Highlights
- Many isekai protagonists are avid gamers, using their knowledge of games to navigate their new fantasy worlds.
- These gamers-turned-heroes often have a deep understanding of game mechanics, giving them an advantage in their new adventures.
- The characters’ gaming backgrounds shape their personalities and affect their interactions with others in these isekai anime series.
Isekai protagonists usually don’t have a lot going for them. They’re meant to be self-inserts so that the audience can enjoy wish fulfillment, which means they can’t have too much in the way of personality. There are certainly exceptions, but most isekai anime don’t tend to deviate from this particular trope.
Still, many isekai protagonists do have one or two traits that make them relatable to the audience. As an example, many of them are big gamers, which is why so many of them are excited to engage in a fantasy adventure. Here are some of the many isekai protagonists that are gamers.
10 Diablo
How Not To Summon A Demon Lord
In the form of his avatar, Diablo, Takuma Sakamoto is suddenly transported into the world of his favorite MMO game, Cross Reverie, by two Summoners, Rem and Shera. Though they planned on using him to take care of their personal problems, they end up enslaved themselves, and have to work together with Diablo to get them removed.
As a big Cross Reverie fan, Takuma is clearly a massive gamer. He frequently uses his knowledge of the game to get around obstacles, and his avatar is incredibly powerful, proving him to be an expert of the game.
9 Leon Fou Bartfort
Trapped In A Dating Sim: The World Of Otome Games Is Tough For Mobs
After playing an otome game for three days on end, a Japanese office worker falls down the stairs and dies. He is reincarnated as Leon Fou Bartfort in the world of the otome game, a lesser noble who has no role in the game’s main story.
With extensive knowledge of the game due to having played it for hours on end, Leon quickly uses some exploits to secure a better life for himself. Intent on making it through his new life without getting in trouble, Leon instead ends up getting close to both the main character and the villainess of the original game.
8 Arc
Skeleton Knight In Another World
A gamer finds himself not only in the world of the game he was last playing, but also in the body of the avatar he was using, a skeleton in full armor. Going by the name Arc, he finds and befriends the elf Ariane, who is on a mission to free her people from slavery.
With high-level skills earned thanks to the amount of time he has put into the game, Arc is incredibly powerful and a deadly opponent for many of the slavers he fights. As his form would terrify most people, he hides his face under his helmet and lets others assume he is human.
7 Shiroe
Log Horizon
Thirty thousand players in the VRMMO game Elder Tale suddenly find themselves transported into the game as their in-game avatars. Unable to log out or otherwise escape from the game, Shiroe is one of many players who start to grapple with the reality of having to live in this new virtual world.
Shiroe is the guild master of Log Horizon, and a fearsome gamer in his own right. He is one of the first to start figuring out the new world’s rules, and quickly makes moves to help those struggling to cope. His knowledge and tactics lead him to be called “Shiroe the Strategist” or the “Villain in Glasses.”
6 Catarina Claes
My Next Life As A Villainess: All Routes Lead To Doom!
A high school otaku is reincarnated as Catarina Claes, the villainess of the otome game Fortune Lover. There, she realizes that her future actions will lead her to a path of death or exile. Her only recourse is to improve her relationships with the game’s characters so that she can avoid those bad endings.
Catarina Claes is naturally a huge gamer, which lends her the knowledge necessary to avoid a bad ending. At the same time, she is oblivious to the feelings of the people around her, putting any romantic progress at a standstill.
5 Yosuke “Uncle” Shibazaki
Uncle From Another World
Takafumi goes to pick up his uncle Yosuke Shibazaki, who was hit by a truck and put into a coma for 17 years. When he arrives, he learns that his uncle had been in another world that entire time, and the tales of his exploits and adventures excite Takafumi to no end.
Like many isekai protagonists, Yosuke was a massive gamer and a particular fan of Sega. Though he was devastated to hear how the company lost the console war, he continues to enjoy his old retro games.
4 Rimuru Tempest
That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime
Satoru Mikami is killed while protecting a co-worker from a knife attack, and reincarnates as a slime in a fantasy world. Given unique skills to take advantage of and the name Rimuru Tempest, he sets out on an adventure that will lead him to new powers and allies.
While Rimuru mostly keeps himself occupied with managing his followers and his kingdom, in his past he was quite the gamer, and a big fan of h-games in particular. Though it was a small part of his personality, his inner gamer shows in the way he naturally absorbs the mechanics of the new world he arrives in.
3 Kazuma Sato
KonoSuba
When Kazuma Sato dies an embarrassing death, he is offered a chance to reincarnate in a fantasy world full of magic and adventure. Kazuma immediately accepts, but to his dismay, life in a fantasy world is not nearly as fun as he believed it’d be.
Kazuma Sato was a shut-in and a massive gamer, which is why he was so gung-ho about living in a fantasy world. Though he lacks the adventurer’s spirit, Kazuma occasionally uses his gaming experience to his benefit.
2 Sora & Shiro
No Game No Life
After winning a game against a mysterious being named Tet, siblings Sora and Shiro are pulled into the world of Disboard, where games are the only way to establish dominance over others. The siblings become involved with the human kingdom of Elkia, and become their representatives in order to take control of Disboard.
Sora and Shiro were top-tier gamers in their home world, which is why they were chosen to come to Disboard. They each have their own unique skills when it comes to gaming, and they use them to their advantage.
1 Ainz Ooal Gown
Overlord
When the Full-Dive MMORPG YGGDRASIL is about to be shut down, player Momonga makes the decision to stay logged in until the servers finally shut down. When the time comes, however, Momonga finds that not only is he stuck in his player avatar, his headquarters have been transported to a completely different world and the NPCs act as if they are real humans.
Naming himself Ainz Ooal Gown after his old guild, Momonga now travels the world looking for any other players. As he does, he encounters new allies and obstacles that force him to use his gaming knowledge to the fullest.
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