With the release of Dragon's Crown just a few short weeks
away, I'd like to talk a little bit about something that happened in May.
You see,
Jason
Schrier of Kotaku fame recently did a smear job of Dragon's Crown and itscreator, George Kamitani. Kamitani and his company, Vanillaware, make some of
the only games I will buy no questions asked anymore in this boring, over saturated, overblown game industry, because they are fun,
often feature strong female characters, have interesting art styles, and prove
that hand drawn sprites are still relevant in this day and age. So, why the
smear job? Because some of his characters are sexually exaggerated...and this
naturally descended into the typical flame war between journalist, developer,
and fans of both. We're so mature in
this field of entertainment, aren't we?
However, while looking on with a mix of disgust and disappointment at
the state of games media and even developers themselves, I read a few arguments
from fans who were more than just well thought out. They were somewhat transcendent.
 |
| Kamitani's rebuttal to Schrier's criticism. We're so mature here...from the moment I saw this picture, I began the count down to the Kamitani x Schrier flame war. |
"Oversexualized does not mean objectified," was
the thesis I took away from the most eloquent of these arguments. There are
tons of oversexualized women in gaming and while some of it may pander to the
male demographic, these women only become less as characters if you fail to see
them as characters to begin with. True, there are the token eye candy
cheesecake shots, but most of these women have a personality, a past, and a
drive, beyond the outlandish designs...if you're willing to look for it. And
really, many people who cry foul about oversexualization should perhaps examine
for themselves why they jumped onto that bandwagon to begin with. I don't deny
being a man and being biased towards the outlandish designs of some women in
gaming, but if a woman is an object, I tend to get frustrated...I would rather
they be a well rounded character who contributes to the story, because that is
kind of why I play games.
 |
| Outlandish, perhaps, but objectified? Not if you know who this character is. Especially not if you know who this character is. |
Following that same line of thought, I examined why certain women are dressed the way
they are. I found that those who are
blatantly pandering, like the Oneechanbara girls who fight zombies in bikinis,
are...well, rather stupid. Their outfits
make no sense and come off more as idiotic, rather than sexy. Some of the pandering games at least gave
their characters good reason to dress the way they did, thus sucking me more
into the world. Juliet Sterling, for
example, in Lollipop Chainsaw was a high school cheerleader, so her short skirt
and tank top, while very much showing off her body, made sense in the context
of the world. On top of that, Juliet is
a strong female lead who is capable, unreliant on men for protection, has an
emotional support system through her family, wit and intellect that is buried behind
a valley girl personality, and some self loathing which makes her more
relatable, as she has self-image issues.
These personality traits mesh well with her role in the game as a
cheerleader/zombie slayer, creating a nice balance between cheesy, over the top,
and somewhat relatable. Her occasional
lapses of understanding are still played for yucks and the camera loves to zoom
in on her short skirt or her tight top, but she, on her own, has both a
personality and context. Even if the
character herself is oversexualized, to an extreme degree might I add, her strong, distinct personality and the
proper context for her behavior and clothes go a long way to combat the idea of
objectification. In the current video
gaming environment, this seems like the status quo for strong female leads. They're allowed to have some character, but
there must always be sexual appeal and their clothes often need to show off
their bodies. While this is
understandable to an extent...it is also very unfortunate, given how in the
past video games have created strong female characters who didn't need to rely
on sexuality to sell their games.
 |
| Juliet Sterling: Oversexualized? Most definitely. Pandering? Without a doubt. But look at her clothes. She's a cheerleader caught in a zombie outbreak on her way to school. At least her outfit makes some kind of sense. We aren't always so lucky. |
I
shared some of these ideas with a non-gamer friend of mine who was markedly
more critical of my approach, stating that oversexualization, even with a
strong character, is still objectification to a degree, since game designers
have control over how a character looks and acts. While we did get a bit heated, we managed to
stay civil and she broached the idea to me that one of the few times
oversexualization is okay is when it is done not for the sake of pandering but
for the beauty of the form. When
sexuality is just created for beauty's sake, for its own sake, then it is
alright. No cheesecake shots, no snide
remarks or drooling idiots hounding a beautiful woman, just someone who is
beautiful on their own and it does not have to become an issue with the story
or the audience. To her credit, I found
this idea intriguing and after re-examining some of my own favorite female
protagonists, I found that the ones I liked the most did in fact adhere to this
kind of mentality, where they were beautiful, but not objectified or even used
for male pandering.
 |
| Meet Ellen, from the game Folklore. Ellen is very attractive. Without showing a bit of skin. She is beautiful for the sake of being beautiful, not for titillation or pandering. Well done, Folklore. Well done indeed. |
So,
I decided I wanted to have a little chat with the gaming community on
oversexualization. When it is actually
well done, when it is tolerable, and when it is deplorable. For these three examples, ironically, I can
use the three female leads of Dragon's Crown to tie it all together, because of
their varied designs. The elf fits the
criteria for beautiful, well rounded, and contextual character, making her the
strongest female lead and the one requiring the least pandering, while still
being able to be attractive. The amazon
fits the well rounded and contextual character and while her design does pander
a little to the male audience, it largely stands on its own since she has a
unique and independent persona. The
sorceress sadly falls into a trap that was started in the Playstation 2 era
where "jiggle physics" became a thing. Her clothing makes a kind of contextual
sense, but largely it seems out of place and only meant to show off her
cleavage and legs. Speaking of her
cleavage, her breasts jiggle around willy nilly with no rhyme or reason and her
personality seems ditzy, flirtatious, and reliant on men, even if it is for the sake
of manipulating said men for personal gain.
She is the kind of character that needs to be avoided. I hate bashing on her because Kamitani
probably didn't create her with that in mind, but it speaks to an archetype
that really needs to be laid to rest in gaming at large.
I
want to add for the sake of completeness that this is a preliminary analysis
from before the game launches to broach the idea of oversexualization vs
objectification. The characters are
being examined based on gameplay footage, since the story has not been
officially released, so their personalities, as seen through their in-game
animations and dialogue, may change.
This is just based on what we know right now.
 |
| Get ready kids, we're about to jump into examination and wild speculation on character design and personality. Fun times. |
Anyway,
with the background out of the way, let's start with the best first. The elf fits the bill of being beautiful byhaving a slender, attractive body that is fitted into a ranger's uniform. A green tunic and brown cloak for disappearing into the
woods, a hood to keep the rain out of her eyes, thigh high boots for traversing
through muck unimpeded, and all of this together without needing to show much
skin for titillation. Her pale face and
well proportioned body speak of a kind of beautiful woman who is agile and
capable, even if she cannot wield a gigantic sword like some of the male characters. She has strong bow skills and the ability to
use martial arts to defend herself. The
elf's in-game animations give her an air of seriousness, with a tender side as
she appears to be friendlier to animals than the other characters. The elf hits the perfect balance, in my
opinion, of strong, attractive female characters that are beautiful for their
own sakes, not for the audience's sake.
She is like Gwendolyn from Odin Sphere, Elly from Xenogears, or Lenneth
Valkyrie from Valkyrie Profile. Her clothes
make sense in context with both the setting and her personality and her body
type is pretty average. Truth be told,
she could have been given larger breasts as an attempt to titillate the
audience, but if her overall design was the same, I.E. no cleavage, then she'd
still be able to hold onto this beauty for the sake of beauty ideal. This is what we want if we're going to have
an oversexualized character. One who is
beautiful for their own sake, not for the sake of a male audience, who has a
strong, independent personality, and one who dresses and acts with proper
context based around their persona and the setting.
 |
| The elf has a slender, beautiful body, but her clothing makes sense and doesn't needlessly show off skin. She is cute and attractive without having to flash breasts or butts to the male audience. This is what we need more of. |
Next
up is the amazon. The amazon, in my
opinion, fits into a precarious position between overtly pandering and
beautiful in her own way. From her
animations, the amazon appears to be very much like a barbarian heroine from a
Borris Vallejo painting. She is muscular,
comfortable with her body, and favors brute force over subtlety or
protection. The amazon has a fairly
decent sized chest, complete with cleavage showing, and massive muscular
thighs, which have earned her some criticism because she dresses in what
amounts to a chainmail thong bikini. This may
sound like me, as a male, making excuses, but hear me out. I honestly think this aesthetic works for the
barbarian woman personality the amazon seems to have. Barbarians are traditionally known for
wearing little clothing, as they prefer freedom of movement over heavy armor,
and only cover their weakest spots, like genitalia, feet, or their head on
occasions. In this context, the amazon
is a mass of muscle, but still has weak points in her feet, for example, if she
had to cross jagged ground, in the area of her genitalia due to the nerves and
sensitivity, and the head, which controls the rest of the body. Thus, it makes sense for her to cover these
parts, while not covering her muscle. And the clothing she wears, while very revealing, allow her to make full use of her legs, as she favors kicking enemies as well as using an axe.
She is confident enough in her own strength that she doesn't need the
covering and would prefer the freedom of movement. To me, this costume makes sense with her
personality and the context of the game.
Is it pandering? Well...yeah, unfortunately. The amazon doesn't have a body
thought of as traditionally beautiful but she does have some parts which could
be singled out as sexy by others which overlook her as a whole
 |
| The thong will be a sticking point for a lot of people, but considering her aesthetic, I think the amazon works. Is she pandering? Yes, but at least there is more under the surface and her outfit makes sense in context. |
In
this case, like with many women in games who have a strong personality and
clothing that matches context but is still revealing, I want to say this. A character is only objectified if you THINK
of them as an object. The amazon has a personality,
a reason for dressing like she does, and even if she is somewhat pandering, it
is easy enough to ignore it because she can be seen as beautiful in her own
right. The beauty of the human body at
its peak physical perfection. However,
if all you see are the giant thighs and the cleavage, or the lack of clothes,
you are turning her into an object. She
wasn't made as one, you are TURNING her into one. This is true for a fair number of female
protagonists in modern gaming. Bayonetta,
for example. Her personality shows that
she feels dismissive towards men and enjoys using their sexual thoughts against
them, while using an outfit that is made of her hair which is equal parts
weapon and armor. Is she pandering? Absolutely, there are plenty of cheesecake
shots or moments where she herself is overtly sexual. But for her personality and the world she
exists in, her costume makes sense and her actions seem more like a middle
finger towards the largely male audience oggling her. So, she's only objectified for her looks if
you refuse to see how she is subverting the norms of the jiggling bimbo heroine
and choose to only see her AS a jiggling bimbo heroine.
 |
| Bayonetta and the amazon are where we are right now in the games industry in terms of regular female protagonists. They can be strong, but they do have to pander the audience, with sexy poses, cheese cake shots, or a general lack of clothing. They're still characters and are only objects if we reduce them to objects...but we can do better. I know we can. |
Sadly,the worst example of female character design in Dragon's Crown comes from theSorceress. Her clothes feature a dress
that has a slit in the side to show off her long legs and her top is low cut,
allowing her breasts to jiggle about like crazy. She has a ridiculously thin waist and seems
content to shove her legs and chest wherever she pleases. Her attacks seem to focus on a mix of magic
and titillation. She has some impressive magic feats, such as ice and fire spells, true, but she also has spells like charming enemies, turning them to frogs, or turning them to stone, which reflect back on female ideas of titillation and temptation. Her design seems to dip heavily from traditional witches and mythical temptresses. This could be me looking too far into it, but this kind of design seems
reliant on men for her success, as she counts on her sex appeal to a degree,
and with clothing that really doesn't fit the context of the game world. In Dragon's Crown, players enter all kinds of
dungeons, from dank sewers to dragon's caves.
I'd think you'd want clothes that either protects your entire body, like
the knight who is covered in armor, that allow freedom of mobility while
protecting the essentials, like the amazon, or which makes sense based on your
skillset, like the elf, whose costume seems built around keeping her mobile and
able to snipe enemies with her arrows. The
sorceress's clothing seems more reminiscent of a bar waitress's clothes, with a
witch's hat added in for good measure.
I'm not saying bar maiden's or bards or any other unorthodox type of
person can't be an adventurer, but it seems oddly out of place amongst the other
adventurers. She seems like fan service
for the sake of fan service. And really,
that is, in my opinion, the worst kind of female character in video games. These are the characters who are objectified
because they have no strong persona, their clothing and design in and of itself
are meant to not fit into the world, but rather to catch the male eye, and they
cannot stand on their own without a male audience. I'd find it hard to believe with her jiggling
breasts and overly sexual design that women would be able to enjoy the
sorceress as much as men. Which is a
shame, because some of the ideas they had for her seemed interesting, like
turning male monsters into toads, thus subverting some fairy tale and female
tropes of storytelling. However, the
whole package with the sorceress seems to be a bit much.
 |
| Look at that shot. The skull between the breasts. That should say it all. The sorceress might turn out to be fun and not nearly as sexist as she seems, but...just this image of a woman in gaming is discouraging. Guys, we really need to stop doing this... |
This
is what I hate. I hate it when a character
isn't given enough personality to work with, like Paula in Shadows of the
Damned, and where what little they have either panders to the male audience or
makes little sense. I hate it when
characters are dressed up like barbie dolls for no reason at all and without
context, like in the DOA volleyball games.
Think about those games for a second.
Not only are these female characters regular enemies in fighting
tournaments, so they wouldn't be hanging out together at a resort, but they
also have jobs or personas which make them lounging on a beach in a bikini,
posing as hard as they can to look sexy, really unlikely. Christie is an assassin. Sex appeal can be used in her work, but in
her downtime too? Lisa is a
wrestler. Maybe she wants to relax, but...with
people she's smacked down with? Ayane is
a bloody ninja who is frequently in contact with and assisting the Hayabusa
clan! Why is she traipsing around in a
bikini on an island that seems to be inhabited only by eye candy for the male
audience?! Perhaps worst of all though,
I hate characters that have potential, but have that potential is squelched for
the sake of fan service. The character
Tala in Darkwatch was a bit oversexualized, with her gothic look, black
clothes, open cleavage, and cold, but flirtatious persona. But she provided some nice character
development for the main character, Jericho. Jericho
is a vampire and still coming to terms with his powers, so Tala acts as the
devil on his right shoulder vs. an angel he had on his left in the form of a
ghost. Then the game thought, let's show
them having sex, with Tala naked and straddling Jericho, who is still fully clothed. ...Really?
Why was that necessary? Yeah, she
uses the moment to tempt Jericho
to bite her and uses her new vampire powers to become the main boss later,
but...there were dozens of ways to do that which didn't just degrade the
character into bouncing breasts. Talya
had potential as a female villain because she was subtle and clever...I'd think
she could've figured out a quicker, easier way than screwing Jericho to get bitten.
 |
| Darkwatch, DOA Volleyball, Oneechanbara...this is just pathetic. Fan service women with no character whose only goal is to titillate. THESE are the objectified women. These are the ones I feel sorry for and the ones I am unable to play, because they're so vapid, pandering, and empty. |
So,
there you have it. Three examples of
oversexualization in gaming through the lens of Dragon's Crown. What I want you to take away from this though
is that oversexualization does not automatically mean objectification. In the first case, objectification is damn
near impossible because the character is so well designed that she is
beautiful, but in perfect balance between body, clothing, persona, and
likability. In the second case, objectification
is possible because certain parts of the character's body and clothing put
aspects of her on display, creating an imbalance, but her personality and the
context of her design make it your choice.
You can choose to see her as an object or as the character she was meant
to be. The third case is the most
depressing, as it blatantly panders to the male audience without really
providing context in costume, character, or setting as to why she needs to be
this way. The character herself is not
strong enough to carry the design and while the abilities she possesses are
nice, they don't excuse or hide the fact that the design is too catered towards
the male audience, rather than a gender neutral party, which most games should
be. A good game can create male leads
that both men and women find either admirable or attractive or female leads
which women feel empowered playing and which men can find beautiful, but
without feeling the need to ogle.
Let
me close with this. Oversexualization of both men and women is a common thing
in all kinds of media, from books, to movies, to games. And not all of it as
unwanted as some might believe, as many people, men and women, enjoy the form,
the outlandishness of the design, or the costuming without even getting sexuality
involved. They enjoy the beauty of the
character for what it is. Oversexualization
is not a bad thing in and of itself...it's when you reduce the characters being
oversexualized to objects that we have a problem. Oversexualized doesn't have to mean
anti-feminist, misogynistic, or even unhealthy. It's when you reduce that character to an
object that you give them this negative connotation. So next time anyone wants to do that, think
about the game, the context, or the character you're talking about. Think about who they are, what they mean, why
they're depicted that way and if there really is a reason to get upset. Don't just point and go "SEXIST" as
a knee jerk reaction. And likewise, don't pick up a game or get enamored with
it because of sex appeal...games are there to be played. You want sex, you've
got the internet.
 |
| Vallejo paintings are full of oversexualized women and men. Does this make them objects? Well...I say that's up to you. I'm more interested in the wings and the alien world that the fact the woman's in a bikini. To me, she isn't an object...I don't know if the same can be said about others. |
All in all, game developers
should strive to make characters like the elf, but we shouldn't be as critical
of the amazons or the Bayonettas out there.
They are pandering to increase sales, but their character,
design, costume, and their overall likability coupled with the game's enjoyment
factor often make this a matter of choice.
You can reduce them to objects if you only focus on certain aspects, but
that is YOUR decision to make. The
character still has character. Game
developers should avoid making characters like the sorceress, or at the very
least try and make her BETTER. The
sorceress had potential and with a little re-tooling, I think she could be just
as strong as the amazon or even the elf.
Don't make a character only for eye candy's sake, though. We all lose when that happens.
Finally, let me say once
again, this is just one person's opinion.
Take it or leave it, argue with it if you want, but at least think about
what I've said and why I've said it. The
fact that we live in a world where A) Men think it's okay to make a pandering
piece of eye candy as a main character in a game and B) Where the world is such
that women are so jaded about the portrayal of all characters that they may
call sexist as a knee jerk reaction makes me very, very sad. Also, this is based on the impressions of
Dragon's Crown from its promotional material.
I wanted to use this to kind of defend Kamitani to a degree, because I don't
think he tried to make his characters eye candy. I want you to see how he probably thought
about their design and creation, through these three examples. I think the sorceress design is flawed, but
it at least had potential. That's more
than I can say for the DOA Volleyball series, which took established characters
and turned them into dress up dolls.
.JPG)
