Why Men Like to Play as Female Characters in Video Games

More and more new games have options to customize the player’s character or at least choose a gender. This is especially true with MMO’s and RPG’s. Today in MMO’s, most female characters are likely played by men, or Guy in Real Life (GIRL). This topic pops up from time to time in various games and forums. So why is it that men like to play as female characters?

[Snookies12]

Honestly I'll play either... Usually in most MMO type games, I'll make one of each gender, just to have a variety. Sometimes I like being my badass dude that looks suspiciously like Sephiroth... Other times I want to be a cute girl that beats monsters over the head with a mace. Lol

[jthamind]

"Sometimes I like being my badass dude that looks suspiciously like Sephiroth... Other times I want to be a cute girl"

wouldn't that mean you're playing as two females?

[Snookies12]

Lol, nah you've got the wrong one in the series. Kuja from IX is the woman.

[MmaFan-Qc]

tits and ass, thats the anwser.

[GribbleGrunger]

because it's the only time men get a chance to control women without having to buy something for them

[perdie]

#winning

[Solid_Snake37]

ZING!

[Christopher]

Many reasons

1. In MMOS, you spend a lot of time looking at the back side of your avatar. Which would you rather spend hours looking at, male or female backside?

2. People use it to improve relations with other males by looks alone. Some even go so far as to act like women. They get into guilds easier, get help faster, and even get gifts. This one has greatly declined since the first few 3D MMOs, but still exists.

3. The male models are horrific. Take DDO, for example. If I want to play that half-elf artificer, there's no way I'm going to go with a male avatar because they have horrible bug eyes and questionable body dimensions.

4. Because they are roleplaying. I know, this one gets thrown by the wayside in almost all these topics, but from someone who has roleplayed since the age of twelve, there is a lot to be said for exploring the mindset of something completely foreign. This is becoming even more true with MMOs like SWtOR, where decisions, voice acting, relationships and more evolve based on your choice in sex as opposed to just race and class.

[Hicken]

Number one is my primary reason. Regardless of the game, I like looking at females more than males. If I can choose my character, I tend to choose a female. All my Dragon Age and White Knight characters have been female, most of my DCUO and even Maple Story characters were female. In fighting games, the only favorite character I have that ISN'T female is Hwaorang.

Number four is also pretty relevant, but mostly it's number one.

[Lazy_Sunday]

I associate my character with myself, so I play a dude even in MMOs. I don't have any real personality problems like that. I thought it was a lot gayer to deal with people hitting on me in a video game when I was playing as a girl then it is to look at the back of my character--it's even weirder to act like a woman in the game. I don't get the sexual stigma behind that virtual character, it doesn't compute to me since it's not real and has no associations to my personality at all. Up until reading these comments I've never once considered I was looking at my character's butt, but looking at my characters back--if you really think you're looking at dude butt all day, that could be an insecurity some may want to double check their own sexuality.

Then again, it's probably just not my thing.

[Christopher]

Backside != butt, but one's own back area. Yes, the butt is there, but it's more than just that.

And, it's no less gayer to want to look at a female figure form in a digital world as it is to look at pictures of nude models. I may be a huge advocate for respecting women by not associating beautiful women that are shown here on N4G as whores or merely sex objects, but I don't ignore the fact that the mass majority of us do enjoy viewing things that are pleasing to the eye as opposed to forcing a male to male/female to female requirement.

Your tone seems to have a bit of derision in it, when it is natural for people to think sexually. Furthermore, you seem to think that by me listing the reasons that _that_ one reason would be my personal reason over the three others presented. Hint: I'm a #4, if you couldn't tell from how personal of a reference I made. And not once have I ever been hit on in game when I am playing a female character, not once. Nor do I have personality issues.

You do seem a bit narrowminded, though, if you think such things are implied because someone roleplays the opposite sex. That's tantamount to saying one should only play RPGs where you are the same sex. Should women not play Two Worlds 2 or Risen? Should I put up with the, IMHO, crappy voice acting of male Shepard over the very well done voice acting of female Shepard?

[Drake117]

This is going to sound pretty narrow minded. Its because they are weirdos and they associate themselves sexually with a video game character or want to act like a women. They are the stalker/pedo types in real life, but not that extreme. Anybody that denies it, is prob trying to convince themselves its not true.

[SeekDev]

Many people say they aren't attracted to the female figure in video games, and I agree with them. But there are parts of our brain that ignore reason and are stimulated regardless of a real woman or a 3D polygonal model.

[NukaCola]

It doesn't matter for me personally, but after talking with my friend and seeing it for myself, the female Shepard in ME has a way better voice actor than the male Shepard. She sounds more fluid and doesn't talk like such an android.

[JimmyJames70]

I wonder what Freud would say...

[coolbeans]

He practically spent a lifetime trying to ascertain what women want. I couldn't imagine the brain teaser he'd be thinking in this case: "What do men playing as women in videogames really want?"

:P

[soundslike]

No need for Freud.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

[dead_eye]

Probably "Where's the coke?"

[Sucitta]

In fighting games, the lady's are usually over-powered, so I'll use them = )

Chung Li anyone ? <3

[Baka-akaB]

I dont remember it like that . Most of the time the ladies of those games are the lightweight with insane combos abilities but mosquito bite sized damage .

Chun-li is an exception and not even over powered in most Sf games :p .

[AznGaara]

Thats correct. Most females in fighting games are "rush-down" characters with huge combo potential and mix-up abilities. Makoto, Cammy, Ibuki and Sakura all fit that category in SF4.

Cammy ftw.

[Godmars290]

Which is something I would do, if guys wouldn't then come and hit on me first, asking if I were a girl second or third to whatever come on line or small talk they put out.

Edit:
Also since I don't play MMOs its not really an issue.

[guitarded77]

I play as chicks in Bioware games so I can lez out.

[SaiyanFury]

I usually play as a female for a couple of reasons. First is aesthetics. Face it, I don't like looking at some butch-arse, steroid injected male character. I typically spend a good amount of time making my characters as attractive as possible. The second reason is content-based. I mostly play RPGs like Fallout 3, Oblivion, and Skyrim. I also play BioWare games and the like. Fact is, there are usually more men involved with quests than women. I find I can usually carry more favour as a woman than a man. Think of the Black Widow perk in Fallout 3. Just a personal thing, I find. :)

[tigertron]

Makes a change playing as men I guess.

Or they can just have better characters i.e. Femshep.

[chaos-lockheart]

dont want to be gay looking at a guys butt

[Baka-akaB]

Yeah that's the common argument you'll hear . Boils down to people truly relating to the char they are playing , so feeling it's "them" , even with non customizable chars ... or not at all doing that and choosing the suitable eye candy :p

[Captain Qwark 9]

yes becuase looking at the digital ass of a female is better lol?

i like to play as men becuase im a guy which means relating to my character is extra easy. im a man in real life, the characters in the universe im trying to pretend im in will also treat me as a man. makes immersion easier.

im not really into cartoons like chaos and while thats typically the excuse i hear, the only dudes ive ever seen play as woman are also the ones whos sexuality ive questioned at one point or another. even had one of my buddies make an mmo character in second life using the female body template but then dressed him like a dude. i said wtf he looks like a girl, he then said no its a guy, then later i seen he used the female template and i said wtf dude? he then responded with "shut up". and you claim you like to look at their ass chaos but doesnt it take you out of the game or don't you find it a little weird when male characters hit on you or in mmos when real dudes will try to hook up with you becuase they think your a chick? seems much more gay to me to me.

i only give it a pass in fighting games becuase as mentioned above, for some reason they are always crazy overpowered. sonya blade and kitana in the new mk for example

[Lazy_Sunday]

If you're associating with your male character's butt, you may want to think about your own sexual insecurities.

[SlxTeN]

Maybe its just a side effect because lack of female companionship.

[ReservoirDog316]

I'd say that's usually pretty correct in most cases.

[Kaos_Vll]

lol, that's like saying everyone who plays a buff guy is wimp in real life, which might explain some of the comments here.

[The_Nameless_One]

Frankly my logic for playing a female is very simple. If I'm going to look at an ass for more then 30 hours...

[asyouburn]

I agree. If the game is first-person, I usually roll a dude, but I've never felt like I "was" the character in any third-person game, hence the eye candy toons

[TheColbertinator]

I use female characters on WRPG bioware/Obsidian/betheseda games mostly.Many story elements are sometimes only available to them which is neat in my opinion.

[AceofStaves]

I'm not surprised. I prefer to play as male characters when there's a gender choice offered. I'd rather look at males than females, and it adds to the fantasy and escapism of the game simply because the character is something I'm not.

[Drithe]

When Lineage 2 first came out, I once witnessed 30 dark elf female characters all jumping up and down in the same place. It was a guild from another game, a bunch of guys, checking out the bouncyness of thier overly hot, huged boobied dark elf cartoon chicks.

End of Line.

[PersonaCat]

I never saw the appeal to playing as a female. When I play a game that lets me customize a character, I always go for the male. The whole "I don't want to see a man's ass" is such a dumb claim lol. I usually won't play an rpg where the characters are gender locked, because the rogues are always female -__- MEN CAN BE SPEEDY TOO!

[Seventh_Blood_Reborn]

I don' t like to play as a woman because I consider the character as my avatar, a fictional representation of myself. This is actually also the reason why I always prefer a "normal" character instead of a "super muscled".
For example I will always prefer Nathan Drake to Marcus Phoenix.

For example I loved Bayonetta, but if I had the chance to play with a male character I would have preferred and I would never choose the female one.

I also never choose a female character in fighting games or in every other type of game if I can take a male one.

[InklingGirl]

It's simple for me, I don't want to see a guy from behind every time I play a third person game. I'm not a homophobe I just don't men in general especially their goods.

[xGrunty]

I usually make females in MMOs because usually my character type fits the female looks more. If I make a warrior type class it'll probably be a male though. Just depends on what I play. My main is almost always a female though, mainly cause if I'm going to be playing an MMO for hundreds of hours, I'd much rather look at a woman than a man. But it's more on the lines of the character type I'd be playing. For example the mage armors most likely look better on the female than the male, etc. etc.

[Morbid Bulldozer]

Simple - men play as women only when they actually want to be women. The 'looking at a guy's ass for XX hours' argument supports that. How? Well, normally where do you look when you play a 3rd person game? The crosshair, the scenery, other characters. Not your avatar's ass, which is far from the center of the screen full of more important things to look at. If playing as a guy makes you stare at his backside, then you probably like what you see and do the same thing in real life. Which is not cool.

[Cryptcuzz]

I like to play as a female especially in 3D games where you can pan the camera around. That way, I can look at my ultra sexy female avatar and appreciate the female anatomy LOL.

[Lucretia]

because men like to look at the asses of women while they play for 40+ hours, not dudes.

now in a tho in a situation where im with my fiance its always the male is a male and female is a female, because thats how it should be if ur playin with ur signifigant other :P

[NYC_Gamer]

I don't play as females in any game where its an option

[smashcrashbash]

Cause the female character is usually the quickest and the most agile person in the game. What is the point of playing a female in a game if she is a crappy character? Just to see her jiggle around? If she isn't something else besides eye candy what's the point?

[spartan_dx]

If the game is online i play as a dude why would you want other guys hitting on you. but say like in an rpg if i liked the game enough i'll play replay as the other gender to get a different experience.-and of course to enjoy the new 'scenery'

[kabala]

I only play as a female in fighting games because they usually require technique to beat the more powerful guys.

[NeoTribe]

I tend to make my archer/mage characters female. Think its because I've played diablo for to many years and believe that's how it should be. Also spices up the game sometimes. Made playing dragon age 1 a lot different.

[Stansolo]

Female characters look a dam sight better than a muscle bound bloke. Female characters in games, move better, talk better and dress better. The only male character that looks mint in a game is Master Chief but saying that the female spartans in Halo Reach look and move better...lol.