International Women's Day 2024: the best female video game characters of all time, from Zelda to Ellie

International Women’s Day (on March 8) is an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of women and to consider where we’re at in the fight for gender equality.

Unfortunately, the gaming industry still has a long way to go in terms of female representation. Although nearly half of all gamers are women, under a third of video game characters are female. Even more depressingly, researchers have found that, on average, games include twice as much male dialogue as female dialogue.

That said, things are changing. From the sword-wielding Kassandra of Assassin’s Creed to the deeply flawed Ellie from