21 Microsoft protagonists

Minecraft is a sandbox video game developed by the Swedish video game developer Mojang Studios. The game was created by Markus "Notch" Persson in the Java programming language. Following several early private testing versions, it was first made public in May 2009 before fully releasing in November 2011, with Jens Bergensten then taking over development. Minecraft has since been ported to several other platforms and is the best-selling video game of all time, with over 238 million copies sold and nearly 140 million monthly active users as of 2021.

In the Halo science fiction universe, an Arbiter is a ceremonial, religious, and political rank bestowed upon Covenant Elites. In the 2004 video game Halo 2, the rank is given to a disgraced commander named Thel 'Vadamee as a way to atone for his failures. Although the Arbiter is intended to die serving the Covenant leadership, the High Prophets, he survives his missions and the Prophets' subsequent betrayal of his kind. When he learns that the Prophets' plans would doom all sentient life in the galaxy, the Arbiter allies with the Covenant's enemies (humans) and stops the ringworld Halo from being activated. The Arbiter is a playable character in Halo 2 and its 2007 sequel Halo 3. The character also appears in Halo 5: Guardians and additional expanded universe material. A different Arbiter appears in the 2009 real-time strategy game Halo Wars, which takes place 20 years before the events of the main trilogy.

Augustus "Cole Train" Cole is a fictional character in the Gears of War media franchise. He first appeared in the first video game of the series as a supporting character, and has since appeared in some capacity for every mainline and spin-off installment of the Gears of War franchise. Cole is voiced by Lester Speight in all of his video game appearances.

Banjo & Kazooie are a pair of fictional characters and the eponymous protagonists of the video game series Banjo-Kazooie, created by British company Rare. Banjo and Kazooie were introduced as both player characters in the original Banjo-Kazooie (1998). Banjo is a bear accompanied by Kazooie, a bird, who is often seen seeking shelter in his backpack and emerging to perform various moves and attacks. The pair have gone on numerous adventures together, fighting against the sinister plans of the evil witch Gruntilda.

The Battletoads, named Rash, Zitz and Pimple and collectively also known as just the 'Toads, are the titular player characters in the Battletoads video game series, introduced in the original Battletoads in 1991. They are a trio of anthropomorphic, mutant toad space warriors fighting against the wicked Dark Queen's forces to save the universe. They also appeared in some other media and have gained a sizable fan following.

Black Orchid is a player character in the Killer Instinct fighting game series created by Rare. Introduced as one of two female characters in the original Killer Instinct in 1994, Orchid has appeared in every entry in the series to date. A mysterious spy and fighter, she is the female protagonist of the series, along with her younger brother Jago, and is one of the most famous and best received Killer Instinct characters.

William Joseph "B.J." Blazkowicz is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Wolfenstein series of alternate history video games starting with 1992's Wolfenstein 3D. An American spy of Polish and Jewish descent, he specializes in one-man missions behind enemy lines. In addition to fighting the regular German army he also frequently encounters bizarre Nazi experiments concerning biomechanical technology and the occult.

Conker the Squirrel is an anthropomorphic squirrel starring in various video games and is the titular character of an eponymous series of video games. He first appeared alongside Diddy Kong of Nintendo's Donkey Kong series in Diddy Kong Racing. Other appearances outside of the Conker series included Project Spark. Conker is voiced by Chris Seavor in all of his appearances.

Cortana is a fictional artificially intelligent character in the Halo video game series. Voiced by Jen Taylor, she appears in Halo: Combat Evolved and its sequels, Halo 2, Halo 3, Halo 4, and Halo 5: Guardians. She also briefly appears in the prequel Halo: Reach, as well as in several of the franchise's novels, comics, and merchandise. During gameplay, Cortana provides backstory and tactical information to the player, who often assumes the role of Master Chief Petty Officer John-117. In the story, she is instrumental in preventing the activation of the Halo installations, which would have destroyed all sentient life in the galaxy.

Corvo Attano is a fictional character of Arkane Studios' Dishonored series. He is the lead protagonist in Dishonored, one of two playable protagonists in Dishonored 2, and has appeared in multiple Dishonored works, including a comic series, and the first published book of a trilogy of novels announced in 2016.

Damon S. Baird is a fictional character in the Gears of War franchise. He first appeared in the first and eponymous video game of the series as a supporting character. He has since appeared in every mainline installment of the Gears franchise, and is featured as the lead character of the spin-off title, Gears of War: Judgment. He is voiced by Fred Tatasciore in all video game appearances.

Doomguy, also referred to as the Doom Marine, the Doom Slayer or just the Slayer, is a fictional character from the Doom video game franchise of first-person shooters created by id Software. He was created by American video game designer John Romero. He was introduced as the player character in the original 1993 video game Doom. Within the Doom series, Doomguy is a space marine dressed in green combat armor who rarely speaks onscreen, and his personality and backstory was intentionally vague to reinforce his role as a player avatar. In Doom Eternal, he is voiced by American voice actor Matthew Waterson, while Jason Kelley voices the character in that game's downloadable content The Ancient Gods: Part Two. He has appeared in several other games developed by id Software, including Quake Champions and Quake III Arena.

Emily Kaldwin is a fictional character of the Dishonored series. She is a lead protagonist in the sequel, Dishonored 2. In the story of the first game, she is the daughter of the Empress and the player-character, Corvo. When the Empress is assassinated and Emily kidnapped, the player recovers Emily whereupon she serves as a moral compass by expressing herself differently based on the player's proclivity for violence in their gameplay choices. Emily reigns for 15 years leading up to the sequel's story, when she is usurped and escapes to plot her revenge. The developers noted Emily and her relationship with the player as one of the most compelling elements they took to the sequel. Her announcement as its protagonist was unveiled as a surprise and welcomed by games journalists as emblematic of progress for female representation in video games, leading an industry trend towards more prevalent lead female protagonists at the 2015 Electronic Entertainment Expo.

Jago is a player character in the Killer Instinct fighting game series created by Rare. Introduced in the original Killer Instinct in 1994, he has appeared in every entry in the series to date. A monk who fights with the aid of a mysterious tiger spirit, Jago is the male protagonist of the series, along with his older sister Orchid.

James Dominic Fenix, better known as JD Fenix or J.D. Fenix, is a fictional character in the Gears of War franchise. The son of recurring series protagonist Marcus Fenix, he first appears as the protagonist of the 2016 game, Gears of War 4, and also appears in Gears 5. Prior to the events of Gears of War 4, he originally held the rank of lieutenant in service of the supranational and intergovernmental military collective known as the Coalition of Ordered Governments ("COG"), and later defected to a loosely organized faction of rebel human settlers who live outside of the COG's walled settlements in the world of Sera. By the events of Gears 5, he has rejoined the COG to fight a new threat to humanity. The character is voiced by Australian actor Liam McIntyre. Outside of the video game series, JD has appeared in the novels Gears of War: Ascendance and Gears of War: Bloodlines.

Joanna Dark is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the Perfect Dark video game series. She debuted in the Nintendo 64 first-person shooter Perfect Dark and is a player character in all the games of the series. Outside of video games, Joanna appears as the lead character in all the Perfect Dark novels and comic books. Joanna is an operative for the fictional Carrington Institute, where she was given the code name "Perfect Dark" in honor of her flawless performance in training tests.

Kait Diaz is a fictional character in the Gears of War franchise. She first appeared in Gears of War 4 as a supporting character, and is the primary protagonist of Gears 5. Within the series, she is originally a member of the Outsiders, a loosely organized faction of rebel human settlers who live outside of the walled city states of the supranational and intergovernmental military collective known as the Coalition of Ordered Governments ("COG"), following the conclusion of humanity's war with the Locust Horde on the planet Sera. By the events of Gears 5, she has enlisted with the COG armed forces and has attained the rank of corporal. The character is voiced by Laura Bailey in each of her appearances. Outside of the video game series, Kait has appeared in the novels Gears of War: Ascendance and Gears of War: Bloodlines.

Marcus Michael Fenix is a fictional character and the primary protagonist from the first three games in the Gears of War video game series. He first appeared in the first and eponymous video game of the series.

Master Chief Petty Officer John-117, or "Master Chief", is a fictional character and the protagonist in the Halo multimedia franchise. Master Chief is a playable character in the series of military science fiction first-person shooter video games Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, Halo 3, Halo 4, Halo 5: Guardians and Halo Infinite. The character also appears in Halo books and graphic novels – including Halo: The Fall of Reach, Halo: The Flood, Halo: First Strike, and Halo: Uprising – and has minor appearances or cameos in other Halo media.

Tyler Ronan is a fictional character and the co-protagonist of the 2020 episodic narrative adventure game Tell Me Why, a three-part narrative video game developed by Dontnod Entertainment and published by Xbox Game Studios in 2020. Tell Me Why follows Tyler and his twin sister Alyson as they revisit their childhood home following a long separation, and also explores upon Tyler's experiences as a trans man. The game's narrative moves between the past and present, as the twins utilize their supernatural telepathic bond to explore memories of their past, some of it repressed, in an attempt to piece together the details of the tragic event that irrevocably impact both of their lives. Tyler Ronan is voiced by American actor August Aiden Black, who is a trans man.