To the Extreme

I have this friend (hey Aef!). He’s a major fan of Lara Croft and he also thinks highly of Talis (of Dragon Age fame) and Jack (Mass Effect 2). Personally I see them all belonging in the same camp of extreme-strong-independent-borderline-psychotic-woman characters so I’m a bit worried about him….

Seriously though, I don’t find anything wrong with female game character being strong and independent – hell, I wrote a massively long, post about it – but what bugs me is that many female game characters are written in two extremes. The first being a character that serves as no other function than being a damsel in distress, ie Princess Peach. But the second is the afore-mentioned strong to the point of being psychotic type. The type defined by characteristics such as a constant need to prove one’s self, violent to the point of being neurotic, no conscience whatsoever, a near rejection of human emotions, an almost tunnel-vision determination to beat their male counterparts at their own game (so to speak) and the necessity to surround herself with male characters who can only be described as hopeless.

I mean I can understand the second type being a reaction to the ineffectualness of the second type but so easily can the second type come across as being a caricature as opposed to a legitimate character. I can understand that the female gamers may want a champion to cheer for and aspire to but I’m not convinced that having a character with near-psychotic traits is the way to go about it. True the ‘damsel in distress’ may be a stereotype but the ‘sassy action girl’ could also be considered a stereotype. And no less obnoxious.
Okay so there’s nothing wrong with women being inspired by the likes of Buffy or Xena but at the end of the day, one thing I do object about the 'sassy action girl' is when they are shown doing 'action' things and little else! As an aspiring writer myself, I know for a fact that the best characters need a mixture of strengths and oddities to keep them interesting - after all, once you identify the unusual about a character you're pretty much on your way.

One thing that bothers me about the second type characters is that they seem to convey the idea that it’s wrong to be…well…..feminine. You know, a female character can’t be passive or dress up – no they have to be in everyone’s face and take control of situations! Thus the only time the sight of Lara Croft in a cocktail dress would be acceptable would be if she was holding an assault rifle or something.
Seriously, what’s wrong with being feminine? By way of experience, Kathleen spent her teen years as a tomboy military chick and years later I managed to convince her into a dress on numerous occasions without too much difficulty.

Ultimately I’m not interested in either the powerful/independent women (and thus evil) stereotype or the powerless/male-reliant women (and thus virtuous) stereotype. No, what I think game writers should be striving for is a middle ground: A strong independent woman who has at least has emotions, a softer side and not afraid to do feminine things. Why not? Surely such ingredients would make for a champion worth cheering for, no? Some would think such traits would create an inconsistent conflict but I call BS on that: What it does is create a character who is, oh I don't know, interesting.
I’ve made mention of instances when this balance has been achieved but at the end of the day they are few. Ultimately it’s hard for the middle ground to get heard when two extremes dominate.

Still it is puzzling why the middle ground can’t be embraced seeing as it does the best of both worlds. Indeed, I've seen several game characters - both male and female - loaded with both strengths and enough charm to win over a player - but no visible character flaws or actual depth to balance it out. And still the character is lauded for it!
Honestly one would think that to add flaws or depth to a player character is a crime punishable by death....