Strong Female Characters In Videogames ?

richymcdermott

With a conversation I had with a friend after some hot topics over the last year or so on how women are portrayed In videogames , without having to bring up an old thread about a certain someone Anita Sarkeesian who was very vocal on how women are the prize for the protagnist after fighting the evil empire and as the saying goes save the world and get the girl, I would like to hear people opinions on what characters you feel are strong female characters and why , not necessary to try to debunk the claims that women are often mistreated but to showcase that there are in fact women in games that do portray strong leaders, smart characters and not a trophy.



The Boss:


The Boss also known as the joy is the first female that comes to my mind on a woman who ideals and philosophies changed the outcome of the world of the metal gear series. A character loved by many even at her death sparked two men one who considered her a friend (Major Zero) and a person who felt she was more than a friend, lover or mother ( Naked Snake ) ( jack ). two men who lost their ways in her passing and felt they needed to carry her memories and ideals on how the world was suppose to be for the future, even a scientist Dr. Strange Love loved her and was willing to give everything to understand why she did what she did.

Kojima who is known to do outlandish things to women particularly the complaints of a certain character in ground zeroes, but if there is anything he should be applauded for is creating a universal character that is more than just a sex appeal but creating a character that was so perfect in mind and spirit that just one game she was in made millions of people caring for her at the end of the credits.


I like to keep it as one example just so everyone gets a say without repeating same characters over but by all means add as many as you like.:)

Zero-Cool

Clementiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine

Manach

When one thinks of strong, that is playing to the essence strengths - I presume in the sense of feminine: caring, naturing and willing to sacrifice for the family/group: as opposed the model comprised of the modern world which seeks to input the overbearing attributes of a man and seeks to enfused that in a female form - again I presume for political reasons in some misguided pursuit of a post-progressive utopia where all many of differences are banished in the name of equality.

In that case, allow me to nominate Grace Nakimura character from Gabrial Knight series, how had a well round and intelligent personality that made an interesting gaming experience.

Retr0gamer

Zoe Castillo from Dreamfall.

Most of the Atelier protagonists are great female characters and don't try to act like males. Ayesha would be the best example.

All five of the main female characters from Higurashi are excellent. Again they are just normal kids and not superheroes.

I really loved Melia's character in Xenoblade. Her romantic character arc is the most mature I've seen a game deal with a relationship in any game and she really shows her strength through it.

Star Lord

One of the original strong female characters: Samus Aran. (Just ignore the story in Other M...)

Alex Roivas in Eternal Darkness was also one that I particularly liked.

Sonics2k

FemShep in Mass Effect for sure.

rizzla

Probably because I'm playing it at the moment but Rhonda in Dead Rising 3 is badass.

calex71

Elizabeth in Bioshock deserves lots of praise for doing what needed to be done.

I can't think of Rhonda in DR3 without thinking of Pam from Archer, don't think they are the same woman but they sound alike

Lyaiera

Jade from Beyond Good and Evil. And you actually got to play as her. One of my favourite games of all time.

GerB40

calex71 wrote: »

Elizabeth in Bioshock deserves lots of praise for doing what needed to be done.

I can't think of Rhonda in DR3 without thinking of Pam from Archer, don't think they are the same woman but they sound alike

I was gonna say Elizabeth too but then I remembered the ending. I can't put spoiler tags up but, ya know....

Corholio

I think Samus Aran really stands out, especially with the reveal and everything.

SterlingArcher

Lacey Jonas.

GottaGetGatt

Ellie from the Last Of Us

Skerries

the reimaging of Lara Croft certainly helped her get away from the sexist version that came before

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

Skerries wrote: »

the reimaging of Lara Croft certainly helped her get away from the sexist version that came before

this would be the non sexist version that thinks a woman needs to be almost raped to grow as a person?

Fawk Nin

Ada Wong from Resi Evil.

As mentioned above, Samus.

Zero-Cool

Ah forgot all about the legend Lara Croft. Much prefer the original Lara. Didn't moan and cry every step she took, just wooped a lot of male and animal ass with her dual pistols!

Man, what a brilliant brilliant game.

Sephiroth_dude

Lightning from ff13

Freya from ff9

Sarky

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar wrote: »

this would be the non sexist version that thinks a woman needs to be almost raped to grow as a person?

Can you remind me which qte you have to fail for the rape to happen? I don't recall it anywhere, which is odd, seeing as I failed each one a few times due to the keyboard controls...

folan

Alex vance?

shruikan2553

Sarah Palmer from Halo 4 and Spartan assault. Cortana is sort of female, the doctor she was based off.

I would agree with Alex Vance in half life. Theresa in Fable.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

Sarky wrote: »

Can you remind me which qte you have to fail for the rape to happen? I don't recall it anywhere, which is odd, seeing as I failed each one a few times due to the keyboard controls...

i never played the game I was just parroting the "gamez is so sexist" meme the media was pushing around the time of the games release

Sarky

Lt. Mira in Space Marine. Granted she was the only female character, but she held up against two planetary invasions, coordinated the defense against both, and didn't let stupid sexist twaddle get in the way of doing her job. Also got treated as an equal by the protagonist, even before she saved his life. She wasn't some ditzy stereotyped pair of breasts, or a prize to be won.

Sarky

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar wrote: »

i never played the game I was just parroting the "gamez is so sexist" meme the media was pushing around the time of the games release

Ah, I see. Do play it, it's rather good. There's a "nearly strangled by a creepy Russian" qte, but no sign of the rape the media kept howling about.

calex71

Sarky wrote: »

Ah, I see. Do play it, it's rather good. There's a "nearly strangled by a creepy Russian" qte, but no sign of the rape the media kept howling about.

It was never there, it was always a threat nothing else as far as I know.

Zero-Cool

The Master of Unlocking!

Jill!!!! (I miss last last last gen)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XyghKl72R0

Sephiroth_dude

Jill valentine...................what a woman!

pablomakaveli

Sarky wrote: »

Lt. Mira in Space Marine. Granted she was the only female character, but she held up against two planetary invasions, coordinated the defense against both, and didn't let stupid sexist twaddle get in the way of doing her job. Also got treated as an equal by the protagonist, even before she saved his life. She wasn't some ditzy stereotyped pair of breasts, or a prize to be won.

Came here to post this as well. I was really impressed with her character. She wasn't treated in the usual stereotypical way but as an Imperial Guard officer who just happens to be female.

The game has actually been praised by feminists for this reason.

Maximus Alexander

Alyx in Half-Life 2. Femshep in Mass Effect, Miranda in ME2. Lara Croft, particularly nowadays when she's less absurdly proportioned to appeal to 14 year old boys. There are quite a few others - but still not nearly enough.

It is pretty stunning the sheer volume of games that feature a grizzled male 30 / 40 something lead who is on a quest to save / avenge his wife / daughter / some woman. Once you look for it, you can't stop seeing it everywhere.

Star Lord

sheehy83 wrote: »

The Master of Unlocking!

Jill!!!! (I miss last last last gen)

Maybe in the later Resident Evil games, in Resident Evil she was too dependant on Barry saving her in some situations. "Stand Back Jill!"
They had Chris able to make it through similar circumstances without help, so Jill needing Barry's help kinda removed the self reliance that she should have had.

Claire in Resident Evil 2 would be a much better example in my opinion.

In my opinion, Samus Aran is the epitome of strong female characters*, in that her sex doesn't even come into the equation. She just does what she has to do, and the fact that she's female is entirely irrelevant.

*again, with the exception of Other M. Hate what they did to her in the cut scenes in that game.

Penn

Trish in Devil May Cry (though more specifically, DMC4). You could also play as her in DMC2 which was pretty much the only good thing about that game (even though I generally prefer to pretend DMC2 doesn't exist).

Zero-Cool

Could Barry or Chris play Moonlight Sonata????

degrassinoel

Femshep

Randall Floyd

Chell in portal.

Trishka in Bulletstorm.

johnny_ultimate

Sam in Gone Home. Whereas many of the characters mentioned above are world-saving action heroes, Sam is something far more interesting entirely (at least in video game terms). Games have tried to tackle more realistic and grounded concerns before - often in the hyperstylised way you see in a lot of Japanese gaming and anime - but Sam feels like a genuine, credible teenager with real-life concerns. She's a young woman trying to find her way in life, dealing with issues of identity, family, independence and sexuality.

The Fullbright Company do some very impressive to actually establish her as a believable individual. When you go into her room, for example, it makes some concessions to video game storytelling but at the same time it fees 'lived in'. There's photographs and mementos developing someone who exists well beyond the parameters of the game's real-time narrative. Sam is someone with passions, friends, interests and individual taste. Even down to her music collection - whether that's riot girl icons or the songs from amateur local bands. She even vocally expresses her fondness for named films and video games!

Gone Home's script would probably be over familiar in any other medium, addressing topics and themes that have long become 'old hat' in film and literature. But it also uses interactivity as an interesting tool, allowing the player to explore the environment at their leisure and discover intimate details about the people who live in this house. And Sam is the best established of the lot, her diary entries further developing a character that's already fascinatingly realised through seemingly minor details scattered around the game world. Not bad for a character you never actually see in person.

K.O.Kiki

FemShep doesn't count as a true "strong female character" since her interactions are more-or-less the same as MaleShep's.
That said, breaking up with Garrus in ME3 was handled very well, and I praise the writers for that scene.

Back on topic: BAYONETTA

If you can take 3 seconds to see her as more than a Barbie doll, you'll find a strong woman who takes pride in the fact she looks good and can still kick ass.

Jonny Blaze

Chun-li from SF.

Shiminay

Yea, I'd have to agree with K.O.Kiki, I don't think you can make that strong of an argument for Fem Shep since she's merely a representation of exactly the same character but with boobs. The Shepard character overall was an enjoyable one to play though (I personally played the Fem Shep variant myself).

Lt Mira was great and was very much in keeping with the themes of the 40k universe

Chell in portal - no character development at all, we merely see the world and the development of GLaDOS and Wheatley through her eyes.

Trishka in Bulletstorm - definitely agree with that choice, she was slotted into a total dude-bro testosterone fuelled silly game and was perfectly at home in it the way they wrote her, very Velasquez from Aliens style.

Chun-Li definitely gets another vote from me - a victim as a child who joins the secret police on a mission to take down Bison by giving as good as anyone else.

Borderlands' series gets a nod here too, even though all their characters are "over the top" in a lot of ways, there's still a lot to be said for how they've written Moxxi (yea, all T&A in appearance, but she's not a lady to be fked with by any stretch of the imagination and she's been a good mother to her kids in so much as circumstance can allow). Lilith too was very well portrayed I thought. Fell out with the Raiders, set up her own domain of fire and put the fear of the gods into anyone who tried to cross her.

Maximus Alexander

Shiminay wrote: »

Yea, I'd have to agree with K.O.Kiki, I don't think you can make that strong of an argument for Fem Shep since she's merely a representation of exactly the same character but with boobs. The Shepard character overall was an enjoyable one to play though (I personally played the Fem Shep variant myself).

I dunno, you could make an argument that the fact that the character behaves in an identical manner to her male counterpart is precisely why she's such a strong character. They made no concessions to the notion of gender roles. For me, there is only Femshep, and she was a great character.

johnny_ultimate

We do need to get to the point where we say "this is a great character" as opposed to "this is a great female character". In an ideal world, gender shouldn't be the key qualifier, and any character should stand proud regardless of their sex. The whole Mass Effect thing is a great qualifier of that - Shepard is an interesting character completely in spite of gender (although consensus is that the FemShep voice actor is stronger and more charismatic).

While they do exist directly in relation to a male protagonist, I've always been impressed by how well the Uncharted games have portrayed Elena, Marisa and Chloe. The 'love interest' is the most token and thankless of all roles, but strong voice acting and characterisation has always ensured these are charismatic, intelligent, strong-willed and likeable individuals above and beyond their basic narrative roles as Drake's past, present and feature beaus. Marlowe too served as an unusual, offbeat and curious protagonist.

GottaGetGatt

GottaGetGatt wrote: »

Ellie from the Last Of Us

Don't forget Trish & Marlene, equally as strong.

Shiminay

Shiminay wrote: »

Trishka in Bulletstorm - definitely agree with that choice, she was slotted into a total dude-bro testosterone fuelled silly game and was perfectly at home in it the way they wrote her, very Velasquez from Aliens style.

This.

For a game that was considered to be childish by some, if you you delve deaper it's not at all.

She took no **** from anyone and held here own against the hyper-ego's of the male characters.

Jonny Blaze

What about Elaine Marley?

folan

does GladOs count?

folan

folan wrote: »

does GladOs count?

She's an A.I. so I would say no.

gizmo

Yep +1 to Lilith from Borderlands, thought she was fantastic in both games.

I also really like Nariko from Heavenly Sword. The story may have been cliché-central but I'm a sucker for a bit of heroic sacrifice and chest beating speeches against antagonists.

Cate Archer from NOLF and Farrah from Prince of Persia are also two that stick in my mind as being really enjoyable characters. The former benefited from some amusing writing throughout both games while the latter was an great partner for the cocksure Prince in the Sands of Time series.

folan

M!Ck^ wrote: »

She's an A.I. so I would say no.

i understand, but "she", as you put it, is still female.

now, its a female personality put upon an AI (though Portal 2 insinuates that she was once human, or at least part of the AI came from her).

it also raises the question of SHODAN.

Morag

Morrigan and Wynne in Dragon age orgins.
Annah-of-the-Shadows Planescape torment
Sylvanas Windrunner warcraft 3 and wow
BloodRayne
Zhai Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone (one of the best experiences of playing rogue bar thief series)
Alice in american Mcgees's Alice

Gbear

Maximus Alexander wrote: »

Femshep in Mass Effect, Miranda in ME2.

It's a bit undermined by the fact that every time you have a serious conversation with her the camera is locked onto her arse.

Maximus Alexander

Gbear wrote: »

It's a bit undermined by the fact that every time you have a serious conversation with her the camera is locked onto her arse.

This is true, it annoys me too.

Sarky

Morag wrote: »

Annah-of-the-Shadows Planescape torment

Ah, Annah. Independant, strong-willed, mouth like a Glaswegian sailor. I could listen to her tell me to pike off all day.