Ten of the greatest female characters in gaming history

Faith Connors

The protagonist of Mirror's Edge, Faith Connors, is a woman of Asian heritage who uses her amazing free running skills as a courier that engages in government rebellion. Holy shit, that's the most original thing to come out or EA in decades.

Unlike protagonists in usual EA fare, Faith does not make good use of firearms, and in fact seems stronger without them. Her mastery of free running allows her to elude her pursuers by racing across the gorgeous skyline of the City of Glass. Guns just slow her down.

This makes Faith stand out in the realm of female protagonists because you don't get the feel of “See I can do this just as good as any man can!” Instead, the character just does what she's best at without the need to pick up guns and fight back in the typical way. It's very satisfying to just lose yourself in the flow of her free running.

Honorable Mention: Inkling Girl

The Inkling Girl was eliminated from this list because she's user created, but Nintendo and Splatoon have shown admirable support for the female protagonist. Despite there being a male counterpart, we all know the Inkling Girl is the star of the show, just look at all the promotion material.

Big ups to Nintendo for also making the character selection screen start neutral and allowing you to choose your avatar's gender instead of giving preference to one as a default.

So there you have it, our top ten females in gaming, plus an honorable mention. Did we miss someone on your list? Did you not like some of our choices? Feel free to let us hear about it in the comments section below.

Bayonetta

A controversial character, Bayonetta is queen of the action game genre, which she rules with a sadistic streak and a giant demonic fist. This dominatrix is an Umbral Witch that has made a pact with the demons of hell in exchange for their power. She uses this power in the form of wicked weaves, in which her hair becomes a medium to embody their powers.

Some feminists will try to downplay her as a sex object, but Bayonetta is a proud woman that's always in control, knows what she wants, and always gets it. Do strong females not count if they're (seemingly) sex positive and into S&M? Talk about a double standard.

Bayonetta's on the cusp of mainstream popularity thanks to Nintendo saving Bayonetta 2 and including her in Smash through the Smash Ballot. It's interesting to see if this popularity will increase going forward.

Ellie

It was really tough choosing between Ellie and Clementine for this spot. Both are young girls that are surviving in a post-apocalyptic world overrun by zombies and horrible people, both had criminal father figures, and both had to develop a lot of intestinal fortitude very quickly. This could have gone either way.

In the end, the nod had to go to Ellie because of how she changes and matures over the story and is forced to fight back against her far more violent world. Lee sheltered Clementine as best he could until she had to strike off on her own, but very early on Ellie had to start carrying her weight, often via brutal application of knife and gun.

Ellie stays fairly positive in a world gone horribly wrong, but that doesn't take away from the sheer grit her character displays.

Lara Croft

The "buxom British babe" showed the world that women could raid tombs just as well as any man, if not better. She's gone toe to toe with nature, criminal organizations and even ancient gods, and somehow always comes out on top. For her efforts, Lara Croft was awarded the Guinness World Record for “Most successful human video game heroine.”

After Tomb Raider 3, the franchise may have dropped off in quality for a little while, but after an updated look and a hot new reboot, Lara Croft is back and better than ever. Now if only her games weren't plagued by Square Enix's stupid high expectations and poor business decisions, we could say Lara has never been in better shape.

The Boss

The Boss is the de facto greatest soldier in the world, and the mother of all special forces units. Her loyalty to her country is unsurpassed by any character in the Metal Gear Solid universe, and her death at the hands of Big Boss was the catalyst for a battle between former friends that quietly consumed the entire world. The Boss is the single most important person in the winding Metal Gear lore.

She's a character strong enough to carry that weight too. She stormed Normandy while pregnant, formed a special forces unit that won WWII for the Allies, and survived a suicide mission as the unofficial first person in space. The Boss eventually gave her life playing the role of a traitor in order to diffuse a nuclear apocalypse, and allowing the world to think she was the worst villain in history. Despite the public thinking less of her than Hitler, she gladly laid down her life for them.

The Boss is by far the most compassionate and deserving of respect on this list.

Chun-Li

Chun-Li is one of the most iconic women of gaming, and is the first lady of fighting games: She's the first female character to be playable in 1 vs. 1 fighting games, and her explosion of popularity in Street Fighter 2 led to female characters becoming more common in gaming. Her Kyakuretsu Kyaku tore an opening for characters like Lara Croft to enter main stream gaming.

Chun-Li needs no man to come save her, because she's one of the biggest badasses in her world, capable of holding her own against anyone. As a little back story, Chun-Li has studied various Chinese martial arts, became an Interpol detective at age 18, is recognized as one of the world's best sharpshooters, and played a major part in the fall of the Shadoloo organization. That's one hell of a resume on top of being recognized as one of the world's best fighters.

Aerith Gainsborough

Aerith was a lovable character, and her theme still brings tears to the eyes of gamers around the world. She lived a tough life as the last surviving Cetra: Orphaned after Hojo killed her parents, pursued by the Turks as she grew up, and finally having to sacrifice her life in a bid to awaken the Holy materia.

Party members sacrificing themselves is a recurring theme in just about every Final Fantasy title ever made, but those characters are usually the big burly men. Fans were probably expecting Barret o make the sacrifice, especially after learning about Dyne, but Aerith became the first female to take one for the team. It was made all the more tragic by the jarring manner in which she suddenly died, impaled by Sephiroth immediately after Cloud found her in the City of the Ancients.

After death, Aerith became a sort of guardian for the planet and the forces of good. Kind of like a Jedi becoming a Force Ghost, but cooler and more helpful.

Samus Aran

When Metroid came out, players enjoyed controlling Samus Aran, the galaxy's greatest bounty hunter, in a world heavily inspired by the Alien franchise. After single-handedly defeating the Space Pirates in their own base, destroying Mother Brain, and causing the base itself to self-destruct, fans were let in on the big secret: Samus Aran, the kickass hero they had been playing as the whole game, was actually a woman.

That revelation was mind blowing at the time, and it should be a lesson on not making gender assumptions based on profession or ability. Since then, Samus Aran has enjoyed a fair amount of popularity with the classic Super Metroid, the stellar Metroid Prime games, and a constant presence in Smash, the largest fighting game series these days, where she continues a long, proud tradition of ass kicking females.

Princess Zelda

Princess Zelda is one of the most badass women in gaming today. Her incarnations may have started out as nothing but damsels in distress, but Zelda's role in the games have improved to the point that she's really starting to earn that top billing. Zelda, along with Link and Ganondorf, is bound to a Dark Souls-like eternal cycle of struggle for control of the Triforce's power, which invariably sees her captured by the forces of darkness.

Zelda is far from a helpless captive these days, though. While she may not get her hands as dirty as Link on the physical side of things, she fills a role in which women are largely underrepresented: The Mastermind. As the bearer of the Triforce of Wisdom, her knowledge and foresight play the pivotal role in bringing down Ganondorf in almost every game she appears in.

Besides, she's not above joining the fray if the situation calls for it. She's a powerful mage in her own right, was captain of her own pirate ship, and has even formed a duo with link to fight Ganondorf using her bow skills. Not to mention, she's secretly a fucking ninja.

It's international Women's Day and in recognition of that fact, let's look at ten of the best and most influential women in gaming. This list will be presented in generational order. Please keep in mind that this list is opinion based, only one entry will be taken per franchise, and we will not feature personalized characters. Sorry FemShep fans.

Ms. Pacman

Ms. Pacman was created in the good old USA by Midway, the original Pacman's North American publisher, when they were too impatient to wait for Namco's official sequel, Super Pacman. There's no real difference between Mr. or Ms. Pacman, aside from aesthetics, but that's a good thing: They're perfect equals.

Well, that's not entirely true. Ms. Pacman's adventure was bigger, better, and more challenging. She makes Pacman look like a lazy bum in comparison, Which is why the most popular Pacperson will always be Ms. Pacman in our books.