In this essay I am going to apply a semiotic analysis to both the Tomb Raider and the  Metroid video games covers. I will argue that Tomb Raider portrays a radical representation of female protagonists whereas Metroid presents a more reactionary representation of a typical male protagonist. 

The cover of Tomb Raider provides a dominant signifying image of the main protagonist Lara Croft who is presented as feminine. This corresponds to Toril Moi’s analysis of the distinction between female, feminine, feminist categories of representation (1987) and is highlighted by the characters long hair and soft features which have been culturally identified as womanly characteristics. Despite being represented as feminine, the mise-en-scene yields a radical representation of women due to the guns being used as indexical signs which connote to danger and therefore contradicts the typical ideology that women are weak and pathetic – instead, Croft is portrayed as a brave and daring protagonist. Her rebellious persona is reinforced through the plot line of the game where she must undergo a dangerous journey independently which juxtaposes Anita Sarkeesian’s idea of the ‘damsel in distress’ (Feminist Frequency). The trope highlights the stereotypical plot line where by typically there is  a female character (the ‘damsel in distress’) which ‘must be saved by a male character’ as ‘motivation for the protagonists quest’ which is not the case in Tomb Raider. This creates a positive representation of women as, contradictory to most games, Croft does not rely on the help of a male character to complete her quest and therefore creates a beneficial influence on the gaming community as it encourages them to have a more open mind in terms of the way in which women should be presented compared to how they typically are presented.

Whilst this representation may feel liberating for female audiences, in terms of her physical appearance and the sexual nature of the way in which she is presented, can also be seen as degrading in the sense that her sexual image is being used to attract a more dominant, profitable male audience. The paradigm of small, tight clothing, provocative stance and seductive facial expression which make up her objectified persona, reflects upon Laura Mulvey’s notion on the male gaze in that the dominant signifier is designed in such a way that she appears sexualised – in the words of Mulvey, she is a character whose “appearance [is] coded for [a] strong visual and erotic impact” (“Visual and Other Pleasures”, 1989) in order to feed the voyeuristic tendencies of the video game industry. By dressing Lara Croft in small clothing and using her body as a selling point, video game designers are criticising the counter-type of bringing a female protagonist into a male-dominated industry as it takes away from the practical, liberating aspect of her character well as her purpose in the game. In that sense, you could argue that this is a reactionary representation of women as this is a common image used in media in order to generate sales

In contrast, the front cover of Metroid provides a dominant signifying image of a robotic figure , presumably the main character, and is presented as masculine however, is not explicitly said to be male. This contrasts to Toril Moi’s analysis of the distinction between female, feminine, feminist categories of representation (1987) as the build of the protagonist appears muscular and broad which are characteristics which have been collectively recognised as masculine. This creates a reactionary representation of men as the cover displays a stereotypical masculine hero which is  presented as powerful and dominant in order to fit their common purpose of ‘saving the world’. This is reinforced by the white glow surrounding the protagonist which is a symbolic sign  representative of their integrity and selflessness – typical personality characteristics a hero would posses. The indexical sign of the gun attached to the robots suit also implies this as it has connotations of combat and violence and therefore portrays the signifier  brave and fearless. This juxtaposes Anita Sarkeesian’s, from Feminist Frequency,  idea that women are more than often the selling point of video games – she states that designers ‘make them [women] exude sexuality for the entertainment of the presumed straight male player’ which is not the case for Metroid. Instead, Metroid displays how it is easy to exceeded sales using a perfectly masculine character rather than utilising the objectified image of a woman to do so.

However, according to my schematic knowledge on the game Metroid, beneath the masculine armour is a female protagonist which is not evident from the front cover. Therefore you could argue that Metroid creates a radical representation of women in that it once again contradict the ‘damsel in distress’ trope theorises by Anita Sarkeesian as discussed earlier as Samus is portrayed as the hero rather than the victim. However, and more importantly, it once again uses the image of a sexualised women to generate a wider, typically male, audience. Similar to Lara croft from Tomb Raider, the objectification of the dominant signifier corresponds with Laura Mulvey’s theory of the male gaze which attracts ‘obsessive voyeurs and peeping toms whose only sexual satisfaction can come from watching, in an active controlling sense, an objectified other.’ (Visual and Other Pleasures (1989)). This highlights the common utilisation of women in media as profit-makers whilst  according to Jean Kilbourne on her observations of women in advertising does not ‘directly cause violence against women but they [it] normalise[es] a dangerous attitude’ (for TEDx) which is when problems begin to arise.

To conclude, both Metroid and Tomb Raider portray two rather similar representations of female protagonists in the sense that they are both presented as radical due to their bravery and independence as well as also both being sexualised to meet the wants of the typical straight male audience. However, the small difference is that this representation is a lot less obvious with regards to the Metroid front cover compared to the Tomb Raider front cover due to the main character being portrayed as a masculine figure at first glance.