A female protagonist brings new and unique angles to the games they star in, especially in the horror genre. Some of the best horror games of all time focus on a female protagonist, and their stories would feel significantly different if they had a male protagonist instead.
These protagonists redefine what a strong woman looks like and what it means to be powerful, all while dealing with their own nightmare scenarios — and there sure are a variety of nightmares. These women have gone on to be role models in their own right, with all kinds of players, regardless of gender, looking up to them in awe.
In this list, games like Resident Evil 2 won’t count since you pick who you play as (typically between a male and female character), nor will games like Resident Evil Requiem count since you alternate between characters; while in these games, you are simply the female protagonist — and it’s fantastic beacuse of it.
Let’s hope that we see more protagonists like these women, especially as the horror genre continues to thrive.
10
Control
Jesse Faden
The first time we meet Jesse Faden in Control, she’s just become the new Director of the Federal Beaurau of Control, and she’s on the hunt to find the truth about what happened in her past, and what happened to her brother, Dylan.
What’s we soon learn, however, is that she also has cool powers. We use these powers throughout the game to take down the Hiss, which has run rampant through the FBC building, and they’re an absolute blast from start to finish. Her brother is similar to her, with both of them being contendors for the new Director position, but Dylan is far more unstable; the game would have been completely different if we played as him instead.
Jesse’s character is fascinating, similar to what we see from other superpowered women, but she’s slso just … odd. It’s almost funny at times; once, she tried to describe Plato’s Cave in an allegory, but she ended up just sounding a bit silly instead. It’s a welcome change to the stoic, strong female character archetype.
Also, she makes a cameo in Alan Wake 2, which is always a treat to see.
9
Tormented Souls
Caroline Walker
The concept of our main character having amnesia isn’t anything new, but we rarely see it happen with female protagonists. Cut to Tormented Souls where you play as Caroline Walker, who, as you can assume, has amnesia about her past.
However, things just go from bad to worse for Caroline, after arriving at Wildberger Hospital, she’s knocked out, waking later with her eye having been surgically removed. Immediately, that would make anyone absolutely freak out, but Caroline is determined to figure out who did this to her, as well as the truth of what’s happening at the hospital.
This is the game that shows how the actions of horrific parents can lead to devastating consequences with their children, and it’s a miracle that Caroline makes it out on the other side relatively fine.
Just be ready for some insanity with the storytelling, it can be hard to wrap your head around even if you were paying attention.
8
Rule of Rose
Just Jennifer
When we first meet Jennifer in Rule of Rose, the narrator says that she is a “poor, unlucky girl,” and that’s exactly what we see unfold throughout the course of the game. By the time you get to the credits, you’re going to find yourself saying the exact same thing about her.
Jennifer is a quiet, timid girl who was the newest addition of the Rose Garden Orphanage, but things take a turn for the worse when she’s abducted and basically enslaved by the Red Crayon Aristocrat Club. She bends to their will and everything they say, and we eventually learn why.
Jennifer’s story is about finding power in helplessness, about maintaining kindness in a world of darkness, and about the consequences of repressing childhood trauma. It’s well done, and remains a cult classic to this day.
I just hope that Rule of Rose will be ported to a modern console one day, because it’s just that difficult to get a genuine physical copy. Just saying, you’re insane if you’d pay nearly $600 for a PS2 game.
7
Haunting Ground
Fiona Belli
A lot of people tend to confuse Rule of Rose with Haunting Ground, and it’s easy to do so when there are a lot of visual similarities. There is a key difference with Fiona Belli, however: she’s got a dog.
After waking up in an abandoned castle (what is it with horror protagonists waking up into something?), she meets Hewie, a friendly dog who will help her along her journey. With her advanced intelligence and his powerful attacks, they have a chance at escaping the castle and everybody in it. And trust, you don’t want anyone getting your hands on you in this game, it really tackles a lot of fears that women resonate with a little too closely.
Haunting Ground is an incredibly intricate and intuitive game, especially for something that came out on the PS2, with multiple endings depending on the players’ actions and relationship with the dog. This isn’t even including the several others featured and happening simultaenously, such as the Stalker System or the Panic System.
This is honestly another cult classic that I wish got a modern port or something similar, because this is equally as hard to get your hands on.
6
Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly
Mio Amakura
Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly has been abuzz lately, and that’s thanks to the remake that recently came out. In this game, you play as Mio Amakura, looking for your twin sister Mayu in a haunted village, called Minakami Village.
However, you can’t really fight ghosts — they don’t have a physical body, after all — but Mio has the next best thing: the Camera Obscura. It’s a supernatural camera with the unique ability to exorcise spirits, and that’s how you defend yourself.
As you continue, you start to unravel an occult plot, because of course there’s cult stuff, and you learn just how fast you have to act in order to save Mayu.
While there is a lot that goes on throughout the game, at it’s core, it’s a sister story — and as an oldest sister myself, I can say for a fact I would do the same thing as Mio with zero hesitation for my Mayus.
5
Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem
Alexandra Roivas
Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem Is probably the most popular of obscure games, and that’s thanks to the game’s iconic Sanity Meter. Throughout the game, you play as Alexandra Roivas, coming to her grandfather’s home after he was murdered. From there, you have to unravel the mystery of why … as well as the secrets your family tried to bury.
Also, she’s voiced by Jennifer Hale. That was genuinely surprising to hear when I played the game for the first time after beating Mass Effect.
While you do technically play as other characters in the game as well, they’re really brief, for flashbacks that tell a greater story that Alex has to piece together herself. You play as Alexandra for the most part, and she even narrates her thoughts when you play as other characters, so it’s clear she’s still present, the entire driving force of the narrative.
Just don’t let her Sanity dip too low, otherwise you’re in for a bad time. Unless you want to hallucinate and deal with the horrors, then by all means, spike her blood pressure.
4
The Last of Us: Part II
Ellie Williams
While we get to play a little bit as Ellie Williams in The Last of Us, she’s a lot more limited in what she can do. By the time we get to play as her almost entirely in The Last of Us Part II, she’s a whole new beast — and a beast she truly is. She’s nothing like that little girl we had to protect all the way across country.
Driven by vengeance, Ellie is hunting down a woman named Abby (who you also periodically play as), and will stop at nothing until she kills her. Even if it means tearing apart everything she is, everything she knows and loves, Ellie will have her revenge.
There is truly something terrifying about a woman’s wrath, and Ellie Williams is a clear example of it. The sheer brutality that she exhibits is genuinely unlike many male characters we’ve played as, because she’s motivated by something deep, and personal: hatred.
Just like the first game, you will be an emotional wreck going throughout Part II, but most of all, you’re going to have your heart ache for Ellie.
3
Silent Hill 3
Heather Mason
When it comes to women in survival horror, Heather Mason in Silent Hill 3 is perhaps one of the most iconic of all time. Better yet, the game simply would not be what it is with a male protagonist, since all of the horrors we see represented are distinctly feminine.
Silent Hill 3 tackles fears surrounding pregnancy, the loss of autonomy by being reduced to be nothing but a baby-maker, and motherhood as a whole. It was as timely then as it is now; the terror and burden of womanhood has been a struggle for women for centuries.
Not to mention, the game itself is just fantastic. Everything from the atmosphere, to the story, to the characters, and even the soundtrack, it’s all masterclass, and remains as perhaps one of the objectively best Silent Hill games of all time.
I’m just really hoping that Bloober Team will also remake Silent Hill 3 after they’re done with remaking the first game; I’m dying to see how incredible this would turn out.
2
Resident Evil 3
Jill Valentine
Ever since I played the first Resident Evil when I was seven, Jill Valentine has been my all time favourite characters in horror games, ever. So, of course, Resident Evil 3 was one of the games I played repeatedly, since it was all about the series’ best woman.
Resident Evil as a series features so many incredible and strong women: Claire, Ada, Rebecca, Sherry, Ashley, the list goes on. Yet, even still, none of them hold a candle to Jill — she made it to the Guinness Book of World Records numerous times in both the Gamer’s Edition and the classic books, for being one of the top 50 characters in all of gaming … and for being the first ever female character you can play as in survival horror as a whole.
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There is so much that you can say about Jill Valentine, and it’s thanks to how she is in the first and third game. The thing is about RE3 is one special B.O.W., who will stop at nothing until she’s dead: Nemesis. He’s relentless and insane, but at the end of the day … Jill’s the one still standing.
I just hope she’ll make another appearance in the franchise soon. I miss my wife.
1
Silent Hill f
Hinako Shimizu
To say that Silent Hill f changed my life is an understatement. I know it’s not been out long, but I had never connected so deeply with a protagonist and her fears — I fell in love with this game so profoundly I platinumed it four times on separate PlayStation accounts. It’s an absolute masterpiece.
In Silent Hill f, you play as Shimizu Hinako, a girl in 1960s Japan facing crippling societal pressure and gender norms, and those are fears displayed in the game. However, the main fears being highlighted are the fears of marriage/losing yourself in a marriage, conformity, a complete loss of autonomy, generational trauma and the cycle of abuse. Again, it’s timely.
This was a game that I (and as I came to later find out, many other women) resonated with so deeply, especially as I’m knee-deep in wedding planning for my own marriage this October.
Silent Hill f simply could not exist if there were a male protagonist, especially as everything we experience is so tightly-bound to Hinako, it’s literally inseperable. The concept of womanhood and what it means to be a woman are the core building blocks of Hinako’s situation, and it’s something many other women connected with.
Simply put, if you’re looking for the all-time best horror game with a female protagonist and all the themes that surround it: Silent Hill f takes the crown.
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