First Non-White Hero To Be Featured in Upcoming ‘Middle-Earth: Shadow of War’ Video Game
The next installment of the Middle-Earth gaming series is set for release in a few months and it will feature a hero that is different than the ones we’ve seen in the previously released Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor game.
Amongst the onslaught of Orcs and predominantly Caucasian characters, we see Baranor. He is the first significant non-white character to be featured in the Middle-Earth video games and the Lord of the Rings franchise as a whole.
The game which is developed by Monolith Productions and produced by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment has not revealed much about Baranor and what his role will be in the new game.
However, Baranor will have a role to play in the expansion to the game. Andy Salisbury, a community manager at Monolith said, “He will have his own story DLC in The Desolation of Mordor, where you’ll learn all about his story.”
Baranor in the Middle-Earth: Shadow of War announcement trailer (Courtesy of Monolith)
In regards to the creation of Baranor, Salisbury had this to say:
“I’m not sure if we looked at [Baranor’s creation] as a choice, but it was an easy one to make. I don’t think we thought twice about it when we were writing the story and when we wrote Baranor. It was just kind of an obvious character for us to write. We’re obviously very happy to make sure that we give everyone an opportunity to see a character that they love, but I don’t think it was deliberate. It was obvious.”
Are you happy to finally see a person of color in Middle-Earth? Be sure to sound off in the comment section below.
This is certainly a step toward diversity in the Lord of the Rings realm and hopefully this will lead to many more characters of color to come in future video games and any other film spin-offs that may be released.
Middle-Earth: The Shadow of War is set to be released worldwide on October 10, 2017.
Source: Waypoint
