Topic: Sexism in Castlevania

[Odile Kuronuma]

Oh oh and depending on whether you're playing as a male or female, you'll have to face  a male or female version of Dracula that tries to seduce you . I'm trying to imagine a female Dracula that kicks ass  .
I know it sounds like a joke but I'm actually serious. I think it would be fun to implement that in a game.

[Ratty]

I agree, could led to some fun alternate endings.

[Inccubus]

That was an IGA thing. He claims that Female warriors are not historically accurate without actually having done the research himself. Take Joan of Arch as a good example. She was fighting for France in the early 1400's (1412 to 1431). This is before Sonia's time so I don't see why Sonia Belmont is unrealistic. Joan of Arch was a Knight wearing full-plate mail, brandishing a heavy sword and shield, and was ass-kicking the shit out of the English forces. In fact she was the leader of the french armies due to her skills as a tactician and was a spokeswoman of God. We also have the women of ancient Sparta, the Amazon tribeswomen of Greece and the Celtic/Germanic/Nordic warrior women of the northern European lands.

OK. Not for nothing, but IGA wasn't really wrong. Historically women, in general were not warriors. Look, I dig the whole equality thing, but lets not pretend that there were droves of Joans and Mulans running around. These figures were exceptions, they were not the rule by any stretch of the imagination. Also, the Amazons are mythological, LIKELY based on real warrior women within certain cultures, but still a minority.

It's an old trend in fantasy fiction in general. More often than not when there are delineations based on sex women are the spellcasters because they're generally smarter. There are of course always exceptions.

That all said, Castlevania could use another Sonia.

And It does bug me that all the women protagonists in CV are nothing more then magic users and have secondary roles. The only exception is Shanoa. While she is THE main protagonist in OoE she is still a magic user. She is unfortunately not a Belmont nor does she wield the Vampirekiller. IGA had a chance to shine here but he fell short of it (and I'm assuming it was due to personal feelings about his dislike of women warriors).

"nothing more than magic users"? I take exception to this statement. Give credit where it's due. The spell-casting women of Castlevania generally have the most powerful attacks in their respective games... and ALWAYS without the advantage of being a Belmont.

I don't see that IGA could be said to dislike women warriors. If anything, Shanoa is an example of this. Yes, she's a spellcaster. However, she is also a very capable warrior. She doesn't summon weapons to fight for her. She summons them to use in melee combat. On top of that she's also a powerful mage and is even capable of using some of Dracula's own spells. And she defeats him WITHOUT the help of the holy Vampire Killer. I don't see someone who dislikes women warriors putting as strong a heroine as that in one of his games. I don't see how he fell short in any way.

[Nagumo]

Oh oh and depending on whether you're playing as a male or female, you'll have to face  a male or female version of Dracula that tries to seduce you . I'm trying to imagine a female Dracula that kicks ass  .
I know it sounds like a joke but I'm actually serious. I think it would be fun to implement that in a game.

Hmm, genderbending the antagonist might not be the most subtle thing, but it's possible.

[crisis]

I don't see that IGA could be said to dislike women warriors. If anything, Shanoa is an example of this. Yes, she's a spellcaster. However, she is also a very capable warrior. She doesn't summon weapons to fight for her. She summons them to use in melee combat. On top of that she's also a powerful mage and is even capable of using some of Dracula's own spells. And she defeats him WITHOUT the help of the holy Vampire Killer. I don't see someone who dislikes women warriors putting as strong a heroine as that in one of his games. I don't see how he fell short in any way.

On the flipside, I can see people saying had Shanoa been a Belmont relative wielding the Vampire Killer, that makes her incapable of fighting on her own will since she automatically possesses Belmont Warlord Chromosones and wields the whip so she's already at an advantage, which puts the blame on IGA or whoever for not having a strong independant female heroine that "does things on her own," etc.

[Bergaron]

Errrrrr, Carmilla is a great female character, she founded the brotherhood of light along with Cornell and Zobek, was therefore a great warrior of light. Like Gabriel she sacrificed in order to have the power to fight evil forces, but as Gabriel finished corrupted by evil, as a character is not purely evil.

P. D. MS and Cox were to leave LOS subsaga but if Konami decides to continue it in a few years, a pre-LOS would be brutal, with the story of the 3 lord of shadows and the foundation of the brotherhood of light and Bernhard family.

[Abnormal Freak]

Leave it to X to come into a joke thread and make a serious "woo, feminism!" post. Dude never misses an opportunity.

This is my kinda female warrior by the way:

[Bergaron]

Leave it to X to come into a joke thread and make a serious "woo, feminism!" post. Dude never misses an opportunity.

This is my kinda female warrior by the way:

Bahhh child's play, This is a concept art the new Sonia Belmont,

(click to show/hide)

P.D The image is real...

[X]

Leave it to X to come into a joke thread and make a serious "woo, feminism!" post. Dude never misses an opportunity.

Haha! Tuxedo Mark called it out so I replied    And yes that amazon woman can dominate me any day 

Bahhh child's play, This is a concept art the new Sonia Belmont,

I don't think Sonia would be that big, but she would have some muscle mass/sporty body build. I think Sonya from from the recent Mortal Kombat game is a fair representation on how she would look:

http://thefightingconnection.com/sites/default/files/styles/640w/public/pictures/sonya-blade-mortal-kombat-2011-picture.png

[darkwzrd4]

Haha! Tuxedo Mark called it out so I replied    And yes that amazon woman can dominate me any day 

I don't think Sonia would be that big, but she would have some muscle mass/sporty body build. I think Sonya from from the recent Mortal Kombat game is a fair representation on how she would look:

http://thefightingconnection.com/sites/default/files/styles/640w/public/pictures/sonya-blade-mortal-kombat-2011-picture.png

This. Sonya Blade from the recent Mortal Kombat game is probably the best example of the body type a female warrior should have. Strong, agile, yet still physically attractive. Those body building women in swim suits are not attractive. Bulging muscles on women don't look good at all. In fact, they're ugly.

Yes, Sonya Blade's (from MK) body type is definitely the best example of what a female warrior should have.

[Ratty]

Those body building women in swim suits are not attractive. Bulging muscles on women don't look good at all. In fact, they're ugly.

Well that's just like, your opinion man. I submit to your consideration Corey Everson, bodybuilder who played "Atalanta" on Hercules the Legendary Journeys. http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20111122194941/hercxena/images/9/9c/Cory.jpg http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8312/8046133938_6cfe63698c_z.jpg

[X]

I submit to your consideration Corey Everson, bodybuilder who played "Atalanta" on Hercules the Legendary Journeys.

Actually after looking though various other photos of her, I can agree that she's not bad-looking. My only issue is that she doesn't have much in the way of chest-size. I feel that a more noticeable breasts would help to balance out her female figure a little more.

Also, the Amazons are mythological

Actually no, they were a real people. I've read about them in various history books that are not of the mythological setting. Here's a website that talks about them in some detail:

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets/previous_seasons/case_amazon/

[Mooning Freddy]

This is my kinda female warrior by the way:

Oh lord. The proportions of that character's body are even more distorted than Kojima's depiction of Hector (and all the other male characters of CoS really).

[VladCT]

From jokes to srs bznss to...muscle girls. That's quite a thread drift there.

[Super Waffle]

I just noticed she wears the same silver chainmail bra type thing as Dark Angela.

http://castlevania.wikia.com/wiki/File:Snapshot20100822034256.jpg

Sadly that's all she has in common with Dark Angela.