The past year has been a fairly crazy one, not just in the world of video games, but that doesn't change the fact that there have been a lot of great games released in the last twelve months. With those games also come a lot of great characters. Every year, the bar for female video game characters in particular goes up a little more, which is a great thing, and this year featured a ton of stand-out characters in its line-up.
There were enough awesome female characters this year that it's impossible to fit every worthy contender into a list of ten, but the ten characters listed below are certainly worthy of all the praise they've received. A great female character isn't just "strong"; she's complex, with virtues and flaws and a real personality. In no particular order, check out the ten characters from 2020 who fit the bill as exemplary female video game characters in their own right.
10 Stella (Spiritfarer)
Spiritfarer follows the story of Stella, the new ferry master taking over for Charon (the mythological figure who, in ancient Greek and Roman lore, ferried the souls of the dead). It's her job to find lost souls, fulfill their last requests, and bring them to the Everdoor for their final rest in the afterlife.
Stella is more than just her job description, though. Over the course of Spiritfarer, she explores not only the stories of the spirits she ferries, but also her own. Stella's life was one of devotion to others, as a palliative care nurse who dedicated herself to easing the pain of others right up until she became ill herself. Stella's afterlife as the ferry master then sees her reliving all the happiness and struggles of her previous life, and her battle with a disease that she ultimately loses, all as she navigates her job and her duty to the many spirits set adrift.
Spiritfarer is quite unique in its premise and themes, and Stella plays a pivotal role in making the game's many emotional beats ring true.
9 Aerith Gainsborough (Final Fantasy 7 Remake)
Aerith has a long, rich history in the Final Fantasy universe, so it's unsurprising with the success of the Final Fantasy 7 remake that she'd qualify as one of 2020's best female video game characters. She plays a crucial role in the plot of Final Fantasy 7 as the last of the Cetra (an ancient race with magical abilities), and after she joins in Cloud's quest to hunt down Sephiroth.
As a character, Aerith has a compassionate and upbeat personality despite having lived a hard life; she was raised in captivity for much of her young life, before losing her mother and being adopted by a woman in the Sector 5 slums, resulting in her being quite street smart as well. For all that she suffered, Aerith is quick to make friends and stand by them, making her an important bonding agent in Cloud's group. She's also a powerful mage, wielding staves and defensive spells that allow her to heal and protect both her allies and herself.
Aerith was already a beloved character before the Final Fantasy 7 remake. With the remake's debut, however, she's only gotten better and become an even more well-rounded, likable character.
8 Alyx (Half-Life: Alyx)
Alyx Vance is another character with a history longer than the game she's featured in for the year of 2020; though Half-Life: Alyx was just released in March, she's been an important Half-Life staple for years. Half-Life: Alyx marks the first time she's ever been the protagonist of a Half-Life game, however, and the VR survival game follows Alyx's mission to seize a super-weapon belonging to the alien Combine.
Throughout her time in Half-Life, Alyx's sense of humor, sensitive nature, and heart bring some much-needed depth and realism to the series, and this is especially true of her time as the protagonist of Half-Life: Alyx. Alyx's mission brings her to the point of changing Half-Life history, as she successfully bargains to save her father Eli's life (when, in Half-Life 2, he was originally killed) at the cost of being captured by the G-Man. At the current time, Alyx's ultimate fate remains unknown, but one thing is almost certain: when Half-Life returns, so will Alyx.
7 Abby (The Last of Us Part 2)
Abby isn't just an antagonist in The Last of Us 2; she's also the second playable protagonist of the game, which follows the story of how her and Ellie's lives intertwine through tragedy and the pursuit of revenge. To Ellie, she's indeed an antagonist, but Abby has a story of her own that the game tells as well. Over the course of TLoU2, Abby goes from hardened WLF soldier to a much more compassionate figure who only fights Ellie once the latter threatens Abby's friend Lev.
In fact, though Abby is the central antagonist of Ellie's story, Ellie is only an enemy of Abby's when she forces the matter; instead, Abby's story centers around her conflict with the Seraphite cult and her growing bond with siblings Lev and Yara. Abby's arc in the game proves, both to players and to Abby herself, that there's more to her character than anger and revenge, and that's a level of character depth that so-called "antagonists" of games rarely reach. In fact, Abby's status as an antagonist is highly subjective, and to some she isn't one at all. That fact alone makes her a fascinating character to follow, and most definitely one of the best female characters of 2020.
6 Jill Valentine (Resident Evil 3 Remake)
Jill Valentine, special operations agent and co-founder of the the Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance, has been a major player in the Resident Evil universe since its beginning. When Resident Evil first released in 1996, Jill was one of two playable characters, the other being Chris Redfield. Now that the Resident Evil games are beginning to get remakes, the 2020 remake of Resident Evil 3 is giving new life to its returning protagonist, Jill Valentine.
Resident Evil 3 follows the destruction of Raccoon City, and Valentine's adventures across the city just previous to its annihilation. Over the course of the game, Valentine proves herself to be not only a strong fighter with unparalleled survival skills, but also someone who adheres to an unbreakable code of ethics; someone dedicated to protecting others and doing everything in her power to combat the corruption of the Umbrella Corporation. Considering there are more Resident Evil games yet to be remade and more stories within the universe to be told, it seems like only a matter of time before Jill Valentine makes another (hopefully just as memorable) appearance.
5 Kamala Khan (Marvel's Avengers)
Kamala Khan is the main protagonist of Marvel's Avengers and its Reassemble campaign, also known by her official Avengers title of "Ms. Marvel." And while Marvel's Avengers received mixed-to-negative reviews, particularly for its multiplayer content, one aspect of the game that gained praise was its story, of which Kamala is of critical importance. As an inhuman with Morphogenetic abilities (a result of being exposed to Terrigen gas during the events of A-day), Kamala is a lifelong fan of the Avengers who, over the course of the game, finds herself becoming one of them.
In Marvel's Avengers, Kamala isn't just a superhero; her more human side is given some screen-time as well, beginning with the fact that she was present at the A-day celebrations for winning a fan fiction contest about the Avengers. She's a refreshing character to play as in the midst of a group of jaded superheroes, and to top it all off, her ability to polymorph her body at will is just plain awesome.
4 Phin Mason (Spider-Man: Miles Morales)
Phin Mason, aka "The Tinkerer," is the main antagonist of Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales, and the level of depth given to her throughout the game is what makes her a truly great example of a female video game character. Phin was like a sister to Miles, one of his best friends during their childhood, and by all accounts a kind and exceptionally intelligent person. After the death of her brother Rick, however, Phin's personality underwent a dramatic shift. Driven by grief and the promise of revenge, Phin became quite ruthless and cold, using her considerable intelligence to invent programmable matter as the Tinkerer.
Phin's ultimate goal of destroying Roxxon utterly consumed her until her final moments, when she sacrificed herself to save Miles, not wanting to see him die the way her brother had. As a character, Phin's complexity is what makes her notable; she's a villain with nuanced motivations and, ultimately, acts to redeem herself at the end. It's her who saves Spider-Man, and not the other way around.
3 Yuna (Ghost of Tsushima)
Though Jin is the protagonist of Ghost of Tsushima, Yuna is easily a close second. She's a skilled thief and a native to Tsushima, who joins Jin in fighting the Mongol forces on the island. Yuna is a survivor through and through, considering herself a guardian and caretaker to her brother Taka first and foremost. The two of them survived an abusive mother, the Black Wolf, the Mamushi brothers, and more, with Yuna spearheading all efforts to keep them alive and safe.
When Taka is killed, Yuna must figure out what she has to live for in the future; she and Jin ultimately set their future on defeating the remaining Mongols on Tsushima. Yuna's emotional journey during the game is a memorable one, and it never hurts to mention what a strong combatant she is as well. Through his own journey in the game, Jin relies on Yuna in a way that makes her utterly indispensable to the game's story, and it's impossible to imagine Ghost of Tsushima without her.
2 Eivor (Assassin's Creed Valhalla)
While Eivor can be one of two genders in Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Eivor is more canonically a strong, female warrior with no equal. She's equal parts stern, fierce, and caring; at times, she's even delightfully snarky (especially while flyting). Measuring up to the previous female Assassin's Creed leads is a difficult task, but Eivor manages it. Over the course of Valhalla, players who take on the role of female Eivor watch as she immerses herself in the politics of Dark Ages England, all while dealing with the strange brand of mysticism that her adoptive brother Sigurd has embraced.
As fun as it is to raid monasteries, lead great siege battles, and assassinate The Order of the Ancients as Eivor, it's even more satisfying to see the more human, compassionate side of her that would (and does) do whatever it takes to protect her home and family. Eivor isn't perfect, though. She's rash and hotheaded when it comes to family and she makes mistakes, but that's all part of the journey. Watching Eivor build up her peoples' home from nothing as she conquers her own fears and internal struggles is as satisfying an Assassin's Creed adventure as there is.
1 Ellie (The Last of Us Part 2)
Lastly, but definitely not least, there's Ellie from The Last of Us Part 2. She's the main protagonist of the game, returning after being a character of central importance in the first The Last of Us, and her main goal of the second game is revenge. Ellie witnesses the murder of her adoptive father Joel Miller at the hands of Abby and becomes consumed with the goal of vengeance against Abby. While Abby learns to be a better person in Seattle, Ellie relentlessly tracks her in order to kill her for what she did to Joel.
Abby and Ellie are two sides of the same coin, yet their journeys unfold in vastly different ways. Forgiveness takes many different forms, after all. Eventually, Ellie and Abby each have the chance to kill one another and instead decide to spare each other, going on to unknown fates by the end of the game. Ellie's story is certainly a bittersweet one, considering her greatest fear is being alone and that's exactly where she ends the game. Whether or not we'll see more of Ellie in the future remains a mystery, but for now, her development in The Last of Us Part 2 is more than enough to include her as one of 2020's best female video game characters.