List of Games with Protagonists Aged 30+ Years Old

[Nz17]

So outside of characters which are immortals, robots, supernatural creatures, or demons which look like teenagers... what are some games where the protagonist is actually 30-years-old or older and looks like it? I know that in our contemporary times most heroes of stories tend to be teens or younger, but there must be a sizable minority of games starring those who are over their school years.

[Tanooki]

I doubt Mario is in his 20s but that's never covered. Snake from MGS isn't a kid either, nor is Drake from Uncharted or Kratos from God of War. Indiana Jones is 35+ in the movies and games. Haggar from final fight is in his 40s even.

[Cornelius]

47 from Hitman

Booker DeWitt from Bioshock Infinite?

[xelement5x]

NIER

from the game with the same name.

[Lictalon]

Tommy Vercetti was 35 in GTA Vice City.

For a game hero, that's ancient.

[sloan]

Earnest Evans on the Genesis

Any of the Indiana Jones games from the 16-bit era

[Natty Bumppo]

Kokichi and Torasu from Shining Force!

And Sir Astral from Shining Force II. (Although he is an NPC - albeit an important one.)

Some of the dwarfs from the SF games are obviously old - don't know if they count since they likely are longer lived than humans).

In the advance wars games we have:

Hachi
Olaf
Kanbei (probably since Sonja is a young adult)
Sensei

Huxley Hobbes and Baron Prateau from the Vandal Hearts series

[8-Bit Archeology]

Boogerman
Mario
Silent Hill
Resident Evil
Light Crusader
Dragons Lair
Jurassic Park
Lost Vikings
Heimdall
007
Cadash
Dnd order of the Griffon
Tenchu
Diablo
Doom
Wolfenstien
Adventure Island
Prince of Persia
Gauntlet
Blackthorne
Out of thisworld
Wing commandet
Shockwave
Syndicate
Solstice
Bayou Billy
Castlevania
Landstalker
Cutthroat Island
Pirates Gold
Space Harrier
Alone in the Dark

Thats all I can think of right now. All these in my perception have 30+ year olds as the hero/killer of badies. In retro games that is.

[Gunstar Hero]

Ducktales on NES should fit the profile

[Gameguy]

Duke Nukem
Snatcher
Policenauts
Toonstruck
Leisure Suit Larry
Wolfenstein 3D
Super 3D Noah's Ark

[Jehusephat]

Ducktales on NES should fit the profile

The life expectancy of a duck is only about 20 years, so I'd imagine Scrooge McDuck is probably 18 or so.

[Gameguy]

The life expectancy of a duck is only about 20 years, so I'd imagine Scrooge McDuck is probably 18 or so.
Haven't you read any of the comics or watched DuckTales? He's over 100 at this point. He drank water from a Fountain of Youth at some point which kept him in good physical and mental health, that's the cannon explanation anyway. His exact age isn't mentioned but specific years concerning his birthdate and adventures have been published, there's already an established timeline.

[Captain_N77]

It may not fall into "classic" gaming, but immediately Sam Fisher from Splinter Cell came to mind. He is one of my favorite "new" characters in gaming. Too bad they replaced Michael Ironside as the voice actor in the latest Splinter Cell, it really killed my interest in the game.

[Rickstilwell1]

Torneko looks to be an older guy. Not so usual for turn based RPGs as most of those are about young men and teens. Geddoe of Suikoden III is also quite old, and I believe looks beyond 30 even before he acquired his rune that gives him immortality.

[Ed Oscuro]

53 Stations of the Tokaido's fireworks master (Jaleco, Famicom).
Probably the protagonists of The Getaway (PS2) as well.

[SparTonberry]

I don't know guys, how old do you think Batman is?
I mean, he can't be that young if he's a billionaire, can he?

[BricatSegaFan]

Zero in mega man Zero I suppose.

[Haoie]

Everyone in games are unusually young and super talented. What gives?

[MidnightRider]

I don't know guys, how old do you think Batman is?
I mean, he can't be that young if he's a billionaire, can he?

He inherited the money, and the company that makes it, from his parents. While highly intelligent himself, he let's others run the business.

His age would depend on Dick's. If Dick is still a child, Bruce would be in his 20's, but if he's old enough to be Nightwing, Bruce would have to be at least in his early 30's.


Everyone in games are unusually young and super talented. What gives?

Developers are afraid of their own mortality? I think it may have something to do with the fact that the Japanese usually peer pressure each other out of gaming by the mid 20's-30's(as I've come to understand it, anyway), so the developers appeal to the age range that still plays games.

[DragonMaster Sam]

Tellah (Final Fantasy IV)
Galuf (Final Fantasy V)

[goldenband]

First thing that came to mind: Master Chu and the Drunkard Hu! Wikipedia says (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chu_Liuxiang) both characters are in their early thirties.

[Tron 2.0]

Solid Snake in MGS4 ;)

[goldenband]

Michael Jordan: Chaos in the Windy City is another one. It came out in 1994, the year Jordan turned 31.

EDIT: And along the same lines: Pamela Anderson's V.I.P. game. :D

[Neb6]

Run Like Hell - Nicholas Conner (Lance Henriksen)

Stranglehold - Tequila Yuen (Chow Yun-fat)

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

Mass Effect 2 - Commander Shepard

[sloan]

Michael Jordan: Chaos in the Windy City is another one. It came out in 1994, the year Jordan turned 31.


Very good and underrated game as well.

[Lictalon]

No....Simon Belmont was 22 in Castlevania I, so he doesn't count.

(Alucard and company are supernatural so don't count either).

[Tanooki]

But the sequel with simon was years later, what about that one then? I don't remember if they listed a time frame on that or not.

[JSoup]

Most of the original cast in Final Fantasy IV: The After Years is over 30.
As are at least two of the main cast in Final Fantasy X (names escape me).
I think the two guys that hosted The Man Show were over 30, so toss in that The Man Show video game for the PS2.

[goldenband]

Thought of a few more:

- Golgo 13 aka Duke Togo. His age isn't specified, but he's clearly not in his twenties.
- Gomez in The Addams Family.
- Sort of an oddball example, but in Pac-Man 2, he's clearly presented as a family man in his 30s.
- Though they're not explicitly noted as over 30, the two thieves in Bonanza Bros. don't really read "young" to me, and the Genesis cover art makes them look 30+ (they're both bald, at least).
- I'm pretty sure the protagonist in Boogerman, an "eccentric millionaire" named Snotty Ragsdale, is meant to be a mature adult.
- In the Warrior of Rome games you play as Caesar. I'm no student of Roman history and the game takes some liberties, but as far as I can see the events depicted take place when he's in his late 40s/early 50s.
- Chuck Rock is balding and overweight, which surely "codes" for 30+.

And then there are the umpteen licensed games where you play as Arnold, Sylvester Stallone, etc.

Now here's the real challenge: what games have a woman who's clearly over 30 as their protagonist? That's a tough one!

[BlastProcessing402]

Any wrestling game with Hulk Hogan in it.

[MidnightRider]

^well, in that regard, at least half the cast of a late 90's WCW game.

[Neb6]

Now here's the real challenge: what games have a woman who's clearly over 30 as their protagonist? That's a tough one!

I'm thinking any game with Elvira in it.

[Mad-Mike]

That fighter guy with the giant pomperador in Time Lord
Pitfall (harry had a son who was 18 12 years after the first pitfall game)
The Avatar in Ultima VII onward
Kuros in Wizards & Warriors

[Nebagram]

Ezio in Assassin's Creed Brotherhood and Revelations is pushing fifty by the end. Michael & Trevor from GTA5 are both in their mid-late forties. The oldest female protagonist I can think of off the top of my head is Ivy from Soul Calibur, who canonically stopped aging at 32, which is, let's face it, ancient for woman in a Japanese fighting game. Jill Valentine is (I think) 33 during the events of Resident Evil 5, but isn't a protagonist so not sure if she counts.

[Ed Oscuro]

But the sequel with simon was years later
Just the next year, though, isn't it?

[genesisguy]

Ezio in Assassin's Creed Brotherhood and Revelations is pushing fifty by the end. Michael & Trevor from GTA5 are both in their mid-late forties. The oldest female protagonist I can think of off the top of my head is Ivy from Soul Calibur, who canonically stopped aging at 32, which is, let's face it, ancient for woman in a Japanese fighting game. Jill Valentine is (I think) 33 during the events of Resident Evil 5, but isn't a protagonist so not sure if she counts.

I'd add John (what's his last name) from Red Dead Redemption. Also the two guys you play as in LA Noir gotta be in their 30s. I'd say a majority if not all of the modern games I play the protagonist is easily in their 30s. Although that could be the demographic programmers are targeting.

Retro wise:
Dick Tracy on the Genesis and NES
Jaws NES
Contra - Billy and Lance had to be in their 30s right?

[JSoup]

I'd add John (what's his last name) from Red Dead Redemption.

Marston. And yeah, he's 38 at the start of the game.

[Aussie2B]

No mention of Yakuza yet? Kazuma Kiryu is 36 in the first Yakuza, 38 in the following game, 40 in Yakuza 3, and so on. And he has no problem at all wiping the floor with teenage punks, haha.

[scaryice]

I looked up some of the ages because I was curious:

Mike Haggar's birthdate is in 1943, and Final Fight was released in 1989. So he's 46.

Torneko is in his "40s."

Booker DeWitt is 38.

Nathan Drake is 35 in Uncharted 3. Presumably younger in the first two games.