Should video game remakes/reboots change the ethnicity of the main character?

[Twenty5Thousand]

Something I've noticed lately about game reboots is how unwilling they are to change the main character's ethnicity. In the new Doom games, Doomguy is still white. In the new Wolfenstein games, BJ is still white. In the FF7 Remake, Cloud is still white. In the Resident Evil 2 remake, Leon and Claire are still white, in the new Hitman games Agent 47 is still white, etc.

In an industry where video game reboots and remakes of classic games dominate the industry, it makes establishing a new diverse set of characters harder because they aren't well known characters. If these new games aren't afraid to update the designs of older characters, why can't they change their ethnicity to help diversify a white dominated field? For example, nothing about Doomguy requires him to be a white male. He could've easily been changed to someone of Hispanic or African descent and even have his gender changed. But instead of taking the opportunity to create something more diverse, they went with a white male because the original Doomguy was a white male.
I'm hoping future game reboots and remakes will be more progressive with their main characters' updated designs.

 

[gabegabe]

I don't think they SHOULD, but it's something that I don't mind. I also don't mind if it stays the same.

 

[Jirotrom]

Should change? i dont know... I think consider it and possibly do it sure. I dont think it needs to be a requirement, its like with 007, Idris elba I think would be a fantastic james bond.

 

[PlanetSmasher]

As with everything, it depends on the context. Like rebooting Final Fantasy VII and having Cloud Strife suddenly look Hawaiian instead of like a weird drug-addict-pale blonde dude with silly hair and creepy weirdo eyes wouldn't make a lot of sense.

But for characters who aren't particularly iconic or whose visual design isn't part of the reason they're memorable, I don't see why it would be a problem.

 

[Greywaren]

I don't think they should, but I wouldn't be against it if they did. More representation is always good.

 

[Raijinto]

Yeah I'd be fine with this. Disney are doing this with Ariel IIRC and that's only a good thing for me. They're just fictional characters at the end of the day, so it's not like say if you're doing something involving Churchill or Obama where they actually exist and are a particular ethnicity.

 

[Amnixia]

More representation would be cool yeah. Changing existing characters is fine IMO.

In the FF7 Remake, Cloud is still white.

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Americans. lol.

He's a Japanese dude with blonde hair.

 

[Farrac]

I feel like there should be an option of "I think ethnicity changes are fine and welcome as they increase diversity, but it's more important to create new characters from those ethnicities". It also depends on what changes we are talking about. Like for example: I feel changing the ethnicity of Cloud would be fine but also weird, as he is supposed to be the same character from the original, whereas if they were to reboot Tomb Raider turning Lara Croft into the original Laura Cruz that would actually be a cool idea.

But then again, I'm a white guy, so I'd rather hear from actual minorities.

 

[Siggy-P]

Yes, but of those games you list though, only Final Fantasy is an actual full reboot of the entire story. The rest are one continuous character across a series of games. The Wolfenstein and Doom games are sequels, not reboots.

 

[Yog-Sothoth]

No.
Unless the character's ethnicity didn't make sense in the context of the original game, but otherwise no. Better to create new franchises with diverse casts.

And no, as frequent as they are, remaster don't dominate the industry.

 

[krazen]

Who cares. It's an arbitrary decision most of the time; not like 95% of the storylines would change if a character was from a different place, different race, different sex or sexuality.

That said, capital G gamers would burn down the world. As pretty as Cloud is imagine if they just made him female identifying? Or if instead of a wise cracking white guy, Drake was a wise cracking Latino dude.

People would be swatting dev's officies 24-7.

 

[Belthazar90]

In the FF7 Remake, Cloud is still white.

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Americans are funny... But in a very sad way

 

[jml]

Reboots, sure. Remakes I'm not as sold on.

 

[Deleted member 51789]

I don't think they necessarily *should*, but I don't think people should be annoyed if they do change (well, as long as it isn't to change it to another white guy)

 

[Deleted member 2809]

Hitman can and should 100% have a few selectable avatars. It can't be that hard, the only "problem" being cutscenes which they mostly cut for 2 anyway.

 

[julia crawford]

If it increases representation and diversity, why not.

If it reduces representation and diversity, it's fucked up tbh

 

[Fatoy]

It shouldn't be some sort of prerequisite for rebooting, but it's definitely not something I'd object to happening.

There are very few videogame characters whose ethnicity is actually important to the story. I mean, you wouldn't make a Shadowman reboot with a white main character, but that sort of thing is the exception rather than the rule.

 

[Jimnymebob]

I think it depends on how iconic the character is in popular culture, to be honest.
There are definitely some games where this could work, but only really with throwaway protagonists, so to speak. Like, CoD MW 2019 made Gaz black, but they kept Price as his usual British man with big moustache self, and I think that's probably the best way to handle changes like that.

 

[Apollo]

I'm fine with it if they do, but they can't just change a character's ethnicity, tell themselves they've scored some points and call it a day. Gotta do more than that in all areas, not just what character appears on the box

 

[LonestarZues]

I'd say remakes should stay the same and reboots should at least consider it.

 

[Deleted member 8593]

BJ being a Jewish person of Polish descent is kind of integral to the plot in the new Wolfenstein games and used to great effect. You can of course change his ethnicity but you'd have to change a lot of stuff around it as well.

And I'm pretty sure that Cloud is supposed to be at the very least racially ambiguous, despite his name.

 

[Fliesen]

I get where you're coming from and diversity among protagonists should definitely be welcomed, but changing the protagonist in a remake would certainly feed the "Boo! Forced diversity!" crowd. Changing a single aspect of an otherwise iconic protagonist is a shitshow waiting to happen.

Like, BJ is meant to look like that little sprite from Wolfenstein 3D - like, that's his origin story, and as thin of a justification to keep his ethnicity the same, it's still there - and it's been expanded on in the following games. (Also, the Wolfenstein games, apart from having a white (albeit jewish) protagonist, do have a pretty diverse cast.)
Same goes for otherwise well established characters - especially if we're talking about a franchise spanning multiple games.

Now, in a reboot - i don't see why certain changes shouldn't be made. Like, i don't see why we couldn't have a black Lara Croft - or reboot the franchise and have Jonah's daughter be the "next Tomb Raider", with Lara as the Mentor.

 

[Servbot24]

If the creators wants to then yes, if they don't want to then no. It's a noble cause to change the characters to a more diverse cast, but not necessary by any means.

 

[DiipuSurotu]

Hell yeah!

Wasn't Lara Croft originally a Latina named Laura Cruz in concept art? Bring her back!

 

[Berordn]

if it's a remake/reimagining/retelling/reboot/whatever then they really should have free reign to change whatever they want.

i can see why they wouldn't in the case of RE and Doom where the characters you're playing are supposed to be the same ones from decades ago, but something like tomb raider would've had free reign to change lara more, and they really should've capitalized on it

 

[808s & Villainy]

I dunno man. I'd be lying if I didn't say I find myself lying on both sides of the argument, depending on the character in question, for arbitrary reasons (even to me). I guess it depends how far the remake strays from the source material. If it's a reboot, I'm more open to it, because ethnicity changes are among a number of other changes. It's it's a remake and things are more or less the same, except for the main character's ethnicity then it just sticks out awkwardly. For instance (not VG related) I would've been totally fine if they changed Iron Fist to be an Asian American, but it'd be weird if they changed Batman, for instance and I can't really say way.

 

[CannonFodder52]

I think they should do what they want with remakes. I feel often they're far too bound the vision of the original release and I'd rather see the new director's distinct take on the source material. So, they should feel free to make a more diverse cast if they feel like it, but I don't think they must.

 

[SystemBug]

BJ is white but also has a Jewish background. His characterization in the new series does make a point of addressing his white-passing nature. Quite refreshing imo

 

[Night]

I'm all for more ethnic diversity in video games but I don't agree with the assertion that they should change the character's ethnicity in a remake or remaster.

They certainly could and that'd be cool. I'd dig it.

Many people would be upset seeing their beloved characters changed up though. I can imagine the discussion regarding that being quite the blast zone.

 

[Gotdatmoney]

Cloud is suppose to be Japanese.

Any how, I would be cool if they changed the main characters ethnicity. Simce remakes and reboots are so much more common in today's industry I think it should be looked at more. I would prefer they created new main characters as POC instead though.

 

[Aureon]

Honestly, changing the model and not changing the culture is disrespectful as fuck anyway.

 

[King Kingo]

 

[silver1289s]

I'm going to say no. I think it comes across as forced and as a cheap way to indroduce diversity instead creating new IP's.

 

[StephenNotStrange]

It depends on if that ethnicity change will significant impact on the background of character or not.

Like in case of Marvel, you can't change Red Skull - a white man who working under Hitler's reign to a black man, doesn't make sense, Hitler will not accept a black man.
Or change Black Panther - King of Wakanda to be a white man.

But other change can be made, like Batman (a billionaire), Superman (an alien), SpiderMan (just a kid) can be black or white, because their skin doesn't matter much.

 

[Homura]

No.
Ellie is lesbian and should stay lesbian.
Kratos is a big white guy and should stay a big white guy.
Link is a guy and should stay a guy. Linkle was an amazing character because she was one and not just another mute Link.
This is also why I think Ariel should stay white. I liked The Little Mermaid as a kid and I don't really like the fact they want to change her into a black woman. On the other hand if they made a sequel with for example her daughter as the main character, I would be fine with any ethnicity or even sexuality.

Please don't change preexisting characters.

 

[shaneo632]

It's just a case of whether the new design as a whole is cool and makes sense contextually, I guess. Given how fickle fanbases tend to be I can't blame pubs for sticking to successful designs (and, yes, races) for well established characters.

 

[DiipuSurotu]

Click to shrink...

What am I looking at here

 

[ClickyCal']

In an industry where video game reboots and remakes of classic games dominate the industry, it makes establishing a new diverse set of characters harder because they aren't well known characters. If these new games aren't afraid to update the designs of older characters, why can't they change their ethnicity to help diversify a white dominated field? For example, nothing about Doomguy requires him to be a white male. He could've easily been changed to someone of Hispanic or African descent and even have his gender changed. But instead of taking the opportunity to create something more diverse, they went with a white male because the original Doomguy was a white male.

Click to shrink...

Spoiler: Doom eternal spoiler

Doomguy of 2016 and eternal is the same doomguy....they are sequels.

 

[SunBroDave]

Neither poll option is good. There's no 'should'. Need a poll option asking 'could'

 

[The Unsent]

Nick Fury became Samuel L Jackson in comics first, that was fine and he's the definitve version now. A lot of real life models are used in games nowadays so it might happen more.

 

[brawndolicious]

I'm going to say no. I think it comes across as forced and as a cheap way to indroduce diversity instead creating new IP's.

Click to shrink...

Agreed, just make the main characters in new games more diverse.

I still voted yes though because it always triggers the sensitive fanboys.

 

[Amauri14]

No. Unless said rebbot also makes some drastic changes to the setting and story, but at that point it would be more like an spin-off than anything else. Otherwise it just comes as cheap, just create a new character with his own story and motivations and introduce him into the game like they did with Nero in Devil May Cry 4.

 

[Spring-Loaded]

Here's some Metroid fan art by user Pehesse from the old site:

 

[Deleted member 17210]

Hell yeah!

Wasn't Lara Croft originally a Latina named Laura Cruz in concept art? Bring her back!

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This is who I first thought of when seeing the thread title. Damn racist focus groups. They should include her as an alternate character at least.

 

[ClickyCal']

Here's some Metroid fan art by user Pehesse from the old site:

Click to shrink...

The issue here is that metroid has never been rebooted and it's just one Samus and one set timeline. It could work in Zelda where it's usually always a new incarnation of link and zelda.

 

[Rotobit]

Final Fantasy characters exist in that nebulous Japanese/Caucasian zone a lot of anime characters fall into.

For me it depends on how iconic the original design is and how integral they are to the game. Cloud, for example, is pretty set-in-stone and well known outside of the game, changing his appearance would be too much. I wouldn't mind at all if they changed the ethnicity of Cid or Vincent, though.

I also don't really mind it for characters who reincarnate/change every game anyway. Link, for example, isn't a set-in-stone character (he used to be a brunette and had a goofy lookin' face), they can make the character female, black, whatever. So long as the core traits of the character are still there, it's fine. Same goes for the Pokémon player characters - if we get Sinnoh remakes and you can't change the protagonist's skin tone, what's Game Freak doin'.

 

[Black Mantis]

No game, other than Mafia 3, really springs to mind in regards to a character's ethnicity being important to the design/plot, so if it happens, so be it. Still, as others have mentioned, better for developers to create new characters with more diversity in mind.

 

[Raigor]

Should change? Hell no.

If devs want to change it? I have no problem with that.

Kratos is a big white guy and should stay a big white guy.

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Kratos is not white, he is convered in white ashes

 

[Deleted member 364]

No, make new characters.

 

[Twenty5Thousand]

Honestly a bit ashamed right now of how much y'all are leaning into the 'No' response. If we're trying to establish this medium with more diverse characters then why should we care if a bunch of racist assholes think it would be forced or too much of a severe change? We should be demanding for a change to this white ethnic domination of characters and applauding each attempt to end it.