“Fantastic!”
Theme Music
This episode comes with a content warning for game footage involving
hypersexualized female characters and is not recommended for children.
As always, remember that it is both possible and even necessary
to be critical of the media we enjoy.
That’s going to be especially important to keep in mind
given the video game franchise we are about to discuss…
In 1987 Nintendo released a 2D action adventure game for their
Nintendo Entertainment System which departed
from traditional video game conventions.
Metroid starred a bounty hunter named Samus Aran
who is covered head to toe in the now iconic cybernetic “power suit”.
The game’s manual referred to the protagonist with male pronouns
and described his identity as “shrouded in mystery”.
Metroid was notable as an early example of a game
that employed multiple alternative endings which could be unlocked
based on the player’s gaming skill and performance.
If the player is able to complete the game in under five hours
a short cutscene will play featuring the protagonist without their armored helmet,
revealing that Samus Aran is, in fact, a woman.
This was a significant moment in gaming history,
especially for many female gaming fans, because, at the time,
nearly all protagonists were just assumed to be male by default.
Remember this was back before the internet,
when you couldn’t just hop online to find out about all the secrets and spoilers,
so for many players, the ending of Metroid came as a genuine surprise.
Still, the subversion only worked provided players were skilled enough
to achieve the surprise ending.
In retrospect, Samus’ gender reveal perhaps should not have been as shocking as it was,
considering that Metroid is heavily influenced by the Alien films.
Sadly the alternate endings did not stop there
the two “best” endings make Metroid one of the first games
to exploit the Women as Reward trope,
as both reveal Samus in various states of undress.
The better a player does, the more clothing is removed.
If the player completes the game in under 3 hours Samus is shown without her armor
and in a leotard.
If the player finishes in under 1 hour they are treated to Samus in a bikini.
So yes, Samus wasn’t a damsel’ed woman waiting at the end of the game as a trophy
rather, her body itself became the prize awarded to players for a job well done.
Later games in the Metroid series continued the convention of
rewarding players with endings featuring Samus in various states of undress.
In one sense Samus Aran definitely did subvert traditional gender tropes
of the 1980s by taking on the role of intrepid hero.
However she and her body were still presented to players as prizes to be won.
The convention, of earning access to cutscenes or ending vignettes
with eroticized female bodies can be found in many titles over the past 30 years.
“Apollo”
“Whoa! Whoa!”
(Audience laughter)
“Oh!”
We can trace the roots of the Women as Reward trope all the way back
to the beginnings of the medium itself.
As we discussed in our damsel in distress mini-series,
upon successful completion of many arcade games
players were rewarded with the related Smooch of Victory trope, so named
for the kiss the hero received as a reward for rescuing a kidnapped princess.
Sometimes the prize is blatant as with the Standard Hero Reward
in which a king will give his daughter to the hero.
On other occasions, it’s taken a step further by employing the parallel
Sex of Victory or Rescue Sex trope. Yes, it’s exactly what you think it is:
instead of a kiss, sex with the rescued victim is the player’s reward.
“That was gonna get ugly. You saved us!”
“My pleasure, ladies.”
“Thank you, thank you. Thank you.”
“You saved my life. A bit of joy as recumpence is not too much to ask.”
“I’m intrigued. It’s been a tough day. I think some joy might do me good.”
(Moaning)
We’ve coined the Women as Reward trope to describe a long-running pattern
found in interactive media.
It occurs when women or more often women’s bodies
are employed as rewards for player actions in video games.
The trope frames female bodies as collectible, as tractable or as consumable
and positions women as status symbols
designed to validate the masculinity of presumed straight male players.
There’s some overlap between the Damsel in Distress and Women as Reward
but they function differently.
While the Damsel in Distress trope uses women
as a plot device to motivate male heroes,
the Women as Reward trope presents women as a formalized reward mechanism,
meaning that the reward is coded into the game system itself.
The result of this incentive structure is that access to women’s bodies,
women’s affection or women’s sexuality is reduced to a simple equation that guarantees
delivery as long as the correct set of inputs are entered into the system.
In this way the Women as Reward trope helps foster a sense of entitlement
where players are encouraged to view women as something they’ve earned the right to
by virtue of their gaming actions, skills or accomplishments.
This is illustrated in arcade classics like Joe and Mac
and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
after players save the damsel in both games,
she will bestow a kiss on the character who earned the most points on that stage.
“I owe you one.”
Entitlement to women is made even more explicit in many versions of Double Dragon.
At the end of the game, after the final boss has been defeated
and the damsel in distress saved, player one and player two must fight each other
over who “gets” to “have” Marian and with her, the smooch of victory.
Notice that Marian’s desires are not part of the equation, she has no say in the matter
she simply fills the role of a trophy for whichever player is ultimately victorious.
This scene serves as inspiration for similar scenarios
in more contemporary games like Castle Crashers.
We’ve identified 6 primary ways the Women as Reward trope manifests in video games.
Over the course of this episode we will examine each in turn.
In addition to the “earned cinematics” we’ve already discussed, we will cover
the trope as it relates to Easter Eggs, Unlockable Costumes,
Experience Points, Collectibles, and Achievements.
Easter Eggs are intentionally hidden secrets or jokes
which developers conceal inside of their games.
Like the eggs at a children’s easter egg hunt,
these secrets are usually difficult to find but are meant to be discovered as rewards
for particularly industrious gamers.
Easter Eggs can be hidden messages, items, secret characters or random events,
and their inclusion encourages experimentation with the game’s systems
and mechanics in order to uncover these extra treasures.
Some can be found inside game environments,
while others require a cheat code to unlock.
For example, if players input a specific button sequence while starting up
the 1991 role-playing game Rings of Power the title screen would change.
By pressing down, right, A, B, C and the start button, players were rewarded
with an image of a topless woman next to the Naughty Dog logo.
Easter eggs are, of course, not inherently problematic,
and gaming history is filled with examples of neat secrets
that designers have hidden away for players to discover.
But too frequently, Easter eggs are used as another way
to reward players with women’s bodies.
Tony Hawk Pro Skater 4 included a secret unlockable character named Daisy,
who bore the likeness of porn star Jenna Jameson.
Daisy’s sexualized appearance and skateboard tricks are designed as a reward
for those players who unlocked her.
One way to do that is by entering this code
Probably one of the most famous Women as Reward easter eggs
brings us back to Samus Aran.
The original Metroid used a password system to save progress.
By inputting the secret code “Justin Bailey” into this system,
gamers would unlock a powered-up playable version of Samus
wearing only her leotard-style bathing suit.
Incidentally this is the same outfit we covered earlier as an end-game reward,
only here she has the powers of the Varia Suit and its associated color pallete swap
which changes her hair color to green.
Players can then play the entire game as Samus without her space armor.
So she ends up exploring a hostile alien world
and fighting off deadly monsters in her underwear.
“Welcome to the Hovercon intergalactic hoverboard competition!”
There’s a bizarre easter egg in the original Ratchet & Clank:
If the player does a series of side-flips in front of a green-skinned alien,
the woman’s breasts will suddenly begin to inflate.
The more gymnastics stunts performed, the larger her boobs will become.
There are so many Women as Reward-style easter eggs in the Metal Gear Solid series
that it would take several hours to go over them all.
First released for the PlayStation in 1998 and then remade for the GameCube in 2004,
Metal Gear Solid featured not one but two separate easter eggs
that allow players to see Meryl Silverburgh in her underwear.
The second of these easter eggs requires players to follow Meryl into the ladies room
and interrupt her while she is changing. If this is done quickly enough
the next cutscene will play with Meryl in her underwear.
“Anyway, how did you recognize me in disguise?”
“I never forget a lady”
Jumping ahead to the fourth game,
the protagonist is assigned a psychologist for PTSD counseling.
During these remote sessions, if players shake their Playstation controller
the psychologist’s breasts will bounce and jiggle in response.
“Memories began to resurface from his childhood,"
"when he fought for Solidus in the Liberian Civil War.”
Keep in mind that easter eggs are not accidents or glitches.
They are intentionally put into the game by the designers,and as a result, indicate
the value that the designers themselves place on these female characters.
They communicate to players that yes, these women exist for players to exploit
or experiment with for their own amusement.
Unlockable outfits are additional costumes earned during gameplay
which allow gamers to play dress up with player characters or party members.
Alternative “skins” as they are sometimes called come in all shapes and sizes
and are typically just cosmetic changes to the character’s appearance,
although sometimes they add special abilities.
Many unlockable costumes are cool, wacky or bizarre.
But when applied to female characters we see a distinct pattern
of revealing, hypersexualized outfits.
Fetishized bunny, cat, maid or nurse costumes are commonly used by developers
as a way to pander to an assumed straight male player base.
It’s important to remember that sexualization is not necessarily
just about the amount of skin showing, but is instead connected to the question
of whether or not a costume is eroticized for the express purpose of titillation.
“Hey, why were you wearing that stuffy-looking suit of armor?”
“Oh? You didn’t like it? It’s pretty sturdy and protects my body quite nicely...
See? Look at this beautiful skin, free of bruises and blemishes!”
“Very nice… I’m actually worried where my eyes might wander.”
“You don’t look all that worried to me.”
“I’ve just got a good poker face. So, you’re okay?...
You don’t mind leaving your armor behind?”
“It’s sturdy, but it’s heavy. Walking around with that on tires me out.”
“Hey, no complaints here. I prefer eye candy to scary armor any day.”
These types of unlockable outfits can be especially pernicious
since they often end up undermining women who are
otherwise appropriately dressed for active or professional roles.
The Resident Evil franchise has been particularly guilty of this over the years.
Almost every major release in the series has included the Women as Reward trope.
Resident Evil is a bit unusual in that, since its beginnings in the mid 90s,
the franchise has featured a large number of playable female protagonists
most of whom are skilled zombie fighters
and have impressive professional resumés, to say the least.
Rebecca Chambers is a police officer and medic in the Special Tactics And Rescue Service.
Players can dress her up in “sexy nurse” and cheerleader costumes.
Jill Valentine is a high-ranking Special Operations Agent
in the Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance, and also the master of unlocking.
She can be placed in sexy police woman and sexy pirate outfits.
Claire Redfield is a member of a human rights organization
that provides aid during bioterrorism incidents.
She can be turned into a motorsport umbrella girl.
Sherry Birkin is a US government agent working with the Division of Security Operations.
And here she’s wearing a schoolgirl outfit.
Helena Harper is a Secret Service agent and a former member of the CIA.
Her unlockable costumes include another “sexy” police woman
complete with mini skirt and garter belt.
Sheva Alomar is an agent for the Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance,
operating in the West African branch.
The tribal print bikini outfit is especially disconcerting,
because it combines the sexualization of a female character
with the racist tradition of exotifying women of color,
particularly women of African ancestry.
More on that topic in an upcoming video.
As a reward for completing the main game under specific conditions,
players gain the ability to shove these female police and special agents
into the digital equivalent of those patronizing “sexy” Halloween costumes
we see mass produced every year.
These ensembles are not only completely inappropriate for the mission at hand,
but also reduce otherwise capable characters to sexual objects
for the voyeuristic enjoyment of players.
“None of this makes any sense. What did we do?”
“I wish I could tell ya.”
The latest game in the series, 2015’s Resident Evil: Revelations 2
continues this condescending tradition by offering DLC
that puts Claire Redfield into a sexualized cowgirl outfit
and forces Moira into whatever the hell that is supposed to be…?
The developers call it an “urban ninja” costume?
[Sigh.]
Meanwhile, the male playable character Barry
gets a gentleman’s Commandant alternative costume.
Alternative costumes for men are rarely objectifying.
They’re instead presented as “tough guy” power fantasies
for other straight men to identify with.
And when men are stripped down to their beachwear
it’s most often meant as a lighthearted joke.
Shifting to an example of a game that does alternative female costumes right,
Alice: Madness Returns features a wide assortment of imaginative unlockable dresses.
And if you must go the “bunnygirl” or “catgirl” route,
this right here is definitely the way to do it.
In many games experience points, or XP, are earned by completing tasks
like defeating monsters or finishing quests.
Once enough experience points have been accumulated
player characters can periodically level up,
making them stronger or giving them access to new abilities.
Unfortunately designers sometimes tie the awarding of experience points
directly to sexual interactions with female characters,
effectively transforming women into conduits which players can utilize
to become more powerful warriors.
In the 2007 game Conan, for example,
dozens of half naked “maidens” are chained up throughout the game.
“Take me and crush me with your love!”
When rescued they essentially function as sexualized treasure chests
rewarding the player with experience points
which are then used to unlock more powerful fighting moves.
“…just a bit longer”
“We’ve reached Athens. Get your things and get out.”
A number of other games tie experience points directly to sex.
The God of War games, for instance, established a tradition of including mini-games
that reward the player for successfully having sex with one or more women.
Completing these little quick-time events earn players red orbs
that are used to upgrade attacks and magic.
Beginning with the 3rd game, the Grand Theft Auto series
allows players to buy sex from prostitutes…
“Get in the car.”
…and rewards them by restoring their health meter.
In Grand Theft Auto 5, players are given additional encouragement
to solicit prostitutes, in the form of an increase to
their character’s stamina rating, which enables those characters to sprint, swim,
or ride a bike faster for longer periods of time.
Similarly, in The Witcher 3, Geralt earns a handful of experience points for
buying sex from prostitutes, and he earns more points for sex with the “courtesans”
in the wealthier districts than with the “strumpets” in the poor parts of the city.
“Greetings to the honorable gentleman. Welcome, make yourself at home...
What have you come for? We’re prepared to fulfill your every whim.”
“I like you. Like how you look, like how you smell.”
When women are used as sexualized experience point dispensers,
the sexual scenarios are themselves a reward
designed to validate the masculinity of presumed straight male players.
But there’s a dual reward here: absorbing these expressions of female sexuality
carries with it the ability for male characters to grow stronger, faster,
and more capable, reducing the women to points in a mathematical equation
that directly links the flippant consumption of female sexuality
to an increase in male power.
Note that, while the consumption of women makes male characters more powerful
it has nothing to do with mutual relationship building.
The “relationship,” such as it is, ends with sex, or rescuing the woman.
At that point, she has served her purpose.
Players have reaped the benefits and her value has been depleted.
Like an empty energy drink container, she is simply cast aside after being consumed.
“That was nice!”
That’s hardly the only problem with female NPCs
who are designed to function as sexually objectified set dressing.
For more on the myriad of issues with these types of characters,
see our two videos on the Women as Background Decoration trope.
Collectibles are virtual items placed or hidden
throughout a game world for players to find.
Some collectible objects have effects on gameplay,
such as boosting player stats or serving as score multipliers.
Other collectibles are designed simply to be accumulated
to provide a sense of accomplishment.
Once acquired, some collectibles unlock concept art or other media fragments
that can be viewed later in galleries selected from the game’s menu screen.
When done well, collectibles inspire exploration and replayability.
However, when they’re designed to function as an extension
of the Women as Reward trope, players are encouraged to view women’s bodies
as souvenirs of their adventures.
In the 2010 remake of Splatterhouse players are encouraged
to collect ripped-up pieces of photographs of the protagonist’s girlfriend
which are strewn around each level.
Once the player pieces them together,
the completed images consist mostly of private, personal sexual photos.
“I swear to God, you put this on the internet, and your ass is grass, buster.”
Sometimes the Women as Reward trope
takes the form of corporate-branded product placement.
For instance 2K Games officially partnered with Playboy to include
50 hidden magazines scattered throughout Mafia 2’s open world environment.
Once found, each collectible opens to reveal vintage centerfolds
from real 1950s Playboy issues.
The discovered magazines are then stored in the game’s inventory
and are available to be perused at the player’s whim.
Konami’s Metal Gear Solid series took this trend a step further
by actually turning pornography into a weapon.
In Metal Gear Solid 4, there are Playboy magazines scattered
throughout the game world for players to find.
When acquired, the magazines are stored in the game’s weapons inventory
alongside rifles and handguns, and serve a dual purpose.
Players can look through the images at their leisure, and also use them to set traps
by laying the centerfolds open on the battlefield to distract enemies.
“Ooh, what’s this? Heh heh heh…heh heh heh…”
In the first Witcher game, players are awarded “romance cards” for successfully
seducing each of over two dozen different non-playable female characters.
“Let’s take our relationship further.”
“Come home with me. Let me thank you”
“Let’s go.”
Like other examples we’ve talked about, these pornographic collectibles
are saved in the player’s inventory and are available to be ogled at anytime.
The souvenirs function as a private trophy collection,
encouraging players to view these female characters as sexual conquests
and acquire as many different flavors of women as possible during their playthrough.
If collectibles in the player’s inventory work as a private trophy collection,
then achievements serve as a public trophy case, on display for all to see.
Achievements, or trophies, are meta-goal award systems
built into most popular gaming platforms.
Unlike collectibles, achievements are earned through in-game actions
but awarded outside of the game environment itself and have no effect on gameplay.
Some achievements are rewarded for skill or completion of tasks
while others are arbitrary challenges set up by developers.
“Oh, please. Are you really just doing this for the achievement?...
Click a door five times? Is that all that you think an achievement is worth?...
No, no, no, no, no. I can’t just give these merits away for such little effort.”
These systems encourage “replayability” and provide players with incentives
to spend more time inside the game space experimenting
with its environments and characters.
By default, your achievements are visible to anyone who views your profile
on a gaming platform and thus they allow players to show off their gaming skill
or dedication to their friends.
In other words, achievements are designed to function as status symbols for gamers.
A whole host of games reward players with trophies for
successfully having sex with one or more female characters.
A suspicious number of those achievements are called “ladies man”.
(Giggling.) “The Gods have truly blessed you, Kratos”
Other games in the God of War series
use a variety of euphemistic naming schemes for this.
In the PS3 version of the original game the trophy is titled “Rockin’ the Boat.”
In Ghosts of Sparta players receive the “A Hero’s Welcome” trophy
and in Chains of Olympus the award is called “Two Girls One Spartan.”
“Oh, Nico! I really like you!”
Some games in the Grand Theft Auto series offer achievements for bedding a “girlfriend.”
“I think she likes me.”
Just so we’re clear on what’s happening here,
players are receiving a literal trophy for “achieving sex” with a woman.
When games such as these award players with achievements or trophies
for sexual conquests they are directly reinforcing negative ways of thinking
about the dynamics between men and women in our society.
By presenting sex as an end goal of men’s interactions or relationships with women,
these games frame sexual encounters as challenges to be overcome.
Let me emphasize that the problem here
is not necessarily that sex is included in these games.
By presenting sex as a goal and then presenting players
with an award for accomplishing that goal,
these achievements function as a form of trophyism.
Simply put, trophyism is the tendency for men to view women as objects
to be collected and displayed as status symbols of their sexual prowess or virility.
These “trophy women” then serve as a way for men
to assert their social status among and relative to other men.
The “fame points” system in the 2004 version of Sid Meier’s Pirates!
provides us with a stark illustration of trophyism.
In the game, romancing and then rescuing any of the game’s many governors’ daughters
not only rewards your pirate with the option to marry her,
but also wins him extra fame points.
The daughters are largely interchangeable; they don’t even have names,
and their value as a reward is tied directly to their appearance.
Courting and marrying a “plain” daughter earns fewer fame points
than marrying an “attractive” one, and marrying a “beautiful” daughter
earns the most points of all.
Fame points then directly contribute to the social status
your character achieves at the end of the game.
Depending on the amount of points accrued, you could end up as anything
from a lowly pauper to a powerful governor.
Other ways to earn fame points include acquiring wealth and defeating rivals.
Like all your swashbuckling escapades, acquiring a woman becomes
just another feather in your proverbial cap,
functioning to elevate your prestige and renown in society.
And since, in the game’s Xbox Live Arcade release, there are achievements
there are achievements for getting married, and for courting governors’ daughters
from all four nations at once, these accomplishments
also increase your gaming status.
Achievements on Sony Playstation platforms are called “trophies”
but back when they were first introduced they were called “entitlements,”
which is a fitting name for those that fall into the Women as Reward trope.
Since entitlement, or more specifically “male entitlement,”
is the crux of much of what we’ve been discussing in this video,
let’s take a moment to define what “male entitlement” actually means.
First, the word “entitlement” refers to the conviction that someone deserves something,
that they are owed it, that they have a right to it.
By extension, “male entitlement” is the conviction
that men are owed something by virtue of their gender.
It’s the belief structure that tells men they deserve to have their whims catered to,
both culturally and interpersonally.
One of the most harmful aspects of male entitlement
is the false belief that men have a right to survey and use women’s bodies.
This mentality carries with it a corresponding set of expectations
about what women should provide for men.
It’s a worldview that primarily defines women’s social role as vessels of sexuality,
and men’s roles as consumers or patrons of that sexuality.
Unlike access to clean water or health care, which should be
considered human rights that all people deserve simply for being human,
access to a woman’s affections, her body or her sexuality
is not a right owed to anyone, except herself.
This should be obvious, but unfortunately
male entitlement is a pervasive problem in our culture today.