Gamertell

All too often, female characters in video games are given bit parts, or designed in a manner that shows developers clearly intended them to act as eye candy. While female characters have become incredibly visible in games as time has gone by, it still can be difficult to discern characters who are really good role models for female players.

To make matters worse, when lists are compiled of strong female leads, they tend to feature the same characters over and over again. I’ve seen Lara Croft appear in lists at least 20 times, and frankly she doesn’t always deserve the spot. Samus Aran is also a popular star in these lists. Lara’s got her merits, sure, but there are stronger and more competent female characters. And Samus really hasn’t had much character development - she’s a strong bounty hunter and fights aliens, but other than that we don’t know that much about her.

Here are eight female characters, many of whom are often forgotten, who should be considered role models for girl gamers. They are unique individuals in their various storylines and possess strong personalities. In order to help narrow down the field of eligible role models, the characters are all ones who appeared in role-playing (or RPG-like) games.

#1: Celes Chere, Final Fantasy VI (1994)
Celes was not only a strong character throughout the events of FFVI, but also beforehand. She was one of Emperor Gestahl’s three head generals. After being accused of treason because she questioned the morality of Gestahl’s actions, she is locked away in Figaro. After Locke Cole frees her, she joins the Returners resistance group. At one point, when the Empire fakes a truce with the Returners, she temporarily rejoins, onlu to help the Returners again when Kefka is trying to destroy the world. In the second half of the game, Celes acts as the star for a time, and singlehandedly sets out to find her former Returner comrades and stop Kefka. She’s strong, willing to put herself at risk for the good of the group and intelligent enough to make difficult decisions.

#2: Lenneth Valkyrie, Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth (2000)
Lenneth is a servant of the gods, a valkyrie who acts as Odin’s recruiter, collecting souls of fallen warriors for Ragnarok. Despite spending most of the game in a servant role, she is very dignified, elegant and imposing. She’s quite possibly one of the strongest and most formidable female characters ever created. She also possesses a strong sense of right and wrong, and isn’t afraid to defy orders to do what she believes is right - such as recruiting the less than perfect Arngrim and Mystina, choosing not to fight Brahms and confronting a fellow god. Once she discovers the truth about herself and her situation, she instantly goes about doing what is right.

#3: Mackenzie, Touch Detective (2006)
Mackenzie is a spectacular role model for young girls. She’s an intelligent girl who runs her own detective agency and goes around town solving mysteries. She’s intelligent, witty, unafraid to speak her mind and has a set of lofty goals for herself. She successfully works to be recognized as a detective by the Detective Society, and hopes to publish her touch journal as well. She manages to accomplish all this while still attending school.

#4: Rose, Legend of Dragoon (2000)
Rose had an incredibly difficult and challenging life. She originally was the Dragoon of Darkness in the Dragon Campaign, and the only one to survive. As the only survivor, she must wear a choker that gives her eternal life so she can stop the God of Destruction from being reborn and the world from being destroyed. This means she must a become a murderer, a Black Monster, who kills babies for thousands of years, also killing whoever sees the babies. She then joins Dart and the fellow new Dragoons to save the world and completely eliminate the God of Destruction. It takes a strong person to allow themselves to become a loathed and feared force for the greater good.

#5: Rutee Katrea, Tales of Destiny (1998)
While Rutee is certainly greedy, and at times may seem selfish and materialistic, she’s also incredibly independent, shrewd, carefree and strong. She also functions as a competant fighter and healer for the party. When Stahn meets her, her entire focus is on success and money, but she also knows what is important and is loyal to people she cares about. She also appears in a number of the Tales of the World games, and most notable is her role as an orphanage owner/bar caretaker in Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology.

#6: Alys Brangwin, Phantasy Star IV (1993)
Alys Brangwin is considered one of the strongest and most famous people on the planet Motavia. She’s a famous hunter who has helped countless people on the planet, earned respect from village leaders and fellow hunters and is known as the “Eight Stroke Warrior.” Despite being both strong, controlled and analytical, she also had a good heart. She took the main character, Chaz, off the streets when he was alone and helpless, and raised him as her apprentice - giving him a home and a new life. She also cared deeply about those close to her, as evidenced by her sacrificing herself to protect Chaz from Zio.

#7: Etna, Disgaea: Hour of Darkness (2003)
Etna has style, its undeniable. Sure she’s self serving, sarcastic, snide, shrewd and sometimes silly, but in her those manage to be positive character traits. She’s incredibly loyal to the previous King Krichevskoy, and even possesses a strange kind of loyalty to Laharl and Flonne. Occasionally she may try to backstab Laharl to get her way and become the best, has no problem abusing prinnies and has a nasty temper, but there are worse things to be. At the very least, she’s interesting. The world would be a better place with more Etnas and fewer Princess Peaches.

#8: Maya, Septerra Core: Legacy of the Creator (1999)
Maya is really an admirable woman. She’s one of the few adults in a settlement that is filled mainly with old people and children, and helps support her community by working as a junk scavenger. When the various shells of the world are threatened by a Chosen named Doskias who is determined to find the keys to part the continents and get the power of the creator, Maya bands together with people from all different shells of the world and backgrounds to stop him. She’s unique as a female RPG character in that she doesn’t dress in a feminine manner, she has no love interest and her profession is one which would typically be held by a man. While she’s strong, logical and steadfast, she’s also very compassionate and forgiving, allowing a former enemy, Selina, to join her ranks.

Read [The List Universe] Also Read [Shiny Shiny]