When will we see a NON-attractive woman in a video-game?

[Altorin]

I see a lot of people calling that girl from Half Life 2 "average looking"

If that's average, I weep for the self-esteem of teenage girls everywhere.

OT: Kreia is pretty much the only one I can think of. Most others are either designed to comical extremes as a form of subversion, or are simply attractive in the non-hyper sexualized sense.

Alyx Vance isn't unattractive, she's just not oversexualized, which is really what this thread is about "when are we going to see a non-oversexualized character in a video game". The question is still ridiculous, because there are non-oversexualized women all over gaming, but it's not so much about their appearance as the intent of the makers to titillate.

 

[Kopikatsu]

Why not include women in video games that aren't conventionally physically appealing but are not over-the-top gross or outlandish.

There's enough flexibility and subjectivity to make this an impossible request. One guy's average is another man's drop-dead-gorgeous and a third guy's worst nightmare.

I think I get what you mean though: game girls that aren't "eye candy". Well, how about:

Spoiler

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The only woman that I wouldn't say is very attractive of those four is number three because...she's old.

Number 2 is my favorite though, although I have no idea what game she's from (Hint hint).

Edit: Nevermind. The crossbow through me, but the armor definitely looks Gears of War-ish.

 

[Night_S1ash]

Are we seriously at the point in attempting to find an unattractive woman? Everyone is attractive in their own right and we shouldn't put down people for liking a different kind of woman (Or not being own image of beauty).
God escapist, I haven't read past the first page, but I'm disappointed

 

[lord.jeff]

I don't so much want uglier women but more variety of body type almost every female seems to be either being a supermodel or a kid, I can't think of any non supermodel looking female that you can play as in a game.

 

[Altorin]

I don't so much want uglier women but more variety of body type almost every female seems to be either being a supermodel or a kid, I can't think of any non supermodel looking female that you can play as in a game.

but.. we don't have only supermodels or kids... average looking women are all over the place, but we focus only on the supermodels and kids and say "Look at these super sexy characters, how dare we?" and we completely ignore the rest, because, they don't... count? cause... we don't want to bone them?


If we're looking for average or unattractive people that we'd still conceivably bone, then I think this is a ludicrously vain endeavor.

 

[Reaper195]

The new Lara Croft. The previous one looked all cartoonyish. Now they've tried to make her look as 'realistic' as possible. And she looks incredibly average. Not ugly, but not one that I'd see walk past on the street and then turn around to glimpse some more. My Female Shepard from ME looked rather....not nice....as well.

Really...? I find the new Lara incredibly attractive. The old one on the other hand...-shudders-

Each to their own I guess. I mean people went off their fucking rocker over Megan Fox, and I think she looks incredibly horrendous. Karren Gillan on the other hand...

 

[SpectacularWebHead]

Umm, Chell?
Chell was intentionally pretty rough looking, and she still has a rep as one of the best female characters in gaming.

That's ridiculous. How on earth does she qualify as one of the best characters in gaming? All she does is run around with a gun.

Because of the property she's tied to, she's awesome through assosciation.

Oh, and she beat two giant killer robots with entire military complexes to use against her whilst surviving multiple death traps, using only a portal gun to escape.

I hope that answers your question.

 

[SpectacularWebHead]

And lets be honest, it may not quite count, but most customized femsheps look like this:

Spoiler

I will never see the sex scenes in Mass Effect the same way again.

FEMSHEP ONLY WANT SNU SNU! RAAAAAAAAAAWR!

 

[mjcabooseblu]

What is and isn't attractive is entirely subjective. Besides, a character's physical appearance should affect your opinion of them no more than it would a real human. I consider people that are physically very attractive but with flat or actively offensive personalities to be hideous, and if someone is very likable, with an interesting personality, that is what I judge their "attractiveness" on, not what kind of meat they happen to be made of. It's the difference between judging a food based on its appearance or its flavor; flavor is the obvious logical choice.

 

[Blood Brain Barrier]

Umm, Chell?
Chell was intentionally pretty rough looking, and she still has a rep as one of the best female characters in gaming.

That's ridiculous. How on earth does she qualify as one of the best characters in gaming? All she does is run around with a gun.

Because of the property she's tied to, she's awesome through assosciation.

Oh, and she beat two giant killer robots with entire military complexes to use against her whilst surviving multiple death traps, using only a portal gun to escape.

I hope that answers your question.

I don't care if she single-handedly defeated the undead armies of hell while standing on her head, the point is she has no character. She's just a face and body with a portal gun that we make do things.

 

[SpectacularWebHead]

Umm, Chell?
Chell was intentionally pretty rough looking, and she still has a rep as one of the best female characters in gaming.

That's ridiculous. How on earth does she qualify as one of the best characters in gaming? All she does is run around with a gun.

Because of the property she's tied to, she's awesome through assosciation.

Oh, and she beat two giant killer robots with entire military complexes to use against her whilst surviving multiple death traps, using only a portal gun to escape.

I hope that answers your question.

I don't care if she single-handedly defeated the undead armies of hell while standing on her head, the point is she has no character. She's just a face and body with a portal gun that we make do things.

Are you only here to be a buzzkill? Because you haven't bought anything to the table. I mean Really, there's just no pleasing some people. You also seem to have missed the point of the silent protagonist. They are defined by their actions because they don't speak, ergo, you invent their personality OR just judge them by all the awesome shit they do. You're entitled to your opinion, but please, think your opinion through a little more instead of just popping up and being a tool.

 

[Altorin]

Umm, Chell?
Chell was intentionally pretty rough looking, and she still has a rep as one of the best female characters in gaming.

That's ridiculous. How on earth does she qualify as one of the best characters in gaming? All she does is run around with a gun.

Because of the property she's tied to, she's awesome through assosciation.

Oh, and she beat two giant killer robots with entire military complexes to use against her whilst surviving multiple death traps, using only a portal gun to escape.

I hope that answers your question.

I don't care if she single-handedly defeated the undead armies of hell while standing on her head, the point is she has no character. She's just a face and body with a portal gun that we make do things.

I don't think you understand how protagonists in video games work.

 

[Blood Brain Barrier]

Umm, Chell?
Chell was intentionally pretty rough looking, and she still has a rep as one of the best female characters in gaming.

That's ridiculous. How on earth does she qualify as one of the best characters in gaming? All she does is run around with a gun.

Because of the property she's tied to, she's awesome through assosciation.

Oh, and she beat two giant killer robots with entire military complexes to use against her whilst surviving multiple death traps, using only a portal gun to escape.

I hope that answers your question.

I don't care if she single-handedly defeated the undead armies of hell while standing on her head, the point is she has no character. She's just a face and body with a portal gun that we make do things.

Are you only here to be a buzzkill? Because you haven't bought anything to the table. I mean Really, there's just no pleasing some people. You also seem to have missed the point of the silent protagonist. They are defined by their actions because they don't speak, ergo, you invent their personality OR just judge them by all the awesome shit they do. You're entitled to your opinion, but please, think your opinion through a little more instead of just popping up and being a tool.

Why don't you attack my argument instead of me? No I'm not intending to be a "buzzkill" or anything of the sort. I just don't see how an expressionless silent protagonist can compare to someone who shows us their feelings, their thoughts. If we judge a protagonist's character by their actions and deeds, it becomes a competition between who kills the biggest demon in the game. Whoever the person that does it actually IS, doesn't matter.

Umm, Chell?
Chell was intentionally pretty rough looking, and she still has a rep as one of the best female characters in gaming.

That's ridiculous. How on earth does she qualify as one of the best characters in gaming? All she does is run around with a gun.

Because of the property she's tied to, she's awesome through assosciation.

Oh, and she beat two giant killer robots with entire military complexes to use against her whilst surviving multiple death traps, using only a portal gun to escape.

I hope that answers your question.

I don't care if she single-handedly defeated the undead armies of hell while standing on her head, the point is she has no character. She's just a face and body with a portal gun that we make do things.

I don't think you understand how protagonists in video games work.

Why don't you tell me? I'd really like to know how Chell from Portal can possibly have more character than, say, Jade from Beyond Good & Evil.

 

[SpectacularWebHead]

Umm, Chell?
Chell was intentionally pretty rough looking, and she still has a rep as one of the best female characters in gaming.

That's ridiculous. How on earth does she qualify as one of the best characters in gaming? All she does is run around with a gun.

Because of the property she's tied to, she's awesome through assosciation.

Oh, and she beat two giant killer robots with entire military complexes to use against her whilst surviving multiple death traps, using only a portal gun to escape.

I hope that answers your question.

I don't care if she single-handedly defeated the undead armies of hell while standing on her head, the point is she has no character. She's just a face and body with a portal gun that we make do things.

Are you only here to be a buzzkill? Because you haven't bought anything to the table. I mean Really, there's just no pleasing some people. You also seem to have missed the point of the silent protagonist. They are defined by their actions because they don't speak, ergo, you invent their personality OR just judge them by all the awesome shit they do. You're entitled to your opinion, but please, think your opinion through a little more instead of just popping up and being a tool.

Why don't you attack my argument instead of me? No I'm not intending to be a "buzzkill" or anything of the sort. I just don't see how an expressionless silent protagonist can compare to someone who shows us their feelings, their thoughts. If we judge a protagonist's character by their actions and deeds, it becomes a competition between who kills the biggest demon in the game. Whoever the person that does it actually IS, doesn't matter.

Umm, Chell?
Chell was intentionally pretty rough looking, and she still has a rep as one of the best female characters in gaming.

That's ridiculous. How on earth does she qualify as one of the best characters in gaming? All she does is run around with a gun.

Because of the property she's tied to, she's awesome through assosciation.

Oh, and she beat two giant killer robots with entire military complexes to use against her whilst surviving multiple death traps, using only a portal gun to escape.

I hope that answers your question.

I don't care if she single-handedly defeated the undead armies of hell while standing on her head, the point is she has no character. She's just a face and body with a portal gun that we make do things.

I don't think you understand how protagonists in video games work.

Why don't you tell me? I'd really like to know how Chell from Portal can possibly have more character than, say, Jade from Beyond Good & Evil.

I did attack your argument, because your argument is stupid. You just didn't agree and responded with something that makes no sense. ALL videogames are about who kills the biggest demon/alien/gang boss/space hamster, when you look back at their roots. The stories are about overcoming an obstacle, and if you had an imagination, you'd be able to work out what person they are for yourself from everything the game has already told you about her (It's all in portal 2 mate, and if you're really interested, look it up).

You can't write off silent protagonists because YOU think they have no character, because you're wrong. They have the charact that YOU Assign them. And to answer your crap about Jade, Jade is their to be gawped over for her tits. Chell is not. Chell has a backstory that most people who've PLAYED portal will know. Chell has a motivation for what she does. Jade's only backstory and motivation is again "Who cares, she has tits!" That is why Chell is more relevant than Jade, she isn't just their because she's got tits that look like watermelons.

The reason it sounds like I sound like I'm attacking you personally is because you haven't thought about anything you've written, you haven't suggested any character relevant to the forums topic, and from the sounds of it you haven't even played portal. All you've done is exasperate me, and from the look of it, other people, to the point where we get pissed off with you. Please, just stop. You're wrong. End of. The fact that people DO regard Chell as one of the best characters in gaming proves you wrong, even if you don't agree, that was what I said originally. True, she isn't as popular as GLaDOS, but she is up there.

 

[Blood Brain Barrier]

You can't write off silent protagonists because YOU think they have no character, because you're wrong. They have the charact that YOU Assign them.

And this says it all. If you assign their character, then they have none.

This is a waste of time. Though I suspect you are a child, I'd be embarrassed for you if you are actually over 16, as you can't seem to comprehend arguments or make ones that make sense.

edit: Just checked your profile and it seems you're 16. Hope I wasn't too hard on you. Sorry mate!

 

[Sandjube]

Every single character from Oblivion. Those faces...

 

[Stripes]

There are plenty, plus most characters in games,both male and female (and media in general), are attractive so its not a specific female problem nor is it a major problem (if it is in fact a problem whatsoever). How that attractiveness is a different issue, though again that is a seperate debate, but I dont see a problem as the OP suggests.

 

[wulf3n]

Jade's only backstory and motivation is again "Who cares, she has tits!" That is why Chell is more relevant than Jade, she isn't just their because she's got tits that look like watermelons.

I'm gonna go out on a limb here, you haven't played beyond good and evil have you?

While I agree with you that silent protagonists have character, claiming Jade is nothing more than sex appeal is so wrong, no words exist to explain just how wrong that statement is.