Women in Fiction | Faith Connors

Faith Connors

Faith Connors is the heroine of the Mirror’s Edge video game franchise. In a dystopian, futuristic world, Faith operates as a Runner; a member of a resistance group tasked with transporting messages and important documents throughout the city whilst avoiding government surveillance.

Faith is notable as a great example of a fictional female lead in that she’s an action star without being over-the-top, with the developers saying: “It was important to us that she felt human not superhuman, inspirational not unattainable, a real hero.” This, coupled with her non-sexualized design makes her a heroine worth celebrating. Strong and athletic, yet petite, her appearance is both practical and realistic given her role as a master of parkour and martial arts who must traverse the city as quickly and efficiently as possible.

As Faith, you must traverse the city and escape conflict as much as possible…

… but it doesn’t hurt that she’s more than capable of kicking some ass when she needs to.

Standing against the regime and fighting for what she believes in, whilst also being fiercely protective of those she cares about, there’s a lot to admire about Faith, not least the fact that she’s an Asian woman who is never once treated as ‘exotic’, an unfortunate rarity in the fictional world. Having led two games and a series of tie-in comics thus far, let’s hope she has a bright future as a leading lady of gaming yet to come.

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Women in Fiction | Jill Valentine

Resident Evil heroine, Jill Valentine

Jill Valentine is the original and longest-standing heroine of the Resident Evil franchise of video games, having also made appearances in various forms of spin-off media, including movies, novels and comics.

Jill begins the series as part of a special police unit that discovers a secret research facility conducting horrific experiments which have led to the development of a virus responsible for creating bio-organic weapons (BOWs) and capable of zombifying anyone who comes into contact with it. Exposing a vast conspiracy, Jill is betrayed by her team captain, Albert Wesker, but survives the ordeal, destroying the facility and setting out on a tireless mission to expose and shut-down those behind the incident and eradicate BOWs. Travelling the world to do so, and overcoming seemingly impossible odds, she eventually goes on to co-found an organisation dedicated to the cause, and thus becomes a leading and respected figure in the fight against bio-terror.

The first and perhaps most obvious reason to praise Jill is her physical prowess, proving herself time and again to be just as capable a fighter as any of her male counterparts. She’s not there to be the love interest, nor the token female presence. Instead, she brings her own distinct skills to the team, more than earning her place. With Resident Evil usually hailed as the game which coined and popularised the Survival Horror genre, she is also often considered the benchmark for female leads to live up to. The game’s developers have even talked about how they consciously designed the character to make her appealing to both male and female gamers alike; a rare example of female gamers’ interests being taken seriously.

Throughout the series, Jill shows herself to be brave, resilient, compassionate, and a fiercely loyal operative, even going as far as to seemingly sacrifice her own life to stop Wesker and rescue her long-standing friend and partner, Chris Redfield. She survives but is seized, enduring years of captivity and attempted brainwashing but ultimately resisting and fighting back, emerging all the more determined to stand for what is right.

Jill’s formidable skill and her obvious moral strength have combined to see her popularity remain strong for the 20 years since her debut. Here’s to the next 20.

Women in Fiction | Lara Croft

Lara Croft

Lara Croft is arguably the most recognisable character – male or female – to emerge from the world of gaming, having cemented her place as a true pop culture icon over the last two decades.

Though she was immediately hailed as a fantastic antithesis to the overwhelming number of male leads in video games and a fine action star in her own right, there was always some debate as to her status as a feminist figure, given the overt sexualisation of the character’s image in spite of her obvious physical and intellectual prowess. A few years ago however, the series was rebooted, essentially scrapping the previous continuity and going back to basics, re-imagining Lara’s story for a new generation.

This ‘new’ Lara is a far more rounded character, beginning the series as a wide-eyed young woman eager to find adventure on her first expedition, only to survive a shipwrecking. Washed up and stranded on a remote island, she is forced to quickly adapt to her extreme surroundings and learn new, invaluable skills that she will need to evolve into the hardened warrior and adventurer she is destined to become. With a much bigger emphasis on Lara’s emotional drive and motivations, a clearer developmental arc, and a much grittier, more realistic and no longer sexualised image, her position at the forefront of pro-feminist gaming is now secure.

Brave, smart, strong, determined and compassionate, the new and improved Miss Croft is a force to be reckoned with; only one we can now all relate to on a far more human level.