Playable female character
Games with a playable female character are noteworthy because, although women make up roughly half of the world's population, only a fraction of games feature playable female characters. Those that do often have the woman as a single female in an otherwise all-male cast or simply swap the male character with a female portrait without altering the game in a substantial way. Since having a playable female character is a novel concept, I have made a category for it on my Wiki.
Most gaming databases have lists for female protagonists, for example, MobyGames has such a category which shows that only around 2% of video games have a female protagonist. My site expands the category to all games which have a playable female character, even if she's a minor character. Games which feature a playable female character often also have a strong female character, though not always.
The first game I ever remember noticing that a game had a playable female character was around 1989 in King's Quest IV: The Perils of Rosella. Although I had previously played games like Ms. Pac-Man, the fact that she was female was totally irrelevant to the game, so it didn't leave a mark on me. As a child, I didn't like the idea of having to play a princess in a game because I wanted to live out my boyish fantasies of being a strong heroic knight. However, as my taste in fiction matured, and my understanding of how women were oppressed, even in video games was expanded, I began to really appreciate games which feature playable female characters. While I'm pleased to see that percentage of games which feature playable female characters has been increasing over the years, there is still a long way to go before playable women appear in even a tenth of the games being made, let alone half.
Examples
These are games that are important to me which feature a playable female character. For all games, see the category.
| Title | Released | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Borderlands | 2009-10-20 | One of the playable classes is Lilith the siren. |
| Borderlands 2 | 2012-09-18 | One of the playable classes is Maya the siren. |
| Diablo | 1996-12-31 | The rogue class is female. |
| Diddy Kong Racing | 1997-11-21 | Pipsy is the only female kart racer. |
| Final Fantasy VI | 1994-04-02 | Playable female characters include Terra, Celes, and Relm. |
| Gauntlet | 1985-??-?? | The Valkyrie is female. |
| Golden Axe | 1989-05-?? | Tyris Flare. |
| Gone Home | 2013-08-15 | The game's protagonist Katie. |
| Her Story | 2015-06-23 | The game's protagonist is female. |
| King's Quest IV: The Perils of Rosella | 1988-??-?? | The protagonist Rosella. |
| Left 4 Dead | 2008-11-17 | One of the survivors is Zoey. |
| Left 4 Dead 2 | 2009-11-17 | One of the survivors is Rochelle. |
| Mario Kart 64 | 1996-12-14 | Princess Peach is the only female kart racer. |
| Metroid series | 1986-08-06 | The bounty hunter Samus Aran is a woman. |
| Portal series | 2007-10-10 | The protagonist Chell. |
| Secret of Mana | 1993-08-06 | Primm. |
| Super Mario Bros. 2 | 1988-10-?? | Princess Peach. |
| Ultima series | 1981-??-?? | Almost all of the Ultima titles allow you to play a female character, and later titles even alter the player's graphics. |
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