Player character
A player character (also known as a playable character or PC) is a fictional character in a video game or tabletop role-playing game whose actions are controlled by a player rather than the rules of the game. The characters that are not controlled by a player are called non-player characters (NPCs). The actions of non-player characters are typically handled by the game itself in video games, or according to rules followed by a gamemaster refereeing tabletop role-playing games. The player character functions as a fictional, alternate body for the player controlling the character.[1][2][3]
Video games typically have one player character for each person playing the game. Some games, such as multiplayer online battle arena, hero shooter, and fighting games, offer a group of player characters for the player to choose from, allowing the player to control one of them at a time. Where more than one player character is available, the characters may have distinctive abilities and differing styles of play.
Overview
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A player character may sometimes be based on a real person, especially in
Blank characters
In many video games, and especially
Some games will go even further, never showing or naming the player character at all. This is somewhat common in first-person videogames, such as in
In gaming culture, such a character was called Ageless, Faceless, Gender-Neutral, Culturally Ambiguous Adventure Person, abbreviated as AFGNCAAP; a term that originated in Zork: Grand Inquisitor where it is used satirically to refer to the player.[4]
Character action games
Character
"Character action games" is also a term used for 3D
Fighting games
Fighting games typically have a larger number of player characters to choose from, with some basic moves available to all or most characters and some unique moves only available to one or a few characters. Having many distinctive characters to play as and against, all possessing different moves and abilities, is necessary to create a larger gameplay variety in such games.
Hero shooters
Similarly to MOBAs, hero shooters emphasize pre-designed "hero" characters with distinctive abilities and weapons that are not available to the other characters.[11] Hero shooters strongly encourage teamwork between players on a team, guiding players to select effective combinations of hero characters and coordinate the use of hero abilities during a match.[12]
Multiplayer online battle arena
Role-playing games
In both tabletop role playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons and role-playing video games such as Final Fantasy, a player typically creates or takes on the identity of a character that may have nothing in common with the player. The character is often of a certain (usually fictional) race and class (such as zombie, berserker, rifleman, elf, or cleric), each with strengths and weaknesses. The attributes of the characters (such as magic and fighting ability) are given as numerical values which can be increased as the gamer progresses and gains rank and experience points through accomplishing goals or fighting enemies.
Sports games
In many
Secret characters
A secret or
See also
References
- The Believer Magazine. Archived from the originalon 2008-09-20. Retrieved 2008-12-25.
- ^ TSR Hobbies, Understanding Dungeons & Dragons, 1979. Quoted in Gary Alan Fine, Shared Fantasy: Role-Playing Games as Social Worlds (Chicago: U Chicago Press, 1983)
- ISBN 978-0-7864-4109-9. Retrieved 2014-11-12.
- ]
- ^ Thorpe, Nick (March 2014). "The 80s: The Golden Age of the Arcade". Retro Gamer. No. 127. pp. 28–31.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-317-50381-1.
- ISBN 978-0-7864-9994-6.
- ^ Conference Proceedings: Conference, March 15-19 : Expo, March 16-18, San Jose, CA : the Game Development Platform for Real Life. The Conference. 1999. p. 299.
what do you get if you put Sonic the Hedgehog (or any other character action game for that matter) in 3D
- ^ "Viewpoint". GameFan. Vol. 1, no. 10. September 1993. pp. 14–5.
- ^ Hovermale, Chris (2019-03-10). "How Devil May Cry's arcade inspirations shaped character action games". Destructoid. Retrieved 30 April 2021.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Wood, Austin (2016-10-25). "What the strange evolution of the hero shooter tells us about the genre's future". PC Gamer. Retrieved 2021-01-15.
- ^ Wawro, Alex (6 May 2016). "Hero Shooters: Charting the (re)birth of a genre". www.gamasutra.com. Retrieved 2021-01-15.
- ^ Crider, Michael (Nov 6, 2017). "Why Are MOBA Games like League of Legends So Popular?". How-To Geek. Retrieved 2020-07-17.
- ^ Marshall, Cass (2019-12-05). "Riot's new games are League of Legends' best asset (and biggest threat)". Polygon. Retrieved 2020-09-07.
Now it has lore that's legitimately worth reading, in a collection of genres ranging from Lovecraftian horror to knights and banners fantasy to pirate power struggles.
- ^ "Blizzard's Worlds Collide When Heroes of the Storm Launches June 2". Business Wire. 2015-04-20. Retrieved 2020-09-07.
The free-to-play online team brawler brings together a diverse cast of iconic characters from Blizzard's far-flung realms of science fiction and fantasy
- ^ Higgins, Chris (Nov 27, 2015). "The making of a Smite god: from mythology to main stage". PCGamesN. Retrieved 2020-09-07.
Obviously we're a game about mythology, so one of the things we look for is a mythological character that would be good to bring into the game