Female gamers aren't a new thing, we have always been here; we have always been fitting in. This has always been our turf. I don't care for the new wave of femme gamers that claim to speak for me about how I am slighted, sexualized, or discounted because of being a female in gaming. I've been here since Atari.
Some of Keri Thomas’s gaming memorabilia from Final Fantasy and Pokemon are displayed at her home on Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2016, in East Ridge, Tenn. A recent study found that even though the numbers of male and female gamers are evenly split, most Americans think the majority of gamers are men.Timeline of heroines
The following characters are among the most famous female characters — whether heroine or villainess — in video gaming:› Princess Peach: “Super Mario” series (various games 1985-present)› Princess Zelda/Sheik/Tetra: “Legend of Zelda” series (various games 1986-present)› Samus Aran: “Metroid” series (various games 1986-2010)› Chun-Li: “Street Fighter” series (various games 1991-present)› Kitana: “Mortal Kombat” series (various games 1993-present)› Jill Valentine: “Resident Evil” series (various games 1996-present)› Lara Croft: “Tomb Raider” series (1996-present)› Aeris and Tifa Lockhart: “Final Fantasy VII” (1997)› Meryl Silverburgh: “Metal Gear Solid” (1998) and “Metal Gear Solid 4” (2008)› Aya Brea: “Parasite Eve” trilogy (1998-2010)› Sarah Kerrigan: “Starcraft” series (1998-present)› Cortana: “Halo” series (2001-2015)› Cate Archer: “No One Lives Forever” (2000) and “No One Lives Forever 2” (2003)› Jade: “Beyond Good & Evil” (2003)› Alyx Vance: “Half-Life 2” (2004), “Half-Life 2: Episode 1” (2006) and “Half-Life 2: Episode 2” (2007)› Amaterasu: “Okami” (2006)› Nariko: “Heavenly Sword” (2007)› Chell: “Portal” (2007) and “Portal 2” (2011)› Liara T’Soni: “Mass Effect” trilogy (2007-2012)› Elena Fisher: “Uncharted” series (2007-present)› Faith: “Mirror’s Edge” (2008) and “Mirror’s Edge Catalyst” (2016)› Lilith: “Borderlands” (2009) and “Borderlands 2” (2012)› Lightning: “Final Fantasy XIII” (2010), “Final Fantasy XIII-2” (2012) and “Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII” (2014)› Bonnie MacFarlane: “Red Dead Redemption” (2010)› Bayonetta: “Bayonetta” (2009) and “Bayonetta 2” (2014)› Anya Stroud: “Gears of War 3” (2011)› Aveline de Grandpré: “Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation” (2012)
When she was growing up, there was no one Keri Thomas wanted to be more than Lara Croft.
Now 26, Thomas remembers playing the video game “Tomb Raider” at age 7 and falling pistols over bootheels in love with the game’s fearless, globe-trotting, puzzle-solving heroine.
“Just because of her, I wanted to be an archaeologist,” the East Ridge resident recalls. “I was going to the library because of ‘Tomb Raider’ to look up tombs and artifacts and to learn about them.”