Augustine from Infamous: Second Son. Now that's a game with numerous problems with its characters but this villain constantly tries to put you down and, has some fairly decent reasons for doing so. She's arguably the only character whose arch makes any sense and she has a bitchy catchphrase.
Interesting way of saying that. Kainés wild personality (and looks/dress too) is a very real reflection of the characters personal story and not something shoved in because they needed a certain archetype.
Heather in Silent Hill 3, most female characters in Persona 3 and 4
No clue why people still considered Lara Croft an amazing female character in video games, at least before the reboot happened.
The fact that Heather is a teenage girl and her main plotline is about whether or not she wants to give birth to a thing, Rosemary's Baby-style makes her a very good pick, for sure.
Also, big nod for the Lucas roster in the 90s point and clickers. Sophia Hapgood, Elaine Marley, Maggie Robbins... they're cool and smart and all up in that "strong female" character thing. Of course none of them beats the coolness that is Laverne
Because you know what? Not only is she nutty and nerdy and weird... but she's also a Med student.
Jean from Lunar 2 is pretty good. A lot of physically strong female characters in games have a hard time showing femininity as well. It's kind of like writers have a hard time holding those two concepts together at the same time. Most physically strong female characters are very masculine, cold and stern. Essentially, they are stereotypical strong male characters, only female.
Jean is a character that can hold both those concepts together and the writers do a really good job with it.
Viconia from BG2. I loved that romance plot. By far the best of any from bioware. Her character has a lot of emotional depth and background. I feel like Morrigan from DA has a few similarities.
@believer258: There's not that much time for character development in FFIV, but she's a good healer the whole game and maybe less lame than Cecil. Every character in FFIV is a ridiculous cliche and that's why it works. She's definitely way better than Garnet/Yuna/Aeris.
Also, I-No from Guilty Gear is my favourite final boss character from a fighting game. She's assertive with her sexuality but it doesn't define her (that would be her love of violence), and she has a surprising amount of depth in the story. Plus her themesong is fantastic and she can fucking SHRED.
@believer258: There's not that much time for character development in FFIV, but she's a good healer the whole game and maybe less lame than Cecil. Every character in FFIV is a ridiculous cliche and that's why it works. She's definitely way better than Garnet/Yuna/Aeris.
I actually disagree, I think that Yuna is a really good example of how to make a quiet character who isn't really subservient and weak. Her decisions, in FFX anyway, are always selfless and focused on stopping Sin.
But then, FFX is another FF game I haven't actually finished, mostly because I got thirty hours in and the damn PS2 disc started fucking up so maybe her character arc does something different that I don't know about.
Also, everything in FFIV is a ridiculous cliche, not just the characters, and I agree - that's why it works. That game burns through plot points at what feels like a breakneck speed compared to most other JRPG's, to the point where I wasn't so much enjoying the plot as I was wondering just which cliche it was going to pull out next. Except for the part where you go to the moon. That's not so much cliche as it is fucking awesome.
Also, I-No from Guilty Gear is my favourite final boss character from a fighting game. She's assertive with her sexuality but it doesn't define her (that would be her love of violence), and she has a surprising amount of depth in the story. Plus her themesong is fantastic and she can fucking SHRED.
Something I just recalled because I picked up Smash Brothers, but Kid Icarus Uprising had some pretty fantastic characters throughout, and the ladies were no exception- honestly without them the game wouldn't be half as memorable. Viridi and Palutena's bickering back and forth in the latter half of the game was great, especially when Pit and Hades ended up caught in the middle of it. Phosphora was a cool NPC "Hero of another story" type character, and Medusa and Pandora both got a surprising amount of screen-time and development character-wise. That game was friggin' outstanding, all around, but the banter between the characters was what makes it one of the best.
Kayne is pretty great despite her super-stupid outfit. Alot of the more indepth backstory for her is at the new-game + though so don't really wanna spoil it. Her speech in the beginning of the intro is probably when the game got its hooks into me. Overall, she's mostly just really damn pissed, and I love it.
That's who I was going to say. Typically Nier isn't my sort of thing, but the game is great and she's a surprisingly well done character. (Jennifer Hale ftw again)
Laura Bailey.
Kaine was my first choice. She is a great character in a game filled with four great central characters. That she is also totally the main character is even better. People always seem willing to just write her off because of her outfit, but not only is it deliberate and makes sense story-wise, but people that fall into that trap are playing into the hands of the devs. It's dastardly.
Oh shit! My ears got that so wrong! And yeah, she rocks.
@believer258: The themes in Final Fantasy X are extraordinarily good, only exceeded by maybe the Last of Us and Final Fantasy Tactics; but the characters suck so bad (except Auron) that instead of remembering how good the themes are you just remember Tidus saying "I need food!" and so on.
Kayne is pretty great despite her super-stupid outfit. Alot of the more indepth backstory for her is at the new-game + though so don't really wanna spoil it. Her speech in the beginning of the intro is probably when the game got its hooks into me. Overall, she's mostly just really damn pissed, and I love it.
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That's who I was going to say. Typically Nier isn't my sort of thing, but the game is great and she's a surprisingly well done character. (Jennifer Hale ftw again)
Laura Bailey.
Kaine was my first choice. She is a great character in a game filled with four great central characters. That she is also totally the main character is even better. People always seem willing to just write her off because of her outfit, but not only is it deliberate and makes sense story-wise, but people that fall into that trap are playing into the hands of the devs. It's dastardly.
I was really on the fence about this game. The story seemed really intriguing but it got poor reviews all around and it was really hard to make out what the gameplay actually was. I asked several times on these forums and after some positive feedback decided to trust the bombers and dove into it (get it, dove, like.. the humanity dove..).
Man what a ride. I can't say the game itself is all that amazing to play but boy oh boy. One of the few games in the past several games I beat twice and was really tempted by a third playthrough for more exposition. Nier is nuts in ALL the right ways and Kaine was an especially refreshing character - also a great example of not judging a book by its cover.
Kayne is pretty great despite her super-stupid outfit. Alot of the more indepth backstory for her is at the new-game + though so don't really wanna spoil it. Her speech in the beginning of the intro is probably when the game got its hooks into me. Overall, she's mostly just really damn pissed, and I love it.
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That's who I was going to say. Typically Nier isn't my sort of thing, but the game is great and she's a surprisingly well done character. (Jennifer Hale ftw again)
Laura Bailey.
Kaine was my first choice. She is a great character in a game filled with four great central characters. That she is also totally the main character is even better. People always seem willing to just write her off because of her outfit, but not only is it deliberate and makes sense story-wise, but people that fall into that trap are playing into the hands of the devs. It's dastardly.
I was really on the fence about this game. The story seemed really intriguing but it got poor reviews all around and it was really hard to make out what the gameplay actually was. I asked several times on these forums and after some positive feedback decided to trust the bombers and dove into it (get it, dove, like.. the humanity dove..).
Man what a ride. I can't say the game itself is all that amazing to play but boy oh boy. One of the few games in the past several games I beat twice and was really tempted by a third playthrough for more exposition. Nier is nuts in ALL the right ways and Kaine was an especially refreshing character - also a great example of not judging a book by its cover.
Wait, so you didn't even get to endings C and D?
You have to get to endings C and D, otherwise you miss out on something magical.
@zleunamme: I tried so hard to like that game. I tried very very hard but the combat was boring, most of the characters were bland and the PC version had some wonky technical issues.
The game had problems but the main character was not one of them.
Also, I-No from Guilty Gear is my favourite final boss character from a fighting game. She's assertive with her sexuality but it doesn't define her (that would be her love of violence), and she has a surprising amount of depth in the story. Plus her themesong is fantastic and she can fucking SHRED.
Moira and the Tenpenny Tower side quest are the only good things about Fallout 3. Moira actually felt like a character you'd expect to see in Fallout's weirdness.
Also, Nier, NOLF, Binary Domain, Alien Infestation, and Dishonored ... this whole thread is reading like games I've bought and still haven't gotten around to finishing.
I feel like most of the female characters in the Paper Mario games get overlooked because they aren't human, Tippi and Vivian in particular. Despite being about a butterfly and an inter-dimensional magician, Super Paper Mario has the most believable love story in any game I've ever seen. Then there's Vivian, which was touching on gender identity and bullying issues WAY before Persona 4.
Nanami from Suikoden 2 was one of my favorite characters in the game although I'm not sure if she counts as lesser known. Bad ass at Kung Fu and takes one for the team in the end :(
One of my favorite female characters was always Lucia from Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance. So much so that Lucia is generally my default go to name when making a female character in an RPG.
Kate Walker, people, Kate Walker. Smart (well, as smart as you can get in a puzzle game, of course), adventurous, independent and she has a mind of her own. Also, Chell is how I like my women: silent and obedient. HA!
No, but seriously... Faith Connors is another one, similar to Kate Walker. Also, I like Tali from the Mass Effect games, because as one of the few characters she didn't seem to follow Shepard without hesitation. She had her own goals and seemed to demand more than mere flirtation from Shepard (at least, that's how I remember experiencing it; it's been quite a while). Surprisingly, I never romanced her in any of my playthroughs (probably because I couldn't romance her in the first ME and I'm incredibly loyal, so it was always either Liara or Ashley).
Whenever the topic of strong female characters comes up my first thought is Princess Cordelia from Valkyria Chronicles. She starts of as a weak character. She is passive in her role as leader and gets used because of her inexperience. She is just playing her part in destiny. Then she takes control of her destiny and leads her people when they needed it most. Her character growth from teenage princess to leader of a nation under occupation (and later on a civil war) is quite the character arc.
Penello from FFXII is a pretty strong character too. She's an orphan from the streets and doesn't rely on anyone. She makes sure that those around her have their shit together.
I can definitely agree with @loafofgame about Faith Connors.
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