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Tuesday, December 15, 2015

GTA 5 - pt 2, Introducing a female lead

With the potential for introducing multiple leads the way GTA 5 did, it seems reasonable to conclude that GTA could finally have a female protagonist and still reach its primary target audience, namely males. There is no doubt that GTA as a series, and GTA 5 specifically, are targeted towards a male oriented audience. And I see absolutely nothing wrong with doing this. The GTA games have always seemed to center around themes of masculinity, and even Dan Houser stated that the concept of GTA 5 was "The concept of being masculine" and that it was "key to this story" being told in GTA 5.

So what does this mean for female protagonists? Well, with the introduction of multiple main characters we could see a female protagonist quite easily. And frankly I would actually like to see it happen, but unlike some people I have seen I am not going to call the game bad or claim it "miss a great opportunity" by not doing so. The game obviously had a story to tell; with Michael it was about how his family and a life of retirement was affecting him, with Franklin it was about the connection between his old life as a banger with his aspirations to be something more, and with Trevor it was a display of how a weak psyche could be crashed and produce a rather fucked up individual. But there have been some great female character from the GTA series that could be templates or inspiration for a female protagonist that would produce a great story. Let's discuss a few, starting with a very Trevor like female character.

Catalina, the villain of GTA 3 and brief love interest of CJ in GTA: San Andreas. She's as violent as any of the male characters in the series, an accomplished criminal, and would make a good starting point for creating a strong female character within the GTA settings. Then we have Maria Mendoza, the daughter of the general from Vice City that was a potential love interest for Tommy Vercetti that never got much exploring for whatever reason. There's Kendl, CJ's sister from San Andrea. She'd make a good "from the hood" style character in the vein of CJ and Franklin. Then there is Asuka Kasen, the female Yakuza or Triad character in GTA 3 that would add an entirely new aspect to the GTA series, namely by introducing another criminal organization into the world of the GTA series. Opening the door for entirely new stories and plots, which I think they tried to explore in GTA: Chinatown stories but I haven't played it so I don't know.

There does seem to be room to expand the GTA universe to include female protagonists, especially with the ability to switch between characters. It could even open the door for a brother and sister team, or a husband and wife, Bonnie and Clyde kind of team. The only issue I really see are the changes in the core game play that would be required, especially since the GTA audience is primarily male. Can't see too many male players wanting to find dates like CJ did in San Andreas, or trying to pick up male hookers(gigolos?) and having sex with them in a car the way you can in GTA 5, or going to the strip club and getting lap dances from male strippers. But then again, you never know what GTA fans are open to playing.

The question then becomes, should they introduce a female protagonist to the series? The answer is simple, yet complex. At its simplest the answer is yes, but where the complexity comes in is with introducing the character properly. Creating a unique character that is as well developed as a Tommy Vercettie, Carl Johnson, or Michael De Santa/Townley. It should also be avoided if it is simply to appeal to the political correctness crowd, because like most things force on people it will get a half-assed attempt at best and it will ruin an otherwise excellent franchise of games.

So the debate over whether the GTA needs a female protagonist is likely never going to end, especially with people wanting to impose their wills onto others and get what they want whether it would serve the in the series best interests or not. Then there is the fact that a female character added to the GTA world would need to be just as vile and violent as the men, and I'm not sure of people here in America are ready to see that sort of female character who is the victimizer of others and not the victim herself.

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