"we look at ten of our favourite fictional characters from Motherland Africa who have made their appearance in video games"
If you were to study video game's history you would never realize that Africa is the world's second largest continent. There's a massive hole in the video game industry when looking for games which are themed around African mythology, characters and art. Which have us shaking our heads as Africa has so much depth with it's rich history, citizens, spoken language, traditions, myths, architecture and so forth.
When you look back at gaming history there hasn't been a lot of characters from Africa either, normally black characters are depicted as either American or Brazilian, which isn't necessary a bad thing, but despite this fact we have managed to scope down and find at least 10 characters who were born in Africa and have managed to leave a lasting impression on us.
10. Soul Calibur - Zasalamel
Zasalmel made his debut in Soul Calibur 3 as a scythe user with great magical abilities. In the game it's actually never revealed where he was born but as written in his profile, he comes from an old civilization that was originally chosen as protectors of Soul Calibur, the sacred weapon.
Many people believe this ancient nation was somewhere in Africa due to Zasalamel's physical appearance.
He has no allegiances to anyone but himself and it's believed that his actions may be seen as immoral. It's worth mentioning that Zasalamel has been the only black character in the series to date, outside of guest character Spawn.
9. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain - The Mbele Squad
Metal Gear Solid V TPP's African child soldiers where just some of the things that never left our minds when we think of Kojima's final MGS game. The Mbele Squad were a crew of kid soldiers that Venom Snake met in 1984.
Shabani was originally the leader of the Child Solider unit until his untimely dead that same year. The other children note that Shabani was the one who looked out for them and took care of their needs.
8. Mortal Kombat - Human Cyrax
Despite his cyborg appearance, Cyrax was originally an African man from Botswana who was turned into a cyborg. Making his Debut in Mortal Kombat 3 it wasn't until Mortal Kombat Gold that players got to see the face behind the cybernetic armor, an alternate costume which revealed Cyrax's human identity.
In Mortal Kombat Alliance, his alternate outfit shows him to be just about human with several cybernetic parts, while his alt costume in Mortal Kombat 9 goes the extra mile and gives Cyrax a whole human body.
7. king of fighters XV - Dolores
Making her debut in King of Fighters XV, Dolores is a Mali woman with supernatural abilities and the power to speak with the spirits of the earth. Allowing her to manipulate holy soil and throw bone crushing rocks at opponents.
Joining Team Rivals, she is a proper and reputable woman who is the moral compass of her group. SNK character designer Tomohiro Nakata claimed the goal of creating Dolores included making her cool.
6. Street Fighter 3 - Elena
Elena first appeared in Street Fighter III as the first black female character. She is a princess of an African state in Kenya who have a cultural custom of fighting. Typically Elena doesn't look like your typical Kenyan person due to her anime features, but we always welcome her addition to the Street Fighter roster with each new iteration.
Since her creation in 2009, Sheva Alomar and the game which she came from has been a controversial issue and for good reason too. But overall despite the controversy surrounding Capcom's RE5 we can't deny that Sheva has become a memorable footnote in the series. Her character design and voice really left a lasting on many and we'd love to see more of her.
Sheva was a new and refreshing character for the series, a BSSAA operative of South Africa who acted as a guide for the tired Chris Redfield, who was possessed over the occurrence of his partner Jill Valentine.
If Capcom was ever gonna remake this game and do it real justice, then that would be the perfect opportunity to make Sheva the main protagonist of Resident Evil 5.
4. Uncharted - Nadine Ross
.jpg)
Nadine Ross is a former South African mercenary who was raised in a war-torn environment and is currently pursuing a career as a treasure hunter. It's clear that she can hold her own. She is not just a pretty face, but also an all-around kickass woman.
She has of course never been intimidated by anyone, not even Nathan Drake in Uncharted 4. She has even managed to escape some really dangerous situations.
In the 2017 Uncharted spin-off Lost Legacy, Nadine—who had previously been an antagonist in Uncharted 4—returned as a deuteragonist, adding depth to her character growth.
3. Assassin's Creed Origins - Bayek
Bayek of Siwa serves as the protagonist of Ubisoft's 2017 Assassin's Creed game set in Africa.
2. Akuji The Heartless - Akuji
The most underrated ps1 game features Akuji, a voodoo priest and proud warrior whose heart is literally ripped out of his body and through the use of voodoo magic is now cursed to wander the Underworld.
1. Assassin's Creed Liberation - Agaté
Enslaved from a early age, Agaté met a man who taught him the ways of the Assassins. After his mentor's death in 1758, Agaté journeyed to Loisiana, a wanted man, and hid in the bayou. Agate later on founded the local Assassin guild, enlisting Aveline de Grandpré (the main character) and another man whom he trained to be his agents in New Orleans.
When you are first introduced to Agaté at the beginning of the game you can probably already see that he's a no nonsense character, whose character development is without a doubt very strong, Ubisoft certainly did their homework. Agaté moves like a true African warrior and was the very person to teach Aveline her deadly and swift assassin moves.