Player character

A player character or playable character (PC) is a fictional character in a video game or role playing game who is controlled or controllable by a player, and is typically a protagonist of the story told in the course of the game. "Player characters" are often also metonymically called players. Some video games only have one player character, others, especially two player games have two, or another small number of player characters to choose from, one for each player. Where more than one player character is available, the characters may have slightly or completely different abilities, strengths and weaknesses to make the game play style different. Games such as fighting games typically have a larger amount of player characters to choose from, with some basic moves available to all or most characters and some unique moves only available to one or a few characters. Fighting games often have no unique levels to travel through only combat, so having many different characters to play with and against, that possess different moves and abilities is necessary to create a larger gameplay variety that other games may get with different levels.

Player characters may sometimes be real people, or non-fictional characters especially in sports games that use the names and likenesses of real sports people. Historical people and leaders may sometimes appear as characters too.

By contrast, a non-player character (often shortened to NPC) is a character in a game whose actions are not under the player's control. Non-playable characters may be bystanders, competitors, bosses, or may exist to aid the player's progress in the game.

A secret character may be a playable character in a video game available after completing the game or meeting other requirements. In some video games, characters that are not secret but appear only as non-player characters like bosses or enemies become playable characters, after completing certain requirements, or sometimes cheating.

See also

*Alternate character