feature story
JEWS in
GAMELAND Avicebron -
Fate/Grand Order
fategrandorder.fandom.com HERE’S WHERE TO SPOT THE JEWISH
CHARACTERS IN VIDEO GAMES
JILLIAN DIAMOND | STAFF WRITER
O ver the past few years, diversity in video
games has become a hot-button topic in the
gaming industry and in fan communities.

Developers have made a more concerted eff ort
to include minority characters in the casts of their
games and to account for a variety of experiences:
those of people of color, LGBTQ individuals and
people with disabilities. Th ough increased diversity
in games has been criticized as “pushing an agenda”
by some, more people than ever are now able to have
a gaming experience that refl ects their own real-life
experience. One area that is still lacking, though, is diversity
of religion. As such, Jewish characters are a rarity in
games, but there are still some out there. Here are seven:
B.J. Blazkowicz - Wolfenstein (1981-present)
Th e “Wolfenstein” series is all about fi ghting Nazis.

Th e ongoing series was foundational to the fi rst-per-
son shooter genre, being one of the fi rst of its kind
to achieve widespread popularity alongside “Doom”
and “Quake.” “Wolfenstein”’s innovations in the genre
would lead to some of the most well-known games
ever, such as the “Call of Duty” and “Halo” series.

But the series is not without its controversy, as one
might expect from a game about killing as many
Nazis as you can. Th e fi rst game was banned in
Germany due to its usage of Nazi iconography and,
in recent years, some on the far right have taken issue
with the series’ violent answer to fascism and its
#NoMoreNazis advertising campaign in 2017.

Th e main character of most of the games, William
Joseph Blazkowicz, or “B.J.” for short, is a Polish-
American Jew who acts as a spy and specializes in
one-man missions. He’s an ardent antifascist who
joins the American resistance against the Axis pow-
ers to investigate Nazi activity. Th e games pull no
punches in displaying how B.J. and the developers
feel about Nazis — in “Wolfenstein 3D,” B.J. can even
assassinate Adolf Hitler himself.

Otacon - Metal Gear Solid (1998-present)
Due to the ubiquity of the “Metal Gear Solid” series,
Dr. Hal “Otacon” Emmerich is one of the more pop-
ular Jewish characters in video games and arguably
Rabbi Russell Stone (and various other
characters) - The Shivah (2006, 2013)
B.J. Blazkowicz -
Wolfenstein MachineGames / Bethesda
Soft works
Rabbi Russell
Stone TVTropes.com
Otacon - Metal
Gear Solid
metalgear.wikia.com/ wiki/Hal_Emmerich
20 one of the better known cases on this list. Being the
closest partner of series protagonist Solid Snake,
he plays a major role in the franchise, whether he
is assisting Snake in missions or raising a child,
Sunny, with him. He is certainly not the toughest
or coolest video game character — he’s a nerd and
a self-proclaimed “otaku” (fan of anime and other
Japanese media), and his introduction is, in a word,
embarrassing — but he’s also an incredibly intelligent
scientist with a complicated history. Above all else, he
is dedicated to doing the right thing.

Th e nature of his Jewish identity is more apocry-
phal than other Jewish characters in video games, as
it has mainly been alluded to in “Metal Gear Solid”
supplementary material, such as him being listed
as being American and Jewish in the “Metal Gear
Solid Offi cial Mission Handbook.” His father being
introduced in a later game in the series complicates
things, as his and Otacon’s mother’s Jewish identities
are never expanded upon.

AUGUST 4, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
As far as indie games go, “Th e Shivah” could be con-
sidered one of the fi rst to feature Jewish characters
and themes. Published in 2006 by developer Wadjet
Eye Games, “Th e Shivah” is perhaps the most Jewish
game ever. It follows the tale of a rabbi struggling
with his faith who becomes the suspect in the murder
of a former member of his synagogue.

“Th e Shivah” is a point-and-click adventure game
in the style of the “Monkey Island” series and “Myst.”
Like many of its genre contemporaries, it presents the
player with multiple dialogue options that determine
the ending they get. Where “Th e Shivah” diff ers is
that the player cannot directly decide what Rabbi
Stone will say next: Th ey can decide his tone, as well
as whether they want to give a “Rabbinical response”
and answer a question with another question, but
exactly what he says is up to him.

Th e game’s confl ict stems from an interfaith mar-
riage between two characters. Stone refusing to marry
them and casting them out from his synagogue is