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
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?
