
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.