The 10 Most Sexualised Videogame Characters
While hypersexualisation of female characters has declined since 1995, a new study found that female game characters are still more objectified than their male counterparts.
Hypersexualised depictions of women typically include oversized breasts and narrow waists – combined with costumes that leave little to the imagination. Can there ever be a justifiable case of oversexualising a video game character?
1) Daphne, Dragon’s Lair
It must be cold in the Dragon’s Lair. Someone should lend Daphne a nice woolly cardigan.
If proof were needed that hypersexualisation in video games is nothing new, it is amply demonstrated by Princess Daphne from Dragon’s Lair.
Dragon’s Lair was released in 1983 and featured animation by ex-Disney animator Don Bluth. Released in an era when most video game characters were still represented as a sprite, its visual style made it stand out from the crowd…even if it was rather lacking in terms of the actual gameplay.
You control Dirk the Daring, who has to quest to rescue the fair Princess Daphne from the clutches of Singe the Dragon.
For better or for worse, Daphne was the first fully developed female video game character. Daphne was voiced by key assistant animator Vera Pacheco (screenname Vera Lanpher), who wasn’t even a professional voice over artist at the time – and it shows! Every line is delivered in a sexual manner. She could be saying “Ooh, my fungal infection has gone septic!” and it would still sound like a come-on.
“You went to all that trouble for lil’ old me? However can I repay you?” “With money…lots and lots of money…”
I’m forever blowing bubbles, pretty bubbles in the air!
2) Sally Mae Beuregard, Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude, 2004
A good loading screen can help to lessen the boredom. Ride em’, cowgirl! Sorry. I’ll get my coat.
Looking at it now, it’s hard to believe that Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude (huh huh…cum…loud! Geddit?) was released as recently as 2004. It seems like the product of a bygone era and in many ways, it was.
The original Leisure Suit Larry game – Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards – was released in 1987. It laid a blueprint which would be used for all eight entries in the Leisure Suit Larry series. In these comedic adventure games, your goal is to help the hapless Larry to find women willing to have sex with him.
Magna Cum Laude featured a new protagonist – Larry Lovage – who was the nephew of the original leading Larry, Larry Laffer. It was largely a cosmetic change which justified being able to set the game in college, where Larry would meet many college clichés/characters.
Sally Mae is a rootin’ tootin’ cowgirl and country music fan voiced by Lotti Pharriss. Surprisingly, she is also Jewish and refused to sleep with “little Larry” upon discovering that he isn’t circumcised.
The loading screens also featured models cosplaying as the Magna Cum Laude ladies.
During conversations, you must guide your sperm to safety in order to increase the ladies’ levels of affection for Larry.
3) Lara Croft, Tomb Raider
Tomb Raider 1 - Official PS1 trailer 1996 - (Restored 16:9)
Until being reimagined with a more realistic figure in the 2013 reboot Tomb Raider, Lara Croft was famous for having huge breasts. While adjusting the character model, lead graphic artist Toby Gard accidentally increased the breasts' dimensions by 150 percent. After seeing the booby boost, other members of the creative team argued to keep the change. Would she have become such an iconic heroine if she had been flat-chested?
While Core Design expected it to appeal to the male market, unexpectedly it found that 40% of the early players were female. Released just three months after Spice Girls released their debut album Wannabe, Lara Croft was a strong female character to became one of the iconic figures of Cool Britannia.
Lara Croft as she appears in the 2013 reboot. Gorgeous water and lighting effects!
What better spot could there be for your Lara Croft cosplay photoshoot than by Lara Croft Way in Derby?
4) Every Female Fighter, Dead or Alive series
Dead or Alive 5: Last Round – Launch Trailer
Swimsuits were added to Dead or Alive 5 as DLC costumes. They also featured prominently in the spin-off volleyball game, Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball.
I like the Dead or Alive games. They’re a genuinely fun fighting game series with beautiful graphics. But since it’s a game series which is also famous for the “jiggle physics”, you do sound disingenuous when saying you’re primarily interested in them for the great gameplay.
Speaking to website PSU, Team Ninja producer Yosuke Hayashi said the DOA5 development team went "hands on" with studio staff and other partners to get the game’s breast physics right. Well, it’s a tough job but someone’s got to do it I guess…
No matter whether you’re interested in bunny ears, bikinis or schoolgirl outfits, Team Ninja have you covered (less so the lovely ladies in their games) with a wide range of costumes.
In addition to the core fighting games, there have been four Dead or Alive Beach Volleyball games so far, including the recently released Dead or Alive Xtreme 3, which is yet to be released in the West. Worth an import? Destructoid scored 1.5/10. Well, you weren’t really expecting a masterpiece, were you?
Fighting games tend to be the worst culprits for oversexualising female characters. It’s as if their developers consider boobs and brawling to be the perfect combo.
Choose your Fetish! Erm...I mean Fighter!
5) Bayonetta, Bayonetta
Bayonetta – PC launch trailer
Looks like it's a full moon tonight. Beautiful.
Arguably the sexiest character on this list, Bayonetta is also one of the best. She isn’t just eye candy – she’s a powerful, intelligent and laugh out loud funny feminine hero and the star of one of Platinum’s best games. Sexiness is just one more weapon employed by Bayonetta, who seems to be very aware of her own beauty.
Bayonetta is a powerful witch who has a “naughty librarian” vibe going on. Technically always naked as her figure-hugging outfits are actually made from her long, lovely hair, Bayonetta bounds across the battlefield pulling off incredible looking moves in a balletic ballet where you’ll be given higher points for defeating enemies with style.
Although it is technically possible to finish the game as a button masher, it’s more rewarding to put in the time necessary to allow Bayonetta to reach her full potential.
Please…no tongues. Also, isn’t that pose rather uncomfortable?
IGN described Bayonetta 2 as “unrelenting, sexy and totally outrageous”. It’s easy to see why.
6) Dead Rising 2, Amber and Crystal Bailey
Aw. Sisterly love,. Ain't it sweet!
The Bailey twins are a pair of psychopaths in Dead Rising 2 and Dead Rising 2: Off the Record. Less characters and more caricatures, these terrible twins are a challenging pair of psychopaths for hero Chuck to defeat!
Though never officially confirmed, it is heavily hinted in the games that they are bisexual and having an incestuous relationship with each other. Before the fight begins, the twins pose provocatively, granting Chuck the perfect opportunity to snap a picture and bag the player 2000 points and the Adult Content Achievement.
Uttering such classic lines as “Your performance was a little limp tonight, Frank. You must have to take pills for that at your age” and “The ladies were a little disappointed in your...performance tonight, Chuck. But you must get that a lot”, it is clear that CAPCOM never intended for these characters to be classy. But hey, at least they tick the twin fetish box and make a change from the usual gruesome psycho guys that Chuck has to slay.
Due to the graphical limitations, the twins look more like puppets than real women. It’s like someone is acting out their naughty twin fantasies with the Thunderbirds.
What have you done? After all they did for you, that’s so ungrateful!
7) Senran Kagura Shinovi Versus, Katsuragi
The Senran Kagura series caters to fighting fans who felt that the female fighters in the Dead or Alive series weren’t quite sexualised enough. Whereas Team Ninja were interested in more believable 3D models and realistic jiggle physics, the ladies in the Senran Kagura series are instead anime blow up dolls, each with huge bouncy boobs. You are encouraged to use your Ninja Art to fully strip your opponents.
Of all the characters in Senran Kagura, Katsuragi is the most perverted. Obsessed with big breasts, her motivation for entering each fighting tournament can basically be boiled down to “Because boobs”.
As well as the core fighting games, there has also been a cookery spin-off title: Senran Kagura – Bon Appetit. Must…resist…making a melons joke!
Here’s Katsurage as she appears after being defeated in Senran Kagura: Bon Appetit. Think of the calories!
Just another normal day at the beach. Possibly not Blackpool…looks a touch too sunny.
8) Mileena, Mortal Kombat
History of Mileena, Mortal Kombat X
Mileena is a hyper sexualised villainess in the Mortal Kombat series. A twisted clone of Kitana, Mileena has a fragile mind and enjoys killing and eating her victims. An even more revealing alternate version of her costume was designed by Midway Games for a Playboy spread.
Her fondest wish is to kill her “sister” Kitana.
Hmm….I wonder what she looks like without that mask?
Aaargh! Please…forget I asked! Just put the mask back on!
9) Cindy Aurum, Final Fantasy XV
Final Fantasy XV All Cut Scenes of Cindy Waxing, Gassing Up & Fixing Your Car
A mechanic doing anything on the house? Sorry…I can accept monsters and magicians but this is just too farfetched!
Compared to previous entries in the series, Final Fantasy XV can often feel like a sausage fest, as you go on an adventure with Prince Noctis and his bros Gladiolus, Prompto and Ignis. With an all-male party, it seems even more gratuitous when they meet the mechanic Cindy and she starts leaning over their car’s bonnet. Still, at least it gave Prompto a good photo opportunity…
“He’s the one stood behind you, who keeps staring at your ass.”
“Oh, I see what the problem is! The carburettor (something something) gasket has a (something something) car (something) leak. Hey, are y’all even listenin’ to anythin’ I say?!”
10) Catherine, Catherine
Last but by no means least, Catherine is a sexy succubus and mistress of commitment-phobic leading man Vincent. Praised by many reviewers at the time for dealing with subjects such as relationships, responsibility and fatherhood, it is a fiendishly difficult platform-puzzle hybrid which also features Vincent being chased through nightmare levels by a gigantic baby who wants to eat him, Doom’s Bride and a gigantic nude demonic version of Catherine whose skin is peeling off.
You’ll also meet other men/sheep who are afraid of commitment, aging, children and women. 1up reviewer Jeremy Parish praised the game’s maturity, saying: “Catherine is a game for anyone who’s ever feared commitment, dreaded aging, felt their heart stray, dealt with a pregnancy scare, spent long booze-soaked hours commiserating with pals at the local dive bar, or simply questioned the direction their life is going as they close in on middle age” but others have simply described it as the “most sexist game of all time”. Whichever camp you ultimately fall into, Catherine is truly unique. I recommend playing it to judge for yourself. Will you settle down with Katherine or choose Catherine instead? Alternatively, you could just complete Catherine on the hardest difficulty setting, unlock the secret ending and have sex with the Goddess Ishtar instead…
Unfortunately Catherine was never officially released on PC, so you’ll need to pick up a copy for the Xbox 360 or the PlayStation 3 if you want to see for yourself why Catherine was such a divisive game.
Lie back and enjoy the view?
Catherine or Katherine? Decisions, decisions...
I hope you enjoyed reading this article. One last honourable/dishonourable mention goes to Geralt’s many sexual conquests in the original Witcher game. Although sex was used more maturely in the follow-ups, in the original it served mainly as a means of procuring naughty trading cards. Did this article miss your favourite/least favourite entry? If so, please let us know in the comments below.
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Lexi_O 6 years 10 months ago
I'm a little surprised that Juliet from Lollipop Chainsaw wasn't included in this list!
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