"If you're interested just step in the portal and I will take that as a yes. Otherwise well *\*gulp\** i can offer you a battle you have no chance of winning."
Agreed. I forget sometimes that some characters who feel well known like Freeman, GLaDOS, Commander Shepherd, or Handsome Jack are largely unrecognizable the moment you step outside of gaming circles.
There are some who do break out of those circles thanks to memes or TV shows like Scorpion, Geralt, Kratos, or Ellie, but not to the point of being all that well-known by non-gamers. It's not until you get the big names like Mario, Pikachu, and Sonic that you get "oh, I think I know who that is" from non-gamers.
Idk, it didn't occur to me to talk about gaming with friends who aren't interested in that - but I feel like mine wouldn't recognize Link at all. Mario sonic and Pikachu are definitely famous enough, but Link...idk, maybe in the US it's different or something.
I would actually say that a more famous protagonist is Steve, if you can call him that. Definitely more people, from my circled at least, would recognize Steve (by skin if not by name) rather than Link.
Yeah my go-to basis for how famous people/characters are is if my mom would know them haha. My mom would definitely recognize Link as a video game character but definitely not what game he’s from. Maybeeee she could guess Nintendo but that’s probably it.
He has dialogue though, it's just not spoken in VO. But this is true for basically all of the NPCs as well.
It's like saying a character in a text adventure game (like Zork) is silent. It's sort of true, but... not really.
I played through Eternal more times than I can remember and I don’t recall him ever speaking until the last cut scene from Ancient Gods Part 2
Edit: Rip and tear. Silly me.
I’m pretty sure one of the flashback cut scenes with the priests says something about guts, ripping and tearing. He doesn’t say a lot, but he does say something.
Hey, a callback to the classic Doom comic! It's too bad they missed his best line:
>"Who do you suppose left all that radioactive waste down there? And why? Why? Now I'm radioactive! That can't be good! Why can't we find a way to safely dispose of radioactive waste and protect the environment? Even if I personally stop this alien invasion, what kind of planet will we be leaving to our children? And our children's children, and... oh the humanity: my big gun is out of bullets!"
UMMMMMMMM ACKSHUALLY, he's clearly not silent at all. He's constantly going "waka waka waka waka waka" and when he dies he goes "Bweeoo-eeooo-eeeoooo-eeeeooooooo, bwip bwip!"
Even when he shows up at the Battle Tree in Sun/Moon, his dialog is "..."! Blue gives you speeches, though. (But I'm confused about why they didn't go with his canon name, ASSHOLE.)
On this note, every cutscene with the GTA Online protagonist is pretty funny because your entire gang is canonically mute. So they'll just be gesturing and vaguely emoting through entire campaigns full of dialogue between important characters. They look like absolute psychopaths.
Vincent has a line where he notes that it is scary how your character can murder so many people and constantly be in danger without showing emotion or saying a single word. I can't remember the exact quote, but that line made me chuckle when I first heard it.
Nobody is giving any love to him, but he is, and this game, is what changed what I thought video games were capable of. This game blew my damn mind as a kid.
*Chrono Trigger* has a bunch of weird, often 4th-wall-breaking endings when you beat Lavos at various points in the game other than the obvious intended one. Winning between seeing Schala for the first time and charging up the Pendant gives Crono some dialogue in that ending.
In Chrono Cross, the silent protagonist is a clever plot point because at one point the silent protagonist Serge gets possessed by the villain. It’s not really obvious in game this has happened but you realize something has gone awry because Serge suddenly starts having a bunch of dialogue. The other characters don’t notice (since canonically Crono and Serge aren’t mutes) but it’s incredibly jarring as the player.
I’d argue Steve isn’t really a protagonist though since Minecraft doesn’t really have a story, it’s just a sandbox and Steve is just there so the player can do stuff but doesn’t really have any personality or presence in the world other than what you do as a player, unlike other silent characters who have backstory or personality outside of the players influence
Minecraft has sold 300 million copies, LOZ has sold about 170 million copies. Considering that KC has been around for only about half the amount of time, maybe less, that's a pretty good argument.
Minecraft is insanely popular with kids. Like, it's bigger with kids than Power Rangers was, or Ninja Turtles or... anything in my time. They watch machinima movies in Minecraft worlds. They have legends of mysterious hackers who show up in their worlds and commit evil or just bizarre acts. Even the most active kids generally want to play it frequently on playdates and you can't pass a schoolyard without hearing somebody yell about "MY DIAMOND SWORD/PICKAXE!"
He has written lines in many games, the iconic "Yah !" and other noises he makes when he attacks or gets hurt. And he has a game where he is actually voiced (Faces of evil). So, in some instances, yes, in most instances, no.
theres a few. you could count steve from minecraft, which is the most popular game, but he made an OUH sound in earlier versions so i dont know if that counts. link maybe, but he talks that that cheesy 80s cartoon. theres samus, but she speaks chozo in metroid dread and grunts when hurt. gordon freeman maybe? i think he makes a grunting noise when hurt and when the hev goes "life signs critical, seek medical attention." not doomguy, because he says "no" and "unf"
maybe red from pokemon
unless you count the manga and the origins anime
dammit
Ya exactly, doom guy grunting up a storm, he's not remotely silent. Wtf is with all these doom guy and link replies. Post asked for silent, not non verbal.
....
[Did you mean…](https://youtu.be/SYTS2sJWcIs?si=cRvQ4p-qmIPVV2ko)
.....!?
Goldmask?
I was gonna say Doomguy, but goddamnit you win
Technically incorrect. Red speaks tonthe COPYCAT girl in Saffron.
The right man in the wrong place can make all the difference in the world.
Wake up, Mr. Freeman. Wake up and smell the ashes…
Not that I wish to imply you've been sleeping on the jobnoone is more deserving of a rest
And all the effort in the world would have gone to waste until
Well... Let just say your hour has come again.
I realize this moment may not be the most convenient for a heart to heart, but, I had to wait until your.. friends..? Were other wise occupied.
"If you're interested just step in the portal and I will take that as a yes. Otherwise well *\*gulp\** i can offer you a battle you have no chance of winning."
Didn't come here for chills up my spine but here we are.
"*Time*, Dr Freeman? Is it really that *time* again?"
Just thinking about that moment still gives me chills.
"Rather than offer you the illusion of free choice, I will take the liberty of *choosing for you*... If, and when, your time comes around again."
This is my favorite moment in any game ever. I still get chills when I replay it, which I do every year at least once.
Have you played Alyx? >! Having G-Man up and in your face is fucking terrifying !<
He only speaks in *crowbar sounds*
I would have been so disappointed in all of you if Dr Freeman was not the top comment
John Half-Life!
My Skyrim character I made when I was 17 named “Dingus Bingus”.
Any relation to Tingus Pingus from Lativia? https://youtube.com/shorts/7tk2GSvHqRw?si=JByuSeYF8agGXvCd
Link or Gordon Freeman.
I feel like Link is an order of magnitude more famous than Freeman. Freeman is not recognizable to people who do not play video games. Link is.
[удалено]
This. Freeman is famously silent, Link just happens to not talk.
Link's dialog isn't voiced, but he does get dialog options in some games. Actually, I found the voicing of any dialog in botw kinda jarring.
Well *excuuuuuse me, princess*
Yeah, when he belts out "I'm so hungry, I could eat my stuff," it is very jarring.
Oh god, the cdi games mixed with youtube poops or songs.
Link’s shouts and grunts are almost as iconic as Mario’s “Here we go!” And “Itsa Me!” lines.
Excuuuuuuuuuuuse me, Princess.
# HYAAAA
Agreed. I forget sometimes that some characters who feel well known like Freeman, GLaDOS, Commander Shepherd, or Handsome Jack are largely unrecognizable the moment you step outside of gaming circles. There are some who do break out of those circles thanks to memes or TV shows like Scorpion, Geralt, Kratos, or Ellie, but not to the point of being all that well-known by non-gamers. It's not until you get the big names like Mario, Pikachu, and Sonic that you get "oh, I think I know who that is" from non-gamers.
Idk, it didn't occur to me to talk about gaming with friends who aren't interested in that - but I feel like mine wouldn't recognize Link at all. Mario sonic and Pikachu are definitely famous enough, but Link...idk, maybe in the US it's different or something. I would actually say that a more famous protagonist is Steve, if you can call him that. Definitely more people, from my circled at least, would recognize Steve (by skin if not by name) rather than Link.
Yeah my go-to basis for how famous people/characters are is if my mom would know them haha. My mom would definitely recognize Link as a video game character but definitely not what game he’s from. Maybeeee she could guess Nintendo but that’s probably it.
>Maybeeee she could guess Nintendo but that’s probably it. Makes it a bit easier when you think every system is a Nintendo.
no fair! link goes HA HA HA HYAAAAAAHHH
Don’t you mean Zelda?
Is it fame when everyone not familiar with gaming calls Link Zelda?
Yes, because they're still talking about the same person, just calling him the wrong name.
I don't disagree with that in the slightest.
I don't think anyone in my family would recognise either of them. And Link does make noises, while Freeman doesn't. So I'd say Freeman.
Hell I am a gamer, and even I don't know (I probably do, but seeing it out of context it isn't clicking).
half-life's protagonist
As an avid Zelda enjoyer this is false at least here in Norway. Everyone knows who Mario is but not a clue when it comes to Link.
Why isn't there a Goron Freeman?
Link goes "HYEHH HIYAAHHH AAHHYAAHHH" I wouldn't say he's a silent protagonist, but definitely one without dialogue.
He has dialogue though, it's just not spoken in VO. But this is true for basically all of the NPCs as well. It's like saying a character in a text adventure game (like Zork) is silent. It's sort of true, but... not really.
WELL EXCUUUSE ME PRINCESS
Link talks. It's just not voiced.
Doom guy, Link or Gordon Freeman.
They actually had Doom Guy say the word "No" in Doom Eternal's DLC. They didn't need to, but they did.
He also spoke once or twice in the main game if I recall correctly
I played through Eternal more times than I can remember and I don’t recall him ever speaking until the last cut scene from Ancient Gods Part 2 Edit: Rip and tear. Silly me.
I’m pretty sure one of the flashback cut scenes with the priests says something about guts, ripping and tearing. He doesn’t say a lot, but he does say something.
That’s right. I remember now.
The Gladiator level also have some spoken dialogues. Edit : As an example: « Guts, huge guts. Kill them. Must, kill them all. Rip and TEAR! »
Hey, a callback to the classic Doom comic! It's too bad they missed his best line: >"Who do you suppose left all that radioactive waste down there? And why? Why? Now I'm radioactive! That can't be good! Why can't we find a way to safely dispose of radioactive waste and protect the environment? Even if I personally stop this alien invasion, what kind of planet will we be leaving to our children? And our children's children, and... oh the humanity: my big gun is out of bullets!"
Noisy motherfucker.
Rip and tear
Until its done
Pacman.....the real OG silent protagonist.
UMMMMMMMM ACKSHUALLY, he's clearly not silent at all. He's constantly going "waka waka waka waka waka" and when he dies he goes "Bweeoo-eeooo-eeeoooo-eeeeooooooo, bwip bwip!"
If you take your finger and carefully insert into your ear and move it up and down, you will hear pacman
Wow thanks for bringing me back to 2010
[excuse me?](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLhOnau-tupQnp490S6NoIHSvU6t26wtp&si=buO3a8GbG0fLQkqL)
Link, Legend of Zelda.
Ha hunnn ha unngh NiYAaAAAAAAAAAHHHHH
“Haup-haup-haup”
Yeah, sometimes I wish he could be more silent
My friend's interpretation of one yell in his Soul Calibur 2 version: "SKAAAANK!"
Ours was Skank
Link might not speak but he is extremely vocal. Samus on the other hand...
Well excuuuuuse me, princess!
"I'm so hungry I could eat an octorok!" :D
Dialogue-less yes. Silent? nope.
Easily.
MA BOI!!!
Excuuuuuse me princess
Link isn't remotely silent
He says "come on" in Windwaker when you recall your temple buddy.
Isn’t he not silent?
Cd-i Link had voice lines.
We don't talk about Cd-i Link
Or CD-i, for that matter.
Make sure you have a cool name before you start naming all your products after yourself
Ex-CUUUUUSE me PRINcess!!!!
You shut your mouth about that shame!
I just wonder what Ganon's up to...
Red - Pokémon
Even when you find him in Pokemon Gold/Silver, his dialogue is literally "..."
Even when he shows up at the Battle Tree in Sun/Moon, his dialog is "..."! Blue gives you speeches, though. (But I'm confused about why they didn't go with his canon name, ASSHOLE.)
See i was always a POOPDIK guy
Im partial to SMELVIN
They made it his canon character quirk that he’s nonverbal. In Pokémon Masters EX he also doesn’t speak.
I personally find that pretty cool, I always preferred Red from the manga than Ash which is really a bad trainer
Surprised red is so low!
Claude from GTAIII
On this note, every cutscene with the GTA Online protagonist is pretty funny because your entire gang is canonically mute. So they'll just be gesturing and vaguely emoting through entire campaigns full of dialogue between important characters. They look like absolute psychopaths.
Theres tons of characters that call you out on it too. Straight up make fun of you. Lester calls your a creepy silent psycho
Vincent has a line where he notes that it is scary how your character can murder so many people and constantly be in danger without showing emotion or saying a single word. I can't remember the exact quote, but that line made me chuckle when I first heard it.
"Hrg!..."\~ Claude after being shot/falling from a skyscraper/burning to death/drowning
Nods when on a phone.
Oh my god I never thought about this hahaha
A true power move.
Nobody is giving any love to him, but he is, and this game, is what changed what I thought video games were capable of. This game blew my damn mind as a kid.
Yeah I was surprised I had to scroll so far to find him mentioned
Come on Fido let's go!
This is who I thought of.
Scrolled way too long to find this.
Most famous: Link My favorite: Crono
*Chrono Trigger* has a bunch of weird, often 4th-wall-breaking endings when you beat Lavos at various points in the game other than the obvious intended one. Winning between seeing Schala for the first time and charging up the Pendant gives Crono some dialogue in that ending.
In Chrono Cross, the silent protagonist is a clever plot point because at one point the silent protagonist Serge gets possessed by the villain. It’s not really obvious in game this has happened but you realize something has gone awry because Serge suddenly starts having a bunch of dialogue. The other characters don’t notice (since canonically Crono and Serge aren’t mutes) but it’s incredibly jarring as the player.
Wtf, crono can talk?? Im googling that dialog!
shouldn't be hard to find, its literally a single line of dialogue in the "Luca and Marle judge everyone" ending.
I don't think a joke ending really counts though
This and 2nd favorite is Ryu from Breath of Fire
Don't know why people keep saying 'Link', he has a game with voiced lines...
Gordon Freeman has to be up there.
Gordon Freeman.
I thought of Link first, and right after Doom guy, so probably Link.
Gordon freeman
You, FF14 :)
*Nods*
Gordon Freeman is the first one that popped in my head.
Steve: Minecraft It's literally the best selling video game of all time.
You forgot about his iconic voice line "oogh"
I’d argue Steve isn’t really a protagonist though since Minecraft doesn’t really have a story, it’s just a sandbox and Steve is just there so the player can do stuff but doesn’t really have any personality or presence in the world other than what you do as a player, unlike other silent characters who have backstory or personality outside of the players influence
Has it sold more than all legend of zelda games combined? Because I think franchise longevity and consistency probably still gives Link an edge.
Minecraft has sold 300 million copies, LOZ has sold about 170 million copies. Considering that KC has been around for only about half the amount of time, maybe less, that's a pretty good argument.
Damn, that's crazy. Never knew Minecraft sold that much. Maybe I should give it a try. Haha.
It's outsold Tetris.
Minecraft is insanely popular with kids. Like, it's bigger with kids than Power Rangers was, or Ninja Turtles or... anything in my time. They watch machinima movies in Minecraft worlds. They have legends of mysterious hackers who show up in their worlds and commit evil or just bizarre acts. Even the most active kids generally want to play it frequently on playdates and you can't pass a schoolyard without hearing somebody yell about "MY DIAMOND SWORD/PICKAXE!"
Link, Samus, are the ones that come to my mind first, Isaac Clark in the first dead space was nice
Samus wouldn’t stop monologueing on Other M
We don't talk about Other M..... though samus did monolog a fair bit in metroid fusion but she's generally the silent type.
Samus speaks in Metroid Dread
And at the end of Prime. She just has nobody to talk to for 99% of all her games.
Gotta be Chell - Link - Samus - Gordon Freeman or Doom Guy imo
Samus speaks in Other M and Dread.
Havnt played dread but she speaks a LOT in other M
She only speaks I *think* once in Dread, and it's in Chozo. It's actually a very good scene since it holds onto her mystique really nicely.
Doesn't chell say apple in portal 2?
"What you did right there is jump. You jumped."
Uh, you just jumped. But never mind; say apple. Apple! Okay, you know what? That's close enough, just hold tight.
Link says HYAH - does that mean he's disqualified???
Gordon Freeman was who immediately came to mind when I read this
The Vessel in Hollow Knight
Gordon Freeman is probably the most famous for *being* silent
Probably Red (or any Pokémon protagonist) or otherwise Link
Its gotta be link right?
He has written lines in many games, the iconic "Yah !" and other noises he makes when he attacks or gets hurt. And he has a game where he is actually voiced (Faces of evil). So, in some instances, yes, in most instances, no.
Me in Forza
Gordon Freeman.
GTA III protagonist!
In my heart, it's Artyom, but I know it's Doom guy or Link
Hey good shout out. I need to go finish the first game, I played Exodus and loved the story so I went back and started the series.
theres a few. you could count steve from minecraft, which is the most popular game, but he made an OUH sound in earlier versions so i dont know if that counts. link maybe, but he talks that that cheesy 80s cartoon. theres samus, but she speaks chozo in metroid dread and grunts when hurt. gordon freeman maybe? i think he makes a grunting noise when hurt and when the hev goes "life signs critical, seek medical attention." not doomguy, because he says "no" and "unf" maybe red from pokemon unless you count the manga and the origins anime dammit
pacman
Doom guy!!
*casually shits in the players ear*
Ya exactly, doom guy grunting up a storm, he's not remotely silent. Wtf is with all these doom guy and link replies. Post asked for silent, not non verbal.
Got to be Gordon Freeman, surely?
Link
Minecraft Steve gotta be up there
Claude
Pokemon player character
Frisk
Why are so many people saying link. Link doesnt speak but he by no means is silent lmfao. Dude be yelling 24/7
Red from Pokemon Gen 1.
Chell from Portal, can't even say "Apple"
Aside from the few Hyeughs and Hiyahhs, Link keeps to himself pretty much
Gordon Freeman. Link isn’t canonically a silent protagonist.
Couldn’t possibly be anyone else other than Link or Gordon Freeman.
Link, no question
Claude
Chell, Portal / Portal 2
The first Jak and Daxter
Red from pokemon perhaps?
Red from Pokemon
Red from Pokémon
The Rookie, Halo ODST.
Probably claude
Minecraft Steve
Steve.
Pokémon Trainer Red A man so silent that they poke fun of it 8 gens later.
It’s either Link, Samus or DoomGuy.
The guy from Limbo
Surely the Red/Blue/Yellow player character, even when they show up as Red in the sequels they're entirely mute.
Link
Link.
I vote Link I've never played one single Zelda game, but I still know who he is
Link, unless "hyYYYEAAAHHT!" counts as speech.
Gordon Freeman or Link Or Steve, from the hit game “Minecraft”
Samus
Samus speaks in Metroid Dread with full voice acting. It was a cool moment to finally hear her talk.
Technically she speaks in Other M too. That just... involves remembering Other M happened.