St. Xena

30 Days of Female Awesome: Day 22

Day 22: A female character you love that everyone else hates.

Anora from Dragon Age. I run fuckyeahanora.tumblr.com, in fact.

Fuck Yeah Anora has 41 followers, so I know at least a few other people like her or at least tolerate her. But she is not well liked by the fandom as a whole, and unfortunately bears the brunt of a lot of gendered insults (that bitch, Anwhora, etc).

She is the widowed queen of Ferelden, and unfortunately, her father is leading a rebellion of sorts. She is intelligent, beautiful, and ruthless. Depending on the actions the player takes, Anora might betray the player. The player has the option of keeping Anora as queen, marrying Anora to another character (Alistair), or deposing Anora and making Alistair sole ruler. I think if the character plays as a human male noble, the player can marry Anora as well.

There are reasons to dislike Anora, sure. But I love her.

She’s a character we rarely get to see — you know, a competent female ruler who wears sensible clothes. Her design is beautiful, but her beauty isn’t really that important (it’s said her beauty enraptures her husband, but that’s pretty much the only mention). She was the de facto ruler even while her husband was alive. She is queen, and her family is nobility, but only because her father earned it through military service. She leads her troops into battle.The epilogue discusses her achievements as queen, some good, some bad. She feels like a real historical personage in a way fictional characters often do not.

I also like studying how other people react to her. I think if she was a man, she would not be hated in quite the same way. I think it’s interesting how she is insulted, compared to other (male) characters. I like Anora as a symbol, a reminder that we are not actually done with sexism yet. We need to work on creating more characters like her and work on our reactions to characters we dislike.

(On a personal note, I think language shapes culture, so I am working on removing gendered and violent language from my own speech. I try not to refer to other women as bitches or being bitchy, for example. This is something that is personally important to me. Others might not think that way, which is fine, but that is part of what drives my fascination with Anora.)

Again, the game does offer reasons to dislike her, and I’ve read rational analysis for why people dislike her, missives that don’t resort to just calling Anora a slut or whatever. But they are few.

30 Days of Female Awesome: Day 3

3. A female character you hated by grew to love

Wynne, from Dragon Age: Origins.

Wynne is an old lady:

She nags. She brings up hard truths. She questions the player. She seems like a total drag.

But then you start to talk to her. You learn about her regrets, such as mistreating her first apprentice, and her sadness over his (supposed) death. She is sassy, teasing the other characters. She remarks “This wouldn’t be the first time I’ve awoken to a younger man in my bed.” Wynne likes adventure and helping people.

Wynne is not just a nagging old lady. She’s a powerful healer, strong and fearless. And part of that fearlessness is asking tough questions and admitting painful truths.