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By the time Lara Croft made her gun-toting leap into the 3D gaming space, trends were allowing women to become more independent and well-written from a character perspective, but still heavily sexualized.
As we entered the last generation, the game portrayal of women was still lagging behind their place in society, making the industry distinctly backwards and underdeveloped from an overall societal perspective. Needlessly objectified, and still far less prominent than the cavalcade of male heroes, games still hadn't quite achieved equality.
So as we begin to wrap up this series honoring Women's History Month, we're taking a look at the most recent female heroine to buck the trend of other games surrounding her. On a distant planet, a young woman discovered both the government's role and her own in a vast conspiracy. With a sharp wit, street smarts and a group of colorful friends, Jade from Beyond Good & Evil was like no one we had seen before.
Jade Fights Aliens... and Poor Sales Figures
Developed by Ubisoft in their French studio, the series was originally planned as a trilogy. Michel Ancel, the lead designer of the game, wanted to use the medium of games to explore the need to "investigate beyond the superficial facts of what is good and what is evil," leading to its conspiracy-laden storyline. To deliver this, he put the player in the role of an photographer, making Jade just as much a spy or voyeur as a fighter.
It was released widely, on all three major consoles and even a PC version. Though the game was met with critical praise, the first sold poorly, and Ubisoft has since been hesitant to revisit the franchise. The latest we've heard of the further exploits of Jade was in 2006, when Ancel commented that he was looking into the possibility of continuing it to its full trilogy form, but could not promise anything.
Jade the Goddess
Jade's history is complex, as it takes place in a world so different from our own. Jade is a woman on the planet Hillys, which has seen frequent attacks by the DomZ recently. The Alpha Sections, a part of the Hillys army, comes in to triumphantly save the day, but things seem suspicious.
Jade has been peacefully looking after the orphans of people captured by the DomZ, but soon takes an assignment to photograph a rare creature. Camera in tow, she discovers that it was a cover mission to recruit her to the IRIS Network, which is bent on uncovering the Alpha Sections conspiracy.
As Jade progresses through the IRIS network's missions, she makes new friends while slowly inching closer to the truth behind the shadowy organization. She is shocked to discover the leader of the Alpha Sections speaking directly to a DomZ High Priest, and it quickly becomes apparent that the Alpha Sections are working under their control. They purposely save only a vast minority of the people captured, to give the appearance of working for the people without compromising the DomZ's plans.
As she digs further, she finds further that she herself is wrapped in the conspiracy. In fact, she is not human at all; the enemies of the DomZ had stolen the life force from the DomZ High Priest and stored it, in human form, inside of Jade. Our heroine eventually realizes the true power this gives her and uses it to destroy the High Priest and save her friends.
Why Was She So Important?
The first part of the importance of Jade is carried inside the title of the game. Though previous heroines had some interesting stories and characterization, this marks one of the first games that strove for a social message as well. Dealing with moral relativism and looking behind lies of the government, this is the first of our series that used the convention of games to make a larger point about our own society.
Unlike many previous heroines, Jade was not highly trained, fabulously wealthy, or super-powered (at least throughout most of the game). She was a photographer, trying to help within the constrictions of her alien society, and had no particular aspirations of being a hero in any way. She is, in a bizarre way, the most "normal" woman of this series, and more identifiable as such.
Finally, though not unattractive by any conventional means, Jade certainly doesn't carry herself as the buxom blue-eyed Caucasian that many Western gamers would expect from a heroine. Her clothing was not especially revealing as compared to many other heroines, and Ubisoft never attempted to objectify her, in the game itself or marketing for it.
On the Other Hand...
It's difficult to think of a drawback for Jade, really. Though it took quite a while to achieve it, Jade has more or less caught up the medium of games with other forms of media. There's still plenty to be done, but at least her game is not lagging behind the progress as compared to movies or television.
However, as can be expected from any popular heroine, Jade has already been depicted and written about from various slobbering gamers in compromising ways. This seems inescapable in the current gaming landscape, and we can only hope that if sequels are made, Ubisoft doesn't take note of and exploit it.
It's also worth pointing out that the poor sales figures do not bode well for a strong-willed, modern female. Though her character and game has received adulation from fellow game developers, who no doubt have taken some lessons from it and will continue to develop those ideas, seeing the game sell poorly runs the risk of reinforcing the idea that a game needs the sexualized female to sell. Game companies are businesses first and foremost, so we may see her progress lost in favor of capitalism. Only time will tell.
Next Time: In Conclusion...
Next time, we'll examine some of the major similarities and differences between the various heroines examined in the series, and how they progressed throughout the years. I'll also take a look at some of the women that, for one reason or another, missed the cut to be part of the series.
