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{{trope}}
[[File:
{{quote|"''Drawing on my fine command of language, I said nothing.''"|'''[[Mark Twain]]'''}}
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A video game-specific variant of [[The Voiceless]] or [[The Speechless]]. In many RPGs, the main hero doesn't seem to talk ([[Visible Silence]] might be used). The official explanation for this is that the main character ''is'' the player, and dialogue would either interfere with the player's train of thought or knock them out of the viewpoint of that character (compare the [[Featureless Protagonist]]). An aversion of this would be to allow the player to actually talk to the characters through a microphone or the AI be able to comprehend any text entered, but this is beyond current technology, except in online games where you're talking to other players instead of AIs — or through the limited means of a [[Dialogue Tree]].
Some characters might be like this when under the player's control, but perfectly normal and talking characters as [[NPC
Nevertheless, this often results in the fandom discussing [[Fanon|whether or not]] a character is mute. Most of the time when somebody makes a [[Novelization]] or a [[Webcomic of the Game]], odds are that it'll have the character speak in [[Visible Silence]] and be treated as [[The Silent Bob]].
This trope can get very frustrating when the character has, for example, undergone an [[Involuntary Transformation]] or [[Emergency Transformation]], and has allies who weren't there to see it. It's also hard to grow too fond of a
One fairly common variation of this is to suggest that the main character actually does speak, we just can't hear them or see their text boxes. [[Silent Bob|However, the other characters in the game can, and we can sometimes infer what was said from their reactions.]] Another common variation used to compromise between immersion and characterization is to allow the player character to speak, but only during non-interactive cutscenes.
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How well you take this trope can often depend on how you approach video games in general. If you like to imagine you "are" the character, as the developers seem to expect, it could arguably increase immersion. On the other hand, many players prefer to imagine themselves in a role similar to that of a movie director; controlling the action without being a part of it. To them, having a Heroic Mime is like being saddled with a boring, wooden actor in the lead role.
Will often be paired with an [[Exposition Fairy]] who talks [[Stop Helping Me!|far, far too much]]. Is not the [[I Thought It Meant|opposite]] of [[Monster Clown]] or [[Enemy Mime]].
This trope occasionally crops up in other media, but it may be more difficult to pull off, unless done comedically.
They may or may not be an [[Audience Surrogate]].
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== Action Adventure ==
* Link from ''[[The Legend of Zelda]]'' series never says anything, Some fans have often put forth the possibility that he's a mute. [[The Silent Bob|though other characters sometimes react as if he had]], meaning that his dialogue is possibly meant to be imagined by the player. (In later games, he often has an [[Exposition Fairy]] that speaks in his stead during cutscenes, asking questions and so on.) In ''[[Twilight Princess]]'', there are a few cutscenes that show Link and another character chatting, but none of the words are texted or vocalized. In ''[[The Wind Waker]]'' he would say "Come on!" to a companion NPC in some dungeons as a command to make them return to him, but that was it. Lampshaded in ''Twilight Princess'', when {{spoiler|Midna, when her true form is revealed, notes his silence by saying "What? Say something! Am I so beautiful you've no words left?"}}
** Link can sort of speak, when the player is given decision of "Yes or No" questions, the quantity of supplies he or she want to buy, and etc. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4elLuTGg3Yw Easily explained]
** This became amusing when Link appeared in ''[[Soul Calibur]] II''. Ivy can taunt him with "You're all talk!" ...when he hasn't even said a word.
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*** Generally, ''[[The Wind Waker]]'''s Link seems to be the most "talkative" one, even aside his "Come on!", since much of the games (including ''[[Phantom Hourglass]]'') dialogue works by characters asking questions and the player picking an answer for Link from two choices. The choices are never just "Yes" or "No", but tell rather a lot about Link's true feelings regarding the topic. More than often, both answers would even actually mean pretty much the same, giving Link some actual dialogue, in theory. This also happens, to a lesser degree, in other 3D games.
** Even before ''The Wind Waker'', ''Zelda II'''s Link actually said "I found a mirror under the table" once. He never says anything else, though.
** Link is definitely a
** In ''Phantom Hourglass'', at one point you blow into the mic so that Link can shout through a brick wall to check if anyone is on the other side. It shows a dialogue balloon along the lines of "HEY! ANYONE OVER THERE?", so yeah, Toon Link can talk. He's just usually quiet.
** In ''[[Oracle of Ages]]'', he [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOFJBnNCK3w botches a joke], though we never actually ''see'' the joke he apparently told.
** In ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword|Skyward Sword]]'' Link can be seen "speaking" (with mouth movements) during some cutscenes, but the game displays no text to show exactly what he is saying. Presumably the developers intended that the player would understand the gist of what he was saying, since you would have already seen what he was talking about. Miyamoto and Aonuma have actually stated that the reason the game didn't have voice acting was because they thought having voiced characters would clash with having a
** It has since been [[Word of God|confirmed]] that the Hero's Shade from ''Twilight Princess'' is the Hero of Time incarnation, so his dialogue counts.
** In ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild|Breath of the Wild]]'' Link has no recorded dialogue, but does have scripted statements chosen by the player while addressing NPCs, most of them brief. He can even sneak up on one and shout "BOO!" if the player desires.
* ''[[Cave Story (Video Game)|Cave Story]]'' and its silent robot protagonist, {{spoiler|Quote}}.▼
*** ''Breath'' actually gives an explanation for Link’s silence, [[Gameplay and Story Integration]] making him [[The Silent Bob]] as well. Supposedly, he was far more talkative as a child, but once he realized his calling and the heavy burden placed upon him, he felt remaining silent and stoic was the best way to put up a strong front while facing his foes.
** Quite possibly the biggest reason for the failure of ''[[The Legend of Zelda (animation)|The Legend of Zelda]]'' cartoon was because fans liked Link ''much'' better when he didn't talk.
** Inverted in the [[Wii Ware]] port: {{spoiler|Curly Story gives Curly Brace several lines where Quote had none previously. Quote is still mostly mute (scenes involving him have Curly speak for him), except for one situation in the Plantation; performing a sidequest required to access the [[Bonus Level of Hell]] actually gives Quote a couple of lines.}}
* Not really a hero (unless you go for the not-so-evil ending), but the new overlord in ''[[Overlord]]'' never says anything either. This continues in the sequels and prequels, with none of the Overlords ever speaking
* Amaterasu in ''[[Okami]]'' never says anything, being a wolf. Instead the sidekick, Issun, [[Voice for The Voiceless|acts as her mouthpiece]]... at length. Ammy's own emotions generally get expressed in appropriately canine ways, including gnawing on Issun when he gets too rude.
** Often, and amusingly, Issun will interpret Ammy's intentions even when she shows no outward indication of a response, particularly when accepting a quest when she is usually just panting and looking around nonchalantly.
** The fact that she doesn't talk is very weird though considering the rest of the zodiac animals do talk.
* ''[[Ecco the Dolphin]]'' uses his voice for just about everything: echolocation, defense, activating ancient technology, and initiating conversations. Of course, the player never hears his half of them beyond the original generic sonar cry.
* Mike Jones in ''[[
* The protagonist of ''[[Alundra 2:
* In ''[[Billy Hatcher and
== Action Games ==
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== Adventure Games ==
* The nameless protagonist of [[Sierra]]'s ''[[Quest for Glory]]'' speaks only a handful of times in the span of five games: telling the potion maker about the dryad in the first game, grumbling to himself in the first game, and saying "Right", "Just the facts", and "What's a pomegranate" in the second game. Otherwise, he's your standard
** [[Lampshaded]] in the [[Fan Remake]] of ''[[King's Quest II]]'', when King Graham (who was a Heroic Mime himself in the original version) triggers an Easter Egg unleashing the ''Quest for Glory'' hero. "You don't say much, do you? Surely, you might speak to me of your adventures!"
** The fan remake of the second game has an onscreen image of your character baby talking to Simba. The kid shuts you up with a complex commentary about poltergeists.
* In the case of ''[[Angel Devoid]]'', your [[Player Character|PC]] literally [[The Speechless|CAN'T talk]], since you've been given surgery to make you mute and look like the [[Big Bad]] before being dumped into the [[Vice City|mean streets]]. Your "dialog" choices consist entirely of two buttons that allow you to act either intimidating or receptive in response to conversation.
* ''[[
* Roger Wilco in ''[[Space Quest]]'' started out as one; starting with ''Space Quest IV'', he has since been given regular dialogue.
* The protagonist of ''The Crystal Key'' is
* The protagonist of ''[[Spider and Web]]'' is a borderline example: he/she can answer "yes" and "no" to the interrogator's questions in the [[Framing Device]] interrogation scenes. He can also say "tango" and "waltz" (keywords to turn a device on/off).
== Fighting Games ==
* Taken to a ridiculous extreme in ''[[Super Smash Bros.]] Brawl'''s Adventure Mode, where ''nearly everyone'' is a
** In the interest of fairness, the reason for the necessity of [[All There in the Manual]] is due to two scenes that were removed from the final version. ''Most'' of the plot and character interactions can be inferred from their actions... just not the most important ones.
* Def Jam Vendetta has four generic protagonists with the exact same story and cutscenes, and not one speaks a single word except for the occasional "Yeah!" or grunt. ''Very'' awkward, especially considering all the smack talk, threats, and jabbering dished out by everyone around them.
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** [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] in ''World at War'' - while crawling through a burnt-out building in Berlin, a bunch of soldiers start complaining about the smoke, at which point Sgt. Reznov tells them to shut up, mentions how he and Dimitri (your character) "crawled through smoke and rubble in Stalingrad", then says "do you hear him complaining?"
*** In the very first mission, when you are playing as Miller, your Japanese captor says to you, "You think because you say nothing, you're strong?"
** Interestingly enough, Soap MacTavish is the player-character's NPC squad leader in ''Modern Warfare 2,'' which means he has actual, pre-written characterization. This in itself isn't all that bad, and indeed is a clever [[Continuity Nod]], but Soap's personality is sure to have conflicted with what some players imagined him to be while playing as him during his
*** ''Black Ops'' also had {{spoiler|Dimitri Petrenko}} return as a NPC with both his face shown and his voice revealed, as well as a semblance of a personality, in "Project Nova."
** For the first time in the series, the Thermal Imaging TV Operator aboard the AC-130 in ''[[Modern Warfare]]'''s "Death From Above" mission could be heard speaking during the mission. ''[[Call of Duty: Black Ops
** Modern Warfare 2 and 3 [[Zig
*** In [[MW 1]] you play as a Soap MacTavish, and you spend the entire game mute. Then, in [[MW 2]], Soap is an NPC and your commander, and now is just as talkative as anyone else. Later on, you play through a mission as Soap again, and once again, you're mute.
*** In [[MW 3]], you start the game from Soap's perspective, still mute. Later on in the game you play from someone else's perspective and Soap is now talking again.
*** Several missions have you playing as a character named Yuri. While the character plays as Yuri, he is a
* The ''Battlefield 3'' campaign has both Staff Sergeant Blackburn and {{spoiler|"Dima"}} not say anything when you're playing as them, although Blackburn speaks during the interrogation cutscenes between the levels. The "Kaffarov" level subverts the trope with the "Kaffarov" level, as when you switch to {{spoiler|Blackburn at the end of the level, Dima appears as a speaking NPC}}. The trope is played straight however with Corporal Jonathan Miller.
** Coincidentally, {{spoiler|"Dima"'s NPC appearance at the end of "Kaffarov"}} is the only time he actually speaks; the ending cutscene {{spoiler|only has him doing a voiceover of a possible suicide note}}.
* The Rookie from ''[[Halo 3: ODST]]'' has no voice actor cast, and he is seen sleeping during the opening cutscene.
** With some lampshade hanging by <s>Jayne</s> Dutch when he hands you the Silenced SMG "Now's one of those times, pays to be the strong silent type".
** However, it just feels odd when you {{spoiler|finally find Dare, and she asks the Rookie questions about the situation.}} He just stares back.
** The Rookie gives a little nod in response to the questions. [[The Silent Bob|She seems satisfied with that response]].
** In ''[[Marathon
* Speaking of WWII FPSes, this also applies to the ''[[Medal of Honor]]'' games. In fact, the series' first [[
** Joseph Griffin in ''Rising Sun'' gets a physical appearance, yet he's still a heroic mime in the cutscenes.
* Nick Mason from ''Urban Chaos: Riot Response'' is not only mute, but aside from a few photographs that may or may not be him, [[
** So that they could have the enemy characters shouting things like "Eat a bowl of f#@*, Mason!"
* Gordon Freeman from the ''[[Half-Life]]'' series (and pictured up the top) is one of the most famous. Being a [[Valve]] game, there is heavy [[Lampshade Hanging]], with characters remarking that Gordon is a man of few words or offering to do the talking for him. He apparently also makes off-camera expressions that the NPCs will react to (for example, viewing some of the objects in Black Mesa East will prompt different lines from Eli). He does however express concern over getting shot, burned, hitting the ground after a long fall and drowning with moans, grunts and other noises that living creatures use to make others know that they are, as a matter of fact, in pain.
** Barney is an example that speaks when the player isn't controlling them, as he doesn't say anything in ''Blue Shift'' yet is quite vocal in ''Half-Life 2'' and ''Episode One''. If [[Ensemble Darkhorse|Adrian]] were ever to return to series (please?) it's most probable he would finally be able speak as well.
*** ''Blue Shift'' goes out of its way to make it clear that Barney is in fact speaking, but that we can't hear him.
*** The ''Opposing Force'' tutorial does the same with Adrian: "What is your name, soldier?!... '''[[Drill Sergeant Nasty|SOUND LIKE YOU GOT A PURPOSE!!!]]'''... Corporal Shephard, eh?" Unique from the others, not only we never hear Adrian speaking but we don't even see his face as he's wearing a gasmask during all of his screentime and no concept art exists either, except [http://half-life.wikia.com/wiki/Adrian_Shephard#Behind_the_scenes this pre-game image].
** Oddly, we ''do'' get to hear the voices of Gina and Colette in ''Decay'', though that might be because there are two of them.
** [[Affectionate Parody|Naturally]], this is mercilessly mocked and parodied in ''[[Concerned]]'', which states Gordon can command squads of [[La Résistance]] soldiers by ''staring hard enough in a certain direction''. When Frohman tries this however, it's just creepy.
** Played around with in ''[[
* John Blade in ''SiN Episodes'' is a semi-silent protagonist (apart from a few voice clips and [[Enemy Chatter|one-liners]] that don't always make sense in context), and disconcertingly because it's a sequel to ''SiN'' and the [[Expansion Pack]] ''SiN: Wages of Sin'', in which the same main character ''never shuts up''.
** Before future episodes were canceled, the developers mentioned in an interview that they thought John Blade worked better like this, but were surprised both by the negative reaction they received and by the fact that opinion seemed literally split down the middle. Had the second episode been released, Blade would've had a much more robust voice track hearkening back to the original game...and an option to turn it off.
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*** Also that he was radioactive, and how that can't be good.
*** He also informed a Cyberdemon that it was huge, and therefore extrapolated that it's guts must be similarly huge.
*** [[
* In ''[[Quake
** It's possible that he may not even be able to talk normally after [[Nightmare Fuel|what happens to him]] after being captured. This doesn't explain why he's silent before that, of course, and why when he's rescued he doesn't even nod or shake his head. People talked about him basically every time they saw him before or after, and sometimes asked him questions.
** Probably the only sign of any personality, at all, in the game happened in the cutscene where he saw a new kind of enemy, the ''female'' cyborg zombie and the first on-screen female in the game - she didn't do anything at first, so he got closer, then lowered his weapon and reached for her face with his free hand. That's it. That's all. Generic [[Space Marine]] Stoicism all the way.
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** Pointman still doesn't speak in F.E.A.R 3, he seems to communicate solely with glaring and nondescript facial expressions.
* In ''Aliens vs. Predator 2'', the main character never talks during the gameplay, but does talk during cutscene. Somewhat justified by saying your ability to transmit via radio was knocked out early in the game (but you can still receive).
* Jack from ''[[
** Subject Delta, protagonist of the sequel, is completely silent besides occasional shouts of pain. This time, it might be [[Justified Trope|justified]] by the process that turned him into a Big Daddy also changing his vocal cords; all the other Big Daddies in the game are also silent.
** Averted in ''Infinite'', where protagonist Booker DeWitt comments on his situation to himself, as well as talking to others.
* In a strange semi-subversion of this trope, ''[[Time Splitters]]: Future Perfect'' has wormholes that you can walk through that allow Cortez to interact with his past or future self. While future-Cortez throws out a multitude of one-liners during these segments, and when you play as the future-Cortez he never talks, but the past-Cortez does instead. It gets especially confusing when {{spoiler|Cortez gets backup while hacking a terminal from ''two'' future Cortezes, requires you to play all three, one after the other, muting the Cortez each time.}}
* In ''[[Geist]]'', player character Raimi, who was separated from his body and ended up on a game-long [[Body Surf]], doesn't speak even when he's trying to convince a friend that he's Raimi. Instead he gives the friend a secret handshake, and somehow all relevant information is transferred; Bryson knows that the nurse is Raimi, who is a ghost, who is going to get him out of there. Raimi's not actually mute, though - late in the game he makes a parrot say "Die!" and a dog trainer say "It's okay boy!"
* ''[[Turok (
* Present in ''[[
* Averted in ''[[Strife]]''. Being an early FPS/RPG, the Mercenary talks to other character via dialogue windows. All the player ''hears'' him say are grunts, screams, and "Nope" when trying to use things that can't be used.
* Averted with Nomad in ''[[Crysis (
** {{spoiler|Possibly averted at the end. Alcatraz speaks, but it isn't clear if it's Suit!Prophet taking over or Alcatraz using Prophet's voice}}
* ''[[Resistance]]: Fall of Man'' both averts this trope and plays it straight. While Nathan Hale, the protagonist, does speak and interact with other characters-if somewhat [[The Quiet One|infrequently]], his partner in co-op mode does not. The only time we hear his voice is when he calls Hale over.
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== Hack and Slash ==
* Caim from ''[[Drakengard]]'' becomes the
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== [[Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game|MMORPGs]] ==
* ''[[Final Fantasy XI]]'' has a really [[Gameplay and Story Segregation|strange]] version: Communication is vital for players, so everyone is able to chat. Story-wise, however, you're essentially a
* Averted in ''[[Aion]]'', where you can choose your character's voice and they actually do have lines in voiced cutscenes.
== Platform Games ==
* Various Nintendo characters, but especially Mario and company usually function as heroic mimes during play. The humorous extremes occurs in ''[[
** ''[[
*** ...and then he turns into the Princess (everybody comes out and runs toward Mario), and then back into Bowser (everybody runs and hides again)...
*** However, Mario does say "Thank You" when you use raise him from the dead.
** ''[[Paper Mario:
** ''[[
** Luigi himself is inconsistent, even when he's playable; in ''[[Super Paper Mario]]'', he talks. In the ''[[Mario
* Subverted in the later games in the ''[[Jak and Daxter]]'' series. Jak doesn't speak at all during the first game, but [[Suddenly Voiced|becomes a lot more talkative]] starting from the second (after a long and traumatic stint as a live experiment). Just before he speaks his first line, however, Daxter begs him: "Say something, just this once!" Daxter makes occasional references to Jak's previous silence throughout the games ("Maybe he's mute, like you use to be").
** And as implied by this point, played straight in the first game. Amusingly enough, Jak does periodically open his mouth as if about to say something ... only to have Daxter speak for him.
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** [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_TTrB0c3tc There's a very good reason for that...]
* Zeke from ''[[The Haunted Mansion]]'' video game. He doesn't speak during the adventure, but he does narrate the opening and closing scenes.
* Classic Sonic in ''[[
== Puzzle Games ==
* Chell from ''[[Portal (
** It's [[Lampshaded]] by GLaDOS, naturally. Chell's lack of response to her monologues leads her to say {{smallcaps|"Are you even listening to me?"}}
** One explanation may be because of the Material Emancipation Grill, "which may, in semi-rare cases, emancipate dental fillings, crowns, tooth enamel, and teeth."
*** And vocal cords? You never know...
** The game's co-writer Erik Wolpaw suggested she's just in a sulk:
{{quote|
** ''[[
** At one point, GLaDOS calls Chell a "dangerous, mute lunatic" to her face.
** At another point, early in the game, GLaDOS delivers a thinly disguised insult, and then a few minutes later decides to [[Don't Explain the Joke|spell it out for her]], because "You didn't react, so I was afraid it sailed right over your head".
** A [[What Could Have Been|cut scene]] has GLaDOS stop the elevator halfway down and ask Chell if there's anything she feels like [[Portal (
** ''Lab Rat'', a comic tying together ''Portal'' and ''Portal 2'', goes slightly out of its way to preserve this: the page of her personnel file where she's asked a question reports "Subject refused to answer."
* The protagonist's silence is explained at the ''very'' end of ''Sequester''--{{spoiler|he hasn't spoken a single word since his sister died. Even when he has nightmares (like the one the whole game may have been), he doesn't scream in his sleep.}}
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== Real Time Strategy ==
* In the single-player component of ''World in Conflict'', the player takes on the role of [[Non
** It's actually strongly implied that it is Parker who provides the [[Narrator|Narration]] between missions, but as far as gameplay itself is concerned, he's a Mime through and through.
** Taken slightly further with the ''Soviet Assault'' counterpart Lieutenant Romanov, who never even is present for the cutscenes.
* The [[Blood Ravens]] Force Commander in ''[[Warhammer
** While the first campaign was ambiguous on the matter, ''Chaos Rising'' made certain that he was a "talks but isn't heard by the player" variation, as he makes frequent inquiries during the mission briefings. ''Retribution'' moved away completely from the trope however, as every character except The Ancient speaks and this is due to a vow of silence he made.
* The original commanders in ''[[
* In ''[[Pikmin]]'', Captain Olimar provides exposition and comments on the Pikmin and their properties. In ''Pikmin 2'', this role was taken over by the Hocotate Ship's AI, leaving Olimar (and his new sidekick Louie) silent.
== Roguelike ==
* The Protagonist in ''[[Baroque (
* Brilliantly Lampshaded in [[Zettai Hero Kaizou Keikaku
== Role-Playing Games ==
* ''[[Growlanser]] I, III, IV, V, and VI feature a silent protagonist. The player can select many dialogue options, but there is no voice acting for them nor do they speak in cutscenes.
* Crono from ''[[
** The main character in ''[[
** In fact, the only times Serge (the main character of Chrono Cross) is seen even possibly talking are three fold: Twice, it fades to black as he supposedly is explaining something (once with Norris in the back half of the game, I remember), and once his dialogue box does say, with the quotation marks--"..."
** How about that time when Korsha ask Kid to be his wife and that Serge suggest what to do, getting Kid to {{spoiler|kick him}}?
* [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] in ''[[Super Mario RPG]]''. One boss has the ability to create clones of Mario and his party members. Using Mallow's Psychopath ability, which can read an enemy's mind with good timing, on a Mario clone will throw up a message box full of ellipses.
* In the GBA ''[[
** ...which is just a mistranslation. The original line is "?"
** One scene in ''The Lost Age'' has Jenna and Sheba demanding Piers to tell them his age and they tease him over it when he refuses. Piers begs Felix to stop the girls from teasing him but Felix says nothing, causing Piers to think Felix is in on the girls' shenanigans.
** Isaac's first speaking appearance in ''The Lost Age'' shattered quite a lot of notions fans had about him from the first
** [[Golden Sun: Dark Dawn
* Rudy Roughknight, from ''[[Wild
** He does have one other line, where he apologizes to Calamity Jane for {{spoiler|saving her life.}}
* The main character in ''[[Legend of Mana]]'', who is given a yes or no option (although some of the variations have quite the attitude in them). It is even parodied in the quest ''Gilbert: School Amour'', where the hero/heroine tries to convince the kids to return to school. One states that "Adults are boring and they only answer questions with a yes or no. I bet you're no different, aren't you?" Your only responses are "Yes" and "No".
** They do get a single line of dialogue at the end of the Jumi quest line. {{spoiler|After being cured of their petrification, they return home and tell Bud and Lisa "I'm back!"}}
* The heroes of every ''[[
** That's only "mute" in terms of the English/Japanese/Whatever language. She whinnys quite a lot (she's so loud, you can even hear her during [[Party in My Pocket]] moments.)
** In ''[[
** Played with somewhat in the ending of ''[[
** The Hero's awake world counterpart in ''[[
** Interestly, in ''[[
* Ryu, from the many ''[[
** In ''[[
** Ryu actually does talk in ''[[Breath of Fire IV
* Adol from the ''[[
** ''Ys III: Wanderers From Ys'' gives Adol many lines of his own in the original version. The new age remake ''Oath in Felghana'' changed that to bring it more in line with the rest of the series.
*** In the [[
** He also speaks once in ''II'': "Wait! I [[Was Once a Man]], Dalles turned me into a monster."
** Also averted/subverted in ''Mask of the Sun''.
** Again averted/subverted in the crossover Ys vs Sora no Kiseki and even then he hardly says any lines.
** He has one speaking line in Ys Seven, when he's switched in as the active character he will say "All right!".
* In the ''[[Shin Megami Tensei
{{quote|
* Ari, the protagonist in ''[[Okage Shadow King]]'' is perfectly capable of speaking, but is so unimpressive that no one pays any attention to what he says anyway, literally overshadowed by his own shadow. Also every dialoge choice aways offer a choice of "......" or a line in that's only spoken in his head.
* The Avatar in the ''[[Ultima]]'' series. The series [[
** The play actually makes fun of "hi", "name" and "job" being the only three lines that the Avatar speaks, or at least that he uses over and over.
* The player character Trainers in the ''Pokémon'' series don't talk a lot, although there's a short and very confusing conversation with a mimic in ''[[
** In ''HeartGold'' and ''SoulSilver'', the mimic girl returns, "imitates" the main character saying that s/he will help her find her doll, and then adds that she ''knows'' that's not what you said, but wants you to help all the same.
** Was also [[Lampshaded]] in ''[[Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire
** Also in ''Red'' and ''Blue'': If you talk to one of the chefs on S.S. Anne, he'll ask you what you want to eat, and when you don't respond he'll announce that you are "the strong silent type".
** The player characters do speak occasionally, as gathered from NPC's responses. Based on the [[Repeating So the Audience Can Hear]] nature of the responses, though, the PCs are [[The Unintelligible]] when they speak at all.
** Lampshaded again in ''HeartGold'' and ''SoulSilver'' - you can talk to your Pokémon and one of the responses is "[Pokémon name] seems nervous. Want to say something?". If you say "Yes" it responds, "Whoa! Your Pokémon seemed surprised!"
** In ''[[Pokémon Black and White
*** Also, while you are silent, there's a lot more implied talking than in other games.
** In the ''[[
*** Except in the "Sentry Duty" minigame, where the PC is the one who shouts "The footprint is [Pokémon]'s! The footprint is [Pokémon]'s!"
*** In the second installments of the ''Mystery Dungeon'' series, if your starter character is a member of your rescue squad while in a dungeon (but not the leader), s/he will speak in ellipses when the player-controlled leader talks to him/her.
** Downplayed in ''[[Pokémon Colosseum]]''. Wes is usually as quiet as any other protagonist, except during Pokémon Battles when the player uses the Call command, a game mechanic unique for this game. Most often this is used to make a Shadow Pokémon snap out of the rage it tends to fly into due to the dark corruption that Shadow Pokémon are cursed with. When this happens, Wes simply shouts the Pokémon's name.
* In ''[[
** Also done in ''[[
** The same thing happens in ''[[
* All the ''[[
** Except for ''Devil Children'', where the protagonists talk just as much as the other characters.
** The protagonist of ''[[Persona 3]]'' is a borderline example who is more of a heroic [[The Quiet One]] than a
*** Ditto with the protagonist of ''[[Persona 4]]''. Some personality can also be gleaned from the dialogue options. In P4, for example, the option of telling people to 'calm down' comes up repeatedly - almost to the point of it being a bit of a running joke.
**** Persona 4 is an odd case. The addition of full team control means that the protagonist is actually telling each character what to do in real time, even though the player never hears them. Also, in a number of group situations and meetups, the protagonist is seen talking among the group quite casually and easily. While spoken dialogue is almost non-existent, in-universe he's reasonably chatty.
*** ''[[Persona 2]]'' has a variation of the trope. The main characters of ''Innocent Sin'' and ''Eternal Punishment'' (Tatsuya and Maya, respectively) are party members in the other's game. So in the game one is the protagonist, he/she will be mute; in the other game, he/she will be able to talk. Anyone who played both versions can confirm the strangeness of hearing a previously mute character talk, which is quite interesting.
**** Stranger with Maya, who in the first game is established as being chatty and scatterbrained, but doesn't utter a peep in the second. Tatsuya always maintains his calm, cold personality, even when he starts talking.
** Serph, the main character of ''[[Digital Devil Saga]]'', does not make so much as a noise in the first game. He gets a sort of confused grunt near the beginning of the second, which may not be enough to prepare the player for the flashback sequence in which he is downright chatty.
*** Only sort of. {{spoiler|The talkative Serph in the flashback is not actually the player character, but the man (now dead) your
*** Serph does have a few text options that are more than Yes or No. One of them even prompts hilarity from Heat.
** The Protagonist of ''[[Strange Journey]]'' is actually quite talkative, and in fact this is a major gameplay aspect for recruiting demons, but all of his dialogue must be chosen by the player. While out in the field, with few people to talk to, all his lines occur in Demon Negotiation unless he's receiving instructions from other Strike Team members in the area; during plot scenes, he will restrict himself to choosing from several [[Character Alignment|alignment-defining]] options, but is otherwise [[The Stoic]] as far as the crew is concerned.
** The Protagonist of ''[[
* Averted in ''[[Fable]]'': the hero has no dialogue, but he says single words (such as "Follow" or "Shit") when you use certain commands, and {{spoiler|mouths "Mum!" when his mother is killed right in front of him.}}
** The Hero of Fable II has no speaking lines aside from grunts and screams and the occasional "Yeah!". These mostly appear when performing expressions. The Hero of Fable III however has several lines of dialogue though they are few and far between.
* Solar Boy Django is almost silent in the first ''[[
* Kevin in ''Kakurenbo Battle Monster Tactics''; Toppy is his [[Ninja Butterfly]].
* Gogo in ''[[
* In ''[[Lufia]]'', the GBA installment ''Ruins of Lore''. Eldin reacts a lot, and vocalizes a lot of "..." and "?" and the like, but only gets one speaking line: "I'm [[Hello, Insert Name Here|Eldin]]."
* Played with (and possibly [[Deconstruction|deconstructed]]) in the [[No Export for You|Japan-only]] ''[[Digimon]]'' video games for the Wonderswan. Ryo Akiyama starts off talking normally, but Taichi notices that he stopped responding to people once he reveals that the D-1 Tournament was actually just an elaborate [[Training
* Indie RPG ''[[Breath of Death VII]]'' ruthlessly parodies the concept with the mute skeleton hero Dem. Other characters constantly go against his desires and suggestions since he can't express them, and the one character who can understand him, a mind reader, ignores his opinions anyway.
* Russel, the protagonist of ''[[Dubloon]]'', also [[Silent Bob|speaks inexplicitly]]. [[And Now for Someone Completely Different|When you take control of Riley and Ricky]], you can talk to Russel to get the [[Visible Silence|"..."]] response.
* The main protagonist in ''[[
* Indie RPG ''[[
* The Fateless One in ''[[
* The New Kid in ''[[South Park|South Park: The Stick of Truth]]'' and the sequel, ''South Park: The Fractured But Whole''. {{spoiler|He says one line at the end of the first game, to tell Cartman and Kyle, [[Screw This, I'm Outta Here| "Screw you guys, I'm going home"]].}}
== Shoot 'Em Up ==
* In the first ''[[Star Fox (
* Subverted in ''[[Hydorah]]''. About two thirds of the way through the game, [[Always a Bigger Fish|something]] happens that is so random that the usually mute protagonist blurts out "What the hell was that".
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* Blaze in ''[[Ace Combat]] 5'' is apparently only capable of saying yes, no, and basic orders to his wingmen. This becomes especially noticeable in missions where the flight leader must speak; in those cases, another character takes over as lead.
** He apparently speaks enough for one character to be able to recognise his voice.
** ''Ace Combat'' in general is populated by a parade of extremely heroic and extremely silent [[Ace Pilot
*** Completely averted in ''[[Ace Combat: Assault Horizon]]'' with all three of the playable pilot characters (Colonel William Bishop, Major Janice Rehl, and Doug Robinson) speaking in both cutscenes and gameplay, although the AC-130 gunner Spence plays the trope straight. Unlike previous ''Ace Combat''s, they're [[Featureless Protagonist|also named and have their faces shown]].
* Protagonists in ''[[Harvest Moon]]'' rarely speak aside from "Yes" or "No" answers. They do appear to speak at times, but no dialogue boxes are shown. Recently some games give [[Inner Monologue]].
== Stealth-Based Games ==
* Even the iconic, richly-characterised Solid Snake of ''[[
== Survival Horror ==
* Torque of ''[[The Suffering]]'' is one of these. It even gets lampshaded by a pot-smoking corrections officer:
{{quote|
** Interestingly, they give him several lines of dialog in the sequel.
* Played straight and averted in ''Metro 2033'' game. Artyom, the protagonist, never speaks during the game itself (besides uttering ''Fuck'' during one accident), even if on multiple occasions other characters speak to him or even ask questions (which is also lampshaded few times). On the other hand, Artem is narrating the story during the loading screens.
** Artyom can be seen as a quiet, introverted person. In his room, in the beggining of the game, he is seen daydreaming about the world before the war. He also has an extensive collection of books, like "On the origin of species"
* Jennifer in ''[[Rule of Rose]]'' isn't entirely mute, but she never takes part in any conversations, just passively listening to the other characters, probably to show how detached she is from the rest of them. She only speaks to call for her dog...until near the end of the game when she's [[Berserk Button|finally had enough]], and tells exactly what she thinks about the "Aristocrats".
* The Lauras from the D Trilogy (''D'', ''[[Enemy Zero]]'' and ''D-2'') are all mute characters. But E0's Laura subverts this trope, by grunting, gasping, screaming, sobbing and talking in several occasions. (when you load the game and when you beat the game)
== Third-Person Shooter ==
* Isaac Clarke in ''[[Dead Space (
** According to the aforementioned notes, Isaac has the expected reaction when trapped on a space station that's crawling with mutated undead. ''He's scared out of his mind.''
** He speaks in ''[[
* The Silencer of ''[[Crusader:
* Agent Cobra in ''[[Syphon Filter]]: The Omega Strain''.
== Turn-Based Strategy ==
* The main characters of the ''[[Shining Force]]'' games are
** Max actually does speak in the first game (at least, in the GBA Remake)? He only becomes mute because of plot circumstances.
** Bowie, the Hero in ''Shining Force 2'', is not ''entirely'' mute, either. His lines are few and far between (sometimes hours of gameplay apart) and mostly gratuitous, though.
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* Commander Agress from ''[[Vandal Hearts]] 2''. Playing with the trope, she is not the main protagonist. In fact, you get her rather late. It seems she's just [[The Quiet One|very softspoken]]; [[Tsundere|one party member]] actually gets angry when another tells her to speak louder.
* The main heroes in the ''[[Suikoden]]'' series tend to be mute. Kinda weird given they command large armies in their games.
** The Prince in the [[Suikoden V|fifth game]] has a lot of personality for a
** The player character in ''[[Suikoden Tierkreis]]'' talks A LOT, and has a very hyper, gung-ho, [[Hot
** [[Suikoden Tactics|Kyril]] also talks. In Kyril's game, if certain conditions are fulfilled, {{spoiler|1=''[[Suikoden IV]]'''s protagonist Lazlo appears, and suddenly talks.}}
** {{spoiler|1=Tir McDohl (the hero from original Suikoden) also talks in Suikoden II.}}
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* Claude Speed, the main character in ''[[Grand Theft Auto]] 3'' does not say anything throughout the game. He makes a cameo in ''Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas'' and also says nothing, causing CJ to call him a "mute asshole".
* The protagonist of ''[[Saints Row]]'' does not speak for the majority of the game; various friends and the occasional enemy [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshade it]] repeatedly during the storylines. You get one (generally completely awesome) sentence in the cutscenes at the end of each gang storyline, and it's startlingly satisfying whenever he opens his mouth. {{spoiler|Turns out he was just being a good henchman, and got very tired of being walked all over because of his good henchmanness - in the second one, he's much more vocal.}}
== References in Other Media ==
* ''[[Cracked.com]]''{{'}}s Mark Hill calls inexplicably mute player characters in plot-heavy games the #4 [http://www.cracked.com/blog/6-reasons-video-games-still-have-terrible-stories/ Reason Video Games Have Terrible Stories].
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Silence Tropes]]
[[Category:Normal People]]
[[Category:Video Game Characters]]
▲[[Category:Heroic Mime]]
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