Monday is International Women’s Day. What better time than this to celebrate video games with strong female characters?
What Do I Mean By “Strong Female Characters”?
What makes for a “strong” character is always up for debate. For this list, I’m less interested in muscle and athletic ability and far more interested in inner strength. I’m talking about women whom hell hath no fury like. Women who, when the going gets tough, get tougher. Women who inspire gamers and developers alike to, in short, do better.
The Best Video Games with Strong Female Characters
As a cisgender female gamer, there are few things more satisfying than getting to play through a game with a strong female protagonist.
It’s not just about representation, though that’s a big part of it. It’s about the player-character dynamic, and while any strong protagonist is great, there’s something special about a strong female protagonist who manages to overcome the odds and her own personal demons—or at least has courage enough to face them in the first place.
Here are a few of the best I’ve encountered over the years (in no particular order).
The ‘Tomb Raider’ franchise—Lara Croft
Lara Croft was my first female video game heroine, and she will always have a special place in my heart. I first met her when I was a little girl who preferred watching my dad and brother play video games (rather than playing them on my own), and I loved her.
It didn’t matter that her pixels were out of proportion; I hardly noticed how she looked at all. It was more about how she handled herself—not just her courage, but her cleverness. Today, the series has matured into something truly wonderful, both in terms of the overall narrative and Lara’s portrayal in the games.
‘American McGee’s Alice’ (and sequels)—Alice Liddell
If Lara was my first video game girl-crush, Alice was my second. Long before I became properly obsessed with Wonderland in general, I followed little Ms. Liddell down the rabbit hole and fell head-over-heels for American McGee’s twisted retelling.
Alice, with her dry wit and deadly resourcefulness, proves not only that Jabberwockys can be beaten, but that the many obstacles mental illness places in one’s path can also be overcome, or at least shrunk down to more manageable sizes.
In the end, she is her own worst enemy—but also, her own savior. The sequel was more of the same—and I am every bit as excited to see what new part of her psyche we’ll get to explore in the upcoming third game, Alice: Asylum.
‘Silent Hill 3’—Heather Mason
Technically, Heather has appeared in other titles in the franchise, but Silent Hill 3 is the one that will always stick with me.
While I am also a huge fan of the second game, playing Heather in the third Silent Hill was something special in an otherwise male-dominated series. Watching her face off with not one but two strong female antagonists was particularly satisfying, both as a woman and as someone who is terrified of creepy little girls in horror games.
Some players complain that she’s a bit whiny. But honestly, if I suffered as much trauma as she did in the hellscape that is Silent Hill, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t handle it half as well as Heather did.
‘The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt’—Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon
Like Heather, Ciri appears in more than one title in her franchise, but the only one that is relevant here is The Witcher 3. Though she is only a secondary protagonist, that you get to play as a female character at all represents progress of leaps and bounds over the first game, in which players could collect trophies for each female character they successfully romanced. (As much as I otherwise enjoy the series… ick.)
And man, is it fun to play as Ciri. That she doesn’t have Geralt’s mutations or his expansive inventory almost doesn’t matter—her personality, her resourcefulness, and her sheer grace in combat more than make up the difference. When she fights, it’s almost like dancing—only with more murder.
Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (and sequels)—Senua
Another troubled young woman with a dark past and some pretty hellish inner demons to slay? Yes, please. Hellblade is a sensitive yet creative portrayal of mental illness in horror gaming, and Senua is the perfect vessel for the story it tells. She is so full of human contradictions—strong, yet fragile; brave, but terrified—that it is hard not to love her, or at least respect her.
You don’t have to have a history of psychosis yourself to be able to relate to the challenges Senua faces. Loneliness, isolation, shame, grief—there’s hardly a soul today who hasn’t experienced these. Coming to terms with these difficulties through Senua’s unique perspective is satisfying on a very real, visceral level.
Honorable Mentions
There are many good video games with strong female characters that didn’t make it onto this list. Some, I declined to include because I haven’t played those games for myself; others may be absent simply because I am as yet unaware of their existence. But there are many others I would like to include, but haven’t the time to do so in full.
So here’s a list of honorable mentions—both to satisfy your curiosity and to assuage my own guilt in not mentioning them sooner.
- No One Lives Forever—Cate Archer
- The Last of Us series—Ellie
- Catherine—Erica Anderson
- Cyberpunk 2077—female V (and others)
- The Elder Scrolls series—Serana (and others)
- Alien: Isolation—Amanda Ripley
- Borderlands series—Lilith (and others)
- Amnesia: Rebirth—Tasi Trianon
- The Harbinger’s Head—Maire Morgan
- The Dragon’s Last Flight—Tashka
In the interest of full transparency, I should probably admit that the last two games on this list are my own. I am quite proud of these two characters, and can only hope I have done them justice as their chosen storyteller.
The Future of Strong Females in Video Games
The history of the video game industry is rife with horror stories of toxic masculinity and the objectification of women—but I am optimistic about the future. More and more games featuring strong females not just as characters, but as protagonists, are released every year. And, as more of these titles get played, reviewed, and lauded for their portrayals of female-identifying characters, the more will get made.
Not all of them will be good, of course. Some will hop on the bandwagon just for attention; others will simply misunderstand what it is gamers are looking for in a good female character. But those that do it well, and for the right reasons—those are the games I’m looking forward to the most.
Kim Berkley is a fantasy author and narrative designer who hopes to be half as strong as her favorite female video game characters. She is the creative mastermind behind games such as The Harbinger’s Head and The Dragon’s Last Flight.
