Who's your favorite female protagonist?

[Artina89]

I would probably go for Ada Wong from Resident Evil. She is witty, elegant, kicks ass and Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 4 rank in my favourite games of all time. She also seems to have her own agenda and thinks several steps ahead. She actually ranks among my favourite characters in videogames, period. Some people might not consider her a protagonist, but as she has her own scenarios in Resident Evil 4 (Separate Ways and Assignment Ada) I decided to go for her.

 

[hentropy]

Although she's not really a PC, I've always loved and suggested Luca from Chrono Trigger. She's with you from the beginning and could be considered just as much of a main character as Crono himself. She's smart, she doesn't take crap, but not without having her own interesting nuances and motivations as well. In a great game brimming with great female characters, Luca really takes the cake. Even in other jRPGs of the era, particularly exclusively available in Japan, it seemed to be quite a few examples of great female characters.

When it comes to games where you have no choice but to play a female in the player position, I might suggest Recette (along with Tear, they're both good and sorta the PC) from Recettear. It's an example of a non-combat main character who can still be well-fleshed-out and interesting (not to mention, freaking adorable) without having to be a kickass action girl. There are also quite a few other great female characters in that game that run the gambit when it comes to roles and personalities, and they don't skimp on interesting male characters, either. Granted, a fair bit changes between the original Japanese and localization, but the spirit largely remains intact.

 

[CaptainMarvelous]

Samus Aran is always gonna be the queen of games in my heart. Bad-ass, bounty-hunting, Morph-Ball using Samus. Kind of a shame she hasn't had a game since Prime 3 but them's the breaks.

Other than that, if Ciri counts, her personality in Witcher 3 felt almost exactly how I imagined she'd develop after the books ended and her flash-stepping powers are INCREDIBLY fun to play (also made me hyped for FFXV since Noctis has a similar skill set, THAT would be a fun cross-over fight).

 

[StoleitfromKilgore]

"The Cat Lady" - Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BczPm1d5_18

The "favourite female character" - topic is not why I'm recommending this game here, since that's not really a category for me, that I care about. Female or not, if a character is badly written I still won't care. But Susan Ashworth, the main character of the game is still female. What's more she, as well as most of the rest of the cast are well written and voice-acted and the atmosphere manages to communicate the topic (depression) very well.

 

[Denamic]

Amaterasu from Okami is adressed as a female, but that's the same as calling a a wooden stump 'she' -There's no discernible personality there at all. Plus, she pees with her leg up and only males do that.

That is simply not true. Male dogs TEND to lift their leg to pee, and female dogs TEND to squat, but both sexes can and will do either depending on their preference. One of my female dogs lifts her leg to pee most of the time.

Most of my favorite female mains have already been mentioned, so I'll opt to pick one further down my list.
Rozalin from Disgaea 2. Even though Disgaea 2 is my least favorite Disgaea game, and even though the male lead, Adell, is the worst character in any NIS game ever, I love Rozalin.

Spoiler

Although Sapphire, the adorable sociopath, is a close second in the Disgaea series.

Spoiler

 

[Zaltys]

Actual main protagonists? That's a tough one.
Um... Adina Astra from Lost Constellation? Nah, that's such a short game that it shouldn't count.

Cate Archer from No One Lives Forever? I remember liking her, though to be honest, I don't remember much about those games.

Nah, I'll just pick April Ryan from The Longest Journey. Even though she was a bit Mary Sueish.

 

[Xeros]

Lian Xing from Syphon Filter.

I'm pleased to see the ladies of Syphon Filter being mentioned so early. Came here to throw my hat into the fray for Teresa Lipan.

 

[Raziello]

Jennifer Tate (Jen) from Primal. - Wise Cracking so often and basically a counter point to the rather grim and serious character of scree.

I have to agree with this, as soon as i read the thread title she came to mind. I adored that truely underrated game.

 

[The Madman]

Nah, I'll just pick April Ryan from The Longest Journey. Even though she was a bit Mary Sueish.

How was April Ryan even remotely Mary Sueish? That title doesn't make sense considering the twist at the end of the game:

Spoiler: Seriously major spoiler

Where it's revealed April Ryan wasn't and never had been 'the chosen one' despite all the sacrifices she made thinking she was.

Mary Sue are by definition a wish fulfillment sort of character. An idealized author self-insertion. This is literally a subversion of that trope.

 

[Chester Rabbit]

Lian Xing from Syphon Filter.

I'm pleased to see the ladies of Syphon Filter being mentioned so early. Came here to throw my hat into the fray for Teresa Lipan.

Uuugh I always had a massive hate for Teresa. She always sounded so smug and like she was laughing at everything.

Gabe: Teresa, these guys are wearing full armor! I can't hit em!
Teres: That's bad
Gabe:....NO FUCKING SHIT!(is what I wish he said)

 

[Treeberry]

Lara Croft of the older games. Strong of mind and body, resourceful and quietly full of personality. To be the kind of person she is, you have to be intelligent and strong. We see this through gameplay and in cutscenes (translating texts, breaking and entering!). It's just a shame they went overboard with certain things.

Amaterasu from Okami. A wolf-goddess who gets things done and a quiet sarcastic type too. Also, the #1 vegetable digger upperer. She fights with the power of words and art, me likey.

Fiona Belli from Haunting Ground. She's not particularly brave or strong and she panics a lot. But who wouldn't in her situation? Still, she has the sense to hide and teams up with the most awesome video game dog ever. She even tries to be merciful to her opponents. Since she climbed a literal pillar of ice, I'm sure she can't feel anything on her legs anymore though.

High five to whoever mentioned Blaze from Streets of Rage. She's the best one of the group. In fact, I don't think I've ever played as the guys. I can't even remember their names.

I also rather liked Jora and adult Gwen from Guild Wars: Eye of the North.

Every playable female character from the original Soul Blade / Edge. I'm not a fan of the Calibur series though.

Overall, I'd definitely pick Lara though.

(I just got Rickrolled by Captcha ._.)

 

[J.McMillen]

Cate Archer from No One Lives Forever? I remember liking her, though to be honest, I don't remember much about those games.

I loved those games, especially the 2nd one. Cate Archer was definitely a favorite character of mine.

 

[happyninja42]

Man I started reading and replying to this thread like a week or so ago, and I still can't think of a female protagonist from a game that I liked. Now granted, I don't tend to go for games with female protagonists if given the option, because I do prefer to play as a male character, as it's easier for me to suspend disbelief and project myself into a male character than a female. I don't have any problems playing a female character, I just have a preference for male characters.

I guess I'll have to go with Max Caufield from Life is Strange. Simply because I can't really think of any others. Though she does make some fairly heroic choices, outside of you making them for her. A few decisions are scripted in no matter what choices you make, and they do point to a fairly strong young woman, coming into her power, and putting herself into harms way, to try and help those around her, against several unknown threats.

 

[The Almighty Aardvark]

Amaterasu from Okami is adressed as a female, but that's the same as calling a a wooden stump 'she' -There's no discernible personality there at all.

It looks like I'll be the first person to care more about the first half of this statement than dog peeing habits.

Amaterasu does have personality. The fact that she doesn't talk doesn't negate that. I came out of the game thinking of her as snarky as hell. Sure, she's not much of a well rounded character, but they do manage to express a fair bit of personality in her body language (as well as her choice of nap timing).

 

[Xeros]

Uuugh I always had a massive hate for Teresa. She always sounded so smug and like she was laughing at everything.

Gabe: Teresa, these guys are wearing full armor! I can't hit em!
Teres: That's bad
Gabe:....NO FUCKING SHIT!(is what I wish he said)

Ha! That's actually what I really liked about her. Not quite comedy relief, but an infectiously snarky nature. I felt that, among other things, made her a much more endearing character than Lian. Though not to downplay Ms. Xing since she's an absolute badass in her own right, she's just more no-nonsense.

 

[Glongpre]

Rynn from Drakan the ancients gates (ps2)

It has been awhile since I played but I remember her being a good character. And she is bonded with a dragon, who is doing a sean connery-esqe accent and it is awesome. But she doesn't rely on him, she can wreck all manner of monsters by herself. She is actually quite the beast now that I think about it.

 

[Flames66]

Faith Connors from Mirrors Edge.

Spoiler: Faith

She is the character who originally persuaded me to take up Parkour.

 

[ed_phelan]

It can only be Lara Croft from Tomb Raider for me.

Saying that, I was rather taken by the female protagonist from that Bedlam game that Christopher Brookmyre has been involved in.

I wonder if it possible to play Tomb Rider using this VR headset for iPhone - http://www.red5.co.uk/vr-glasses.aspx - finally, I would be fulfilling many of my teenage dreams

 

[Ayen Matthews]

Yuna is my number one favorite because I relate to her the most, mainly due to her religious upbringing. Sadly, she's only playable in X-2 where a lot of what I like about her is notably absence.

Runner ups include Lara Croft, Samus Aran, Jill Valentine, Claire Redfield, Rebecca Chambers, April Ryan, Zoë Castillo (Dreamfall), Terra, Tifa, Celes, Aerith, Rinoa, Garnet, Ashe, Heather (Silent Hill 3), Alexandra Roivas (Eternal Darkness), Jodie (Beyond Two Souls), Ellie, Clementine, and Shel (Walking Dead 400 Days DLC).

Wow, I have a lot of favorites.

 

[broadbandmink]

Hmm, probably a dead heat between Cate Archer from the NOLF games and Major Sarah Parker from the first Ground Control.