Monster Girls of Video Games

Paranormal Pajama Party

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Last week on Paranormal Pajama Party, we met the monster girls of Greek mythology. This week, in part two of our monster girls series, we’re considering the representation of monstrous women in horror video games.

Monster girls are female-coded creatures that blend human and monstrous elements, often portrayed as both alluring and terrifying. This duality reflects male anxieties about female sexuality and autonomy.

We’ll explore the origins of monster girls in various mythologies and their roles in tabletop games like Dungeons & Dragons, emphasising how these characters often reinforce patriarchal views by fitting into archetypes: maiden (sexual), mother (pregnant), and crone (ageing and unattractive).

We’ll also discuss the toxic culture within the gaming industry, exemplified by events like GamerGate, a harassment campaign targeting women in gaming.

Luckily, it’s not all bad news. Positive changes are occurring, with more inclusive game design and diverse representation slowly improving the industry, and legislative progress for victims of cyber-harassment.

Still, here at Paranormal Pajama Party, we’re all for more creative portrayals of female characters that break away from traditional sexist tropes (who doesn’t love and fear GLaDOS from Portal?), and for diverse voices in all areas. And we love a monster girl – they remind us that it’s okay to be angry, push back, and demand more.

Key moments

• 1:08 – Alex meets the spider woman
• 3:51 – Recap of last week's episode
• 5:39 – Meet the monster girls of video games
• 11:01 – Maiden, mother, crone archetypes and the triple goddess
• 19:35 – Psychological effects of sexualised character portrayals
• 22:06 – GamerGate and the alt-right
• 26:22 – Things start to look up

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View all my sources for each episode and read the episode transcipt here.
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Hoofdstukken

1. Content warning (00:00:00)

2. Alex meets the spider woman (00:01:08)

3. Welcome to the party! And a recap of last week's episode (00:03:51)

4. Meet the monster girls of video games (00:05:39)

5. Gamers are diverse! Characters aren't. (00:06:48)

6. Monster girls and Dungeons and Dragons (00:08:31)

7. Anita Sarkeesian's "Women vs. Video Game Tropes" (00:09:19)

8. Maiden, mother, crone archetypes and the triple goddess (00:11:01)

9. Maiden monsters: Silent Hill's bubblehead nurses (00:13:07)

10. Mother monsters: Resident Evil Village's Lady Dimitrescu (00:14:39)

11. Crone monsters: The Witcher 3's water hags (00:17:30)

12. Psychological effects of sexualised character portrayals (00:19:35)

13. GamerGate and the alt-right (00:22:06)

14. New monster girls: Marceline the Vampire Queen (00:26:22)

15. Real-world improvements (00:27:24)

16. Non-sexualised female characters: Portal's GLaDOS (00:28:57)

17. Monster girls as the anti-final girl (00:29:59)

18. Outro (00:30:49)