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Unknown past

Other (objects, etc.) concept

*123*
124
games
23
platforms

What the protagonist did or was before the beginning of the game is never revealed.

Notable people involved: 'Guzusuru', Michael Hoge, Stefan Nyul, Ellen McLain and 'Tuyoki'

Alternate name: Blank past

This is not a true case of obscured identity, but rather failure from game designers to actually characterize the protagonist beyond what they do in the game, making them appear like deus-ex-designer beings who didn't exist before the point the designer decided where and when the player should begin the game.

One blatant example of this is that the protagonist never meets people they knew before the game's events.

Limitations: (things that should not be tagged)
* Presence of profession tags, though occasionally these can be ignored (e.g. character is not indicated to having been employed in that profession).
* Character is sufficiently young (pre-teens/toddlers).
* Some game genres unless they have qualities that dispel this, e.g. sports and puzzles.
* Sequels that follow the same character (later released prequels not included in this limitation).
* Amnesia, even if they never recover their memories of the past.

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Parent group

Obscured identity

Games by year

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The first Unknown past video game was released in 1990.

Bethesda Softworks, Blizzard, Valve and LucasArts published most of these games.

Related site

Platforms

Windows48
Linux12
X36010
MS-DOS8
PS37
Mac OS X7
PS44
Mac OS Classic3
Amiga3
PS23
Xbox2
PS2
Xbox One2
Pandora2
PS Vita2
Switch2
Xbox Series X1
FM Towns1
iOS1
Apple II E1
Mega-CD1
Atari ST1
PS51

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