Women in video games: which ones do it right?

[Admiral Stukov]

Almost anything you can choose gender of the main character in.

But my favorite of all time is Sarah Kerrigan/Queen of Blades.
That is one heck of a great character.

 

[Gunner 51]

I say Morrigan from Dragon Age got it right. She wasn't super nice or super bitchy - she had needs and desires and she was far from a sex kitten. Just when you start thinking she's a completely hard nosed cow, she inadvertently shows her softer site.

When all was said and done, I think all she wanted in life was self reliance and possibly the love of a good man, even if she was a little scared of loving him in return.

 

[nohorsetown]

Dragon Age: Brood Mother
Metroid: Mother Brain
Earthworm Jim: Queen Slug-For-A-Butt

These splendid ladies are definitely not your standard "tits and a smile" video game characters. They were all strong-willed, self-realized women. Hellz yeah.

 

[L4hlborg]

I refuse to add Mass Effect 2 onto this list of good female characters simply because of the game's immature obsession with making the camera show off Miranda's arse.

I don't think they failed with Miranda. The point of her character is that she is genetically engineered to perfection. Good camerawork supports character. But the character herself is a bit depressed about here near perfection. That is why the player should realize that the camera is fucking around and just focus on the dialogue him/herself. The camera can also be taken as what a male person would be normally looking at. So it can be taken as a more deep thing than it seems. Passes good female character test.

Even though I hate Jack, they don't take ridiculous camera angles on her even though she is half naked. Passes.

Samara's outfit is a bit riduclous to be honest. Though it can be taken as an asari cultural thing, so I'll just let it slide.

Tali is still Tali and Femshep is femshep. Can't really fail at that.

 

[MikailCaboose]

Eternal Darkness with Alex Roivas.

 

[monkey_man]

Alyx Vance.

/thread?

yep

 

[Rawle Lucas]

Glad to see answers other than "Alyx Vance" and "Samus" for once.

I like them when they fulfil the role they're intended for, e.g. Peach as "You get this, you win", helpful sidekick a la bioware RPGs, or simply the fetish-fuel, latex-bondagewear donning Dominatrix from Hell (somehow Bayonetta comes to mind, dunno why), because, seriously, we need those, if just as a contrast to the "good" characterisations

You bring up an interesting point -- any game that has the room for it should include different character types, whether male or female. It can set up interesting dynamics.

Everyone, keep up the good work.

 

[monkey_man]

Any game in which women aren't just sex dolls.

Good: Half-Life 2

Bad: God of War

hey no fair! she was the goddess of love n stuff. SHE IS SUPPOSED TO BE A SEXDOLL.

 

[Kurt Cristal]

I can say, any game where your protagonist is customizable to the point of being able to choose if you're a man or woman at the beginning of those games. Those do pretty well with women characters.

 

[Rawle Lucas]

I can say, any game where your protagonist is customizable to the point of being able to choose if you're a man or woman at the beginning of those games. Those do pretty well with women characters.

Good point regarding interactivity in video games -- giving the player plenty of customization options helps with immersion.

There's still the matter of supporting characters, though.

 

[Ekonk]

Any game in which women aren't just sex dolls.

Good: Half-Life 2

Bad: God of War

hey no fair! she was the goddess of love n stuff. SHE IS SUPPOSED TO BE A SEXDOLL.

Love goes beyond just sex. Although I won't deny that Aphrodite was quite a sex kitten in the original myths as well, she was also a very romantic goddess. There is no romance in God of War.

 

[illas]

Absolutely no doubt in my mind:

April Ryan from The Longest Journey isn't just my favorite female game protagonist, but probably my favorite overall. Her voice-acting is perfect, her dialogue well written, her reactions throughout the game to what happens believable, and her commentary entertaining and often funny. All that thrown together not only makes her an extremely believable and sympathetic character, but also makes the series so much more heartbreaking when bad things simply continue to happen to her.

I honestly can't think of a single other game character from any genre to match, regardless of genre.

Correct, IMO. She is one of the few "fully rounded" characters (emotionally... tsk.) to feature in a videogame.

 

[kogane]

Mad Moxxi from Borderlands. Very sexual, and knows what she wants. Actually, all the female characters in Borderlands are pretty good, even thought they are far inbetween.

 

[Koroviev]

I think the female characters in the Persona series are very well done. My favorite characters in Mass Effect 2 were all women, being it that they were by far the most interesting IMO. And the female character in Bioshock 2 literally served as your ninja bodyguard at the end of the game.

 

[PhoenixOnly]

Dead or alive beach volleyball

 

[Koroviev]

I can say, any game where your protagonist is customizable to the point of being able to choose if you're a man or woman at the beginning of those games. Those do pretty well with women characters.

I'm thinking Mass Effect 2 >:]

 

[Koroviev]

I refuse to add Mass Effect 2 onto this list of good female characters simply because of the game's immature obsession with making the camera show off Miranda's arse.

I don't think they failed with Miranda. The point of her character is that she is genetically engineered to perfection. Good camerawork supports character. But the character herself is a bit depressed about here near perfection. That is why the player should realize that the camera is fucking around and just focus on the dialogue him/herself. The camera can also be taken as what a male person would be normally looking at. So it can be taken as a more deep thing than it seems. Passes good female character test.

Even though I hate Jack, they don't take ridiculous camera angles on her even though she is half naked. Passes.

Samara's outfit is a bit riduclous to be honest. Though it can be taken as an asari cultural thing, so I'll just let it slide.

Tali is still Tali and Femshep is femshep. Can't really fail at that.

I love Mass Effect 2 and the female characters in it, but Miranda annoys the Hell out of me.

 

[Koroviev]

Neither are over sexualized, but DMC does it better.

Um...

Boobs.

 

[Koroviev]

Hooooo... there are SO many *deep breath* :

- Jade (B G&E)
- Alyx Vance (obviously)
- Trip (Enslaved)
- Tannenbaum (Bioshock)
- Most of the women in Fallout 3 (Sarah Lyons for example)
- Lamb in Bioshock 2, both Eleanor and her Mother
- Faith (Mirror's Egde)
- Kate Archer (No-one Lives Forever)
and Jayne Wilde (Second Sight)to name a few.

There are plenty of examples of "real" women in videogames. It's just there are more examples of "fake" ones. But just the fact that some games gets it right sometimes I think is reason enough to not care when games like "Extreme Volleyball" comes up. As long as we still get "Alyxes" I think at least I can handle a few "Ivys" (Soul Calibur).

I can't believe I forgot about Tenenbaum! Can't go wrong with foreign ladies B]