Editing Player character (section)

{{short description|Character controlled by a game player}}
[[File:Legend of Grimrock screenshot 01-cropped.jpg|thumb|A player character named "Contar Stoneskull" in ''[[Legend of Grimrock]]''. The squares contain icons representing items he is wearing and items he is carrying on his adventure. Statistics such as his health and experience are also listed.]]
[[File:Celeste screenshot 00.png|thumb|The player-controlled character of [[Madeline (Celeste)|Madeline]] (left) talks to a [[non-player character]] outside a building in the game ''[[Celeste (video game)|Celeste]].'']]

A '''player character''' (also known as a '''playable character''' or '''PC''') is a fictional [[Character (arts)|character]] in a [[video game]] or tabletop [[role-playing game]] whose actions are controlled by a player rather than the rules of the game. The characters that are not controlled by a player are called [[non-player character]]s (NPCs). The actions of non-player characters are typically handled by the game itself in video games, or according to rules followed by a [[gamemaster]] refereeing [[tabletop role-playing game]]s. The player character functions as a fictional, alternate body for the player controlling the character.<ref name="believer">{{cite journal | last = La Farge | first = Paul | title = Destroy All Monsters | journal = [[The Believer Magazine]] | date = September 2006 | url = http://www.believermag.com/issues/200609/?read=article_lafarge | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080920141500/http://www.believermag.com/issues/200609/?read=article_lafarge | url-status = dead | archive-date = 2008-09-20 | access-date = 2008-12-25 }}</ref><ref>TSR Hobbies, Understanding Dungeons & Dragons, 1979. Quoted in Gary Alan Fine, Shared Fantasy: Role-Playing Games as Social Worlds (Chicago: U Chicago Press, 1983)</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Waggoner |first=Zack |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uf9QosYeuX4C&pg=PA8 |title=My Avatar, My Self: Identity in Video Role-Playing Games |date=2009 |publisher=University of Michigan |isbn=978-0-7864-4109-9 |page=8 |access-date=2014-11-12}}</ref>

Video games typically have one player character for each person playing the game. Some games, such as [[multiplayer online battle arena]], [[hero shooter]], and [[fighting game]]s, offer a group of player characters for the player to choose from, allowing the player to control one of them at a time. Where more than one player character is available, the characters may have distinctive [[Attribute (role-playing games)|abilities]] and differing styles of play.