National Video Game Day: 5 Of Our Favorite Black Characters
We are in an age where representation and inclusion are a need in every aspect of what we consume — this includes video games.
The gaming industry is massive. According to a 2020 study completed by PBS, “[The] $100+ billion, video game industry is big. So big, in fact, that it dwarfs both the film and music industry combined.” No one is a stranger to the Nintendo empire and how big the Super Mario characters were in the 1990s. As technological designs advanced, we saw characters evolve from two-dimensional and fairytale-like figures to human-like avatars or creatures.
The first Black video game character was featured in Heavyweight Champ, an arcade fighting game released by SEGA in 1976, then remade in 1987, and re-released again in the early ’90s. During design’s formative years, Black characters were mainly in sports games or depicted with negative or racist stereotypes.
One of the most racist depictions of a Black character was in Square’s computer game, Tom Sawyer. Jim, one of the characters, was illustrated to mimic the hurtful Sambo character.
Thankfully, we have seen an increase in Black protagonist characters, but there is still room for more.
According to a 2015 study, it was shown that 83% of non-Hispanic Black teenagers play video games, compared to 71% of Caucasian teenagers. With African-American teenagers being the highest consumers of video games, it’s appalling that Black representation is so low.
With the integration of the comic world, hopefully, we will see more games with Black characters in hero/protagonist roles. So as we push forward and celebrate National Video Games Day, here are a few of our favorite Black characters that gamers can choose from.
Carl “CJ” Johnson (GTA: San Andreas)
CJ is one of the protagonists in the Grand Theft Auto series, he and his team are full of black personalities available on the game.
Barret Wallace (Final Fantasy VII / Final Fantasy VII Remake)
Barret’s character is one of the most popular Black protagonists of any Japanese video game.
Bayek (Assassin’s Creed Origins)
Bayek is one of the favorite characters from the Assassin’s Creed series. He appeared in the video game Assassin’s Creed: Desert Oath.
Franklin Clinton (Grand Theft Auto V)
Franklin Clinton was one fo the three new characters introduced to the Grand Theft Auto franchise after returning to Los Santos in their tenth year.
Lee Everett y Clementine (The Walking Dead)
Lee was the loving zombie-fighting father on the game version of the hit show “The Walking Dead”.
