There are a limited number of accents fans are likely to hear in games. With much of the voice acting industry based in Los Angeles, American accents are frequent, with the odd fantasy setting full of British accents shaking things up a bit.

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This means it’s always good to hear some accents from other parts of the world, and Europe tends to be the next stop when developers want to step out of their comfort zone. With the French dialect being an attractive accent for many, it’s not surprising that a few video game characters have been created with that in mind.

8 Mistral – Metal Gear Rising

Metal Gear Rising Mistral

Metal Gear games are famous for their rosters of over-the-top villains that the player must battle their way through, and action spin-off Metal Gear Rising is no exception. Protagonist Raiden must fight against the Winds of Destruction, a group of international mercenaries with weather themes, although there’s a different villain lurking in the shadows.

Mistral is the first that Raiden faces off against and the only female member of the crew. She’s also of French descent and grew up during the Algerian Civil War, which led to her joining the French Foreign Legion. In battle, she uses a whip/polearm combo weapon named L'Étranger, which summons Dwark Gekko robots to assist her, and taunts her opponent in a sultry French accent.

7 Jeanne d’Arc

A cutscene with the protagonist Jeanne d'Arc

While not a lot of people are likely to recognize this obscure first-party PSP RPG, Jeanne d’Arc’s title character is based on the iconic historical figure Joan of Arc. Developed by Professor Layton studio Level-5, the game tells a fictionalized version of Joan’s life, as she became a soldier in defiance of societal norms. It also turns her supposed visions of the archangel Michael into anime magical girl powers.

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Naturally, as Joan of Arc was a French peasant woman, the lovingly crafted anime cutscenes are always great at giving every character French accents in the English dub. Sadly these accents don’t carry into gameplay, as battles and in-engine cutscenes are all restricted to text, but the determination to give the characters that French feel is a nice touch.

6 Amicia de Rune – A Plague Tale: Innocence

A Plague Tale Amicia de Rune

A Plague Tale: Innocence is set in medieval France, right at the crossroads between the Hundred Years’ War and the spread of the Black Plague, so it’s not surprising to learn that the game features a cast who mostly speak with French accents.

Protagonist Amicia de Rune, the teenage daughter of a slaughtered nobleman, has to guide her brother to safety during this dark time. Along the way she has to learn how to survive harsh environments even at the expense of her own morals and beliefs. Her performance by a young British actress who’d never played a professional role before has been consistently praised, and it’ll be exciting to see more of her in the upcoming sequel, A Plague Tale: Requiem.

5 Glass Joe – Punch-Out!!

Punch Out Wii Glass Joe

All of Little Mac’s opponents in the Punch-Out!! games are from countries around the world, so it’s maybe not surprising that one of them is French. Glass Joe has appeared in almost every game to date, as the first and weakest opponent the player faces off against.

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While his nationality has always been French, it’s only the Wii game where players got to hear his voice for the first time, where he spoke several French phrases in an exaggerated accent. He also had a taunt punch where he would shout “Vive Le France” before throwing a heavy blow. Also, just in case it wasn’t obvious how French he is, KOing him with a Star Punch causes croissants to fall out of him.

4 Helena Douglas – Dead Or Alive

Dead or Alive 6 Helena Douglas

Helena is an important character within the story of the critically acclaimed Dead or Alive series. She is the current leader of the DOATEC organization that runs the Dead or Alive tournament that the games are centered around, as she is the illegitimate daughter of its founder and inherited his title after his death.

She’s also a French opera singer, following in her mother’s footsteps. This love and respect for her mother is also her motivator for several games, as Helena enters the tournament to seek out the assassin who killed her and bring them to justice.

3 Emilie “Lili” De Rochefort – Tekken

Tekken 7 Lili

Every fighter in the Tekken series notably speaks their own language, and while this is mostly restricted to English and Japanese (or Chinese characters speaking Japanese for some reason), Bandai Namco have tried to branch out to other countries in more recent titles.

One of these characters, introduced in Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection, is Emilie De Rochefort, better known as Lili, who’s a high society girl and heiress to a vast commercial empire in Monaco. Her moveset is based around ballet and gymnastics, all while sipping tea and taunting her opponents in dainty French.

2 The Spy – Team Fortress 2

Team Fortress 2 The Spy

Team Fortress 2 isn’t known for its deep storyline, with most of the plot details in existence taking the form of comedy skits rather than meaningful lore. Therefore, its characters are mostly determined by the skills they possess and little else.

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The Spy is the stealth class, with skills allowing him to slip behind enemy lines and backstab unsuspecting opponents. He also has a French accent, likely as a reference to the French Resistance of World War II, who would use espionage and subterfuge over direct combat, and have long been a trope in pop culture ever since.

1 Widowmaker – Overwatch

Overwatch Widowmaker

Every good shooter needs a sniper class, and for Overwatch, that sniper is Widowmaker. A ruthless, cold-blooded killer who shows little emotion, Widowmaker is an effective long-range combatant, although is much weaker up close.

She also speaks with a French accent, as her backstory describes her as a woman from Annecy who used to be a ballet dancer in Paris. She was then mentally reconditioned by the Talon terrorist organization and turned into the killing machine she is today.

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