5 of the Best Asian Video Game Characters
Written by GeekGirlCon Copy Writer Henry Behrens
In honor of Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month, I thought I’d highlight some of the best Asian video game characters out there, only to realize that the selection isn’t very large. For an industry that was, in a way, birthed by Asian companies like Nintendo and Sony, there’s surprisingly very few Asian characters in major (or even minor) games.
Professor Dimitri Williams of the University of Southern California did a study back in 2009 about, among other things, the representation of different races in video games. He found that while 80.05% of characters in video games are white, only 5.03% are Asian/Pacific Islander. In 2014, Ross Orlando, a graduate from Ithaca University, looked at the top 10 most highly rated games from 2007 to 2012 and found that Asian characters were only 3% of the games’ protagonists. He even found, perhaps surprisingly, that 75% of the games developed in Japan had white protagonists.
The Nielsen Center conducted a more recent study (published March 2015!) showing that Asian-Americans are aware of that lack of representation. As shown below, 49% of Asian-American gamers interviewed said they disagreed either somewhat or strongly that “all races have ample representation/inclusion in video game characters.”
49% of Asian Americans disagree to some extent that all races have ample representation in video games. [Image source.]
Ada Wong — Resident Evil (1996)
Ada is a classic femme fatale, never mind the zombies. [Image source.]
Ghost — Enter the Matrix (2003)
Ghost easily dispatching agents and baddies. [Image source.]
Ryo Hazuki — Shenmue (2000)
Ryo’s ready to get down to business. [Image source.]
A serious young man focused on revenge, Ryo is the protagonist of this short series, which is now something of a cult classic. Ryo is a skilled martial artist with a concentration in jujitsu, although he learns moves throughout the games that are rooted in Chinese martial arts. Ryo is a fantastic character because of his determination, which leads him all over the open landscape of the games and pushes him past his original every-man stature.
Chell — Portal (2007)
One of the rare instances in which we see Chell in-game. [Image source.]
Faith — Mirror’s Edge (2008)
Parkour just comes naturally when you’re this cool. [Image source.]
Faith is the first Asian-American woman to be the main character and protagonist in a video game, which is without a doubt something to be celebrated. She’s the embodiment of smarts, skill, and physical excellence. She’s an independent young woman who battles against the government in charge of her city, becoming a Runner to do so–a member of an illegal underground courier group that uses parkour to escape the City Protection Force in order to deliver sensitive documents. Faith throws herself into danger and conspiracies because of her own experience with the nasty side of things and her determination to bring down the City.
Short list, right? Hopefully you’ll forgive me, but if I missed anyone you think should have been highlighted, tell me in the comments!
Grace Nakamura from the Gabriel Knight games. She’s mainly a sidekick in the first one but she becomes the second playable character in the other games.
Wei Shen from Sleeping Dogs. A Chinese-American going undercover in Hong Kong while dealing with his own culture clash outside of work.
There’s also Jade, the protagonist from Beyond Good and Evil, who recently was the subject of a “Positive Female Character in Video Games” video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCsu3YPOw50