Celebrating Gaming's 8 Best Black Characters for Black History Month

Ethan writes: "For the first Black History Month of the new decade, let's have a look at some of the best black video game characters of the 2010s."

[343_Guilty_Spark]

Great post

[KGEthan]

Thanks!

[Bigman4k]

Yeah i agree too good article

[ElementsUnknown]

Really nice article. All those characters are badass!

[Silly Mammo]

Adéwalé from Black Flag was a badass. I enjoyed being able to play him in the DLC.

[KGEthan]

Such a good supporting character. Didn't expect him to become playable, so it was a pleasant surprise.

[Chaos_Order]

You're forgetting the OG black video game character.

Mr. Game and Watch

[MadLad]

Preeeeeaaaach

[Bigman4k]

You could even throw in there mafia 3 Lincoln Clay he wasnt loveable but he was a strong black character

[KGEthan]

Yeah I was debating adding him in because he seems cool, but didn't have enough personal experience with his character. Didn't play Mafia 3, so I think it wouldn't have felt as genuine as the ones I chose.

[Tetsujin]

Honorable Mentions:

Tiger Jackson (Tekken 3)
Mike Tyson (Mike Tyson's Punch Out!!)
M.Bison/Balrog (Boxer, Street Fighter 2)
Elena (Street Fighter 3)
Teshin (Warframe)

[Tross]

Tiger’s so great he overshadows Eddie and Christie in spite of rarely being in games.

[dsammy04]

Great post, Lee and Adéwalé probably my favorites off this list.

But what about CJ from San Andreas! Was he a positive role model no, but was he a great character in probably my favorite grand theft auto YES!

[KGEthan]

Thanks! I have mixed feelings about CJ...but I actually almost added Franklin from GTA V. After thinking about it though, I felt like his character was kinda just alright. Especially compared to Lee or Adéwalé.

[medman]

I wouldn't mind a Black Panther video game.

Get to it, Insomniac.

Also, Afro Samurai, Cyborg, Nadine Ross (Uncharted), Avery Johnson (Halo),

[Imalwaysright]

Afro Samurai deserves a great video game.

[Nicknasty]

Great post! Any ones for Asian, hispanic, Irish, etc? Be nice to see some other ethnicities for a change.

[lonXionX]

Those ones fails the 'woke' test.

[343_Guilty_Spark]

Irish is just white which 99% of characters are

Most Japanese games feature Asian characters

Hispanic or Latino? I know several games with Latino characters. We need more though.

What does you question have to do with Black History month though?

[Elda]

Nice.

[FanboysKiller]

Franklin and cj are one of the best I've ever seen.

[LucasRuinedChildhood]

What's with the disagrees?

[Bigman4k]

Ikr people are just di*ks

[MadLad]

Basically

[Projekt7]

This might be considered a controversial one, but what about Barret Wallace from FF7? I got pretty attached to him back when I was 17 and the game first came out.

[NealGamby]

This is racist. We don’t have a “white history” month.

[343_Guilty_Spark]

Look at an American History Textbook. The whole thing is white washed history.

[NealGamby]

All school text books only tell half the story. They’re filled with wrong information. Still doesn’t change the fact that whites are the only race that can’t be proud of their heritage without being labeled as racists. You ever see blacks wearing “black power” or “ black and proud” shirts and hats? I have. Can you imagine if whites wanted to show off how proud they are of their heritage? Y’all would lose your minds.

[343_Guilty_Spark]

@NealGamby

I don't think you understand what racism is.

I got an admissions letter from a University that said the applicant had a wonderful resume but it was against school policy to accept Negroes. That's racism.

Now if you want to celebrate being a white man or the history of white people nobody will stop you.

[Nicknasty]

Youre getting a distorted twist of history then. Its a known fact they have altered american history. They are trying to hide the fact that liberals were the ones that enslaved blacks and it was a conservative that freed the slaves.

Sounds like someone maybe needs to brush up on their history. Its like in planet of the apes when Dr Zaius was going out of his way to try and hide the fact that man was here before ape. He didnt want any of the other apes to find out and tried to keep it from Taylor.

That guy was such a lib! Haha

[dsammy04]

Unfortunately it's a white man world. Everyday is shrouded in the greatness the white man has brought the world. White men are celebrated everyday and have privileges black and brown people rarely experience.

And there is a reason why even white people don't say white power. Most of those people who shout it are racist hood wearing, swastika tattooed, pure race minded people.

So sane white people refer not to be associated with that craft. The thing most white people do take pride in their culture and our very proud of it. Polish, Russian, Jewish, UK English, and etc.

However since black history month was started in America. The white history which you should know is white washed, Africans were taken from their home countries within the continent of Africa stripped of their native tounge, religion, and culture. Families separated, sold, raped, killed, etc etc I'm sure you know the rest.

However these people today after long trials and tribulations are called African Americans and since these people weren't afforded the same luxury as other races of knowing which part of Africa they truly come from with their lineage for 400+ years being erased or not kept on record. They had to celebrate their African American experiences which is why they have Black History month in short. There is much more to that story but that's why there is Black History Month not only to remember the bad but celebrate the good of our fellow American friends, colleagues, neighbors, and service men and women.

[Nicknasty]

Sorry, fail. White mans world when all that is celebrated is blacks? Take Kobe Bryant for instance. Say the tables were turned. If everyone on that helicopter were black and Kobe happened to be the only white that got killed? My god, there would be protests and riots! People like you would be crying white privilege. They didnt even mention anyone else on that chopper for days, but Kobe. They only made a big deal about him, so you can just save that nonsense. Blacks are celebrated each and every day. They dominate sports, music etc. Why even bring attention to the color of your skin with black history month? Personally, i think any kind of history month is a joke. Its pretty sad all the way around. Its also not Kobes fault, he was a good hearted and talented guy. He did alot of good for kids and charity. Its societys fault and sick and twisted media driven people like yourself. That are fueled by real hate.

[dsammy04]

Woah I'm filled with hate @Nicknasty what did I say you clearly are off your rocker or trolling. You are the one spewing this hate but this is the last I'll respond to you. You aren't worth the time and your ideology is clearly far out there.

But you do realize Kobe was a celebrity the whole world has seen Kobe Bryant at some point of time, so of course he was mentioned more in the media. He was the media draw of the story. If those people were famous then they would've been spoken about no matter the color. The media was basing it off people feeling like they had a connection to Kobe and his daughter because they have seen them before. So no those other passengers weren't talked about as much but it doesn't make their deaths unfelt however people related to a celebrity they were fond of.

But yes white man's world I stand by that. You should stick to gaming cuz you clearly don't know anything. There is a reason why African Americans are the minority. You said black people dominate sports and music. I'll give you that but you obviously don't know how the world is ran let's talk about Forbes list maybe 2 or 3 African Americans. Let's talk about major corporation CEOs. Let's talk about Presidents of Universities. African American Governor's, Senators, Politicians, Chief of Police, Generals. That sir is how the world is ran.

So once again, why is there Black history month? It's to celebrate people in the fields like I mentioned who are rarely in the above list. As well as other entrepreneurs, inventor's, and people who donate their time and energy to trying to make the world better.

[C-H-E-F]

Sad that we can't muster up 28 black characters for each day of the month. Great post, thanks for the recognition of black people in gaming. Hopefully the diversity continues, it's crazy how excited I get to see a black main character in a game. What really gets to me is, they use black people to voice the main character all the time, why not just make the player himself black a perfect example: Kratos.

[KGEthan]

I feel that. I didn't think I cared that much, but when I got to play as those characters on the list, I was a lot happier than I thought I'd be. Kratos has that whole family ash situation going on though...

[C-H-E-F]

He doesn't have a mixed child. His son is 100% white so that makes Kratos white. I used to think that he was black and then the whole ashes thing made him white, but then in the last game his son isn't mixed so i'm like wait. Kratos is white? LOL, there's other examples as well, i'm glad that we do get the good looks that we do. I'm tired of seeing us in stereotypical roles in entertainment. Hopefully the support for black lead characters continue to grow and grow in the right direction not type casting us.