• Home
  • News
    • All News
    • Movies
    • Comics
    • PlayStation 4
    • PlayStation 3
    • Xbox One
    • Xbox 360
    • PC
    • Indie
  • Reviews
    • All Reviews
    • Movies
    • PlayStation 4
    • PlayStation 3
    • Xbox One
    • Xbox 360
    • PC
    • Indie
  • Previews
  • Exclusives
    • All Exclusives
    • Columns
    • Opinions
    • Satire
    • Comics
    • Off-Topic
    • Guides
    • YouTube
  • Tech
By Azhar on 25 Feb, 2014: published about 2 years ago
Loading Comments

Developers Should Look To The Boss For A Strong Female Character

Developers Should Look To The Boss For A Strong Female Character

The topic of female representation is always afoot in the gaming industry, and remerged with quite a storm after the whole debacle with Feminist Frequency’s YouTube videos on Tropes VS Women in the industry. I’m not really here to weigh in on that discussion, but to rather focus on female characters in video games, and where developers should be looking for inspiration on the subject matter.

There are so many developers who talk about strong female representation. Crystal Dynamics with Tomb Raider, or Dontnod Entertainment with Remember Me or Ninja Theory with Heavenly Sword and Enslaved. There are plenty of other examples of course, but I’m not writing a history book here. There are some games that get it incredibly well, and a recent name will definitely spring to minds from the indie crowd – namely Gone Home from The Fullbright Company.

  • Popular Articles
  • Recent Articles
    • You’ll Be Able To Play (Expensive) PS2 Games On Your PS4 Now | 2 months ago
    • Jessica Jones Disempowers Its Male Characters And The Effect Is Refreshing | 2 months ago
    • Hell Is 30 000 Deathclaws Tearing Through Boston And It’s Glorious | 2 months ago
    • Sony Santa Monica Is Teasing Something Truly Strange | 2 months ago
    • Goodbye | 2 weeks ago
    • EGMR Awards 2015: The Inevitable Wrap-Up | 1 month ago
    • EGMR Fun Awards 2015: Most MLG Moments | 1 month ago
    • EGMR Fun Awards 2015: Manliest Game | 1 month ago

    It just all got me thinking. If you want to create fantastic female characters, why not look to the actually great examples? And that brings me to Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater.

    This is the one game I consider to be perfect without question. It is the only game that after years I still cannot find a single fault with it. It’s my favourite game of all time honestly. In fact I’m such a nut job about Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater that one of its villains, The Sorrow, actually inspired the name of my first novel. You may get your “nerd” shouts out of the way now please.

    It struck me recently that another reason I adore Metal Gear Solid 3 is because it had one of the best characters in a video game for me – The Boss. Like the Professor Snape of video games. I’m kidding. Anyway, The Boss epitomises everything great about a strong character. Whether you’re looking for qualities and themes such as independence, idealism, self-sacrifice, torture, tragedy, strength, respect, power and leadership – The Boss simply does all of it justice. The whole works. She’s a complete character, and typifies the kind of commanding role you’d usually find an iconic male character in.

    And the best part? She uses none of the common hooks for female characters – and with that I’m talking about sex appeal or revealing dress code or damsel in distress situations. If you’re tired of women being objectified in video games, or hyper sexualised, or constantly missing out on iconic female characters or just characters who don’t have to use the common tropes to get attention, look no further than The Boss.

    Alright, in the interest of full disclosure, The Boss is kind of unfortunately perceived as a patriot – but no one is perfect, right? Kidding. Don’t hate me ‘Merica.

    For me developers looking to tangle with strong female roles should ideally look to the best sources of inspiration for it, and for me Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater’s The Boss sits right at the top of the list.

    Ladies – play this game. Even if you don’t take a liking to the character, it would be difficult not to respect what was achieved with The Boss, and admire the exceptional characterisation.

     

     

    Look at all these pretty icons you can click:

    • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
    • Share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
    • Click to share on Google+ (Opens in new window)
    • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
    • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
    • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
    • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)

    Click Here, Read More. It's Easy.

    • 15 Dec, 2015
      EGMR Awards 2015: Developer Of The Year
    • 4 Dec, 2015
      Jessica Jones Disempowers Its Male Characters And The Effect Is Refreshing
    • 11 Dec, 2015
      EGMR Awards 2015: Controversy Of The Year
    • 14 Dec, 2015
      Life, The Universe And Gaming: 2015: Muh Oppressions, And Other Things

    Name: Azhar Lorgat
    Location: Cape Town
    Position: Potato

    Azhar has published 3571 posts. Read all of Azhar's posts.
    • Email Me
    • My RSS Feed
    • Follow Me On Twitter
    ZergNet
    FANS
    FOLLOWERS
    1262
    SUBS
    636
    Daily News. Sign Up Now.
    Offensive #23: Paragon Interrupt

    Hot Right Now

    • You’ll Be Able To Play (Expensive) PS2 Games On Your PS4 Now
      You’ll Be Able To Play (Expensive) PS2 Games On Your PS4 Now

    • Jessica Jones Disempowers Its Male Characters And The Effect Is Refreshing
      Jessica Jones Disempowers Its Male Characters And The Effect...

    • Hell Is 30 000 Deathclaws Tearing Through Boston And It’s Glorious
      Hell Is 30 000 Deathclaws Tearing Through Boston And It̵...

    • Sony Santa Monica Is Teasing Something Truly Strange
      Sony Santa Monica Is Teasing Something Truly Strange

    • Corsair Katar Review: A Splendid Dagger To The Heart
      Corsair Katar Review: A Splendid Dagger To The Heart

    • Life, The Universe And Gaming: A Survivor’s Guide To Fallout 4 With A Partner
      Life, The Universe And Gaming: A Survivor’s Guide To F...

    • Review: Fallout 4 Is Fantastic But Far From Flawless
      Review: Fallout 4 Is Fantastic But Far From Flawless

    Reviews

    • Review: Bulb Boy Is A Charming Exploration Of The Macabre Review: Bulb Boy Is A Charming Explorati...
      Marko | 50 Views | 85/100
    • Review: Star Wars Battlefront Is A Brief Ode To The Classics Review: Star Wars Battlefront Is A Brief...
      Bracken | 90 Views | 75/100
    • Review: Guitar Hero Live Evolves The Rhythm Game Genre And Will Halt Productivity Review: Guitar Hero Live Evolves The Rhy...
      Marko | 42 Views | 80/100
    • Review: Fallout 4 Is Fantastic But Far From Flawless Review: Fallout 4 Is Fantastic But Far F...
      Caveshen | 234 Views | 70/100
    • Review: Viscera Cleanup Detail – Unsatisfying Menial Labour Review: Viscera Cleanup Detail – U...
      A-G | 94 Views | 60/100

    Previews

    • Preview: It’s Attack On Wallet This Steam Holiday Sale Preview: It’s Attack On Wallet...
      Paul | Regret | 342 Views
    • Need For Speed Wants To Make You Do Sweet Drifts, Bro Need For Speed Wants To Make You Do ...
      Marko | Vin Diesel | 159 Views
    • The Siege Of Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six The Siege Of Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six
      Paul | Counter-Strike | 100 Views
    • Everything We Can Tell You To Expect In Halo 5: Guardians Everything We Can Tell You To Expect...
      Caveshen | Guilty Spark | 242 Views
    • Hands-On: Star Wars: Battlefront Has Potential, But Needs Serious Work Hands-On: Star Wars: Battlefront Has...
      Azhar | Spaaaaaaaace! | 598 Views

    Columns

    • Life, The Universe And Gaming: 2015: Muh Oppressions, And Other Things
      Life, The Universe And Gaming: 2015: Muh Oppressions, And Other Things

    • Abyssal Pixels: Role-Playing – The Absurd Versus The Faithful
      Abyssal Pixels: Role-Playing – The Absurd Versus The Faithful

    • Life, The Universe And Gaming: A Survivor’s Guide To Fallout 4 With A Partner
      Life, The Universe And Gaming: A Survivor’s Guide To Fallout 4 With A Partner

    Indie

    • Gone Home Officially Coming To Peasants
      Gone Home Officially Coming To Peasants

    • Review: Bulb Boy Is A Charming Exploration Of The Macabre
      Review: Bulb Boy Is A Charming Explorati...

    • RWBY: Grimm Eclipse Emerges From Shadows On To Steam Early Access
      RWBY: Grimm Eclipse Emerges From Shadows...

    • Latest Mighty No. 9 Trailer Shows Off Some Shiny New Gameplay
      Latest Mighty No. 9 Trailer Shows Off So...

    • Review: Viscera Cleanup Detail – Unsatisfying Menial Labour
      Review: Viscera Cleanup Detail – U...

      Interact

    • Submit a Tip
    • Suggest a Feature
    • The Team
    • Review System
    • Archives
    • Competitions

      support

    • Contact
    • Site or Article Error
    • Advertising
    • Competition T&C
      Creative Commons License

      stay connected

    • RSS Feed
    • Twitter
    • Twitter - Full Feed
    • Facebook
    • YouTube
    • Email Newsletter

      newsletter

      Enter your email address to receive our newsletter for news, articles and updates.
    Copyright © 2016 — #egmr. All Rights Reserved.
    A member of the Blotch Network with Clutchd Automotive.
    loading Cancel
    Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
    Email check failed, please try again
    Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.