9 Best British Video Game Characters
Feature
The Olympic Games have become a celebration of all things British. A perfect reason to look at some of the best British video characters in history.
His name’s Paul, and he’s from Kent. Got it, you mug? Kent Paul is one of the few characters to make an appearance in more than one of the Grand Theft Auto games, and you can see why. A music business nobody who would rather be a criminal, but is in fact a nobody in that particular field as well, his brashness keeps us entertained for hours. Plus, he uses insults that not even British people use any more, making him all the more hilarious.
He even has his own website, the Kent Paul 80s Nostalgia Zone, which is well worth a visit. Designed in what looks like basic HTML, he gives stories of his life growing up and moving to America, and also selects some of his favourite TV shows and music to talk about.
Most people associate Britain with the upper class poshness of Sherlock Holmes and James Bond but Kent Paul shows us the side that not a lot of people get to see, and that’s why he’s one of the better British characters around.
Daniel Amnesia: The Dark Descent
I don’t know about you, but if I woke up in a creepy Prussian castle and found a note from myself which I didn’t remember writing hinting at time travel, dark magic and murder, I would find the nearest exit and run. Even if I did think to pursue the quest laid down before me, I would certainly bolt at the first sign of blood on the floor or strange organic material which covers the walls and doors and injures you if you venture too close.
Daniel must be a braver man than I, because he decides to power through, and traipses around the dimly lit castle despite his crippling nyctophobia, solving puzzles and hiding from invisible water monsters as he goes. Oh, that water monster. Never again.
Richard Topping brings a wonderful English accent to the character, managing to bring equal parts desperation and determination to Daniel’s internal monologue when reading notes to himself. The developers at Frictional Games also managed to inject a certain British politeness into the character, following orders written to him on notes just because it might be a tad rude to question them. Never once does he say: “You know what, note? I’m not going to find the key so I can open the door and murder a man I’ve never met. I’m going home to Mayfair.” Stiff upper lip and all that.
Lord British - Ultima
It’s right there in the name.
When Richard Garriott created the fantasy world for Ultima, he decided to design the King after himself, and name him Lord British (a nickname he was given by friends in his Texas high school days). Well, wouldn’t you? General British is another character named after the acclaimed game creator in Tabula Rasa. These imaginative naming conventions are exactly why we love him.
The character is technically from “Earth”, but we can look past that. What’s interesting about him is that he is supposed to be unkillable, but in each of the games there are cunning ways for the player to assassinate him. It’s alarming that Garriott takes such pleasure from the different ways in which players have come up with to kill his in-game avatar, but each to their own.