What about female narrators?

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

she's also a lesbian

I fail to see how this is relevant to the topic at hand and question why you chose to bring this up.

Are people not allowed to post bits of information that they find interesting anymore?

 

[freaper]

Isn't the narrator in God of War female? It's been a while since I played those games, but since that's all I've got, you're probably right.

the entire God of War series is indeed narrated by a woman and her name is Linda Hunt.

she's also a lesbian and probably best known for playing Hetty Lange in NCIS

Wow, she looks almost exactly like the designer lady from The Incredibles (homage?)

There are a lot of female narrators with the typical british accent, something like in Dark Souls.

Usually when its a narrator for a story that is presented as a legend its a women.

In many cases the narrator is the same character as the protagonist (Half-Life 2, etc.)

So what, you're screaming misogyny because there aren't many exclusive and padded roles? Stay classy. The Stanley parable example is an legitimate one.

You know, you can be a sexist by discriminating men....Well unless of course you've been listening too much to Sarkeesian.

Just don't, I wasn't even remotely going there. I wasn't being disingenuous, I was honestly wondering why I could only really recall prominent male narrators but not female ones. It might be a fault on my end, lack of games I played or the fact that I only put 5 minutes into my research (which the many examples in this thread show) or that generally games that do have female narrators are praised for aspects other than narration.

 

[Elijin]

Im going to quietly mention Worms: Battlegrounds, then skulk out before I get told off for thinking a Worms game had a passable story mode (Or at least the narration of it, anyway).

 

[Casual Shinji]

Linda Hunt narrates the entirety of the God of War saga (also voices Gaia), and to be honest she's as much of an icon as Kratos at this point.

Yet she doesn't voice Gaia in the third game for some weird reason, eventhough she does provide the intro narration.

She has one of the most 'above it all' sounding voices I think I've ever heard.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Linda Hunt narrates the entirety of the God of War saga (also voices Gaia), and to be honest she's as much of an icon as Kratos at this point.

Yet she doesn't voice Gaia in the third game for some weird reason, eventhough she does provide the intro narration.

She has one of the most 'above it all' sounding voices I think I've ever heard.

How weird?

She's the narrator to all six GoW games, and Gaia in GoW 2... you know I always thought, the way the third game treats Gaia, that her role was cut or somehow shortened. After you "learn" in the second game that the narrator IS Gaia (the narrator suddenly goes into first person mode when Gaia shows up), I always thought that this was setting up some sort of twist for the third game. And yet Gaia being the narrator is never addressed. I think they got another actress for Gaia in the third game once they decided they were aborting whatever the original idea for Gaia/the narrator was.

Also I learn from IMDB that Adrienne Barbeau was Hera? Awesome!

 

[Fox12]

Virtually ANYTHING fairy tale related is guaranteed to have a female narrator.

Fable
Bard's Tale

Your argument is invalid.

I had also not realised Kill Bill was a fairy tale. Probably part of the new folklore, I suppose.

^ can't decide if poster is joking, or just takes things wayway too literally.

Obviously not 100% of fairy tales are narrated by women. Just pointing out that a wealth of them are, and that a fairy tale is generally more likely to have a female narrator then most other genres. Maybe it's because of the subconscious image of a mother/grandmother/nurse telling a story. Also, none of the things listed were fairy tales. They were just random examples of female narrators.

I... I didn't think I'd actually have to explain this.

 

[Z of the Na'vi]

Are people not allowed to post bits of information that they find interesting anymore?

Bringing up a person's sexuality in a conversation where it doesn't really have a purpose or point just comes across as rude and/or uncalled for, if you ask me. It's the same sort of deal whenever somebody brings up Sir Ian McKellen's sexual preference when discussing his acting career.

It doesn't really mean anything in the context of the conversation.

 

[Bad Jim]

Yeah I'm actually having a hard time thinking of games with narrators that aren't main characters in their respective games, I was probably grasping at straws with UT.

Ah but that reminds me of another multiplayer shooter that has a female announcer by default. Team Fortress 2. Also by Valve is Portal, although GladOS isn't technically a narrator she acts like one for most of the game.

 

[Shocksplicer]

Athena narrates the entirety of Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel.

A woman who may be Gaia narrates the God of War saga.

Jane Austen Narrates Saints Row IV and Gat Out of Hell.

Other than those I can't think of any right now. I guess there aren't many, and there are a couple of simple reasons:

1: Typically, the narrator is the main character, and videogames being videogames that's usually a man.

2: Not meaning to sound sexist here: I often notice that actual talent isn't usually required for male narrators nearly as much as for female ones. Male narrators often get by just because they have a deep or gruff enough voice to convey information in a way that sounds epic, such as Bastion or Darkest Dungeon. Female voice actors, however, usually have to be that little bit better, and have actual talent to have the same effect that a generic gruff man has. Compare Cate Blanchett in TLOTR, to the any standard videogame protagonist.

 

[DoPo]

Obviously not 100% of fairy tales are narrated by women.

Which is different to saying that all of them are. Which I thought was obvious.

Just pointing out that a wealth of them are, and that a fairy tale is generally more likely to have a female narrator then most other genres.

I don't know, are they? I immediately gave you two male examples without even struggling to think. I can't remember female ones off the top of my head, to be honest.

Maybe it's because of the subconscious image of a mother/grandmother/nurse telling a story. Also, none of the things listed were fairy tales. They were just random examples of female narrators.

Yes - random being the key word. When you put examples after making a statement, it's usually because it's connected to the statement.

Potatoes, some minced meat and spices.

I mean, at least I thought that's how communication goes.

I... I didn't think I'd actually have to explain this.

I definitely think that when you are talking in literal non sequiturs is not something other people should be at fault for not understanding[footnote]Fry it until it changes colour, add some onions, water half the way up, and put it in the oven.[/footnote].

Also, when you made an absolute statement. And then it was my fault for not realizing you, in fact, meant something different and not absolute. Just a tip - getting your point across works better if you actually do it.

 

[Fappy]

Well everyone already mentioned Dark Souls....

I honestly don't think 3rd-person narration is all that common in games anyway. The lack of female narrators may just be due to a lack of narration in general.

 

[Mutant1988]

Half of humanity can't really be called a "minority", regardless of how marginalized they have been (And really should not be).

i meant in terms of the thread -.-

I know, I wasn't admonishing you for it. It's just a pet peeve of mine that people use that term (I prefer marginalized when it's, you know, a lot of people you treat as if they don't exist or matter), pay it no attention.

 

[happyninja42]

Isn't the narrator in God of War female? It's been a while since I played those games, but since that's all I've got, you're probably right.

the entire God of War series is indeed narrated by a woman and her name is Linda Hunt.

she's also a lesbian and probably best known for playing Hetty Lange in NCIS

I know her best as the Shadout Mapes from the David Lynch Dune movie, and also as the principal in Kindergarten Cop. xD And she was awesome in both of those. She really is an awesome lady, with a really awesome voice. She currently hosts a regular talk show on NPR, but I can't recall the name of it.

OT: Yeah, thinking about it, I can't think of too many examples of a female narrator. Couldn't say why, other than the possible answer of "since the protagonist is male, the narrator will usually be male" reason. Which makes a bit of sense to me honestly, as most stories with a narrator, are usually from the viewpoint of someone who actually witnessed the events. Not always of course, but it's pretty common, so if it's a self-narration, then yeah it would be male. If it's some kind of "brothers in arms" story, then again, likely a male companion. I wouldn't mind seeing more examples of a female narrator, as long as she's good.

 

[SNCommand]

Since it was a PS Plus game I played Apotheon today which has a female narrator, also not long since I played Age of Mythology which also has a female narrator

Seems like with all the other examples people have given that female narrators is not really an uncommon thing, probably not more usual than male narrators, but then I don't really see any issue with that

 

[balladbird]

hmm... the only game I can recall playing with a female narrator was Valkyria Chronicles... it's definitely an interesting thought, though. I've never really questioned the narrator being male, but upon reflection I see no reason why it would have to be.

Well, unless the fight announcer for fighting games count. XD then I can think of quite a few female ones.

 

[happyninja42]

I know her best as the Shadout Mapes from the David Lynch Dune movie

that's a good call actually.

i'll be honest; i looked her up.

she's one of those actors you are like "oh, i know that face" but they're not all that famous for one specific outstanding thing.

a bit like the late Pete Postlethwaite (who's presence always made me pay more attention to something)

Yeah, she's very much a "Hey it's that lady!" kind of actor. I really couldn't say why she stuck in my mind from Dune, other than I was a young kid when I first saw it, and she had such a distinctive look/voice. Like a little goblin or gremlin almost, but real. It was fascinating to me. For such a tiny role in that movie, it definitely stuck with me.

And yeah Pete is one of those actors too. xD The only thing I can think of off hand is Alien 3, though I know I've seen him in other stuff.

Sorry, didn't mean to derail the topic, but I do love that actress in everything I've seen her in, so I felt like fan boying over her a bit. xD

 

[nightmare_gorilla]

This may sound sexist but i think that sort of deep booming voice is perceived as having more impact than a female voice. or at least I think that's what some people think so to say. I mean that james earl jones type voice, or tony jay who voiced the elder god in soul reaver, it just has a certain resonance that we either perceive or are programmed to perceive as authoritative. I mean it's, lets say easier, to portray gloom and doom with the baritone than the higher pitch most female voices have.