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The best female protagonists
- Thread starter PK Gaming
- Start date
The Grim Heaper
Member
To avoid sounding like a broken record and just echoing all the repeats in the thread, I'll post the one nobody else did!
I'm a fan of Asuka from Senran Kagura(pretty much the main character). I wasn't too big on her on at first, but I grew to love her and her design, plus her being the legendary ninja Hanzo's granddaughter is awesome.
I'm a fan of Asuka from Senran Kagura(pretty much the main character). I wasn't too big on her on at first, but I grew to love her and her design, plus her being the legendary ninja Hanzo's granddaughter is awesome.
MisterLuffy
Member
Samus Aran
I wouldn't really consider here a character, as she has no real discernable personality. She is the player avatar afterall.
Even if you morally define Shepard during the course of the ME franchise, you are still ostensibly playing as that character. It is a personality defined within a very stringent framework.
Maybe it's a distinction not worth nothing for some, but I feel it affects the validity of both suggestions.
Trent Strong
Banned
Alice from Madness Returns.
Female Protagonist from Persona 3 Portable (My favorite)
Best modern Persona protagonist; for better or worse, she definitely has a lot more personality than her male counterpart.
Maybe so, I still think that they're awesome, and deserve recognition regardless. Even if they're avatars, that shouldn't invalidate them as being "good" female protagonists and each of those characters have established pasts, involvement in the story and "canon" personalities (its pretty much impossible to make FeMC a dick for example). If they're (usually) great characters, then what's the harm in listing them?
The female protagonist in particular is a better friend to SEES members than the male protagonist ever was. (Seriously not having a social link with Junpei or Akihiko? WHY MALE MC WHY).
Dabookerman
Member
Morrigan Aensland
The Boss
Bayonetta
Bayonetta is the only female char I can think of where I've felt.. Man I wish I was her. Total badass.
The Boss
Bayonetta
Bayonetta is the only female char I can think of where I've felt.. Man I wish I was her. Total badass.
Still not seeing weak or fragile at all. Keep in mind that she is not established adventurer/killer at the beginning of the game. She authors her own escape right at the beginning of the game, has to save the veteran Roth, who can't save himself in the mountain village. Is she freaked out at the beginning? Sure, but she just survived a shipwreck, a murder attempt, a cave in, a painful injury, her friends being rounded up and shot. I don't see in that context where she comes off as remotely weak or especially weak being a female. Its all up to interpretation I'm sure, but the game never comes anywhere close to the whole brutal rape fantasy some accuse it of being.
But that brings into question more of a game design decision, rather than a character one.
By that logic, we could say she was more self-obsessed, choosing to spend more time with her friends, rather than the likes of Akinari (the dying man).
If you didn't spend time with Akinari you deserve to be smashed by a Megidoalan
BadAss2961
Member
I definitely play a Max Payne prequel with Mona Sax as the protagonist.Yup, she gets my vote for all those reasons. My all-time favourite who has a substantial single player mod dedicated entirely to her...
Does she count...?
Now, if we were talking NPCs though (which we're not), The Boss wins hands down.
When I think of awesome, well done female protagonists in games, this is my short list in no particular order:
1) Jade from Beyond Good & Evil
2) Nariko from Heavenly Sword
3) Kat from Gravity Rush
4) Lara Croft from Tomb Raider
5) Samus Aran pre Other M
6) Commander Shepard from Mass Effect (the only real Shepard, dammit!)
7) Aya Brea from Parasite Eve
8) Jeanne d'Arc from, well, Jeanne d'Arc
9) Heather from Silent Hill 3
10) Aveline from Assassin's Creed 3: Liberation
All of them are actually the star of their games, fully controllable, and not a supporting character. All of them are diverse in every way, and compelling, and just all around handled like I wish more female protagonists in games were handled. I love them all to death. My faves would probably be Heather, Jade, Nariko, and Kat. It's practically impossible to dislike them, really.
1) Jade from Beyond Good & Evil
2) Nariko from Heavenly Sword
3) Kat from Gravity Rush
4) Lara Croft from Tomb Raider
5) Samus Aran pre Other M
6) Commander Shepard from Mass Effect (the only real Shepard, dammit!)
7) Aya Brea from Parasite Eve
8) Jeanne d'Arc from, well, Jeanne d'Arc
9) Heather from Silent Hill 3
10) Aveline from Assassin's Creed 3: Liberation
All of them are actually the star of their games, fully controllable, and not a supporting character. All of them are diverse in every way, and compelling, and just all around handled like I wish more female protagonists in games were handled. I love them all to death. My faves would probably be Heather, Jade, Nariko, and Kat. It's practically impossible to dislike them, really.
Came to post this.
Marina from Mischief Makers (for a lack of a better pic I used some fanart, but no one cares anyway).
Because she can catch bullets, shake them and send them back to sender. She's also able to send horny old men into other galaxies.
Whenever I think of P3 MC, I just think of the Male MC is a dick comic.
A Huge Battleship
Member
This poster knows what's up.Oh good, no one mentioned Grim Grimoire's Lillet Blan yet so I get to.
Harry Potter wishes he was as awesome as Lillet.
Zoe
Member
But her arm is angled toward the left...No.Right palm on her face. Thumb sticking out to her right.
Oh shi- I forgot Asuka!
PaulExcellent
Member
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BlackRose from dot.hack//
She kicks ass, has a giant sword, and can stop Kite from being a depressive loser in every game.
cj_iwakura
Member
Hm, maybe I botched that follow-up point by choosing an S-Link character that remains in place for both protagonists! (I had honestly forgot about that). But to reaffirm my point, I think it's odd to form an opinion towards him, around a point which falls down more on certain gameplay decisions, rather than a character one.
I think the only thing that changes, is the context from which it is delivered, that being gender. The actual interpretation is more to do with how we project onto those, and take agency over their characterization. Ultimately, we inhabit those as they arrive, blank slates. I consider them too ill-defined to be actual "characters". But that's what allows us to take ownership of them in the first place, that freedom to project. Something that a bounded personality couldn't afford us.
I didn't want to disregard your opinion or anything, just thought I'd elaborate on my original comment.
This is amazing.
Oh, no manner how many times I read this, I am always laughing my ass off.
Yeah, I honestly can't disagree when you put it like that.
Even so, FeMC & Femshep are such memorable characters, I feel like it would be a disservice to either of them to ignore them. (hell FeMC is constantly snubbed by the fanbase lol)
plus isn't she just the cutest ♥
Lightning Lord
Banned
Virginia Maxwell from Wild Arms 3.
Aqua - Kingdom Hearts series
She first appeared in Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep, which was a game plagued with horrible characters and shoe horned plot elements. However, she managed to not only escape the poor writing choices, but also out shine almost every female video game character ever created. Aqua's design, personality, and story arc set her up to be a really great female character, but she seems to be under rated for some reason.
Her appearance manages to be feminine without being overly sexualizedlike with most other female protagonist. Her outfit is draped, like you would expect from most Mage-class characters, but it isn't generic; having sleeves similar to her master's outfit, and hints of a corset. Even if there are people who enjoy female protagonist which are sexualized, Aqua does still have a very apparent female form, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Lara Croft, Bayonetta, Samus (without Armor), that robot girl who shakes her ass, etc... are a lot worse than Aqua in this regard.
Aqua as a character is very multi-dimensional: She's obedient, yet not afraid to rebel if she needs to; friendly, but also maternal to her friends; and goal oriented, but doesn't let her desires consume her. Some might take this as Aqua being a "mary-sue," but on the contrary, Aqua makes plenty of mistakes along her journey. These mistakes aren't nearly as contrived or idiotic as the mistakes her friends make, but she does make them. Going back to Aqua being obedient, it may sound bad, but she is a student after all... and at least she isn't as obedient as Samus.
Then we have Aqua's story arc, which was clearly the highlight of Birth By Sleep. Even the developers must have agreed since Aqua is the only character of the three playable characters to get an. I would talk about it, but that would require spoils. So I just suggest everyone go out and play it.extended chapter, and additional chapter in the final mix
Aqua probably is the best written character in the entire series. The only thing that would of made her perfect but this really isn't a fault towards the character, is her voice actor.
This is a fantastic idea.
I really like Asuka as well <3
She lacks the philosophical tone of Roxas, but she is definitely the best in regards to most of the Kingdom Hearts series and her gender.
Professor Renegade
Banned
It's already been said, but:
TheFLYINGManga_Ka
Member
Playing the new Tomb Raider. Amazing game. The new Lara Croft for sure.
Also Terra from FFVI and Kid from Chrono Cross.
Edit: Also Samus. How can I forget about her!?
Also Terra from FFVI and Kid from Chrono Cross.
Edit: Also Samus. How can I forget about her!?
You should have undubbed the game.
Typographenia
Member
Your opinion might change after Still Life 2. Not horrible, but definitely a drop in quality for her character, as far as I was concerned.
Heather from Silent Hill 3 will always be my high bar. Wonderful design, personality, voice acting, and just a really solid overall character.
Jill Valentine from REMake is a strong contender in my book as well, because you don't mess with a lady with a beret. She was a little clueless, but when push came to shove, she took things into her own hands.
Joanna Dark from Perfect Dark was a particular favorite of mine back in the day. I really loved the accent, her wide array of gagdets, and her ability to take things in stride so well, considering aliens and government/corporation conspiracies were afoot.
Zoey from Left 4 Dead was my default go-to when playing L4D. I enjoyed her conversation quips, her design, and why wouldn't you go with the pretty lady that is a fan of horror movies? Come on!
Honorable Mentions
Gretel - Timesplitters Games
Bayonetta - Bayonetta
Samus - Metroid Games
Juliette - Lollipop Chainsaw
Fiona - Haunting Ground (yeah, terrible character, but I loved that game)
dragonbane
Member
Current:
Jade, Beyond Good and Evil
Zoe, Dreamfall
Looking forward to:
Jodie, Beyond: Two Souls
Jade, Beyond Good and Evil
Zoe, Dreamfall
Looking forward to:
Jodie, Beyond: Two Souls
Princess Mercedes from Odin Sphere is one of my all time faves. It's great to see her grow from clumsy princess into an inspiring political leader. Seeing one of the most intimidating forces in Lord Odin brought down to his knees by a once timid little girl, that's the stuff of legends. Great character in a game filled with a lot of them.
Shameless plug:
I wrote an article for Hard Reset about just such a topic today.
http://hardreset.co.uk/unsung-female-heroes/
I wrote an article for Hard Reset about just such a topic today.
http://hardreset.co.uk/unsung-female-heroes/
abstract alien
Member
I actually like the character since she is so vulnerable and ordinary.
CTRL+F "Grace Nakimura"... not found. Page 2... not found. page 3... Not found. Page 4... not found. What the hell GAF, what's wrong with you?! =(
Yeah, Gracie from Gabriel Knight series, she is playable on GK2 and 3.
I hate myself for not having mentioned Grace. She is one of the best written female characters in adventure gaming.
Deadly Cyclone
Pride of Iowa State
Faith - Mirror's Edge
Aveline - Assassin's Creed Liberation
Lara Croft - New Tomb Raider
Aveline - Assassin's Creed Liberation
Lara Croft - New Tomb Raider
Not Spaceghost
Spaceghost
Jill Valentine was awesome in RE1. My favorite rendition of her oddly enough is her MVC2 style.
