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“Fantastic!”


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Theme Music

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This episode comes with a content warning
for game footage involving

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hypersexualized female characters
and is not recommended for children.

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As always, remember that it is both
possible and even necessary

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to be critical of the media we enjoy.

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That’s going to be especially
important to keep in mind

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given the video game franchise
we are about to discuss…

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In 1987 Nintendo released a 2D
action adventure game for their

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Nintendo Entertainment System
which departed

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from traditional video game conventions.

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Metroid starred a bounty hunter
named Samus Aran

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who is covered head to toe in the
now iconic cybernetic “power suit”.

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The game’s manual referred to the
protagonist with male pronouns

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and described his identity as
“shrouded in mystery”.

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Metroid was notable as an
early example of a game

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that employed multiple alternative
endings which could be unlocked

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based on the player’s gaming
skill and performance.

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If the player is able to complete
the game in under five hours

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a short cutscene will play featuring the
protagonist without their armored helmet,

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revealing that Samus Aran is, in fact,
a woman.

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This was a significant moment
in gaming history,

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especially for many female gaming fans,
because, at the time,

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nearly all protagonists were just
assumed to be male by default.

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Remember this was back
before the internet,

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when you couldn’t just hop online to find
out about all the secrets and spoilers,

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so for many players, the ending of
Metroid came as a genuine surprise.

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Still, the subversion only worked
provided players were skilled enough

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to achieve the surprise ending.

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In retrospect, Samus’ gender reveal perhaps
should not have been as shocking as it was,

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considering that Metroid is
heavily influenced by the Alien films.

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Sadly the alternate endings
did not stop there

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the two “best” endings make Metroid
one of the first games

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to exploit the Women as Reward trope,


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as both reveal Samus
in various states of undress.

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The better a player does,
the more clothing is removed.

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If the player completes the game in under
3 hours Samus is shown without her armor

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and in a leotard.

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If the player finishes in under 1 hour
they are treated to Samus in a bikini.

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So yes, Samus wasn’t a damsel’ed woman
waiting at the end of the game as a trophy

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rather, her body itself became the prize
awarded to players for a job well done.

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Later games in the Metroid series
continued the convention of

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rewarding players with endings featuring
Samus in various states of undress.

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In one sense Samus Aran definitely did
subvert traditional gender tropes

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of the 1980s by taking on the role
of intrepid hero.

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However she and her body were still
presented to players as prizes to be won.

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The convention, of earning access to
cutscenes or ending vignettes

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with eroticized female bodies can be found
in many titles over the past 30 years.

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“Apollo”

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“Whoa! Whoa!”

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(Audience laughter)

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“Oh!”

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We can trace the roots of the
Women as Reward trope all the way back

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to the beginnings of the medium itself.

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As we discussed in our
damsel in distress mini-series,

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upon successful completion
of many arcade games

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players were rewarded with the
related Smooch of Victory trope, so named

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for the kiss the hero received as a reward
for rescuing a kidnapped princess.

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Sometimes the prize is blatant as with the
Standard Hero Reward

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in which a king will give his
daughter to the hero.

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On other occasions, it’s taken a step further
by employing the parallel

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Sex of Victory or Rescue Sex trope.
Yes, it’s exactly what you think it is:

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instead of a kiss, sex with the rescued
victim is the player’s reward.

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“That was gonna get ugly. You saved us!”

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“My pleasure, ladies.”

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“Thank you, thank you. Thank you.”

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“You saved my life. A bit of joy as
recumpence is not too much to ask.”

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“I’m intrigued. It’s been a tough day.
I think some joy might do me good.”

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(Moaning)

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We’ve coined the Women as Reward trope
to describe a long-running pattern

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found in interactive media.

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It occurs when women
or more often women’s bodies

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are employed as rewards for
player actions in video games.

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The trope frames female bodies as
collectible, as tractable or as consumable

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and positions women as status symbols

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designed to validate the masculinity
of presumed straight male players.

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There’s some overlap between the
Damsel in Distress and Women as Reward

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but they function differently.

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While the Damsel in Distress
trope uses women

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as a plot device to motivate male heroes,

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the Women as Reward trope presents women
as a formalized reward mechanism,

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meaning that the reward is coded
into the game system itself.

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The result of this incentive structure is
that access to women’s bodies,

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women’s affection or women’s sexuality is
reduced to a simple equation that guarantees

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delivery as long as the correct set of
inputs are entered into the system.

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In this way the Women as Reward trope
helps foster a sense of entitlement

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where players are encouraged to view women
as something they’ve earned the right to

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by virtue of their gaming actions,
skills or accomplishments.

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This is illustrated in arcade classics
like Joe and Mac

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and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

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after players save the damsel
in both games,

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she will bestow a kiss on the character
who earned the most points on that stage.

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“I owe you one.”

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Entitlement to women is made even more
explicit in many versions of Double Dragon.

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At the end of the game, after the
final boss has been defeated

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and the damsel in distress saved, player
one and player two must fight each other

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over who “gets” to “have” Marian and
with her, the smooch of victory.

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Notice that Marian’s desires are not part
of the equation, she has no say in the matter

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she simply fills the role of a trophy for
whichever player is ultimately victorious.

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This scene serves as inspiration
for similar scenarios

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in more contemporary games
like Castle Crashers.

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We’ve identified 6 primary ways the Women
as Reward trope manifests in video games.

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Over the course of this episode
we will examine each in turn.

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In addition to the “earned cinematics”
we’ve already discussed, we will cover

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the trope as it relates to
Easter Eggs, Unlockable Costumes,

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Experience Points, Collectibles,
and Achievements.

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Easter Eggs are intentionally
hidden secrets or jokes

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which developers conceal
inside of their games.

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Like the eggs at a
children’s easter egg hunt,

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these secrets are usually difficult to find
but are meant to be discovered as rewards

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for particularly industrious gamers.

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Easter Eggs can be hidden messages, items,
secret characters or random events,

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and their inclusion encourages
experimentation with the game’s systems

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and mechanics in order to
uncover these extra treasures.

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Some can be found
inside game environments,

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while others require a
cheat code to unlock.

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For example, if players input a specific
button sequence while starting up

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the 1991 role-playing game Rings of Power
the title screen would change.

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By pressing down, right, A, B, C and the
start button, players were rewarded

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with an image of a topless woman
next to the Naughty Dog logo.

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Easter eggs are, of course,
not inherently problematic,

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and gaming history is filled with
examples of neat secrets

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that designers have hidden
away for players to discover.

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But too frequently, Easter eggs
are used as another way

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to reward players with women’s bodies.

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Tony Hawk Pro Skater 4 included a secret
unlockable character named Daisy,

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who bore the likeness of
porn star Jenna Jameson.

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Daisy’s sexualized appearance and
skateboard tricks are designed as a reward

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for those players who unlocked her.

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One way to do that is
by entering this code

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Probably one of the most famous
Women as Reward easter eggs

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brings us back to Samus Aran.

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The original Metroid used a password
system to save progress.

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By inputting the secret code
“Justin Bailey” into this system,

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gamers would unlock a powered-up
playable version of Samus

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wearing only her
leotard-style bathing suit.

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Incidentally this is the same outfit we
covered earlier as an end-game reward,

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only here she has the powers of the Varia
Suit and its associated color pallete swap

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which changes her hair color to green.

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Players can then play the entire game as
Samus without her space armor.

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So she ends up exploring
a hostile alien world

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and fighting off deadly monsters
in her underwear.

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“Welcome to the Hovercon intergalactic
hoverboard competition!”

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There’s a bizarre easter egg
in the original Ratchet & Clank:

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If the player does a series of side-flips
in front of a green-skinned alien,

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the woman’s breasts will
suddenly begin to inflate.

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The more gymnastics stunts performed,
the larger her boobs will become.

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There are so many Women as Reward-style
easter eggs in the Metal Gear Solid series

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that it would take several hours
to go over them all.

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First released for the PlayStation in 1998
and then remade for the GameCube in 2004,

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Metal Gear Solid featured not one
but two separate easter eggs

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that allow players to see
Meryl Silverburgh in her underwear.

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The second of these easter eggs requires
players to follow Meryl into the ladies room

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and interrupt her while she is changing.
If this is done quickly enough

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the next cutscene will play with
Meryl in her underwear.

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“Anyway, how did you recognize me in disguise?”

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“I never forget a lady”

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Jumping ahead to the fourth game,

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the protagonist is assigned a psychologist
for PTSD counseling.

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During these remote sessions, if
players shake their Playstation controller

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the psychologist’s breasts will
bounce and jiggle in response.

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“Memories began to resurface
from his childhood,"

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"when he fought for Solidus
in the Liberian Civil War.”

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Keep in mind that easter eggs
are not accidents or glitches.

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They are intentionally put into the game
by the designers,and as a result, indicate

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the value that the designers themselves
place on these female characters.

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They communicate to players that yes,
these women exist for players to exploit

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or experiment with
for their own amusement.