This is a Cliché I’ve coined to refer to a protagonist who is presented as silent but the surrounding context suggests (or confirms) that they aren’t actually silent.

I first noticed this after playing The Final Station where I noticed the player character is never given any spoken dialog…yet all the interactions he has with the NPCs heavily suggests that he is speaking. This leads to a disconnect between the player and the player character which is at its worst in the final stretch of the game.

Initially, I didn’t think too much of it – and you’ll notice I called it a half-assed attempt at a silent protagonist – but I’ve since noticed that this applies to a few more game characters…and that’s where the situation gets kind of interesting. Though we’ll leave that aside for now.

I believe it should be uncontroversial to suggest that this is a bad move roughly 90% of the time – and I can’t think of a situation where it would be good. With The Final Station, the issue is that the player doesn’t really understand what the player character is doing…but that’s actually a symptom of the bigger issue, which is that it creates a disconnect between what the player knows and what the character they’re controlling knows.
Now, I’ll quickly note that this kind of information disconnect isn’t inherently bad – Danganronpa 2 does this as well – but that you typically need some reason as to why you’re doing this. In Danganronpa’s case, it’s to help set up a mystery that will be resolved later.

The situation here is a bit different though and I’m convinced it only occurs as an accident (hence ‘cliché’).
In cases like with Half-Life or The Final Station it’s pretty obvious how this occurred: they wanted a silent protagonist but also wanted to explain how NPCs can understand that they should come along with them. In the case of The Final Station it’s pretty clear that the Conductor seemingly speaks all the time and in Half-Life’s case…well, Gordon doesn’t talk all the time, but it is clear that he talks frequently thruout the game.

This ends up inadvertently raising questions like:

• If they’re speaking, why can’t the player/viewer hear them?
• How often are they actually speaking?
• When do they speak?
• Why do they speak in certain situations and not in others?

If you’ve written something like this by accident, just keep in mind that you are creating mysteries – even if that isn’t your intent.
The silent protagonist avoids this in general because either a reason is given for why they aren’t talking…or it just never comes up.

Yep. Bionicle has this. Though this specifically applies to the Mata Nui Online Games…and I’ve only played the first one.
In MNOG, the main character is Takua and Takua is clearly talking to the other Matoran, though you never hear him speak.

I mentioned it above, but The Final Station is probably the best examples. The Conductor canonically speaks a lot, which is confirmed in the DLC.

It’s a particularly annoying example of this cliché because the player doesn’t understand what the Conductor is doing at a certain point in the game.

Yes, Gordon Freeman from Half-Life is an example of this cliché, though one that is quite subtle…which is probably why seemingly no-one noticed.

Gordon talks to the scientists and the security guards. Evidence of this is the fact that Gordon can tell them to follow, stop and otherwise do more complex things for him. While it could be argued he may be using gestures for this, that wouldn’t make any sense because Gordon isn’t canonically mute: he can talk, just that it’s stated he doesn’t and the game suggests that he does.

Though Half-Life 2 explicitly states that he doesn’t talk…the fact rebels will listen to him suggests that he is also talking there.

Gordon talking and the player not hearing is arguably not a big deal, though, as it doesn’t have any overt issues like in The Final Station.
Except that it suggests Gordon is a very very weird guy because he only ever talks to strangers (scientists, guards, rebels) instead of his best friends (Barney, Kleiner, Ely, Alyx). Why he isn’t talking at the beginning of Half-Life 2 is a big issue.

I’ve changed my mind: there are definitely several issues that result from him choosing not to talk.

This one is an ambiguous case because the first Jak game implies that Jak is mute. Evidence to suggest this is that literally everyone around him talks and that Daxter speaks on his behalf roughly 90% of the time. The remaining 10% being before Daxter became an ottsel.

However, the second game establishes that he can talk, which then retroactively applies to the first game.

This case I’m willing to forgive only because I pretend the later games don’t exist and also because it’s a clear case of a retcon. Every situation in the game where Jak ‘talks’ to someone can be explained as Daxter speaking on his behalf.
Daxter speaking on his behalf also suggests that Jak is mute…because it’s never lingered on…which might imply that Daxter played this role prior to him becoming an ottsel.

Link is silent in the majority of games, though it’s only the 3D games that make his muteness overt. But I can’t be sure if this started with Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask or The Wind Waker. I know for certain that Wind Waker‘s Link is silent and barely, if ever, speaks. But I can’t be sure because I haven’t played fully.
It’s notable that none of the adaptations of Zelda prior to The Wind Waker depict Link as mute. And I’m pretty sure that The Phantom Hourglass’ manga depicts Link as someone who speaks.

Although Twilight Princess is one of the few Zelda games I’ve actually played…I don’t remember if he’s explicitly mute or not because I can’t remember if there are any moments where Midna’s dialog suggests Link talked back to her. Though my guess is that the Link here is explicitly mute…but, again, I can’t actually remember if this cliché is present or not because my own memory is unusually hazy and contradictory.
I remembered a little more: I think that the game suggests that Link isn’t mute, actually. The reason I think this is because it would be logistically difficult (at the very least) to buy and sell things whilst being mute. Though I’m already countering myself by pointing out Link can point at things and either nod or shake his head to indicate whether he thinks a deal is fair or not.

Phantom Hourglass is one of the other Zelda games I’ve played and I think it is an example of this cliché. Link doesn’t speak, but there are things (can’t remember for sure) that indicate he is speaking.

Link’s Awakening I’ve also played (very recently) and it’s actually a little ambiguous as far as I remember. Somehow I’ve forgotten already, despite only playing it yesterday or so.
Link clearly asks/mentions some things, but in some of those cases it could be argued he just holds something out for others to comment on instead: such as with the toy or mushroom.

Breath of the Wild has a Link who can speak but chooses not to most of the time, so it manages to avoid this cliché by actually explaining it.

Note: Before I re-write this because it’s a bad section, I think it should be said that Link is only explicitly silent in The Wind Waker (I think) and Breath of the Wild. The former just has him not speak most of the time and the latter gives a reason as to why he doesn’t talk much.
But most Links in most games are not mute. This is possibly why the manga adaptations have him talk a lot more than you’d expect for a supposedly silent protagonist.