Female protagonists in videogames

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Spikey · #1 Post by **Spikey** » Thu Dec 09, 2004 2:02 am

In the early days, female protagonists were almost absent in videogameworld. The earliest I can remember:

1982: Ms Pacman (Atari)
Ms Pacman, must be the very first female main character ever.

1984: Cabbage Patch Kids (Coleco Vision).
Well, can we call THAT a protagonist, a girl with two ponytails who has an "adventure" in a place called "babyland park". :lol

1986: Metroid (Nintendo).
Samus Aran is often mistaken for a man, cause she wears such a heavy high-tech armor. Still, as far as I can tell, the first true female videogamehero.

1988: King's Quest IV: Perils of Rosella (Sierra Entertainment).
This is the first virtual woman I can remember who also acts like a traditional woman (unlike Samus Aran). "Clean house" "OK". :rolleyes

1989: The Colonel's Bequest (Sierra Entertainment)
Okay, Laura Bow is a little stiff, but I really liked her. Somewhere. Deep down inside.

1990: Lorna(Topo Soft)
Alfonzo Aspiri's comicbookhero turned into a videogame. Doesn't really count because of that, and it was a crappy kill-everything-you-see-while-running-around-half-naked-game.

1990: Wonderland (Virgin Interactive)
This game was a really nice adventure (at least how I remember it), based on the Carroll's novel. You play as Alice, in wonderland. Duh. Like Lorna, Alice existed before the game.

1990: Balloon Kid (Nintendo)
You play as Alice (no not the same one as above), a girl whose brother floated away on a bunch of balloons. She courageously chases after him, with the help of just some balloons. Meant to be a sequel to Balloon Fight, this game ended up as a platform actiongame on the Gameboy.

Anybody who remembers early female protagonists????

rosel1 · #2 Post by **rosel1** » Thu Dec 09, 2004 3:45 am

I remember The Little Mermaid on Nintendo (1989-1990). That game really got on my nerves.

And of course there's King's Quest VII...The Princeless Bride 1994

I think you covered just about all of them, Spikey! LOL, there aren't many female protagonists in a game... $:\$

Edit: Just out of interest, I did a search. Perhaps there are more than I realised. Some of these games are more recents...

http://www.mobygames.com/game_group/she ... C0/so%2C0a

Parhelion · #3 Post by **Parhelion** » Thu Dec 09, 2004 6:29 am

1987: Athena (SNK)
I got it as a hand-me-down NES cartridge, and it was just plain horrible. Maybe the worst 2-d platform game I've ever played.

That list on MobyGames includes "Gabriel Knight" 1 and 3. Is that a mistake, or do they really have female leads? I've never played the Gabriel Knight games (I know, I know,) but I was sure the main character was male.

Regarding female leads in general, though, "The Longest Journey" has a female protagonist and is probably my favorite adventure game, "Quest for Glory" notwithstanding.

MusicallyInspired · #4 Post by **MusicallyInspired** » Thu Dec 09, 2004 6:45 am

I know you can play as Grace in GK3 but not in GK1 to my knowledge....

adeyke · #5 Post by **adeyke** » Thu Dec 09, 2004 7:19 am

They list GK2 (The Beast Within) and GK3 (Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned). In both games, you sometimes play as Grace.

They don't list GK1 (Sins of the Fathers). In that, you never play as Grace.

JWar · #6 Post by **JWar** » Thu Dec 09, 2004 7:45 am

Don't forget both Syberia games.

Skyshark · #7 Post by **Skyshark** » Thu Dec 09, 2004 10:21 am

Chun-Li - Street Fighter II

Sonya Blade - Mortal Kombat

Spikey · #8 Post by **Spikey** » Thu Dec 09, 2004 12:00 pm

Yeah well, I was kind of talking about the early days, you know, 1990 and before. Since then, quite a lot of females entered the scene as main characters.

Meerbat · #9 Post by **Meerbat** » Thu Dec 09, 2004 2:25 pm

Then add Sophia Hapgood. True, the player hardly could control her, except for a few minor scenes, but she still was with Indy in a great part of the game, so she counts as a protagonist.
I really enjoyed adventure games, in which you can switch from one character to another, like in Maniac Mansion, Zack McCracken and the Alien Mindbenders (iirc), Day of the Tentacle, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, Gabriel Knight 2 and 3, among others. Interestingly enough, in all those examples there is an alternative female protagonist.

Spikey · #10 Post by **Spikey** » Thu Dec 09, 2004 3:04 pm

"protagonist" means as much as "main character"

Meerbat · #11 Post by **Meerbat** » Thu Dec 09, 2004 3:10 pm

I know, Spikey

After all, Grace is as much as a protagonist in GK2 and 3 as Gabriel, and Laverne is as much as a protagonist as Bernard and Hoagie, for example.

Spikey · #12 Post by **Spikey** » Thu Dec 09, 2004 7:32 pm

Yes, but those aren't exactly old games. And Grace was more a supporting character in the first game.

Radiant · #13 Post by **Radiant** » Thu Dec 09, 2004 8:16 pm

Some additional heroines...
Maniac Mansion has Wendy and Razor (and DOTT has Laverne). And of course in Zak, 3 of the 4 player characters are female.
In Hugo II: Whodunit, you play Penelope. I believe this predates KQIV.
C=64 had a Mario ripoff called the Great Giana Sisters.
Speaking of which, in the NES Mario II you get to play the Toadstool princess.
PC platformers have Jill of the Jungle, and Elf Land has Elfita (no, I'm not making that up even

).
Gauntlet had the valkyrie. So did Golden Axe (and sequels to both).
The first extremely famous heroine is probably Lara Croft.
How about the semi-IF Alter Ego: Female?

And of course there's always Ms. Pacman.

Jafar · #14 Post by **Jafar** » Thu Dec 09, 2004 8:23 pm

Don;t forget the girl from Math/Word quest.

Broomie · #15 Post by **Broomie** » Thu Dec 09, 2004 8:32 pm

Jill of the Jungle you bought some great memories back my friend!

Renodox · #16 Post by **Renodox** » Thu Dec 09, 2004 8:43 pm

You could also play as a female character in Alone in the Dark 1, personally I think her story made more sense "I must investigate and avenge my uncle's death."

arganite · #17 Post by **arganite** » Mon Dec 13, 2004 4:39 am

Laura bow two

Vinyl godess of mars

Quest For Glory Fan · #18 Post by **Quest For Glory Fan** » Mon Dec 13, 2004 4:47 am

actually the first recorded female protagonist is Mrs. Pacman but little is known about her other than her severe eating disorder.

what i wanna know is who was the first woman antagonist!

Spikey · #19 Post by **Spikey** » Mon Dec 13, 2004 12:14 pm

Yeah I forgot Ms Pacman, that was back in 1982 when I wasn't even born yet. I did an edit in the first post.

Flauschepelz · #20 Post by **Flauschepelz** » Mon Dec 13, 2004 6:37 pm

I can think of three C64 games with female protagonists:
Cauldron
Great Giana Sisters
Bride of Frankenstein

There's also a list of video games with female protagonists on MobyGames.

Spikey · #21 Post by **Spikey** » Mon Dec 13, 2004 7:00 pm

The list on Mobygames is far from complete. I'm the one who added Metroid to it recently, for example. Good C64 examples are those.

Female protagonists in videogames

Female protagonists in videogames

Alone in the dark