Found: Estrogen Strong Enough to Fit the Bill

by Luminaire

Original Editorial: Wanted: Leading Ladies

This "leading female characters" thing has always, unfortunately, been a bit of an issue. As a female gamer, I am fully aware that video games are mostly marketed to male audiences (just take a look at the Dead or Alive games!), but I've never really had much of a problem with leading male characters. In fact, since games are marketed to male gamers, I find most of the female characters to be rather embarrassing in how most (but thankfully not all) cater fully to this audience.

For one thing, Lulu's wardrobe in FFX is not only ridiculous for her line of work (how can she travel by foot in such a precarious dress?), but was also the focal point of many a strategically-directed camera angle throughout the game. And though I did like her "I won't take no crap from anybody" attitude, she was painfully embarrassing for me because of her appearance. Let's face it. She wasn't trussed up in that waist-pinching, boob-magnifying girdle to show that she possesses a "If you've got it, flaunt it" 'tude -- that was done for the viewing pleasure of the game's targeted audience. Video games are marketed, and much of their artwork regarding character design is done for stylistic purposes in order to draw an audience in. It's mostly commercial.

Now, I'm not condemning Final Fantasy for being sexist or anything; naturally, there are plenty of games out there who haven’t thrown female fans a bone because of commercialism (cue Charlie Brown theme). The games have got to sell, you know, and though skinny females in skimpy clothing is usually not their main focus, it’s definitely a good way to draw gamers in.

But to go in a different direction, I can somewhat forgive game execs because they didn’t stick all female characters with two-dimensional personalities to match their “Come and get me” appearances. Though no Final Fantasy game since FFVI has had a main female protagonist, the estrogen-charged supporting roles haven’t suffered much personality wise. In FFVII, for example, Tifa, the woman who hit the fifty-inch mark when it comes to bust measurements, was also the character who came to protagonist Cloud Strife’s rescue when he was poisoned with Mako. Not only did she try to get him the heck out of there when Mideel was collapsing beneath their feet, but also she did all she could to forage through the ruins of his mind to free him from his past (literally!) -- and gain a fuller understanding of him at the same time. Although that scenario’s a little lovey dovey, male gamers aren’t typically turned on by love stories, and this could also constitute for Temple Priestess’ “have the princess save the prince” scenario.

I’ll go with another example of a strong female character by addressing Garnet from FFIX. That girl was built to last. She was very independent throughout the entire game (a “free spirit,” if you will), and even had the durability to survive through the destruction of everything she held familiar. I mean, her mother turned against her and tried to kill her, she was forced to flee from the only home she ever knew (um, well, she ran away on purpose, but she couldn’t exactly go back by her own free will either), her home was destroyed, and she was constantly being hunted down by a scary androgynous person in a thong. Oh yes, and she also had her eidolons ripped out of her. And yet she continued on with more or less of a smile (and she cut her hair off, to boot!) without degrading into the one-dimensional, depressed junk heap that FF8 protagonist Squall wallowed in for about half of his own game. Garnet represents a female character who pretty much vied with Zidane as the main focus of FFIX -- she certainly had her own problems to deal with -- and she was strong enough to carry on through the plot knowing that the very worst was around the corner. And you can’t really blame her for being rescued by Zidane sometimes. I mean, the guy’s an alien with enough acrobatic skills to put Nightcrawler to shame.

I reiterate that I am indeed a female gamer, and my opinion is very different from Temple Priestess’. I’ve never really gravitated much toward female characters in the first place -- I was actually quite disappointed that most of FFX’s main cast was comprised of women. Even though I’m female, I can still identify with male characters, and I appreciate them even more because of how they look (congrats to the FF team and their villains who individually fell into a puddle of pretty upon leaving the drawing board). In my opinion, I don’t think a main female protagonist would break any existing clichés or garner a larger audience . . . the games will be just as enjoyable, with more heinously gigantic boobs and mercifully attractive villains. So long as the pretty villains stay, I’m cool with almost anything the FF team cooks up (although FFX-2 is a bit of a stretch).

To end this editorial on less of an opinionated note, I’d like to suggest some other titles (not all of them RPG’s, of course) that cut female fans some slack in the character department: Shadow Hearts (just check out Yuri’s most powerful Harmonixer form to see what I mean), Galerians Ash (with its pretty boy cast and not one but two shonen ai moments), Xenosaga (despite their exaggerated appearances, Shion and KOS-MOS both have very admirable and ever-changing characters), and Koudelka (microskirt aside, Koudelka can kick any man’s rear any day of the week).

Rebuttals welcome! And happy gaming!