List of Games with Protagonists Aged 30+ Years Old

[goldenband]

First thing that came to mind: Master Chu and the Drunkard Hu! Wikipedia says 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.

[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.