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The variety to be found in the RPG realm is quite spectacular. Except in
one particular area; the protagonists. I'm not referring to the people who
join a player's team after the start, but to the person the player starts
with and (usually) controls in all scenarios. With very few exceptions,
this person is a male having the average age of 17. Can't we broaden the field
a little bit here?
This is not to say that exceptions to the rule are absent, just as
exceptions to every rule are absent. Cecil in FFIV was an undefined age,
but certainly old enough to avoid legal penalties in a certain puritanical
society for drinking and gambling. The rather lesser-known Dark Savior on
Saturn features as its protagonist a 28-year old bounty hunter named Garian,
who is quite probably older than many of the people assuming control of him.
These are rare examples bucking the far more common tradition of having
the protagonist be unable to vote, however.
So what would a better age for a protagonist in an RPG be? I recommend
21-24, possibly older as the circumstances allow. Not only does this allow
the character designs to vary a bit (imagine a protagonist with actual
facial hair!) but it allows for the player to need a bit less suspension of
disbelief in saving the world via that protagonist's auspices. Grandia is a
fantastic title, but I never quite believed that the 14-year old Justin was
capable of matching his skills against the forces arrayed in his path,
particularly when there was no indication that he'd ever fought or been put
to the test before. This sort of issue pervades many RPGs when I stop to
think about it...
The most common argument found espousing the teenage protagonist is that
the audience playing these titles likes to see themselves reflected in the
main character. Ignoring the obvious disservice this does to female
players, it also supposes that the majority of people playing RPGs are in
teenagers. It also supposes that people are only able to empathize with
someone just like themselves. The teenage market may have a good deal of
money, but teenagers alone do not account for anything like all RPG sales,
and probably not even a plurality among the varying groups. As for people
only empathizing with characters onscreen just like themselves, this is
negated entirely by countless examples from other video games and further
forms of media. Is everyone watching Indiana Jones an archaeologist man
approaching middle age? Is everyone playing "Halo" possessed of soldierly
training? Hell, is everyone playing "A Link to the Past" an elf from a tween
age grouping?
An older protagonist would make the numerous gambling scenarios in RPGs far
more believable, along with allowing uncensored alcohol references on a
consistent basis. Maybe even a character who can vote? If an older
character would be too strong at the beginning of the game, there's always
the old "amnesia" contrivance to make the hero less powerful for awhile.
Plus, perhaps we'll get to see heroes who actually look like men instead of
immature boys. I hope I'm not alone in saying that very few teenage males
have impressed me with their ability to fulfill the requirements of being an
RPG hero...
It is possible to go too far - the widely-known fact is that the human body
begins to deteriorate from its prime by the mid-30's. The novelty of having
Neil Young's "Old Man" (the title) be used as the theme song for an RPG
protagonist would probably be cancelled out by having horrible new status
ailments like "arthritis" (kinda works like paralysis and poison, but there
is no cure except to wait) or "dementia" (the character begins to aimlessly
wander outside of battle, and babble endlessly in battle). Even this,
though, would have the benefit of being different! And yes, having a slightly
older female protagonist would be another great thing. But that tangent is
best saved for another day.
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