If you’ve ever taken a critical thinking course or studied mixed media in general, you’re likely familiar with the concept of allegories: the thinly veiled moral messaging behind the main story. Common allegories to appear across books, music, movies, and yes, even video games, reflect religious morality to various degrees of success.
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Depending on how well-versed you are in religion, you can find archetypes and allegories popping up in all video games, though some are much more blatant to the Everyman. It’s also less common to find a game that follows religious allegory throughout its entirety; often times it’s only a Christ-like character in an otherwise secular story.
8Phantasy Star Series
At first thought, you’d think that science fiction and religion don’t mesh well, but they go together better than they appear.Phantasy Starsees groups of people being ostracized and forced to flee their home worlds by the Dark Force (or Dark Falz) that comes every thousand years with an Armageddon-like vengeance.
Each game features a Chosen One figure — someone who is powerful enough to face the Dark Force and ward off their attempts to destroy the planet. This person travels the world helping people survive and maintain their independence.
7Blasphemous
A slightly more obvious nod to religion,Blasphemousis loosely based on the Spanish Inquisition, which saw Catholic monarchs weaponizing religion to make their power more absolute against their people.
You play as the Penitent One fighting against a curse known as The Miracle, a strong reflection of the Catholic practice of eliminating Heretics. At the time, it was believed that the more one suffered in life, and the more one was compelled to repent, the more favorable their odds of seeing Heaven. In Blasphemous, the Penitent One suffers greatly andbrutally attacksthose who don’t.
6Mortal Kombat Series
Throughout theMortal Kombatseries, there is the storyline of two warring worlds that represent good versus evil, with the god Raiden often pulling in humans to help fight for good and achieve salvation for Earth. The humans are specially chosen to fight on behalf of all mankind (this is sometimes shown as being physically marked).
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Although who falls on the side of good and who falls on the side of evil changes at times over the course of the games, the evil characters typically have demon-like appearances like Baraka and Mileena’s teeth or Shao Khan’s headgear, while the good guys have elemental abilities like Raiden’s lightening or Sub-Zero’s control of ice.
5Fallout Series
InFalloutyou play as the Dweller who is sent on a quest by the Overseer to fight the Master. While most religions would scoff at calling their God’s adversary the Master, there is something to be said for the obvious tone of Good vs Evil and God vs Satan. As the Dweller, you’re playing as the Chosen One or Savior of the remaining population in this post-apocalyptic world.
For extra emphasis for the Christian players, the Dweller is called upon to complete this mission after leaving the Vault in a slight nod to the idea of Resurrection.
4The Binding Of Isaac
Not only is the title of the game a direct reference to the story of Abraham that appears throughout Christianity and Judaism, the developer even cited his own upbringing in Catholicism as a basisfor the storyline.
Since it draws heavily from the story of Abraham, however, a lot of feedbackThe Binding of Isaacreceived was that it was ‘anti-religion’ or glorifying the occult and demonic. How you take the game is entirely dependent on your sensitivities as well as your relationship with religion, but regardless of your personal take, it’s easy to spot the basic themes as Biblical.
3Shin Megami Tensei Series
TheShin Megami Tenseiseries is centered around the concept of Good vs Evil with literal Demons fighting against Angels with humanity caught in between. Multiple endings are a common occurrence in the series, and the choices you make throughout your playthrough affect your ending.
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For example, inShin Megami Tensei 5endings vary from correcting the path of humanity and the belief in Inherent Good to the absolute destruction of humanity and the belief in Inherent Evil. There’s even an ending that leaves you with an ambiguously neutral world that can reflect either Agnostic belief or a kind of Limbo/Purgatory.
2The Legend Of Zelda Series
The Legend of Zeldaseries isn’t as obvious with the use of religious allegory, but there are themes that will feel familiar if you’ve spent your share of time in a Bible Camp or Sunday School. The Triforce is similar to The Holy Trinity in religion, with Power, Wisdom, and Courage reflecting the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
There’s also the use of Link as a representative of the Chosen One archetype, as he’s the only one who can save the world. He’s also an example of the ‘meek inherit the earth’ since he is truly humble and puts himself last game after game.
1Halo Series
Halois both the most obvious and least obvious nod to religion in gaming. The title - Halo - is used in religion to indicate a Saint or otherwise Holy figure by way of the ring of pure light above their head.
Then there’s Master Chief, whose name is John 117 in the games. He is a warrior fighting in a war that wasstarted long before him, but he’s clearly the hero deemed worthy to lead his followers to the rightful end. The connection to Jesus isn’t wholly inferred, either, as John 1:17 in the Bible states that, while Moses brought the laws to the land, Jesus came along to show the Truth. Where those before Master Chief dictated right from wrong, he’s the one to create the path.
