10 Best Silent Protagonists In Gaming History
7. Claude (GTA III)
Grand Theft Auto is one of the most popular and recognisable gaming series around now, and even six years after last release Grand Theft Auto V, the online mode is basically a license for Rockstar to print money.
Recent protagonists Niko Bellic and Trevor Philips have overshadowed the early entires a little, but GTA III’s Claude was the first hero (are they really heroes in GTA?) to put the game on the map.
GTA III was followed by Vice City and San Andreas, before Niko Bellic arrived in GTA IV and established the game as a modern masterpiece.
That might not have been possible without Claude and GTA III though. The 2001 release revolutionised open world, open ended gameplay, and remains the building block for several AAA games today.
Rockstar have commented on Claude’s silence previously, and were refreshingly open about the decision. Though it was in part ‘to aid people identifying with him’, it was much more a case of not adding an unnecessary job when they were already pushing so many boundaries. With cinematic cutscenes, a bigger open world than they’d ever done before and hugely detailed (for the era) NPCs, Claude’s voice just ‘wasn’t a priority’.