When it comes to video games, representation has been lacking for many groups. It is something that is only recently starting to be addressed, and there is still a lot of work to be done. When it comes to representation in video games, specifically of Jews, it has been minimal at best. The times Jews have been shown however, are rather interesting to say the least. Metal Gear has portrayed Jewish characters in the form of Otacon and Meryl, and South Park’s video games feature Jews in their usual irreverent manner. However, there is one group of games that depicts a Jewish family over the generations and their unique experiences.
Wolfenstein 3D is generally agreed to be the first, modern First-Person Shooter game. There were FPS games before, but they varied in presentation and gameplay and it was not until Wolfesntein that the template was set for the future. The game starred the soldier, B.J. Blazkowicz, as he broke out of a Nazi prison and embarked on a mission to kill as many Nazis as possible. While a bit crude by today’s standards, the game still plays well, but what is notable is that B.J. was always intended to be Jewish. Tom Hall, one of the developers of Wolfenstein 3D stated that B.J. was a secular Jew, with lead developer John Carmack agreeing with that statement. That said however, it was not until the reboot began with The New Order that the character’s Judaism was addressed. B.J. is revealed to be the son of a Jewish woman and a Polish man in Wolfenstein: The New Colossus, with his father being revealed to be an Anti-Semite who abused B.J. and his mother.
B.J. and his crusade against the Nazis is a story of Jews fighting back against their oppressors, but B.J.’s family have their own stories as well. In the original timeline, B.J. got married and had a son named Arthur, whom in turn had a son named Billy after B.J. himself. Billy would call himself Billy Blaze and star in the series of platform video games known as Commander Keen. These were games that grew out of a failed pitch to Nintendo for ports of Mario to the PC. Now what is interesting about Arthur is that in the backstory established he had changed his name to Blaze for work in showbusiness, which is something that happened often for Jews seeking work in that field at one point. While the Commander Keen games do not seem to touch on Jewish themes, the backstory establishes the Jewish experience as part of the character’s history. The Commander Keen games may not be as well known today, but they were massive in the 90’s and were the first real hit for id Software. But the family link does not end there.
Tom Hall also stated that Billy Blaze would go on to be the father of the Doom Marine, and while this may not necessarily be canon anymore, it was the case at one point. There are also two Doom spinoffs for mobile devices that give the protagonists the name William Blazkowicz III and Stan Blazkowicz respectively, showing that the family did in fact continue their adventures. While the Jewish connection became downplayed heavily to the point of not being a factor anymore, we have established the family is of Jewish origin and have been fighting evil for generations.
The Blazkowicz family story is an American Jewish story, and one that shows Jews as a determined and, dare I say, badass people. B.J. suffered abuse at the hands of his father, who hated him for being Jewish, while still occasionally showing affection in a way not unheard of for oppressors to do. The family integrated more into the American society but their roots still shine through. However, this is not the only timeline to consider.
The reboot timeline, in which the Jewish roots were made explicit, sees B.J. and his wife Anya, have twin daughters who take up the fight against Nazis in the alternate timeline where the Axis powers won WWII. These women are the stars of their own game and are an example of strong, Jewish, female protagonists in a video game, something this writer has not seen before. Yes, there was Meryl from Metal Gear, but she was not the main character of the game she appeared in, unlike the Terror Twins. Furthermore, one of the twins goes on to be the mother of Billy Blaze in this timeline, and later, the grandmother of his twin children, Billy and Billie Blaze. The latter characters were intended to be the protagonists of a new Commander Keen game, but no word has been heard about that game since its initial announcement.
Regardless, what we see in this series of events is a strong Jewish family represented across a series of games. They have fought Nazis, space aliens, and the forces of Hell, and they keep coming back to continue the fight. While Jews may not have much representation in gaming, the Blazkowicz family has done their part.
