Blog Post 4 ♡ Lara Croft is a Girlboss

Introduction

In this blog post, I will be talking about stereotypes and tropes in video game characters, and display a well-known example of a character that breaks this stereotype. I will also 180° their character and play with a different common trope, and showcast a sketch of this character based on this trope.

Stereotypes and Tropes

The word “trope” refers to a common motif or pattern in a work of art. In the context of fiction, character tropes refer to common attributes in certain types of characters. Very common troupes in games include the damsel in distress, the chosen one, the mad scientist, and more. For game characters, it is important that they are more than just a shell for the player to inhabit, and game developers can create better characters by taking the time to justify why they exist (Wawro, 2017). 

Lara Croft

The “Damsel in Distress” is a common trope that is used in games and various other forms of media, where a female character is put into immediate danger in order to put the rest of the cast in motion. A great example of this would be Peach from the Mario games: she is portrayed as a week princess that never defends herself in-game and often needs rescuing from Mario, the main protagonist.

Lara Croft is the polar opposite (inverse) of a damsel in distress. Despite the fact she was originally heavily sexualized, she has since transformed from a sex symbol to an intelligent and fearless adventurer that is capable of doing that any male adventurer--like Indiana Jones--could do (GamesRadar, 2018). For example, in the Tomb Raider game series, she dives headfirst into tombs, avoids tons of deadly traps, and solves many challenging puzzles. 

I could play with this inverse troupe by instead playing it straight, which is when the troupe is simply used as it normally is. This would entail that Lara Croft is a character that, rather than courageous and strong, is instead delicate and weak. She would be captured by the antagonist, and require rescuing from the main hero (usually a strong male character) in order to be saved. 

Lara Croft but "Damsel In Distress" @keunarie

Another way I could play with the troupe is to subvert it, which is when a trope is set up to occur, but then the writer pulls a fast one on the audience, and the trope does not occur after all (TVTropes). This would be where Lara Croft is captured by an antagonist, but after the main hero goes on an adventure and shows up to rescue her, it is revealed that she was able to easily overcome and defeat the villain, and she never need help in the first place.