Video games have been a huge part of my life from as far back as I can remember. From owning the Atari 2600 to the NES, transitioning to the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo to siding with Nintendo during the 64 vs. Playstation years. We have had the revolutionary Wii, the disaster of the Dreamcast, Wii U and PS3 eras. If you were a millennial video games were part of your upbringing. While Video Games were a huge part of my life it was pretty damn rare to see a face like mine in most early Video games. Streets of Rage’s ‘Adam’ was the first time I remember legitimately seeing a black playable character in a video game. Nowadays Black characters in video games are more commonplace, (I’m waiting on Samurai Warriors 5 with Yasuke to arrive next week [don’t judge me]) though some characters like Virtua Fighter’s Vanessa continue to have their skin tone get lighter and lighter [that’s a conversation for another time]. Positive black images [or black images in general] in media, be they TV, Comics, Music videos and even Video games has a positive effect on the self confidence of black children [sciencedaily, tandfonline]. In the grand theme of educating my people here’s a taste of the black video game characters available in the Video Game medium.
Go out and get your game on!
- Adéwalé
Adéwalé (1692 – 1758) was a former slave-turned-pirate from Trinidad, and later a member of the West Indies Brotherhood of Assassins. He was the father of Babatunde Josèphe, the grandfather of Eseosa, and is an ancestor to Milton Jones.
During the early 18th century, Adéwalé served as Edward Kenway’s quartermaster aboard the Jackdaw before eventually assuming the captaincy of his own vessel, the Victoire, and later the Experto Crede in 1735. That year, he briefly set aside his duties as an Assassin in order to aid the Maroon rebellion in Saint Domingue.
- Master Raven
Master Raven (マスターレイヴン Masutā Reivun) is a character in the Tekken fighting game series. Master Raven was introduced in Tekken 7: Fated Retribution.
Master Raven is a black woman of unknown nationality (presumably North American) with faded scars across her face, who wears her black and blonde hair in dreads gathered into a very long ponytail, leaving three bangs in front of her face, while she shaves the sides and bottom of the rest of her hair, leaving those areas with a low buzz cut. Her body is
- Nathan Copeland
Nathan Copeland (ネイサン・コープランド, Neisan Coopurando) is a character in the video game No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle. Most details about him such as his age and nationality have yet to
He is ranked fiftieth in the United Assassins
- Lúcio
Lúcio is a Support hero in Overwatch.
Lúcio is an international celebrity who inspires social change through his music and actions. He has a positive,
- Fortune
Fortune is a character in the video game series Metal Gear. Fortune, real name Helena Dolph Jackson, was a leading member of the Navy SEALs anti-terrorist unit Dead Cell. Her
She was also known as “Lady Luck” and earned the title of “Queen” among her Dead Cell comrades. She was often armed with a man-portable rail gun during combat. Fortune herself claimed that her luck on the battlefield was at the cost of tragedy in her personal life.
- James Heller
James Heller was a former US Marine Sergeant and the second Blacklight being.
Following his attempted suicide mission against Alex Mercer, Mercer infected Heller with his variant of the virus. Driven by a powerful need for vengeance, he set out into the city to uncover
- Twintelle
The mega celeb, star of the silver screen tries her hand…er,
- Venom
Venom (ヴェノム, Venomu) is a character in the Guilty Gear series of fighting games, who first appears in Guilty Gear X. Like many other characters in the series, Venom uses a very
- Ayme
Ayme was born in the deserts of Azha on the floating continent Alfard. Here she was given to scientist Georg who performed various inhuman experiments on her and her friend Folon. She grew into a cold and cruel young woman who was later recruited into her nation’s military under the direct command of Giacomo. Over the curse of the game, she moves from a villain to an ally. From the Baten Kaitos series.
- Jax
Major Jackson “Jax” Briggs (U.S.A.) is a cybernetically-enhanced soldier who is the leader of the Outer World Investigation Agency (O.I.A.), Earthrealm’s Special Forces unit, in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. He made his debut in Mortal Kombat II.
Jax made his debut in Mortal Kombat II. He is portrayed as an archetypal African American hero. In the Special Forces’ chain of command, he is Sonya Blade’s direct superior and the catalyzing force of Sonya’s impulsiveness. Jax is clear-headed, careful, and always keeping a watch on what his men are doing. When the need arises, he is a beast on the battlefield with the attitude and ferocity of a lion. He unscrupulously makes use of the most advanced technology to improve both himself and his unit. He is responsible for the crime lord Kano’s disfigurement, forcing him to wear a metal plate over a portion of his face. Jax is the father of Jacqui and was against her joining the Special Forces, believing she only joined due to his legacy.
- Doomfist
Doomfist is a Damagehero in Overwatch.
Doomfist’s cybernetics make him a highly mobile, powerful frontline fighter. In addition to dealing ranged damage with his Hand Cannon, Doomfist can slam the ground, knock enemies into the air and off-balance, or charge into the fray with his Rocket Punch. When facing a tightly packed group, Doomfist leaps out of view, then crashes down to earth with a spectacular Meteor Strike.
- Barret Wallace
Barret Wallace is a playable character in Final Fantasy
Barret fights passionately for his cause and cares greatly for his allies. His seemingly benevolent cause of fighting for the Planet is a cover for his personal vendetta and anger, which he later must come to terms with. Despite his brash and sometimes violent attitude, Barret has a good heart and is torn between fighting and caring for his daughter, Marlene. Barret wields gun-arm, mechanical guns grafted in place of his right arm, allowing him to fire from range.
- Shinobu
Shinobu is a fictional character in the 2007 video game No More Heroes and the 2010 No More Heroes: Desperate Struggle.
She is an 18-year-old assassin, the youngest confirmed ranked member
- Garcian Smith
Garcian Smith is the main protagonist in killer7, although the player controls him relatively infrequently.
- Dee Jay
Dee Jay (DJ) is a video game character from the Street Fighter series, first appearing in Super Street Fighter II. He is a Jamaican kickboxer who has made enormous strides in fame in the Street Fighter world not just as a fighter, but also as a world-famous musician and recording artist.
Dee Jay wears orange loose drawstring pants with black sides and yellowish-white lettering that reads “MAXIMUM” and orange sparring gloves. His hairstyle is a braided mohawk, with a letter “M” cut on each side of his head; these letters were absent from his appearance in the Street Fighter IV series. Dee Jay is also seen in the anime movie and some artworks with a Caribbean chain necklace.
- Darli Dagger
Darli Dagger (ダーリィ・ダガー, Dāryi Dagā) is a new character introduced in Samurai Shodown (2019).
A shipwright who has mastered the use of various tools. She
- TJ Combo
Tyler-Johnson Garrett, more commonly known by his ring name, “TJ Combo”, is an American boxer and major playable character in the Killer Instinct franchise.
In the original Killer Instinct (1994), TJ Combo is depicted as a tall, African-American man with a fairly muscular physique and short, dark hair. Combo wears a red, white and blue, star-spangled tank top, black shorts with a red belt, and red and white-striped socks under his blue and white shoes. His primary
- Nessa
Nessa is a Gym Leader and a user of Water-type Pokémon who appears in Pokémon Sword and Shield. Nessa is a tall dark-skinned girl with long blue hair and eyes.
She wears a gym uniform consisting of a white crop top and shorts with blue and orange details as well as a number 049 on it. For accessories, she wears hoop earrings, two armlets, a Dynamax band, and a blue single glove on her hand. She also wears a belly chain and white and blue sandals with buoys on them.
- Marcus Holloway
Marcus Holloway is the main protagonist of Watch Dogs 2. Born in 1992 in Los Angeles, California. Later, he moved to San Francisco with his family at a young age. Marcus was at one point placed into a community program where he would discover an affinity for computers.
In 2012, rising crime rates would lead to the institution of the Home Domain Center, a surveillance initiative, and in 2013, Marcus was falsely accused of being the primary suspect in a high-tech robbery. In some years before the event of Watch Dogs 2, he joins DedSec in San Francisco in order to take down Blume and Ctos 2.0.
- Vanessa
Vanessa Lewis is a fictional character in the video game series Virtua Fighter of unknown origin. She debuted, along with Lei-Fei, in the original Virtua Fighter 4 using the fighting styles of both Muay Thai and Vale Tudo (she
When she was still a child, Vanessa’s parents were killed. She was taken by Judgement 6 shortly afterward and trained to be an instrument of combat. A man named Lewis, a member of the special forces, infiltrated J6 and rescued Vanessa. Vanessa grew close to Lewis. However, their time together was brief, as a member of J6’s special forces murdered Lewis when Vanessa was celebrating her twentieth birthday.
- Rodin
Rodin (known as the Infinite One) is the demon weapons dealer, a bartender, and the proprietor of the Gates of Hell. He is a renowned demon weaponsmith and is responsible for creating the majority of Bayonetta’s weapons. He was formerly a fallen angel in charge of creation and ruled a portion of Paradiso until he was exiled after fighting in an insurgency against Paradiso. After a time, he disappeared from Inferno and came to reside in the human world, starting up his bar.
In both games, Rodin’s shop allows the player to purchase items, accessories, techniques, and “treasures”. If the player also brings him an Angelic Hymns Gold LP, Rodin uses its angelic melody to lure the demonic creatures of Inferno out of their lairs so that he can craft weapons out of them, resulting in a gruesome fight. From the Bayonetta series.
- Lenora
Lenora is an archaeologist who is the Gym Leader of Nacrene City’s Gym, known officially as the Nacrene Gym. She specializes in Normal-typePokémon. She gives the Basic Badge to Trainers who defeat her. In addition to being the Nacrene City Gym Leader, Lenora is also the director of the Nacrene Museum.
Lenora is a tall woman with black skin, teal hair, and blue eyes. Lenora wears a striped headband, with a white shirt with a white ribbon on her neck, as well as orange flats, teal pants, and a khaki apron with orange pockets. Lenora also wears red lipstick.
- Cyrax
Cyrax is a character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series, who made his debut in Mortal Kombat 3.
Making his debut in Mortal Kombat 3, Cyrax was one of the three cybernetic ninjas created by the Lin Kuei, in an effort to convert all members into unfeeling, cold-hearted, cybernetic assassins to improve their performance. Of all the three cyborgs, Cyrax appears to be specialized in Hand-to-Hand Combat. He was assigned to hunt down the renegade, former Lin Kuei member Sub-Zero as designated unit LK-4D4. Of the three cyborgs, he has become the first to recover his humanity. This is due to the efforts made by Sonya Blade and Jax Briggs. He has currently allied with them as a token of his appreciation. In the alternate timeline of MK 2011, he was automated and dutifully serves the Lin Kuei, but was visibly opposed to the process before being presumably automated against his will.
- Boman Delgado
Boman Delgado (Bōman Derugado) is a fighting game character in the Rival Schools series of 3D fighting games.
Boman is a young black American who has short blond hair in a mohawk hairstyle and a pair of brown eyes. His mohawk hairstyle would later be adapted by Birdie in his appearance from within Street Fighter V.
- Crying Wolf
Crying Wolf was created by Hideo Kojima and appears in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. She was the scout and sniper of the Beauty and the Beast Unit.
Her speed as a quadruped and an extremely tough shell made up the brute force of the unit. Wolf, along with the other members, suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, expressing extreme sorrow in battle through her eternal crying.
- Achilles Davenport
Achilles Davenport (c. 1710 – 1781) was a Mentor of the Colonial Brotherhood of Assassins from 1746 until 1763. A man of Caribbean and British descent, Achilles’ tenure as leader of the American Assassins was turbulent, despite its promising start. His choices over the course of the French and Indian War had disastrous consequences, leading to the defection of Shay Cormac and the destruction of his Brotherhood.
After a large-scale attack on the Assassins by the Colonial Rite of the Templar Order in 1763, the Colonial Brotherhood collapsed and disbanded. Achilles abandoned the Assassin cause and spent the next six years living alone at his manor until meeting with the young Ratonhnhaké:ton, whom he started to train at the boy’s behest. Achilles spent his final years guiding Ratonhnhaké:ton, and this tutelage led to his apprentice’s important role in the American Revolution and the extermination of the Colonial Templars
- Tanya
Tanya is a character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. She made her debut in Mortal Kombat 4.
Tanya is a dark-skinned slender, gloomy woman from Edenia. Originally introduced as an
- Bruce Irvin
Bruce Irvin (ブルース・アヴィン Burūsu Āvin) is a character in the Tekken series of fighting games. Bruce first appeared in Tekken 2, and he has returned for Tekken 5 and Tekken 6, as well as the spin-off titles Tekken Tag Tournament and its sequel, Tekken 3D and Tekken Mobile.
Bruce is a tall, muscular African-American man with brown eyes and black hair, styled into a Mohawk, and a small goatee beard. Upon his return in Tekken 5, Bruce had more facial hair; short, neatly-groomed stubble that ran along his full jawline, as well as arching over his top lip. He also has a small ponytail, secured with a white hairband; while this ponytail was visible when he wore his Player 2 outfits in the earlier games, it was less visible. Bruce also has three distinctive tattoos – two tribal designs on his chest, one on each side, and a large abstract piece on his back, which seems to show a phoenix or dragon-like design, although, in earlier titles in the series, he had another two tribal designs on his back, similar to his chest tattoos.
- Vandham
Vandham is a minor character who appears in Chapter 3 of Xenoblade Chronicles 2. He is initially fought as a boss but eventually comes to help the heroes find Elysium.
Vandham was the leader of a mercenary camp within the Titan Uraya. When looking for supplies for the camp he comes across the legendary Aegis and easily defeats Rex. He then helps the heroes on their quest to Elysium until his untimely death at the hands of Malos.
- Zasalamel
Zasalamel (ザサラメール, Zasaramēru), is a character in the Soul series of fighting games, a man with no allegiances except to himself, though his actions may reasonably be defined as evil. He possesses great magical abilities.
Zasalamel is the first and only black character in the Soul series to date. The origin of the current incarnation is speculated to be in the Nubian region of Africa.
- Elena
Elena is an African princess from the East African nation of Kenya where their culture is big on fighting. Despite her love of
Elena is uncommonly tall for a female being 6′ (183cm) tall, she is currently the tallest female in the Street Fighter series. She has dark skin, short silvery-white hair, and blue eyes. She is barefoot while fighting and has long powerful legs. Many official artworks, mainly the SFIII ones, depict her finger and toenails painted sky-blue. Her attire consists of a white two-piece bikini-like outfit with pale red, sky-blue, gold, and purple bands on her neck, arms, wrists, shins, and ankles. This makes her attire the most revealing for a playable female in the Street Fighter series’ history.
- Disco Kid
Disco Kid is a boxer that first appeared in Punch-Out!! for the Wii. He is the first and only new character to appear in that game, alongside Donkey Kong.
Disco Kid is flashy and flamboyant, striking a pose in the middle of a boxing match. In his bio, he is shown to be a lover of disco dancing, having several dance tournament trophies and strutting his stuff at clubs.
- Jacqui Briggs
Jacqueline Sonya “Jacqui” Briggs is a character in the Mortal Kombat universe, who made her first appearance in the Mortal Kombat X comic series and her playable debut in Mortal Kombat X. She is the daughter of Jax.
A close friend to Cassie Cage, Jacqui Briggs is the daughter of Jackson Briggs and Vera Briggs. After Jax was resurrected from being one of Quan Chi’s slaves during the Netherrealm War, he became overly protective of Jacqui and wanted her to live a normal life. At some point, Jacqui became a professional kickboxer and eventually competed in the Junior Olympics and enlisted in a training camp.
- Raven
Raven (レイヴン Reivun) is a fictional character in the Tekken fighting game series. Raven was introduced in Tekken 5
Raven makes his first appearance in the opening movie for Tekken 5, as he witnesses the attack on Hon-Maru by the Jack-4s while on a mission to look into the Mishima Zaibatsu and G Corporation, as well as the subsequent explosion. It seems that he is the first one to report of Heihachi Mishima’s supposed death.
- Aveline de Grandpré
Aveline de Grandpré (1747 – unknown) was an Assassin of French and African heritage, who lived in the area of New Orleans during the middle of the 18th century. She is an ancestor to “Subject 1”.
Born to the wealthy French merchant Philippe de Grandpré and an African slave by the name of Jeanne, Aveline was raised in a comfortable and privileged environment.
- Darrius
Darrius is a character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. He made his debut in Mortal Kombat: Deception.
Originating from the Realm of Order, Darrius is an ambitious
- Sean Matsuda
Sean Matsuda (ショーン・マツダ/松田 Shōn Matsuda) is a video game character from the Street Fighter series, first appearing in Street Fighter III: New Generation. He is a confident amateur martial artist from Brazil who idolizes Ken, eventually becoming his disciple.
In the Street Fighter III games, Sean wears a yellow gi similar to those worn by Ryu and Ken with the sleeves removed at the shoulders, and red fighting gloves. He wears a black belt and fights barefoot. He is a dark-skinned Brazilian and has black dreadlocks with the sides shaved off and usually brings a basketball with him everywhere.
- Anthony Higgs
Anthony Higgs (アンソニー・ヒッグス Ansonī Higgusu) is a soldier in the Galactic Federation Army, working as the point man of the 07th Platoon led by Adam Malkovich in Metroid: Other M. He is an old friend of Samus Aran.
A soldier assigned to Adam’s platoon, and an old acquaintance of Samus’. He was the squad’s point man and carries a plasma gun that does extraordinary damage to creatures but takes a long time to recharge. He generally has a jocular nature but is also caring and dependable. He affectionately refers to Samus as “Princess” and saves Samus from Ridley twice the first time when Samus fights Ridley clone’s wingless Mysterious Creature form and the second when Samus’ suffered a PTSD flashback.
- Eddy Gordo
Eddy Gordo (エディ・ゴルド Edi Gorudo?) is a playable capoeira fighter within the Tekken series of fighting games. He made his debut in Tekken 3 and returned for all subsequent installments. He learned about Capoeira from his master.
Eddy was born into one of the richest families in Brazil. Ever
- The Blacker Baron
The Blacker Baron (黒く バロン) is a character in Anarchy Reigns. He makes his way into Anarchy offering help to the highest bidder. He and his assistant Mathilda often find themselves in fights, and Blacker Baron is always after one.
His signature feature is his gold fists, which are referred to as the “Super Sexy Fists of Fire”, so named because they can be activated, releasing an eagle motif on the wrists and a cloak of flame.
- Jade
Jade is a character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. She first appeared as a secret, unplayable character in Mortal Kombat II, and made her official debut in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3.
Jade is a childhood friend of Princess Kitana. While her motives were unclear, she served Shao Kahn alongside Kitana and Mileena as his personal assassin for most of her life. When Kitana finally turned against Shao Kahn, Jade was ordered to capture her for the Emperor. She ultimately chose to join her friend and has since loyally assisted Kitana in her quest to free their native realm and restore its original beauty.
- Cole Train
Cole Train is a video game character from the Gears of War series. Private Augustus “Cole Train” Cole or Gus was once a successful Thrashball player known for his hard-hitting and flamboyant style. After Emergence Day, Cole joined the military as a Gear
Throughout his career as a Gear, he has rejected every military promotion that has been offered
- Drebin
Drebin 893 (or simply Drebin) was one of the many
This Drebin helped out Solid Snake and Hal Emmerich in their mission to take down Liquid Ocelot. Unbeknownst to them, Drebin was also assisting the Patriots by encouraging them to take Liquid out. The
- Leroy Smith
Leroy Smith is an American martial artist who will make his appearance in Tekken 7 as one of the new characters and the first new character to appear as a DLC character in Season 3 and was announced alongside Zafina during the EVO 2019 finals.
50 years ago, a young boy was caught up in a large-scale gang conflict in his hometown in New York City in the United States where he loses his family and his home. After missing for decades, Leroy returns to New York City, now as a seasoned master of martial arts and he’s out for revenge.
- Vivienne
Vivienne is an Orlesian mage and personal enchanter and adviser to Empress Celene. She is an optional companion to the Inquisitor in Dragon Age: Inquisition and can be unlocked through The Imperial Enchanter quest.
- Prophet
Major Laurence “Prophet” Barnes is the squad leader of Raptor Team during the events of Crysis on the Lingshan Islands and a major character in both Crysis and Crysis 2. A copy of his personality and memories returns as the protagonist in Crysis 3 within the Nanosuit 2.0.
- Grundla Saha
Grundla Saha was an African member of the School of Democracy, acting as its martial arts expert and even going as far as teaching Ivan everything he knew about combat. He is the second SOD member Ivan encounters in the single-player campaign, serving as the game’s third boss.
“Saha” in Grundla Saha’s name represents the personification of the god Vishnu. Vishnu is conceived as “the Preserver or the Protector”.
Saha makes his only appearance in the game at the end of Mission 3. During the mission, Ivan and Delta Force face opposition from Saha’s kukri-wielding forces, with Ivan eventually splitting off from the rest of his squad to face Saha himself. Ashamed of what Ivan has become, Saha criticized him first for using firearms, and then for being ‘blind to the suffering’ of the nations at the mercy of the United States. Prior to his fight with Ivan, he injected himself with a formula that made him stronger and immune to gunfire. Despite this, Saha fell in battle against Ivan, weakly throwing his kukri at him and even lightly wounding him before succumbing to his injuries and dying.
- Emmett Graves
Emmett Graves is the main protagonist of Starhawk and is a hired gunslinger and mercenary helping to protect Rifter claims from Outcasts. He was formerly the owner of a salvaging operation for Rift Energy that was attacked by Outcasts. That attack caused an explosion that exposed him and his brother Logan to Rift Energy.
His brother was turned, but Emmett was able to retain his humanity thanks to Sidney Cutter who developed a unique regulator that prevents the transformation but causes him deep pain. The Outcast’s mark is still left on him, however, which leaves him ostracized from society due to the fear that he can turn at any time. He feels torn by the fact that the leader of an outcast’s Warband that he is hunting down is his mutated brother Logan.
- Adam Hunter
Originally a playable character in Streets of Rage he later became a supporting character in its sequels where his brother Skate was introduced.
He was a former boxer who joined the police force with Blaze and Axel. Adam was then the only of the three to remain a police officer after the crime syndicate caused massive destruction to the city.
- Dedue
Dedue is a playable character in Fire Emblem: Three Houses. He is 18 years old at the start of the game.
Dedue was the firstborn son of a blacksmith from Duscur, a region northwest of the Faerghus capital Fhirdiad. A member of the Blue Lions and servant of Dimitri. His homeland was destroyed in 1176 during the Tragedy of Duscur, when the people of Duscur were blamed and persecuted for the assassination of King Lambert and other kingdom nobles. After being saved by Dimitri, Dedue now serves his lord faithfully and without question to repay his debt, despite the rest of the Kingdom looking down on him and his people.
If you enjoyed this list be sure to check out
the Top 30 Black Superheroes- Traffic Edition, the Top 30 Black Superheroes-Fan Edition,
the Top Black Power Rangers, the Top 20 Black Superheroes-Milestone Comics editions.
and The Top 50 Black Superheroes- Fan Edition
What do you think?
Did we blow your mind? or are you disappointed?
Who did we miss?
Sound off below!
WOW! 🤩😁 Great job with this list! I played Streets of Rage as a kid, and loved how Skate would come out on a skateboard to attack enemies. I have the game now on my Dreamcast as part of Retro Bundle.
Final Fantasy has always been my favorite RPG series, and I have played a few of its games over the years. FF7 was really good, though I never finished it. I actually liked Garret’s character, as he wasn’t just the cliché big, strong, Black guy character.
Soul Caliber was the first fighting game I played when I was a teenager in the 80’s. I liked it because the fighters used weapons. When I got my Dreamcast in 2001 Soul Caliber was one of my first games and I love it! When I learned about Zasalamel by reading this page I was very surprised. I’m 52 now and don’t have the reflexes I had when I was 31 to play this game. Even playing Shenmue during the fighting sequences is hard. Thanks for the information – ten years later 😅!
Man! You took me down memory lane!
The good thing about nowadays is that you have youtube to enjoy each of the characters. In the 80’s and 90’s it was just watching in the arcades! (Do those even exist anymore?)
Zasalamel was awesome when he just made his debut. You should also check out the new Streets of Rage 4, which features Skate’s neice, Adam’s daughter.
While this list is about 50…I already have about 70 black video game characters on the site. Kick your feet up bro and dig in!