Silent protagonist

In video games, a silent protagonist is a player character who lacks any dialogue for the entire duration of a game with the possible exception of occasional interjections or short phrases. In some games, especially visual novels, this may extend to protagonists who have dialog, but no voice acting like all other non-player characters. A silent protagonist may be employed to lend a sense of mystery or uncertainty of identity to the gameplay, or to help the player identify better with them. Silent protagonists may also be anonymous. Not all silent protagonists are necessarily mute or do not speak to other characters; they may simply not produce any dialogue audible to the player.

The earliest player characters in video games, including the likes of Mario and Link, were silent protagonists. The same was true for early role playing games; these games originated from pen and paper games such as Dungeons & Dragons and when put on the screen, did not require or have any spoken dialogue, since the games plot and mechanics were all picture and motion based. Players are expected to put themselves into the role of the silent hero, and since the player does not talk in the game, neither does the on-screen avatar.

Many games have made use of a silent protagonist out of utility, because of technology, time, or budget limitations, or as a narrative device. Whether the player is supposed to be the protagonist or is merely assuming control of an established character and whether the game allows the player freedom of choices that would be difficult to believably justify with spoken narrative influence this decision. Some have cited Myst as an example of a first person adventure, where the main character is merely an avatar for the player's choices and dialogue would not be needed or helpful.Grand Theft Auto III, as another example, had no dialogue for its protagonist, as was common for its time, and also to allow players of many backgrounds and personalities identify with the character they control in the game's open world environment.

...
Wikipedia