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Perspective of A.S, a feminist media critic

  As you can see from the video, "Tropes vs Women In Video Games", I have analyzed how female characters have been treated in video games throughout the history. In part 1, I talked about the Damsel in Distress cliché, which is a plot of a female character being in danger and must be rescued by a hero.

 This Damsel in Distress cliché is used in many famous video game franchises such as Mario and Zelda, but what's bad about Damsel in Distress trope is that it disempowers female characters and steal their heroic role. The good example is the Krystal from "Dinosaur Planet". Krystal is a female fox with a magical staff and she was designed as a playable protagonist character in the game "Dinosaur Planet". However, the game was never released and instead it was redesigned as one title of the "Starfox" franchise. In Starfox, Krystal was removed from her protagonist role and became a Damsel in Distress character. As you can see, female characters in video games often become Damsel in Distress character and they won't have a chance to become heroes in the story.

 Another point I want to say about Krystal is that she was given a sexualized outfit in the game. We can see many female characters in games wearing a costumes that expose their skin to make them look attractive to men. 

 These evidences shows that many of the female characters in game are designed to become a Damsel in Distress and look attractive so that it could empower the male  protagonist in order to sell more games to young straight boys and men. 


I grew up with video games and I love them. I am not criticizing the games themselves but we should think about those games' attitudes towards women. The number and percentage of women playing video games is increasing these days. Video games are now not only for men. I am hoping that there will be a change in video game industries leading female characters to become the protagonist of their own adventures.


Damsel in Distress: Part 1 - Tropes vs Women in Video Games. (2013, March 7). YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6p5AZp7r_Q

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