Which DOA girl is the best feminist model ?

[KwonJigglypuff]

DOA isn't known as a fighting game with a representative roster regarding its females. "Feminist" is probably a bit strong here, but let's try to find some redeeming factors for our babes.

If you had a daughter, which one of our 13 DOA babes would you like her to have as a model ?
Which female would Simone de Beauvoir give her seal of approval to ? Who is our Rosie the Riveter ? (lol)

Obviously, every sexualized aspect is emilimated here : close your eyes and try to forget that they have tons of bikinis, big boobs and suggestive lose poses.
We're only talking about behaviour, background, bio, personality, personal achievements, etc.

Took down her own uncle, best fighter in the world canon-wise, fighting for freedom
Demonstration of the "American dream", strong and confident attitude, willing to become governor
Tomboyish personality in the 1rst installment, took down a whole gang, now cannot live without stalking
Took down her own foster father, solely Kasumi's rival in several games, likes to troll Eliot
CEO of a big company, business woman, went from reveange to peace, motherly attitude
Tried to gather money in order to save her father, adventurous spirit, now only Hayate's love interest
Independant assassin, lack of description regarding her real ambition, men are "toys" for her
Went from peotic to dope, biggest achievement was flooring a flirting Brad
Scientist during the night, luchadora during the day, schizophrenic ambitions though
True definition of a modern fighter, tomboyish attitude, works hard to "survive" in NYC
Petite girl able to compete with big muscles, "maid/servant" role
Designed to be the female version of a male boss, teasing personality
Seems to enjoy life, we don't know much as for now

So according to you who is the "strongest female" and best role model ? Who is the worst model ?

 

[KwonJigglypuff]

To answer my own question, quite suprisingly, I'd say Tina is the strongest female : she can live on her own, doesn't need anyone to make her dreams come true, doesn't rely on her father, and have great physical aptitudes. Sure sometimes she can seem superficial, as she wishes to become a superstar, but I can't wait to see what TN has in store regarding her political carreer.

In my opinion, Kokoro is probably the worst "female model", as she doesn't show any real ambition, as she was designed to be the perfect "yamato nadeshiko" (the perfect "waifu" if you want), and sometimes seems a bit brainless and meek. Not a terrible model, but nothing special to look at. If only she could focus more on her artistic side, she would be more interesting...

Funny enough, we can see that DOA used to have strong females depicted as newcomers, but now, even if we take out all the oversexualization, the newcomers don't real stand out as real life models in terms of attitude and background. But again, do the males we have in DOA do any better ? To be fair, I'm not sure female characters in video games have to prove anything...

 

[Mayor-Of-Mustard]

Mila...I guess.

 

[Doa_Eater]

It's definitely Tina, Helena and Lisa. Now under questionable situations you can make every girl a feminist, but those would be icons.

Just watch out from the Joker girls or else we'll just write him to behave more nicely.

 

[TLEE SAID THIS:]

Contrary to what third-wave feminists think of the series, almost the entire female cast embodies empowering attributes. But if I would have to break it down:

1) Kasumi - Strong and independent, elite ninja willing to be exiled by her clan to rescue her brother and at the risk of her life.
2) Ayane - Strong, achieves to be one of the best in her clan despite her demonic and subordinate background.
3) Tina - Strong and independent, figure of confidence, unafraid of showing female aspects, and wrestling superstar.
4) Christie - Strong - Bonafide femme-fatale.
5) Helena - Strong, intelligent, and independent - CEO of international weapons dealer DOATEC, motherly figure, and all woman.
6) Hitomi - Strong - Karate master, made it very far in a renowned fighting tournament.
7) Lisa/ La Mariposa - Strong and intelligent - A scientist by day, proficient masked wrestler at night.
8) Mila - Strong - Top ranking MMA fighter.
9) Rachel - Strong and independent - Hunts demons.
10) Nyotengu - Strong and independent - Knows what she wants, does not let age (1018) inhibit sex appeal, and embraces her sex appeal.

The rest are kinda bleh.

 

[CFW]

I would very much say that each female character is actually well-written when removing what reduces their character in the first place. They could have layers if TN actually tried. Like really tried, they all have massive potential.

I'm going to avoid using the words "strong" and "independent" because they really don't mean anything in this context.

 

[UncleKitchener]

Depends on how you define feminism.

And that pretty much belongs to DOA 3 .

 

[Kiraragirl200]

I've been meaning to eventually write an essay regarding this topic but I just couldn't get around to it.
The series has a lot of feminist potential, and all of the women have some positive attributes, but as a whole it just falls flat at times (especially in the latest games)
I'll just list my favorites for now.

Tina- Defies her father's set dreams for her, followers her own, and accomplishes them
Leifang- Demands to be treated as an equal to the one who saved her as a young teenager and fights for it, who is also smart college student (I really looked up to her as a preteen)
Lisa- An incredible scientist, and champion volleyball player (her being a woman with darker skin is a plus)
Helena- A woman in power, A CEO of one of the most powerful companies on earth at the young age of 21
Ayane- Became leader of the Hajinmon sect of the Mugen Tenshin at 16, and despite her horrible and messed up past she came through and became one of the best of her clan
Kasumi- While having little desire to fight or hurt others, she would do anything to protect her family and those she loves
Hitomi- Compassionate and independent, and seeks to improve herself after surpassing her father in Karate

 

[KwonJigglypuff]

I've been meaning to eventually write an essay regarding this topic but I just couldn't get around to it.
The series has a lot of feminist potential, and all of the women have some positive attributes, but as a whole it just falls flat at times (especially in the latest games)
I'll just list my favorites for now.

Tina- Defies her father's set dreams for her, followers her own, and accomplishes them
Leifang- Demands to be treated as an equal to the one who saved her as a young teenager and fights for it, who is also smart college student (I really looked up to her as a preteen)
Lisa- An incredible scientist, and champion volleyball player (her being a woman with darker skin is a plus)
Helena- A women in power, A CEO of one of the most powerful companies on earth at the young age of 21
Ayane- Became leader of the Hajinmon sect of the Mugen Tenshin at 16, and despite her horrible and messed up past she came through and became one of the best of her clan
Kasumi- While having little desire to fight or hurt others, she would do anything to protect her family and those she loves
Hitomi- Compassionate and independent, and seeks to improve herself after surpassing her father in Karate

While I totally agree with you, it's sad to see most of these elements weren't really highlighted in DOA5.
Hence the need to have musical endings perhaps..

 

[Kiraragirl200]

While I totally agree with you, it's sad to see most of these elements weren't really highlighted in DOA5.
Hence the need to have musical endings perhaps..

Yeah, that's one of the main reasons why I have so much beef with Dimensions/5 (IMO those two games felt more like a "new canon" rather than a continuation of the previous titles (I'm aware that's not what's intended) due to a lot of noticeable story/character changes) , the majority of the characters feel either OOC or shadows of what they used to be. While I'm not saying that DOA1-4 are perfect masterpieces of feminism and story telling (both canons have serious flaws), but I feel like the old canon just does a much better job with this (especially DOA3).
I feel like the story could benefit from having each character their own CGI endings again.

 

[David Gregg]

My vote goes to Kasumi. Takes a lot to betray your entire clan for what you believe in and become a runaway shinobi.

 

[Dark-truth]

kasumi

DOA isn't known as a fighting game with a representative roster regarding its females. "Feminist" is probably a bit strong here, but let's try to find some redeeming factors for our babes.

If you had a daughter, which one of our 13 DOA babes would you like her to have as a model ?
Which female would Simone de Beauvoir give her seal of approval to ? Who is our Rosie the Riveter ? (lol)

Obviously, every sexualized aspect is emilimated here : close your eyes and try to forget that they have tons of bikinis, big boobs and suggestive lose poses.
We're only talking about behaviour, background, bio, personality, personal achievements, etc.

Took down her own uncle, best fighter in the world canon-wise, fighting for freedom
Demonstration of the "American dream", strong and confident attitude, willing to become governor
Tomboyish personality in the 1rst installment, took down a whole gang, now cannot live without stalking
Took down her own foster father, solely Kasumi's rival in several games, likes to troll Eliot
CEO of a big company, business woman, went from reveange to peace, motherly attitude
Tried to gather money in order to save her father, adventurous spirit, now only Hayate's love interest
Independant assassin, lack of description regarding her real ambition, men are "toys" for her
Went from peotic to dope, biggest achievement was flooring a flirting Brad
Scientist during the night, luchadora during the day, schizophrenic ambitions though
True definition of a modern fighter, tomboyish attitude, works hard to "survive" in NYC
Petite girl able to compete with big muscles, "maid/servant" role
Designed to be the female version of a male boss, teasing personality
Seems to enjoy life, we don't know much as for now

So according to you who is the "strongest female" and best role model ? Who is the worst model ?

kasumi,ayane,honoka are mines

 

[Dark-truth]

My vote goes to Kasumi. Takes a lot to betray your entire clan for what you believe in and become a runaway shinobi.

IKR kasumi's love for hayate is more important then everything

 

[Pictured Mind]

Definitely Helena.
Definitely not Kasumi or Lisa.

 

[KwonJigglypuff]

Definitely Helena.
Definitely not Kasumi or Lisa.

Why ?

 

[Argentus]

Tie between mila and Helena.

Mila is a real world independent and strong woman, no strings or drama attached. As far as we know shes just a girl who tours the world doing mma tournaments and fully supports herself, while also not having to resort to fanservice like the rest of the cast. while Helena is the idealized highly successful woman with the tragic past and tons of money. Mila is the real version, Helena is the romanticized version.


The rest....meh. kokoro, leifang, hitomi, Marie rose, honoka, are all ditzes or airheads, ayane and kasumi are too...fake. or more specifically, Kasumi is a token Disney princess who happens to be a ninja, while Ayane is a straight child soldier, for all intents and purposes. Tina could be but her only claim to fame (literally) is knowing how to play to the crowd, usually by flaunting her sex appeal. Lisa is...an enigma and out of the equation until they can come up with a consistent characterization for her.

 

[Pictured Mind]

Why ?

Because Helena is great.

 

[Xernuht]

Definitely a tie between Tina, Helena, and Mila.

Tina is the American Dream incarnate. She decides what she's doing with her life, figures out how to get there, and just does it without giving a damn about what others (mostly Bass) think.

Helena is a better western hero archetype than Kasumi, what with her going through the tragedy of losing her parents, fighting her way to the truth, and now leading the new DOATEC against MIST and Donovan, and all at the young age of 21.

Mila is the best example of an 'average joe' character, living what seems like a paycheck-to-paycheck life with some added bonuses from her MMA career, not to mention being the boyish tomboy to Hitomi's now-girlish tomboy.

That said, these are obviously based more on western archetypes. From a more eastern/Japanese perspective, I think Kasumi, Ayane, and Leifang are strong as well.

Kasumi has her whole "family>all" thing, which has lead to her ending her uncle's life, putting down bio-weapons, and vowing to lead a one-man manhunt against Donovan. She is hands-down the strongest female character in the series, yet rarely fights outside of necessity.

Ayane's life has been terrible since her forced conception, but she managed to get by with the help of Kasumi, Hayate, Genra, and Ayame. She then has her sister seemingly betray her clan to kill the man she has just as much a right to kill, her brother kidnapped and experimented on, and her 'father' betray the clan in a mere bid for greater power, who she puts down with her own hands. She's just now starting to patch things up, but the fact she isn't completely broken now is amazing.

Leifang is a more personal take on this... up until 5, at least. She takes Jann Lee's defense of her as an affront to her honor and ability, and thus strives to surpass him, with her actually succeeding in DOA4. Given that Jann Lee has one of the best records of the tournament-arc fighters, this makes her one of the strongest women in the tournament story. That said, her story is kinda weakening since her character arc is essentially over, but the fact that she's one of the first characters to find that sort of resolution is commendable.

 

[KwonJigglypuff]

Thank you for all your answers guys.

I'm not particulary a feminist, but I must say that's why my favourite females have changed from DOA4 to DOA5.

Before, I used to love Kokoro, who had a lot of potential in DOA4/DOAD, but now she just seems airheaded, which of course is forgivable as she's still quite young. I wish they gave her some ambitions or something to do. I can't believe she's still so popular... I like her but she doesn't bring anything new to the table (except her great fighting style and her beautiful hair). Even Marie-Rose kinda took her role in Helena's storyline.

 

[TLEE SAID THIS:]

Thank you for all your answers guys.

I'm not particulary a feminist, but I must say that's why my favourite females have changed from DOA4 to DOA5.

Before, I used to love Kokoro, who had a lot of potential in DOA4/DOAD, but now she just seems airheaded, which of course is forgivable as she's still quite young. I wish they gave her some ambitions or something to do. I can't believe she's still so popular... I like her but she doesn't bring anything new to the table (except her great fighting style and her beautiful hair). Even Marie-Rose kinda took her role in Helena's storyline.

I agree, her personality is pretty dry. I wish that she had more edge to make her more interesting as a character. The fair maiden cliche has been done to death already.