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00:00Hello, and again, welcome to the Aperture Science Computer Aided Admission Centre.
00:05Welcome to Mojo Plays and guess what?
00:09I think I've made my point.
00:10These are the 20 best silent video game characters.
00:14Silent protagonists are nothing new, but some handle it better than others because it's
00:18a damn tightrope.
00:19Let's see who is able to make that walk.
00:21Before we continue, we publish content all week long so be sure to subscribe and ring
00:26the bell to get notified of our latest videos.
00:30Jack While Jack eventually gained the ability to
00:50speak in later games, he was one of the few silent protagonists from the Playstation platformer
00:54era.
00:55Unlike Ratchet with his many quips and Spyro who talked more than most would like, Jack
00:59remained silent throughout his first adventure.
01:02This was fine mostly in part to his trusty sidekick offering more dialogue than we could
01:05possibly ever need.
01:07In some ways it made Jack more relatable to the player as he was just as much a passive
01:11observer of the story.
01:13He was a blank canvas, not a brooding gothic edgelord, which is what he later became.
01:26Let's get this out of the way now while we're here.
01:45When we say silent, we're also including characters who make the occasional noise.
01:50And although we're stretching it a little bit with this entry, as Wanda does say his
01:53horse's name with the simple click of a button, he remains silent throughout the rest of his
01:57journey.
01:58Wanda draws us into this world in a tone similar to the Soulslike games by guiding us through
02:02it without so much as an expositionary monologue.
02:06Just tell us something about yourself Wanda, I want to get to know you.
02:16Amaterasu
02:24The protagonist of the beloved Okami Amaterasu is Japan's sun goddess in the form of a wolf.
02:29At the start of the game, she has lost many of her powers including her ability to speak,
02:33which sucks for her but also gets her a nice 18th spot on this list, so swings and roundabouts
02:38I guess.
02:39Amaterasu quickly won fans over with her striking appearance and her charming, playful personality.
02:45Despite her dog-like appearance and behaviour, she remains a powerful goddess and warrior
02:48wielding impressive magic to defeat way bigger people than her.
03:00Miles
03:13It's easy to overlook just how significant 2013's Outlast was, and I'll never stop talking
03:18about how it revolutionised the horror genre.
03:21With its disturbing visuals and relentless jump scares, Outlast made a lasting impact
03:25on the gaming world, and our Outlast protagonist Miles endures the entire horrifying ordeal
03:30without saying a single word.
03:32His silence allows the player to be in full control of their feelings towards what they're
03:36seeing without an influence from the player dialogue.
03:43Isaac Clarke
03:50It's super odd to think that at no point in the original 2008 Dead Space did Isaac Clarke
03:54feel the need to scream.
03:55That's fine, I'll take care of it for him.
03:57Although the 2023 remake gave Isaac a voice, the original can't be denied its effort to
04:02immerse the player with the silent protagonist's suck-in, an effort that proved incredibly
04:06effective.
04:07Now Isaac Clarke and I can share in regret, his regret for ever boarding the Ishimura
04:11and my regret for saying the words protagonist suck-in.
04:14Jack
04:15Fans of the Bioshock series will recall the distinctive aesthetic of the original game,
04:33but will often forget that they made their way through the entire journey without the
04:36protagonist saying a word.
04:38Despite being a silent protagonist, Jack Winand is a character players develop a soft
04:42spot for, thanks to the details provided about him.
04:46Jack finds himself stranded in the underwater city of Rapture after his plane crashes near
04:50a lighthouse.
04:51As he navigates through Rapture he uncovers the mysteries of the city and its inhabitants.
04:55Jack is the driving force behind one of gaming's greatest plot twists, making him hard to forget
05:00for many.
05:06Kirby
05:07Here comes another on our list who isn't technically silent, but Kirby's lines are
05:16relegated to occasional noises, speaking as much as a Pikachu.
05:20Despite his cute and comical appearance, Kirby is arguably one of Nintendo's most powerful
05:24characters, consuming enemies like a giant pink Jeffrey Dahmer.
05:27He regularly faces off against evil gods capable of erasing galaxies, and always emerges victorious.
05:33He truly is my hero, and not just because we look strikingly similar.
05:40Joker
05:52This one is really straddling the line of what is a silent protagonist, but I'm not
05:56willing to take the heat from the comments for not including the much loved Persona 5,
06:00so here we go.
06:02Although Joker communicates through battle quotes and occasional dialogue choices, for
06:05the most part other characters do the talking, with some even serving as his internal monologue.
06:10Though designed as a blank slate, Joker is far from dull.
06:13As a phantom thief, he exudes style and charisma.
06:17Remind you of anyone?
06:18I truly am the real life Joker.
06:21Not this Joker though, the one that has no friends and goes crazy and shoots Robert De
06:24Niro.
06:29The Vault Hunters
06:44Borderlands 2 is undoubtedly one of the best first-person shooters of the 2010s.
06:48With its heart-pounding gunplay, endless loot systems, fantastic writing and unforgettable
06:53villains, Gearbox's magnum opus excels in almost every aspect.
06:58So that's like the 400th time I've used the term magnum opus in a Mojo video.
07:03While your chosen Vault Hunter may occasionally shout something during combat, they all remain
07:06basically silent for the length of the narrative, and the story is so superbly written that
07:11you barely even notice your character isn't chatting.
07:23The New Kid
07:44Before the Stick of Truth, no one knew how much they needed a sprawling fantasy RPG set
07:48in the world of South Park.
07:49Now we hope this series never stops producing fantastic games.
07:53The iconic characters are at their best when interacting with each other, which is where
07:57the New Kid comes in.
07:59By making the protagonists silent, the writers were able to pack the game with classic South
08:03Park dialogue while introducing a new dynamic and giving players more agency than if they
08:08were controlling Cartman or Kenny.
08:09You're free to set the already established characters up for zingers while developing
08:13your character's skills instead of a whole new personality that might not fit the tone
08:17of their world.
08:34Corvo Attano
08:35Although Corvo Attano's silence is never convincingly explained, making it difficult to connect
08:39with him, the game does benefit, like most on this list, from allowing the player to
08:43silently observe the world that Dishonored is building.
08:47When the gameplay is engaging, the graphics are impressive, and the writing is strong,
08:50it's easier to overlook that we don't really have a convincing reason for Corvo's silence.
08:55Mario
08:56It's-a-me, let's-a-go, and mamma mia, alright so technically Mario does say some things,
09:07but on the whole he's not exactly known for engaging in intelligible conversation.
09:11Despite not being a great conversationalist, easily my favourite word of all time, Mario
09:15is arguably the most famous video game character of all time.
09:19His iconic appearance and entertaining gameplay have made the portly plumber a global superstar.
09:24Without ever uttering a full sentence in canon games, Mario has established himself as one
09:28of the biggest names in gaming.
09:49Doomguy
09:50I refuse to call Doomguy Doom Slayer, as he has been renamed in later games, because
10:01Doomguy will always be Doomguy, no matter what these freaking nude Doom fans say.
10:06Doomguy has earned a reputation as one of gaming's coolest characters.
10:10He regularly wages a brutal war against the legions of hell, striking such fear into demons
10:14that they dread his very presence, and he doesn't even say yo.
10:18Well technically he has some dialogue in Doom Eternal, but that's this Doom Slayer
10:22fella, not my sweet little Doomguy.
10:29Crono
10:30Crono from Crono Trigger is one of the most beloved silent protagonists in gaming, and
10:35for good reason.
10:36I hate to make the same point over and over and over again, but Crono's role as the blank
10:40canvas protagonist allows players to easily immerse themselves in the game's world.
10:45His blank persona serves as the ideal vehicle for players to engage with the game's dope
10:49narrative.
10:50Interestingly, his quiet demeanor is worked into the narrative, with some characters commenting
10:54on his lack of dialogue.
10:57Pokemon Trainer
10:58The Pokemon Trainer from the Pokemon franchise is perhaps the quintessential blank slate
11:13character.
11:14This character took the roleplay very seriously when I was a wee 10 year old boy.
11:17While the character can respond to yes or no questions, they remain otherwise completely
11:21silent, much like their own Pokemon, except your character doesn't constantly just say
11:25Matthew.
11:26This blank canvas nature is what makes the Pokemon Trainer so appealing.
11:31Their silence allows players to project themselves into the role and fully immerse in the universe,
11:36a universe that most of us actually wish we could be immersed in for real.
11:40Goddammit I want a Charmander in real life.
11:51Claude Speed
12:01Claude Speed is such a substantially silent character that I have played Grand Theft Auto
12:053 more times than there are days in a year and I am only just now learning his last name
12:08is Speed.
12:09What a tool.
12:10While the games highly flexible sandbox gameplay is the main attraction, looking back it's
12:15hard not to think that a good amount of the flexibility of the GTA formula was enhanced
12:19by using a character with a non-defined personality.
12:21The Triads and Liberty once and for all, 8 Balls rigged a dust cart with a bomb, it's
12:25on a timer, so if you mess up there'll be no evidence.
12:28Go and pick up the dust cart, careful, 8 Balls says it's real sensitive and the slightest
12:33bump could set that thing off.
12:34Shell
12:38There's no Valve game more fondly remembered for it's innovative physics and gameplay mechanics
12:47than Portal.
12:48Valve intentionally designed Portal to be a mysterious experience, centred around Shell,
12:53it's silent protagonist.
12:55She's so silent that her name literally never even comes up in the game, which reveals very
12:59little about her, aside from her presence during the villainous AI GLaDOS' activation
13:04and hints that her parents may have been Aperture Scientists.
13:07These enigmatic elements allow players to easily step into Shell's role, her shell of
13:12a character makes it easier for players to focus on the game.
13:15See what I did there?
13:29Crash Bandicoot
13:30Another entry on our list is a character who isn't technically top to bottom silent, but
13:33rarely does a silent character make zero noise.
13:37Crash communicates primarily through pantomime and exaggerated facial expressions, making
13:41him one of the most personality filled silent protagonists of all time.
13:45He is a hilariously entertaining character, appealing to everyone who is lucky enough
13:49to step into his converses.
13:51His is the quintessential silent character, he isn't a blank canvas in which players can
13:55overwrite with their own personality, which is refreshing.
13:58Despite his comedic focus, he's still a determined hero who constantly outsmarts mutants, monsters
14:03and mad scientists.
14:05Gordon Freeman
14:06Rise and shine, Mr. Freeman, rise and shine.
14:12Half-Life and its 2004 sequel are often hailed as two of the greatest PC games ever made,
14:17celebrated for their immersive gameplay, world building and level design.
14:21Unfortunately there's no sign of Half-Life 3.
14:24It was Gordon Freeman and his trusty crowbar that stood between Earth and full-scale alien
14:28colonization.
14:30Despite Freeman's rich backstory, he doesn't say a damn word.
14:33This allows players to experience this strange and captivating world of Half-Life without
14:37the need to make dialogue choices, making the narrative a fully immersive experience.
14:52Link
14:53The hero Link takes on many incarnations through the Legend of Zelda franchise, consistently
14:57portrayed as the champion of the kingdom of Hyrule, and in almost all of these portrayals,
15:02Link rarely speaks, limiting his communication to grunts, yells and the occasional dialogue
15:07choice.
15:08Modern gaming rarely opts for silent protagonists, with many franchises moving their silent characters
15:13into fully voiced roles, yet Link defies the misconception that silent characters are bland
15:18or uninteresting, and powers on in a brooding silence.
15:22There's two things I'm sure of in this world, Link is the greatest silent protagonist of
15:25all time, and I'm not fully sure I used the word incarnations correctly at the start of
15:29this entry.
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