The Portrayal of Men and Masculinity in Video Games

[IamLEAM1983]

I think the real problem with the games industry is that the only bankable male models are either the "Grizzled War Hero" type, or the "Sleek and Breezy Bishounen" type. Everyone complains about the portrayal of women in games, and for good reasons, but honestly, men are just as horribly marred, generally speaking.

Of course, some characters have redeeming qualities. Nathan Drake might start to resemble a complete cheeseball after the third game, piling up so many quirks in an effort to make him out to be The Everyman that he eventually turns somewhat cartoony - but then you have characters like Ethan Mars or Scott Shelby, from Heavy Rain. They both make sense in their respective contexts. Isaac Clarke started out as an empty shell, but the second game offered him a distinctive personality that makes sense, considering what he has to go through. The Left 4 Dead series might have somewhat stereotypical character designs, but the male roster is generally believable enough.

Despite all that, the industry keeps giving the impression that the only bankable archetypes are those that give us characters like Master Chief or Marcus Fenix, or perhaps Dante's classic design or, well, Sephiroth. Even The Last of Us tends to show that it'll commit to some of these tired clichés, with the masculine character having a checkered past and the female character being well-rounded as a character, but still generally vulnerable, in an effort to foster player connection.

And that's where things are a little dicey. Why not the opposite? Why not a game where a resourceful woman with some brawn and a lot of dedication cares for a weakened man? Mostly because in the cultural perceptions of most gamers, men are made out to be the "doers" of the bunch, while female characters are typically used for the sake of reaction shots. Even Bayonetta and Lara Croft don't counter that dynamic, seeing as they're basically oversexed men with boobs.

All I'm really hoping for is that the newer Tomb Raider won't overdo things while offering Croft some much-needed vulnerabilities.

 

[Gethsemani_v1legacy]

Mhh... So it will all work out in the end?

From what I?ve seen it looks like it?s going to be a painful transition. Is there anything we as a group can do to make this easier for everyone? Or is it something we are going to have to weather as a collective?

I don?t think we are going to get away from some type of stereotype, it?s the social scaffolding, but can we change these stereotypes to include the virtues we want?

It will work out in the end, in one way or the other. Whatever it will be beneficial to the current movement of gender equalization is another matter.

What can we as a group do then? Stop perpetuating outdated stereotypes, speak out against these stereotypes when we see them or see someone trying to perpetuate them and support those that would go against the gender roles and gender stereotypes (female soldiers, male nurses etc.). If you want to change the, frankly, horrible portrayal of men in video gaming then you need to be ready to speak out against it. Does anyone think they would have turned Lara Croft into a more anatomically correct model if no one had spoken out against the oversexualization of the character? In the same manner, we need to speak out against characters like Markus Fenix and Kratos and be ready to defend the position that we want to see less ridiculous stereotypes.

And you are totally right, we'll always have some form of stereotype and probably some form of gender roles (in the end, men can't become pregnant), but we can change the contents of these stereotypes. Just look at my previous example of John Wayne and Humphrey Bogart, neither of the two would be considered very masculine today and yet they embodied the absolute epitome of masculinity in the 40's and 50's. It is totally possible for us to change what stereotypes we have and what content these stereotyps have.

I believe that no matter what you think of feminism, gender equality and related topics, it is far better to move forward (even if it only is to invalidate the changes brought on by feminism) then to try and cling to the past.

 

[Zeckt]

I thought about all the male characters and I think my favorite is probably Garret from the Thief series. He is not all powerful and hates confrontations, he has zero romantic interest with any woman, he is greedy and selfish and steals from both the rich and poor and will blackjack both man and woman to get what he wants but is not cruel and avoids killing innocents and even guards and ends up in situations that by the end of the game he could just walk away and not give a shit about the big bad guy killing everything but ends up doing the right thing and outsmarts his foes without muscle but by being very crafty.

Thief 4, where are you why have you forsaken me?

 

[Erana]

-Do you like or admire the male characters you see in games?
In games in general, or games I play? My collection has its fair share of grizzled *blank* marine-type characters, which I generally tolerate enough. I do have a bit of a soft spot for the Master Chief, though. I could envision him in some military fatigues, enjoying a nice coffee if there wasn't bad guys to don't be afraid of.
But generally? My game collection has a lot of decent guys, from Leon Kennedy to the Prince of Persia, (After his humbling experiences, of course) Mario, to good ol' Link. And yes, there are meatheads like the Orcs Must Die! protagonist or the cast of Team Fortress 2, but honestly, I think of them more as caricature than as people. And I don't really even think I could like a lot of these sorts of characters, as they're quite often terrible people, but I enjoy their zany antics.

Admire? I don't do much admiring of anyone, real or fictional. There are a few character arectypes that I do appreciate having their story told in game form, though. Parental figures, especially. The first male character that comes to mind who I admire is Harry Mason.

I confess I had reservations at first about raising that baby. Could I love her? Her existence was thoroughly unexplainable. I thought, "She could be that young woman who snatched away my beloved daughter." That led to sadness, anger... there were times when I put my hands around her tiny little throat.

Several times I even considered abandoning her. That's what a terrible person I am. But I decided to raise her after all. I just couldn't seem to let her go. When she... when you look at me, you laugh, so...

Even now, I can't forget about that girl. But I love you. I have no doubts about that. That's all I ask you to believe.

Part of it is Silent Hill's effectiveness in creating such a strenuous experience, but this quote just makes him so much of a person to me, and such a good parent. He's not just some generic, saintly character, he's a person, with all kinds of emotions, confusion and a thousand questions, but perseveres through any challenge because of the love he feels for his daughter.

-Do you relate to any of their experiences?
I don't really relate to a lot of their experiences; I'm pretty young, without romantic or sexual interests and the closest thing I do to fighting is video games and a bit of fencing. No zombies here. [http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2005/006/reviews/535840_20050107_screen019.jpg] In addition to some of the aforementioned male characters, I guess I can get behind a lot of them. I also generally wind up empathizing with the male characters in the JRPGs I've played than the female characters.

-Do you think these stereotypes are representative of qualities you observe in the men you encounter in real life?
Hrm... Well, I generally don't like thinking of people as being in little sex-based boxes, and most of the male video game characters I like could typically be gender-flipped without dire consequences to their personalities. The male people I generally choose to surround myself with are typically kind of like that- cool people and gender politics determine little in their interaction with others. I mean, yeah, they're men and they prefer following male social customs like dress, body language, etc. but that's just what they do. (allowances for the individuals I know who identify with the opposite gender, of course)
Sure, I do know some very macho guys as well who probably wouldn't be all that out of their comfort zone in a military-themed game and it makes me a bit uncomfortable, honestly. And here's the heart of the issue for this question.
-If not, what is it about male characters that make them unrelatable to you? Could this be changed?
All this macho stuff, whether real or fiction, just makes me uncomfortable. I feel like someone who abides by this sort of behavior has just beaten and locked all their emotion in a trunk somewhere deep in their mind and is living off posturing and propriety. Just change "Macho Manly-Man" to one of many other potential arcetypes (trendsetting socialite, energetic and enthusiastic CEO or even that one student whose overachieving to the point that you can just see them destroying themselves over it) and it makes for someone who makes me downright nervous. To me, extreme Macho is just one of many roles played to the point of the extreme that gets idolized in this culture for some backwards reason. I can't relate to that because I never want to be that way. Giving them personalities, motivations and mulch-fasceted feelings towards what it is that they do in-game would make me feel a lot more comfortable with a character than a macho guy whose all about flags, guns and stopping bad guys. As for the characters who are just into killing, torture and violence without any reprieve by way of comedic or satirical spin (TF2 again, or say, Saints Row) is just a monster in the guise of Macho male characrer as far as I'm concerned.

-Are there roles or qualities you would like to see in male characters that you do not see now? What would make these characters more appealing to you?
As mentioned before, I'd like to see characters have feelings, thoughts and opinions. A clear reason behind why they do what they do. At the same time, though, a lot of very fun games wouldn't be what they are if they had stopped to expound on these little things. If character development just doesn't fit too well in a game that's oriented towards a very specific sort of experience, I'd like there to be some kind of expanded universe content that fits seamlessly with the primary game, at the very least.

I thought about all the male characters and I think my favorite is probably Garret from the Thief series. He is not all powerful and hates confrontations, he has zero romantic interest with any woman, he is greedy and selfish and steals from both the rich and poor and will blackjack both man and woman to get what he wants but is not cruel and avoids killing innocents and even guards and ends up in situations that by the end of the game he could just walk away and not give a shit about the big bad guy killing everything but ends up doing the right thing and outsmarts his foes without muscle but by being very crafty.

Thief 4, where are you why have you forsaken me?

Man, Garret slipped my mind completely, and I was just thinking about those games. I don't quite empathize with a self-serving thief, but I like him as a character and felt like he is just the kind of hero his rough world deserves. Really great video game character.

 

[Alandoril]

I've never been able to relate to any of the male characters in games. They are never realistic. Not even in the slightest. The absurd Bale-Batman gravel voices they have are usually a prime factor in that.

The situations they find themselves in and themes of their endeavours to get themselves out of them I do relate to on the other hand.

As for Gethsemani's comment about men defining what they want to be...well, I for one want to be a man and be allowed to be proud of that without having the world look at me like I'm a freak for not living "up" to the poster man I am supposed to be. I want to be free.

The whole masculinity confusion thing isn't helped by the fact that women demand that they have it all, whilst expecting men to put up with being shoe-horned into laughable concoctions of magazine article cut-outs where we are supposed to be able to bench-press a house but also paint or compose music, be stand-up comedians, be bread-winners but also stay at home dads, rough and ready but also superstar gorgeous and so on and so on. Women have to learn that they either have us as we are, as ordinary men, or as the way things are going in the western world...they do not have us at all.

Because after all what is the point of being a man in a world where REAL manhood is at best simply looked down upon and at worst openly despised?

 

[The_Lost_King]

Oh, one other thing I'd like to add:

I'd like to see male characters expressing grief in ways other than bloody, revenge-fueled rampages. This isn't a problem exclusive to male characters, but it's a fairly common issue I have with AAA games. Character death is to often reduced to nothing more than a reason to kill more dudes, which robs it of emotional impact. This often occurs in the service of making sure that the 'grieving' character is able to display anger in place of sadness, thus keeping within the acceptable emotional range.

Well in da2, when Hawke's mother is killed yes he does kill the bastard that did it he killed him because he was still trying to save his mother. After that he is actually sad. Even years later he can't go into her room. His companions comfort him and some ***** tries to use her death as a tool to get him to join her. I think that is death handled pretty well
ps. dragon age 2 wasn't a complete shit fest. If it wasn't for the dragon age title you guys might have liked it or just thought meh. I prefer da by a long shot but da2 doesn't deserve this much hate
OT: Well most men are portrayed, as Yahtzee put it, as fridges with heads. I find these men completely unrelatable and boring. I much prefer bioware's characters(except for mass effect's humans ugh) seeing as they have problems and flaws(mostly daddy issues in mass effect) and feel real. Bioware are great at making characters feel alive. Most devs not so much(especially Bethesda)

 

[Eamar]

What archetypes and tropes do you see in the portrayal of male characters in video games?

As plenty of others have said, the obvious one is the big, gruff, steroid addicted, "so manly it hurts" type. That or the slightly obnoxious brown haired, white 30-something who covers up his insecurities by drinking and/or trying to be funny and/or acting like a douche. Practically all have a tragic and/or "dark" past.

Are these the same tropes you observe in other media?

They exist in other media, but to nothing like the same extent. I think this is evidence of just how damn lazy the writing in games is compared to other media (the same goes for the tired stereotypes female characters get lumbered with too).

Do you consider these traits positive or negative? Why?
I consider them plain boring. These tropes are ok the first couple of times you encounter them, but once you realise that's all you're getting... yeah, no. Again, the same goes for female characters (sorry to bring it up again, I'm honestly not trying to derail). There's nothing inherently wrong with the female tropes we see in games and they are sometimes appropriate, but when they're all you see over and over again it's grating and plain unrealistic. It's not cool to reduce either gender to the same couple of stereotypes.

What do you think this says about how our community, or our culture in general, defines masculinity? Do you think this definition needs to change? If so, in what ways?

Wow, big questions. I'm not going to do them justice right now so I'll just be brief: these characters are supposed to be aspirational, and a lot of the time they represent the primal, "caveman" image of masculinity. They also seem to go out of their way to avoid "girly" things like emotion (other than anger, of course). This is so far divorced from reality that it's comical, since people are far more diverse than that. I think these definitions of masculinity work fine in some cases (and to be fair they make sense for some characters, like those in the military, though we could still do with some variation there), but are incredibly simplistic. They're increasingly no longer relevant in modern society, and so while I don't think they need to go away entirely I think it's high time we saw some more variety. Once again, this point works for both genders. The thing I find particularly worrying when carried over to the real world is the idea that men shouldn't show emotion ("real men don't cry"). That is a load of bullshit, it helps no-one and needs to be stamped out. I'm not saying that some people aren't stoical and prefer not to show emotion, but no-one should feel emasculated for it.

What are some characters that do not conform to stereotypes? How common are such characters? Are they more common in some genres than others?

I'll only give a couple of examples off the top of my head. I like Alastair from DA:O (I'm aware many others didn't) if only because he felt something other than rage and didn't blindly accept his fate. He felt like a more nuanced character than most. Garrus from Mass Effect also works for me because, while he is largely the "badass with a gun" type, he has a lot more depth to him as well. His guardedness makes sense in the context we are given. I think Bioware does a good job of characterisation in general, though they have their failures as well.

I think less stereotypical characters are more common in games where some thought has been put into the story and where the story is considered an integral part of the game, even a a selling point (hence my Bioware love above). They are far less common in shooters. Obviously.


Moving on to the questions for women:

Do you like or admire the male characters you see in games? Do you relate to any of their experiences? If not, what is it about male characters that make them unrelatable to you? Could this be changed?

Most of the time I am bored to tears by the male characters I see in games. Nine times out of ten I find it difficult to relate to them, not because they are male but because they give me no way to relate to them. They show no emotion. They give me no reason to give a damn about them, to the point where I'll frequently feel more attached to my favourite weapon in the game than the character. This could be changed by writing and story being treated as more than an after thought, and I heavily favour developers who do this already.

Do you think these stereotypes are representative of qualities you observe in the men you encounter in real life?

Hell no! I have maybe one friend who tries to be all "manly" in these ways and he fails miserably because it's fucking ridiculous.

Are there roles or qualities you would like to see in male characters that you do not see now? What would make these characters more appealing to you?

Running theme of this post, I'd like to see more emotional depth. I'd like to see more cerebral male characters, more sensitive characters, more "unmanly" (not the same as effeminate) characters, more characters who are motivated by something other than the tragic loss of their family/love interest, more believable male friendships, more believable interactions with female characters, more anything that isn't the same couple of cardboard cut-outs we tend to get at the moment.

 

[3quency]

Gotta say, I think the only male characters I can remember being attached to are Garret and the blokes from Left 4 Dead.
Personally I don't buy into all this "manly men" crap, and I can guess that before I even post this people have already said that. As a 19-year-old guy I have never felt particularly like living my life in accordance to the school of macho. Then again, I have been told by someone that I'm the most effeminate non-camp straight guy they know. Which was a little weird.

 

[Ragsnstitches]

Well in da2, when Hawke's mother is killed yes he does kill the bastard that did it he killed him because he was still trying to save his mother. After that he is actually sad. Even years later he can't go into her room. His companions comfort him and some ***** tries to use her death as a tool to get him to join her. I think that is death handled pretty well

Exactly, because it wasn't about the fact that Hawke lost his mother. It was how he felt about it. Now, to a point you could adjust Hawke's reactions. When I played a wisecracking mage who used his bad jokes as a way of compensating for the fact that he was living a double life as an apostate, he kept trying to play the confident hero right up to the moment Leandra drew her last breath. Afterward, he just didn't have the heart to be angry at his uncle anymore.

I agree with you that people shit on DA2 way too much. It was flawed, certainly. But there was good stuff in there if you just looked for it.

You know what I liked about that game? That each arc CAN reflect a change in your character if you felt like it should. I too played the witty role, though as a warrior. Up to leandras death I took every thing thrown at me with a grain of salt.

Afterwards, in the 3rd arc, I became a bitter and resentful character, taking no shit and offering no warmth, and the dialogue Hawke delivered reflected that. What's even more impressive is that I managed to drive some of the "friends" I had at that point away from me and drew the respect of others (like fenris).

I thought that games narrative was brilliantly crafted. Still a little shallow, but one of biowares better attempts at characterisation... and more importantly, personalisation. The story felt a lot more dynamic then any of their previous attempts (haven't played ME3, but I think I might stay my hand at this time).

OP: To be honest, not many stereotypes offend me or take away from my experience of a game. The only notable impact of a flat, rigid and uninspired character is how I look back on it after a game. This doesn't require much to explain, simply that the ones that did offer depth, stuck with me for longer upon completion.

Though that said, I think they are overused and that definitely harms games if nothing else. However I find it incredibly easy to filter out the bullshit and not take the images and depictions to heart. I don't see them as harmful to myself, as I don't interpret any personal expectations from it.

As for relating to them. I don't seem to have any problem getting into any game... I wouldn't say I relate to them as much as I just let them be who they are and I'm just along for the ride. But then there are games that really have me invested in characters, but they are few and far between (and it isn't exclusive to games either).

At the moment all I can say is this... there are entire spectrums of emotions I don't feel from games, and if I was to judge it as a narrative medium, that is simply a shame. Most of this is due to shallow 1 dimensional characters in poorly written narratives. Basically, yes there are lots of potential aspects for male characters that aren't being used.

I'm a creative person, with a particular fancy towards developing narratives. My ambitions rely solely on the potency of my imagination, and my eagerness and willingness to push them out into the open. I have been heroes and villains, kings and peasants, adventurers and slaves, Monsters and deities etc.

As a result, the extent of my enjoyment from a game is undeniably tied to my imagination. I think a total elimination of stereotypes would be a shame, as they are tools that can be used (and manipulated) for better affects then they currently are achieving. But yeah, variety is the spice of life... and cliches can become awfully grating in the quantities we see in games.

 

[him over there]

I think you might want to replace character with protagonist in the title OP. Simply because a protagonist will near always follow a different set of tropes then the supporting cast in a video game. Take Infamous, Cole is a bit of a dill-weed running around blowing stuff up, being treated like either a hero or evil warlord because he's awesome and blows everything up. Obviously meant to appeal to the player because the player is put into the protagonist's shoes so they want to make the protagonist awesome.

But supporting characters are extremely unique and full of depth regardless of gender because the game doesn't require you to be a part of them in any way. Continuing on with Infamous Zeke is a wonderful and heart warming character despite how crass he is, but he's fat, a little slow and doesn't get many thanks. He's able to be written like that because the game doesn't have to put those flaws on you.

 

[him over there]

But supporting characters are extremely unique and full of depth regardless of gender because the game doesn't require you to be a part of them in any way.

I don't think that's strictly true either. Nathan Drake's various friends are only marginally more interesting than him. Markus Fenix is accompanied by a squad that could easily be described as "Dom and those other guys." And it's not like Dom is any prize either. I can't really think of any Call of Duty characters that I liked enough to remember their names. The gods in God of War seem to be getting by just on their names and no actual attempt at making them seem like they have a personality. The Spartans in Halo never struck me as being very interesting either.

Once more, I'm going to guess it comes down to time crunch. Writers just don't have the luxury of taking the time to consistently craft memorable characters.

Well no they aren't always very good, but like I said simply being a supporting character gives them the possibility of being unique or well written as opposed to the protagonists who often have to be relatively bland and archetypical. I think it's sort of sad that this protagonist=really cool guy because nobody wants to play as somebody with flaws mentality exists and that we could really benefit from some deviations from this line of thinking. In fact the only reason I see this happening so much with games is because of the medium itself, we aren't simply emphasizing with a character, by playing a game we effectively are the character which has led to some people not playing some games because the character they become they hate being.