Entertainment with female protagonists.

[Brown_Coat117]

Books

Honor Harrington series by David Weber
Military science fiction, strong female lead, Honor Harrington very well written in general. The first 9 books range from very good to great but take a massive down hill turn after that and the spin offs are mostly lousy, the main exception being The Shadow of Saganami which has some really good supporting female characters.

The first book On Basilisk Station is free on the Amazon Kindle app so check it out.

Games
as far as ones not already mentioned No One Lives Forever.

 

[Nieroshai]

Sexuality is human, any attempt to completely ignore our sexual dimorphism in gaming is dishonest to our species.

I get the feeling we have very different ideas of what counts as sexualization and what counts as sexual dimorphism. I don't consider those macho save the girl guys to be sexualized at all. And by sexualized, I mean made into sexual objects. That is, I'm less interested in entertainment that treats the female characters like a piece of meat to entice people. I'm not interested in seeing bouncing breasts, I want to enjoy their minds.

It isn't that I'm against the sexualization of female characters ever. But I'm getting a bit sick of all of it. And it usually detracts from the females being portrayed as well rounded characters. I very much want to see characters have their own sexuality. It is a huge focus on their bodies being sexualized that I am getting a little bit tired of. Sexualized as in those comic books that spend several pages giving a close up on a woman's butt or something like that. That I tire of a little bit.

But I'd prefer not go get into another argument about this subject here.

Asking for a non-sexualized female character is like asking for a non-sexualized male character. Throw out the macho, discount instancess of rescuing women and other masculine fantasies, and throw out every installment where the hero gets the girl.

My list of games with strong male characters who are not sexualized or bound to typical gender roles:
Sam Fisher, Jackie Estacado, Harry Mason, Alex Shepherd, Gordon Freeman, Connor Kenway, and that's pretty much it. In my entire collection. Which is extensive.

Now for the games starring strong female characters who, like in REAL LIFE, are good characters WHETHER THEY ARE SEXUALIZED AND FEMININE OR NOT:
Samus Aran, Lara Croft, Jill Valentine, Claire Redfield, Meryl Silverburgh, Nariko, Heather Mason, Alex Roivas, Terra, Chell, Faith, Mara Jade, Rosella from King's Quest series.

And these are simply from my personal collection, of course, and do not include games in which said protagonist is a side character or result of a pre-game gender choice.

FIXED!!!
You ignore the REST of my post, that MAKES my point, and you call me out. Did I mention ONCE, fucking ONCE, that I am for the objectification of women? Did I not take time to list strong, independent characters worth following? No, I said that sexuality is human. I pointed out great characters, portrayed in a normal manner, whose main central characteristic is NOT objectification of their bodies. You can go ahead and find pleasure in the mind of a fictional character being progressive. I'm going to go enjoy a story, as the medium is intended.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Buffy the Vampire Slayer! BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER!!

It's one of the greatest TV shows ever made and is universally praised for it's strong, not-hypersexualized female protagonist.

Universally? I'm thinking of a certain "The Princess Bride" meme here, though you only said that once.

Stephanie Brown - As Batgirl at least, cause I haven't read much of her other than that. As a bat, they're never really sexualized, 'cept Dick. She's one of those character's that screws up, picks themselves up, laughs it off, and keeps fighting. She has her weaknesses, she's not just a bruiser. When of her biggest weaknesses is bat on her chest, from it getting her into more trouble than she may be able to handle, to it getting into her head, and thinking she doesn't deserve the bat mantle, to her gaining confidence from the symbol, with determination and a smile.

Yeah...Cassandra Cain as Batgirl was "better", but I found Brown to be more enjoyable. Very formulaic and lightweight, but it'd a decent formula which entertains if you don't expect much of anything from it.

 

[Little Woodsman]

Okay,
Books--
The Dragonriders of Pern & the Harper Hall trilogy by Anne McCaffrey
Promises to Keep by Charles De Lint (If you like Promises to Keep, De Lint has a slew of other books/short stories centered around Jilly Coppercorn.)
The Dreaming Place {novella} by Charles De Lint
Jack of Kinrowan by Charles De Lint
(I'm starting to see a pattern here....)

Anime--
Kaleido Star
Haibane Renmei
Sugar the Little Snow Fairy (it is for all ages--it's about the relationships between children & the people who take care of them)
Tsukikage Ran, Carried by the Wind
Princess Nine
Someday's Dreamers
Slayers
Magic Knight Rayearth
ARIA
These last two might me considered borderline on the sexualization of the protagonists---but
Bubblegum Crisis/Crash (OVA's)
You're Under Arrest!

Comics--
The new Amethyst (Technically "Sword of Sorcery, starring Amethyst") has been pretty decent so far.
Chris Claremeont's run on X-Men/New Mutants (Groundbreaking for female comics characters at the time).

 

[Tiger King]

Iain M Banks novels, specifically his Culture books. These books form an extended Universe in which they are set.

Surface Detail has the main character as a female seeking revenge. It also has a female character with an adjoining story arc who has made herself gender neutral.

Excession has a major female player, though she is ditzy she has power despite it. I don't really know how to explain this character, it won't be what you expect. All the main characters in this book are AI though, so this probably isn't the best to start with.

Matter has a female lead who is, in effect, a super spy/soldier. This isn't teen fiction though. I would say realistic but this is sci fi, so I suppose what I mean is that these books are written very much with realism in mind.

A Player of Games has a male lead who has not, and refuses to, change his sex at any point in his life. This makes him, if not a freak (Culture citizens are too polite for that), a definite oddity.

hey off topic but as a banks fan just thought I would say, did you hear that he is dying?
doctors said he has about a year left due to an aggressive cancer

 

[Gatx]

Bayonetta? Alright maybe that's not the strongest plot, but she's definitely a strong female protagonist despite (or even because of) her sexuality. There's no reason that women have to emulate men in order to be respectable, which is sort of where our current mindset about female characters is at.

Kim Possible! It's harder to find a better protagonist, and unlike almost any of the cartoons I watched as a child, I found I could still watch Kim Possible today and still enjoy it.

From the looks of it Kim Possible just seemed like a blend of 'girl power' and 'if you try hard and believe in yourself you can do anything' type of protagonist so I avoided it. How far off was I?

She's a girl who is physically very capable, but it's never in your face about the whole "girl power" thing. And there's almost zero "you have to believe in yourself" involved. Each episode's actually kind of pulp style adventure mixed with a normal teenage life B story that may or may not have anything to do with each other.

 

[lacktheknack]

I have a thing for reading old Nancy Drew books. They're just so fun.

Or, for that matter, Nancy Drew games. Nancy's a great lead who makes smart decisions and occasionally yanks epic badassery out when required (so you've walked into a room with the words "DIE" smeared on the mirror in lipstick and a terrifying recording jabbering about a bomb... OF COURSE you're going to disarm it yourself. What else would you do?).

And her friends on the phone allow for fun and normal sounding banter on the phone.

And the female characters around her are mostly pretty realistic and interesting... sometimes they're even the villain.

Seriously, if you want "complete gender equality gaming", or books for that matter, Nancy Drew is your girl.

EDIT: More.

Have you read A Series Of Unfortunate Events? Two of the main characters are female, one's a resourceful inventor and the other's a resourceful infant. It's a great (if rather dark) children's series.

Also noteworthy is that one of the only competent adults in the entire series (seen in the last three books) is also female, as well as female villains appearing just as often as male villains.

 

[ChristopherT]

Yeah...Cassandra Cain as Batgirl was "better", but I found Brown to be more enjoyable. Very formulaic and lightweight, but it'd a decent formula which entertains if you don't expect much of anything from it.

I just haven't read any Cassandra, I've meant to. I'm fairly new to Batman comics, found Steph fun, jumped in with her books, and just finished them earlier this year. I've tried getting into Cass but I've found I don't really like the art style of her Batgirl run. I haven't written her off, just haven't gotten to her yet.

OT: Hotwire from Radical comics. Short series about technology becoming wide spread enough that extra static in the air becomes a problem and ghosts emerge from the static, mostly harmless, other than ones that go crazy, enter the exorcist code name Hotwire. She's hated by the police, cause she's weird, she's an outsider, and it sucks, but she pushes on, endures. And kicks non corporeal ass. In her spare time, she also plays video games.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Yeah...Cassandra Cain as Batgirl was "better", but I found Brown to be more enjoyable. Very formulaic and lightweight, but it'd a decent formula which entertains if you don't expect much of anything from it.

I just haven't read any Cassandra, I've meant to. I'm fairly new to Batman comics, found Steph fun, jumped in with her books, and just finished them earlier this year. I've tried getting into Cass but I've found I don't really like the art style of her Batgirl run. I haven't written her off, just haven't gotten to her yet.

Well, whereas Brown is your usual ditzy teen misfit, Cain is very dark and serious and much heavier going, and harder to get into. Also, a lot more of her stuff was in crossovers with other bat-family people, while most of Brown's story happened in her own issues.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Leaving out certain obvious choices like Disney princesses, and anime fanservice stuff.

Anime:

Serial Experiments Lain
Vision of Escaflowne
Howl's Moving Castle
Spirited Away
Princess Mononoke
Kiki's Delivery Service
My Neighbor Totoro
His and Her Circumstances
Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water
Ghost in the Shell
Paprika
Perfect Blue

Movies:

Frida
Welcome to the Dollhouse
Terminator 1 and 2
Alien 1 and 2
Fargo
Labyrinth
Carrie
Lilja-4-Ever
Fucking Amal
The Secret of NIMH
Return to Oz

 

[Alakaizer]

Okay, I can't add a whole lot to this list, but for books I'd throw in Terry Pratchett's Monstrous Regiment, Lynn Flewelling's The Bone Doll's Twin and Hidden Warrior, and the Liveship Traders trilogy by Robin Hobb.

For video games, all I can think to add is that technically Okami Amaterasu is a sun goddess, so, Okami is a good one.

 

[MrHide-Patten]

Well I've tried the FUSE demo today and it's got two female protagonist. I was skeptical because I really liked the original premise before EA tampering, but I found the demo enjoyable and potentially playing as 4 characters at the same time quite novel. All things considered I have faith in Insomniac's abilities to really do these characters justice.

 

[Legion]

I normally find female characters significantly more interesting, here are some series that feature some really good ones:

Spice and Wolf - Anime/book/manga - Co-main protagonist
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya - Anime/book/manga - 3/5 of main cast
Mardock Scramble - Anime/book/manga - Main character
Puella Magi Madoka Magica - Anime/manga - All female main cast
Ghost in the Shell - Anime/manga - Main character
K-On! - Anime/manga - All female main cast
Angel Beats! - Anime - Half of main cast
Code Geass - Anime - Several main characters
Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood - Anime - Several main characters
Elfen Lied - Anime/manga - Most cast members (occasional pointless fan service)
Valkyria Chronicles - Game - Half of main cast
Fire Emblem Awakening - Game - Half of main cast
Night Watch Saga - Book - Several main characters
The Black Magician Trilogy - Book - Main character and several others
The Traitor Spy Trilogy (set in same world as the above) - Book - One of the main characters and several others
Tomb Raider 2013 - Game - Main character
Bioshock Infinite - Game - Co-main character
Mass Effect Trilogy - Game - Half of main cast
Dragon Age:Origins and 2 - Game - Half of main cast
To the Moon - Game - Co-main character
Katawa Shoujo - Visual Novel - Majority of cast
Neon Genesis Evangelion - Anime/manga - Half of main cast
Blood+ - Anime - Main character
A Song of Ice and Fire - Book/TV - Several main characters

Despite their many flaws, the Halo and Gears of War novels contain some very good female characters.

I can think of many games with decent female characters, just not many with them being the main ones.

I will edit as and when I come up with more, but I am at work right now.

 

[Kamukazi]

Games

Enslaved: Odyssey to the West - what little i've played of this, the characters are supposed to be the best thing about it especially between the two protagonists Monkey and Trip

honorable mention to the Mass Effect series - cuz although it IS a character customization, it is one of the better ones out there

shows

sanctuary
fringe
alcatraz
body of proof
Castle

anime
Howl's Moving Castle - and pretty much anything else from studio ghibli, they are held in high regard for a reason

Birdy the Mighty Decode

Blood+

Fullmetal Alchemist series - both series and sacred star of milos have good characterisation of secondary characters

Ghost in the Shell - specifically the Stand Alone Complex series

Girls und Panzer - not sure if you would really call that GOOD characterisation, but i managed to get through it without bashing my brains in and genuinely enjoyed the show

Spice and Wolf - Practically the definition of 'don't judge a book by its cover' (pun intended), once you get passed the first impression of 'man with fox girl' you'll find that its actually an exposition heavy story, its charm being the banter between Holo and Lawrence, I can't tell you how high I recommend this one, go get it and watch it/read it, you won't regret it

the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

Psycho Pass - set in a future where it is possible to instantaneously measure a person's mental state, personality, and the probability that a person will commit crimes, all through a device installed on each citizen's body called a 'Psycho-Pass'. When this probability, measured by the "Crime Coefficient" index, is too high in an individual, they are pursued and apprehended?with lethal force, if necessary. The story follows Miss Akane Tsunemori who is a new Inspector within Unit One of the 'Public Safety Bureau's Criminal Investigation Division', her job being to hunt down criminals and latent criminals (people whose crime coefficient is deemed too high, and without chance of recovery). As an Inspector, she commands a special group of latent criminals that are called Enforcers. I've only just started watching this series and it is quite intense and strong in its themes, giving me a ghost in the shell vibe.

 

[Legion]

*snip*

Seriously, of all the threads to start an argument in, why this one? Regardless of whether or not everything they said was entirely accurate, the point of the thread is to help them discover some good fiction with decent female characters. The thread is harmless and not trying to stir up trouble so why go down this route?

While you occasionally make valid points against the more extreme "feminists", it is getting significantly harder to see you as any different from the handful of "Femi-Nazis" on this site who do the same thing but on the opposite side.

Perhaps you don't care how you come across as you see yourself as in the right, and believe the ends justifies the means, but starting arguments out of nothing is not winning anybody over to your line of thinking.

All it is doing is giving credibility to those on this site who will try and use you as an example of why there women have problems in gaming. Again, perhaps that doesn't bother you, but unless you are just trying to vent, there is nothing to gain by being needlessly aggressive and picking up on minor issues for no obvious reason.

It just makes the more polite and reasonable people look bad, and damages any valid points that you make, as people dismiss them due to the other things that you say, or how you say them.

 

[Candidus]

As far as the broader discussion going on here is concerned, I'm pretty much in line with matthew_lane above. In particular I feel that female protagonists are only somewhat uncommon in videogames, not in entertainment in general. I also concur that the Bechdel Test is a totally discredited irrelevance.

That being said, my arguments have already been made for me, so I'll just drop some examples of what I think the OP might want and move on to other pastures.

Books:
Shira Calpurnia - Crossfire* (Don't get the omnibus, I'll explain later)
Ulrika the Vampire, Bloodborn, Bloodforged, Bloodsworn (I despise vampire novels, but I like this trilogy)

Games:
Odin Sphere (There are two male characters to get through)

Anime:
Kotoura-san
Claymore (Sometimes has to share primacy with male hanger-on)

Not a very comprehensive list, I know. Just off the top of my head.

(* You can see what the author wanted to do with the second novel, but his execution of it is genuinely dreadful. The third novel is alright, but getting its themes and much of her thinking depend on you having read the second novel. My opinion is that it's not worth the struggle.)

 

[JediMB]

I've seen some great recommendations in this thread. I'll have to keep my eye on it for stuff I haven't watched/played yet.

Now, it's been so long since I played it that I'm not entirely sure if I can recommend it, but there's Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem for the Gamecube. While a majority of the playable characters are male (as the game takes place in various different eras of human history), the current-day "main" protagonist (Alexandra Roivas) and one other are women with, as I recall, rather interesting story arcs.

I really need to play the game again. And maybe chip in for the spiritual sequel's crowdfunding [http://www.precursorgames.com/shadowoftheeternals/].

 

[A Weakgeek]

The Perfect Dark series! Ok, so the games aren't really filled with much story or character development, but the books and the comic series made me fall in love with Miss Dark. She's funny, smart, tough as nails, but still very human. She's suffers greatly after the loss of her father (suffering from Survivor's Guilt), is trying to figure out what to do with her life, and questions herself and her abilities and actions, wondering what it makes her as a person. If you can, track down Perfect Dark: Initial Vector, Perfect Dark: Janus' Tears and Perfect Dark: Second Front as they are most excellent. Also, get the games. You can get Perfect Dark Zero for about $5 USD and that's not bad at all, and you can get the HD remake of Perfect Dark on XBLA for about $10 USD or so.

Spoiler: Just look at mah cosplay of her! I just love this character to bits!

I know I might be coming across as a huge asshole for asking this, but what exactly counts towards the "Dont self advertise" rule here on the escapist? Posting your own cosplay pics doesnt seem to count. So is it ok when its a picture of yourself doing something? What about video?

Meh, nevertheless cool cosplay.

 

[Legion]

The Perfect Dark series! Ok, so the games aren't really filled with much story or character development, but the books and the comic series made me fall in love with Miss Dark. She's funny, smart, tough as nails, but still very human. She's suffers greatly after the loss of her father (suffering from Survivor's Guilt), is trying to figure out what to do with her life, and questions herself and her abilities and actions, wondering what it makes her as a person. If you can, track down Perfect Dark: Initial Vector, Perfect Dark: Janus' Tears and Perfect Dark: Second Front as they are most excellent. Also, get the games. You can get Perfect Dark Zero for about $5 USD and that's not bad at all, and you can get the HD remake of Perfect Dark on XBLA for about $10 USD or so.

Spoiler: Just look at mah cosplay of her! I just love this character to bits!

I know I might be coming across as a huge asshole for asking this, but what exactly counts towards the "Dont self advertise" rule here on the escapist? Posting your own cosplay pics doesnt seem to count. So is it ok when its a picture of yourself doing something? What about video?

Meh, nevertheless cool cosplay.

If they had posted a link to a cosplay site and said to go there, that would count as advertising. Posting a picture of yourself embedded into the site does not count, no more than posting a picture of your pet or gaming set-up would be.

If you embed a YouTube video you made and it is relevant to to the topic then that is normally okay too, as long as there is discussion value to it rather than "Go check out my channel".

The no advertising rule tends to be to discourage people using this place as promotion of non-Escapist related material. If it is embedded the in the vast majority of cases it is seen as fine.

 

[JediMB]

Again with all due respect, bullshit. The Bechdel test is not objective proof of anything, under any circumstance, especially not the representation of women in media... As a scathing indicement of the concept is this: Frank Millers Sin City passess this test, yet Vagina Monologues fails it. I'm just going to let that sink in for a second... A piece of regressive bullshit written by Frank "i can't write a woman without making her a prostitute" Miller's work passed the test... But a broadway play written by feminists, for feminists, funded by feminists & with an all female cast, fails a supposedly objective test about womens representation in media.

People tend to misunderstand what the point of the Bechdel Test even is. Both the ones who use it as a guideline for individual movies and the ones who dismiss it as pointless. The Bechdel Test can't, by any means, be used to determine if a specific piece of entertainment is good or bad, if it's sexist, or if it has "good" female protagonists.

What it does is show a rather uncomfortable trend throughout the entertainment industry (that entertainment tends to be dominated by male characters, and the plots driven by their actions), and with this trend in mind the test was created for the express purpose of failing a majority of our entertainment. I'm sure you can agree on that there should be more movies out there with at least two women who have a conversation about something other than a man, but of course that doesn't mean a movie with a single female protagonist can't be a fantastic and progressive piece of entertainment.