Who else is sick of super sword-wielding babes?

[General Zod]

My mistake? Even then anime/JRPGS would be my next best guess for "type of fantasy game without helmet" if he's not talking about DnD or Tolkien. Both are popular influences.

Even though it's not displayed on the screen after you purchase them, in most fantasy JRPGs there's options to buy helmets and armor. But the limits of the software makes it difficult to actually show each individual one as your character acquires them.

[RazorOutlaw]

Fair point. Final Fantasy did go through my mind, as well as Chrono Trigger but I could have sworn there were other games. "Other games" ah that nebulous phrase...

I would think Kingdom Hearts, because all I remember equipping that Key-sword thing but even then that's only one game, not a fantasy type wide idea. Since I can't think of any other examples I'll concede.

[Molyneux]

Fair point. Final Fantasy did go through my mind, as well as Chrono Trigger but I could have sworn there were other games. "Other games" ah that nebulous phrase...

I would think Kingdom Hearts, because all I remember equipping that Key-sword thing but even then that's only one game, not a fantasy type wide idea. Since I can't think of any other examples I'll concede.

In Kingdom Hearts, you can equip accessories.

[Ghost Rider]

Thread jack split.

[Julhelm]

NOLF2 made Cate significantly more sexualised, however. She got implants and all.

Really? I always thought the tits were bigger in NOLF1. Guess I'll have to go back and check.

[Lord Poe]

Personally I was sick of this cliche waaaaaay back with Xena.

Agreed, and I'll throw "Buffy" in there as well. It got worse when this cliche was taken seriously, and idiots statred replacing male characters with female ones. (Hello, Starbuck!)

The retcons continue. The new Bionic Woman has a bionic eye as well as ears. Yay! No need for the Six Million Dollar Man!

[Darth Servo]

No need for the Six Million Dollar Man!

Of course not. $6 million wouldn't buy jack in terms of those kind of cybernetics. Inflation would make him the Six BILLION dollar man.

[Zixinus]

I do expect women wear practical clothing when it comes to war. A women that is not in armour or even uniform I find difficult to take seriously or respect. When I see high heels on a soldier women in what is supposed to be a field uniform, I can tell she is going to be useless.

Personally, I say is that if they want players to ogle at the female character, make them ogle when one might ogle 'em in a justified situation. That is, if they want to character to wear attracting or, god forbid, revealing clothing, do it when there might be actually some sense in that. Cloths get torn, climate is different, "accidents" happen, and I distinctly recall that women don't always prance around in armour. Which is usually when they are not hailed by a rain of bullets.

Thing is, that requires good writing. You rarely have that in video games.

The whole "chick with kickass sword with no armour" does not necessarily make no sense. There are situations, especially when it comes to magicians, where armour is not necesary or even out of reach for the person. But it makes far less sense when the person actively seeks combat, as then even a good, hard leather clothes can give significant protection againts cuts. Even if the person IS a magician, it is a good idea to go into combat with leather armour then no armour.
EDIT: Also, when I'm not talking about the type of leather you put on for a BDSM session. I'm talking about good old fashioned hardened leather, which is far less shiny and pretty, but is tough.

Also, there is a good comic page on this subject: http://www.studiofoglio.com/cgi/growf.cgi?date=20070304

Ninety Nine Nights bothered me in that regard, what with the main character having full armor on with a big fat hole in the chest.

While I wouldn't call that armour, tha is still a more reasonable clothing then what else I've seen.

I can't fathom why anyone would buy this game because the game's protagonist is clad in a kinky S&M outfit (and leather, to boot - have fun with that chafing!) and massive tits.

Two words: box art.

In my opinion Jade, the protagonist of the criminally underrated Beyond Good and Evil, is another example. Her proportions were relatively reasonable and sane compared to most of the Dead or Alive/Lara Croft derived females in gaming.

I have to agree. She's sexy without being thrown in the face.

I think one of the most understated feminine characters I can think of is Chris from Suikoden 3. She's a main character too.

Holy shit. She's actually resembles a real female knight. Did that actually make it into the game?

Cortana.

A hologram. And justifiable actually, especially if we ask the person that created her avatar. Or programmed to create her avatar.

Ironically, 'berserker' type fighting is utterly retarded by itself. Get this guys: vikings had good armour. People running into combat in their underpants and no defence don't get +5 to attack, they get fucking murdered.

Actually, I recall that berserkers charged into battle bare-chested and were psyhotic. They were often hated in the viking society during times of peace, as they were very violent.

Because the human face is interesting. Usually moreso than a slab of metal.

And that's why they put decorations and carvings of mentioned slabs of metal.

[NecronLord]

In defence of REH, Conan at least has a fine reason for keeping his clothing brief; he comes from way up north, and is usually in the warmer south, and, in the stories I've read at least, is primarily about thieving. He's climing up walls and down them, hewing some bad guys, stealing their stuff, and climbing some more, most days. Armour, aside from being quite noisy, would be extra weight.

And frankly, if you want your heroines to look sexy, it's quite easy; Don't have them wear armour. like this. Just because someone carried a sword in historical times, didn't mean they wore armour all the time. Plate armour's pretty damn cumbersome, and to my knowledge was only worn for full on battles and tournaments (which produced some truly absurd examples, including ones where men couldn't stand up again if they fell down). Other examples of armour are likely to be worn more commonly, but for your average 'single character' without an armoury to draw on, it's quite easy to justify them not bothering with armour.

Especially in an age, with say, bullets, or longbowmen.

"This helmet, I suppose, Was meant to ward off blows, It's very hot And weighs a lot, As many a guardsman knows, As many a guardsman knows, As many a guardsman knows, As many a guardsman knows, So off, so off that helmet goes!"

[Darth Wong]

Personally I was sick of this cliche waaaaaay back with Xena.

Agreed, and I'll throw "Buffy" in there as well. It got worse when this cliche was taken seriously, and idiots statred replacing male characters with female ones. (Hello, Starbuck!)

I actually liked the original movie Buffy, because it was so obviously silly. It was a B-movie comedy vampire story, with a cheerleader. The problem was that Josh Whedon took his original idea and expanded upon it dramatically, and this was really not a premise that had a lot of serious dramatic potential behind it unless you threw away your brain.

[Covenant]

Holy shit. She's actually resembles a real female knight. Did that actually make it into the game?

Yeah, Chris is one of the three main characters, and the lead knight of a group of knights, and plays a big role. So she's actually a big star who spends a great deal of her time completely armored for war like a knight and is still feminine. It's kinda sad that she merits a 'holy shit!' response, since we're not used to seeing video game babes who don't look like swimsuit-clad streetwalkers.

Box Art

One of the few games where Knights actually ride horses, as well. Again, fully armored, sans helmet.

[Civil War Man]

The Knights of the Old Republic games does a decent job of avoiding this cliche. Female characters running around with swords while not wearing armor is a result of them being Jedi, and all of them are guilty of that.

The female characters don't really get sexualized, either (barring, of course, Rule 34). Of course, Mission is 14, Juhani is a freaky-looking cat creature, and Kreia is wrinkled and old. Still, that leaves Bastila, plus Visas, Mira, and Handmaiden from The Sith Lords. And out of those four, Mira is the only one who plays up the "I wear revealing clothes to distract men during a fight" cliche, and if I remember, she acknowledges it on a few occasions.

[RIPP_n_WIPE]

But how exactly do you figure "no one wears helms"? What sort of fantasy are you talking about, exactly? Even in the instances I can think of where helms are the least common (such as D&D-type adventure settings), usually The Paladin or the The Fighter will often have a big honking great helm or coif.

I don't mean to speak for him, or to sound snide, but I'm guessing anime has that influence typically. And anything inspired by Conan in particular.

You're right about Western RPGS, most characters DO have a full set of gear.

Lineage 2 Admittedly an East Asian RPG, but makes the point none the less.

http://www.cyberkreations.com/kreations ... ineage.jpg
This one is no helm + crappy ass armor
http://cache.kotaku.com/gaming/CH3_AGrade2.jpg
http://static.mmoabc.com/www/web/2007/6 ... 392522.jpg

LoTR Online

http://a248.e.akamai.net/f/248/5462/2h/ ... pc_128.jpg
http://img.qj.net/uploads/articles_modu ... jgenth.jpg
http://ui04.gamespot.com/1763/screenshot00002_2.jpg

DDO
http://images.mmosite.com/news/2006/07/12/ddo1.jpg

Now I'm not saying that those games don't (cept for L2) allow helms but it's more common to see folks without them than with.

[The Yosemite Bear]

Remember one has to be female to kill the witchking, but having a hobbit stab it in the leg first helps.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Remember one has to be female to kill the witchking, but having a hobbit stab it in the leg first helps.

Well, the Hobbit in question had a dagger which incidentally was enchanted...

But the woman and the Witchking, prophecy nonetheless.

[Zixinus]

Plate armour's pretty damn cumbersome, and to my knowledge was only worn for full on battles and tournaments (which produced some truly absurd examples, including ones where men couldn't stand up again if they fell down).

Plate armour was also expensive as hell. Only knights who really needed it could afford it, and even only the noblemen among them.

It's kinda sad that she merits a 'holy shit!' response, since we're not used to seeing video game babes who don't look like swimsuit-clad streetwalkers.

Hear, hear! Yes, I was deeply surprised because that's how I imagine how a real female knight would have looked like, and I'm surprised that they DIDN'T sexulize the poor lass but still looks like a women. That, I actually find a good sign regarding art direction.

[Galvatron]

It bothers me more when the character is some super-serious prude, yet she still insists on going into battle dressed in a provocative way.

A character like Bloodrayne, on the other hand, knows she's a piece of ass and deliberately dresses the part.

And just to fire up your ire even more...

http://www.babeswithblades.com

[Imperial Overlord]

In defence of REH, Conan at least has a fine reason for keeping his clothing brief; he comes from way up north, and is usually in the warmer south, and, in the stories I've read at least, is primarily about thieving. He's climing up walls and down them, hewing some bad guys, stealing their stuff, and climbing some more, most days. Armour, aside from being quite noisy, would be extra weight.

In the stories at least, Conan often wore light armour.