Patirica H.
Member
I've never been a big fan of The Devil May Cry games, least of all after catching wind of its leather clad, oedipal love interest. Many (white, male) gamers have told me that the story was never the point of the games, which is why this new reboot which so many insist tells a much better story caught my eye. Instead, all I found upon renting this abomination was more of the same sexist dreck. Not a single POC appears at any point in the game, but that's a whole other kettle of fish; for now I wish to focus specifically on The Devil May Cry's portrayal of women.
We first meet our highly original white heterosexual male protagonist with an enormous red flag, as strippers clad in angel costume gyrate and dance for his amusement; before being lead back to his disgusting, trashy trailer for a threesome. Don't worry male gamers! You're not playing some wimpy loser, just look at what a stud he is!
Shortly after, we are introduced to the phallocentric imagery that will dominate this game when Dante's tattoo (a "sword" aka "penis" penetrating an orb) glows. This same tattoo will later cast a magical spell summoning a real "sword", on top of our "hero" acquiring a pair of pistols to round out his arsenal of mighty cock stand-ins.
Speaking of cocks, we have our first glimpse of the game's leading lady as she is assaulted by our illustrious hero stepping out naked in broad daylight. Just in case you were not yet conviced of Dante's awe inspiring masculinity. For reasons I cannot begin to understand, she still chooses to warn this clown of an impending monster attack, kicking off the tutorial level of the game.
After a short platforming segment Dante catches up with the woman who placed herself at personal risk to warn of the impending attack. Our brave and valiant protagonist does what any rational man would do, drawing his guns and inquiring what will happen if he shoots her. Our hero, everyone! Putting women who dare to speak before spoken to in their place.
The character of Kat doesn't fare much better anywhere else in the game, however. Even in the promotional splash images she isn't allowed the dynamic action poses of her male counterparts. No, she has to be flashing cleavage and some bare leg, in a childlike, vulnerable pose. How else would male gamers want to protect her if she weren't a dainty, sexy, defenseless little doll?
The problematic elements of this character ramp up over time; she even comes complete with the standard Strong Female Character™ backstory in which she explains how she was raped every night until a big, powerful man came to her rescue. While Dante and his brother exhibit extraordinary magical powers and physical ability, Kat is relegated to their human taxi service. Using magic apparently fueled by her performing sexual acts on squirrels (see, its funny because a woman is being humiliated) she can create portals to and from the Limbo world so the big manly character with cocks who actually matter can do things. In a pinch, she also serves as a handy damsel in distress. If you're like me, plodding your way through this mess of a game in vain hope that Kat will realize what a couple of misogynist, patriarchal pieces of human trash she's spent this game with, allow me to spoil her grand conclusion: she spends the final boss battle cowering behind a trash can.
Surely there are other, better examples of women in this game, though. Right?
Right?
Meet Lillith. She's one of the villain Mundus' whores. That is literally the only relevant detail about her in this game.
Boy, Dante sure spends a lot of this game menacing women with his coc- with guns, huh? Fortunately he doesn't carry entirely through with his posturing: that's left to Vergil, who shoots this defenseless pregnant woman twice. It's okay though, since she's ugly and thus worthless as a woman.
As for a third? Well, the only other named female character is Dante's mother, Eva. It should be noted that characters throughout the game refer to Dante as "the Son of Sparda", even an unlockable difficulty level and outfit use this lofty title. But what of Eva's hand in Dante's creation? Well, she's just a whore if the rest of the characters in the game are to be believed. Not even Dante disagrees with this statement. Are we beginning to notice a trend in this game yet in regards to women being nothing but whores?
As a whole, I find this game truly disgusting and would not recommend this to my girlfriends or any right thinking human being. And shame to those who hold this filth up as a new pinnacle of story telling in a patriarchal, white cishet dominated industry.
We first meet our highly original white heterosexual male protagonist with an enormous red flag, as strippers clad in angel costume gyrate and dance for his amusement; before being lead back to his disgusting, trashy trailer for a threesome. Don't worry male gamers! You're not playing some wimpy loser, just look at what a stud he is!
Shortly after, we are introduced to the phallocentric imagery that will dominate this game when Dante's tattoo (a "sword" aka "penis" penetrating an orb) glows. This same tattoo will later cast a magical spell summoning a real "sword", on top of our "hero" acquiring a pair of pistols to round out his arsenal of mighty cock stand-ins.
Speaking of cocks, we have our first glimpse of the game's leading lady as she is assaulted by our illustrious hero stepping out naked in broad daylight. Just in case you were not yet conviced of Dante's awe inspiring masculinity. For reasons I cannot begin to understand, she still chooses to warn this clown of an impending monster attack, kicking off the tutorial level of the game.
After a short platforming segment Dante catches up with the woman who placed herself at personal risk to warn of the impending attack. Our brave and valiant protagonist does what any rational man would do, drawing his guns and inquiring what will happen if he shoots her. Our hero, everyone! Putting women who dare to speak before spoken to in their place.
The character of Kat doesn't fare much better anywhere else in the game, however. Even in the promotional splash images she isn't allowed the dynamic action poses of her male counterparts. No, she has to be flashing cleavage and some bare leg, in a childlike, vulnerable pose. How else would male gamers want to protect her if she weren't a dainty, sexy, defenseless little doll?
The problematic elements of this character ramp up over time; she even comes complete with the standard Strong Female Character™ backstory in which she explains how she was raped every night until a big, powerful man came to her rescue. While Dante and his brother exhibit extraordinary magical powers and physical ability, Kat is relegated to their human taxi service. Using magic apparently fueled by her performing sexual acts on squirrels (see, its funny because a woman is being humiliated) she can create portals to and from the Limbo world so the big manly character with cocks who actually matter can do things. In a pinch, she also serves as a handy damsel in distress. If you're like me, plodding your way through this mess of a game in vain hope that Kat will realize what a couple of misogynist, patriarchal pieces of human trash she's spent this game with, allow me to spoil her grand conclusion: she spends the final boss battle cowering behind a trash can.
Surely there are other, better examples of women in this game, though. Right?
Right?
Meet Lillith. She's one of the villain Mundus' whores. That is literally the only relevant detail about her in this game.
Boy, Dante sure spends a lot of this game menacing women with his coc- with guns, huh? Fortunately he doesn't carry entirely through with his posturing: that's left to Vergil, who shoots this defenseless pregnant woman twice. It's okay though, since she's ugly and thus worthless as a woman.
As for a third? Well, the only other named female character is Dante's mother, Eva. It should be noted that characters throughout the game refer to Dante as "the Son of Sparda", even an unlockable difficulty level and outfit use this lofty title. But what of Eva's hand in Dante's creation? Well, she's just a whore if the rest of the characters in the game are to be believed. Not even Dante disagrees with this statement. Are we beginning to notice a trend in this game yet in regards to women being nothing but whores?
As a whole, I find this game truly disgusting and would not recommend this to my girlfriends or any right thinking human being. And shame to those who hold this filth up as a new pinnacle of story telling in a patriarchal, white cishet dominated industry.
