Positive Portrayals of Women in Video Games

[Forsaken Lover]

I personally think Dead or Alive: Xtreme Beach Volleyball was the greatest portrayal of females in gaming history.

[krissy]

so i'm curious: how did the same discussion go at SA?

[Loony BoB]

BoB, you are disillusioned. But I don't want to get into it with you. I also assume you have never played Super Mario Bros.

Super Mario Brothers is hardly the only game in the universe, but I haven't played much of it, no. Certainly not enough to get any kind of Princess Peach scenes that I can remember. I don't really get how this makes me disillusioned, though - of the games I have played (and that's a lot), females are portrayed in all kinds of ways just like the guys are. Many girls are leaders, many girls need help.

However, I wouldn't really go running around saying "this is a terrible portrayal of a male in a video game" when a guy needs to be saved, nor would I complain if a male is the central villain. I honestly don't really see how gender figures into things so much. So the "bad guy" is actually a "bad girl". Well, they had to be one gender of the other, didn't they?

I'd be interested how people would react if they recreated various games with every character's gender switched. I get the feeling people would still find something to complain about.

Oh, but back to that Mario Brothers thing - I suppose it might make sense that games made in the 80's might be much more gender role'd than modern games. I suppose all the games I think about were made in the 90's or later.

[Ultima Shadow]

I also assume you have never played Super Mario Bros.

I used to think that Peach was just a damsel in distress. But then I played Super Smash Bros Melee, and I soon realised that there was just no way this almighty beast of a character could actually be in need of saving from a mere average character such as Mario. Clearly, Peach is in fact a plotting mastermind who manipulates everyone in the mushroom kingdom, threatening with down-smashes and blackmailing with messages written on turnips. If someone really gets on her nerves, she might even pull forth a beamsword or bomb. Most likely, she and Mario are married and she wants a divorce. But she doesn't want to split their possessions, nor does she want to get her own hands dirty (or any dirtier than they already are). So she forces Bowser to stage a kidnapping over and over again, hoping that Mario will eventually fail to "save her" and just die trying. And once Mario's finally dead, she will walk up to his grave and say: "OH, DID I WIN?"



...ahem, as for strong females, I agree with BoB on the point that many seem to think that less than average clothing equals sexist and stereotypical weak female. While, in many cases, the less clothing might be for fanservice purpose, such a detail alone does not mean the character can't be a strong and positive female. To me, "attitude" and "character traits" are far more important. Females who are very stereotypically "girly" and "rely too much on the male characters" annoy me so much more than actually cool, badass females that only happens to have a bit less clothing than normal.

[Dr. rydrum2112]

A lot of the women in star ocean are pretty good (not all obviously).

Lunar Eternal Blue did a good job with a few of them.

White Knight did OK.

[Forsaken Lover]

so i'm curious: how did the same discussion go at SA?

It descended into arguments about what exactly qualifies as positive. For example, does the woman need to look a bit less feminine, as with my Olga example, or could they be the picture of typical female beauty. A lot of JRPG heroiens were thrown out because they tend to dress like bimbos. Poor Ashe never had a chance.
Also a side discussion about how men are also generally stereotyped in gaming.

It was over a year ago though so I don't remember any exact details.

[krissy]

so sort of the same as here, that's interesting.

i really like ashe! she grows as a person through the game and really tries to understand her position in the world. penello on the other hand, jeez louize, why was she even there...

[Mirage]

A lot of the women in star ocean are pretty good (not all obviously).

Lunar Eternal Blue did a good job with a few of them.

White Knight did OK.

Speaking of star ocean in general, several of the games have as many, or more females in them than they have males. SO4 has 3 males and 5 females. Of course, some of them don't exactly dress conservatively, but at least they're not all in the same kind of role.

In SO3, you can also get 5 females and 3 males on your party if you make the right selections for the optional characters, but you can also get 5 males and 3 females if you choose differently. Their combat roles are varied too, from heavy melee damage, ranged damage+support, and long range magic+support.

Just thought I'd bring that up, seeing as it is very typical of games to have fewer (or at best an equal number) playable female than males.

Picture related: It's Mirage Koas. She uses hand to hand weapons and is pretty adept at electronics and machinery.
so3-mirage-koas.jpg

[krissy]

did you nickname yourself after her

[Mirage]

Maybe I did. ;o

[NeoCracker]

Theory time!

Mirage isn't named Mirage after anything, he actually IS a Mirage, or at least he is in principle. Mirage is a bizarre internet phenomenon that when certain things happen on the internet, such as the right sequence of posts, the internet puts something into the coding or what not and creates a post.

This is much like an actual Mirage, a trick of light that makes you think something is there. Only in this case, it makes us think someone is there. The weird thing about this is, however, is the fact that his posts almost always seem to have something to do with whats going on. This makes it much harder to distinguish it from reality then a real Mirage.


Also the negative portrayal of woman in games, while exists, is highly exaggerated.

[Mirage]

I am a technology spirit.

[NeoCracker]

More like a glitch in the system really.

[Citizen Bleys]

ITT people who have never played a Suikoden game.

I: Tir is a second rate substitute for Odessa
II: Sierra Erwache
III: Chris makes a badass Flame Champion, the other candidates aren't encased head to toe in armour, and the male Tenkai is basically an NPC, not to mention the weakest Tenkai ever
IV: Elenor is the real hero, Flare holds up well under extreme pressure (Lino is a joke, Flare is Obel's true strength) and Maxine is the winningest damage dealer
V: The protagonist isn't even eligible for the throne because he's male, Sialeeds is a Magnificent Bastard, and Zerase owns so hard that using her is functionally equivalent to cheating

[Skyblade]

I would like to add to the list:

Maya Septerra Core.jpg

Maya, from Septerra Core

Maya is a the main character of the game, and is an incredibly realistic and rounded character. She's developed enough that summing up her personality in a few lines is extremely difficult. She runs the gamut from independent, caring, angry, and everything in between.

She's one of the first female main characters who I actually remember as a character in a game, and a great one at that.


In fact, Septerra Core: Legacy of the Creator is itself a great game. The combat is incredibly solid, the world and characters are extremely interesting, and the gameplay and voice acting is generally well done. Not to mention it has a wonderfully incredible steampunk feel. And if you haven't played it yet, it's availible at Good Old Games for only about ten bucks.