Games Editor Jude Emmanuel-Nwosu dives into how mythology is portrayed in video-games, dissecting the lack of African representation in the digital space

By Jude-Emmanuel Nwosu | Oct 22 2024

Mythology has been a cornerstone of storytelling for many centuries. People have been telling larger-than-life stories about enigmatic deities, supernatural feats and mysterious lands for as long as we could speak. Therefore, it is only natural that mythology would find itself embedded in games; arguably the most innovative storytelling medium. As a result, there are plenty of games that are inspired by myths from various cultures, either explicitly or subtly. While most mythologies have many games that capture and represent their stories, African myth is notably light in this regard. Greek mythology has the first few games of the illustrious God of War franchise and the modern cult classic Hades; Okami and Nioh cover Japanese myth. Most games that use African myth in any capacity are either small scale mobile games or else the mythology takes a backseat among the other aspects. 

SMITE is a third-person MOBA –or Multiplayer Online Battle Arena – with a roster of characters consisting of notable mythological figures from a multitude of myths and folklore from Greek and Norse, to Mayan and Chinese. The game even includes some figures from Yoruba myth and Haitian voodoo, however in comparison to the other myths, the number of characters inspired by these folklores is disappointingly small. There are only two figures from both mythologies included in the roster, meanwhile there are fifteen characters of Chinese legend and twenty-four characters from Greek myth. For what it’s worth, there are other mythologies that receive this lacklustre representation; Polynesian myth only has two figures and Babylonian legends has three characters. However, the Babylonian pantheon was included in the game relatively recently; these characters were teased two to three years ago, whereas the Yoruba gods were only included five years ago without any further inclusions. It is safe to say that the Yoruba gods may not be that much of a priority for the people behind SMITE.

African myth is relatively niche in comparison to other mythologies. Greek mythology has become a part of pop-culture with the ubiquity of multiple media representations like the cult classic Disney movie Hercules and beloved children’s book series Percy Jackson. It also helps that Greek myth has been preserved better than most mythologies of the world. There are several museums housing artefacts depicting scenes of Greek legend, and writings by several epic poets.There is simply more material that creatives can use to depict these myths. That being said, even mythologies with little surviving records can still receive ample representation. Most of our Norse myth knowledge comes from two poems, both being the Prose and Poetic Eddas. However, people are still relatively familiar with the Norse pantheon thanks to Marvel's interpretation of Thor and his associated characters and, more recently, through the Norse saga of the God of War franchise and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla which is inspired by Nordic culture and beliefs. Limited source material won’t stop those who are truly passionate about adapting their myths and legends.

With this in mind, the lack of video game representation of African myth isn’t surprising. Adapting these myths properly necessitates people passionate enough to ensure they are represented with authenticity while keeping the cultures that they inhabit in mind. These experts would also have to be enthusiastic enough about games to lend their knowledge into building a game around this subject matter. Fortunately, this isn’t as unbelievable as one might think.

Tales of Kenzera: ZAU is an indie game that was released in February of this year. It was developed by Surgent Studios and published by EA Originals. The man behind the game’s creative decisions is Abubakar Salim, a British voice actor of Kenyan descent, notable for his voice acting in Assassin’s Creed Origins. Tales of Kenzera: ZAU is his debut game for Surgent Studios, which he founded in 2020. This 2.5D platformer fully embraces its African inspirations and the game is centred around the cultures and religions of the Bantu people, a collection of African ethnic groups. The protagonist Zau is a shaman who works with Kalunga, the game’s god of death, to revive his deceased father. The Bantu religion of the Kongo perceive Kalunga or “kalûnga” as more of a primordial force than a specific deity. 

Simply put, kalûnga is believed to be the energy that formed the cosmos and its planets, stars and suns. While the Kalunga that Tales of Kenzera: ZAU acquaints the player with is not aligned with the Kongo belief, creative liberties in the representation of mythological deities is far from uncommon; the Thor of Marvel Comics is very different from his Norse counterpart but is beloved all the same. 

Outside of the mythical characters, the game captures African mysticism and culture through its aesthetics, setting and even the soundtrack. In the game you play as shaman, a type of mystic known for their supernatural abilities like divining the future or communing with spirits. While Shamanism originated in Northern Europe and Siberia, the religious practice is also part of traditional African beliefs and similarities can be seen between both of them. The gameplay takes place in a fantastical realm of the dead and the specific locations within this land use words from multiple African languages. The home of Zau is called Amandla, a Zulu word that means power, and Patakatifu, one of the first locations you travel to, means sanctuary in Swahili. The soundtrack is composed by Nainita Desai who used musicians from different parts of Africa like Ghana and South Africa.

African myth and religions are clearly lacking the adaptations that they deserve even in the world of games. They are far from the public consciousness and when they are included, they aren’t given their due attention. With how obscure African mythology is, relatively speaking, it may seem like any adaptation is destined to fail. However, Tales of Kenzera: ZAU shows that success is possible with enough passion for the source material and the surrounding culture. A game based on African mythology would have to be nothing short of a passion-project, which may even give it the edge it needs, to break into the popular consciousness.