Once you get seriously into gaming (you know, somewhere in between the Henry Caville-level but not full Elon), you will quickly notice there are two types of characters.
Playable characters, usually the central protagonist and or a group of friends the protagonists interact with that you occasionally control.
You’re bound to run into some memorable enemies along the way, with their Shakespearean monologues and super laser weapon systems.
Most of the characters you see will be “Non-playable characters” who have no real personalities but just sort of limp along with you to advance the plot.
It turns out that these NPCs (a buzzword that means someone who is bland, generic, or just going through the motions) are all over television, too.
Some of these NPCs are obvious.
They’re not quite at the level of “characters overstaying their welcome,” but they do seem to elicit a ho-hum from most of the audience.
Here are 13 NPCs or characters with “Non-Playable Character Energy” who feel like they’re on autopilot, just waiting for the main character to advance to the next stage already.
The Human Cast of ALF — ALF
No one’s saying that we don’t pity the cast of ALF. They were all solid B-list actors who had no choice but to play second fiddle to a not-so-nice puppet.
But whereas Sesame Street and Muppet Show human actors genuinely look like they’re having fun, the Tanner Family (Andrea Elson, Max Wright, Benji Gregory, and Anne Schedeen) looked like they were being held hostage.
They’re NPC characters who are uncomfortably self-aware and look constantly annoyed. Blink three times, Willie, if ALF is threatening to kill you!
When an entire family of characters has no personality and is just waiting for the puppet to speak, that’s what you call being “pulled by strings.”
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Ryan — Yellowstone
Ian Bohen went from playing an incredible villain on MTV’s Teen Wolf to playing an NPC cliche on Yellowstone.
Look, no one’s arguing that Ryan the Ranch Hand isn’t interesting to watch. But besides his virtuous qualities, what is Ian Bohen doing with the role?
Peter Hale in Teen Wolf was a complex and morally ambiguous character who was equally menacing and vulnerable.
What happened to that intensity, that anger, that tortured character arc?
Anyone rubbing their hands at the prospect of Ian creating psychodrama on Yellowstone must be disappointed with his performance, which was straight off the virtual set of Red Dead Redemption 2.
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Brock and Trent — SEAL Team
While it’s true a show like SEAL Team is more concerned about communicating fast dialogue and suspenseful Navy SEAL scenarios, we can’t let the characters of Brock Reynolds and Trent Sawyer slide.
Brock Reynolds is the quiet one, the K-9 lover who conveys important tactical reasoning while cracking a random joke here and there.
Trent is a serious, no-nonsense professional, a man loyal to his people and resilient in his methodology.
But between the two of them, they just don’t sizzle as much as other characters, like Jason Hayes or Sonny Quinn. The others have conflicts and backstories. These two guys have fewer stories and screen time overall.
Might there be a good reason for their one-dimensional performances?
Well, yes, actually. As it turns out, both of these characters are portrayed by real-life men in peril.
Tyler Grey, who plays Trent Sawyer, is a former U.S. Army Delta Force operator and Army Ranger who actually served and was injured in Iraq.
Justin Melnick is a real police officer who owns Cerberus, or as Justin calls him, Dita the Hair Missile Dog.
Justin and Tyler are not thespians but real service men who bring expertise not only on-screen but also off, in an advisory capacity. After all, when you’re out there saving lives, dramatic monologues are probably a bit distracting.
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Walter Jr. — Breaking Bad
Many Breaking Bad fans legit-hate Walter Jr., describing his character as “smug, entitled, and douchey.”
But wiser fans recognize that Walter Jr. (played by RJ Mitte) wasn’t really deserving of hate.
He was just an underwritten, plot-advancement character who only seemed to exist as a sentimental foil to Walter White’s diabolical planning.
Can we agree that the Breaking Bad story arc would have worked just as well without him?
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Kasie Hines — NCIS
While Kasie from NCIS might have impressive forensic skills, her screen time often feels more like filler than essential.
As the team’s resident lab tech, she’s there to deliver results and crack a joke or two but rarely gets the chance to shine in a meaningful subplot.
Her contributions are valuable, but her character often fades into the background, making her feel more like an NPC in the ensemble cast than a standout.
It’s a shame because her personality has so much potential for deeper storylines.
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DJ — Roseanne and The Conners
D.J. Conner (played mostly* by Michael Fishman) was the rambunctious son of Dan and Roseanne Conner, a stereotypically weird kid, like a modern-day Eddie Munster with human skin.
Fishman played the role well in his early years, getting some of the biggest laughs of the show.
But when he came back to The Conners twenty years later, he lost practically all of his quirks and became a straight-faced aw-shucks military man, supposedly taking after his easygoing father.
Wait, was Dan Conner really supposed to be the easygoing “straight guy” all along? Dan was nuttier than a Snickers bar! What happened to the fire and the conflict that characterized the show — and the entire 1990s decade?
Whereas the taming of fireballs like Becky, Darlene, and Aunt Jackie was subtle, the complete whitewashing of D.J. strikes me as the most unrealistic.
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A.J. Soprano — The Sopranos
What’s wrong with A.J. Soprano, the darkly-dreaming, lazy-eyed son of Tony? Why nothing, of course. Don’t most mafia sons turn out OK?
You wouldn’t know it from watching The Sopranos because A.J. was never a central storyline, hardly ever a secondary character, and was just more or less a comic relief guy.
A minor wiseguy who could never get into any real trouble? Really?
Is he destined to become Tony’s successor someday? Or maybe he’s still waiting for a more important “made guy” to advance the plot.
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Elizabeth Thatcher — When Calls the Heart
The real challenge is figuring out which NPC character from When Calls the Heart should be highlighted best, but we’re going with Elizabeth.
Elizabeth has failed to grow as a character or even inhabit any real personality outside of her love triangle drama, poor decision-making, and attachment to romance.
She is an NPC of “The Sims” caliber because she doesn’t seem to exist outside of her relationships. Many fans feel as if she hasn’t grown at all over several seasons and has actually become consistently dumber.
Now, one could argue that the choice to put so much NPC energy on Elizabeth was showrunner Lindsay Sturman’s doing.
But one thing’s for sure: Elizabeth needs to break out of the same gaming patterns and take a new path already.
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Sideshow Mel — The Simpsons
The Simpsons intentionally create dozens of Non-Playable Characters who know how insignificant they are and thus participate in the self-deprecating comedy themselves.
Hans Moleman, for example, shows up in the most random scenes with strange and depressing zingers about where he’s at in life.
But none of these NPCs are as hammy as Sideshow Mel.
Originally thought of as Sideshow Bob’s replacement, Sideshow Mel only seems to appear whenever there’s a missing narrator (ala The Simpsons Season 7 Episode 1 “Who Shot Mr. Burns?”), and he has a plot to convey.
He sticks around on the 36-season show to advance minor plots, all the while doing a pompous imitation of Kelsey Grammar — since Grammar was and still is the voice of Sideshow Bob.
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Will and Mike — Stranger Things
Many fans agree that of all the screaming characters in the Duffer Brothers’ alternate dimension monster series, Stranger Things, Will and Mike were the most under-used.
They may have been pivotal in Stranger Things Season 1, but by Stranger Things Seasons 2 and 3, they hardly did anything. Fans figured out they were boring and usually stood in the way of the most important characters.
It’s no wonder that Will and Mike are now a thing and a potential gay romance plotline for Stranger Things Season 5.
Fans are divided. Some say the romance is coming out of nowhere — as if NPCs just ordered to kiss. Others say the clues have been building since at least Stranger Things Season 2.
Maybe Will and Mike will be the focus of Stranger Things Season 5 and finally step out of the Secondary Character dimension?
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Ted Mosby — How I Met Your Mother
Ted Mosby is not exactly a universally loved character. But whereas much of the fandom trash him for his poor life decisions, I’m more curious about where his motivation comes from.
The worst thing about Ted is his total lack of growth as a complex character. For a show that is so sappingly sentimental, How I Met Your Mother has no real-life lessons to share.
He’s confused about signals. OK, we get it. He’s overly romantic to a fault and obsessed with Robin, but he never goes after her.
At least not until the death of his future wife. After his wife’s death, Ted tells his children about Robin and asks their permission to date her. Did he at least wait till after the funeral was over?
Some fans take this to mean Ted is a self-centered manipulator.
I think Ted is just underwritten. The show tries to make him an everyman – every guy who has ever yearned for a girl who got away.
But the truth is he has no real personality and has no reason to be alive other than to tell you all these stories in a first-person narrative, much like The Wonder Years.
However, whereas The Wonder Years appeared to care about its characters’ feelings, How I Met Your Mother is cold as ice.
It only seems to care about finishing the story, briefly name-dropping “The Wife,” and then finishing the same schoolboy crush fantasy.
A show about being in love and searching for love (and not actually being in love with anyone) sounds like a smashing video game concept to me.
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The Matthews Family — FROM
The MGM+ series From might be the most suspenseful show on television if not for the insufferable Matthews Family.
What other show goes out of its way to remind us how unlikable the Matthews are and how they basically throw a wrench in anything The Town is trying to accomplish?
Take your pick. Is Ethan’s whiney and inquisitive character just there to ask plot-advancing questions?
Is Jim manufactured just to be an over-the-top bully father figure who rouses us to the defense of randomly assaulted characters?
Are Tabitha and Julie (who have the same NPC personality functions — one is just Button A and the other Button B) trying to intentionally play divas? Or are they supposed to represent the ill manners of all Americans?
Is the Matthews Family literally just the “Evil Option” in video games dramatized into a television show? Let’s choose the worst thing you can possibly say in a crisis and sit back and munch on some popcorn.
Perhaps the show’s greatest flaw is that the Matthews Family is the only point of view given throughout the series. Everything comes back to them, and every flashback somehow relates to them.
The Matthews are the only characters that matter because they’re supposed to be your tour guide into this Twilight Zone Mayberry.
The reason survivalist shows like The Walking Dead prospered was because of shifting narratives and multiple POVs.
Unfortunately, the Narcissistic Matthews Family is the anchor that keeps From from swimming and reaching its fullest potential.
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Wesley Crusher — Star Trek: The Next Generation
What better way to sneak aboard the intellectually impenetrable Star Trek Enterprise than by wearing the skinsuit of an annoying teenage boy?
Yes, a boy who’s serving on Star Fleet for no apparent reason except that he appeals to Gen X demographics. (Yes, Gen X were once young, bratty kids…can you imagine that?)
Oh yes, and for some reason, he’s a genius and a straight A-student prodigy. Want proof of his intellectual wizardry?
Why, of course, he saved the entire Enterprise in that one episode and then is only periodically heard from throughout the rest of the series.
But the truth is Wesely from Star Trek: The Next Generation has no real personality besides cloying qualities like Annoying Perfectionist and Mysterious Genius (his problem-solving abilities are never demonstrated).
Most importantly, though, his appearances always coincide with a major plot device.
He’s never a complete character study because no one would watch dozens of Wesely-centered Star Trek episodes. There’s no substance.
His character was so poorly written that many Trekkies blame the 1980s Writer’s Strike for Wesely’s boring character — a character so shallow that he’s been dubbed the Star Trek Universe’s “Mary Sue” trope.
What’s a “Mary Sue” trope? It’s a term used to describe a fictional character, usually a young woman, who is portrayed as unrealistically free of weaknesses or character flaws.
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The MacGuffins
In the old days, film critics called characters introduced solely to advance the plot MacGuffins.
Today, MacGuffins have morphed into Non-Playable Characters, the type of talking heads so tedious that no one wants to play them, let alone hear their stories.
Their stories are non-existent, and frankly, these NPCs would much rather talk about you and your plans for the day.
Did we miss any other characters who give off major NPC energy? Share your picks in the comments!
