Analysis: Feminist Characters In Gaming

Analysis Feminist Characters In Gaming

This analysis article may be a bit inflammatory since it touches a bit on our culture and game design as a whole, not just one specific element or genre. It will also change and grow as more material and examples are added to it, from authors besides myself. This analysis is about feminist characters in games and the distinct lack of them. There will be examples of well made characters, poorly made ones, and neutral ones. If any of my readers are women, I’d especially ask for their input.

I’ve enjoyed exploring feminist ideology ever since I stumbled upon the YouTube channel Feminist Frequency hosted by Anita Sarkeesian. I’ve learned that my world view was more limited than I originally thought. Whenever I’m watching television, movies, reading comics, or playing games, I used to give very little thought to how other viewers, readers, or players might perceive the material. This article is focusing on women in games, though I could easily expand upon it and explore race in games, discrimination, or any kind of struggle.

Many problems I’ve seen depicting women in video games are the same ones also seen in films.

Madison Page from Heavy Rain

Madison Page falls into many different categories but overall I believe is a positive female character. Her opening appearance(without DLC) is a pointless shower scene. It’s obviously meant as eye candy. If the player chooses, they can enter into a relationship with the other main character, Ethan(I didn’t, she was too good for him). She does briefly try to use her sex appeal to her advantage while sneaking into a club, but it’s not her defining trait and never her first or immediate go-to strategy. The multiple endings of the game could see her as a “reward” to Ethan, but I like my ending better, with her as a best selling author on the trail of another serial killer. She can die throughout the story if you let her, but she’s not used as refrigerator stuffing(killed off in order to motivate a male character). Everyone has their own motivation to find the killer. Overall, she’s a very 3-dimensional fully developed character that acknowledges her sex appeal, but doesn’t let it define her.

Dedra from Zeno Clash

Zeno Clash is a weird game. It starts right off the bat with the main character Ghat, on the run from his own people. He’s dragging along Dedra through most of the adventure. Her presence is really never ever required. I’m not even sure what her purpose is. The game could easily happen in its entirety without her. Instead, Ghat would just be talking to himself, instead of her. She’s there so Ghat can recap what just happened, and vocally explain the world. She’s like The Doctor’s companion from the much older, and earlier Doctor Who episodes. The Doctor knew what he was doing, but the companion was needed to ask,“What’s that, Doctor?” for the sake of explaining it to the audience. Dedra is pretty 1-dimensional, but she does serve to calm Ghat and give him a shoulder to lean on in his quest. She helps center Ghat and keeps him from doing something insanely reckless. Anybody can do that, really, male or female. Ghat can be as suicidal as he wants, but as long as he has another person to take care of, he won’t.

The negative characteristics of Dedra reinforce the idea that all women are nurturers and caregivers. It’s a very Japanese view of women from an American game company. I have to wonder if the staff are huge anime fans. Not just regular fans, but the kind that make fans embarrassed. She’s not even a Token female since there are female fighters pursuing Ghat. Dedra has no other character development, but at least they didn’t turn her into a love interest or piece of eye candy. She suffers from poor character development more than being any kind of negative stereotype.

Vanessa Z. Schneider from P. N. 03

Vanessa Schneider is an interesting case. She’s a respectable professional with a bit of a unique take on her job. One can argue that she was designed with eye candy in mind. I believe that, but one person’s eye candy might be completely indigestible to another. It’s unfair to discriminate against a character for being “sexy” when sexy is really all in the eye of the beholder. Vanessa’s job is being a high-tech industrial espionage mercenary. That requires a certain body type and a certain level of fitness. The character couldn’t believably be designed otherwise.

She wears a futuristic skin-tight power suit and sometimes performs sexy poses like Bayonetta. It’s overt, but not AS overt as Bayonetta. She doesn’t strip down naked and suck on lolly pops while the camera exploits her image. The story takes place in almost complete isolation, her gender really doesn’t matter or play any part in the overall story. She never interacts with anyone, gender is simply a non-issue. She’s also very 1-dimensional, showing about as much emotional range as Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine.(That’s not a shot at Ms. Ryan’s acting ability, merely the roles that are written for her)

It’s a stretch, but I’d say that Vanessa is a positive image. She’s a bit violent, but it’s only violence against robots and not humans. Unless our future takes a drastic and unseen turn to robotics and AI, this is not a bad thing. While attractive, she doesn’t use that in any unscrupulous way. Vanessa is a dancer, as well as a mercenary. I’d hope that if my daughter ever played P. N. 03 at length, she’d be impressed with the flexibility and the way she moves, and strive to be able to replicate the moves herself. Plenty of people get inspired when they’re young by watching movies, like martial-arts movies, and might develop an interest in that. Vanessa is really harmless. Dancing takes discipline and dedication to achieve her level of proficiency, and that’s not a bad thing.

Maria & Linda from Double Dragon

These are the only two female characters throughout a long running series spanning more than 5 games. Marion is Billy Lee’s girlfriend who is kidnapped in the first game. Billy Lee has to rescue her. In Double Dragon 2, Marion is outright murdered and Billy Lee(and bro) go on a killing spree in revenge. Marion serves absolutely no purpose other than as an object to rescue in the first game. Billy Lee may as well have been mugged and he spends the rest of the game trying to get his wallet back. Then again, this was the ’80s, we didn’t expect much from the story in an action game.

The damage a game like this does goes beyond having a bad story. It puts women in the role of being a physical reward. It reinforces the idea of women as a thing that must be rescued. And once the rescuing is done, the men are entitled to some form of ownership? This is a dangerous and backwards idea to have.

Marion also should be added to the “Women in Refrigerators” database. For readers unfamiliar with the phrase, it’s a reference to an old issue of Green Lantern where Kyle Raynor returns home to find his long time girlfriend murdered and stuffed into a refrigerator. This typically kicks off a story arc of revenge. The idea of a woman’s life being sacrificed on a whim by the writers for the sake of motivating the main character is more common than one might think. It’s poor writing and disrespectful to women. I’m not saying that women can’t die, but there is a long pattern of men dying in a long noble fight, sacrificing themselves for some cause or another. However women seem to be considered expendable and when they are killed, they’re killed as easily as flipping on or off a light switch.

Other “Women in Refrigerators” include Kratos’s wife from God of War, Ava from Dark Void, Ashley from Mass Effect, Lucca and Schala from Chrono Trigger, and Max’s wife and Mona Sax from Max Payne.

Linda from Double Dragon is merely a “Token female” or as some like to call, a“Smurfette.” A Smurfette is a reference to a single female character in an ensemble of all men. It’s a small sub-division of the“Token” minority character in an otherwise all one-race cast. I’ll repeat myself and say we can’t expect much from a game from the 1980s, but when it happens again in a much more modern game, there really is no excuse, like Tanya from Red Alert, Sarah Kerrigan from Starcraft 1, the Thief from Trine, Zoe and Rochelle from Left 4 Dead 1 & 2, and Krystal from Star Fox.

I’ve stated enough times on this blog that I’m not a fan of the modern super-popular games. I’ve mostly given up on them. So if there are better and more modern examples of either “Women in Refrigerators”or “Smurfettes,” then shout out in the comments.

Mortal Kombatants

Sonya Blade started off as a Token lone female character surrounded by all males. She was dressed modestly, at least compared to the games that would come later. She was dressed in something you might see a woman wear at a gym. Mortal Kombat 2 was kind of better. They introduced Kitana& Meleena, so Sonya was no longer the Token female. Their stories had them each play an important role in the Mortal Kombat storyline in different ways. Their costuming wasn’t too outrageous, leotards are still acceptable in some circumstances like dancers or going to the beach.

It wasn’t until Mortal Kombat 3 that the developers really started to amp up the sex appeal with adding Sheeva, Sindel, Jade, and the other girls back. Though now their costumes lost any and all sense of functionality. It was a hard justification for the leotard from MK2, but now I can’t think of any reason for them to wear what they were wearing other than pure eye candy.

In later games came Frost and Asura. These two were probably the most covered, and least exploited, of any other female Kombatant.

I must confess, what the cast of characters lacks in modesty, they make up for in story. No matter how ridiculously dressed or obviously sexual a character is, their backstory is usually strong and important.

One Must Fall

The OMF series is without a doubt one of my favorite games of all time. Under closer examination it also has some of the best sampling of feminist characters of any other game that may be in this list. The characters are diverse in origin, race, culture, and skill. In the original OMF, Crystal Deveroux is one of the main characters in the Ganymede tournament. She’s a skilled robot pilot and fighter, but not the best. She’s in the tournament hoping to uncover the truth of what happened to her parents, engineers and designers of the (H)uman (A)ssisted (R)obot systems. She has a twin brother, Christian that is fiercely protective of her. Crystal returns in the sequel, satisfied, a little older, and a little bit mellower. It shows character growth over time.

Cosette Akira was a HAR designer that has been in the sport of HAR fighting since it began. Her legs were paralyzed in one of the older models that required the pilot to be actually present inside the robot frame rather than a digital link-up that is used in the game. The history in the back of the manual even credits the design of one of the robots to her. She still fights and proves daily that the loss of the use of her legs hasn’t detracted from her in any way. I was a bit sad not to see her in the sequel.

Angel is a mysterious figure and agent of some mysterious organization. Not much is known about her. It’s never fully explained who or what she is. No one has ever seen or met her before. Her name just appeared on the tournament roster one day. It’s hinted that she’s a “native” of Saturn’s moon, Ganymede. She is not seen in the sequel.

Jacqueline was the champion and “boss” character in one of the “career mode”tournaments, making her one of the best fighters around. She reappears in the sequel a bit older and a bit mellower, like most of the “returning” characters. She’s not obsessed with being the best, but she still fights for the fun of it. Like Crystal, this shows growth.

Ice was a hidden character in the original game and without a doubt the most difficult opponent in the game. In order to fight Ice, you had to fight on the hardest difficulty in the single player story mode, and destroy another overpowered secret character before, Fire. Ice might have been confused with Iceman, another character in the “career”tournament” mode. But since characters are identified by the  color scheme of their robot, this isn’t the case. Ice and Iceman are two different characters. If you win, you win 10,000,000 points, more than any other fight. In the sequel, Ice returns and this time has a face. All this time, Ice was a woman.

I could go on, there are plenty more female characters in both games, like a pair of cheerleaders that like to work as a team, and the Jaguar master Xante. I just selected some of the stand out favorites of mine. So what do the characters I picked out illustrate? Well, in our world, where there are male dominated technical fields like programming, engineering, and robotics, these characters are positive role models. Young women who are bombarded with gender role advertisements that still tell them women should be housekeepers or secretaries, Cosette is a robot designer, Crystal works in that same field. Jacqueline and Ice are two of the best fighters anywhere. That’s not a technical field, but still a very male-dominated one which women might shy away from for the simple reason that “they’re expected to.”

Objectification of Wives & Mistresses from Overlord and King’s Bounty

This idea was addressed in a feminist panel at PAX this year (2011). They mentioned Fable and how simplistic marriage was in that. It’s treated similar in Overlord and King’s Bounty. Women were a prized item.

In King’s Bounty, you got married and had kids because “they would give you shit.” as one of the PAX panelists of “What Women Really Want From Female Characters” said. You can get divorced and marry someone else, swapping your women out like they were a fashionable accessory.

In Overlord 1, you were forced to take a mistress and could keep her or trade her at one juncture in the game. In Overlord II, you could have 3 mistresses at once and swap out your “favored” mistress any time you choose. Different mistresses gave different bonuses to your army. What’s disappointing is that each mistress has their own unique story and could be developed more, but they aren’t. I’d be interested in seeing a game entirely about two of them.(the 2^ndmistress was kind of bland)

Fable, Overlord, and King’s Bounty objectify women, treating them as objects to enhance a male lead character. Overlord II, treats mistress 1 with a little respect, but still, generally continues the objectification theme.

Farah & Charsi from Diablo II

Charsi is a member of the “Sisters of the Sightless Eye,” an all female order. She becomes a blacksmith. In all my years gaming, I can’t recall any other female blacksmith(other than Farah). The entire existence of the Sisters’ order is a testament against gender roles.

Farah the Blacksmith from Act II was trained as a Paladin. Nowhere else in the game do we see a female Paladin, or in fact, any other gender swap of the character classes. There’s no female Necromancers, no male Amazons(that’d just be weird), no male Assassins or female Druids. There’s kind of some female Barbarians, but not the front-line fighters that we play as. It wasn’t until a decade later that we see male and female classes in Diablo III.

Farah& Charsi could easily fall into the “guys with breasts”category, they’re women who take on primarily male roles. But both Charsi and Farah acknowledge that there is a gender gap. They’re not,“trying to be one of the boys.” They are who they are, and they know there are additional challenges in being female. The idea of gender is addressed, not just left unsaid.

Women in X-COM

The Women in X-COM: UFO Defense, Terror From the Deep, Apocalypse, and UFO: Aftermath are pretty evenly split with the men. They get automatically generated names from all over the world, so not only is X-COM promoting gender equality, but racial equality as well. You don’t get 1 or 2, you’ll see just as many men in the ranks of soldiers.

This creates a type of gender neutrality. It doesn’t matter what gender you are, the issue is never addressed. They aren’t really given personalities, everyone is equal in their non-descriptiveness. Still, the games deserve credit for not completely overlooking women. If the game happened to be made by another developer, they just as easily could have kept all of the soldiers male.

Ava from Dark Void

I really liked Dark Void, it was a throwback action/adventure game that I thoroughly enjoyed from start to finish several times. The story was about as deep as a Buck Rogers adventure, but it made up for it in gameplay.

I’m not sure if they intended to use Ava as a throwback character back to the era. She seemed pretty progressive at first. But on further examination, the main character is chasing after her for more than half the game. She’s either running ahead into danger, or she’s been kidnapped and you have to save her. She’s an object. She used to be in a relationship with the player’s character, but that’s never really explored. Ava ends up being very 1-dimensional and single minded in her determination, like Kratos from God of War, but without his intensity and rage. She is killed off in the final battle, falling into the “Women in Refrigerators” territory.

Dark Void was great fun all the way through, but it is a poor example of positive feminist icons.

Zoe & Rochelle from Left 4 Dead 1 & 2

Each cast of 4 survivors has one woman in the mix. They could be“Smurfettes” or not, if you want to split hairs. First of all, I think the game should get credit for having a female character at all. There are just about as many female undead zombies as there are male. The special infected even have 2 female zombies in their ranks, the Witch and the Spitter. Undead gender equality is wonderful, but it never really addresses what it’s like to be a woman in an undead world. So, I’ll go back to calling Zoe and Rochelle, Smurfettes.

Even though Zoey and Rochelle are the only real women in the group, they are more than just “the woman.” The entire story of Left 4 Dead is told with subtlety. If you stop to examine the details of the world, like on the commentary levels, there’s a greater story being told. Just because Zoey and Rochelle don’t have a moment to infodump exposition all about their past, doesn’t mean it’s not there. Zoey and Rochelle are very down to earth “everywoman” characters. They’re not dressed in obscenely revealing clothes, they aren’t the damsel in distress, they stand on equal footing with the rest of the ensemble cast. With all the dynamic dialogue the characters have, they don’t fall into hysterics, they never lose their cool and keep it together(as well as can be expected in a zombie apocalypse). They’re a positive example for how one should behave in a horrifying situation.

Ashley & Tali from Mass Effect

Notice that I left two of the playable female cast out of the list. I’m not going to include the slutty blue girl. She practically threw herself at Sheppard the whole first game. It’s like she was meant to be the romantic interest, regardless of your gender. I haven’t played as FemShep, yet. So examining the course of the game again through her eyes would be best left to someone else.

Ashley, the soldier, on the surface could have easily fallen into the “guy with breasts” category. If you decide to pursue a relationship with her, she’ll tell you her back story about what it was like growing up, her family, her sisters, and her sister almost being victimized. It’s rare that any game of any generation will dare to address that issue.

Tali, the Quarian, I thought she was the most interesting of the bunch. I was disappointed when the game wouldn’t let me pursue a relationship with her. Yes, long isolation has hurt the Quarian species immune system. If she ever got out of that suit and into a bed, it would probably kill her. I’m sure there’s some medical technology that could boost her immune system, but it just wasn’t available on the ship at that time. Tali, a technology expert, ventured away from her Battlestar Galactica-like convoy to explore the universe on a walkabout-like rite of passage. I would have loved to have seen the convoy and learn as much about her as I did about Ashley.

Ashley and Tali were well developed characters, the blue girl was lacking.

Anne from Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness Episodes 1 & 2

This is a wonderful example of a well developed and positive female character. She is great for the things she isn’t(objectified, eye candy, a romantic interest, a reward, a guy with breasts, 1-dimensional, or stuffed into a refrigerator). But a positive female character should not be judged on what she isn’t. She should be judged on what she is. She’s a brilliant young girl that is unfortunately closer to her uncle more than her parents. She’s attracted to science, technology(and a bit of the occult), to her parents’ chagrin. Like the OMF women, she’s jumping into a male-dominated field. Though the game isn’t really directed at a younger audience, young girls won’t be seeing this as an example. Hopefully this sends a message to adult males that it’s okay for girls to be into tech.

Sarah Kerrigan, Nova, Mira Han, Medic, Dropship, scientist, Razagal, Mothership, Valkyre, and Banshee from Starcraft

The original Starcraft was a bit lacking in female roles. Even though Kerrigan was a covert operative at the top of the game, Jim Raynor still treated her constantly like a damsel in distress, even after she became a genocidal murderer. Throughout Starcraft 2, Raynor still wanted to “save” her. This could be an important lesson about the dangers of not seeing women as complete human beings, but what can happen if you don’t.

Nova was introduced in the canceled game and a novel before she appeared in Starcraft II. She looks to be better than Kerrigan ever was. Mira Han was a mercenary army leader and married Matt Horner(because he won a poker game).

Kerrigan, Nova, and Mira are all defying typical gender roles. There are physically challenging and demanding difficult roles that some women strive to fill. I’m proud to say that I’ve met some of them. I just wish they were more visible so that everyone could see what is possible. The same could be said of most female warriors, except the organized military aspect of their jobs is more achievable, practical, relatable, and identifiable. Unlike most female warriors, they’re not exploited, wearing plate mail power armor bikinis, none are really romantic interests(despite Jim Raynor’s delusions).

Princess Peach and Wendy O. Koopa from Super Mario Bros

First, Princess Peach is probably the most iconic damsel in distress, at least she started off that way. In Super Mario Bros. 1, 3, World, 64, and others. Peach falls into the objectification category being little more than an object to be rescued. Thankfully this pattern has broken in later years with Bowser just causing havoc. Peach herself has evolved into a playable character in Super Mario Bros 2, Smash Bros, Mario Kart, and even had her own game where the roles are switched.

Peach is a good example of a character that has grown over the decades. She started out as an object, a Smurfette, a trophy, and a 1-dimensional character. Over the years, the character has become more, but still has room to grow. She’s still more developed that Daisy or Pauline.

Wendy O. Koopa is the only female Koopa and the only female non-human in the whole Mario series. She’s the token female among the kooplings. For over 20 years she has received no development, though none of the kooplings have, really. There’s room to grow that has not been used, which is a bit of a disappointment. All things considered, the Mario back catalog of characters is very short on female characters.

Princess Delphi from Giants: Citizen Kabuto

With a name that starts with Princess, she’s probably a negative example. This Delphi is built to be eye candy. In a world of monsters, giants, tiny Scottish Jawa-like creatures, and tiny techno space-men on vacation, she’s a blue-skinned female that looks like a human woman when no one else of her race looks anything remotely like her. In the original draft of the game, she was naked. When it was released, she got a few straps of cheesecloth to cover her up.

Delphi’s story is that of a Princess who rebels against their tyrannical power-hungry parent. It’s not very original, but at it’s heart it’s a good coming of age and discovery of self story. If only the player can get past staring and ogling her. Giants is a ridiculous ride from start to finish and isn’t very good at depicting women in positive roles.

Tanya from Red Alert

Tanya the commando unit wins quadruple points for being 1-dimensional, eye candy, smurfette, and “guy with breasts.” Tanya is the commando, and that’s about all she is. From Red Alert 1, 2, & 3, she remains undeveloped and is just “the commando unit.” Tanya could probably carry her own game like the Commando from C&C Renegade. Secondly, she’s eye candy, played by Keri Whur and Jenny McCarthy. I don’t know when anyone ever hired Keri Whur or Jenny McCarthy for their acting ability. They’re the only female unit in an entire game full of male military characters. They’re a perfect example of a “guy with breasts.” Normally I like tough, strong female characters. But there’s no character development. Kerrigan, Nova, and Mira Han actually exist in a military structure, you know the kind of training they have to go through, and that military structure in which they exist is more realistically depicted and emphasized. They’re women, they’re not the only women in the military, but in Tanya’s case, as far as we know, she might be.

Kat, Krystal, and Amanda from Star Fox Command

Nintendo doesn’t seem to be keen on well developed female characters(save for Samus). Once StarFox introduced Krystal, she may as well have been called Smurfette, a romantic interest for the main character, Fox. She reappears in Star Fox Command and the biggest effect she has is to give Fox concern and worry. Like the original Smurfette(before Papa Smurf did his magic), she divides the team.

Amanda, Slippy’s fiance, appears in Star Fox Command and is a 1-dimensional object that exists in relation to Slippy. Without Slippy, she has no real personality or depth. She has as much development as Princess Peach from Super Mario Bros. 1.

Kat, on the other hand, is a skilled pilot who sometimes flies with Falco. She may or may not be better than Falco, but at least she keeps him on his toes and gives him a run for his money. She exists without any of the relationship baggage of Krystal, and is a better pilot than Amanda.

Chell from Portal

I’m not sure how or where I first learned her name. It’s not mentioned in the game at all. I never received a manual with my digital download via Steam. Chell is a positive to neutral character. She is a woman, but there are no other characters to interact with. She’s more of a gender neutral character. It doesn’t really matter who the character is or what gender they are. She’s obviously clever. The developers could have given her a skimpy outfit, but they didn’t. Overall, she’s a good example and a respectable character.

Alyx Vance from Half-Life 2

Alyx usually tops the list of positive portrayals of women in gaming, she’s certainly one of the best and most recent examples, and for good reason. First, amazingly, she’s a mixed-race character which is still a barrier in most movies, games, or any other medium. Secondly, she’s bright, technologically savvy, with realistic physical proportions and appearance. She’s never used as eye candy or a romantic interest to Gordon Freeman. She’s not the only woman in the mix, there’s Dr Mossman. She’s a powerful player in the story, not just some reward or trophy or object. I believe players were waiting for a “real” woman like her for a long time. She led the pack for a long time and that’s why she’s been remembered so fondly for so long, and why people are looking forward for Half-Life 2: Episode 3.

Samus Aran from Metroid

Aside from Alyx Vance, Samus is usually one of the top 5 “women in games”people will instantly bring to mind. In the first game, the character is presumed to be male. It’s not until the end of the first game or the beginning of the second where it’s revealed that she’s a woman. Throughout the series, her gender is never an issue. It’s amazing, from the player’s perspective, at the time the games were released, to have a female action hero that isn’t over sexualized. Fighting aliens throughout the series, she rarely meets another human, so gender is never an issue. She’s an incredibly positive role model for anyone, regardless of gender.

I’m a little disappointed by Metroid Zero Mission when they decided to put Samus in a skin tight suit in the later part of the game. Though, technically, there’s a pin-up shot of her in a swimsuit as a reward for beating most of the games in a certain amount of time or with a certain amount of item collection. The “best ending” was at least hidden, but the skin-tight “Zero Suit” was completely overt and almost pure cheesecake in Super Smash Bros. Melee. It reduces the spectacular character and her history to simple eye candy. Still, the good far outweighs the bad.

Jade from Beyond Good & Evil

Unfortunately, Jade usually slips through the cracks since Beyond Good & Evil was overlooked upon its initial release. Hopefully the HD re-release gives more players the chance to meet Jade. Jade is a struggling photojournalist trying to make ends meet. She runs an unofficial orphanage, or a shelter for runaways. She watches over and takes care of a bunch of children who don’t have parents. She lives with her uncle Pey’j, a mechanic.

The developers don’t make her a piece of eye candy, she’s never fawning over “a guy.” She’s comfortable being in her own skin. There’s plenty of men and women that populate the world, so she’s not the“Token” woman in the group. Jade is a strong and independent woman with deep convictions. I for one can’t wait for the long-time coming sequel. She’s an excellent role model for anyone, not just for women. I think that’s one of the signs of a well developed character.

Faith & Celeste from Mirror’s Edge

I wish I had Faith in my younger years. She’s a wonderful example of a character that emphasizes physical fitness as well as having a sharp and agile mind. Too often in my youth, brains over physical power were emphasized. Her character emphasizes both. She’s sensitive and empathetic, she cares about her sister, without letting that be her most defining trait. Faith would be a great role model for encouraging fitness in youths. “I want to be able to do that.” I would like to hear that from my daughter. There are male “runners”in the game, so even young men, if they can’t identify with Faith, can choose to identify with Merc.

April Ryan & Zoe Castillo from Dreamfall & The Longest Journey

April& Zoe are fantastically realized characters. An ordinary college student rarely becomes the heroine of a game. April is a starving college student studying artist that is instantly identifiable to anyone of a certain age. She lives in a dorm and gets hit on by a sleezeball who thinks he’s a real player. She has to scrounge for money to ride the subway, work on her final project for school, and fight to get paid for her waitressing hours from a cheapskate boss. That’s just the opening hour of the game. She has family baggage, a deadbeat father figure, she has 1 precious stuffed animal, and she really likes sci-fi. You learn all this in the first hour of the game, then her universe unravels and she slips into a new one. She not only has to save one universe, but two.

Zoe Castillo, the main character in the sequel also starts out in a very down-to-earth and relatable lifestyle. She’s a recent graduate, looking for work, goes to martial arts/self-defense class, has relationships, best friends, likes technology, and falls down the same rabbit hole April Ryan did in the first game.

Both women are emotionally strong, endure hardship and come out stronger. They’re both positive role models. Neither of them fall into the cliché or trope roles of sexploitation, desperately looking for a guy, or remain shallow 1-dimensional stereotypes without growth. Well, each game starts out with the main character in their underwear. It doesn’t last long, but it does hook any male players who might not want to “play as a girl.”

Carmen Sandiego

Carmen is my favorite character from anything ever. She is a positive feminist character, and she’s a positive role model for any young boy or girl. Yeah, she’s a criminal, but she has her positive characteristics that far outweigh that. She’s intelligent, she’s wealthy, she’s a leader, she is in excellent physical condition, she’s clever, and she’s very dedicated. I wouldn’t mind my daughter or son looking up to and wanting to be like her.

Carmen is a woman, but it is never played up the fact that she is a woman. Carmen is the greatest thief of all time. She’s not the greatest“female” thief of all time. She never takes advantage of it. She never uses sex as a weapon. She uses her mind but doesn’t neglect the physical aspects of her work. I wish I had her as a role model when I was younger.