Video games have come a long way since their inception with titles like Pong and Tetris, evolving into a rich and complex medium that allows players to explore vast worlds with complex narratives. However, despite the progress that has been made in this industry, one major complaint that many people have with these games is an annoying tendency to conform to traditional gender norms. What this basically entails is that men are portrayed as strong, stoic, and reliable, while women are either damsels in distress or sexualized to an insane and unrealistic degree.
Thankfully, the industry is still doing its best to evolve, with some titles taking a different approach and incorporating unique and well-realized characters who challenge traditional gender norms. It's very important to ensure that these games try their hardest to make both men and women avoid the cliches associated with their gender to be quite unique and memorable in their own right. Such characters and games pave the way for future games in the genre to be more progressive instead of feeling dated and downright offensive, in some cases!
6 Dragon Age
There's no denying that earlier Dragon Age games had a problem when it came to depicting male and female characters, with the latter's outfits looking perhaps a bit too unnecessarily provocative at times. However, the strong writing of Dragon Age: Origins set a precedent for how male and female characters would be written in the game, bucking traditional gender norms to make each personality stand out in its own way.
Fast-forward to Dragon Age: Inquisition, and it was clear that BioWare understood how damaging gender norms and stereotypes could be. Many women were portrayed as strong warriors with an enduring sense of justice, while men were believably portrayed to have a sensitive and vulnerable side that made them more likable and interesting than the usual strongman personality everyone has become bored of.
5 The Last Of Us Part 2
The Last of Us Part 2 is one of the most divisive titles of all time, with players having justifiable gripes when it came to the story and how it was structured. However, a particular source of all the outcry came because of Abby's character, with some of the criticism being absolutely shameless and downright shambolic, serving as a grim reminder of how regressive gaming fans can really be.
After all, both Ellie and Abby are great examples of how to write strong women in video games. Abby takes it a step further by being quite muscular and having a body structure that laughs in the face of most other video games where pretty much every female character in these titles sport body types that range from slightly feminine to overtly sexualized.
4 Horizon Zero Dawn
Horizon Zero Dawn takes place in a unique post-apocalyptic world that is full to the brim with strikingly unique flora and mechanical threats in the form of huge mechanical dinosaurs. The protagonist of this tale is Aloy, an exile who was apparently born from a machine and wants to uncover the mystery of her past and why this world fell into a state of ruin in the first place.
Aloy is a strong and reliable female character who can hold her own weight in battle with little to no issues whatsoever. She is a force to be reckoned with, and no plot point ever revolves around her gender, making her a great example of what female protagonists in video games should aspire to be.
3 Metroid
There's no denying that Samus has faced her fair share of problems when it comes to gender norms, with her Zero Suit and the atrocity that is Metroid: Other M cheapening her stature as a strong female protagonist. However, in the grand scheme of things, there's no denying that Samus is easily one of the most iconic and memorable female characters in gaming history.
Her reveal as a woman at the end of the first Metroid game is easily one of the greatest moments in gaming, with most players expecting a gruff male character to be the person within the suit. She is a powerful and effective protagonist who can take out aliens and massive bosses using the wealth of powers at her disposal, and no video game uses her gender in any way to justify her motivations... barring a huge exception that most players would want to forget entirely.
2 Rimworld
Rimworld is one of the greatest simulation games of all time. The title features some truly unforgiving gameplay as players have to control a group of refugees who have crash-landed on a planet, helping them survive and create shelters, equipment, defenses, and everything else along the same lines.
This game doesn't care whether people are men or women. What matters is their stats, and it's very possible to get men who are good at farming and women who can either bash an enemy's head in or shoot intruders down with pinpoint accuracy.
1 Mass Effect
Most people may be surprised at seeing Mass Effect on this list. After all, the games are notorious for incorporating stereotypical hard-broiled male characters and women who are either knowledgable scholars or femme fatales, which is far from inspired character writing that avoids adhering to gender norms.
However, there's no denying that the writing can be pretty progressive when the situation calls for it, especially as the series went on. Characters like Jack bucked the trend of women characters following a certain template in video games when it came to looks, while Liara could easily hold her own ground and be quite competent on her own despite seeming rather weak early on. The most notable example is Commander Shepard, who can be either male or female, with little to no changes occurring in the story despite the change in gender.