Over the past two decades, the video game medium has ushered in an unparalleled array of brilliantly written, hardened women as main leads.
Some even go so far as to prove to players that great characters aren’t defined by typical gender roles or stereotypes but by their impact.
And with the best female video game protagonists we’ve selected today, these women didn’t just star in incredible games; some helped shape the medium itself with their spotlight.
We’re kicking things off with a heroine who is celebrated as one of gaming’s top female protagonists because she was never just seen as “a female character”, and that’s Samus from the Metroid games.
She was designed as a legendary bounty hunter first; stoic, skilled, and a bit of a loner, with a subtle human touch beneath all that armor. This distinction was incredibly significant, especially back when women in games were often cast as damsels or side characters.
And most importantly, she also helped define what a female action hero could look like in games without leaning entirely on romance or oversexualization.
Ever since the first time you boot up the original game, Bayonetta walks into every scene with such wit and theatrical flair as if she owns the screen the same way other nuanced characters like Dante or Kazuma Kiryu do, and that kind of larger-than-life presence is rare.
While she’s a calculated and reserved angel-slaying queen on the surface, beneath all the chaos, there’s genuine warmth to her character, especially in her protective relationships with characters like Cereza and Jeanne.
And the cherry on top is how she also represents a turning point for stylish action games. Before Bayonetta, many action protagonists were cut from the same mold of being stoic, gruff men carrying giant weapons.
From the first moment that I booted up Horizon Zero Dawn, I immediately became infatuated with Aloy and the world of these games. Her relationship with characters, plus her resilience to solve and overcome any kind of obstacle in her path.
The discourse on her character hardly bothered me because it gradually revealed someone who embodied growth and the responsibility to save a bygone world.
And when Forbidden West rolled around, it revealed more of Aloy’s intellectual growth and empathy rooted in her experience as an outsider.
Few video game protagonists have managed to stay relevant across multiple generations quite like Lara Croft from the Tomb Raider franchise. What makes her one of gaming’s best female leads isn’t just her legacy or popularity but the way she evolved alongside the medium itself.
We’ve seen her in an iconic box-like design and in a reboot trilogy that transformed Lara into someone more vulnerable and human. Also, her influence on gaming is impossible to ignore, too.
You can see traces of Lara Croft in quite a few modern protagonists who came after her, such as Nathan Drake.
Considering Gravity Rush is one of the most criminally underrated games of all time, that’s partially the reason why I chose Kat.
But the other main reason is that she feels genuinely human in a medium where a lot of protagonists are built around being “cool” first and relatable second. She’s awkward, kind-hearted, reckless, funny, and endlessly determined, all at the same time.
Despite waking up with no memory of who she is and being cast as an outsider by the locals of Heksville, she carries the weight of saving entire cities on her shoulders.
While I’d happily include her Partner in Time somewhere here, too, it goes without saying that Max Caulfield became one of the most endearing female video game protagonists for everyone in the mid 2010s with Life is Strange.
Dont Nod had truly crafted a relatable character who was introspective, emotional, and uncertain of herself.
