Protagonist (Nier)

The protagonist of Cavia and Square Enix action role-playing game Nier is a player character whose identity differs depending on the three versions of the game. In the original Xbox 360 version released worldwide, the protagonist is an elder skilled in combat who seeks to find a cure for the disease of his daughter Yonah. In the PlayStation 3 version, the protagonist instead takes the form of a teenager whose relationship with Yonah is instead that of a sibling. When the game was remastered, the protagonist was instead the young one with the father appearing only as downloadable content. The elder protagonist is voiced by Jamieson Price in English and Ken'ichirō Matsuda in Japanese, while the young version is voiced by Nobuhiko Okamoto in Japanese during his child persona while Koji Yusa replaces him after the time-skip. Zach Aguilar and Ray Chase voice the character in English.

The decision to create two different protagonist came from the developers' desire to appeal to different culture, believing a middle aged warrior would fit more the Western audience while the Eastern would enjoy more a young one. Director Yoko Taro took a preference to the latter when the game was remastered but in order to see the narrative be seen from a different point of view for the Western audience.

Though critical response to the elder protagonist was generally positive for his caring personality that contrast with his barbarian appearance and relationship with his daughter, the decision to alter the design was the subject of discussion by several writers due to the need to appeal to Westerns being too much. Meanwhile, the young protagonist was praised for his energetic persona and being seen as a better character once the time-skip reflected a major change in his look.