Alright, let's talk about something we see all the time in media, especially video games—kids stepping up to be the heroes. I mean, come on, in real life, if a 10-year-old said they were going to battle an intergalactic demon or purify a cursed kingdom, we'd call their parents. But in the world of gaming, when the adults are busy being utterly useless or just plain evil, who else is left? These pint-sized protagonists end up carrying the weight of the world on their tiny shoulders, and honestly, they're often way more competent than the grown-ups. They become the hero because they're the "chosen one," they were in the right (or disastrously wrong) place at the right time, or sometimes, they just had the guts to pick up a stick and start swinging. Their stories hit different, blending innocence with incredible burden, and their games are some of the most memorable adventures out there. Let me walk you through my absolute favorite games where the kids are, quite literally, alright.

10. The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time

Link

Look, many Links are young, but Ocarina of Time's Link takes the cake—or should I say, the Kokiri sword? This kid is a mere 10 years old. When I first played this in the late 90s, that was basically my age bracket, so it felt extremely on-brand. The best part? Wandering around Hyrule Field, and half the NPCs wouldn't give you the time of day. Talk about a power fantasy when you, a literal child with a sword smaller than some kitchen knives, end up proving everyone wrong. The whole time-travel thing always messed with my head. Link gets sealed away for seven years and pops out looking like a young adult. But mentally? Is he still a ten-year-old in a grown-up's body? The game never really delves into it, but I've always imagined he's just playing it cool, like, "Act natural, gotta save the world, no biggie." If I woke up one day as an adult, I'd probably have a full-blown identity crisis, not calmly go fight a giant pig demon.

9. Earthbound

Ness

The Mother series has a tradition: your hero is a 12-to-13-year-old boy. Ness from Earthbound is the quintessential example. Playing as him feels like the ultimate kid hero simulator. Sure, he has PSI powers, but his approach to saving the world is hilariously mundane. If a talking bee (or was it a beetle?) told me to go fight a cosmic horror, my first instinct would also be to grab a baseball bat and a bag of cookies. That's the charm! Earthbound is a masterclass in making you feel like you, and by extension Ness and his pals, are in way over your head. You're just kids, and you're up against a multidimensional entity that wants to unmake reality. The game's famous tagline, "no crying until the end," is the perfect summary. Save the world first, have your emotional breakdown later. It's a vibe.

8. Commander Keen

Billy Blaze

Ah, the 80s and 90s trope of the kid genius. You know the type: eight years old, already a theoretical physicist. In the gaming world, Billy Blaze, AKA Commander Keen, was our poster child. This was back in the early 90s on MS-DOS. For me, playing Commander Keen was a revelation—my computer could do more than just beep! It could run a proper platformer! The game also had a delightfully dark sense of humor. I distinctly remember the second episode where you could, either by accident or on purpose, activate the weapons on an alien ship and... blow up the Earth. As a kid, that was equal parts terrifying and fascinating. Looking back, it's a hilarious bit of player agency. "Oops, I destroyed the planet. My bad!"

7. Pokémon Red & Blue

Red

The anime told us everyone gets a starter Pokémon at age 10. While the games never outright say it, that explains why Red, the protagonist of the original games, is trekking across Kanto at the ripe old age of 11. When you're playing as Red, you don't think much of him. He's you. His journey is your journey. But here's the mind-blower: when you stop being Red and encounter him in later games (like chilling on top of Mount Silver in Gold/Silver), you realize this kid is a legend. What felt like you just playing the game and beating the Elite Four was, in the Pokémon world, an unprecedented, genius-level feat. This child became the very best, like no one ever was, and then decided to live as a hermit on a snowy peak. That's not cool; that's downright intimidating.

6. Psychonauts

Razputin Aquato

Summer camp. For some kids, it's paradise. For me, it was purgatory with mosquitoes. Razputin, or Raz, gets to attend a summer camp that's secretly a psychic espionage training ground. Now that is a camp I would have signed up for! The moment I got the Levitation Ball in Psychonauts, I was zipping around the campgrounds like a maniac, which I'm pretty sure is exactly what Raz would do. The game does a fantastic job of balancing his incredible psychic powers with the reality of being a kid. You can read minds and throw psychic punches, but the adults still treat you like, well, a kid. No one takes you seriously. That makes Raz the ultimate underdog, and his determination to prove himself is incredibly endearing (even if Psychonauts 2 tried to downplay his achievements a bit at the start—we don't talk about that).

5. Splatoon

Agent 3

Lore time! Inklings in Splatoon aren't considered fully formed until they're about 14, which is also the legal age for Turf War. Whether you think a 14-year-old is a child is debatable, but I see it like getting your learner's permit: you're allowed to do the thing, but you're not a fully-fledged adult. Playing as Agent 3 in the original Splatoon's story mode feels very much like playing as Red in Pokémon. It's your tutorial for the multiplayer. You don't realize how much of a beast Agent 3 is until you're on the receiving end. Fighting "Inner Agent 3" in Splatoon 2's Octo Expansion was a wake-up call. From the Octarians' perspective, this one Inkling kid is an unstoppable, ink-spewing force of nature. Taking on an entire army solo? Not normal. In hindsight, the original campaign is a massive power fantasy, and Agent 3's silent, stoic demeanor makes it even cooler.

4. Undertale

Frisk

Toby Fox never gave Frisk an official age, but let's be real—they're a kid. Probably between 8 and 12. Every major monster calls them "kid" or "my child," and they're not wrong. What makes Undertale so special is the sheer weight it puts on this child's choices. In the real world, a kid's decisions don't reshape reality. In the Underground, Frisk's actions—be they pacifist shenanigans or genocidal thuggery—have immediate, universe-altering consequences because of how SOULs work. The game isn't afraid to call you out, either. On my first playthrough, I accidentally killed Toriel, reloaded my save to fix it, and then Flowey appeared to mock me for trying to cheat fate. I was shook. No game had ever looked me in the eye (through a creepy flower) and said, "I know what you did." It was a masterstroke.

3. The Binding Of Isaac: Rebirth

Isaac

Let's get dark. The premise of The Binding of Isaac is gloriously, absurdly messed up. A five-year-old boy, Isaac, flees into his basement to escape his homicidal mother, only to find it filled with grotesque monsters steeped in religious trauma that he must defeat by... crying on them. If you grew up on Newgrounds (guilty as charged), this brand of dark, crude humor feels like home. There were a million edgy flash games, but Binding of Isaac was the one that was also a fantastically creative and brutally challenging roguelike. Getting into this game as a young adult was a gateway drug to the entire genre. The juxtaposition of controlling a weeping, naked child through a nightmare of poop, blood, and biblical references is something you never forget.

2. Ender Lilies: Quietus Of The Knights

Lily

I'll be honest: I almost skipped Ender Lilies because of Lily. She looks so small and frail, and the game is a tough-as-nails Metroidvania with Soulslike elements. Controlling her seemed like a recipe for frustration. Boy, was I wrong. Lily isn't defenseless. As the last White Priestess, she can purify corrupted spirits and bind them to fight for her. The gameplay is genius—it feels less like direct combat and more like tactical delegation. You're a tiny child commander on a battlefield, summoning spectral knights and mages to do your bidding while you dodge and weave. Upgrading your spirits turns Lily from a vulnerable girl into an absolute force of nature. It's the ultimate "don't judge a book by its cover" lesson in gaming form.

1. The Walking Dead (Telltale Series)

Clementine

No list about child protagonists is complete without Clementine. We meet her in Season 1 as an 8-year-old girl, scared and sheltered by Lee. By the final season, she's 16. But in the crucial middle seasons (2 and 3), she's 11 and 13, forced to grow up in the most brutal way possible. Clem's journey is the heart of this series. We watch in real-time as the zombie apocalypse strips away her childhood. She learns that to survive, she can't afford to be a helpless little girl. She has to make hard choices, get her hands dirty, and sometimes become someone her old self wouldn't recognize. If you've ever had to grow up too fast, you feel for Clem. The Walking Dead's world makes monsters of everyone, but Clem's fight is to hold onto her humanity through it all. It's powerful, heartbreaking, and unforgettable.

Final Thoughts

So there you have it. From time-traveling elves to psychic campers and zombie-apocalypse survivors, these kids prove that age is just a number when the fate of the world is on the line. Their stories work because they blend the wonder of childhood with stakes that are off the charts. They remind us that sometimes, courage and heart matter more than experience or size. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to see if I can teach my cat to use PSI powers. The world won't save itself!