Did You Know About These Indian Characters In Video Games?

India has taken a fair bit of time, but has started making it’s mark in the entertainment industry across the world perhaps now more than ever before. Portrayal of India/Indians around the world over time has definitely increased. Initial glimpses were seen in shows like Mind Your Language with characters like Ranjeet Singh and Jameela Ranjhat who played Indians trying to learn English in the UK.

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, though causing a certain level of controversy, did cast actors like Amrish Puri in the movie. Roger Moore’s second last Bond film, Octopussy, cast iconic Indians like Kabir Bedi and Vijay Amritraj. Then in 2002 Bend it like Beckham gathered a huge response setting the record in India for the most number of tickets sold during a single weekend for a foreign movie.

Similarly Slumdog Millionaire, Million Dollar Arm, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Outsourced  were well received movies across the world and did a good job of exposing India to the rest of the world. The Big Bang Theory and Outsourced were T.V Series that, though make a lot of fun of Indian culture and lifestyle, did feature a lot about how we as a people do things differently from the western world in a light-hearted and funny manner.

And now with Priyanka Chopra working on projects with The Rock and Deepika Padukone starring alongside Vin Diesel in his second Triple X movie, we can only see Indian exposure increasing.

The gaming industry doesn’t quite share the same enthusiasm for showcasing the beautiful Indian race, well maybe just the red ones, making Indian characters hard to come by in this side of the world.

However, there are a few characters that are of Indian descent and we’ve got them lined up for you

The first Indian we have is Dhalsim from Street Fighter. Known in this franchise for his stretchy and lanky body, especially his long arms which gives him an advantage over his opponents. His name was derived from a menu of an Indian eating joint in Osaka, near Capcom’s headquarters.

Dhalsim is your overall good guy; he’s a dad, husband, a yogi and a devout pacifist. He’s pretty much against violence for the most part but only participates in the Wold Warrior tournament for his poverty stricken village. The skulls around his skull are of the starving children back home which serve a a reminder to why he is fighting.

Some of his iconic quotes are:

“Meditate on your loss. Someday our paths will cross again.”

“My flame is but an illusion, but it will burn you if you believe it to be real.”

It wouldn’t be too far fetched to assume there would have been an Indian in the latest edition of the Assassin’s Creed franchise. Jayadeep Mir, also known as “the Ghost” but more familiarly known as Sir Henry Green and to a few others as Bharat Singh, was an Indian immigrant in London during the 1860’s, who went on to become the leader of the Assassins in the city and mentor to the twins Jacon and Evie Frye.

Long story short, the Ghost/Jayadeep/ Henry/ Bharat (whichever name you pick) was banished to England because he failed in a stealth mission back in the motherland (India) which really pissed his dad (well at least enough for him to banish the kid).

Though while in London, he made the best of his time there: he was best buds with Charles Dickens, who knew every influential figure in the city, visited the Buckingham Palace, got treated by Florence Nightingale and even met Queen Victoria. And to top it all fell in love with Evie Frye, married her and finally settled back in India.

You can watch the handsome devil in action here–

Famous Lines:

“Two assassin’s. Equal in height. One female, one male. Two decades old and those devilish smiles. You must be the Frye twins.”

Next on the list is the only other famous Ajay we know of, no not Devgan. We’re talking about Pagan Min’s best friend Ajay Ghale. The character is said to have been inspired by Sushant Singh Rajput, apparently his facial structure and appearance seem to resemble that of the Bollywood actor. I’ll let you be the judge of that.

The protagonist from Far Cry 4, who is a man of few words who got into a world of shit when he went back to his native land to fulfill his mother’s dying wish, that her ashes be spread at Lakshmana, Kyrat. The two years he spent in the US Army before landing up in Kyrat bode him well, cause I’d imagine it would be pretty hard trying to win back the land without any grappling, wing suiting or weapons training.

I’m sure there are others who played the game and thought that they could relate to the game more once they heard that madar***d hurled at the protagonist. I sure felt one with the game the minute I heard an insult in Hindi, after which I enjoyed the combat scenes all the more. Sometimes I’d just shut my eyes and imagine I was in the middle of a Delhi road.

Shut your eyes, go ahead.

Hai na?

**One should note that the game is not set in India but Nepal. And that the native language there is Nepali and not Hindi. Technically, Ajay wouldn’t make this list but because Ubisoft “Indianized” the game so much, I thought it’d be alright. Also I didn’t want him to feel left out.**

Our next set of Indian gaming characters are the only women on the list. The mother daughter duo, Lakshmi Bai and Devi Nayar from The Order 1886.

The two led a rebellion and are instrumental in the plot progression of The Order 1886.  The two accompany Grayson during An Uneasy Alliance, Brothers in Arms and A Knight of Old. And are also known for exposing Jack the Ripper during one of their missions.

It’s rare to see such strong women characters of Indian descent in video games. And this video above should wipe out any doubt you might have about these women being weak in any manner.

See how she was clearly on top of that conversation, even though the other man had a gun in his hand!

And lastly we have a game that features the most Indians in a single game.

Hello FIFA 16

Well there you have it. Those were all the Indians I could think of. If I’ve missed out any do let me know in the comments below.