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A Celebration of Black Characters in Games
- Thread starter Neoxon
- Start date
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Oh don't worry, I have plans for Streets of Rage. I'm pretty sure I have it under Action.
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Speaking of Overwatch...
Even though we did eventually get Baptiste, I really wish we either got this version of Mercy or they split the difference by making Mercy a black woman.
Even though we did eventually get Baptiste, I really wish we either got this version of Mercy or they split the difference by making Mercy a black woman.
I will never forgive Blizzard for not going with that design, such a damn shame.
"Here's this cool black character that we ultimately scrapped for a white woman. Happy Black History Month!"
Maybe it's just me but it seems like a weird time to post that.
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It was actually part of a series of tweets for Blizzard's 30th anniversary. They also posted some Sombra concept art. But yeah, not exactly the best look.
His spray of the tattoo is called Goddess, but it's not any more specific than that.
Dr. Mondésir is actually a childhood friend of Baptiste's. She runs the clinic and he donates portions of his salary to help keep it running. The clinic is their shared childhood dream.
Great write-up. I think one huge bummer about Baptiste is that when he launched he had no interactions. Without interactions his personality didn't really come through in the game- aside from him being the only hero who blows you a kiss when he says hello.
This unpolished/incomplete release isn't unique to him. Sigma and Echo are also extremely barebones, and I think Ashe took a while to get meaty too. But when they did finally patch in some interactions for Baptiste, it turns out he's very charming, and his VA is excellent.
Had the whole ass chance to buck a lot of stereotypes in media. But nope went the way of the angelic white woman. How ground breaking and innovative. Bravo
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It really was a missed opportunity. I understand the need for more women (something I've also been vocal about). But even then, they could've just gone with a black woman as Mercy.
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Not really anyone I can quote talking about Roland, so here he is.
DAY 9: ROLAND (BORDERLANDS)Roland is one of the OGs of the first Borderlands game alongside the likes of Brick, Lillith, & Mordecai (with Roland being classified under the Soldier class). It goes without saying that he eventually returned in 2, but not in 3 (for story-related reasons that I'll get into). Though thinking about it, it's kinda funny how Roland ended up being right after Baptiste for this thread, as both of them used to work for antagonistic forces before their eventual face turns.
The original Vault Hunters of the first Borderlands game. Brings back memories.....weird how they're even remotely nostalgic now.
His gameplay can be summarized a bit more simply given the nature of Borderlands. He mainly uses combat rifles & shotguns, with his Action Skill being the ability to deploy the Scorpio Turret (designed by Atlas Manufacturers SE, part of the Atlas Corporation……more on them later). Because Borderlands has RPG elements along with its FPS gameplay, you can level up your characters in various ways. In Roland's case, his skill upgrades even has a medic tree, another thing he has in common with Baptiste on a surface level. Basically he can hold his own in the field while also providing cover to back up the team. It's been a while since I last played Borderlands, but I enjoyed my time playing as him. Anyway, on to the lore.
Yeah, the Atlas Corporation weren't exactly jazzed that their Sergeant wanted out.
Roland used to be a Sergeant of the Crimson Lance's 114th Bouncer Division. For context, the Crimson Lance is basically the Atlas Corporation's private military imposing their will on the people said company reigns over. While he was listed as dishonorably discharged, that's pretty much the only kind of discharge that comes with leaving the Crimson Lance anyway (plus a bullet in the head, which Roland avoided upon him leaving). Though generally, Roland doesn't really like to talk about his time with the Crimson Lance. Focusing on his life after the Crimson Lance, Roland traveled around with Lilith, Brick, & Mordecai as the Vault Hunters. Lead along by Angel (who worked for Hyperion, Claptrap's creator, & showed up in the team's heads on occasion), they were able to get various pieces of a Vault Key & get to the Vault itself (which held a ton of alien tech & knowledge). They also had to take down Crimson Lance, the very organization that Roland walked away from, freeing Pandora in the process. Roland & Lilith (they were dating at the time) eventually went on to take on the remnants of the group after the Atlas Corporation left them for dead, creating the Crimson Raiders. But before then, the Vault Hunters went to Elpis (Pandora's moon) to reluctantly deal with Colonel Zarpedon in the middle of their vacation while also making sure that Jack, who helped the team but also had his own plans for the laser they had to obtain couldn't use said laser (it was actually Roland who made sure Jack didn't get what he wanted). Of course, there was a bounty that the Atlas Corporation placed on Roland's head. One that the Bloodshots would want to collect during the events of Borderlands 2. After being rescued, Roland takes on the role of quest-giver in Borderlands 2 as a new team of Vault Hunters took up the playable reigns. And although Roland sadly met his end in Borderlands 2, his legacy would still be felt going forward considering that he had an entire town named after him in Borderlands 3. There was also a manifestation of him in Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep, but that Tiny Tina's view of Roland rather than it actually being him. So yeah, he may be gone, but he surely wasn't forgotten in the game's world.
His design didn't change a whole lot between the two Borderlands games.
Not a whole lot to say regarding Roland's design. It's basically typical army garb fitting of the setting for Borderlands. Though they do use the gray shirt (with the sleeves rolled up, exposing Roland's skull tattoo on his left forearm) to break up green of the armor, with his left shoulder guard being the defining part of his silhouette. Said asymmetry continues with his shin & knee guards, those being present on his left leg & right knee respectively. The beanie seems to be made form the same material as his shirt, & is paired with his signature goggles. Not much of the design changed going into Borderlands 2 on paper, but the simple removal of his upper body armor as well as his beanie/goggles combo being traded for a beret for the Crimson Raiders does push the idea that a fair amount of time has passed since the first game. It's not a bad design, though a lot of the reason why I feel like it stands out is thanks to the distinct art style of Borderlands (which isn't a bad thing). I guess it doesn't stand out all that much to me because, as mentioned before, black army men aren't an uncommon thing in games.
Outside of the whole black army guy archetype being used a bit too often & his design not being as vibrant as I would like for a Borderlands character (I get why given his character, but still), I ultimately don't have many complaints about Roland. He's a cool character, is actually voiced by black actor for both of his VAs, & was fun to play in the first Borderlands game. Part of me just wishes he didn't bite the big one in Borderlands 2. But yeah, solid job, Gearbox. You made it to where I didn't have to write a whole lot.
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Roland was okay to play as in the first Borderlands. As a kid playing at the time, I was a bit disappointed with his turret. I think because I expected something ridiculous and massive to take out hordes of enemies but it was still fine.
And yes, I'm glad you brought up his design. I wish more developers stopped making black characters with military backgrounds wear the most boring outfits demeanor. You can have a military background and not scream it through your clothing or behavior. Bangalore is similar in this fashion. There are black folks that do serve in militaries around the world and don't "look" like they are in the military. I can't think of any examples off the type of my head but any observation of people in militaries can tell you it's rarely, if any, folks rocking their fatigue like it's their life.
And yes, I'm glad you brought up his design. I wish more developers stopped making black characters with military backgrounds wear the most boring outfits demeanor. You can have a military background and not scream it through your clothing or behavior. Bangalore is similar in this fashion. There are black folks that do serve in militaries around the world and don't "look" like they are in the military. I can't think of any examples off the type of my head but any observation of people in militaries can tell you it's rarely, if any, folks rocking their fatigue like it's their life.
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Yeah, it's one of the reasons why I appreciate that NRS gave Jacqui more of her own visual identity in MK11.
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Turns out, I was given some bad intel regarding Giovanna being Afro-Brazilian. Until there's further confirmation, she's been removed from the Honorable Mentions as per Rule #1. Venom was included in her place, though I will re-include Giovanna if we get said confirmation.
I definitely came to appreciate Roland more when I played Borderlands 2. That Turret (and general military motif) kinda killed my interest in playing him during my first foray into the world.
I know I'm late in this thread, but...Even ignoring boxing games, Balrog's not the first. Ben Smith from Violence Fight is older although obviously not as significant.
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Lick Joe?
Is that a skin for Lifeline? That looks pretty cool.My Apex Legends bae, love her so much!
finally a character i recognizeShooter week huh? Bring in the Cole Train baby.
Shooter week huh? Bring in the Cole Train baby.
This character is a fucking awful stereotype
Mentioning Sgt. Avery Jr. Johnson from Halo, even though I love him, would be too easy. I don't know if this qualifies because she wasn't 'present' in the game per se, but I choose Sadie Endesha instead. The caretaker of the Engineer Quick-to-Adjust, Virgil, and in my opinion the most memorable character from Halo 3: ODST. She was only present during audio logs, but everything she went through during the Battle of New Mombasa was quite the journey.
Yes, it's a legendary skin called "Pirate Queen", and it's one of my all time fave. She has quite some amazing skins to be honest, the other two that I love are Judge Jury Executioner, and Worlds Apart.
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Well, I aim to please. Your bae has arrived.My Apex Legends bae, love her so much!
DAY 10: LIFELINE (APEX LEGENDS)Look, I can explain. Yes, Lifeline is the third in the combat medic streak (Roland is a bit of a stretch, but his skill tree for healing counts). But I have a legitimate excuse here besides my bias for the Support class. In a (pleasantly) surprising turn of events, Lifeline is actually the face of Apex Legends. She's featured quite prominently in promotional material (though not on the box art for whatever reason). With that in mind, it made sense to give her the nod for Apex Legends' entry. Though full disclosure, it was between her & Bangalore for this spot, and it was a pretty tough decision. But I guess that speaks more to the great options Respawn brought to the table, especially with regards to black women. Anyway, let's get to the rest of the write-up.
Lifeline's good deeds did not go unnoticed.
Apex Legends doesn't exactly have a ton of lore. That said, Lifeline did get a comic focusing on her story not too long ago (Season 7), so I'll mix in references to that where I can. Ajay Che is the daughter of a pair of war profiteer parents who've amassed quite a bit of wealth from their jobs. Realizing the damage her folks have caused, Ajay left home (cutting off her parents in the process) to join the Frontier Corps (much to her parents' dismay), a humanitarian organization that helps out Frontier communities that need the assistance. So you can kinda see the irony in her joining the Apex Games, which is quite literally a bloodsport (though Lifeline keeps telling herself that she doesn't have an issue with it). In Lifeline's case, she's only in it to get the winnings to the Frontier Corps so they can continue their efforts to help others. So in her case, it's a case of the pros outweighing the cons, as well as her compassion for others shining through despite both the personality traits she puts forward (coming off as more of a sarcastic, callous person) as well as the nature of the Apex Games she's partaking in. Though it's between this & the whole Frontier Corps that created a rift between Lifeline & her parents, her dad especially. They're of the belief that she should be home, but Lifeline is too vocally against her parents' jobs to just stand by & benefit from it while not doing anything about it. It's through this that Lifeline shows her strong moral compass as well as her compassion for others (including her childhood friend Octavio Silva, now Octane).
Lifeline's front-&-center with the rest of the OG cast.
As I mentioned, Lifeline is a combat healer. So not unlike Baptiste, she'll be able to hold her own in a fight as well being able to save her group's asses. Her primary means of healing is actually her tactical ability, the D.O.C Heal Drone, which heals anyone within a certain radius (though it doesn't stay permanently). Lifeline also has a passive ability in the form of a drone meant for protecting her as she's resurrecting one of her allies (Combat Revive). It'll disappear once the revive is complete, & it'll stay on the original revival target until the job is done. So while you could go to another person who needs saving mid-rez, the second target won't be covered. It'll even continue with the resurrection if the entire squad is killed during the resurrection process. And regarding Lifeline's ultimate, it's actually a care package that drops shields, items that can replenish shields &/or health, and new weapon attachments. There's also her passive perk, Low Profile, that makes her harder to hit while also slightly increasing the damage she does take. So the key to winning with her is to heal after every fight when possible, get your ultimate as quickly as possible, & play around the shield when reviving one of your teammates.
A simple yet effective design that does its job & does it damn well.
Due to the nature of Apex Legends, Lifeline actually has a number of color variations as well as alternate costumes. But like with Baptiste, I'm mainly gonna focus on Lifeline's default design. With that being said, I actually quite like Lifeline's design. For one, it's nice to have a black woman in this thread who doesn't have white hair & blue eyes (not hating on Twintelle by any means, but it's just a nice change of pace). She definitely rocks that magenta hair, plus it's tied up (which is practical given that she's in the heat of battle). Given that she's a humanitarian worker helping those ravaged by war as well as a healer in the field, it would make sense that she's immediately armed with medical supplies. It's actually with Lifeline's surgical gloves as well has her bright blue tattoo from her shoulder all the way down to her left arm that blue is the stand-out color to break up all the greens, whites, & grays of the outfit. Well, that & her magenta hair, but I already brought that up. Though it should be noted that while said tattoo is supposed to be blue (especially in this render), it appears to be either a darker shade of blue or a pale shade or black in certain lighting. Even in the comic referenced in the lore section, her tattoo is more black than blue. So there's a bit of an inconsistency with regards to how said tattoo is depicted. With that being said, Lifeline's design basically tells you everything you need to know about her character at a quick glance. Given that Lifeline isn't really big on the whole Apex Games thing, she's obviously not gonna be armored up to the teeth with a wild amount of weapons. She just does what she has to while keeping her teammates alive. And her design communicates that really damn well.
I……really don't have any complaints, not even a minor nitpick. Though if you're wondering about Lifeline's voice actress, it's actually Mela Lee, who is of mixed ethnicity (including a fair amount of black in her lineage). Plus she delivers a great performance as a character. Not to mention that Lifeline directly defies the black soldier archetype in her backstory (becoming a humanitarian worker specifically due to her family profiting from war). So yeah, great job Respawn Entertainment. You basically gave me my main right off the bat.
Thanks for taking the time to read today's post. Be sure to come back tomorrow for the next character in the Shooters Section of Black Characters of Gaming Celebration. As for tomorrow, just take her advice & don't get cooked, alright?
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Ahh Lifeline, yes more Black women that's what I'm here for.
When most games can't even give you 1 Black women character Apex said well...we'll give you two. And to date it's still one of the few games to give you that kinda effort.
Good entry, I look forward to the others.
When most games can't even give you 1 Black women character Apex said well...we'll give you two. And to date it's still one of the few games to give you that kinda effort.
Good entry, I look forward to the others.
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And both of them were in the game on Day 1. Gotta give Respawn credit where it's due.
I was kinda expecting you to do Lifeline since you would have doubled up on military head stereotypes but Bangalore is still cool as hell because the VA did such a great job and her moves are dope as fuck.
But yea! Lifeline! Fucking best charcter in ages for me. I never became so wrapped up in playing only one character in before since probably my childhood until Apex came out. Hell, when they nerfed her, I legit stopped playing until they buffed her again and now I haven't stopped since. The patois she speaks (I'm sure that's patois she uses sometimes, if not, my bad to my Jamaican folks 😬) is great to hear and that kinda goes for a handful of other characters who all don't have some American dialect.
It isn't even a waifu thing for me as she is pretty meta as well. D.O.C. shield abuse is great for 2v1/1v1 situations, no need to hold medkits sometimes since your Tactical allows you to heal, and her passive and ultimate allowing you to get more loot sometimes is all you need to get over the hump for utilities. She's great.
Amazing character, love Respawn for giving us TWO BLACK WOMEN in the 8 OG characters, great to play. What is am I missing? Idk.
Did I mention she's great? Yea, great character.
But yea! Lifeline! Fucking best charcter in ages for me. I never became so wrapped up in playing only one character in before since probably my childhood until Apex came out. Hell, when they nerfed her, I legit stopped playing until they buffed her again and now I haven't stopped since. The patois she speaks (I'm sure that's patois she uses sometimes, if not, my bad to my Jamaican folks 😬) is great to hear and that kinda goes for a handful of other characters who all don't have some American dialect.
It isn't even a waifu thing for me as she is pretty meta as well. D.O.C. shield abuse is great for 2v1/1v1 situations, no need to hold medkits sometimes since your Tactical allows you to heal, and her passive and ultimate allowing you to get more loot sometimes is all you need to get over the hump for utilities. She's great.
Amazing character, love Respawn for giving us TWO BLACK WOMEN in the 8 OG characters, great to play. What is am I missing? Idk.
Did I mention she's great? Yea, great character.
Heh, it's supposed to be Rick Joe but the developer doesn't have English as a first language.
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That was actually part of the reason why I ended up going with Lifeline. And yeah, it's amazing how Respawn gave us 2 awesome black women at launch.
Meanwhile, Overwatch isn't even getting its first (Sojourn) until likely 2022.
Really like Lifeline's design! So far, that's three characters I wasn't familiar with in the shooter genre prior to this thread (haven't played Splatoon either, so that'll make it four) — loving it.
I'll take a moment to heap some praise on Prophet from the Crysis series:
While only playable in one out of four games, he's the only character with a major role in all of them (well, except Warhead), and is essentially the backbone of the entire story. I know it's 8 years in the past, but it'll always bother me that James Vincent Meredith didn't receive any recognition for his performance in Crysis 3, which is still par for the course for black actors and actresses.
I'll take a moment to heap some praise on Prophet from the Crysis series:
While only playable in one out of four games, he's the only character with a major role in all of them (well, except Warhead), and is essentially the backbone of the entire story. I know it's 8 years in the past, but it'll always bother me that James Vincent Meredith didn't receive any recognition for his performance in Crysis 3, which is still par for the course for black actors and actresses.
Want to give some love to some of my favorite characters in shooters-
Louis, Rochelle, and Coach from the Left 4 Dead games.
They're probably the shooters I have spent the most time with, and the fun dialogue, voice performances, and designs were immediately likable.
Louis, Rochelle, and Coach from the Left 4 Dead games.
They're probably the shooters I have spent the most time with, and the fun dialogue, voice performances, and designs were immediately likable.
Yessss I love her so much! Thanks for highlighting her, she's such a great character all around, it's been a pleasure to main her for 2 years now, and no other legends come close to her in anyway whatsoever to me, she's just THE legend!
Here's me showing off a bit, perfectly pointing out how her kit and abilities can be amazing if used right!
With that being said, I cannot wait for tomorrow's character, because if my hunch is right, she's also one of my very fave, so much so I had to buy her amiibo, she's amazing!
I always enjoyed Doomfist from Overwatch.
His real name is Akande Ogundimu, which is a Yoruba name. Ogundimu in particular means "Ogun holds onto", Ogun being one of the Orisa who is associated with iron work and also is known as a warrior which fits into his whole metal fist gimmick.
The giant fist also works as a reference to a martial art/sport known as Dambe. It originates from the Hausa people of Nigeria and is similar to boxing/mixed martial arts but is a lot more brutal. The most notable thing about dambe is how the fighters wrap one arm in a rope to use as their primary means of striking decisive blows to their opponent.
This is pretty clearly reflected in Overwatch with Doomfist but his in-game sprays and backstory show that he actually practiced dambe in his youth.
One criticism I have is with Doomfist's voice actor (and no I didn't want Terry Crews). Doomfist's VA, Sahr Ngaujah does a fine job, don't get me wrong but OW missed an opportunity not getting a Yoruba voice actor to do Doomfist's lines. It would have been much better if Doomfist had a Yoruba accent and could say actual lines in Yoruba like how other characters in the game will sometimes say lines in their native language.
Blizzard is a little weird with the Yoruba stuff in the game in general, though it's great they include so much of it. Orisa's creator, Efi Oladele is also Yoruba. Orisa is named after the Yoruba deities of the same name though my big pet peeve is that they pronounce her name wrong. I think it's great they're representing the stuff but I wish they did just a little bit more research to make sure it was accurate.
His real name is Akande Ogundimu, which is a Yoruba name. Ogundimu in particular means "Ogun holds onto", Ogun being one of the Orisa who is associated with iron work and also is known as a warrior which fits into his whole metal fist gimmick.
The giant fist also works as a reference to a martial art/sport known as Dambe. It originates from the Hausa people of Nigeria and is similar to boxing/mixed martial arts but is a lot more brutal. The most notable thing about dambe is how the fighters wrap one arm in a rope to use as their primary means of striking decisive blows to their opponent.
This is pretty clearly reflected in Overwatch with Doomfist but his in-game sprays and backstory show that he actually practiced dambe in his youth.
One criticism I have is with Doomfist's voice actor (and no I didn't want Terry Crews). Doomfist's VA, Sahr Ngaujah does a fine job, don't get me wrong but OW missed an opportunity not getting a Yoruba voice actor to do Doomfist's lines. It would have been much better if Doomfist had a Yoruba accent and could say actual lines in Yoruba like how other characters in the game will sometimes say lines in their native language.
Blizzard is a little weird with the Yoruba stuff in the game in general, though it's great they include so much of it. Orisa's creator, Efi Oladele is also Yoruba. Orisa is named after the Yoruba deities of the same name though my big pet peeve is that they pronounce her name wrong. I think it's great they're representing the stuff but I wish they did just a little bit more research to make sure it was accurate.
Coach is my guyWant to give some love to some of my favorite characters in shooters-
Louis, Rochelle, and Coach from the Left 4 Dead games.
They're probably the shooters I have spent the most time with, and the fun dialogue, voice performances, and designs were immediately likable.
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Never seen her before, that is a stunning designMy Apex Legends bae, love her so much!
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Hmm, I looked up her default design and it seems a bit bland, but that alternate really pops with the emerald green. It's a color scheme that works best contrasted against dark skintones.
Here's a Splatoon example with a similar color scheme:
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Lifeline is actually the topic of today's discussion. She's even in the OP, so you didn't have to look far.Hmm, I looked up her default design and it seems a bit bland, but that alternate really pops with the emerald green. It's a color scheme that works best contrasted against dark skintones.
Here's a Splatoon example with a similar color scheme:
I didn't see this until today, I tend to scroll past the stickied threads. Excellent work, tho!
Harlem Hellfighters Battlefield 1 (not video game origin):
Malcolm Unreal Tournament:
Malcolm Unreal Tournament:
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My second main in TF2. I put at least 400 hours into playing as him. Probably about 300 of those hours were spent as a highlander.
