What's the deal with religious representation in video games? Not just video games, but any kind of media in general. Can you think of a character with a religious background that doesn't make your eyes roll with disappointment? It seems as though whenever someone writes a religious character, that is their only defining characteristic. It really irks me.
The religious character in video games tends to be the bad guy. They justify their actions with a sort of "divine right" so that they may carry out the will of their god. As a Christian myself, it's embarrassing to see religion represented this way. God does not want his people to carry out such actions. Furthermore, people would see this person committing these acts in the name of God and fight against him, not join him. The church congregation may often be refereed to as God's sheep, but as humans, we do not follow blindly just because someone mentions Jesus. We follow because we have faith.
This brings me to the second stereotype that is represented in video games: the faithful religious guy. This character is often praying constantly in the midst of a crisis. There could be zombies banging down their door and they will be kneeling in the middle of the room praying for God to save them. Even though they may be Christian, they still have their faith and will still evacuate a city if the weather service says that a massive hurricane is headed straight for them. Faith without works is dead, says the book of James, and simply praying is not enough to stop whatever is happening. Humans have basic knowledge to know when to take action. It's a fight or flight situation. Some will stay to fight, and others will run. In times of crisis, those are your only two options, and prayer will not help.
Finally on my list of religious stereotypes is the religious party member. This characters religion seems to be their only defining characteristic. There isn't much else to them other than their blind faith, which carries them through the countless battles that you and the rest of the team go through. One character that comes to mind is Liliana from Dragon Age: Origins. I never really used her in my party, because two rogues is too many. However, I did try to get with her because she was a ginger, and it's a Bioware game so having sex with your party members is something that players can do. So, with my sights set on Liliana, I began talking and talking and talking with her to try and work the mechanics of the game so that her approval rating of me would be high enough so that I could basically unlock the sex scene which would just fade to black. Either way, Leliana would only talk about her faith, and her life in Orlais. Her life in Orlais was very pampered, and she lived like a princess, she eventually grew tired of that and joined the Chantry, which is basically the church, and started helping people. Leliana had heard the words of the Maker speak directly to her the moment that your character crosses paths with her, and decides to join up with your crew of rapscallions to save the world. Oh, and she apparently can fire a bow pretty well. I found Leliana's character to be very annoying. Her constant praise of the Maker and Andraste, another holy figure in the lore of Dragon Age, to be a constant droning. It was as though she was a student in school who was very dedicated to her work and nothing else. She doesn't really know anything outside of her previously pampered life and the Chantry. Leliana's faith was not her strength, or her refuge, but more like stipulations and rules that she abides by. I want to see her mess up. I want to see her fail. I want to see her have a real crisis of faith. Not because I am cruel, but because it would make her so much more human.
One thing that people seem to forget is that Christians are human. We make so many mistakes. We have regrets. We mess things up. We are not perfect. We even have moments of doubt, and question the god that we follow. Never will you see this in a good work of art. Instead, you'll see stereotype after stereotype of someone of faith, and it will be the opposite of what it is like to be a man or woman of Christ. Perhaps there is a well written character out there who is of some kind of faith, whether Christian, Muslim, Hindu, or what have you, but I just haven't seen it yet, and I'd really like to. It would make for such an engaging and compelling character.
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