Hey all! I’m Caitlin and I’m happy to say I’ve just joined the VGRevolution team! I thought I’d start off with something simple: a list of my 5 favorite female characters in the gaming world. Some of these are the common types of picks, and some are definitely more personal to me. Feel free to list your favorites in the comments!
5) Elena Fisher (Uncharted)
Elena Fisher is a character in the Uncharted series who starts off as a journalist/television host that works with Nathan Drake to record his search for Sir Francis Drake’s remains as a tv special, and by the end of Uncharted 3, is Nathan’s wife. Although she doesn’t approve of all of Nathan’s treasure hunting schemes, she can definitely handle herself when she gets into a tight spot as she proves time and time again throughout the series.
What I like about Elena is that unlike a lot of other female romantic interests in games, she’s not oversexualized and there’s more to her than just her relationship with Nathan, and she’s independent enough to tell him when she doesn’t agree with him.
4) Ashley Williams (Mass Effect)
This is definitely more of a personal pick for me, as Ashley is a somewhat controversial character in the Mass Effect universe that people either seem to love or hate. Ashley is a soldier with the Alliance who joins the Normandy after the attack on Eden Prime. Part of what I like about her so much is what makes others dislike her, which is her personality. She understands and respects Commander Shepard, but is not afraid to question Shepard’s decisions if she doesn’t agree with them. She also is distrustful of a lot of aliens because of the events that transpired with her grandfather during the First Contact War.
This causes some people to call her xenophobic, but I find her feelings to be justified, given all she and her family have been through. She also shows a soft side in her love of poetry that she inherited from her father, and her love for her sisters. All of these things made Ashley my favorite character in the Mass Effect universe, and I can’t wait to have her back on my squad in March when Mass Effect 3 is released.
3) Lightning Farron (Final Fantasy XIII)
Lightning Farron is the main character in 2010’s Final Fantasy XIII (and a major character in the upcoming sequel, Final Fantasy XIII-2), and only the second female main character in a Final Fantasy game. Tough and strong minded, she doesn’t take crap from anyone, shown in her hilarious habit of hauling off and smacking people (such as Fang and Snow) in the face if they piss her off.
But underneath that tough exterior is a young woman who is angry at herself most of all for failing to protect her sister, Serah. However, throughout her adventures with her new friends she meets in the game, she begins to open up to them and accept their help in saving Serah and the other l’Cie.
2) Princess Zelda (The Legend of Zelda)
The titular character in the mega-popular Legend of Zelda series, Princess Zelda is one of the most recognizable names in gaming. Even Robin Williams named his daughter after her! Zelda originally started out just as a character that would be kidnapped and eventually rescued by Link, but in Ocarina of Time, she disguises herself as a young man named Sheik to help Link along his quest to defeat Ganondorf. My personal favorite incarnation of Zelda would have to be the Twilight Princess, as I found that to be a bit darker of version of the character.
1) Samus Aran (Metroid)
To me, Samus is pretty much the First Lady of gaming. When the character of Samus was revealed to be a woman at the end of the very first Metroid game back in 1986, it was a huge shock to the gaming world, and still remains to this day to be one of the biggest twists in gaming history. Since then, she has kicked galactic ass in a number of adventures from the original NES all the way to the Wii (other than the unfortunate blight on her character known as Other M that we will not discuss). Samus is the first major female character I ever played through a game as, and for that she will always have a special place in my jaded gamer heart.
