Giving video game characters a gender-switching fem-flip

The recent announcement that a woman will be taking up Thor’s hammer shook up the comic book community. With the recent female Thor announcement, and the San Diego Comic Con right around the corner, we started wondering which video game characters might be better off being female.

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The recent announcement that a woman will be taking up Thor’s hammer shook up the comic book community and provides a brand new perspective to one of Marvel’s oldest characters. It’s important to note she will trully be Thor - not She-Thor, Lady Thor, or Thorita. So, it’s a very exciting time for female characters and fans. With the San Diego Comic Con right around the corner, we started thinking about video game characters that might benefit from a gender switching fem-flip.

Death (Darksiders II)

It's not too uncommon for Death to be personified as a woman in comic books. For example, the Sandman series portrays Death as an attractive and pleasant young girl who happens to take her job very seriously. This is in stark contrast to Death in the Marvel universe, who is more cold and calculating. Although the abstract entity is normally a skeleton in a dark cloak, it often chooses to replace the skeletal look with that of a human female.

In the game, Death is the most feared of the Four Horsemen, and is portrayed as a dual weapon wielding, fast-moving assassin who is out to reverse his brother War's alleged crimes. So, a fem-flip in Darksiders II might be easy to accept. Making Death a female character probably wouldn't change much beyond aesthetics and voice, since a sister would be just as dedicated toward vindicating a sibling as anyone else. As the American Ninja Warrior competition proves, a woman can be fast and agile enough to swiftly eliminate anyone that gets in her way.

Master Chief (Halo Series)

A female Master Chief isn't a terribly far-fetched idea. In Halo: The Graphic Novel, there's a story titled "Armor Testing." In it, a Spartan soldier drops from orbit, uses a sniper rifle to shoot some guys out while falling, lands, and takes out even more soldiers with a pair of SMGs. After some more butt-kicking, the Spartan is escorted to a commanding officer. There are some salutes, and then comes the big Samus Aran reveal as Maria-062 takes her helmet off. The armor was to be shipped to Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 pending her approval. However, the officer hints that she could have one of her own if she reenlisted into the UNSC. Maria declines, stating that she wanted to start a family. So, in the span of a few panels, Halo scores a point for gender equality, then loses two.

Giving Halo a fem-flip wouldn't change the look or gameplay of the game, considering how the armor is androgynous. But having a female protagonist could have a significant impact on how the story plays out, and not just in terms of the interaction and relationship with Cortana, or whether or not there would be a G.I. Jane-esque undertone. We don't know if there's gender equality among the Covenant, or even if there is gender. Would they be just as fearful of a female soldier who could tear through their ranks, more so, or would they become indignant? Would fans feel the same way about a female hero sacrificing herself and going into indefinite cryo sleep, like Ellen Ripley in Alien, compared to a man?

Team Fortress 2 Cast (Team Fortress 2)

Team Fortress Fan Girls, by T03nemesis

There's no reason for men to dominate the whacky class-based multiplayer game Team Fortress 2. As the Love & War animated short indicates, even the mercenary team's cleanup crew (comprised of a single woman) can be as deadly as the rest of the team. Still, having an all-female team should be more than a simple gender/voice swap. Female mercenaries should have their own unique look, and players should be able to select between genders when they pick a class. Not only would this look great for team diversity, but it sets the stage perfectly for men vs women matches. Also, let's admit it... nobody appreciates shooting up the opposing team to win a new hat more than a girl.

Dante and Vergil (DMC: Devil May Cry)

The twin sons of Sparda and Eva could have just as easily have been the daughters, or even the children. A brother and sister rivalry would further play up the dichotomy between the two siblings. The intro for DMC: Devil May Cry would probably have to be altered, along with some of the enemy interactions, but the gameplay could remain almost completely unchanged. Although a hot-headed female Dante would certainly be amazing, a smart, cold, and ambitious queen-bee Vergil could make for a more interesting character, especially after the Vergil's Downfall storyline.

The Prince (Prince of Persia)

The series is called Prince of Persia, but that doesn't mean there can't be a Princess. Come on, women can be dark and brooding too. The Prince of Persia storylines usually have the player cleaning up some catastrophic mess that someone else started or masterminded, while the gameplay centers on platform puzzle solving. We know from the Tomb Raider series it’s a formula that works. We also know from seeing Farah in action that women in the series can be deadly. So, trade in the bow for swords and you have... a Persian Mulan. Or perhaps Elika from 2008's Prince of Persia could be the main character of her own story instead of being a magical assistant - especially given how Prince of Persia: Epilogue ends.

Agent 47 (Hitman Series)

Given what happens in Hitman: Absolution, a female assassin is completely possible. No, she wouldn't have to dress up as a S&M leather loving nun. For that matter, a genetically engineered femme fatale could be FAR more effective than a bald guy with a bar code and an aversion to small talk. Infiltration probably wouldn’t be nearly as hard. It's a wonder why the evil scientists of the world aren't racing to clone them by the dozen. Then again, a female protagonist might break the gameplay precisely for that reason. So, with all respect to the Nikita fans out there, this assassin should stick with a perfectly engineered killer Y chromosome.  

Sam Fisher (Splinter Cell Series)

The Splinter Cell series doesn't have a lot of prominent female characters. There's Sam Fischer's daughter, Sarah, who is often used as leverage against him. Then there's Anna Grímsdóttir, the technical operations manager. Other than that, Third and Fourth Echelon are total boys clubs. However, the president is a woman, so... there's that. In any case, there are probably significant parts of the running story that need to be changed to accommodate for a female super spy, but the gameplay can remain relatively unchanged. A woman can hide in the shadows, scale buildings, employ a host of gadgets, and assassinate targets just as well as anyone else. All while running a black ops team and calling home to make sure her daughter hasn't been kidnapped again.

Garrett (Thief Series)

With slim fingers, a slender figure, and the agility of an Olympic gymnast, a woman could be the ultimate master thief, as demonstrated by numerous characters - not the least of which include Catwoman from Batman and Black Cat from Spider-man fame. Garrett could be the ideal character for a fem-flip. The gender swap wouldn't change the gameplay or the character all that much. His acute kleptomania, OCD tendencies, and role as pawn for the Keepers could be kept whole. Given how he works with a female partner, Erin, at the start of the latest Thief game, it's completely believable to have a female burglar and pickpocket running through the city's shadows. Plus, you know, diamonds are a girl's best friend.

Marcus Fenix (Gears of War Series)

After destroying their own cities and still ending up on the losing side of the war against the Locust Horde, the humans on planet Sera can't afford any discrimination. Women serve equally alongside men and fight with the same ferocity against aliens, mutants, and whatever else pops out of the ground to eat them. However, we've seen very few, if any, women assume leadership roles. The closest might include Alicia Valera (who met an untimely end) and Sophia Hendrick (who also saw a potentially bad end). Anya Stroud probably deserves to be more than the Control contact, even though communication is her chosen specialty; considering how Gears of War 3 opens with her narration.  

As far as the Gears of War plot is concerned, giving Marcus a fem-flip probably wouldn't be too much of an issue. A woman could just as easily decide to abandon her post to rescue her father, leading to a 14-year prison sentence. Fe-Marcus could also step up and take command of a squad when the CO dies. Delta Squads’s frat brother attitude might get toned down a bit, but it doesn't necessarily have to. The world government is destroyed and humanity is nearly wiped out, so there's no reason why the camaraderie wouldn’t apply to everyone.

Isaac Clarke (Dead Space Series)

Fem-flipping Isaac Clarke could potentially change the entire feel of Dead Space. Sure, we’re no stranger to women fighting monsters using high-tech gear, and the RIG suit is pretty androgynous once the helmet is down. However, even though there are plenty of stories of men embarking on perilous missions to find their loved ones, there are shockingly few that involve a woman looking for her missing husband. Maybe the social expectation is that she should forget about him and move on? Plus, wandering through the wrecked nursery section of Dead Space 2 could have a deeper significance to a female protagonist. Not to mention, for me, watching a woman stick a needle in her eye seems that much more intense, along with the multitude of death scenes in the game.

A Character that CAN'T make a fem-flip...

Ezio Auditore (Assassin's Creed II Trilogy)

Players can take the role of Aveline and stab their way through 1765 New Orleans in Assassin’s Creed: Liberation. However, Liberation is a spin-off game, and a true fem-flip has to involve the main series. With three games to his name, no assassin is quite as popular as Ezio Auditore. But even though you can recruit and dispatch female assassins in Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, there's no evidence suggesting that Ezio's predecessors were as progressive. So, giving Ezio himself the fem-flip presents some difficult challenges.

Although women enjoyed more freedom compared to the feudal era, it would still be extremely unlikely for a woman in Renaissance Italy to inherit the Assassin's robes and mission from her father. Although women could own land, they were largely regarded as property of their fathers and husbands. So, even if say, Claudia, discovered the robes, along with a knack for killing and a thirst for vengeance, she would still have an extremely hard time picking up her family's legacy.

But that doesn’t mean a different assassin can’t rise the ranks someday. Although it wouldn’t be a fem-flip, the World War II era would be an ideal time for a female Assassin to rise up.


Which video game character do you think could do with a fem-flip? Let us know in the comments!

Managing Editor
From The Chatty
  • reply
    July 21, 2014 1:00 PM

    Steven Wong posted a new article, Giving video game characters a gender-switching fem-flip.

    The recent announcement that a woman will be taking up Thor’s hammer shook up the comic book community. With the recent female Thor announcement, and the San Diego Comic Con right around the corner, we started wondering which video game characters might be better off being female.

    • reply
      July 21, 2014 1:46 PM

      Man, that TF2 image there made me cringe a lot and it doesn't help the subject at hand. They turned a real variety of awesome characters with different body types, ages, and personalities, and turned them into a cookie-cutter "sexy girl" with different costumes that make no sense. Why would the female pyro not need a mask? Is the Heavy really just another skinny girl with long hair?

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      July 21, 2014 1:57 PM

      Are femshackers are more drawn to female protagonists? Can we get some input up in hurr? Meg, jen, borzoi, etc?

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        July 21, 2014 2:37 PM

        I can't speak for femshackers, but my 10 year old daughter has a definite preference for games where she either is a girl by default, or it's at least an option.

      • reply
        July 21, 2014 4:34 PM

        my wife is, almost exclusively. exceptions being games like Batman.

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        July 21, 2014 5:30 PM

        Conversely, are any male shakers turned off a game by having to play female character? This thought has never crossed my mind, as I played everything from bayonetta to kings quest 4 to tomb raider to street fighter 2 to gone home.

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          July 21, 2014 5:42 PM

          [deleted]

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          July 22, 2014 3:22 AM

          Nah, if anything, I prefer it, given how much more rare it is. That, and it feels like when a game goes out of its way to make a female-only narrative, they generally tend to put more development time into making a compelling character since it's not the "default", which is how most male characters feel to me at this point.

          There are exceptions of course, but I feel like most male-centric games could easily be swapped for a female character and nothing would change. But the female-centric ones often have plot/character/etc stuff that only really works for a female character (for recent examples, Gone Home, Tomb Raider, maybe Portal, and IMO, the FFXIII trilogy).

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          July 22, 2014 4:32 AM

          [deleted]

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          July 22, 2014 5:30 AM

          I like playing female chars because usually the males are huge hulksters and I don't like that.

          I'll mix it up here and there, but assuming there are no perks for playing one or the other I'll play female.

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          July 22, 2014 5:40 AM

          [deleted]

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          July 22, 2014 10:37 AM

          No, but I am turned off by a game having a female character(or some other SJW representation) shoehorned in because Tumblr and Anita Sarkeesian bitched a fit. I'm a male, and identify more with male characters. However, if the characters and story both intersect naturally, then I'll play it. Tomb Raider is a good example.

    • reply
      July 21, 2014 2:08 PM

      I was really hoping to see Shacknews avoid these SJW fluff pieces. Looks like I'm in for a letdown.

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        July 21, 2014 2:11 PM

        [deleted]

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        July 21, 2014 3:27 PM

        I kind of disagree with this assessment, this is more of a "Hey wouldn't it be fun to think of something like this instead of that?" angle, rather than trying to attack or tackle the decision to make these characters men (which they were written to be). DC re-imagined superman as a communist (because why the fuck not, its awesome) and I think its just as awesome to consider women, or aliens, or talking babies as superheroes/video game characters because its fun and I like using my imagination

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          July 21, 2014 8:02 PM

          I understood what the article was, that doesn't mean I still don't think it's necessary. Sure, it may be interesting, but what's the point? The only way 'imagining' something like would be interesting would be if there was a way we could actually play the games listed with the gender-swap.

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        July 21, 2014 4:33 PM

        yep looking for a new site for vg news.

        • reply
          July 21, 2014 4:38 PM

          If you want a news aggregator (which is what shacknews was until very recently) then just set up an RSS feed for your website of choice. I applaud their new efforts. Not everything will hit the mark--and I'm not saying this is the case here--but at least the effort is there. The site is heading in the right direction.

        • reply
          July 21, 2014 5:06 PM

          If an article like this gives you problems, you probably should avoid all game news going forward.

          • reply
            July 21, 2014 5:26 PM

            Yeah i plan on it. VG journalism has really gone straight to the shitter.

            • reply
              July 21, 2014 5:27 PM

              what would you rather see out of games journalism? just everything being ignorant of changing tides in the industry despite how prevalent it is? that seems short-sighted to me.

            • reply
              July 21, 2014 5:38 PM

              What were the glory days of video game reporting like?

            • reply
              July 21, 2014 6:51 PM

              [deleted]

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                July 21, 2014 8:00 PM

                No, it's not getting better. I have no idea what makes you think that, but the mid-90s to mid-2000s was probably the best period. There was no dickriding. Editors were open about how they didn't care what devs and publishers thought of their reviews. Editors and writers still had backgrounds in writing, and understood journalistic integrity. Now, most 'gaming news' sites are either clickbait, SJW pandering to an almost-nil gaming demographic, or just paid extensions of publishers' marketing departments.

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                  July 21, 2014 8:54 PM

                  Fucking lol, this guy ^

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                  July 21, 2014 9:01 PM

                  "I give this game a 7/10 because it has 60 hours of gameplay, twelve playable characters, co-op and competitive multiplayer, and online leaderboards. I would give it an 8/10 if there were more weapons."

                  It sounds like that's what you want out of video game writing. No actual discussion of substance or meaning or emotions.

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                    July 21, 2014 9:50 PM

                    You know, I think a lot of people want that, remarkably. Just a by the numbers evaluation of games, a tabulation of what you get for your money. I'm glad vg journalism has moved on.

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                      July 22, 2014 3:23 AM

                      I think there's a difference between journalism and reviews, and if anything, I'd like to see a better separation of it.

                  • reply
                    July 22, 2014 4:16 AM

                    [deleted]

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                    July 22, 2014 10:24 AM

                    Go find an issue of any gaming magazine from the early to mid 2000s, preferably EGM, and read some of the reviews. There's plenty of substance to reviews without delving into useless 'what if' conjecturing, or pondering whether or not a game appeals to minorities.

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                  July 21, 2014 9:02 PM

                  People who throw around terms like SJW and White Knight are usually pretty awful unpleasant people with bad opinions and the tastes of a Florida trailer park resident.

                • reply
                  July 21, 2014 10:33 PM

                  [deleted]

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                  July 22, 2014 5:44 AM

                  It's funny how much your cognitive dissonance leads to you actually believe there was some objective difference in quality between the 'eras' of gaming journalism.

                  Pretty much the same thing as all the 'back in my day'/'golden age' bullshit that is never actually true even though people fiercely believe it.

                  • reply
                    July 22, 2014 10:29 AM

                    'Pretty much the same thing as all the 'back in my day'/'golden age' bullshit that is never actually true even though people fiercely believe it.'

                    Wrong. The only time I ever see that thrown around is by people that aren't old enough to recall and compare both 'eras', as you put it. There is a major difference in quality, mainly due to the fact that the prevalence of the Internet has diluted the talent pool of those in 'gaming journalism'. There's no way that some hack writer from Kotaku or IGN is on par without writers from 10 years ago.

                    • reply
                      July 23, 2014 10:41 AM

                      Did those great writers get abducted or something?

          • reply
            July 21, 2014 7:57 PM

            I do. Shacknews is the only site I get my news from. That, and /v/.

        • reply
          July 21, 2014 5:52 PM

          Na I guess you misunderstood, I disagreed with the sentiment that this article was some white knight social justice piece like stated above. I think Steven/Steve/Ozzie are killing it as of late with sprinkling in some of this unique content. If we just become an RSS feed for vg news no one wins

          • reply
            July 21, 2014 5:53 PM

            Also pardon my reply fail someone punch me

          • reply
            July 21, 2014 11:22 PM

            Yeah being basically a RSS feed is pretty much what tanked it in the first place. It's not a winning strategy.

          • reply
            July 21, 2014 11:30 PM

            New things are scary here and some articles have come off as a bit click baity. Intentional or not the chatty here is extra sensitive right now and something like this sticks out from the norm.

            The timing of this article with all the good vibes from GaymerX help drive hits here while everyone is talking equality. If you released it 2 months from now no one here would bat an eye but it would get less hits since it isn't the red hot topic anymore.

            Interesting enough article but it seems a little "what if your favorite series had girls. Wouldn't that be swell?" Where an interesting angle would be why interesting female character lead games don't sell as well. Beyond Good and Evil for example. Fantastic game that no one played. Or the Assassins Creed game with a female protagonist.

            I say roll with it. Keep trying new things to establish a niche and that'll lead to more community discussion. Good or bad.

            • reply
              July 22, 2014 3:25 AM

              Wasn't the female-led AC game a Vita-only title? That might explain a lot.

              • reply
                July 22, 2014 4:18 AM

                [deleted]

                • reply
                  July 22, 2014 12:46 PM

                  Way way after the Vita release, and as it was a vita game it lacked the deph of the other AC games, so it's not because the protagonist is a female character.

        • reply
          July 21, 2014 9:05 PM

          [deleted]

      • reply
        July 21, 2014 5:01 PM

        Single Jewish Women?

      • reply
        July 21, 2014 5:37 PM

        I would hate for you to think about things that make you feel uncomfortable.

    • reply
      July 21, 2014 2:09 PM

        indeed!

    • reply
      July 21, 2014 2:11 PM

      Or they could, you know, create new female characters instead of just bastardizing something that already exists. Why does it have to be a female version of male "archetype" instead of a unique character?

      • reply
        July 21, 2014 2:18 PM

        Agree, but it's not an invalid idea to also do gender flips. These just happen to be pretty terrible.

        • reply
          July 21, 2014 2:41 PM

          I wonder what the reaction would be if F to M gender flips became more common.

          *Waves hand* Shitstorms. Shitstorms everywhere.

      • reply
        July 21, 2014 2:41 PM

        Thief 3 actually setup a female character that not only brought things full circle, but would have been perfect as the main character in a sequel.

        But instead they took the "safe" option.

      • reply
        July 21, 2014 7:51 PM

        Yeah, I don't get this either. Bring in some female writers/artists and let them create some new IP.

    • reply
      July 21, 2014 3:00 PM

      In a way, there already are female versions of Dante and Vergil from Devil May Cry: Jeanne and Bayonetta from Bayonetta.

      I'm thinking of this having not played any of the DMC games, (only having played Bayonetta and reading / listening to a bunch of interviews and Wiki articles on the DMC series), but when you think of it, it makes perfect sense, since a lot of the designers from the Devil May Cry team ("Team Little Devils") went over to Platinum to work on Bayonetta (as "Team Little Angels").

      Character designer Mari Shimazaki even hints at the intentional similarity of color scheme between Dante and Jeanne: http://platinumgames.com/2009/06/26/designing-bayonetta-part-2-jeanne/

      "The coloring on Jeanne was actually a result of me paying attention to another character’s design. It’s subtle… But maybe you can figure it out? "

    • reply
      July 21, 2014 3:04 PM

      [deleted]

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      July 21, 2014 5:18 PM

      If you are going to write long listed articles like this, affix your nav header to the top of the browser rather than the top of the page.

      It takes a lot of scrolls to get to comments only to realize you need to login to comment. Scroll back up, login, scroll all the way down, make comment. Now you have to scroll all the way back up to get out of the page and back to home.

      • reply
        July 21, 2014 5:21 PM

        You should always be logged into Shacknews.

        ALWAYS. >:(

    • reply
      July 21, 2014 5:35 PM

      Why does a female character wanting to start a family lose points?

      • reply
        July 21, 2014 5:36 PM

        I mean the other characters flat out state she'd be more than capable of doing the job, so...we're criticizing choices now?

    • reply
      July 21, 2014 7:28 PM

      Ugh. Sad to see the new shack jumping on bandwagons left and right.

      • reply
        July 21, 2014 8:04 PM

        This isn't as bad as going full-on Buzzfeed listicle. Even though they've allowed full-page Flash ads and used horrible webfonts, they haven't succumbed to Outbrain advertorial link footers, dumb canvas animations, etc.

      • reply
        July 21, 2014 9:01 PM

        The sad thing is that people click this stuff. Many many people. 10 more people will click this than a piece of insightful content.

      • reply
        July 21, 2014 9:05 PM

        I don't read the articles, but you know what, it works at generating attention. You see way more regulars commenting on and reading front page stories, so I might assume that it would also work on the general web stage.
        They get paid, s0n

      • reply
        July 21, 2014 9:06 PM

        Which bandwagon? The one that says women are people too?

        • reply
          July 21, 2014 11:10 PM

          *facepalm*

          Please, please say more.

      • reply
        July 21, 2014 9:20 PM

        If it gets the front page views, who cares? It won't change chatty.

      • reply
        July 21, 2014 10:53 PM

        Eh, I don't think this is bandwagon-y, but I didn't think the article was as good as their other more recent stuff.

    • reply
      July 21, 2014 7:53 PM

      [deleted]

    • reply
      July 21, 2014 8:11 PM

      boo i thought there would be artwork

      • reply
        July 21, 2014 10:26 PM

        Yeah I was hoping of renditions of each game with a female version of the main hero

    • reply
      July 21, 2014 9:22 PM

      [deleted]

    • reply
      July 21, 2014 10:58 PM


      "If this bothers you, shut the fuck up, because it doesn't bother me."
      Yep, LoioshDwaggie, that's the ticket. Just give in, because it's bound to be this way, right?

      Never mind the fact that this incessant messaging is the result of people (statistically forgettable amounts of people) bitching and moaning 24/7.

      You don't have to be intentionally trying to serve some social justice master to understand how this behavior is making even hobbies nearly unbearable lately. Almost every article on here has undertones of this sort of redressing of some historical wrong... I'm not even saying that this article it's self was necessarily meant this way, but surprise surprise, this is the discussion. Though all signs point to yes, you did mean it this way. To quote my life coach.

      Effectively, our culture, (western civilizations), have been, and are being pulled through the craziest social knotholes by a miniscule percent of our combined populations. You're not helping anyone, and it isn't even fun like the other cultural revolutions, it's just getting to be fucking terrifying.

      You're not Jean-Paul Marat.

      • reply
        July 21, 2014 11:07 PM

        And yes, I understand the juxtaposition between the article/comments, and my reply when taken out of context.

        The context being the context of the article and every other thing recorded and written in the last 3-4 years.

        You can no longer honestly claim you didn't know the atmosphere you are entering, and the part you are playing in that atmosphere when you contribute this kind of stuff. *shrugs*

        • reply
          July 22, 2014 6:25 AM

          I rather like an atmosphere where men and women are treated on equal footing.

          • reply
            July 22, 2014 8:56 AM

            It's seriously not a problem for different protagonists, or other characters. It's the going back and pretending that the reason we have had, for the most part, young males as the main characters was because we some how hate woman. Again, this ARTICLE IT'S SELF doesn't in and of it's self necessarily take aim at this topic, but it was bound to strike that cord in the chatty, and it did before I came in.

            Take Triss Merigold, What if something like the next Witcher game stared Triss looking for Geralt or something. She's a strong female character, and I don't think any SANE person would be caught bitching that an established franchise starred a female character in the next installment.

            What you're being presented with, though, is they post some videos of the next witcher and all the game journalists go on a tear about how it's another man in the staring role, and the next time you see it, Geralt suddenly is forced to have the option to give him a fatter ass, and breasts. Does this shit even matter?

      • reply
        July 21, 2014 11:19 PM

        hahaha, "it isn't even fun like other cultural revolutions" lol

        • reply
          July 22, 2014 9:07 AM

          I gave birth to 3 illegitimate parents in the sixties...

          • reply
            July 22, 2014 9:08 AM

            or fathered 3 ill... screw it.

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        July 21, 2014 11:32 PM

        did we read the same article? i thought this one was just about how some characters would be if they were women.

        also: women aren't a miniscule percent of our population.

        did i miss something? why is everyone so freaking angry?

        • reply
          July 21, 2014 11:54 PM

          I get the feeling that this wasn't an article Wong pitched, but was assigned. It doesn't make any points, and feels like a shallow attempt at pandering.

          Wong is a good writer and I'm glad he's on the front page where content was stagnant during the change-over. Even though chatty tends to make fun of the front page's design, it's always had some good writing power.

          Did you like the article Dahanese? To me it felt like someone you turn in as a minimum effort post to hit a word count. If it were by a member of Polygon or some other non-respected game site I don't think this would even have a thread. When it appears on the shack by someone we know can write and do journalism, I can see how some would interpret it was a change of direction that many of the older gamers would not welcome.

          • reply
            July 22, 2014 6:13 AM

            Polygon non-respected while shacknews is? What alternate universe are you posting from?

            • reply
              July 22, 2014 6:21 AM

              Chatty regulars sometimes have such a misguided perception of the Shack's place in the internet culture at large. Especially when considering size/scale.

        • reply
          July 22, 2014 9:24 AM

          The article is pretty much a straight forward, let's imagine if male characters had female parts. I said this repeatedly.

          "Which bandwagon? The one that says women are people too?"

          This is the sentiment that I was talking about.

          The miniscule percentage I was referring to was the protesting class that is never satisfied.

          • reply
            July 22, 2014 9:37 AM

            i have no idea what you are going on about, honestly.

      • reply
        July 22, 2014 12:12 AM

        LOL, wtf are you talking about? What "knotholes" (?) are our society being pulled through? What is this miniscule percent of our populations you're referring to?

      • reply
        July 22, 2014 6:31 AM

        [deleted]

      • reply
        July 22, 2014 6:37 AM

        lol wtf is this?

      • reply
        July 22, 2014 6:42 AM

        Did you mean to reply to me?
        What am I saying we should give into, exactly?

    • reply
      July 21, 2014 11:23 PM

      Female doom marine please

      FUCK NO

    • reply
      July 22, 2014 12:00 AM

      LOL @ all the people gettin mad about fanart.

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        July 22, 2014 8:44 AM

        I don't have a problem wih fanart, but the TF2 one on display here is probably the worst I've seen. All of the fem versions of the classes have the same figure type. I remember one where the heavy was actually a big, brolic Russian woman, someone who looked like she could carry that beast of a gun.

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          July 22, 2014 8:45 AM

          Also, the Pyro is supposed to be paunchy.

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      July 22, 2014 3:16 AM

      [deleted]

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        July 22, 2014 5:37 AM

        What's worse is now every dude has to act personally affronted and demean social issues by labeling them 'SJW crap' and acting like its some huge deal that a large portion of the internet wants more socially aware content.

        'I'm finding a new site for my VG news' etc. what a bunch of twats.

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          July 22, 2014 10:33 AM

          'large portion of the internet wants more socially aware content.'

          Citation needed.

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      July 22, 2014 6:01 AM

      [deleted]

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      July 22, 2014 6:18 AM

      think about how different The Walking Dead games would be if Lee was a woman or if Clementine was a boy. in some ways it would be a very different story.

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      July 27, 2014 4:11 AM

      "It’s important to note she will trully be Thor - not She-Thor, Lady Thor, or Thorita."

      Except it is not true.

      Hell, even Marvel's male toon Thor bears only the most tenuous link to the Thor of Norse legend.

      Thor-with-Boobs has even less.

      In legend when Thor disguises himself as a Frejya to recover Mjollnir and slay the Giant Thrym, Loki has to keep making creative excuses to explain the disguised Thor's very un-female behaviour and appetites. It is to all intents and purposes comic relief.

      It is just as well the 'copyright' on the deity Thor expired expired some time in the eleventh century because Marvel's "Thor" ain't Thor ;-) And Marvel's female Thor is indeed She-Thor... which is anither way of saying "not Thor" :-P

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