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The idea seems to be projecting the personality (or non-personality) of a videogame character onto a physical real life being.

Unsurprisingly, people that have a fleshed out backstory are more quantifiable and in the end, more interesting.

This is a boring idea in general though. If we go all the way here and videogame characters would suddenly be real physical people and would have a background story that is still grounded in their respective game and inhabit all their respective abilities and traits, then the most interesting people from before would turn into the most boring people as they are mostly just representations of normal people in abnormal situations.

I'd rather hang out with Bayonetta and Ivy from Soul Calibur instead of a mirror of someone that could actually exist, thank you very much.

 

[RDreamer]

Josephine from Dragon Age Inquisition. Sexy and smart.

There are a few others, like Elena I could think of if I wanted, though the piece has a sort of point. I think in a lot of the more mainstream games where you play a male protagonist, everyone else around is kind of flat personality wise. If you're into RPGs though I think you can find a few.

This. Jesus wept, if my wife asked me that all I'd see would be Admiral Ackbar standing behind her shoulder, yelling his catchphrase at me over and over again.

If your wife asking you about any video game characters you might have a crush on is a trap question, then you married the wrong fucking girl. Jesus are some of you really dating people that would throw this shit at you then actually get mad if you answered truthfully? Goddamn I feel sorry for you guys..

 

[Sagely]

This is an interesting point. I'm attracted to men and women in real life, and when it comes to game characters I tend to zone out designs that appear very often for both genders. In that sense a character who has a distinctive personality with tons of swagger and/or is attractive in a different or subtle way is immediately noticeable. Characters that are default sexy (in my opinion, this includes stuff like bikini armours and incredibly muscled dudes) tend not to stand out so much.

My personal "good" examples would be Samantha Traynor and Garrus in Mass Effect, Leon and Claire in Resident Evil, Dante in DmC, Cullen in DA: Inquisition, Bayonetta and Geralt. That's just off the top of my head.

 

[ElBoxyBrown]

To the people thinking the guy in OP dodged a loaded question... let me ask you, are there any female characters you'd fancy being in a relationship with? I don't mean a one night stand, I mean someone you could spend a sizable portion of your time with and think you'd enjoy their company... I can't think of too many personally.

 

[Kinyou]

Amen. I'm waiting for someone from witcher 3 to grab my heart, so far the 2 main ladies I've met haven't really done it for me.

I don't think that's really through a lack of personality though, is it? And I totally fancy Triss

 

[bj00rn_]

We can escape reality but only to a certain point.. I mean, nature built us a certain way, and it doesn't always correlate with how we often wish a perfect human being is supposed to work in a modern society.. I need personality in a relationship, and from experience it honestly trumps looks in the long run. HOWEVER, there's absolutely nothing like a shallow dirty foxy lady (or boy if that's what you like..) for a brief moment in sexy-time..

 

[Messofanego]

Yup, agreed with Holly Nielsen's article. The women that are attractive to me are the ones with personalities. Slightly sarcastic, funny, confident women (that make fun of the protagonist) is my preference. Some recent examples:

Nico (Broken Sword series)

Anya, Tekla, Pippa, Annette (Wolfenstein The New Order/The Old Blood)

Spoiler

even though she's a lesbian

 

[Skiptastic]

To the people thinking the guy in OP dodged a loaded question... let me ask you, are there any female characters you'd fancy being in a relationship with? I don't mean a one night stand, I mean someone you could spend a sizable portion of your time with and think you'd enjoy their company... I can't think of too many personally.

Bonnie from Red Dead Redemption. Hard worker, no nonsense, can handle herself. I'm not much of a farmer, so I doubt she'd fancy me, but she's the first thing that came to mind when reading the title.

 

[Servbot24]

Definitely agreed with her. I can't think of a single video game crush

Spoiler

Yukiko and Lucina actually lol

.

 

[giant_frying_pan]

Elaine Marley comes to mind.

[EDIT - From Monkey Island for those who don't know.]

 

[Palette Swap]

I'm still baffled that Alyx is used as an example of a well written character. She isn't badly written but honestly, she's not much of a character.

Amen. I'm waiting for someone from witcher 3 to grab my heart, so far the 2 main ladies I've met haven't really done it for me.

Triss is pretty fucking cool TBH. I had a great Novigrad quest with her

Spoiler

where she suggested acting as a Trojan horse.

Ciri is really badass and adorable so far too. Priscilla is a great character too.

If anything, Witcher's biggest issue is that it's a case of whynotboth.gif where an interesting and well written woman has to look good too.

 

[Henkka]

Yeah, Leon Kennedy and Link have such deep and interesting personalities.

I'm attempting sarcasm

 

[Renekton]

Any particular woman from Witcher 3?

 

[akidnamededdy]

What if I fancy sexy women?

Sounds to me like her fella wisely ducked a loaded question. That dress looks great on you and I don't fancy anyone unless they have an amazing personality like you dear. No I wasn't looking at her breasts, merely admiring that lovely brooch she had.

Also this.

 

[Klossen]

I'm still baffled that Alyx is used as an example of a well written character. She isn't badly written but honestly, she's not much of a character.
.

Yeah, Alyx pales compared to the Social Links in Persona 4, for instance. Not that there's anything bad about it either. Not all games are meant to be played and experienced the same. Not having a personality in a videogame isn't inherently flawed. Ivy in SC doesn't need a personality. It's a fighting game, not a VN. Usually it's the design that's important in games like that, not story and character personalities. Comparing Alyx to the Social Links in Persona 4 is unfair and so is comparing Alyx to Ivy.

 

[jackissocool]

My avatar (sort of). Too teeny feeling but definitely the style of character one could be attracted to.

 

[Daemul]

“I can’t really think of any,” was his surprising reply. “They’re nearly all designed to be sexy, but they … they don’t really have personalities.”

 

[KojiKnight]

As a girl, I really can't think of any male characters I would spend time with either.

That might be because they're characters in a video game, i.e. not nearly characterised or developed enough for your mind to even remotely think of them as real, therefore making it hard to imagine being in a relationship with them.

I think you're overthinking this if you're thinking about enjoying the company of fictional characters in an intimate sort of way.

They're fucking video game characters, I don't want to.

Congrats... you all figured out my point

 

[Yoritomo]

Male nerds and lady nerds can be pretty different. Yes, dudes ship stuff al the time but there's a reason crazy fan fiction and shipping is a trope of lady nerddom.

Superwholock?! Holy shit. It's like a fan fiction fueled female fappening.

If they found the guy that plays dean in supernatural dead in a lady's crazy sex dungeon with fan fiction on every wall I wouldn't be surprised.

 

[Drencrom]

Sounds to me like her fella wisely ducked a loaded question. That dress looks great on you and I don't fancy anyone unless they have an amazing personality like you dear. No I wasn't looking at her breasts, merely admiring that lovely brooch she had.

Smoky dropping them wisdom bombs

 

[BPoole]

Triss Marigold is wife material

 

[Aegus]

This article sounds like:

Although she has a point, but one thing does not exclude the other.

Is the answer to this Happy?

 

[Stilton Disco]

Yeah, Leon Kennedy and Link have such deep and interesting personalities.

I'm attempting sarcasm

Link I'll give you, but Leon is at the very least interesting in a 'batshit insane' kind of way.

 

[Madness]

A lot of studies have shown generalized attractiveness helps people relate to characters easier, or develop stronger emotional attachments. The 'waifu' complex. James Cameron said the reason be used Zoe Saldana in Avatar and made sure her Pandora representation still looked like her, was because he wanted the viewer to imagine they were Jake Sully, and that they could fall in love with this blue alien too. It's why in Mass Effect, the Asari are all attractive aliens, why Tali also has a nice figure etc. Not too many people would want a Rachni or female Krogan as a potential mate.

Young boys especially, they are marketed to well with an attractive/sexy woman character. They'll be more emotionally invested if they find the character hot, someone they can imagine as their gf/wife. It's why Michael Bay wants Megan Fox as the female lead in Transformers.

Even look at the recent Game of Thrones episode. Tyene Sand. Need I say more?

 

[Jerry Orbach]

"I like whats-her-name from Resident Evil, you know the one who looks like that girl who used to sit for us."

 

[oni-link]

If your wife asking you about any video game characters you might have a crush on is a trap question, then you married the wrong fucking girl. Jesus are some of you really dating people that would throw this shit at you then actually get mad if you answered truthfully? Goddamn I feel sorry for you guys..

This, the situation in which that question is a trap that leads to an argument is the kind of thing that happens in a sitcom, not real life

 

[The Technomancer]

Sounds to me like her fella wisely ducked a loaded question. That dress looks great on you and I don't fancy anyone unless they have an amazing personality like you dear. No I wasn't looking at her breasts, merely admiring that lovely brooch she had.

"I'll take 'Things you tell you girlfriend' for $500' , Alex."



Well, beaten.

Excellent and safe response to a dangerous question.

Hm? I've got friends in relationships who openly talk about who their "exceptions" are for both partners.

 

[Sagely]

Link I'll give you, but Leon is at the very least interesting in a 'batshit insane' kind of way.

He's also goofy and makes terrible jokes (at least in RE4), which I found incredibly endearing :3 I think at one point Ada refers to him as "practically a genius" and I just laughed and laughed.

 

[Griss]

Hm? I've got friends in relationships who openly talk about who their "exceptions" are for both partners.

Exception? I don't follow.

This, the situation in which that question is a trap that leads to an argument is the kind of thing that happens in a sitcom, not real life

No, it's very real in this guy's life as he knows his girlfriend is the type to immediately go and write in one of the world's biggest newspapers about it and analyse the meaning of it and so on. It's the most blatant trap since Pitfall.

 

[akidnamededdy]

Hm? I've got friends in relationships who openly talk about who their "exceptions" are for both partners.

Oh well I guess that settles it.

 

[oni-link]

Link I'll give you, but Leon is at the very least interesting in a 'batshit insane' kind of way.

To be fair in the article she admits to only liking Link for shallow reasons (nice eyes and hair)

What if I fancy sexy women?

Other than missing the point?

Do you prefer sexy and vapid or sexy with a great character?

 

[IronicSonic]

Jade (BG&E)
Liara (Mass Effect, first waifu)
Jill (RE3)
Claire (RE Veronica)
Lara (TR 2013, I want to hug her, seriously)
Vella (Broken Age, great character)

 

[bengraven]

Honestly, Elizabeth in Infinite was a fantastic character to match this. Yes, she was gorgeous, but she also had a real personality and you smiled at her almost Disney like wonder at everything.

Spoiler

especially with the twist

. But then she started wearing the cleavage top and it almost felt...like it didn't fit her personality.

I dig Zelda, Alex, Kinzie as someone mentioned, Quistis, girls who don't show a lot of skin but are powerful, smart, etc. I think it's fair to say we need to stop making them second in commands and make them the stars.

 

[SystemBug]

I think I had a crush on Elika from PoP.

My lil bro had a crush on Ellie when he was playing The Last of Us

 

[TatteredHat]

I'll stick to fancying actual women rather than pixels, this article sounds like the western version of "this game needs more waifus".

 

[Icyflamez96]

Is the answer to this Happy?

The guy on the right said bashful

 

[Auto-Reply]

Honestly, Elizabeth in Infinite was a fantastic character to match this. Yes, she was gorgeous, but she also had a real personality and you smiled at her almost Disney like wonder at everything.

Spoiler

especially with the twist

. But then she started wearing the cleavage top and it almost felt...like it didn't fit her personality.

....

Her personality changed drastically throughout the game, you could argue that she was borderline depressed later in the game. Which is also somehow understandable reagrding the circumstances.

 

[Zen_Arcade]

To the people thinking the guy in OP dodged a loaded question... let me ask you, are there any female characters you'd fancy being in a relationship with? I don't mean a one night stand, I mean someone you could spend a sizable portion of your time with and think you'd enjoy their company... I can't think of too many personally.

Video game writers rarely write compelling and interesting male characters and that's the majority of what they do. It's going to be a long time before video games are going to be able to produce female characters I'd find realistic, much less have some sort of crush on one.

 

[gus_888]

Sounds to me like her fella wisely ducked a loaded question. That dress looks great on you and I don't fancy anyone unless they have an amazing personality like you dear. No I wasn't looking at her breasts, merely admiring that lovely brooch she had.

A truer statement has never been spoken.

 

[Crankshaft]

I think one few characters I say I "fancy" would be Femshep. But that is a character that I chose how to look and how to act with Jennifer Hale's sexy voice added into the mix.

 

[akidnamededdy]

Other than missing the point?

Do you prefer sexy and vapid or sexy with a great character?

I only skimmed the article but I was under the impression that the author was implying sexy and well-developed were somehow mutually exclusive character traits, that if a character was designed to be sexy then they start off their "life" with their looks defining them and were therefore somehow doomed to shitty character status.

 

[ElBoxyBrown]

I bet Ivy would be fun to hang out with. Maybe she likes Wes Anderson movies.

 

[oni-link]

No, it's very real in this guy's life as he knows his girlfriend is the type to immediately go and write in one of the world's biggest newspapers about it and analyse the meaning of it and so on. It's the most blatant trap since Pitfall.

How do you know the couple?

Or are you assuming all female writers for the Guardian are just waiting for their egg shell walking boyfriends to say something or fall into a trap so they can spin it into an article about gaming you don't agree with?

 

[The Technomancer]

Oh well I guess that settles it.

"Dude clearly dodged a trap" doesn't

 

[Finale Fireworker]

I don't think he answered the question quite right, but I agree with his core belief: we need more women in games with distinct, well-characterized personalities and identities.

 

[QaaQer]

Sounds to me like her fella wisely ducked a loaded question. That dress looks great on you and I don't fancy anyone unless they have an amazing personality like you dear. No I wasn't looking at her breasts, merely admiring that lovely brooch she had.

Some of the advertising renders might be okay like the mirror's edge woman, but the actual in-game models aren't something I'd call sexy in any videogame.

But yeah, I tthink his girlfriend may not have come to terms with the fact that men are visual and can **** someone they loathe; while women are more thinky-feely when it comes to arousal.

 

[Sora_N]

I'd fancy many visual novel characters.

 

[……forgetit]

To the people thinking the guy in OP dodged a loaded question... let me ask you, are there any female characters you'd fancy being in a relationship with? I don't mean a one night stand, I mean someone you could spend a sizable portion of your time with and think you'd enjoy their company... I can't think of too many personally.

 

[Yeul]

As a female, I can see the point she's trying to make, but her boyfriend should have answered honestly. If someone gets mad for answering what female characters in a video game they like I see it a bit differently than the supposed loaded question of what female actress do you like??? Even then it's silly to be considered a loaded question either way. Like who cares? On top of the fact that I'm wondering what kind of games the bf is playing if he can't even list someone even out of the games she herself listed, I'm sure he's heard of them lol. There's lots of male characters in games I've liked a lot because of their personalities and the way they've been written, voices too. Obviously there are many games that do try to still play up purely sex appeal, but it's getting better bit by bit. I just have problems when unreasonable guys are like for example in the recent DA:I "none of the women are attractive, Cassandra's like a brute" like lol????? That kind of stuff is silly to me.

 

[meltingparappa]

Videogames need fewer sexy women and more of something else? The myth of the zero sum game strikes again, but surprisingly not from an MRA this time.

Spoiler

I must be fun at parties