Games that tackle racism

[Fox12]

Edit: actually, if you want an excellent look at fantasy racism, then go with Mass Effect. Just look at how the Krogan are treated. Are they inherently violent, or is their violent nature the result of mass genocide, poverty, a lack of education, warlord infighting, and radicalized extremist leaders? Then compare them to the solarians. It works because it doesn't give you an answer, it lets you decide for yourself.

It's honestly all over the place in Mass Effect. Though the series makes it most apparent in the perception of the Krogan, Rachni and the Geth (and to the series credit, the distrust against all three groups was understandable, but that doesn't make the 'modern' attitudes about them any less racist), but you also see the Volus ambassador suggesting that racism was at least part of the reason that the Volus weren't a Council race despite their considerable contributions to the galactic community, humans show a sense of racial exceptionalism even before bringing Terra Firma and Cerberus into account, Quarians are generally viewed with the same suspicion as vagabonds are, the Batarians and Humans have enormous racial tension that only really gets its day in the limelight through the Bring Down the Sky DLC[footnote]Though understanding/remembering that tension does make a passing conversation in ME3 rather heartening[/footnote], Asari look down on 'purebloods' within their species to the point that the term is pretty much a racial pejorative, dialogue by both Sovereign and Harbinger hint at the Reapers basically doing ethnic cleansing on a galactic scale...

I'm not usually a fan of fantasy racism, since its typically just pretty white people hating slightly less pretty white people, but Mass Effect really pulls it off.

Racism doesn't exist in a vacuum, there's typically a cause for it. Mass Effect acknowledges that, and treats people realistically. The third game had a lot of failings, but it nailed the social and political aspects better then almost any other title I've played. Mordin Solice's character arc captured it best, I think, but the whole thing is well done. The Quarians are basically gypsies/Jews, but with a twist. I like that everyone is racist is against the Quarians, but they, in turn, are racist against the Geth. It's like the issue with Israel and Palestine today.

The ending was awful, but i honestly feel like the rest of the game got too much hate. It was an extremely solid piece of work. But here I am opening old wounds again.

 

[gandhi the peacemake]

There are two kinds of racists:

1.) The blatant, hostile ones.
2.) The well-meaning one who nonetheless helps, willingly or unwillingly, to uphold the racial rules of our society.

We are, all of us, the second of the two, excepting only those few who are the first. Neo-Nazis, Klansmen, etc. The reason we are so averse to being called racist is because we as a society have delegated that word to meaning only the first of the two definitions.

Now how does that play into our depictions of racism? Well, look at any fantasy story since Tolkien. Look at the "races" there. Humans, orcs, elves, dwarves. All of them white (except the evil ones, of course, which tells you what else about race in Tolkien), and all of their "racism" depicted as being of the blatant, hostile variety. And since then, no Tolkien-ized fantasy world has had to deal with race in a nuanced manner.

The Walking Dead, as many people have pointed out, has handled race the most "cleanly." That is to say, not cleanly at all. That is to say, presenting it warts and all.

I'd also mention Rust, a game I haven't played but which has handled race in a refreshingly blunt and insightful way (as per this Extra Credits video):

 

[Guffe]

Well as people have said, Tales of (Symphonia)Series is a good one, as (J)RPGs in general. Usually there's is one or two outsiders (main heroes) who are different somehow and they do something / something happens and they are blmaed and they go ona quest... the usual.

The one game that actually tackles it pretty well is The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess. As our user EmceeProphet has pointed out in his Youtube series were he analyses the game in 4 parts (last one is not yet out). Very interesting watch that games alaysis if you have some extra time on your hand

 

[09philj]

It's honestly all over the place in Mass Effect. Though the series makes it most apparent in the perception of the Krogan, Rachni and the Geth (and to the series credit, the distrust against all three groups was understandable, but that doesn't make the 'modern' attitudes about them any less racist), but you also see the Volus ambassador suggesting that racism was at least part of the reason that the Volus weren't a Council race despite their considerable contributions to the galactic community, humans show a sense of racial exceptionalism even before bringing Terra Firma and Cerberus into account, Quarians are generally viewed with the same suspicion as vagabonds are, the Batarians and Humans have enormous racial tension that only really gets its day in the limelight through the Bring Down the Sky DLC[footnote]Though understanding/remembering that tension does make a passing conversation in ME3 rather heartening[/footnote], Asari look down on 'purebloods' within their species to the point that the term is pretty much a racial pejorative, Javik revealed that Protheans to be imperialist conquerers and he himself is all too happy to remind everyone that they're "primitives", dialogue by both Sovereign and Harbinger hint at the Reapers basically doing ethnic cleansing on a galactic scale...

Not to mention the fact that asari are seen as nymphos. The interessting thing with Mass Effect is that it lures you in to developing your own prejudices. It's all to easy to start to see all the volus as conniving and greedy, or the salarians as humorless and self involved.

 

[The Almighty Aardvark]

Games with a good racism subplot...

I'll agree with Zhukov that I liked how it was done in the Walking Dead, but it wasn't really a large aspect of the game.

Bioshock Infinite was pretty good too, I thought. A little over the top to me, but I did like how they went on to turn the tables at one point. It was an interesting twist on a familiar plot.

The Tellius games from Fire emblem deal with racism but rather poorly as its completely one sided. The humans are all racist or corrupt bastards while the beastmen are depicted as poor victims while having excuses aplenty for all their bad apples. ''Everyone is equal'' the games says....while making humans out to be worse at every turn.

I thought Fire Emblem had an awful racism subplot because of how it was so mind boggling simplistic and poorly written. Every racist is portrayed as a complete asshole with absolutely no real motivation. It's like the racism equivalent of mustache twirling cartoon villainy. Admittedly, most JRPGs I see with racism subplots do it exactly like that. There's no subtlety, there's no just internal justifications, it's just "Grrr... Laguz make me angry, let's beat one up for no reason."

I still think that one of the best portrayals I've seen of Racism was in the movie Twelve Angry Men. It doesn't portray it as a ridiculous caricature, it portrays it as a guy who decides he knows what a man is like just by his opinion of other's of that race. This was 1957... we get a far more nuanced and less hyberbolic portrayal of racism in the 50's than we do now. That seems a little sad to me

 

[Hades]

Games with a good racism subplot...

I'll agree with Zhukov that I liked how it was done in the Walking Dead, but it wasn't really a large aspect of the game.

Bioshock Infinite was pretty good too, I thought. A little over the top to me, but I did like how they went on to turn the tables at one point. It was an interesting twist on a familiar plot.

The Tellius games from Fire emblem deal with racism but rather poorly as its completely one sided. The humans are all racist or corrupt bastards while the beastmen are depicted as poor victims while having excuses aplenty for all their bad apples. ''Everyone is equal'' the games says....while making humans out to be worse at every turn.

I thought Fire Emblem had an awful racism subplot because of how it was so mind boggling simplistic and poorly written. Every racist is portrayed as a complete asshole with absolutely no real motivation. It's like the racism equivalent of mustache twirling cartoon villainy. Admittedly, most JRPGs I see with racism subplots do it exactly like that. There's no subtlety, there's no just internal justifications, it's just "Grrr... Laguz make me angry, let's beat one up for no reason."

To be fair I actually really liked Tellius its mustache twirling cartoon villains like Lekain, Izuka and especially Valtome. They were hardly deep characters but I did found them enjoyable and suitably hatable. I rather appreciate over the top villains. What bugged me wasn't how ridiculously evil the human villains were, the problem was that all counterparts of the other race were so clearly superior. No Laguz was evil and the only one who did questionable things were excused. The Laguz had only one bad apple, an arrogant war monger who's stated to just need to learn and a backstabber who's given every reason to do so. In contrast the most sympathetic reason a human gets is that he's just a gigantic coward.
It painted a to one sides picture for a racism plotline to really work.

I also don't really think the Laguz ever made the Senators angry, they probably see Laguz more as how a a kid sees the ants he's burning magnifying glass.

 

[Imre Csete]

Well, Arcanum: of Steamworks and Magick Obscura is as player unfriendly as oldschool wRPGs can get, but it has some chilly subplots, one for example involving eugenics on industrial level, mainly dealing with slave breeding for cheap labour. Think of your usual fantasy racism mixed with workforce exploitation of the early industrial revolution.

 

[Redryhno]

There are two kinds of racists:


Now how does that play into our depictions of racism? Well, look at any fantasy story since Tolkien. Look at the "races" there. Humans, orcs, elves, dwarves. All of them white (except the evil ones, of course, which tells you what else about race in Tolkien), and all of their "racism" depicted as being of the blatant, hostile variety. And since then, no Tolkien-ized fantasy world has had to deal with race in a nuanced manner.

The Walking Dead, as many people have pointed out, has handled race the most "cleanly." That is to say, not cleanly at all. That is to say, presenting it warts and all.

Except, nearly every fantasy story, and even Tolkien himself, has shown that the evil ones aren't all evil and are normally evil against their will oftentimes. Melkor, and by extension, Sauron, created and drove the orc-kind races to where they're nearly all insane to begin with and then rule over them through lots of fear and other unpleasant things. Tolkien even said multiple times that not all orc-kind is evil, most are just really terrified of whoever is in charge. Rhun, and the Easterlings in general, weren't evil, their lords were just promised things by Sauron if they helped him and their culture demanded loyalty once given. The closest you've got to "evil dark skins" is the Haradrim, who honestly have just been involved in an expansion dispute with Gondor since before the First War of the Ring. They're rivals more than anything, though obviously largely ignored the last thousand or so years since Morgoth was corrupted and became the lord of Mordor.

The orcs in D&D are created by a guy with a revenge fetish in most of the settings, who basically tells them to go forth and multiply, by any means necessary. And they do, because they're a largely ignorant race who after generations of Gruumsh walking among them and then popping into the sky, is pretty much hated by pretty much every other race in the worlds they inhabit. So they're largely a race that lives on primitive principles because it's the only constant in their lives.

In Warhammer, Orcs are more like a force of nature than really evil. They like to fight too much and have had a handful of leaders with intelligence that rivals some of the more powerful Elven Wizards.

Hell, say what you will about R.A. Salvatore and the never-ending saga of Drizzt, but even the Dark Elves are a victim of their culture, gods, and past more than anything else.

Not to mention the dwarves are often described as swarthy and darker-skinned despite living underground most of the time, so to say that "dark skin = evil" is far from the truth.

 

[Subbies]

I haven't played them yet but I heard that the Oddworld games was partialy about that. Does anybody who has played them know about that angle?

 

[The Almighty Aardvark]

To be fair I actually really liked Tellius its mustache twirling cartoon villains like Lekain, Izuka and especially Valtome. They were hardly deep characters but I did found them enjoyable and suitably hatable. I rather appreciate over the top villains. What bugged me wasn't how ridiculously evil the human villains were, the problem was that all counterparts of the other race were so clearly superior. No Laguz was evil and the only one who did questionable things were excused. The Laguz had only one bad apple, an arrogant war monger who's stated to just need to learn and a backstabber who's given every reason to do so. In contrast the most sympathetic reason a human gets is that he's just a gigantic coward.
It painted a to one sides picture for a racism plotline to really work.

I also don't really think the Laguz ever made the Senators angry, they probably see Laguz more as how a a kid sees the ants he's burning magnifying glass.

I'm typically not a fan. It reminds me of how you play an evil character in Fable. You just go on random massacres just 'cause. You look at every situation and think "What is the worst thing I could do right now", and do that. I actually don't actually have two much issue with cartoon villainy, it's campy and over the top, and I like it for that. But I also like them to have some personality beyond "the guy that does the bad things". And it also fits better in stories taking themselves less seriously.

There were plenty of humans that weren't racist though in the game. Not the nameless sidecharacters, but a lot of people in your party weren't. Even some of the people on the enemy's side weren't.

 

[Dragonlayer]

Valkyria Chronicles tackles it a bit although it bundles it with other themes most notably war and all that entails including how the conflict can be spun by the winners. It uses hair colour instead of skin colour but that doesnt really matter it also tackles it differently with the Valkyrie themselves but I think they are really more centered around weapons of mass destruction and its effect on their humanity as well as that of those around them. Regardless even though it is not a central theme I still think it handles the idea of racism very well like it does all its themes and unlike most other games it does not shove it in your face or paint a black and white picture (excuse the unintentional pun).

I feel Valkyria Chronicles has a very limp-wristed approach to depicting racism though, since the whole thing is so laughably inoffensive that even the Not-Final Solution implemented by the Empire fails to provide real emotional impact (not helped by heavy handed anime cliches before and after). Moreover, the prejudicial attitudes are depicted as mustache-twirling acts of cartoon jerkishness, rather then actual hatreds actual people might actually have. I get that the game is hardly a serious look at ethnic conflicts, but if it chooses to depict WW2 in all but name then it opens itself up to my criticisms.

OT

Witcher 3 has some pretty strong and well-written views on racism, even if they do harp on a bit about how humans are the real monsters, either explicitly or more subtly. That said, the racial tensions are shown to be backed up by terrible living conditions and natural as well as agent-driven calamities: i.e. an early quest about race motivated arson is itself motivated by fear of an invading army and the consequences of occupation, rather then just some vague idea of "FUCK THE DIFFERENT FOR NO REASON!".

 

[Erttheking]

There's usually a bit in the Shadowrun Returns games. I can't remember the first one that well (Though there was one bit where a serial killer was accused of being racist and a NPC and you can have a small discussion on it), but there's an anti-metahuman group in the Dragonfall that was inspired by anti-Semites, plus a bit of tension from a charity group that seems to lean towards trolls and orks. The group was a wee bit over the top, but it had a nice moment where the nephew of one of the main characters got mixed up with them because they were the only ones who opened the door for him. Also in Shadowrun Hong Kong one of the party members is a Japanese man who was indoctrinated into thinking that the Japanese and non-metahumans were superior. Reading about how he got snapped out of that was really interesting when he got bitten and turned into a Ghoul. And his teammates, who still believe it, are hunting him down.

 

[Maximum Bert]

I feel Valkyria Chronicles has a very limp-wristed approach to depicting racism though, since the whole thing is so laughably inoffensive that even the Not-Final Solution implemented by the Empire fails to provide real emotional impact (not helped by heavy handed anime cliches before and after). Moreover, the prejudicial attitudes are depicted as mustache-twirling acts of cartoon jerkishness, rather then actual hatreds actual people might actually have. I get that the game is hardly a serious look at ethnic conflicts, but if it chooses to depict WW2 in all but name then it opens itself up to my criticisms.

Its definitely open to criticism like all things are and like we both mentioned racism is not a central theme in the story. The real emotional impact was with the personal relationships and the fact it distanced itself from reality enough to acquire a sort of fairytail like perfection at least for me anyway as games that stick to closely to reality struggle to elicit any real emotional impact, same with films. I do agree with the cartoon moustache twirling of some of the villains (on both sides) but I feel this was intentional taking jabs at some of the institutionalised backslapping of the army and society in large. As for the racism bit I liked it mainly because it was not a central theme it was just there and was not intent on dishing out heavy handed messages and telling you how to feel.

The whole game was like this and thats what I liked how it explored the bad and good sides of war or rather just war and how it pushes extremes in both directions and then of course not taking itself to seriously as its all presented in book written by the winners in a nice cozy style that focuses on its own sides heroics against the evil (and mostly faceless) empire that allows further distance from reality and what that entails I mean they even have a damn flying pig.

In short I like it because of the off hand but not irreverent way it treated racism and the fact it was neither explicitly condoning or condemning it merely showing two sides.People will disagree with me ofc and that is fine but we are unlikely to convince each other otherwise. I got more of a WW1 vibe off of it than 2 but ofc it mixes in elements of WW2 most notably nuclear bombs and ofc the touched on topic of racism.

 

[WolfThomas]

Play a black character on GTA: Online at some point an 11year old will call you the N-word.

 

[Amaror]

Yeah one more for the Witcher games.
Especially 1 and 2 offer more insight into the matter since they feature the Scoi'a'tell very heavily.
They also make the whole thing a lot more grey, which i like personally.
You have a sort of self-increasing cycle. Humans hate dwarves and elves. Therefore humans force dwarves and elves to live in slums in poor conditions. Therefore Elves and Dwarves hate humans. Therefore Elves and Dwarves join the Scoi'a'tell, kill humans and burn villages. Therefore Humans hate Elves and Dwarves even more.

 

[Dragonlayer]

I feel Valkyria Chronicles has a very limp-wristed approach to depicting racism though, since the whole thing is so laughably inoffensive that even the Not-Final Solution implemented by the Empire fails to provide real emotional impact (not helped by heavy handed anime cliches before and after). Moreover, the prejudicial attitudes are depicted as mustache-twirling acts of cartoon jerkishness, rather then actual hatreds actual people might actually have. I get that the game is hardly a serious look at ethnic conflicts, but if it chooses to depict WW2 in all but name then it opens itself up to my criticisms.

Its definitely open to criticism like all things are and like we both mentioned racism is not a central theme in the story. The real emotional impact was with the personal relationships and the fact it distanced itself from reality enough to acquire a sort of fairytail like perfection at least for me anyway as games that stick to closely to reality struggle to elicit any real emotional impact, same with films. I do agree with the cartoon moustache twirling of some of the villains (on both sides) but I feel this was intentional taking jabs at some of the institutionalised backslapping of the army and society in large. As for the racism bit I liked it mainly because it was not a central theme it was just there and was not intent on dishing out heavy handed messages and telling you how to feel.

The whole game was like this and thats what I liked how it explored the bad and good sides of war or rather just war and how it pushes extremes in both directions and then of course not taking itself to seriously as its all presented in book written by the winners in a nice cozy style that focuses on its own sides heroics against the evil (and mostly faceless) empire that allows further distance from reality and what that entails I mean they even have a damn flying pig.

In short I like it because of the off hand but not irreverent way it treated racism and the fact it was neither explicitly condoning or condemning it merely showing two sides.People will disagree with me ofc and that is fine but we are unlikely to convince each other otherwise. I got more of a WW1 vibe off of it than 2 but ofc it mixes in elements of WW2 most notably nuclear bombs and ofc the touched on topic of racism.

I do agree that the relationships get the most attention and I quite enjoyed the emphasis on the horrors of war, as well as humanization of the enemy (especially the lodge chapter with the dying Imperial soldier), even if it was all very sickly sweet in doing so. However, I have to say that I thought the game was all but shoving the message "RACISM IS NOT OK KIDS!" in my face whenever Darcsens were mentioned, but again only in the most pathetically "safe" way. Oh no! Your squad's obligatory racist is spouting her hateful attitudes to the cutesey, innocent butter-wouldn't-melt-in-her-mouth adopted sister! How can she stomach the horror of being called....a DARK HAIR!? Give me a fucking break!

 

[Gyrick]

I've got a few to mull over:

- "Dragon Age: Origins" has the relationship between humans and elves. Also, while not really racism, there is a caste system in the dwarven society. I guess there's also the "Mage/Templar" thing, but that's really not the best executed example.

- There's also "Final Fantasy X" with the followers of Yevon and the Al Behd. Heck, one of the party members is a flat out racist (I'm looking at you Wakka).
He gets over it

- Ashley in "Mass Effect" is xenophobic. The organization "Cerberus" can also be viewed as a sort of "space KKK."
Ashley gets over it; Cerberus (as a whole) does not

- "Chrono Trigger" has the Kingdom of Zeal and the Earthbound, lizards/reptites and humans, and mystics and humans.
Gets over it, reptites are killed by Lavos, gets over it

Hope you find these useful.