The Madonna/Whore Complex

Samus Aran is an orphan, raised by a mysterious alien race called the Chozo. Infused with their DNA and wearing a bulky power suit, she travels the galaxy as a bounty hunter. She hunts down the Space Pirates and fights alien parasites called Metroid with her cunning, her suit upgrades, and her gunship.

Isabella "Ivy" Valentine is the adopted daughter of an English noble (but truly the spawn of the wielder of Soul Edge, Cervantes, a dread pirate from the Spanish Armanda). Her parents were consumed by Soul Edge, working themselves to death over trying to find out more information of the fabled sword. She inherited their riches and in the process of vowing to avenge their deaths, ended up entangled in the schemes of various villains.

Both characters are rooted in worlds of fantasy and adventure. Both characters have backgrounds that drive them to pursue some fantastic goal with many perils.

So what's the difference?

I've picked these two characters because they perfectly fit how the madonna/whore archetype fits into gaming. Samus is the Madonna. Fans are annoyed when she only wears her Zero Suit, or even by her character design in the upcoming The Other M game. Samus is a real female protaganist, her fans argue. She's strong and determined. IGN says her theme song should be "Dude {Looks Like A Lady}" as after all - she runs around in a power suit and blasts monsters! That's masculine and so crazy a woman could do it. She's placed on hot lists and her sexuality is argued over, but there's a pretty firm consensus that Samus is the ideal that women should live up to.

On the other hand, Ivy has a dominatrix style, down to her weapon. Her legs are more elongated in every gap, her hips and shoulders narrow, her breasts are enlarged. She has a husky, sexy voice that she chuckles and taunts her opponents in. She is utterly unrealistic in every way, from anatomy to character. Ivy is the Whore of the Madonna/Whore relationship.

Of course, just as in life, neither woman gets a fair shake from the Madonna/Whore complex. Ivy's background, which initially attracted her to me, is shattered. It is hard to take her seriously at all as a character. When you complain, people tell you that it is too much to take women in fighting games (or fantasy worlds, or MMOs, or science fiction, or comic books...) seriously, as after all it is just a fantasy. Samus is treated as a novelty sometimes. In her first appearance, she poses in a pink bikini for the viewer, and many people were shocked that she was a woman. Every depiction where she is not in her suit is criticized. When gamers complain about her breasts being too large or her depiction unrealistic, you wonder where these guys were when every other game was released. It seems only protagonists like Samus deserve their defense.

It's refreshing to see games where women are rounded, complex beings. Of course, even then, these characters are not exempt from criticism. Even Commander Shepard isn't exempt from criticism, as she can be a 'whore' for having such flirty dialogue with Jacob. (Male Shepard is never called a whore, even though you can have sex with Jack then go and romance Miranda)

Ideally, women would be... well, people, and it wouldn't be a big deal if they fought monsters. They could have character designs that suited their backgrounds (as opposed to just wank material). Maybe we'd have more characters with the respect and integrity of Samus, without the impossible standards.