A
tradition among some
role-playing games is to have the
protagonist remain
silent throughout the game. The
dialogue is entirely supplied by the other
characters, and at times the main character may contribute with a
nod or some other
gesture. The idea behind this is to have the character "reflect the
will of the player" and not force you to
identify with a character who is saying things you wouldn't say.
Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross are noted for featuring an entirely silent protagonist. Sometimes, you need to answer a question, and while the choices presented to you are words, Crono or Serge only uses a gesture to express the answer. Many other games use this idea, but not to an extreme - Will in Illusion of Gaia has dialogue, but nevertheless he is not very talkative. When he does talk, it's usually not dialogue but narration.
Super Mario RPG includes an amusing parody of this concept - Mario is unable to talk, even when he is asked questions with very detailed answers, and so he sometimes does elaborate pantomimes to make his point.