Playing Role-Playing games allows people in certain situations to escape reality and allow themselves a break in a world different from our own. That’s why games franchises such as World Of Warcraft, Fortnite and Skyrim got hugely popular, and it’s partly the reason why I play so many of them myself during this pandemic. Let’s be fair: why would you want to be stuck in reality at the moment, when you can save the world from hordes of the undead, or become the very best that no-one ever was?
In most of the games of this variety, however, doing this on your own is nigh-on impossible, so in this article, I’ll be honouring the Non-Playable Characters that help you in your quest. There are some rules for this however. They must not get in your way, you must feel some form of an emotional attachment to them, and the games from which they originate must be on sale across the platforms they appear on.
On with the list:
Blackbeard, Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag
There are few pirates in history as well known as the mad Bristolian who commanded the Queen Anne’s Revenge. Whilst this game fudges history up a bit to put Steed Bonnet, Ben Hornigold, Charles Vane and Calico Jack in the game, Blackbeard (known as Ed Thatch), is one of the standout NPC’s in the game. Blackbeard’s accent might be a bit dodgy, but that’s the only criticism in the game. He’s utterly terrifying and lives up to the infamous legend in history in a lot of ways. There’s even a nod to the apocryphal (and likely not true) legend about the slow burning fuses in his beard and Tricolour hat
In Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, Blackbeard is one of a band of former privateers-turned-pirates who joins forces with Edward Kenway to help form a state known in history as The Pirates Republic with one noticeable difference: In reality, this happened in New Providence, not Nassau. The narrative however, remains the same. Blackbeard controls a ship known as Queen Anne’s Revenge, and becomes one of the most feared pirates in history.
Why Blackbeard gets a mention on this list, however, is the manner for which his character dies. Betrayed by most of his allies to the British Navy, Blackbeard is attacked and murdered. In his last stand, he utters the immortal line: “In a world without gold, we might have been heroes”. I challenge you not to watch the YouTube clip below and not cry. Honestly, I wept at this.
Professor Oak, The Pokemon Series
Professor Oak is the source of a lot of memes in the internet gaming community. From him giving the protagonists’ mothers in the games his “professor Oak” to his giving us gamers a pokedex, the man is pretty much iconic. Even in the Sun and Moon series, he’s there (albeit it’s his supposed “cousin”). Oak is a stern but fun-loving gentleman with a lot to like about him. He’s not always following you, and he even has his own radio show that may get exploited by gamers. Yes, in Pokemon Gold/ Silver and the subsequent remake of the game, there’s a very handy exploit to allow the less patient gamers to get ahead.
I won’t tell you on this article what this exploit is, and he uncharacteristically won’t advise you on it, but look for it. It’s there if you understand how the game is coded. For further information on the exploit, check out the Pokemon reddit sections.
Oak is also brilliant as moral support in the game. In nearly every mainstream Pokemon game, he’ll be there at the end of the game to help record your achievements. It’s also brilliant when he gives his grandson a dressing down, after said grandson sneak attacks you in the first generation of the games.
Oak is something that is as ubiquitous in the Pokemon franchise, with him appearing in just about every form of the franchise’s media. In my opinion though, he more than earns his place on this list.
Luigi, The Super Mario Series
Ahh, poor Luigi. By far both the most beloved side characters and one of the most underappreciated. Wherever you see Mario in a game, you can bet his taller (and better endowed) brother appears somewhere too. Luigi is by far my favourite side character in Nintendo’s arsenal of games, and also greatly ignored. I don’t see any Mario and Luigi games, yet he’s always on hand to support people when needed, particularly when it comes to sports games.
If you’re playing Mario Tennis Aces on the Nintendo Switch, you already know why Luigi’s popular among Nintendo gamers, but Luigi stops at nothing to help characters in games. In possibly his most famous appearances, he even saves Mario from 3 different haunted houses and fights a bunch of ghosts. Considering he uses a vacuum cleaner to do it, I suspect the people who own Ghostbusters might not be happy about this, but he’s brilliant at saving lives and making games very entertaining. If it wasn’t for other characters on this list, he’d get the number one position.
Ellie, The Last Of Us
Ellie is one of the most iconic side characters to have been created in the last two years and it’s not hard too see why. Aesthetically, she matches the “little girl lost” trope, but in this game, she’s far more than that. Ellie’s got one advantage over most side characters on this list.
Ellie is one of the most iconic side characters to have been created in the last two years and it’s not hard too see why. Aesthetically, she matches the “little girl lost” trope, but in this game, she’s far more than that. Ellie’s got one advantage over most side characters on this list.
You play as Joel, yes, but you get to play as Ellie not only in the sequel, but as Ellie during some points in this game. It’s brilliant, because you get to see the reflections of your actions in the game reflected more deftly than in most Telltale Games. Yes, I know that’s a spicy take, but fuck it. This is my list.
The handling of Ellie in this game is also brilliant in one respect. Sure, you play as Joel for most of The Last of Us, but in reality, we’re not playing as the main character. We’re playing as the side character ourselves. I cannot oversell what’s being done here. In most games, we’re the protagonist in the story, and there’s a certain warmth to being the masculine hero.
However, when you look at this game, we’re not even important in the lore of the game. We’re simply protecting the most important thing in the game. I know Hideo Kojima did this later with Death Stranding, but The Last Of Us did this first, and to be frank, did this the best anyone’s done it in video games.
Anyway, did you enjoy my list? Let me know which ones I’ve missed out, and you can contact me here.
Yours,
Davey
