Beyond the body: Female characters and narrative agency in video game storytelling

This thesis investigates how narrative agency is constructed and limited for female characters in mainstream video game storytelling, and whether the structural logic governing that distribution has changed across four decades of the medium's history. A feminist qualitative narrative analysis is conducted across four case studies representing diverse approaches to female characterization: The Legend of Zelda (Nintendo, 1986-2024), The Last of Us (Naughty Dog, 2013), The Last of Us Part II (Naughty Dog, 2020), Life is Strange (Dontnod Entertainment, 2015), and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive, 2025). Each case study is examined through an original four-question analytical framework that produces a score out of eight, allowing for structured comparison across the corpus. Through this analysis, it is found that recent games include more complex and capable female characters, however, narrative agency is unevenly distributed and structurally constrained. Four recurring patterns are identified across the corpus: relational motivation, delayed agency, disproportionate cost, and externally determined conditions. These findings support the central hypothesis that female characters in video games are structurally positioned as narrative objects rather than subjects, and that while recent games have begun to challenge this logic, the mechanisms of subordination have proved resistant to change. This research explores the broader implications of these findings for feminist game studies and narrative theory.