5. Kitana—Mortal Kombat
Despite being so flimsily dressed and obviously for sex appeal in a very “manly” game, Kitana is actually one of the best things since sliced bread. For starters, she’s a princess—a princess! When one thinks of a princess, killing with steel fans and being able to crush a man’s head between her thighs aren’t the first things that comes to mind, which is why Kitana is so cool. Since debuting in Mortal Kombat II, Kitana has always been a favorite. Aside from being a princess, she led an army to destroy one of the main villains of the game—Shao Kahn. Her tagline, “You will learn respect!” is also really awesome. Seriously, a pretty princess war general with obscenely muscular thighs and all she wants is respect? If Kitana isn’t a favorite, I don’t know what a favorite is.
4. Crystal—Pokémon
Sure, she’s the wordless protagonist, but Crystal is a really huge deal. She debuted in Pokémon Crystal, the sixth Pokémon game to be released for handheld in the United States. Up to this point, legions of girls playing Pokémon would have to play as either Red or Gold, who are both male characters. July 29, 2001, girls everywhere were finally given a character they could relate to in their beloved franchise. This inclusion no doubt increased the sales of the franchise and made it more relatable to players everywhere. The trend of including female characters stuck, as every Pokémon game since has provided the player the option to play as a girl. No such dramatic change has been made to a Pokémon game until the recent release of X and Y, where players can finally play as characters of different races.
Despite not having anything to say in the video games, Crys is super spunky and strong in both the manga and the spin-off series, Pokémon Chronicles. So, yeah: Crys is kind of a big deal.
3. Xianghua—Soul Calibur
Xianghua is awesome for a lot of reasons. For starters, she’s super skilled at swordplay—a skill she learned from her mom, who was so good with a sword that she surpassed her teachers (who, by the way, were super intense sword fighting monks that spent their lives training). At age sixteen, Xianghua joined the Imperial Guard. After joining the Guard, she was sent by the emperor to find the “Hero’s Sword.” Furthermore, her story is a lot like a bildungsroman. Up until Soul Calibur II, the major lesson she is trying to learn is to not lie. Basically, Xianghua is just awesome for kicking a whole lot of butt.
2. Samus Aran—Metroid
Nintendo’s Samus is super cool because she was introduced in 1986. To have a female protagonist in such a “butch” game so way back when is actually kind of a huge deal. And she wasn’t like a “Secret Agent Barbie”-type protagonist—Samus is an ex-Galactic Federation soldier turned into a bounty hunter. She is usually guised in an Iron Man-like suit. Samus’s back story is also pretty neat—after her planet was invade by space pirates and her parents were killed, she was taken by the bird alien race “Chozo” and infused with their DNA so that she would be strong in foreign environments. Also really cool is the reason for which she was called upon as a bounty hunter—“for her superior skills and sense of justice.”
1. Yuna—Final Fantasy
Yuna is a badass because she can summon these grand creatures known as Aeons. She gets her impressive summoning skills from her dad, High Summoner Braska. She’s also totally willing to risk her life in order to prevent the bad guy (Sin) from destroying all of creation. Then in Final Fantasy X-2, she becomes a sphere hunter because her friend Rikku shows her a movie sphere that reveals her lover, Tidus, trapped in a cage asking for her help. She’s essentially a reverse damsel in distress, having to save her “prince” from misfortune. And also, she’s got heterochromia—if dual colored eyes aren’t cool, I really don’t know what is. Essentially, Yuna goes at it hard, and she’s seriously the bomb.