that DIDN'T star them. So then you could usually get a good feel for what they were like by playing the other scenarios, and then when you played as them, you'd still have a decent idea of what they'd PROBABLY say in that situation. Sadly, since only Shining Force 3 Scenario 1 was translated and released over here, Synbios will forever be known to me as the character that speaks in dots and Japanese.

For the most part, I prefer that the protagonist has a voice and personality. But in some instances - it'll work out fine; Half-Life 2 being a fine example.

I'm all for mute characters if the other active members are vocal enough to cover for it. Dragon Quest 8 is a fine example of that. They basically have conversations around the hero, but not always involving the hero. The primary example being when Yangus tells his story of how he met the guv'. Angelo does the same thing, when he'll sort of indirectly talk to the hero.

Angelo - "I can't believe my brother would do something like that!"
Hero - *nods*
Angelo - "We'll just have to stop him."

In DQ8, the conversations involving the hero are often more indirect and more akin to thinking outloud rather than sitting down and having a conversation. The other positive aspect about DQ8's silent hero is that when he IS spoken to directly, it's almost always in way that can end in "Yes" or "No," so he can just nod away. Of course, there are the occassions where he ends up explaining the whole story up to a particular point to an NPC, but hey no one's perfect.

I like having a hero with his own voice as well, but Lloyd from Tales of Symphonia...he could've been mute and the game would've been better for it. I've got nothing against the Teen Titans' Robin, but it just didn't work out for poor Lloyd.

Grandia 3 did, however, have a pretty decent set of voice actors, but namely for the main character Yuki. Johnny Yong Bosch, more commonly known as the black Power Rangeror, maybe IF you've seen it, Vash the Stampede from Trigun, did a good job portraying a teenager.

Hmm, I don't think you're really supposed to "understand" mutes like that...I think there has to be an understanding that they're just a vehicle to drive the story forward. It's another storytelling method, which completely de-emphasizes the main character (as you say, they're more "shells") and puts the focus on practically everything else. It's intentional in other words...Explaining it with a birth defect would work against what the scenario writers were trying to accomplish (read: concentrate attention on the overall scenario and other cast members, while having a suitable vehicle to drive the story forward). I mean, mutes are obviously not an accident.

But in most cases, talky main characters aren't saying anything important anyway and their dialogue isn't hard to predict...They're mostly just along for the ride with everyone else. IMO, it slows everything down and, at worst, causes me to lose interest in the game because I get tired of it focusing on someone I'm controlling and hope dies.

I'm all for mutes as long as I get to choose my responses. The developers want me to be the character and choose his personality? Fine, I will. Give me the dialouge options and a branching storyline and I'll choose.

If a character speaks to me I want to be able to choose from a multiple amount of answers. So if I want my character to be a bastard he can be one but still technicly be a 'mute' because all his responses are chosen by me.

KOTOR 1/2 was mentioned earlier and I have to also agree that it works better that way. KOTOR uses a system that allows you to choose your responses and works pretty well. If I want to be a caring helpfull force user I can be. If I want to be a snappy bastard force user I can be that too. It's kind of missing the branching storyline but atleast the people around you still react differently depending on how you respond to them.

I think these kind of systems do a better job at making you more a part of the main character than the completely mute ones.

Only if that personality is fucking annoying, as most protagonists in RPGs are today. With a mute character, you are apatethic at best, which would sum up to "more likeable" to me.

Tell me you would not prefer playing a game with Tidus over Chrono, even if the latter was a mute.

I don't mind, and for quite a long while had never realized that characters like Chrono were mute. It's a mixed blessing.


If the character is not mute, then you'll probably like or dislike the character.

Jack in Radiata Stories was definitely shown to be an arrogant boy. I don't like arrogance, so I didn't like Jack very much. Conversely, Lenneth in Valkyrie Profile caught my interest since she wasn't in your face all the time.


If the character is mute, then usually the other characters have enough story to keep me occupied.

Byuu in Bahamut Lagoon is mute, and you see lots of action and backstory with Yoyo and Matelite.

I probably agree with you.
KOTOR is one of those that this kind of dialogue works, because you choose what your answer is. But while playing Dragon Quest VIII I was pretty pissed by everyone talking to "the Hero" and he just stands there, looking retarded.

I honestly don't like mute protagonist. Primarily, as most people would agree, they lack personality. I've never been a big fan of the whole [your personality = the character's personality] equation, its just too awkward. That's what they are to me in a nutshell, awkward. What I really wish developers would stop doing though is letting the players name the character in games with voice overs. These days thats practically every game now, from Final Fantasy X to Suikoden V. It's so annoying when the most important person in the game doesn't have a name. Metaphorically speaking, they don't have a name because the other characters never say it during spoken dialogue. It's like 'Hey you, yeah you, the guy who saved the world last night, help me move this box will ya?' That combined with a character who can't talk creates a protagonist who's still nobody no matter what he does.

Mute characters really piss me off. Why are they in the story if they're so freaking indifferent to everything? I want my characters to have stances on different issues and a freaking personality. Having a mute character does not make me feel any closer to the universe of the game. I can't relate to dead weight with nothing to say.

Honestly? I'd rather play a game with Tidus than Crono. I felt nothing for Crono. Tidus, eh I found him to be an annoying brat, but it was fun. Being apathetic towards a character doesn't make it more likeable. You don't care, so therefore it is neither likeable or dislikeable.

Granted I liked Chrono Trigger more than FFX, but FFX at least had a main character who developed over time.

Crono sort of developed...By the time his death scene rolled around, he had been through enough ingame that it felt like a pretty huge loss. Again, clearly a case where the strength of the events around him helped shape the character. This is probably when mutes are most useful...When the characters and events surround the main character are powerful enough that they don't need to say anything.

If I had to listen to Tidus' whining throughout Chrono Trigger, I'd probably be fast-forwarding the dialogue anyway and the game's events wouldn't have meant as much (unless he got some decent high-spots with the other cast members). I might even have thrown a party to celebrate his death at the hands of Lavos and finished the game without him. :edgarrock:

To each their own, because I'd rather jam forks in my ear than play through any game with Tidus again. The issue with the mute protagonist is that you might be apathetic but usually in those games (such as Chrono Trigger), if it's done right, the focus isn't even on the main character but the overall plot with the supporting cast. Like I found Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross not so much about these certain "main" characters but others around them. It's a more broad world view and plot point, which I enjoy more.

When you have games now that focus so much on the protagonist, especially an annoying one, it pretty much kills the game since the plot is simply him/her. Sure you have character interaction but their personalities and stories take a seat in the back burner, like how does main character feel about this situation or that character. It's a really small perspective on the game in general, and that's why I personally like a mute protagonist better and do find them more likeable, because they help rather than hurt the plot (again, if done right).

The Suikoden and Breath of Fire games have made it work, and work well. Especially Suikoden II; even though the main character didn't have a line of dialogue, he still had a unique character because of the way other characters reacted to him.
Honestly, I like the mute hero; it completely does away with the risk of having a main character that you hate.

I think it really depends. A mute protagonist works better in a story driven game than a character driven one. If the focus of the game is more on the events then you can get away with a mute protagonist. Chrono Trigger for example. The main character wasn't integral to the story. Heck, you get a lot more story relating to the other characters and even those tend to be secondary to stopping Lavos from devouring the world.

On the other hand if the game is more character driven such as Final Fantasy VIII then a mute protagonist can be a problem. I don't like Squall, but imagine his and Rinoa's interaction if he never said a word. It'd completely change the way the story played out. And since FFVIII wasn't exactly strong in story, this made the focus on the characters a lot more important. Really the whole battle against Edea and that sorceress from the future who was possessing her were secondary to Rinoa and Squall's relationship.

It works very well in all the BOF games... Not to mention Zelda, right?

I thought that it worked as long as the other characters didn't have any actual voices. For example, Suikoden IV does a horrible job at this, not only does the hero has the charisma of a potato, his not speaking or showing any significant development is just awful. Suikoden V does a better job at this, but I still feel underwhelmed during some scenes, when the prince calls on your army, and you don't get any voice, just some other character cheering for victory. Also, it annoyed me to no end that you still had to give him a name, so that everyone continues to call him "Prince".

Wow, I actually thought those moments where you have the single option to pick from before a huge battle were a great touch. I mean, the Prince really didn't have to say anything because everyone was already pumped up. Besides, Boz always chimed in with a burly, "To Victory!" incase anyone missed the message.

Besides, I think it was more of a carryover from earlier games. I know 2 did it and I'm fairly certain 1 did as well.

Suikoden V just played on the whole mute thing really well, by having different mouthpieces carry the load. Sometimes it was Sialeeds, sometimes it was Georg, most of the time it was Lyon and then it was whoever the main group was for a given scenario. The whole cast ended up carrying the load nicely...While I definitely felt for the Prince, any angsty whining he might have done would have really slowed things down (I'd have LOVED to have seen Tidus go through all of the shit he had to endure, though).