player character

noun

1. a character in a role-playing game or video game who is controlled by the person playing the game. : PC Compare nonplayer character.

Word History and Origins

Origin of player character¹

First recorded in 1990–95

Example Sentences

Because you’re controlling player characters and deciding what to look at—often even changing where you’re looking with split-second reactions—smooth motion matters a lot more in gaming.

From Popular-Science

The sprites for both enemies and player characters are smooth and gorgeous, evoking a simpler gaming era, but with some wonderful scaling and twisting bells and whistles to keep them from seeming staid.

From Popular-Science

When the player approaches a mirror, modern graphics technology should render an image of the player character back.

From Washington Post

A rarity in the VR space, it is a much more “typical” gaming experience, even using a fully rendered player character model, eschewing the floating hands so often seen in VR titles.

From Washington Post