OP: [...] [W]hat's our custom character going to be?

[...]

Anonymous: Just an average female gamer to troll everyone.

All the tards in the media will expect some sort of pedocrap or LOLSORANDOM shit and we will just give them a simple average girl.

4chan /v/ board, "4chan's custom character" (Image source)

Vivian James is in essence what happens when you combine Memetic Mutation, Image Boards, video games and controversy into one character. Although she's inevitably linked with Gamergate, her origins can be traced back to 2014, when 4chan's /v/ board and indie developer group The Fine Young Capitalists collaborated to design a character for a game jam (later revealed to be for the indie game Afterlife Empire) in the wake of the image board's donations. Since then however, she's taken a life all of her own.

Generally depicted as a red-haired, freckled female gamer wearing jeans and a striped sweater, Vivian at first glance seems like an unlikely figure to attract so much attention (for good or ill). Still, she's seen as many things. Most notably, a symbol of Gamergate. But she's also an embodiment of both 4chan and 8chan's /v/ boards. A representative of modern gamers - and gaming at large - as they are, rather than what certain elements wish them to be. A legitimate gamer girl who's not afraid to be who she is or fight for what she believes in, be it ethics in games journalism or video games in general.

In addition to Vivian's originally intended game, she has appeared in various image albums, fan/webcomics[1] and even cosplay. Over time, she's also been accompanied by a growing, colorful cast of characters. And is slated to be a major character in an upcoming game called Project SOCJUS and a playable character in a Game Mod-in-progress for XCOM 2.[2]

Vivian James provides examples of the following tropes:



