Summary

Open-world gamesin many franchises tend to have players take on the role of an important hero who is destined to save the world. However, this isn’t always the case for players, as their character can sometimes just be at the wrong place at the wrong time.

While these characters may eventually becomethe hero of the tale, these open-world titles mainly have the player exploring the vast settings around them as nothing more than a common nobody. This approach can be refreshing for those who have grown tired of typical hero characters in video games, allowing for a more unique open-world experience. Some of these open-world games implement this concept particularly well, and gamers looking to try their hand at being a seeminglyinsignificant character in a video gamehave plenty of options available to them.

Updated on June 25, 2025, by Megan Smith:Not every protagonist, especially in open-world games, starts their adventure automatically as the hero. Many games, like Oblivion or Dragon Dogma: Dark Arisen, tell a story of someone that doesn’t have a choice other than to do the right thing and become the protagonist. Open-world games are great for this, as many places and the people the player encounters are likely to assume that the player is a nobody. It is up to the player to turn this random person into a hero by doing things that will leave an impact.

Starfieldstarts off by allowing the player tocreate their own character, though no matter what sort of past they chose for them, everyone starts exactly the same way: a nobody working for a mining company, mining minerals for bigger and better companies. Although it’s the player’s first day, they are likely to be in for a surprise as this regular miner’s life gets flipped upside down when they touch an artifact that is likely to lead them on an epic adventure.

They are given the task of taking this artifact to a group of explorers known as Constellation, but the player will need to work hard to improve their skills if they wish to finally become a somebody in space.

Out of all the open-world titles that cast the protagonist as a nobody,Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisenis one of the best for setting up how significant this actually is. Players begin their life asa regular fisherthat just so happens to live in the small village that the dragon attacks first. Naturally, the player’s character wishes to protect the people that live within this village and, therefore, this simple fisher ridiculously attempts to fight back against the dragon.

With hardly any skill, they are easily defeated, but the dragon decides to eat the player’s heart, connecting them as archenemies for the rest of the game. Players will gradually improve as they explore the open-world, but they should never forget their roots and return home regularly.

The Outer Worldsis an open-world role-playing game where players find themselves playing as a resident of a colony ship. Though the player may be the only one awake and is instantly tasked with helpinga mad scientistfrom the character customization, most gamers will realize that they are just playing as some random person who was simply easy to bring out of cryosleep.

Playerschoose a job descriptionto better improve or weaken their skills, with jobs such as being a Dirt Farmer or a Scientist Assistant that only cleans out test tubes being two examples. Other than this, players are left to shape their own character from the bottom as they work their way up.

RPGs are not the only open-world titles players are able to explore as a no one.The Forestis a survival game that leaves players to fend for themselves on an island inhabited byboth cannibals and freakish mutations.

In this game, players simply play as a father who was going on a trip with his son. However, after a horrid accident leaves the rest of the passengers on the plane dead, the player finds themselves alone on the island. Hoping to find their son, they must leave the site of the plane crash and uncover clues that may lead to where Timmy was taken.

Taking a step back in time,Kingdom Come: Deliveranceis another open-world RPG that has the players originally taking on the role of a nobody with a spot of bad luck. In this title, the player gets to control a character named Henry. Before his village got burnt to the ground, Henry was living quite a normal life asthe son of a blacksmith.

Henry isn’t some brave knight or member of the royal family. As such, the other characters in the game will treat him like a regular man. It is up to the player to turn Henry into a valiant knight as he explores this medieval world in front of him.

Countless titles in theFalloutfranchise have had the player play as a nobody; however, one player character that outshines the rest is the Sole Survivor fromFallout 4. While this character may in fact be a significant person from the past, they are now being forced to explore the present day in the hope offinding their son.

To many of the people of the Commonwealth, the player character is just some person who appears to be a little different to the others, and few believe that they are from the past. The Wanderer is essentially a blank canvas for players to shape in whatever way they choose.

Another great role-playing franchise that has had its fair share of interesting main characters,Dragon Age: Inquisitionis a game that has the player begin their adventure essentially as a nobody who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Before the events at the Temple of Sacred Ashes, the player’s character was part of some other group of people that had their own business for being at the temple that hoped to stop the conflict. However, after receiving the anchor on their hand, this nobody is forced to buckle up their ideas and eventually lead the Inquisition, though some characters will continue to treat the player unfairly.

Even first-person shooters have had their fair share of characters who were nobody special or just random people. InFar Cry 3, this is exactly the case as players take control ofthe unlucky American Jason Brody.

Jason was just enjoying his vacation in the Rook Islands. Unfortunately, him and his friends were incredibly unlucky and got kidnapped by pirates from the island, resulting in the vacation becoming something else entirely. Jason may be a random person, but he is forced to become resilient in the hope of saving his friends and his little brother from what fate might have in store for them.

A large part ofCyberpunk 2077, as seen from the beginning of the RPG, is the yearning that many mercenaries in Night City have to become a somebody and make it big. Even when the player finally pulls off their largest job yet and V is forced to have a rock star terrorist in their head, they continue to be a nobody for the majority of the game.

This is the reality for a lot of people inCyberpunk 2077, as there are many people like V who are just attempting to make the money they need to survive,even if that means committing crimes.

Lucky or even unlucky timing is what makes many of these random nobody characters become a somebody, and that is especially seen inOblivion. Players may not know why they find themselves in the Imperial City prisons, but this is what turns the player character’s life around.

There isno significant backstoryto the player’s character and no way of knowing if others can trust them, but even so, the Emperor takes a chance and relies on this random criminal to take an incredibly expensive piece of jewelry to whom it needs to go to. Players essentially remain as a nobody throughout all ofOblivion, with the true main character being Martin Septim, though they can make a name for themselves via side quests.