Obnoxious and Predictable Female Characters in Video Games

ArQuesta

May 25, 2010

I was perusing the June issue of GameInformer while waiting to purchase a glorious copy of Red Dead Redemption, I came across an issue being debated in the Letters section. Evidently GameInformer ran an article awhile back about the issue of women characters in gaming. There were a few varying opinions about the article.

SupportingActressSide (22K) One opinion was that women don't need to be in games at all and no one really cares. Another was from a female gamer who was annoyed by the macho women stuffed into action games. Another was that yes, there needs to be more women in gaming. I personally am torn on this subject. Though every once and awhile the game developers get it right, most female characters come off as obnoxious. It's because there are some ridiculous stereotypes in games that make it hard for female gamers to tolerate the female characters. The following is a list of stereotypical characters that I don't necessarily hate, they just happen to be those that I "accidently" kill at some point and before restarting from the last checkpoint.

The "I give up" secondary character chick. This woman is usually seen in the weird minds of the Japanese. For the most part their characters are much, much more interesting and likeable than the main female lead. They of course fall for the main male character and sometimes will even compete with the female lead for his attention. They always lose and give up the fight and become annoying, which is usually done with silent monologues of brooding disappointment or bitter side glances. I hate these women. Why did they have to give up? Why does their entire character change? I'd prefer a cat fight and the character maintain their previously established personality rather than witness bitter love angst.

The butch chick. As cool as she seems in print and screen-shots, and as awesome as her entrance can be, the butch chick is never very cool over time. It's usually ruined by one weird line spoken in the background or a sudden development of womanly compassion. There's no real way that game writers can make the butch chick maintain her awesomeness. What's terrible about this rather annoying female character is that it's impossible to win. If you make her too butch she just makes female gamers feel lame and male gamers feel a bit uncomfortable. On the other side of the coin if you allow her to ever develop any microbe of womanly charm or opinion it just kills the whole experience. It's impossible but attempts shall eternally be made.

SupportingActressSide2 (28K) The escort mission chick and the "I would be awesome except for this stupid AI of mine" chick. I grouped these two together because it really isn't the fault of the character, just the game/level designer. First is the escort mission chick. I'll start off by saying that if, at any point, you make me escort a female character who is part of the story across any sort of distance I will not like her anymore. Period. You could create the most amazingly awesome woman who is like unto Aphrodite and I would still find her to be absolute trash if you make me escort her anywhere. Worst game mechanic ever thought of.

Secondly, the women with crappy AI always sucks. It's probably because of her voice. When she uses up all the potions she's whiney, when she accidently shoots you in the arm she's a total b*tch and when she gets caught behind a wall outcropping she's painfully idiotic. It's hard to break down why this woman is so annoying, it can be a game design flaw, crappy choices in voice acting or just the horribly dumb AI. Whatever it is, it ruins the experience.

The housewife-syndrome chick. This is another female stereotype from the minds of the Japanese. You know who she is. She's helpful, kind, soft-spoken, always there for you and constantly optimistic until she breaks down pathetically and has to be carried or babysat for half the game. Yeah, she's annoying. Especially since it's usually seen in Japanese Role-Playing Games (JRPGs) and your quest is to save the world. If I had to choose a partner to help me save the world, even if she was just the healer, I would expect some general badass-ness. I mean, I'm saving the world; I don't care if you feel sad today, smile and do your job.

The do-nothing chick. Back in the day, your job was to save the princess who got herself captured and save the day/world/village/etc. Back in the day there wasn't even text to read to explain the game, it just was. Well, we're no longer back in the day and I don't want to save the "do-nothing" girl. If she got herself captured then she can save her own ass. It's not just the pathetic princess either; it's those female characters that aren't actually part of the game. It's also the women who leave your party due to some sort of lameness. She's a leader and leads you along from the distance, she's the woman who's trapped somewhere, she's the woman who's injured or sickly and needs to travel by your side pathetically while you save her, she's that woman who gets depressed and won't help you in battle or she's just that woman who needs you to beat up the bad guys and solve the puzzles so she can get home. I would rather save a puppy. It's harder to hate the puppy. The worst part is that these do-nothing women are usually hollow characters. There's no life to them and hardly any reason for them to be there. Please, let us save a crystal or a big-shiny gun. At least those are helpful.

I didn't forget about the sexy chicks. I actually don't have a problem with the sexy chicks. They're there for the purpose of being awesome and mildly whorish and they get the job done. Sure, they're usually a bit sexist, but not really annoying. At the end of the day, I'd rather save the world with a sexy chick by my side than one who is sad and out of healing items.

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