Blindsided

Wolf O’Donnell is a notorious mercenary and the leader of the Star Wolf team. He’s also Fox McCloud’s greatest rival and one of the best pilots in the galaxy. If you want to fly for the US Air Force, your vision needs to be correctable to 20/20 in both eyes. Space agencies like NASA have similar requirements for astronauts. That’s why it’s so unusual to see someone like Wolf wearing an eyepatch. Although he occasionally uses an mechanical lens of some sort, he usually just covers his left eye with a traditional black patch. Wolf is renowned across the galaxy for his piloting skills, though, so he was obviously able to overcome his reduced depth perception and peripheral vision. He’s also proficient at hand-to-hand combat, which is evident by his appearance in the Super Smash Bros. series. The eyepatch clearly isn’t holding him back.

Mature is an elite assassin who is renowned for her ruthless nature. The statuesque blonde could be likened to Elle Driver from Kill Bill in some regards, and the comparison is even more apt after she starts wearing a an eyepatch in The King of Fighters XII. While Ms. Driver had her eye plucked out like a little bitch, Mature wears an eyepatch to conceal her power. Incidentally, she has the mark of Orochi on her left eye, and the patch is somehow able to pacify the flames of the mythical serpent. She can release Orochi’s power when needed, however, so you know that bad times are ahead when she starts to remove the patch in a fight. Mature’s repertoire of attacks is mostly based around her sharp fingernails and strong legs. She was dangerous enough before a demonic serpent decided to take up residence in her eye.

As a General for Alexandria’s all-female army, Beatrix is a merciless woman and one of the world’s greatest warriors. Although she’s revered as a cold-blooded commander, she’s admired by her soldiers and the public alike. In her youth, Beatrix was considered a prodigy in swordsmanship, and she once killed a hundred knights single-handedly! Everyone in Gaia is familiar with her past achievements, but we’re never given an explanation for why she wears a silver patch over her left eye. Beatrix never mentions the eyepatch and neither does anyone else, so all that’s left is conjecture. Maybe she intentionally covers an eye so she’ll always be acclimated to the dark? Perhaps she secretly wants to become a pirate? It could even be there to symbolize her blind loyalty to her Queen. Whatever the case, the patch certainly doesn’t make her less dangerous!

There was a legitimate concern that this list would consist entirely of pirates. Remarkably, Vyse is the only one on this entire countdown. Although he’s a crew member on his father’s airship and proudly wears the colors of the Blue Rogues, he’s anything but stereotypical. He has taken part in his share of raids, but he’s driven by empathy and prides himself on being a positive role model. Vyse is a different kind of pirate, so it’s only fitting that he would have an unconventional eyepatch. In truth, the eyepatch is a special lens that allows him to magnify distant objects. (It’s basically a hands-free telescope, and it can even see invisible objects!) Given its utility, it’s debatable if it should even be considered an eyepatch in the first place. It’s explicitly referred to as a “glass eyepatch” in the game, however, so who am I to argue?

Although Samurai Warriors features a myriad of historical figures, they are heavily fictionalized. Koei’s version of Masamune Date still has a lot in common with his real-life counterpart, however. He’s painted as a fearless warrior and a brilliant tactician, for example, and his distinct “crescent moon” helmet actually existed. Koei wasn’t especially concerned with historical accuracy, of course. The real Masamune lost his right eye to smallpox as a child and was deemed unfit for leadership roles as a result. In Samurai Warriors, he embraces the handicap and even labels himself the “One-Eyed Dragon.” Also, he can somehow shoot dragon-shaped lasers through his eyepatch! Historians are pretty sure he couldn’t do this in real life. Only a video game could take a tragic disease like smallpox and turn it into something awesome.

Goro Majima is an accomplished fighter and a successful businessman, but he’s most famous for his unpredictability. The so-called “Mad Dog of Shimano” wants to test his strength against Kazuma Kiryu, and he makes a point to challenge him as often as possible. In order to get the jump on Kiryu, he uses an assortment of hiding places and disguises. At various points, he pretends to be a bartender, a zombie, and a pop idol. He’s seldom seen without his trademark eyepatch, however, so the disguises are paper-thin. This was especially true of his traditional Hannya mask. (Remarkably, Majima chose to wear his eyepatch over the mask!) He lost his eye prior to the events of the games as a punishment for his insubordination, but it doesn’t slow him down. He even suggests that he was too powerful when he had both of his eyes.

As one of the Six Great Generals in the Scarlet Moon Empire, Georg Prime was commonly known as “Deathblow” due his ferocity in battle. He was often able to defeat his foes with a single blow, but his eyepatch proves that he’s not invulnerable. Georg had been slashed in the face when he was younger, and he leads everyone to believe his eye had been injured in the process. In truth, the attack missed his eye completely and he only wears the patch to keep himself from becoming overconfident. It’s exceptionally rare for someone to wear an eyepatch because they were almost injured, but Georg is the kind of guy who marches to the beat of his own drum. While most people run from their mistakes, Georg wants an eternal reminder of his carelessness. Even with the self-imposed impediment, he’s able to strike with incredible accuracy.

Zeke von Genbu is a contradiction onto himself. As the Crown Prince of Tantal, he speaks with a sophisticated vocabulary and is well-versed in political affairs. At the same time, he’s overly dramatic and gives himself juvenile nicknames like “The Zekenator.” A string of bad luck prevents him from being recognized as a great swordsman, and his eyepatch makes him a target of ridicule too. (One rival even calls him a “one-eyed monster” without realizing the implications of the insult.) His best friend suggests that the exiled prince wears an eyepatch because he’s too poor to afford a second contact lens, but Zeke claims that the patch conceals “a power too great for mere mortals to comprehend.” Surprisingly, it turns out that he was telling the truth! His so-called “Eye of Shining Justice” is one of the most devastating attacks in the game!

Sagat is one of the strongest fighters in the world, but he’s not invincible. His lifestyle left him scarred and disfigured, and he has faced humiliation on numerous occasions. The massive scar across is chest is a solemn reminder of his devastating loss to Ryu in the first Street Fighter game. The patch over his right eye is a souvenir from his younger days, and it has been a part of his ensemble since his introduction. The eye was apparently gouged out by a fighter named Go Hibiki, who was promptly killed in retaliation. Sagat was clearly upset about losing his eye, but this didn’t stop the Muay Thai champion from rising to the top of the fighting world. In some games, the eyepatch switches sides depending on which direction Sagat is facing. I can only assume he’s trying to challenge himself by occasionally wearing the patch over his good eye.

Eyepatches in video games are usually just glorified fashion accessories, and developers rarely examine how characters are affected by their impaired vision. Big Boss is clearly an exception to this rule. We see him lose his right eye on screen as part of a lengthy interrogation sequence, and we feel his agony when he takes a bullet to his face. Later, an unsuccessful attempt to catch a butterfly demonstrates how his depth perception has diminished. (The right side of the screen even has a tunnel vision effect when players enter a first-person view.) Big Boss eventually overcomes his setback, but the need for an eyepatch must be written in his DNA. Two of his clones end up wearing eyepatches after losing their vision, and a third clone equips himself with a bionic eye that happens to look exactly like a patch.