Christ on your Playstation

Christ-like figures show up all the time in novels and movies, so it is only natural that a Christ-like figure might show up occasionally in a video game too. Indeed there are several examples of Messianic figures in video games.  Excluding video games based on movies, comic books, or novels, there are still plenty of examples.  Below are some of the examples from the games I played..  There's gonna be spoilers, so be warned.

Fallout 3: James (aka Dad)

 

 In the second scene in Fallout 3 (that is the scene after you exit your mother's womb :/ ) James, your father figure introduces you to a Bible verse: Revelations 21:6.  The verse is a reference to how Christ is the living water and it foreshadows the events that transpire in the game.  In a harsh world where no one can be trusted to be wholly good, James is the prime moral good.  His behavior is beyond reproach.  He sacrifices his comfortable life in Vault 101 in hopes of restoring the world outside much in the same way Christ came down from Heaven to Earth to redeem the world.  If the character misbehaves (by detonating a nuke inside one of the few remaining settlements in the game), James will confront the player for his/her actions but also expresses his unconditional love for his child.  James' restoration project is to provide clean water to the wasteland but rebuilding a water purifier (see the analogy with living water mentioned earlier?).  Ultimately James' sacrifices himself to the mission and it is left up to the player to bring his work to completion.

Infamous: Cole MacGrath (Good Karma)

 

Infamous provides the player with many black and white options to either act selfishly or selflessly.  Infamous is not the only game that provides the player with options like this, but it is an excellent example.  If the user decides to continuously choose good moral choices, the Cole begins to resemble a Messianic figure more and more.  At first a weird set of events causes the population of the city to be strongly against Cole, similar to the opposition Jesus faced. It is easy for the player to retaliate against the general population because his image is never fully restored.  With his electrical powers, Cole can perform many miraculous feats to help people out, including revive the dead by zapping them with his hands as defibrillators (much like how Jesus healed people by touching them).  As the player performs more and more good acts, Cole acquires a nice glow. If the player follows the good path to the end Cole will make the ultimate sacrifice for his city in order to protect it.

Mass Effect 2: Commander Shepard

 

TBH I have not played all of this game, but I do know the plot points. In Mass Effect series Commander Shepard seeks to save humanity from a malicious enemy. Now the means Shepard takes to eradicate evil may or may not be above reproach depending on how the player plays, but the mission remains the same. Along the way Shepard recruits many to abandon what they were doing and follow him on his quest, much like how Jesus called and cared for his disciples.  Once again we have a character that makes the ultimate sacrifice for his mission, but this time Shepard is actually resurrected from the dead.

There's plenty of other examples, but these are the ones where I found the greatest number of parallels and analogies. If you have other/better examples of a Christ-like figure in a video game, I would love to hear about it.