Third-Person Seductress: Difference between revisions

{{quote|'''Francis:''' Yeah, of course I'm a chick. If I'm gonna be staring at an ass in tights all day, it might as well be a nice ass!|''[[Pv P]]'', [http://www.pvponline.com/2004/06/01/tue-jun-01/ June 1st, 2004].}}

A quick look at the demographics of the game industry sheds some light on this. Since [[Most Gamers Are Male]], Toby Gard (the creator of Lara Croft during the development of ''[[Tomb Raider]]'') decided that if the game was going to show the back end of a character for hour upon hour, [[Male Gaze|then it may as well be the back end of a pretty girl.]] Some women also enjoy these characters, as they have [[Action Girl|a very attractive avatar to identify with while kicking ass]].

Note also that a [[Third Person Seductress]] does not guarantee the success of a game; many of the examples below sold poorly and are the [[Incredibly Lame Pun|butt]] of much snark concerning their protagonists when it's perceived that the developers were banking on sex appeal to sell their product.

== [[Action Adventure]] ==

* [[Ms. Fanservice|Rachel]] from ''[[Ninja Gaiden]] Sigma''. You can even change her hairstyle to your liking, because we all know such things are important when slaughtering enemies with a giant axe.

* ''[[Bayonetta]]'' takes this to its logical conclusion; her magical hair forms her costume, and is used for her attacks. This means that parts of her clothing disappear during attacks, and her finishing moves render her entirely naked aside from just enough coverage to keep it from getting an AO rating. The pure absurdity of the sex appeal on display in the trailers alone - never mind the final product - was almost certainly intentional on the part of the development team, many of whom are Clover refugees. [[Okami|Knowing]] [[God Hand|their]] [[Viewtiful Joe|previous]] [[Mad World|work]], they seem quite happy taking [[Refuge in Audacity]] and keeping a self-mocking sense of humor throughout.

* April O'Neil in the ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles the Arcade Game|Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' arcade game, in which winks to the player during the attract sequence. Likewise, she also winks to the player at the end of ''[[Turtles in Time]]''.

* [[Dissidia Final Fantasy]] brings FF's more... inventive female character designs into a more clear 3D perspective. Then there are the the DLC outfits, [[Final Fantasy X 2|Yuna's]] deserving special mention.

* The game ''[[Trespasser]]'', while technically an FPS, places the player as a female; when mouselooking downwards, one's view of the ground was substantially and startlingly blocked by a pair of breasts in a scoop-neck top. That's where your health meter ''tattoo'' is. Viewing from just the ''right'' angle reveals that besides the "health meter" and her right arm she doesn't have anything in the way of a body. A half-finished third person camera mode was left in the game after it shipped, and using it reveals pretty interesting results: Your player character is literally nothing but a floating pair of breasts, a right arm and a gun.

** Note however this should be taken in context of the game as a whole. One major design point of the game was to create a completely HUD less game. The health tattoo was mention to be a part of it along side elements such as no reticle, you shot along your gun sight (and you controlled your arm) as opposed to the center of the screen and controlling your view, you had no ammo counter, and so forth.

** Certain outfits emphasize or highlight female characters' breasts. Most notorious is the Homebound clothing set, which is designed to add at least 2 cups sizes to the characters' bust. On top of that, "underarmour" sets are [[Revenue Enhancing Devices|available in the cash shop]] to replace the boring basic default set. These range from full-body outfits that resemble armoured motorcycle suits, to [[Stripperiffic|barely anything at all]].

** Turned up another notch with mage character Evie. Her primary armour is magical and passive; with her clothing functioning primarily as [[Stat Sticks]]. Result: many cute female characters running around in their underwear.

== [[Platform Game]] ==

== [[Role Playing Game]] ==

* The ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' series, while not a 3PS, has had plenty of examples since VII: [[Final Fantasy VII|Tifa Lockhart]], [[Final Fantasy X|Rikku, Lulu]], [[Final Fantasy X 2|Yuna, Rikku]] (again, in ''X-2'', this time with more [[Stripperiffic]] outfits), [[Final Fantasy VII|Yuffie Kisaragi]] (''Advent Children'' only), [[Final Fantasy XII|Fran]].

** Even before ''FFVII'', female protagonists tended to be rather skimpily clad, but since they were also tiny SD pixels, no one noticed. The standard outfit for a SNES-era FF heroine was a one-piece bathing suit and some shoulder armor (e.g. Rosa, Celes).

** The future DS remakes and the CG artwork make this more obvious.

* ''[[Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines]]''. Female Malkavian character wears stripper outfits as higher level armor.

** And cheerleader outfits as lower level armor. And both cowgirl and dominatrix cop outfits for medium level armor. It should also be noted that there is a cheatcode in the game specifically for increasing the size of all female Malkavian breasts.

** Played straighter in Fable3 where the Princess/Queen is prettymuch ALWAYS hot to some degree, even if you make her fat, she just gets kinda chubby. Outfits can apply a variety of different effects, from skintight to short shorts with stockings, You can of course forgo pants altogether and fight evil monsters in your underwear.

* Arguably the entire point of Mira in [[Knights of the Old Republic]] 2.

* ''[[Even the Guys Want Him|All]]'' of the [[Player Characters]] in [[Jade Empire]] count, but [http://images.wikia.com/jadeempire/images/a/a4/Loadscreen-WuTheLotusBlossom.jpg Wu the Lotus Blossom] has to take the cake.

* The second and third [[Mass Effect]] games began applying this trope. While in the first it was pretty subtle, the second game throws subtlely right out the window, with love interests getting quite a bit of interesting camera time, and the absence of the heavy armor from the first game in favor of tight outfits that resemble [[Spy Catsuits]] and kinky gear. Even [[Player Character|Shepard]] got in on the act. His\her face can be customized, but the body and default looks are nothing to be sneezed at, at all. Throw in how nice s\he looks in the armor, [[Badass in A Nice Suit|several]] optional [[Little Black Dress|outfits]] and some of the camera angles and Shepard qualifies.

* ''[[Operators Side|Operator's Side / Lifeline]]'' took this to the extreme with main character Rio, whom the player didn't control - instead, she followed vocal commands. Ads played up the idea that "[[Blatant Lies|She'll do anything you ask her to]]," ignoring how limited the vocal recognition technology actually was. They did, however, include a few hidden commands that literally served no purpose other than making her strike poses.

* ''[[Blood Rayne]]'' has the half-vampire Rayne, in the 1940s, wearing an outfit that resembles latex fetish wear. She recovers health by latching on to enemies and sucking their necks. She has a tendency to pole-dance through jumping puzzles.

* Vanessa Z Schneider of ''[[PN 03]]'' is, more or less, a heavily sexualised female version of the Storm Troopers from ''[[Star Wars]]''. Her shapely rear is heavily emphasised by the tight-fitting outfits, her hips wiggle more emphatically with each level of autofire the player gains, and she curls her limbs every which way when doing her "smart bomb" attacks. Oh, and the "expert" costume (maximum abilities, zero defense) consists of a high-tech sports bra, [[Thong of Shielding|thong]], and kinky boots.

* Can be played straight or averted in ''[[Dark Forces Saga|Jedi Academy]]'' depending on the player's choices in customizing his/her avatar:

** Human female avatars are a surprising aversion, as all clothing options for them are sensible and modest.

** Averted for everyone during the Hoth levels, as the player character wears cold weather gear regardless of species or gender.

* Rubi from ''[[Wet]]'' somehow manages to be both a tough, no-nonsense [[Action Girl]], without any excesses above and below and dressed appropriately for the kind of work she is in, and ''simultaneously'' a sleek and sexy example this trope.