The three best protagonists of story-driven RPG live in Eastern Europe

The RPG genre has long run on American fuel: Skyrim, Fallout, Mass Effect. But put together a short list of characters worth living a hundred hours as, and it turns out they all come from somewhere in Eastern Europe.

That exact list recently made the rounds on social media. The best RPG protagonists were named:

• Geralt of Rivia

• Henry of Skalitz

• Coen of Laslea

The geography here isn't a coincidence or patriotism – it's a specific school of development that grew out of three studios sitting next to each other.

Geralt kicked the door open. Built by CD Projekt Red from Andrzej Sapkowski novels, the witcher brought Slavic folklore into the genre instead of elven groves, moral choices with no correct answer, and a protagonist who grumbles, gets tired, and just wants to retire already.

Warhorse Studios went the opposite direction and dropped magic entirely. Henry, a blacksmith son from Skalitz, starts Kingdom Come: Deliverance as someone who can't hit a hay bale with a sword, and the entire point is learning to survive in historical Bohemia in 1403. The sequel, released in February 2025, sold millions of copies and proved audiences are ready for an RPG where feudal squabbles replace dragons.

Coen of Laslea is the freshest and most speculative entry on the list. He is the protagonist of The Blood of Dawnwalker, the debut game from Rebel Wolves led by Konrad Tomaszkiewicz, who directed The Witcher 3. The story takes place in 14th century Transylvania, where a young man gains vampire powers and exactly thirty days and nights to save his family: human by day, hunter by night, with time itself as the main resource.

Plenty of people online aren't happy with this European bias. Among the overlooked contenders, people mention Link from The Legend of Zelda, the male version of Shepard from Mass Effect, and the orphan from Fable 2. Did we miss anyone?