Best female character of all time?

[ZeaLitY]

I'm glad the protagonist of FFXIII is a female. It's a first aside from FFX-2, and I'm going to be optimistic about the fact that Nomura was asked to design her as a female version of Cloud. If we're talking about Cloud from FFVII, hell yes. If we're talking about Cloud from Advent Children,



I have to refuse. Sephiroth was the only noteworthy protagonist of that film, despite only appearing at the end.

[CyberSarkany]

Bleu's an old immortal woman with a neat attitude. She's just an interesting addition to the BoF cast of characters.

i used her, but i didnt notice anything that stands out about her (from BoF2, right?)

BoF 1, 2, 3 and, if you consider 4 as canon, 4 too. She was only playable in the first 2, was a master in the 3rd, and I say nothing about the 4th, because it might be spoilerish.

In BoF 2, she has really no story, because she is only a secret character you don't really have to get. The only thing is(if i didn't forget anything) that she is recognized by the last boss. In 1 and 3, she helps you defeating the Goddess(in the first game as an active party member, in the 3rd more as a guide). Her reason to  fight the goddess(Tyr if I recall right, I think Miria in the 3rd game) is actually more than something like "Oh, if I'm already awake, why not help you." as she put it. She just kept it as a secret.
And another thing: I think in the 3rd game she had a different name, because of translating issues or whatever.

[Silvercry]

The correct answer is Samus Aran.  Always has been.  Always will be.

Though I am looking forward to Lightning’s debut.  It'll be nice to have a female FF protagonist kick ass again, Celes and Terra style.  I'm talkin' old school, fool!

[cupn00dles]

>.< it is too much to ask that people give reasons as to why they think what they do

Play MGS 3 and you will know the reason.

[Daniel Krispin]

I must say I'm partial to the view of whoever said The Boss. I rather like her character, and I'd have difficulty finding one I like better. Certainly none of the FF ones save Celes would come close. I've never played much of Metroid, so I don't know if hers can compare or not. Most other female video game character, even if I like them, aren't in the same league as these characterwise and what not. Celes has a lot of strength but never seems overdone in her representation (a solid, stern Athene like fighter, rather than the lithe warrior-women of so many other games); the Boss is just majestic. Sad, powerful, and utterly dedicated to her goals and purposes so that absolutely nothing can undo her. That might be overstating it, but there really is a lot to be said for her character. I mean, if you'd want someone to watch your back in a fight, who'd it be? Tifa? Yuna? The Boss has a passionless grace that would make most enemies take a step back without even engaging her.

[ZeaLitY]

Ooh, that made me remember:



Quistis and Zell were my favorite FF8 characters (aside from Laguna, but everyone likes Laguna). Quisty was more mature than everyone there and the leader of the card gang to boot.

[satchel_dawg]

i have to say Zelda, for the big reason that she's not completely defensless like the rest of those spinless princess in the video game world.

[Kyronea]

For now, unless I hear of a better character, I say The Boss.

[satchel_dawg]

i had a premonition you'd say that. personally out of princess i say zelda, mainly because in a battle against princess peach, zelda would break her neck. serously who want's to spend an entire gaming career saving someone who doesn't even help during the last battle.

[Rat]

I've always been a bit fond of Celes from FF6.
Hrm. Reasons. Well, she's a General. And when Locke first meets her, if you have him dressed as a soldier, the reference is grand. =P

[Daniel Krispin]

i have to say Zelda, for the big reason that she's not completely defensless like the rest of those spinless princess in the video game world.

Spinless?

By the way, ZeaLitY, yeah, I liked Quistis, too (for as much as I played the game, though; I only got half way through disc two); Laguna... not so much so far. And I definitely didn't like Zell. Actually, the only character I really DID like was Quistis.

[Kebrel]

Lt. Sarah Kerrigan or Shodan, I not sure as two which is better. Wait does Shodan count she is a insane A.I construct.

[Zanis]

im with kebrel on kerrigan... shes just a normal ghost soilder, get back stabbed by her commander, gets mutated into a zerg, rebels and eventually conquers the solar system in which the game takes place. moral? dont backstab a woman w/ a shotgun and psycic abilities lol

[V_Translanka]

For sheer RPG magical power, I'd have to go with Rydia of Mist from FFIV...



Though Tina/Terra from FFVI was pretty awe-inspiring by being part Phantom Beast/Esper (aka Summon), throughout FFIV, Rydia has access to every (cool) branch of magic: White (which, when she grows up, she ditches for more advanced attacking magics), Black, and Summoning Magics. So she can not only call upon Meteo but also Bahamut and Odin! Not many badasses like that in the FF universe.

For overall power and for kicking sexism in the ass back in the 8-Bit days, I think Silvercry is right, Samus Aran from the Metroid series is the girl to go for...



When most people first played Samus Aran's first game, Metroid, for the NES, they knew they were dealing with a force to be reckoned with. She's a bounty hunter with a kickass spaceship and awesome freakin armor, so naturally, people thought they were playing the average male lead that reminded them of something like Boba Fett. She was decked out with lasers, an ice beam, a weird ball form equipped with bombs, a spinning "screw" attack, and missles up the wazoo. Then, during the final stages of the game, you're stripped of your armor and WHUHHHH?!? Samus is a girl! Just plain awesome. She hunts space pirates, people! SPACE PIRATES!!! Though the name Metroid is pretty cool, I always thought the best of the series was the one with her name in it, for the oldschool Gameboy: Metroid II: The Return of Samus.

For being not only kick ass and kicking sexism butt waaaaaay back in '92, I've gotta give props to my girl from China, Chun-Li...



She was in the first Street Fighter 2 and has pretty much been in every subsequent sequal & spin-off of Capcom's legendary fighting series. Sure she had a kind of cheap throw, but she stole our hearts anyways...especially since she was the only girl in the game...though plenty of people speculated about Balrog/Vega (the name thing for the last bosses besides Sagat is kinda messed up...Balrog's the one with the claw which was renamed Vega for NA release...which was the name of the final boss which was renamed M.Bison...which was the name of the boxer [get it? M. Bison?] who was renamed Balrog). Now, we can get into a debate about how Chun-Li was just a cheap, wannabe Mai Shiranui from SNK's Fatal Fury series & King of Fighters series, so, I'll give props to Mai too...



She too was one of the first females in a fighting game...she was definately the first to be...bouncy...and tell you about it, "Mai bouncy!" Both Mai & Chun-Li get major props for having two of the best costumes for cosplaying girls to wear...*drools*




That second image is actually digitized...but I couldn't find a good pic...Man, going through cosplay pics made me remember Morrigan & Cammy...But I'll stop now...

[Kyronea]

I have a serious problem with the design of most female characters in fighting games: their outfits are too skimpy--if you're going to be fighting, you are NOT going to expose 70% of your body unless you are suicidal--, and their breasts are far too large.

In anime and video games, it seems that the more exercise you get and the healthier you are, the larger your breasts. (Note Azumanga Daioh where Osaka--a lazy person with no athletic talent) has a flat chest while Sakaki and Kagura--the two teens with the best athletic talent in their high school--do not. Also note that Tomo, somewhat inbetween Osaka and Sakaki/Kaguara in terms of healthiness has larger breasts than Osaka and smaller than the other two.)

But this flies in the face of how things actually work. If you're an athletic female who eats healthily and gets a lot of exercise, you will have a chest close to being flat. Only if you eat unhealthily and do not exercise will you have larger breasts. (Note that this is an average estimate...occasionally some women will have larger or smaller than average breasts for their weight and general state of health.)

I've complained about this before--it led to this conversation about how my interpretation realism differs from a whole bunch of other people's--and as such I won't say anything more on the subject. But it still bugs me.