There are a limited number of accents that fans are likely to hear in games. With much of the voice acting industry in Los Angeles, American accents are frequent, with a strange fantasy setting full of British accents shaking things up a bit.
This means it’s always good to hear some accents from other parts of the world, and Europe is usually the next stop when developers want to step out of their comfort zone. Since the French dialect is an appealing accent to many, it’s not surprising that a few video game characters were created with that in mind.
metal gear games are known for their selection of over-the-top villains that the player must fight his way through, and action spin-off Metal Gear Rises is no exception. Main character Raiden must fight the Winds of Destruction, a group of international weather themed mercenaries, though another villain lurks in the shadows.
Mistral is the first to face Raiden and the only female member of the crew. She is also of French descent and grew up during the Algerian Civil War, which led to her joining the French Foreign Legion. In battle, she uses a whip/polearm combo weapon called L’Étranger, which summons Dwark Gekko robots to aid her, and taunts her opponent with a sultry French accent.
7 Joan of Arc
While not many people will recognize this obscure first-party PSP RPG, Joan of Arc’s title character is based on the iconic historical figure Joan of Arc. Developed by Professor Layton studio Level-5, the game tells a fictionalized version of Joan’s life, when she became a soldier at odds with societal norms. It also turns her alleged visions of the Archangel Michael into anime magical girl powers.
Of course, since Joan of Arc was a French peasant woman, the lovingly crafted anime cutscenes are always great for giving any character French accents in the English dub. Unfortunately, these touches don’t carry over into the gameplay, as battles and cutscenes in the engine are all limited to text, but the determination to give the characters a French feel is a nice touch.
6 Amicia the Rune – A Plague Tale: Innocence
A plague story: innocence is set in medieval France, right at the crossroads between the Hundred Years War and the spread of the Black Plague, so it’s not surprising to learn that the game has a cast that mostly speaks with French accents.
Main character Amicia de Rune, the teenage daughter of a butchered nobleman, must bring her brother to safety in this dark time. Along the way, she must learn how to survive difficult environments, even at the cost of her own morals and beliefs. Her performance by a young British actress who had never played a professional role before has been consistently praised, and it will be exciting to see more of her in the upcoming sequel, A Plague Tale: Requiem.
5 Glass Joe – Punch Out!!
All Little Mac’s opponents in the Result!! games come from countries all over the world, so it’s perhaps not surprising that one of them is French. Glass Joe has appeared in almost every game to date, as the first and weakest opponent the player faces.
Although his nationality has always been French, it is only in the Wii game that players first heard his voice where he spoke several French phrases with an exaggerated accent. He also had a mock punch where he would yell “Vive Le France” before delivering a heavy blow. Also, just in case it wasn’t clear how French he is, KOing him with a Star Punch causes croissants to fall out of him.
4 Helena Douglas – dead or alive
Helena is an important character in the story of the critically acclaimed Dead or alive series. She is the current leader of the DOATEC organization that oversees the Dead or Alive tournament that the games revolve around, as she is the illegitimate daughter of the founder and inherited his title after his death.
She is also a French opera singer, following in her mother’s footsteps. This love and respect for her mother is also her motivation for several games, when Helena enters the tournament to find the killer who killed her and bring them to justice.
3 Emilie “Lili” De Rochefort – Tekken
Every fighter in the Tekken series notably speaks their native language, and while this is mostly limited to English and Japanese (or Chinese characters that speak Japanese for some reason), Bandai Namco has attempted to branch out into other countries in more recent titles.
One of these characters, introduced in Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection, Emilie De Rochefort, better known as Lili, is a high society girl and heiress to a huge commercial empire in Monaco. Her moves are based on ballet and gymnastics, while she drinks tea and taunts her opponents in graceful French.
2 The Spy – Team Fortress 2
Team Fortress 2 is not known for its deep storyline, with most of the existing plot details taking the form of comedic skits rather than meaningful lore. Therefore, the characters are mostly defined by the skills they possess and little else.
The Spy is the stealth class, with abilities that allow him to slip behind enemy lines and stab unsuspecting opponents in the back. He also has a French accent, probably as a reference to the French Resistance of World War II, who would use espionage and subterfuge instead of direct combat, and has long been a pop culture trope since then.
1 Widowmaker – Overwatch
Every good shooter needs a sniper class, and for overwatch, that sniper is Widowmaker. Widowmaker, a ruthless, cold-blooded killer who shows little emotion, is an effective long-range fighter, though much weaker up close.
She also speaks with a French accent, as her backstory describes her as an Annecy woman who used to be a ballet dancer in Paris. She was then mentally reconditioned by the Talon terrorist organization and turned into the killing machine she is today.
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