Women In Video Games

[Ekonk]

A better question would be "are there any games that feature an UGLY woman as the main character?". My guess would be no as they only feature a woman on the basis that they are hot (in the mind of the designer) and are normally pretty damn athletic/ well endowed to get the kids/ young adults/ frustrated older men all excited.

You never play an ugly man either.

Marcus Fenix (Gears of War) is a pretty ugly MoFo - deformed in his muscularoty too.

Perhaps I should change my original statement to 'never a non-muscular male'.

 

[Quassimodo]

as a few before me, Metroids maincharacter Samus is by far my fav female character

 

[Poke_Freak]

I must be weird then, because I was actually enthusiastic about her being female. I like female characters if their done right and not shallow, and usually I prefer ones of my own hand because they are never going to end up as damsels in distress or cliche Lara Croft clones.

No, I think that was sort of the point. Showing that any character is good when "done right", regardles of what they have in the pants.

 

[LiquidGrape]

I don't like Alyx Vance. Valve went so far in attempting to defy the stereotypes when creating her that she ends up being stereotypical in an entirely different way.

I've heard this argument before, and I can't for the world of me comprehend it.
Agreed, it's very true that many storytellers fall into the trap of simply counteracting the archetypical perception of femininity with the result being a bad-mouthing, ass-kicking robot devoid of any traits applicable to a regular human being.
But I see no trace of this in Alyx.
She's an earnest, hard-working woman with a clearly defined personality, caring disposition and the ability to fend for herself.
And I cannot recall a single instant when this characterization faltered or was rendered inconsistent.
I'd love to hear you elaborate on this idea, because I simply can't understand it.

 

[Phantom_Natal]

I couldn't careless, that is if were talking about a silent action hero or heroine. If it's about voices and mannerisms in general, well, I'd all depend on how good the game is.

 

[Batfred]

A better question would be "are there any games that feature an UGLY woman as the main character?". My guess would be no as they only feature a woman on the basis that they are hot (in the mind of the designer) and are normally pretty damn athletic/ well endowed to get the kids/ young adults/ frustrated older men all excited.

You never play an ugly man either.

Marcus Fenix (Gears of War) is a pretty ugly MoFo - deformed in his muscularoty too.

Perhaps I should change my original statement to 'never a non-muscular male'.

In my boredom at work I have actually been thinking about this. I am really struggling! Anyone?

 

[Poke_Freak]

A better question would be "are there any games that feature an UGLY woman as the main character?". My guess would be no as they only feature a woman on the basis that they are hot (in the mind of the designer) and are normally pretty damn athletic/ well endowed to get the kids/ young adults/ frustrated older men all excited.

You never play an ugly man either.

Marcus Fenix (Gears of War) is a pretty ugly MoFo - deformed in his muscularoty too.

Perhaps I should change my original statement to 'never a non-muscular male'.

Rather, you never play as a character, male or female, that isn't idealized.
Whether sexy, rugged and manly, big and tough SPESS MUHREEN!, cool, a.s.o. the character is always a representation of an ideal.
(Which is intentional, because... Eh, CBA to get into that discussion too. )

 

[LiquidGrape]

Perhaps I should change my original statement to 'never a non-muscular male'.

In my boredom at work I have actually been thinking about this. I am really struggling! Anyone?

 

[Axolotl]

Rather, you never play as a character, male or female, that isn't idealized.
Whether sexy, rugged and manly, big and tough SPESS MUHREEN!, cool, a.s.o. the character is always a representation of an ideal.

The Nameless One?

 

[Batfred]

Perhaps I should change my original statement to 'never a non-muscular male'.

In my boredom at work I have actually been thinking about this. I am really struggling! Anyone?

Not a stand out freak, but definitely no looker.

 

[Delock]

Anyone going to mention Silent hill 3? Sure she wasn't exactly an adult at the beginning, but I'm pretty sure just being in that town will age you 20 years.
My favorite game with a female lead though would be Beyond Good and Evil (if bayonetta's didn't give me those damn still shot cutscenes so often I might have said otherwise).

A better question would be "are there any games that feature an UGLY woman as the main character?". My guess would be no as they only feature a woman on the basis that they are hot (in the mind of the designer) and are normally pretty damn athletic/ well endowed to get the kids/ young adults/ frustrated older men all excited.

You never play an ugly man either.

Marcus Fenix (Gears of War) is a pretty ugly MoFo - deformed in his muscularoty too.

Perhaps I should change my original statement to 'never a non-muscular male'.

MGS4. Not only is he nonmusclar, but his muscles are so bad he has to wear a muscle suit just to get around.

 

[crypt-creature]

A better question would be "are there any games that feature an UGLY woman as the main character?". My guess would be no as they only feature a woman on the basis that they are hot (in the mind of the designer) and are normally pretty damn athletic/ well endowed to get the kids/ young adults/ frustrated older men all excited.

You never play an ugly man either.

Marcus Fenix (Gears of War) is a pretty ugly MoFo - deformed in his muscularoty too.

Perhaps I should change my original statement to 'never a non-muscular male'.

Nah, it's fine. He might be ugly to other men, but he's not that bad looking to some women.

OT: Trespasser is a game I'll mention. My only gripe would be the fact that her health bar was a heart tattooed onto her breast. Yeah, it was probably thrown in there for the men-folk, but it's still tacky and a little stupid.

 

[ddon]

i say metroid.

 

[Uilleand]

Yeah...Fem!Shep kicks ass in Mass Effect. But, really, any WRPG allows you to play as a female. (Except maybe The Witcher, which is probably why I haven't played it yet...)

 

[Ekonk]

Anyone going to mention Silent hill 3? Sure she wasn't exactly an adult at the beginning, but I'm pretty sure just being in that town will age you 20 years.
My favorite game with a female lead though would be Beyond Good and Evil (if bayonetta's didn't give me those damn still shot cutscenes so often I might have said otherwise).

A better question would be "are there any games that feature an UGLY woman as the main character?". My guess would be no as they only feature a woman on the basis that they are hot (in the mind of the designer) and are normally pretty damn athletic/ well endowed to get the kids/ young adults/ frustrated older men all excited.

You never play an ugly man either.

Marcus Fenix (Gears of War) is a pretty ugly MoFo - deformed in his muscularoty too.

Perhaps I should change my original statement to 'never a non-muscular male'.

MGS4. Not only is he nonmusclar, but his muscles are so bad he has to wear a muscle suit just to get around.

Yeah, but that's 4. In the original he was tall dark and handsome. Once people love the character they can go and make him old.

 

[Lucane]

Metroid, Bayonetta, Perfect Dark, Mirror's Edge, Beyond Good and Evil....um...Metroid.

But the most badass woman in gaming was my character in Oblivion.

You can add Okami to the list being a female wolf sun goddess... wolf an sun <,< the 1st time I ever noticed that. (Wolves normally known to howl at the moon and nothing in particualar with the sun.)

And Shion from Xenosaga or if the real main char is Kos-Mos still a female char.

 

[PedroSteckecilo]

http://www.gamepro.com/article/features/213466/bayonetta-empowering-or-exploitative/

Quite a good article discussing Bayonetta and it's positive effects on female characters in games. Definitely a good read. As well it pretty much conveys most of my opinions better than I could.