Character Representation

Characters have been represented different over the years, perhaps getting more ethically acceptable as the years have progressed. Gender has been a big topic within the gaming industry, why do so many games use male protagonists with unrealistic body types. Female characters are portrayed normally in a sexual way and it just seems like the more "realistic" games try to be, the less realistic they get. Games have began to develop to this however, and so not all games are guilty of this.

Lara Croft

Lara Croft, supposedly 21 years old, is the main female protagonist in the Tomb Raider series and has changed a lot over the years of the franchise. Lara is an explorer with the main objective of searching for hidden artifacts around the world. Below are pictures of Lara Croft back when it all started, compared to how she looks now...

In 2010, with a new publisher, they decided to take it back to the roots, redesign the story so that it was more realistic. They specifically focused on how the character looked, and how the character has developed including the back story, interactions with others and less of a focus on the cosmetics. The developer, Crystal Dynamics, decided it was time to redesign the physique of the character as it seemed too unrealistic. This has now developed to become the Lara Croft we know today.

Samus Aran

Samus Aran is the main female protagonist in the Nintendo franchise Metroid. Samus is said to have trained between the age of 3 and 14, making her roughly 17/18 years old. Samus' goal was to hunt down the space pirates and their leader. Below are pictures of the original Samus Aran and also how she looks now.

In the original game, Samus was portrayed as a very over-sexualised character, with sprites that consisted of very little clothing as you can see above. This has more recently been addressed in the latest games with the majority of the character being suited up. The gaming community would obviously see this as a step in the right direction to make games more acceptable for everyone. It has inspired others to help create a better community around female characters.