One of the best things about gaming is playing as characters that look like you. As such, some of the best RPGs throughout gaming history have rich and extensive character customization features. Good character customization in video games offers a personalized playing experience for gamers. Some gamers like to model their characters after their real-life appearance, while others enjoy playing as idealized, fantastical versions of themselves.
Games like Saints Row, which is often compared to the Grand Theft Auto franchise, have an in-depth character customization system. These allow players to choose their race, gender, body type, clothing, and accessories like eyewear. Meanwhile, the long-awaited Harry Potter game Hogwarts Legacy’s character creation system made life as a witch or wizard in the world of Harry Potter possible and believable, including the iconic, rounded Potter glasses.
Beyond the fun of character customization and creation, getting to decide how you look in-game also means you can flesh out your RPG characters through their appearance, whether clothing or accessories. As with movies and television, a video game character’s costume and appearance can help give depth to their characterization and motivations. Today, some of the most iconic RPG characters are known for their accessorizing skills. In this post, we’ll look at some of the best RPG characters known for wearing glasses:
Jade Curtiss
One of the main leads in Tales of the Abyss, Colonel Jade Curtiss is also one of the strongest characters in the RPG series. Of course, the Tales Of games series by Namco are some of the most loved among RPG fans. Our 2021 checklist for RPG lovers, for example, featured 2008’s Tales of Vesperia.
Jade Curtiss’ characterization combines cool, snide, and calm, an interesting contrast to his spear-wielding fighting style despite being a spellcaster. His thin-framed, rectangular glasses accentuate his cool and calm character. The style is very similar to the popular readers glasses available on the consumer market. For example, Foster Grant’s Gavin Fold Flat fits the Jade Curtiss look perfectly. Interestingly, Jade’s glasses aren’t reading glasses but are actually limiters to help control his fonic sight.
Lezard Valeth
A recurring character in the Valkyrie Profile series, Lezard Valeth is a powerful sorcerer and antagonist. Lezard’s intelligence is accentuated by his rounded glasses, prominently shown in the many character arts of him. At the same time, he is also an arrogant and sadistic villain.
Today, the Valkyrie Profile games are still a favorite among RPG fans. The role-playing franchise from Square Enix is always overlooked, considering the developer’s other classic titles, from Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts to Dragon Quest and Octopath Traveler. Even though the Valkyrie Profile games draw heavily from Norse mythology, a big part of Lezard’s look is his rounded glasses, giving his evil characterization a touch of nerdiness.
Johnny Silverhand
Finally, Hollywood actor Keanu Reeves nearly broke the Internet when he was announced to have been a big part of the action RPG Cyberpunk 2077. Unsurprisingly, the game captures Reeves’ likeness using motion capture technology, adding to Johnny Silverhand’s characterization as a fictional legendary rock star and terrorist.
Due to Silverhand’s shady and mysterious nature, his character is often seen wearing a pair of aviator sunglasses — an accessory that players can obtain and equip by completing in-game missions. These silver aviators are part of the Silverhand equipment set — which includes Johnny’s Dog Tags, Samurai Jacket, and Porsche 911 — and are classified as Tier 5 or Iconic items.
Ultimately, this listicle perfectly demonstrates that certain costume choices in RPG characters, like eyewear, can withstand the test of time, setting, and genre — whether in fantastical settings with knights and sorcerers or dystopian metropolis landscapes like Cyberpunk’s Night City.
