We went a little beyond the original scope of this feature with two additional short lists, featuring our picks for some non-RPG honorable mentions, and our Hall of Shame, with characters we wish were given better roles to play. If you somehow landed here first, check out part one, featuring our favorite female RPG characters!
Also, SPOILER ALERT: Some of these write-ups contain small spoilers.
Non-RPG Honorable Mentions
Chun-Li (Street Fighter series)
Writeup by Neal Chandran
Chun-Li was the first woman to break into the boys’ club of fighting games, and boy did she! With her deadly arsenal of rapid fire ground kicks, helicopter-style aerial kicks, projectile attacks, and overall speed, Chun-Li hammers home the point that she is capable and doesn’t need a man’s protection. She is also not a fanservicey sex object. Her outfit offers her full body coverage while allowing free movement of her legs to fight effectively. In addition to all of that, Chun-Li also has a surprisingly involved backstory for a fighting game: she is an Interpol agent investigating criminal activity at the fighting tournament. Thus, her intelligence is as formidable as her physical prowess.
Chun-Li is an admirable icon for the Street Fighter franchise, and fighting games in general, for all the right reasons. And any Street Fighter fan can tell you that a skilled Chun-Li player is a daunting opponent.
Samus Aran (Metroid series)
Writeup by Mike Salbato
Samus is in many ways the first woman of gaming, even though her gender was initially a secret. Indeed, the manual for the original Metroid even referred to Samus as a male. It was only when completing the game quickly enough — or utilizing the infamous “JUSTIN BAILEY” password — that we learned this ass-kicking bounty hunter was a woman. Imagine! Truly powerful and take-charge females are still not as prominent today as one would expect, but there was no such thing in video games in 1986. While Princess Toadstool (before her wise decision to change her name to Peach) was busy waiting in another castle for Mario and Luigi to save her, Samus was saving the galaxy from untold dangers.
This is the Samus we knew from 1986 until August of 2010: A take-no-prisoners, solitary bounty hunter with a strong resolve, augmented by the Power Suit created by the alien Chozo that raised her. Then Metroid: Other M happened, which gave Samus a voice, and gave us a real insight to her as a person, something that many gamers were not fond of, to put it lightly.
I take a slightly different stance on this, and not just to be controversial about it: Yes, Other M presents a softer, and yes, weaker side of Samus we never saw before. But where others see these flaws as something that hurts Samus as a character, I see them as traits that make her much more human than we might have imagined before; at least, for the most part.
It may have been an uncomfortable revelation, but suddenly Samus was no longer one-dimensional. Much like Lenneth, learning that Samus has vulnerability doesn’t detract from her character: On the contrary, it means she’s now more relatable as a real person, actual and whole, and despite child trauma and pesky emotions, manages to once again do the impossible. And that makes her mighty.
Jade (Beyond Good & Evil)
Writeup by Neal Chandran
When it comes to admirable female protagonists, Jade has it all. She’s strong, intelligent, independent, compassionate, driven, resourceful, and inquisitive. The variety of gameplay modes play up the arsenal of Jade’s skills in fighting, driving, photography, problem solving, and espionage. In the story, she is a caretaker at an orphanage who the children admire. She hustles admirably for photography gigs so she can help care for the orphans, often sacrificing her needs and desires for theirs. Were I a child at this orphanage, I would greatly look up to Jade and want to be just like her when I grew up. But what really makes Jade shine is that any other heroine with so many positive traits would fall into every Mary Sue trap out there, but Jade doesn’t. It takes a skilled writer to pull that off, so kudos to Beyond Good & Evil‘s writers for allowing Jade to deftly walk that tightrope and come across as very believable.
Hall of Shame
Yuzu Tanikawa (Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor)
Writeup by Jerry Williams
From start to finish, Yuzu showed great skill in evoking groans and activating our prefrontal cortices as we combated the urge to throw our DSes against a wall. Rather than add something productive to the conversations in Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor, Yuzu serves more as a burden and obligation than an ally. While Abel and Atsuro discuss real strategies to escape or better their situation, Yuzu complains endlessly about running away and wanting to go home. Should we debase her because of her human need for safety and security? Of course not, but incessant whining certainly won’t remedy any problem. What perplexes us is that although Devil Survivor is a five-star game, it squanders the lead female protagonist by relying on inane banter and stereotypes. Pink, large-breasted, and in distress? Sounds like a concoction made in literary hell. Speaking of literacy, she is the only character whose text messages require effort to read. Sure, that’s how many people text, but why does it have to be Yuzu alone? We were under the impression that protagonists are supposed to be likeable; not self-absorbed, ditzy liabilities.
Shirley Fennes (Tales of Legendia)
Writeup by Kimberley Wallace
Shirley Fennes was intended to be a Mary Sue. For those who don’t know what that is, it’s a character who stands to be a Little Miss Perfect. Writers often try to force on their audience how amazing and perfect this particular character is. Many people who played Tales of Legendia will be the first to tell you that it’s a love triangle gone terribly wrong. See, Senel chooses the wrong girl, and it’s even more infuriating because it’s Shirley, a girl that was impossible to connect with. Why is Shirley so annoying? She’s fragile beyond repair; she’s allergic to the sea and breeze. And in all of this, in an even weaker moment, she threatens to kill everyone. Why? Because the main character was in love with her sister, who just passed away, and Shirley is in love with him. Senel is healing from the wound of losing someone he had intense feelings about, and in the end, he must push it all back and confess his love for Shirley. It might have worked, if it didn’t feel so forced. As such, we come out with a bitter, selfish character, whose place in the game feels forced all the way through. Were we supposed to like Shirley because she was pretty and dainty? Because it didn’t work. She has little substance and class, and that’s why she’s earned a spot on this list. Not to mention she got kidnapped so many times in this game, you have to wonder if she liked playing the role of the victim. What’s most disappointing about this is that there were unique characters such as Jay, Chloe, and Moses. Shirley just took up space that was better left for them.
Princess Peach (Mario series)
Writeup by Jerry Williams
Without a doubt, Princess Peach has ingrained gender stereotypes into our youth for generations. Parents have proudly purchased the newest Mario game for their children through the years, and this includes the RPGs. Before they know it, young Tina and Tommy are saving the helpless princess. Again. What’s worse, Peach lacks depth, despite enjoying over two decades of exposure. Sure, Nintendo should be commended for keeping it simple, stupid (KISS), but give the poor girl some meat; all interpretations of that previous statement would likely build character. Granted, Peach doesn’t just serve as a support character in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. Indeed, she serves up some whoop ass on a hot skillet, or glove, or whatever. However, ability on the field of combat alone is but a small step. Then again, with voice acting like we’ve witnessed over the years, taking Peach seriously won’t happen anytime soon.
The Ensemble Cast of Star Ocean: The Last Hope
Writeup by Eric Farand and Neal Chandran
Star Ocean: The Last Hope offers a variety pack of exaggerated negative stereotypes of women. Any one of the ladies in that game could earn a spot in our Hall of Shame. However, choosing just one as the worst of the worst was a nigh-impossible task, thus we bestow the dubious honor onto the cast as a whole.
Each woman in Star Ocean: The Last Hope is equally bad in her own special way. Myuria is a typical fan service girl whose bosom spills out of a skimpy outfit. Lymle’s childish act would be tolerable, were she five years old and not 15. Surely no one is as clueless as she is to the world around her, right? Oh wait, Sarah is! Sarah is a pure and innocent “moe” archetype gone horribly wrong. Sorry, but there is nothing endearing about being obliviously out-to-lunch all the time. It only gets worse with Meracle, the 16-year-old catgirl who acts like she’s six, has questionable wardrobe decisions for her age, and offers a cavalcade of moments that elicit more facepalms than exclamations of “Aww, kawaii!” To quote the surly burly guy in the cartoon 2 Stupid Dogs: “Isn’t that cute… BUT IT’S WRONG!!!”
And we saved the best for last: Welch. They say an image is worth a thousand words, so these will do the talking:
We realize some readers out there would counter with, “But Reimi was alright.” She is the best of the worst, but that’s not difficult given her peers. And even when judged on her own merits, she still earns a spot on this list, given her sudden “drama queen” style mood swings.
Deciding between Star Ocean: The Last Hope or Mimana Iyar Chronicle for worst ensemble cast of women was difficult. However, the fact that there were TWO nominees for “Worst ensemble cast of poorly portrayed women” is pretty appalling in this day and age. The male characters in both those casts are terrible as well, but that’s another rant for another time. In this case, the worse cast received the dishonor and will forever live in infamy.
Shion Uzuki (Xenosaga series)
Writeup by Neal Chandran
The women in our Hall of Shame make us facepalm because they represent the epitomes of bad archetypes, including the Mary Sue, the damsel-in-distress anachronism, the petulant drama queen, and more. Traits that either set women’s rights back to the dark ages or highlight the most exaggerated negative stereotypes of the gender do not make for compelling protagonists.
Shion Uzuki is supposed to have a PhD or some other fancy degree, right? Given how clueless she often acts, I simply cannot believe that she actually earned a doctorate. That a seemingly intelligent woman would actually consider that ridiculous apple diet absolutely kills me.
Shion often acts like a spoiled brat, throwing tantrums when she does not get her way. Her internal monologues and interactions with people in the third Xenosaga game are typical JRPG wangst that I would expect from a teenager rather than an adult in her 20s. But the biggest flaw in her already meager people skills is her relationships with men. She seems to project “daddy issues” onto her older brother Jin (who takes it all in great stride), she lets herself be manipulated by a poisonous user of a boyfriend, and the way she treats (or rather mistreats) Allen throughout the series is appalling. (Okay, the fact that he still continues to follow her like a puppy dog is kinda sad too, but that’s another story.) You would think that over the course of three games she would grow and develop, but her behavior changes little throughout the series.
Did you miss our favorite female RPG characters in part one? Check it out!
