Cracked recently put up a really interesting article that lists 6 of the common practices writers use for female main characters: http://www.cracked.com/article_2416...o-writing-strong-female-movie-characters.html
For those who want the short version, the criticisms listed are:
6. Sex trauma as backstory
5. Must be a tomboy
4. Powers/Abilities are used to help male lead
3. Cannot be leaders without also being bitchy
2. Their stories always revolve around a guy (hero or villain)
1. They can't look cool without humiliating a guy
This article listed a lot of pet peeves I've been having with recent female protagonists in most media, so it inspired me to make a thread where I attempt to list female leads that manage to subvert the majority of these criticisms. While the original article primarily focused on movie characters, I wanted to expand the topic a bit and allow examples from all forms of media.
Here's a list of some of my favorite leading ladies to see how they score against this newest metric: Again, the scoring system is based on how they subvert the points in the article. If they don't fall under any of the 6 listed criticisms, their score would be 6/6. If they exhibited ALL of them, it would be 0/6.
1. Tifa and Aerith (Final Fantasy VII)
Score: 5 out of 6
Right off the bat, both of FFVII's heroines lose a point due to their romantic involvement with Cloud, the main character. Many of their actions in the story revolve around their desire to help Cloud, as well as their personal feelings toward him. That said, they aren't entirely dictated by Cloud: when Aerith decides to break from the party in order to find a way to stop Sephiroth's plans, it was her done on her own accord and not because Cloud told her to. Likewise, Tifa's decision to join AVALANCHE could have been due to Sephiroth destroying her village and murdering her father, but her vendetta rests more toward the company that created him (Shinra) rather than seeking vengeance on one individual.
While it could be argued that Aerith is "girlier" than Tifa, I certainly wouldn't classify Tifa as a tomboy. Her interactions with Barret could also fall into no. 1, but it's seen more as comedic banter among friends and less about making Barret look incompetent. Tifa also briefly takes up the role of party leader, and doesn't exhibit any of the traits of no. 3.
2. Lara Croft (Tomb Raider Reboot)
Score: 6 out of 6
Reboot Lara Croft has earned a lot of praise, and for good reason. While she does have a male role model in the form of Roth, she isn't spurred into action by him; at best he is her moral support, a father figure, offering a helping hand for Lara while she's at her lowest point, but nothing in the game's story suggests she couldn't pick herself up without him.
Unfortunately she loses 2 points in Rise of the Tomb Raider, where her role in the story is directly revolving around a male character (Jacob), not to mention the fact that she took on the mission due to an obsessive drive to clear her father's name. Also Sam isn't in the game. Fuck Rise's story, is what I'm getting at.
Original Lara Croft would probably fall under a 6/6 too, but I didn't play the original games so I can't say for certain.
3. Major Kusanagi (Ghost in the Shell)
Score: 6 out of 6
The Major is a good example of a female leader who is tough, but not nearly as bitchy compared to other soldier-type ladies like Sarah Connor (at one point she treats her squad to a strip club). She also balances between being a tough-as-nails soldier but still takes pride in her femininity (despite criticisms by fellow partner Batou who insist she's closer to a male, and should choose a suitable cyborg chassis to illustrate this). She is also very open about her sexuality (both with male and female partners) and is always dedicated to her missions. She is also shown to be the most capable in her squad, but it's never at the expense of making any of her male cohorts look worse.
The one instance where you could argue a 5 out of 6 is Stand Alone Complex 2nd Gig, since the main antagonist of that story is a male character who
, but this revelation wasn't known to either of them until the final act.
4. The Holy Quintet (Madoka Magica)
Score: Variable
Madoka fans have often argued who the main character of the series is, so let's just analyze all of them at once.
One of the shining examples of a well-written all-female cast, the megucas of Madoka Magica easily subvert all six of the article's criteria....with the exception of Sayaka. Driven by her love for a male character, much of Sayaka's actions as well as her decision to become a meguca in the first place are the result of Kyosuke's influence in her life. Her being a by-the-numbers tomboy also brings her overall score to 3 out of 6.
Kyouko's story also started because of a male influence (her father), and she would arguably fall into the tomboy category too, so 4 out of 6 for her.
Homura's score would also be drastically affected if
Anyway, I thought this would be a fun thread, so I'd be interested to see other people's choices. Again, I'm modifying the original article to analyze female characters from all forms of media, so feel free to list comics, videogames, film, etc.
For those who want the short version, the criticisms listed are:
6. Sex trauma as backstory
5. Must be a tomboy
4. Powers/Abilities are used to help male lead
3. Cannot be leaders without also being bitchy
2. Their stories always revolve around a guy (hero or villain)
1. They can't look cool without humiliating a guy
This article listed a lot of pet peeves I've been having with recent female protagonists in most media, so it inspired me to make a thread where I attempt to list female leads that manage to subvert the majority of these criticisms. While the original article primarily focused on movie characters, I wanted to expand the topic a bit and allow examples from all forms of media.
Here's a list of some of my favorite leading ladies to see how they score against this newest metric: Again, the scoring system is based on how they subvert the points in the article. If they don't fall under any of the 6 listed criticisms, their score would be 6/6. If they exhibited ALL of them, it would be 0/6.
1. Tifa and Aerith (Final Fantasy VII)
Score: 5 out of 6
Right off the bat, both of FFVII's heroines lose a point due to their romantic involvement with Cloud, the main character. Many of their actions in the story revolve around their desire to help Cloud, as well as their personal feelings toward him. That said, they aren't entirely dictated by Cloud: when Aerith decides to break from the party in order to find a way to stop Sephiroth's plans, it was her done on her own accord and not because Cloud told her to. Likewise, Tifa's decision to join AVALANCHE could have been due to Sephiroth destroying her village and murdering her father, but her vendetta rests more toward the company that created him (Shinra) rather than seeking vengeance on one individual.
While it could be argued that Aerith is "girlier" than Tifa, I certainly wouldn't classify Tifa as a tomboy. Her interactions with Barret could also fall into no. 1, but it's seen more as comedic banter among friends and less about making Barret look incompetent. Tifa also briefly takes up the role of party leader, and doesn't exhibit any of the traits of no. 3.
2. Lara Croft (Tomb Raider Reboot)
Score: 6 out of 6
Reboot Lara Croft has earned a lot of praise, and for good reason. While she does have a male role model in the form of Roth, she isn't spurred into action by him; at best he is her moral support, a father figure, offering a helping hand for Lara while she's at her lowest point, but nothing in the game's story suggests she couldn't pick herself up without him.
Unfortunately she loses 2 points in Rise of the Tomb Raider, where her role in the story is directly revolving around a male character (Jacob), not to mention the fact that she took on the mission due to an obsessive drive to clear her father's name. Also Sam isn't in the game. Fuck Rise's story, is what I'm getting at.
Original Lara Croft would probably fall under a 6/6 too, but I didn't play the original games so I can't say for certain.
3. Major Kusanagi (Ghost in the Shell)
Score: 6 out of 6
The Major is a good example of a female leader who is tough, but not nearly as bitchy compared to other soldier-type ladies like Sarah Connor (at one point she treats her squad to a strip club). She also balances between being a tough-as-nails soldier but still takes pride in her femininity (despite criticisms by fellow partner Batou who insist she's closer to a male, and should choose a suitable cyborg chassis to illustrate this). She is also very open about her sexuality (both with male and female partners) and is always dedicated to her missions. She is also shown to be the most capable in her squad, but it's never at the expense of making any of her male cohorts look worse.
The one instance where you could argue a 5 out of 6 is Stand Alone Complex 2nd Gig, since the main antagonist of that story is a male character who
turned out to share a romantic history with the Major
4. The Holy Quintet (Madoka Magica)
Score: Variable
Madoka fans have often argued who the main character of the series is, so let's just analyze all of them at once.
One of the shining examples of a well-written all-female cast, the megucas of Madoka Magica easily subvert all six of the article's criteria....with the exception of Sayaka. Driven by her love for a male character, much of Sayaka's actions as well as her decision to become a meguca in the first place are the result of Kyosuke's influence in her life. Her being a by-the-numbers tomboy also brings her overall score to 3 out of 6.
Though this is hardly a negative as she is still my favorite character by far in the series....and also objectively Best Girl.
Kyouko's story also started because of a male influence (her father), and she would arguably fall into the tomboy category too, so 4 out of 6 for her.
Homura's score would also be drastically affected if
Madoka was a male
Anyway, I thought this would be a fun thread, so I'd be interested to see other people's choices. Again, I'm modifying the original article to analyze female characters from all forms of media, so feel free to list comics, videogames, film, etc.
