Let’s Celebrate The Most Badass Female Characters In Gaming

Once upon a time every video game female was a princess who needed to be saved, but this is 2019 and we now have some of the most heroic and badass women leading the way in games.

Here’s just a selection of GameByte’s most badass leading ladies in video games.

Clementine – Telltale Games’ The Walking Dead

Credit: Telltale Games

Back in season one of Telltale Games’ The Walking Dead, little Clem was just a young kid hiding in her treehouse and hoping her parents were on the way to rescue her.

Through many trials, tribulations and broken hearts, we said goodbye to Clem in the final season as a tough-as-old-boots teenager, with a hankering for love and some cruel but necessary life lessons to pass on to those younger than her.

Credit: Telltale Games

Not only is Clem seriously adept with everything from knives to a bow and arrow, but she’s also not afraid of the truth and knows that her actions have consequences.

Aside from all that, in the last few episode of Clem’s story players had the option to choose a love interest for Clem, giving her either a heterosexual or homosexual relationship as respite from the zombie-filled world. Not every video game heroine needs to be rescued by a man, after all.

Tifa Lockhart – Final Fantasy 7

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Another GameByte favourite, Lockhart plays a seminal role in Final Fantasy 7, where she’s not only as friendly and bubbly as anything, but she’s also one of the fiercest in combat.

This endlessly powerful childhood friend of Cloud has been a firm favourite in the FF games since her first appearance, and she’s definitely one of the most badass women in any game.

Credit: Square Enix

Her highlights in FF7 include helping Cloud when he has a psychotic breakdown and she also houses an anarchist group that plans to take down the government. Nice job, Lockhart!

Samus Aran – Metroid

Credit: Nintendo

When it was revealed that Samus, protagonist of the Metroid games, was actually female, it left people divided.

The intergalactic bounty hunter revealed herself to be female at the end of the first game, which was pretty groundbreaking back in the 1980s.

She’s typically mistaken for a male even to this day thanks to her androgynous Power Suit, but she challenges the stereotype of women in games having to be semi-nude so she definitely deserves a round of applause for that.

Also she’s an intergalactic bounty hunter, which is a seriously cool (and dangerous) job only a true badass could undertake.

Kassandra – Assassin’s Creed Odyssey

Credit: Ubisoft

Just like lots of other badass ladies on our list, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey‘s protagonist Kassandra is one woman you don’t want to mess with.

Smart, witty and fierce in combat, Kassandra really made AC Odyssey stand out from previous games in the franchise, and she’s become a hugely popular character since its launch.

In a nice twist from Ubisoft, you could also choose a romantic path for the mercenary, where you could court men, women (or both) depending on your interpretation of the character.

Three cheers for representation in gaming!

Lara Croft – Tomb Raider

Credit: Square Enix

You absolutely can’t make a list about female game heroes without including the one and only Lara Croft.

Lara was the OG strong AF woman who made it cool to play as a girl in video games (the 1990s was a VERY different time), and she’s only grown from strength to strength.

In the rebooted Tomb Raider trilogy, Lara’s backstory was fully realised, and we grew with her to become the seriously skilled and scared-of-nothing warrior we know and love.

Never change, Lara!

Senua – Hellblade

Credit: Ninja Theory

Ninja Theory’s 2017 “indie AAA” game, Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, introduced the world to one of gaming’s most unforgettable heroes.

If you haven’t played it, Hellblade follows Pict warrior Senua, who battles her way through otherworldly entities to rescue the soul of her dead lover from the goddess Hela.

Actually, the game is a metaphor for the Senua’s battle with psychosis and PTSD. The devs went to great lengths and worked with mental health specialists to make sure Senua and her conditions were represented properly.

Senua and her game helped a lot of people struggling with mental health, and she’s a definite hero of our times.

Ellie – The Last of Us

Credit: Naughty Dog

Growing up in a post-apocalyptic world isn’t easy, but growing up alone in a post-apocalyptic world where you’re actually immune to the thing that’s killing off the planet – yeah, that’s a tough one.

For The Last of Us‘ Ellie, it’s just what life is though, and she definitely makes the best of it.

Similar to Clem, we see Ellie try and fight her way through the hand she’s been dealt, and in the sequel to the game she’s appears to have developed into a tough and unshakeable woman who appears to have her feet on the ground.

Credit: Naughty Dog

In the original game, Ellie is grounded, infinitely caring and a little bit reckless, which is why we love her as much as we do.

From stealing pornography on their travels to tugging on our heartstrings when she discovers things like monkeys and giraffes, the whole world just can’t wait to see her in the game’s sequel.

She’s also seriously impressive with both a gun and a bow and arrow.

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Who are your stand-out female heroes of the gaming world?

Featured Image Credit: Naughty Dog