Positive Portrayals of Women in Video Games

[Forsaken Lover]

So this was a pretty lively thread on SomethingAwful so I thought I'd steal the idea and see what responses people here have.

Which women in gaming are actually good characters ie. not brainless beauties in need of saving or some skankified "badass"?

I realize it's probably not the most obvious choice considering the series but I really don't like The Boss. So I'm gonna say another MGS female.

Olga Gurlukovich - Metal Gear Solid 2


A skilled soldier with a very deep connection to her war buddies. Nevertheless, she was forced into a most unenviable position - to sacrifice one family for her actual family. She did everything for her baby and when it came time to make the ultimate sacrifice, she lamented what she had done and made no excuses.

She was really just one of the strongest and most respectable characters in the series.

[Mirage]

I agree. Olga is a real badass.

Even if you don't personally like her though, the Boss is a pretty solid woman as well.

[krissy]

jade from bge



i guess alyx vance from half life is a good one, but i never really liked her as much as everyone said so

april ryan from Longest Journey is a pretty cool lady

chell doesn't count i think because she has no personality really. then again, not that i think about it, she does, with a very subtle intense determination to be free. maybe there's more layers to portal than i've thought about.

[Mirage]

When I first played Portal I thought I was some sort of robot who had recently become self aware. Then I got disappointed.

I'm trying to find a picture of Olga in her ninja getup, but I'm not having any luck. I mean I can find Olga, and I can find the cyborg ninja, but I can't find one with the visor transparent.

FF11 has a lot of supporting/minor, but still named female characters that are pretty crucial to the success of various events in the game, including the all-out war that took place as well, and they're not exactly given desk jobs. I could name a few, but I'd want to refresh my memory a bit first. It has been a while since I played through the story parts in that game.

In either case, guess I should go pictalicious too.
mgs3-5.jpg


And here's Ayame from FF11. She is a "generic character model", sadly, but that's not really important because 95% of all significant NPCs are in that game.
Ayame_(A).jpg
She's a samurai, and a relatively high ranking member of the Bastokan military. She plays an important role in many of the missions you for that nation.

I'd also say that Mitsuru from Persona 3 is a pretty good character.

Then we also have Lenneth from Valkyrie Profile.
vps-lenneth-concept.jpg

[krissy]

samus aran too i guess





and this doesn't really count but my saints row 3 main character is an ass kicking red head 30 something with aviators

[DrAssenov]

alxy.jpg
Alyx from Half-Life 2. She's super smart, a great partner, and never seems to run out of ammo (at least so far in the game I'm playing XD)

I also really like how she's like, dressed appropriately for what she needs to get done (e.g. kicking butt, hacking systems, etc.) She is awesome for who she is, not what she looks like (although she's actually really pretty.)

[KentaRawr!]

samus aran too i guess





and this doesn't really count but my saints row 3 main character is an ass kicking red head 30 something with aviators

I disagree with Samus being a positive portrayal, actually. In the original Metroid, her being a woman was treated as a revelation as though it should be surprising that a woman could star in a game like that, and her having less clothing is a reward for beating the games quicker. And then there was Other M. :P

[Madame Adequate]

ITT sensibly-dressed women

[Mirage]

That's a good thing, right?

[Laddy]

Obsidian knows how to write positive females. Hell, Fallout: NV has some of the best portrayals of women in any game I've seen in recent years.

[Skyblade]

samus aran too i guess





and this doesn't really count but my saints row 3 main character is an ass kicking red head 30 something with aviators

I disagree with Samus being a positive portrayal, actually. In the original Metroid, her being a woman was treated as a revelation as though it should be surprising that a woman could star in a game like that, and her having less clothing is a reward for beating the games quicker. And then there was Other M. :P

Two out of ten isn't bad.

And, to be fair, in the first one it was surprising that a woman could star in such a role. It had never been done before (in videogames). And most of the rest of the series did do her justice, especially Fusion.


Frimelda.jpg

Frimelda Lotice, from Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift.

Her femininity plays a fairly important role in her story, and yet she's never sexualized, and plays against most of the common stereotypes of female characters.

[NeoCracker]

Naoto from persona four is not only one of the best portrayals of a female, but one of the best portrayals of a character in general.

[Night Fury]

Seriously.

No mention for Lara Croft yet?
Tali from Mass Effect
Liara from Mass Effect
Heck, even Miranda Lawson!

Lara-Croft-tomb-raider-lara-croft-31951807-693-693.jpg

[Mirage]

I avoided Liara because she is introduced by needing to be saved from the baddies.

[Night Fury]

I avoided Liara because she is introduced by needing to be saved from the baddies.

But she goes on to be a total badass, and the Shadow Broker.