Tomb Raider: The Representation Of Females In Gaming

The Representation of Females in Gaming

2015 marks the release of the second game in the reboot Tomb Raider franchise, Rise of the Tomb Raider, staring Lara Croft on another one of her action packed adventures. Thus marking the chance to talk about the representation of females in gaming.

Lara Croft is the most famous female protagonist in gaming from the last three generations of console but before her rise to fame, the gaming community had the Metroid series’ to play. Metroid defined gaming with the “original jaw-dropping moment”. At the end of the 1986 Metroid release it's revealed that the character under the suit is Samas Aran, a female in a pink bikini, at a time when gaming was all about man power and saving the "Damsel in Distress". No one assumed that a female was the one kicking alien arse. Instead many gamers played the game thinking the main protagonist was a male called Metroid…Later it was released that by typing in the cheat code ‘Justin Bailey’ players were treated to the hero with all the upgraded weapons

During the development of the original Tomb Raider a designer ‘accidently’ coded Lara’s breasts to be 150% bigger than the intended size and was later "persuaded" to keep them in the game. This later lead to a rumour about a nude cheat, which would result in Lara stripping down to her birthday suit. Luckily this ended up being a gaming myth but that didn’t stunt the attempt of eager male players who wanted to see beneath the short shorts and tank top. Players still speculate about the Tomb Raider nude code today; which ensures Lara Croft's position as a sex symbol in gaming. But with the release of the reboot Tomb Raider franchise Lara's build has changed to a more proportioned, realistic style, more representative of the average size 10 instead of a size 2 with double Ds. Although it hasn't stopped the character from being completely sexualised, it has provided a more realistic standard for