Ten greatest female characters in gaming for International Women’s Day

Ten greatest female characters in gaming for International Women’s Day

8th March 2016 Off By Northern Lights
The newly crowned face of Lara Croft, Alison Carroll, aged 23 from Croydon, appears before the media for the first time at Pineapple Dance Studios in central London.

The newly crowned face of Lara Croft, Alison Carroll, aged 23 from Croydon, appears before the media for the first time at Pineapple Dance Studios in central London. Picture by: Yui Mok / PA Archive/Press Association Images

Today is international women’s day and to celebrate that we will look at ten of the most popular and brilliant female characters from around the video gaming universe.

Some characters may have had more of an impact than others; since there are a lot of great female characters it was difficult to choose ten and they are in no particular order.

1. The legendary English Lara Croft from the Tomb Raider franchise who is regarded by most people as being the most popular female in the video game industry. Lara Croft epitomises survival and action, being the lead protagonist of the Tomb Raider series, she has encountered countless tasks to overcome and is a very mentally and physically strong young woman. Lara Croft featured in two live action films played by the famous Angelina Jolie.

2. The blue synthetic intelligence lady Cortana from the Halo franchise. Cortana is essentially a hologram created to assist humans in the fictitious Halo Universe; she is pushed into the limelight by being with the not very talkative Masterchief (the main protagonist of Halo) and helps him throughout the halo series. She is extremely intelligent and a distinct personality which makes her quite unique in the gaming world.

3. Chun-Li the first female character from the Street Fighter series. Chun-Li is a martial arts expert and interpol officer who has great athleticism, back-story and sex appeal; which is why she has became extremely popular. She has featured in two street fighter films and the street fighter anime.

4. The free runner from Mirror’s Edge, Faith Connors is the lead protagonist of the game and is an expert at parkour the art of free roam running. She uses this as a weapon in the futuristic world of Mirror’s Edge. Her unique style and character contribute to why she is a great female character.

5. Princess Zelda is fifth on the list of female gaming characters; Zelda is part of the appropriately named Legend of Zelda series although not the main protagonist she is the main female character in the series. Zelda often becomes kidnapped in the franchise making Link, the main protagonist, to go on an adventure to rescue her back. Zelda is a great female character because of the role she plays and that she is a big part of one of gaming’s biggest series.

6. Jill Valentine from the Resident Evil series. Jill Valentine is an American Special Operations Agent that is the main protagonist in the first Resident Evil game; she has to overcome many ‘zombie’ problems and complications. Jill is liked by fans as she is all for action and sex appeal in a game like resident evil.

7. Tifa Lockhart from the hit game Final Fantasy 7, Tifa is the type of character to always cheer on others and be very friendly and supportive. She is the childhood friend of the main character Cloud Strife, Tifa is also a playable character and is popular because of her appearance and constant positivity.

8. Samus from the hit series Metroid. Samus is the main protagonist and is an ex-soldier of the galactic federation; she is usually in her popular suit of armour and her range of different weapons. She is popular for being one of the first female protagonists in gaming and how powerful she is.

9. Ellie from the big hit game The Last of Us. Ellie is somewhat similar to Lara Croft in the way of having to survive though she is only fourteen years old. She is very popular because of her persistence and fans of the game are very emotionally attached into the story and Ellie.

10. Clementine from the Walking Dead Telltale game. Clementine is a lot like Ellie as she is only eight years old and forced to survive in the world of a zombie apocalypse. You find her in game by herself and you begin to look after her almost like her daughter as you are helping her look for her family. She is popular because of that reason and is a generally cute character you have to look after.

These are all brilliant female characters in the video game world and it also shows that since video games began there are continuously more and more important female characters in gaming.

Words by: Eamon Richards