7 Great JRPGs With Middle-Aged Protagonists & Playable Characters

JRPG parties are known for having extremely young characters. They already seem so young in the game, but when players look in the instruction manual or a wiki, they see that in-game lore states their age as even younger than players would think.

It is pretty rare to see even one middle-aged party member, which is why the protagonists on this list stand out. Some of them are the lead members of the party, while others join along the way, but all of them are vital to the story nonetheless. It should give players hope that they will still be able to swing a sword once they are up there in years themselves.

7 Live A Live

Shifu

Live A Live is already unique thanks to its unconventional structure for a JRPG. What many consider to be the spiritual predecessor to Chrono Trigger, Live A Live follows several different stories from different time periods that eventually converge in a final chapter. The story called The Successor follows Shifu, an aging martial artist looking for someone to whom he can pass along his knowledge.

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It’s a surprisingly low-key story for a JRPG, a genre known for bosses who are literal gods. Shifu is even a few years beyond what most would consider middle age, making his turn as a protagonist all the more surprising for the SNES.

6 Nier Gestalt

Gestalt

This entry needs a little bit of explaining. The original Nier in Japan featured two protagonists depending on the console. The PS3 version received a young adult hero, while the Xbox 360 release had an old, gruff, middle-aged character as the player’s avatar. The West only received the latter on both consoles.

It’s interesting to see such a distinct difference between console versions. The recent re-release brings back the original young adult protagonist, so players need to plug in their old console and find a copy of the game to play as the older gentleman, Gestalt.

5 Yakuza: Like A Dragon

Ichiban Kasuga

Not only is Ichiban Kasuga in Like A Dragon an older man than most JRPG protagonists, but he also spent 18 years of his life behind bars for a crime he did not commit. He volunteered to take the blame, and upon release is greeted by a whole different world.

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Like every game in the series, Like a Dragon is bursting at the seams with content in the form of side quests and minigames. Also making Like A Dragon unique in the genre is the fact that it takes place in the modern day, and feels especially grounded despite its absurd turn-based gameplay.

4 Final Fantasy 7

Cid

All the characters in Final Fantasy 7 are adults, but some are older than others. The last mandatory party member that players meet is Cid, a grumpy rocket scientist bidder whose dream of space flight has been ruined.

He is one of the more unlikely heroes of the party, and curses like a sailor throughout the game. Still, he is agile in combat and takes the role of a dragoon, wielding a spear. Final Fantasy 7: Advent Children reveals him to have a southern drawl, completing the idea that he is a space cowboy.

3 Parasite Eve: The Third Birthday

Aya Brea

In the first two Parasite Eve titles, Aya Brea is in her early to mid-20s. Fast-forward to the PSP exclusive The 3rd Birthday, and the protagonist is now in her late 30s. The only caveat here is that the third game in the series has a more action approach to the combat than the turn-based nature of the prior two games, but it still retains a lot of RPG elements.

Fans were not as pleased with this third game, and are still hoping for either a true sequel or a reboot of the franchise. Still, having an older woman as the main character is a pretty unique turn for any video game.

2 Final Fantasy 6

Cyan

Cyan in Final Fantasy VI is the classic old swordsman. He is in his 50s already and has a family of his own. Sadly, his family falls victim to one of Kefka’s evil plans, and this becomes a centerpiece of his character. He is riddled with guilt over believing he has failed his family and his city.

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This plot point and the World of Ruin, where the last half of the game takes place, shows just how different Final Fantasy 6 is from the other entries in the series. It looks like a traditional JRPG of the time on the surface, but its plot goes deeper and explores darker themes.

1 Legaia 2: Duel Saga

Kazan

Both Lang and Kazan from Legaia 2: Duel Saga feel like copies of Vahn and Gala from the first Legend of Legaia, respectively. The main difference between Gala and Kazan, however, is their ages. Gala is a young man, while Kazan is a martial arts expert in his 60s.

Being this old, he has decades of life experience the other characters lack and players find out more about his past as the game progresses. When he first enters the party, he is leaps and bounds more powerful than the rest, showing that age has not slowed him down.

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