The Forgotten Girlies of Video Game History

Before Aloy roamed post-post-apocalyptic plains and 2B made existential dread look effortlessly chic and mega slay, there were other women, bold, pixelated, often overlooked, who helped shape the legacy of female characters in video games. They fought, they adventured, they pushed genre and gender boundaries, and most importantly, they existed in a time when being a playable female lead was a rebellion in itself.

Let’s raise a Power Glove to some of the unsung girlies who paved the way:

Joanna Dark – Perfect Dark (2000)
Dubbed “female James Bond” by those who hadn’t played it, Joanna Dark was so much more. With high-tech espionage skills, witty one-liners, and a solid dose of late-90s attitude, she led a critically acclaimed first-person shooter that rivalled GoldenEye 007. Her disappearance from modern lineups is a crime worthy of a stealth mission.

Jennifer Tate – Primal (2003)
With demon-slaying abilities and a supernatural plot that saw her shifting between realms, Jen Tate was giving Buffy meets Devil May Cry. She was tough, sarcastic, and deeply human, flawed and fiery in a game that tried (and mostly succeeded) to give its heroine true emotional depth.

Arle Nadja – Puyo Puyo (1991)
Before falling blobs became meme-able puzzle icons, Arle Nadja was already working her magical girl charm. Originating from the Madou Monogatari RPG series, she brought a sparkly mix of spellcasting and smarts to a franchise that quietly gave girls room to be leads, even in block-matching hell.

Regina – Dino Crisis (1999)
Resident Evil gets the love, but what about its dino-infested cousin? Regina was cool under pressure, clever, and, most importantly, unafraid of dinosaurs. Her sleek red hair and tactical jumpsuit may scream late-'90s aesthetic, but her legacy as a capable lead in survival horror deserves a fossil-fuelled comeback.

NiGHTS – NiGHTS into Dreams… (1996)
Is NiGHTS a girlie? In vibe, absolutely. While technically genderless, the dreamlike, ethereal energy of this gravity-defying character gave soft femme energy decades before it was cool. NiGHTS’ whimsical design and fluidity offered a kind of gender-liberated escapism, one that queer and femme players latched onto long before mainstream characters offered that space.

These women and femme-coded icons might not have had the benefit of cinematic trailers or AAA marketing budgets, but they mattered. They cracked open the doors of possibility for what women in games could be: weird, wild, wonderful, and powerful.

So next time you boot up a modern masterpiece starring a badass woman, spare a thought for the girlies who came before, trailblazers in tank tops, magical garb, or jumpsuits, pixelating the path forward one low-poly frame at a time.