Every game needs a good bad guy -- or in this case a bad gal -- to "stir the pot", if you will. The following ladies break the mold when it comes to typical female roles in gaming. These antagonists span different genres and different platforms.
So in honor of Women's History Month, let's take a look back at my favorite leading bad girls from the past!
**WARNING MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD**
Brooke Augustine
Infamous: Second Son
Brooke Augustine is the typical case of someone who starts off wanting to help people like herself. However, things changed over time and her intentions developed in to something ugly.
At first, she wanted to save the conduits by capturing them all and placing them on Curdun Cay. After funding was pulled from the Department of Unified Protection, she pretty much lost her mind and went on a murderous rampage to prove her program still had a place in world. She was willing to do whatever it took to achieve her “idea” of safety -- even if it meant framing innocent conduits.
Mother Brain
Super Metroid
Mother Brain is an AI who's sick of everything and everyone's crap. She mind-controlled the pirates that invaded Zebes, and used them in an attempt to reset the universe. She even morphs into a dinosaur out of sheer rage.
No matter how many times you encounter her over the course of the Metroid series she has no qualms with killing you...or anything that stands in her way.
Alma Wade
F.E.A.R
As the only child to make this list, Alma is a little different from the rest of these ladies in the category, because she was only 3 when Armacham Technology Corp. started to experiment on her. Her psychic abilities were so advanced that she was able to terrorize the staff in their dreams.
Aesthetically, she was horrifying -- rather reminiscent of a ghost child straight out of a Japanese horror film.
Jenova
Final Fantasy VI
Much like Poison from Final Fight or the main character from Journey, the sex of Jenova from Final Fantasy VII was never really determined. However, most fans identify her as female.
Everyone remembers Sephiroth as FFVII’s greatest villain. In actuality, without Jenova, he wouldn’t have power at all. It was Jenova who conquered Earth way before he went on his murder spree. She’s traveled through space and time space, destroying life on each planet she lands on. When she's done, she is on to the next one.
Sarah Kerrigan
StarCraft
Even though she was left for dead by her own people, she manages to survive the Zerg and eventually learns to control them. Despite how many times Jim Reynor goes out of his way to save her from the Zerg's grasp, Kerrigan inevitably causes chaos wherever she goes.
She struggles between her humanity and her evil ambitions to take over the universe. She has so much depth -- and in defiance of all adversity, always comes back. Which is why I ranked her number 1.
Do you agree? Disagree? Have any other female antagonists I left out? Comment below!
Published: Mar 14, 2016 10:43 pm