Today, I’ll be defining the gaming term “third person” with a definition, example, and pictures.

Third person is a pretty easy definition to understand, learn, and use since its gaming term usage is derived from its actual definition.

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Third Person Definition:

• A camera perspective in which the player sees their character on the screen

Example: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Animal Crossing: New Horizons are third person games.

Third person is commonly written as “3rd person” to shorten the term.

The Only Rule

There is only one rule to be considered a third person perspective game: a game is third person as long as you can see the character you’re playing as.

Each third person game can have differing

• camera angles
• color schemes
• themes
• art direction
• gameplay genres

Not all third person games play alike and look alike.

How Is Third Person Used?

Third person–also known as third person perspective–is used to describe from what viewpoint a game is played.

EXAMPLE: My favorite third person game is Roblox; it’s cool that you can see your character.

As A Comparison

Third person is often brought up as a comparison to contrast another popular gaming perspective, first person.

• Third person: character on screen
• First person: the camera is the character’s eyes and view

EXAMPLE: Is Resident Evil a first person or third person game?

EXAMPLE: My favorite third person game is Fortnite, and my favorite first person game is Call of Duty.

Alternative Versions Of Third Person:

• Third person perspective (3rd person perspective)

EXAMPLE: Action games are the best when done in the third person perspective.

EXAMPLE: I wish third person perspectives were used more often in games.

Video Game Terminology Derivation

Third person derives from the term often used to describe the perspective a book is written.

• A third person book is read as if we are reading a book about a person instead of through their own eyes
• A third person game is playing a character we see on-screen instead of through their own eyes

When books use “he”, “she”, and so forth, the book is written from a third person perspective.

EXAMPLE: He walked outside and looked up. “It’s going to rain,” he said with a grin.

20 Popular Third Person Games

The following is a list of 20 popular games done using the third person perspective.

• Among Us
• Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
• Grand Theft Auto V
• Kirby Star Allies
• Fortnite
• Monster Hunter Rise
• Warframe
• God of War
• Animal Crossing: New Horizons
• Mortal Kombat series
• Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
• Terraria
• Stardew Valley
• Splatoon series
• Horizon: Zero Dawn
• Assassin’s Creed series
• Fall Guys
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
• Pokemon series
• Resident Evil 0 through 6

Keep in mind that a single game can shift third person camera angles and can even shift from third person perspective to first person perspective.

Also, various games in one series can also change perspectives as is the case with Resident Evil.

• You can see the character on the screen for the first 6 Resident Evil games
• You see the action through the eyes of the character in Resident Evil 7 and 8

Third Person Game Examples In Pictures

Here are picture examples of games with a third person perspective.

Game #1 – Fortnite

Fortnite is a third person game.

• The camera angle is behind the player

Game #2 – Diablo 3

Diablo 3 is a third person game.

• The camera angle is above the player

Game #3 – Kirby Star Allies

Kirby Star Allies is a third person game.

• The camera angle is set to view the characters from the side

Game #4 – Resident Evil 4

Resident Evil 4 is a third person game.

• The camera is set behind and over the character’s shoulder

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All four of the above images are games that use a third person perspective.

These screenshots shows how third person games look with various camera styles.

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(Screenshots taken by me. Images sourced from product pages, websites, or social media and are credited appropriately. Logos, images, etc. belong to their respective owners. All information current at time of publication.)

SOURCE: Builder Mario | Official Nintendo Super Mario Maker 2 art