Nathan Drake (Uncharted)

Facts about Nathan Drake

Nathan "Nate" Drake (born Nathan Morgan) is the protagonist of the Uncharted video game series, developed by Naughty Dog.

Facts

Fact	Value
First game	Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (2007)
Created by	Amy Hennig
Real name	Nathan Morgan
Aliases	Nate
Nationality	American

Personality

Drake has a distinct personality, as the creators did not want him to appear as a caricature or "cardboard cutout". Hennig constantly elaborated Drake's personality through in-game dialogue and interactions with other characters, rather than exclusively through cutaway scenes. Drake reacts to events in a human-like way, often commenting and complaining on the absurdity or difficulty of his situation. While traveling through chapters, Drake frequently makes sarcastic quips and taunts. Self-educated in history and various languages, Drake is also highly intelligent. Matt Casamassina of IGN commented on the character's interactions during gameplay that reveal Drake's nature: "it's lighthearted and amusing, but it also demonstrates that Nate is aware of how absurd his predicaments sometimes are. It's a small, unimportant communication, but it makes sense that the two would behave exactly as they do."

Appearances

He appeared in the following games:

Partners

Elena Fisher
Victor "Sully" Sullivan
Chloe Frazer
Charlie Cutter
Marisa Chase
Samuel "Sam" Drake

Reception

Nathan Drake has attracted mainly positive reviews, many focusing on his likability. Tom Cross of Gamasutra called Drake a "lovable jerk" who is "light, flippant, and just plain fun", calling him a perfect caricature of a scoundrel. Stephen Totilo of Kotaku remarked that: "the short take is that Nathan Drake has attitude without being a jerk, and he cheerfully but woefully gets in over his head. This helps make him charming rather than annoying." Comparing Drake to a similar character, Matt Casamassina at IGN claimed: "Nathan Drake, the hero in Naughty Dog's Uncharted 2, is more realistic, funny, charming, likable and altogether human in 30 minutes than Leon S. Kennedy is through an entire career of Resident Evil games." Rush Frushtick at UGO admitted that Drake may appear to be "kind of a dick", but that he was "a likable dick". GamesRadar listed Nathan as one of the 25 best new characters of the decade, contrasting him with characters like Halo protagonist Master Chief and Marcus Fenix of the Gears of War series in that unlike them, Drake is never in control of the situation. GamesRadar later ranked Drake in 2012 as the third "most memorable, influential, and badass" protagonist in games, saying "With his half-tuck, quick wit, wry grin, and messy hair, Nate perfectly captures the sentiment of being the guy all the other guys want to be and all the gals want to be with..." Empire included Drake on their list of the 50 greatest video game characters, ranking him in 22nd place. In 2009, Drake was featured as one of 64 characters in GameSpot's "Greatest Game Hero" poll, in which he lost to Pikachu. Drake was voted as the fourth best character of the decade in a 2010 poll conducted by Game Informer and was voted as the 16th top video game character of all time by the readers of Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition in 2011. Nathan Drake is also seen as a PlayStation mascot. Commenting on Drake's "everyman" persona, Tom Hoggins of the Daily Telegraph called the character's vulnerability "endearing", while Chad Sapieha of The Globe and Mail labeled him "one of the most expressive video game characters ever created." However, Ben Kuchera of Ars Technica criticized that Drake was like numerous other characters, and lacked individuality. Develop's Owain Bennallack further criticized Drake's blandness, doubting whether a player could adequately describe him as a character. Dan Hsu of Bitmob wrote that, though other characters like Master Chief may stand out more, Drake came across as an "old pal".