-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Best main female character in a game?
- Thread starter Raiden
- Start date
Red Scarlet
Member
Mmhm.
Musashi Wins!
FLAWLESS VICTOLY!
The Boss is a crazy good iconic character, but by and large this thread makes me weep for female characters.
BTW, Samus has very little prescence as a female character. She's often pointed to because she's just a generic male design that ZOMG mask came off and she's female for a moment. Very boring.
BTW, Samus has very little prescence as a female character. She's often pointed to because she's just a generic male design that ZOMG mask came off and she's female for a moment. Very boring.
Big Shirtless Ron
Member
teacupcopter
Banned
Samus is a crap character with funky armour in a great game- it's mere co-incidence she's 'female', if you can even consider her that. Jade from Beyond Good & Evil is a fantastic choice, but overall it's The Boss I reckon who can't be beat. Although the MGS series offers up a lot of competition with Sniper Wolf, Meryl and Fortune being strong, female figures that don't necessarily focus on sexiness to sell the character to the player (although elements are in Meryl and Wolf specifically, they aren't anywhere near as bad as most games)... Even Emma Emmerich in MGS2 is a good female character, a young girl who isn't wearing a boob tube or something 
Shadowmancer
Member
I'd say Jade as well, but I'm suprised no one has mentioned Bastilla from KOTOR. I thought she was a very well done female character. Always torn between her emotions and her sense of duty.
Red Scarlet
Member
teacupcopter said:Samus is a crap character with funky armour in a great game- it's mere co-incidence she's 'female', if you can even consider her that. Jade from Beyond Good & Evil is a fantastic choice, but overall it's The Boss I reckon who can't be beat. Although the MGS series offers up a lot of competition with Sniper Wolf, Meryl and Fortune being strong, female figures that don't necessarily focus on sexiness to sell the character to the player (although elements are in Meryl and Wolf specifically, they aren't anywhere near as bad as most games)... Even Emma Emmerich in MGS2 is a good female character, a young girl who isn't wearing a boob tube or something
Ok, so the MGS ones that don't necessarily focus on sexiness to sell the character to the player rock, but a character that does the same thing that you bash on (Samus) not only does that same thing, and very much not a coincidence is a female character when no one on earth would have thought that she was female when playing the game shouldn't even be considered a female character? Samus isn't wearing a boob tube either, and a very large point of the third game is to save her 'child'. I don't get your way of thinking on this one.
1) April Ryan - The Longest Journey
2) Jade - Beyond Good & Evil
3) Deionarra - Planescape Torment
4) Fall from Grace - Planescape Torment
5) Farah - Prince of Persia series
6) Sarah Kerrigan - Starcraft
7) Bastilla Shan - Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
8) Cortana - Halo series
9) Imoen - Baldur's Gate series
2) Jade - Beyond Good & Evil
3) Deionarra - Planescape Torment
4) Fall from Grace - Planescape Torment
5) Farah - Prince of Persia series
6) Sarah Kerrigan - Starcraft
7) Bastilla Shan - Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
8) Cortana - Halo series
9) Imoen - Baldur's Gate series
SolidSnakex
Member
Vasili2K38
Member
The Boss without doubt.. the most charismatic female character I've seen in a videogame
siamesedreamer
Banned
&
PhoncipleBone
Banned
Nameless said:
FOR THE WIN!
you see that's bullshit, Samus was one the first if not the first Female lead character in games and at a time when every goddamn protagonist was a male. not only that, she is part of legendary franchise. her games he spawn countless imitators, even though she has not developed too much over the years as a character(which to me is a plus because knowing everything about her would've been very fucking dull) she has legion of fans, I'm sorry but as good as every female character in the MGS series there is none of them not even The Boss can stand to the legacy that is Samus. and a mere coincidence she is female wtf kind of logic is that? so it's a coincidence Snake is male too?teacupcopter said:Samus is a crap character with funky armour in a great game- it's mere co-incidence she's 'female', if you can even consider her that. Jade from Beyond Good & Evil is a fantastic choice, but overall it's The Boss I reckon who can't be beat. Although the MGS series offers up a lot of competition with Sniper Wolf, Meryl and Fortune being strong, female figures that don't necessarily focus on sexiness to sell the character to the player (although elements are in Meryl and Wolf specifically, they aren't anywhere near as bad as most games)... Even Emma Emmerich in MGS2 is a good female character, a young girl who isn't wearing a boob tube or something
momolicious
Member
LOL
First place by far: Colette Brunel
(Tales of Symphonia, Namco, GC/PS2)
Why:
1) She has alternate outfits, which is almost a guaranteed qualifier for honorable mentions if nothing else.
2) She blends about four different stereotypes that aren't supposed to go together. The angel shouldn't be the clutz, the angel shouldn't be the thief, the angel shouldn't be the prophet who understands everybody at first glance, the clutz shouldn't be the thief, the clutz shouldn't be the prophet, and the thief shouldn't be the prophet. It all makes absolutely zero sense, which is why it's so great, and why she ends up being such a well-developed character storyline-wise in a game where everyone else--except for Presea and maybe Zelos--is pretty shallow.
3) She saves the group multiple times by tripping and falling and it's insanely adorable every time it happens.
4) She's one of the most fun support characters ever. Normally I can't stand it when AI-controlled characters are backing me up, whether in Secret of Mana or Star Ocean 2, but Colette as an AI player tends to stun the enemy a lot without ever killing it and taking my glory.
5) Her theme owns my world.
6) She gets captured two or three times. Granted, they never actually show her tied up--if it did, that would probably etch her the permanent #1 favorite character spot--but just knowing that it's theoretically happening is enough.
7) I think she's cute, regardless of what the haters think.
8) I like her English voice actress, also regardless of what the haters think.
9) I have absolutely no clue what the shoulder things hanging off of the sides of and over her dress are called, and that makes me happy.
10) I've never cried for a video game character before, but cried for her three times in the course of my first playthrough--then did it again on two of those scenes the second time through.
Second place by far: Jigglypuff
(Pokemon series, Nintendo/GameFreak, GB/GBC/GBA/DS/N64/GC...
...and Super Smash Bros series, Nintendo, N64/GC)
Why:
1) The nostalgia factor of R/B/Y days, back when I thought Sing was a broken move because it put enemies to sleep with what really seemed like a lot more than 55% accuracy.
2) My current online name spawned from a shortening of "Jigglypuff."
3) She's simply by far my favorite character to play as in SSBM. Part of that is because nobody I play against knows how to use her, so they also don't know how to counter her (whereas other friends' specialties include Peach, Fox, Sheik, etc., all of whom I know how to deal with), but more of it is just due to insane aerial maneuverability. She's way, way too fun to play for me to rank her any lower.
Third place by far: Rena Lanford
(Star Ocean: The Second Story, Enix/Tri-Ace, PSX)
(Star Ocean: Blue Sphere, Enix/Tri-Ace, GBC)
Why:
1) Not technically alternate outfits since they're in different places, but she has one outfit in Star Ocean 2 proper, another in the Japan-only Star Ocean: Blue Sphere, and another in the Star Ocean 2 anime (shown up above), and I really love all three. The only gripes I have with each is that the shoes of the SO2 artwork don't make sense for a girl who likes exploring and running around, ditto for the skirt of the SOBS artwork (although it really does look great on her and helps the futuristic look), and the anime artwork ditches the high socks while also making her look anorexic.
2) She only gets captured once, unlike Colette--but also unlike Colette, they actually show it. WOOO.
3) Like everybody else in Star Ocean, she's got an insane plethora of skills at her disposal. She fights, she has healing powers, she makes her own weapons, she makes her own armor, she makes her own accessories, she forages for survival, she sends birds to get supplies for her, she cooks five-star meals with only a few ingredients, she summons gigantic bunnies to transport her around, she plays musical instruments, she writes best-selling romance novels, and more, all at the age of 17. Crazy.
4) She's in a game the likes of FF6 and CT, where I keep and/or will keep wanting it re-released on a portable system until it actually happens.
Honorable mentions, in alphabetical order by game since I'm too lazy to figure out exactly where to rank them:
Sami (Advance Wars series, Nintendo/Intelligent Systems, GBA/DS) - Has very different abilities from all the firepower bonus COs in the series, a neat character design art-wise, and a theme so awesome it could probably be the main theme of the entire series.
Marle (Chrono Trigger, Squaresoft, SNES)
Kasumi (Dead or Alive series, Team Ninja, Dreamcast/PS2/XB/X360) - Like I said, alternate outfits will get any halfway decent female character into the honorable mentions. A fun character to play as, too.
Celes Chere (Final Fantasy VI, Squaresoft, SNES) - Good storyline, fantastic theme, and cute sprite.
Terra Branford (Final Fantasy VI, Squaresoft, SNES) - See Celes, except subtract the "cute sprite" part.
Tifa (Final Fantasy VII, Squaresoft, PSX) - Her art design really betrays the writing behind her, because she's a good "girl next door" type. Lacks a good theme, too.
Lyn (Fire Emblem 7, Nintendo/Intelligent Systems, GBA) - Has very different abilities from basically every other Lord in the series, a neat character design art-wise, and a theme so awesome it could probably be the main theme of the entire series. Basically the Sami of FE, to me.
Mist (Fire Emblem 9, Nintendo/Intelligent Systems, GC) - Just because there's something funky about a girl who starts off as a ground-based healer with 5 movement and turns into a mounted sword user healer with 8 movement.
Cassandra (Soul Calibur 2-3, Namco, GC/PS2/X-Box) - 236B and the valkyrie outfit do the trick. If PS2 dropped to $100 new and came bundled with something good, I'd really consider buying one just to play as Cassandra with new outfits.
Would have made the list or honorable mentions if they were main characters:
Schala (Chrono Trigger, Squaresoft, SNES)
Agrias (Final Fantasy Tactics, Squaresoft, PSX)
Beatrix (Final Fantasy IX, Squaresoft, PSX)
Eiko (Final Fantasy IX, Squaresoft, PSX)
Relm Arrowny (Final Fantasy VI, Squaresoft, SNES)
Yuffie (Final Fantasy VII, Squaresoft, PSX)
Rikku (Final Fantasy X/2, Square-Enix, PS2)
Tana (Fire Emblem 8, Nintendo/Intelligent Systems, GBA)
Marin (The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening/DX, Nintendo, GB/GBC)
Lemina (Lunar 2: Eternal Blue, GameArts/WorkingDesigns, PSX)
Precis Neumann (Star Ocean: The Second Story, Enix/Tri-Ace, PSX)
Had the potential to make the list or honorable mentions if they were human:
Kazooie (Banjo-Kazooie/Tooie, Rare, N64)
Dixie Kong (Donkey Kong Country 2-3, Rare/Nintendo, SNES/GBA)
Had the potential to make the list or honorable mentions if they showed personality instead of just cool abilities:
Alena (Dragon Warrior IV, Enix, NES)
Paula (Earthbound, Nintendo, SNES)
Porom (Final Fantasy IV, Squaresoft, SNES)
Rosa (Final Fantasy IV, Squaresoft, SNES)
Selan (Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals, Natsume, SNES)
Samus (Metroid series, Nintendo, NES/GB/SNES/GBA/GC)
The Girl (Secret of Mana, Squaresoft, SNES)
Lenneth Valkyrie (Valkyrie Profile, Enix/Tri-Ace, PSX)
(Tales of Symphonia, Namco, GC/PS2)
Why:
1) She has alternate outfits, which is almost a guaranteed qualifier for honorable mentions if nothing else.
2) She blends about four different stereotypes that aren't supposed to go together. The angel shouldn't be the clutz, the angel shouldn't be the thief, the angel shouldn't be the prophet who understands everybody at first glance, the clutz shouldn't be the thief, the clutz shouldn't be the prophet, and the thief shouldn't be the prophet. It all makes absolutely zero sense, which is why it's so great, and why she ends up being such a well-developed character storyline-wise in a game where everyone else--except for Presea and maybe Zelos--is pretty shallow.
3) She saves the group multiple times by tripping and falling and it's insanely adorable every time it happens.
4) She's one of the most fun support characters ever. Normally I can't stand it when AI-controlled characters are backing me up, whether in Secret of Mana or Star Ocean 2, but Colette as an AI player tends to stun the enemy a lot without ever killing it and taking my glory.
5) Her theme owns my world.
6) She gets captured two or three times. Granted, they never actually show her tied up--if it did, that would probably etch her the permanent #1 favorite character spot--but just knowing that it's theoretically happening is enough.
7) I think she's cute, regardless of what the haters think.
8) I like her English voice actress, also regardless of what the haters think.
9) I have absolutely no clue what the shoulder things hanging off of the sides of and over her dress are called, and that makes me happy.
10) I've never cried for a video game character before, but cried for her three times in the course of my first playthrough--then did it again on two of those scenes the second time through.
Second place by far: Jigglypuff
(Pokemon series, Nintendo/GameFreak, GB/GBC/GBA/DS/N64/GC...
...and Super Smash Bros series, Nintendo, N64/GC)
Why:
1) The nostalgia factor of R/B/Y days, back when I thought Sing was a broken move because it put enemies to sleep with what really seemed like a lot more than 55% accuracy.
2) My current online name spawned from a shortening of "Jigglypuff."
3) She's simply by far my favorite character to play as in SSBM. Part of that is because nobody I play against knows how to use her, so they also don't know how to counter her (whereas other friends' specialties include Peach, Fox, Sheik, etc., all of whom I know how to deal with), but more of it is just due to insane aerial maneuverability. She's way, way too fun to play for me to rank her any lower.
Third place by far: Rena Lanford
(Star Ocean: The Second Story, Enix/Tri-Ace, PSX)
(Star Ocean: Blue Sphere, Enix/Tri-Ace, GBC)
Why:
1) Not technically alternate outfits since they're in different places, but she has one outfit in Star Ocean 2 proper, another in the Japan-only Star Ocean: Blue Sphere, and another in the Star Ocean 2 anime (shown up above), and I really love all three. The only gripes I have with each is that the shoes of the SO2 artwork don't make sense for a girl who likes exploring and running around, ditto for the skirt of the SOBS artwork (although it really does look great on her and helps the futuristic look), and the anime artwork ditches the high socks while also making her look anorexic.
2) She only gets captured once, unlike Colette--but also unlike Colette, they actually show it. WOOO.
3) Like everybody else in Star Ocean, she's got an insane plethora of skills at her disposal. She fights, she has healing powers, she makes her own weapons, she makes her own armor, she makes her own accessories, she forages for survival, she sends birds to get supplies for her, she cooks five-star meals with only a few ingredients, she summons gigantic bunnies to transport her around, she plays musical instruments, she writes best-selling romance novels, and more, all at the age of 17. Crazy.
4) She's in a game the likes of FF6 and CT, where I keep and/or will keep wanting it re-released on a portable system until it actually happens.
Honorable mentions, in alphabetical order by game since I'm too lazy to figure out exactly where to rank them:
Sami (Advance Wars series, Nintendo/Intelligent Systems, GBA/DS) - Has very different abilities from all the firepower bonus COs in the series, a neat character design art-wise, and a theme so awesome it could probably be the main theme of the entire series.
Marle (Chrono Trigger, Squaresoft, SNES)
Kasumi (Dead or Alive series, Team Ninja, Dreamcast/PS2/XB/X360) - Like I said, alternate outfits will get any halfway decent female character into the honorable mentions. A fun character to play as, too.
Celes Chere (Final Fantasy VI, Squaresoft, SNES) - Good storyline, fantastic theme, and cute sprite.
Terra Branford (Final Fantasy VI, Squaresoft, SNES) - See Celes, except subtract the "cute sprite" part.
Tifa (Final Fantasy VII, Squaresoft, PSX) - Her art design really betrays the writing behind her, because she's a good "girl next door" type. Lacks a good theme, too.
Lyn (Fire Emblem 7, Nintendo/Intelligent Systems, GBA) - Has very different abilities from basically every other Lord in the series, a neat character design art-wise, and a theme so awesome it could probably be the main theme of the entire series. Basically the Sami of FE, to me.
Mist (Fire Emblem 9, Nintendo/Intelligent Systems, GC) - Just because there's something funky about a girl who starts off as a ground-based healer with 5 movement and turns into a mounted sword user healer with 8 movement.
Cassandra (Soul Calibur 2-3, Namco, GC/PS2/X-Box) - 236B and the valkyrie outfit do the trick. If PS2 dropped to $100 new and came bundled with something good, I'd really consider buying one just to play as Cassandra with new outfits.
Would have made the list or honorable mentions if they were main characters:
Schala (Chrono Trigger, Squaresoft, SNES)
Agrias (Final Fantasy Tactics, Squaresoft, PSX)
Beatrix (Final Fantasy IX, Squaresoft, PSX)
Eiko (Final Fantasy IX, Squaresoft, PSX)
Relm Arrowny (Final Fantasy VI, Squaresoft, SNES)
Yuffie (Final Fantasy VII, Squaresoft, PSX)
Rikku (Final Fantasy X/2, Square-Enix, PS2)
Tana (Fire Emblem 8, Nintendo/Intelligent Systems, GBA)
Marin (The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening/DX, Nintendo, GB/GBC)
Lemina (Lunar 2: Eternal Blue, GameArts/WorkingDesigns, PSX)
Precis Neumann (Star Ocean: The Second Story, Enix/Tri-Ace, PSX)
Had the potential to make the list or honorable mentions if they were human:
Kazooie (Banjo-Kazooie/Tooie, Rare, N64)
Dixie Kong (Donkey Kong Country 2-3, Rare/Nintendo, SNES/GBA)
Had the potential to make the list or honorable mentions if they showed personality instead of just cool abilities:
Alena (Dragon Warrior IV, Enix, NES)
Paula (Earthbound, Nintendo, SNES)
Porom (Final Fantasy IV, Squaresoft, SNES)
Rosa (Final Fantasy IV, Squaresoft, SNES)
Selan (Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals, Natsume, SNES)
Samus (Metroid series, Nintendo, NES/GB/SNES/GBA/GC)
The Girl (Secret of Mana, Squaresoft, SNES)
Lenneth Valkyrie (Valkyrie Profile, Enix/Tri-Ace, PSX)
Late Stage Marxist
Member
Terra from Final Fantasy VI
Governor Elaine Marley from The Secret of Monkey Island
Governor Elaine Marley from The Secret of Monkey Island
bobbyconover
Member
Red Scarlet
Member
Himuro said:
His reasoning was what I was not understanding. Some of the same aspects that he liked some characters Samus does too (unless you really like her helmet or something).
Scrow said:
Sure...(from a post I made earlier in a similar thread):
She's a normal, sensitive human being underneath a hardened, rational soldier shell. She doesn't play on sex, she doesn't walk around showing off her cleavage, wiggle her ass, pout with her lips, or talk with a seducing voice. She's also a "main" character who's a middle-aged woman, which I think is one of the bravest character designs in the game industry today. In essence, she is a woman with dignity who acts like a respectable human rather than an oversized female sex doll. That's what I call fresh air.
teacupcopter
Banned
Error2k4 said:
Samus isn't a character. Samus is a cool drawing, part of an AWESOME game, but Metroid barely has a story, and Samus is barely a character. It's not a criticism, and I definitely think Samus looks cool, but fuck, Master Chief has more character to him. Samus barely utters a word (does she at ALL!? in any game? I forget). It's 'co-incidence' because you only find out she's female at the end of the game. Take that out and guess what? NOTHING CHANGES. She doesn't stand for anything, she doesn't display any femininity at all, she's a faceless avatar. End of story. This really can't be argued... I mean she's interchangable with almost anyone
yeah, that's nice and all, but i was talking more about whether the definition of a "main character" means they're the character you play as throughout the game?Kiriku said:
i kinda agree with this for the most part.teacupcopter said:
she doesteacupcopter said:
Scrow said:
Oh, I misunderstood...partly because your question has already been answered by the person who started the thread:
Raiden said:
So yeah, The Boss is not a playable main character. She is however deeply tied to the storyline throughout the game and plays an important role.
Red Scarlet
Member
:lol Please play Super Metroid again. The whole point to the game is to find the Baby Metroid, which thinks Samus is its mother.
She "talks" in it too, but not speech-wise, only narration. She also narrates in Fusion, but meh.
She "talks" in it too, but not speech-wise, only narration. She also narrates in Fusion, but meh.
Xellotah said:
Oh man... this isn't the Princess that I know... poor toad.
:lol Look at Toad open wide for the purple missile.
my votes:
Samus
Jade
Joanna (but not the sexed up version, the original)
Aika from Skies is awesome, I don't know if she counts as a main character or side character.
This is an old criticism based on the premise there was no Metroid games after the first. The sequels have furthered who Samus is, her relationships with others and her gender is no longer hidden or a surprise.
Plus, stories and personality do not rely completely upon dialogue. This is something many game writers should fucking learn already.
gollumsluvslave
Member
Not playable but for me Shodan is the most memorable female character in any game.