Video games have a pretty bad history when it comes to stereotypes. On one hand, you may understand how we got here. Fighting games need memorable character archetypes, games set in foreign countries aren’t always developed by people that live there, and every Italianisjust like Mario. On the other hand, it leads to a lot of pretty offensive and dated depictions of people, and cultures watered down to little more than flags and accents.
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Over the years, we Irish have had a pretty mixed bag in our minimal video game representation. Some of it has been dead on, some of it feels well-meaning if a bit off the mark, and others…well…
13Aran Ryan - Punch-Out
You know, Aran Ryan, isn’t exactly the most flattering depiction of an Irishman, but when youcompare him to some other countries' representativesin Punch-Out, Irish folks got off pretty light. He replaces Pizza Pasta (yes, that is the Italian’s name) in Super Punch-Out on the SNES, however, he doesn’t entirely shake his Italian connection, sinceCharles Martinet also voices him.
In Punch-Out on the Wii, his depiction is even more unflattering since he seems to be a crowd favourite when it comes to booing. We can’t help but feel if there was a new Punch-Out game that Ryan might get a bit of a personality rework considering the popularity of Irish boxers like Katie Taylor in the years since.
12Aiden Pearce - Watch Dogs
Maybe we were too harsh on Aiden Pearce whenWatch Dogscame out. Yes, he is a bland and boring, brooding uncle in that game, but that is just his Belfast roots shining through. Maybe he’s just always in a bad mood because he’s living in Chicago and misses real Irish pubs and a well-poured Guinness.
By the time the DLC featuring him came around in Watch Dogs Legion, he thankfully had developed more of a personality. However, he was probably even more miserable having to live in a dystopian London, of all places.
11Becky Lynch - WWE
The biggest problem in creating a list like this is just how few original Irish characters have been created for video games. There are so few, fictional Irish people in games, we’ve had to include a few real Irish natives here.
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While some might debate whether any person on the WWE is real, or if they are all just characters, Becky Lynch is ashootIrish woman that was born in Limerick and grew up in Dublin. Of the several Irish exports into the world of wrestling, she is probably the most popular and likable, but that’s just her Munster charm shining through.
10Tony Cascarino - Sensible Soccer
Yes, as a country we are much better at rugby, and there have been a handful of Gaelic football and Hurling games over the years. However, the last real Irish person we will put on this list has to be one of the many famed Irish soccer stars that have appeared in countless football games over the years.
While Robbie Keane might be a local hero and appeared in every FIFA game until 2017, and Roy Keane might get angry at us for not selecting him, none of them has a song dedicated to them like Tony Cascarino.
9Ellen Reid - Folklore
Remember Folklore? We hardly did, but this 2007 JRPG is one of the few triple-A games to be set in Ireland (and also the magical Netherworld).
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The protagonist Ellen isn’t the most interesting character in the game, but she’s the window into this weird world. It’s fascinating to see a Japanese development team’s interpretation of countless Irish myths and legends, and even if the game hasn’t aged all that well, it’s a noteworthy Sony-published release that respected Irish folklore and history.
Red Dead’s Irish characters have really run the gamut across the two games. It’s hard not to be offended by just how one-note the drunkard, nicknamed Irish, in the first game is and Colm O’Driscoll might be one of the most irredeemable characters in a series full of awful humans. However, Molly O’Shea is a breath of fresh air and Sean MacGuire is an authentic and likeable Irish sidekick.
If anything we wish that we could spend more time with him after he reunites with Van Der Linde’s gang inRed Dead Redemption 2. Sadly though, fate and an ambush in Rhodes, result in his grizzly and sudden death.
7Sean Devlin - The Saboteur
There was something about the late 2000s that suddenly a bunch of game publishers started to include Irish characters in their games. GTA 4 had a whole Irish gang, and so too did Mafia 2, but one of the few positive depictions of an Irish character at the time was Sean Devlin.
The resistance fighter nicknamed “The Irishman” fled to France to escape criminal charges, but after living there for several years he bore witness to the Nazi invasion. Maybe it was the 600 years of oppression at the hands of the British in his blood that caused him to stand up to an overwhelming invading force. Whatever the reason, he certainly wreaked havoc on a lot of Nazi plans.
6William - Nioh
We don’t know much about the protagonist ofNioh, outside the fact that before the events of the game, he was an Irish sailor. However, after a shipwreck, he’s now trapped in a mythological federal Japan, and must quickly adapt to survive.
We like to think it was all his years with a hurley that trained him to be so good with a katana, but that is just our own headcanon. You’ll grow to love this quiet survivor as you both die over, and over, and over in this unforgiving land. At least nothing bad happens to him by time the second game comes around… right?
5Thomas Burke - Mafia 3
Is Thomas Burke a constantly swearing stereotype of an ex-IRA soldier hiding out in Louisiana? Yes.
Did we let this charismatic loose cannon control most of the areas we took over in New Bordeux anyway? Of course.
4Moira - Overwatch
Moira, along with Mercy, might be one of the most debated characters within theOverwatchcommunity. Her position as a super survivable healer that can dish out plenty of damage, makes her the bane of many DPS players' existence.
That said, how can you hate her velvety accent and her brooding nature?
