Bayonetta: Gaming's Secret Rebel Feminist

  

  I like to think I'm a fairly self aware person, so I have no issues whatsoever with admitting that I'm a judgmental piece of shit. Looking at the cover for Bayonetta 2 made me do a lot of judging (no, that's not a euphemism for anything).

  “Oh, another one of these games.” I said, sounding like a prick. “What with the breasts and the butts and whatnot.”

  Sometimes I can't really blame the general public for assuming everyone who plays video games is a 12 year old. Art designers in this industry act like women are a recent discovery. “Dude.” They'd say. “Have you heard of tits? They're amazing!”

  Yeah, video games, I've heard of tits. They've been around for, like, a million years. Have some dignity and stop shoving them in my fucking face like I'm some sort of drooling neanderthal. 

  Sexual objectification has marred a depressingly large number of otherwise excellent games (see: Dragon's Crown, Mortal Kombat, every game Team Ninja has ever made, etc.), covering creative mechanics and fun gameplay in a layer of crassness and sleaze. Objectification is like a dead cat in a rose garden, adding nothing to the experience expect for a fetid stench and a nasty aftertaste in your mouth.

  This was my expectation for Bayonetta. And boy, was I wrong. Not only are these great games, they also happen to star one of the most liberating female protagonists in gaming history. Why is Bayonetta so great? Let me count the ways.

1)Bayonetta is a badass

  Being a hardcore badass isn't really a prerequisite for being a great female character, but it sure helps. This being a game by the delightfully insane people at Platinum, the game goes apeshit about 30 seconds in and never really lets up. Anyone familiar with God Hand, Vanquish, or Hideki Kamiya's previous series Devil May Cry probably has a decent idea of how much ass gets kicked throughout this game. The thing is, I can honestly say that I've never seen a woman be this unapologetically awesome in any medium. Bayonetta rips a dragon's head off. Bayonetta kicks a jet plane out of the air. Bayonetta goes to space and punches God in the teeth. And there isn't some dumbass with his mouth agape saying “I can't believe you're so strong! You're a woman!” Bayonetta's awesomeness doesn't have any caveats. And if someone did say that, Bayonetta would probably knee them in the dick.

2)Bayonetta isn't here to please you

  Bayonetta is a sexual character, no doubt about it. But Bayonetta most certainly is not sexualized. What's the difference? There are so many examples of designers slapping a massive rack on a blank cipher for no other reason than “Titties!” Take Kasumi from Team Ninja's Dead or Alive series:

   What kind of personality do you think this character has? Did you guess “innocent and meek?” That's what the wiki says. What says “innocent and meek” better than epic cleavage?

  Kasumi is an example of a character whose personality and appearance don't inform each other. She's not a sexual character. But she is a sexualized character.

  Bayonetta, meanwhile, is all about sex. Whether she's sucking on a lollipop or using a door lever as a makeshift stripper pole, Bayonetta always feels like she's in control. Bayonetta is sexy because Bayonetta is sexy, not because the designer thought the player might need more spank material. Bayonetta doesn't exist solely to be desired. Maybe you find her attractive. Maybe you don't. I highly doubt Bayonetta would give much of a shit. We're talking about a woman who straps shotguns to her ankles and wears a skin tight cat suit made out of her own pubes. She clearly gives no fucks.

3)Bayonetta is feminine

  This is kind of a controversial subject. Too often modern feminists react negatively to a female character having any gender signifiers whatsoever. “Oh, this character wears makeup and likes pink. That's so sexist!”

  That problem with this is A) This kind of argument never really takes context in to account, and B) This kind of argument works on the assumption that feminine qualities are inherently negative.

There's nothing wrong with liking makeup, or liking pink, or any other typically “feminine” characteristics. Treating these kind of traits as being negative is the opposite of feminism. You know, misogyny.

  As another example, let's use everyone's favorite female game character, Samus Aran:

  Now don't get me wrong, I love Samus and Metroid to death. But is Samus really a great example of a female character? If Samus was a dude, would it really change anything about Metroid's gameplay or aesthetic sense? Not really. That's not a bad thing, per se. Just an observation.

  With her propensity for blowing kisses, knocking heart shaped holes in walls, and randomly sprouting butterfly wings, Bayonetta certainly isn't without gender signifiers. Again, not an inherent positive or negative.

  To expound on an earlier statement, the only time stereotypically feminine traits are negative is when they're presented as weaknesses. Which leads into my next (and most important) point...

4)Bayonetta's femininity and sexuality make her powerful

  This is what really elevates Bayonetta for me. Let's use (yet another) example:

  For those of you who may be unaware, this is Juliet Starling from Suda 51's Lollipop Chainsaw. Juliet is certainly feminine, but her feminine traits are generally played for laughs, usually as an ironic juxtaposition with the absurd uber violence surrounding her. Her femininity makes her weaker.

  Not the case with Bayonetta. She never feels at odds with the world around her. In Bayonetta's world, femininity and strength are not mutually exclusive. Bayonetta presents herself as she wishes, and always remains in control.

  There are even points where Bayonetta strips down to almost nothing. In another game, this might be used to make their character more titillating or vulnerable. But in this game, an almost naked Bayonetta just means that she's using her clothes for something else...like turning them into a massive dragon made out of hair that bites monsters in half. Thank you for letting me type that sentence Platinum Games.

  As Bayonetta grows more sexual and more liberated, she becomes stronger. So many stories treat femininity as a weakness, but Bayonetta welcomes girlishness with open arms and allows it to permeate the entire game, from the narrative to the art direction to the titular character's animations.

  So does that mean Bayonetta is the end-all-be-all of female game characters? No. She's fantastic, but at the end of the day I think more games need to just let their female characters be themselves. Don't force them to wear skimpy clothes if it's out of character. Don't create them with the sole intent of giving fanboys boners. And don't force them to take on more masculine traits to “compensate” for their gender. Just focus on doing what any good storyteller should be doing: making interesting, relatable characters that feel like actual people.