In part one of our look at the most interesting women in video games, we had everything from wolf gods to ranch owners. In the final selection, we have computers, lawyers and interdimensional twins. One thing’s for sure, things have moved on – at least a little – since Ms Pacman and Donkey Kong’s damsel in distress, Pauline.

These aren’t necessarily the “best” or the most famous female video game characters; they’re the women who have intrigued us, perhaps because they’re great heroes, but maybe because they’re twisted and complicated. Whatever, they all more than just a warrior with a laser gun and the odd smart arse remark.

Please do add your own suggestions at the end – there were some excellent reader additions in part one!

Chell (Portal, 2007)

Chell, Portal. Photograph: Valve

Like Half-Life’s Gordon Freeman, Chell is a silent protagonist, but where Freeman represents our tendency to see “white male” as default, Chell challenges that assumption. She’s not on the box, and because of the first-person perspective players might not realise they’re playing as a woman of colour until they glimpse her through a portal. On top of that she also subverts the whole notion of the first-person shooter: her weapon delivers not death, but opportunity. Besides, anyone who can challenge GLaDOS deserves respect and admiration.

Samantha Greenbriar (Gone Home, 2013)

Sam (left), Gone Home. Photograph: Fullbright

While you play as her sister Kaitlin, Sam is the focus of this critically acclaimed story. The team’s lack of a character artist means we only get to meet her through audio logs and her handwritten notes, but she’s still well developed and relatable: a teenager who likes video games and music, who struggles at a new school, who writes about sex in her journal. Her relationship with Lonnie is beautifully configured too – like all the greatest teen romances, it is as much about self-discovery as it is about love.

Hannah Smith (Her Story, 2015)

Hannah, Her Story. Photograph: Sam Barlow

A murder suspect seen only through a series of police interview videos, Hannah’s story is unsettling and provocative, but that’s what makes her one of gaming’s most fascinating creations. [Spoilers ahead] She both desires and manages to hide the existence of her estranged identical twin Eve through their childhood and adulthood, until that age-old symbol of womanhood – pregnancy – ruins things. As the entire focus of the game, actor Viva Seifert is an extraordinary presence.

Elena Fisher (Uncharted, 2007)

Elena, Uncharted 3. Photograph: Naughty Dog

Nathan Drake may be the star of the Uncharted series but his sidekick and love interest Elena Fisher is far more interesting, with a full life outside of their testy relationship. She took part in a reality TV show as a young woman before getting to host her own archeology series, and by the sequel she’s an investigative journalist. She’s very much the Marion Ravenwood to Drake’s Indiana Jones, but that’s no bad thing.

Alyx Vance (Half-Life 2, 2004)

Alyx, Half-Life 2. Photograph: Valve

The only character that Guardian games editor Keith Stuart insisted had to be included in the feature, Vance is a resistance fighter leading the fightback against the Combine invasion of Earth. It was rare 10 years ago for video games give prominent roles to women of colour – something that has thankfully … Oh, wait. She’s a skilled hacker and fighter, intelligent and funny, often drawing fourth-wall-breaking attention to Gordon’s silence. Indeed, it’s because of his mute presence that players felt she was communicating directly with them – one of the reasons her story resonates and why so many fans are desperate to see it concluded with Half-Life 3.



Chloe (Life is Strange, 2015)

Chloe, Life is Strange. Photograph: Dontnod

Chloe is that familiar fictional archetype: the old friend who’s changed drastically since the protagonist last saw them and whose return precipitates some major crisis. But beyond this familiar set-up, she is a vibrant presence, a friend who cares for lead character Max in a way that is surprising and affecting, punching right through your own issues with self-esteem. That personal connection makes you want to protect her just as much as Max does.



Bayonetta (Bayonetta 2, 2014)

Bayonetta. Photograph: Nintendo

Bayonetta, as a great female character, is a tricky case to argue. She’s sexualised in such a huge, dramatic way, but she is also compelling in a way few other overtly sexual video game characters are. She is a complete entity, full of personality, confidence, self-assuredness – the world of her eponymous game revolves around her. Also, her entire outfit is made of hair, which is a pretty brave fashion choice.

The female Inquisitor (Dragon Age Inquisition, 2014)

Dragon Age. Photograph: Bioware

Customisable player-protagonists don’t get chosen too often for these sorts of lists, usually because their agency is mostly decided by the player, making them more of an avatar than a character. But in Dragon Age, the female Inquisitor is the very personification of the term “badass” no matter how you play her – whether that’s as a butt-kicking, kinky, sarcastic dwarf, a towering Qunari warrior or a staid, willowy elf.

River (To The Moon, 2011)

River (right), To the Moon. Photograph: Freebird

Kan Gao’s haunting adventure unfolds as a love story gone slightly wrong. If it breaks your heart (which it might) that’s mostly down to River, the wife of the lead character, who is caring, loving, creative and dedicated. She is also one of the few game characters explicitly diagnosed with Asperger’s, but it is never exploited during this nostalgic and poignant exploration of love and regret. Incredible to believe all this is achieved with a 16-bit game written using the $25 RPG Maker XP program.

Vivienne (Dragon Age Inquisition, 2014)

Vivienne, Dragon Age. Photograph: Bioware

Although she comes across as a beautiful, stone-cold, unfriendly snob for much of Dragon Age Inquisition, once you get to know Vivienne, the pain and suffering behind it all just tumbles out: her icy facade is a defence mechanism. When asked to compare her to a dish, one of the character’s creators chose “Ortolan Bunting”, in which a bird is blinded, force-fed and then drowned in armagnac before being roasted – basically, caged and suffocated by elegance, just like Viv.

Impa (The Legend of Zelda series)

Impa, Legend of Zelda. Photograph: Nintendo

Impa, Zelda’s protector, has always been the series’ equivalent of Brienne of Tarth in Game of Thrones, a combat expert who remains steadfastly loyal to her ward. When the fighting game spinoff Hyrule Warriors gave us the chance to be her, she became even more impressive, wielding a giant sword and flame attacks that take out whole swathes of goblins at once.

Franziska von Karma (Ace Attorney series)

Franziska von Karma, Ace Attorney. Photograph: Phoenix Wright game

After passing her bar exam at the age of 13, Franziska becomes one of the world’s deadliest prosecutors, partly because of her skill and tenacity, and partly because she whips the defence attorney when she’s angry. Sure, she’s temperamental, but if you can look past the whole whipping thing – and the endless name-calling – she’s an incredibly accomplished and intimidatingly intelligent young woman.

GLaDOS (Portal, 2004)

Glados, Portal. Photograph: Electronic Arts

Okay, she’s technically a computer program, and also a psychopath, but we never said this list would be full of angels and women of flesh. GLaDOS is such a stunningly written villain that it’s hard not to love her, whether that’s for her passive-aggressively sarcastic remarks or her cool, calm demeanour as she repeatedly tells you you’re going to die. You could say that, like the queen in Aliens, she represents the ‘archaic mother’, the Freudian concept of primal destructive/creative force. Or you could just say she’s a terrible computerised monster who lies about cake and sings a sad song for you at the end of the game. A compelling character either way.

Fiona (Tales from the Borderlands, 2015)

Fiona, Tales from the Borderlands. Photograph: Telltale Games

Many of the best female video game women are sassy, witty, and sarcastic, and Fiona fits that description perfectly. In her case, perhaps it’s the result of having to constantly deal with dudes who think they know everything, both in game and out. She also handles Rhys’ blind ambition and tendency to embellish with the perfect amount of condescension and hat-wearing, gun-slinging awesomeness.

Rosalind Lutece (Bioshock Infinite, 2013)

Rosalind, Bioshock: Infinite. Photograph: Bioshock: Infinite game

The Lutece twins are fascinating, because they’re parallel universe versions of each other, making them completely in-sync, equally accomplished and able to finish each other’s thoughts. Rosalind is a genius scientist whose morals are tested throughout the game, and she’s basically the only character (apart from her “sister”) who wants to, and knows how to, make things right again. Bioshock Infinite couldn’t exist without her.