Dragon Age: Offered and Created Womanhood
In: Cultural Perspectives of Video Games: From Desiger to PlayerSearch for other papers by Natacha Guyot in
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Created in 2009, the video game franchise Dragon Age takes place in a Heroic Fantasy world and is comprised of both main video games Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age II, as well as in their extensions and downloadable content. In the different games of the franchise, there are as many opportunities to play a male or female character, giving the player gender equality in terms of choice. Overall, Dragon Age relies on the unisex aspect in terms of game play. Yet, certain elements seem to question that unisex and even androgyny aspect, which is a trait for both for playable characters and their companions. In terms of marketing, another contradiction also arises, while certain sections of character creation and customisation rely on female clichés, like the woman as seductress. On the other hand, many non playable female characters offer images of diverse kinds, in terms of womanhood. Dragon Age possesses a sexual dimension in some of its storylines. The playable character’s sexual orientation and of the possible carnal encounters that may be developed is an aspect of the franchise that has evolved between the first and the second opus. The franchise offers different views on female sexuality in terms of ‘roles’ not only through the games themselves but also by the sometimes improbable consequences that certain mods - alterations created and programmed by the players’ community - have on the storyline. This is the case of a normally heterosexual romance, leading to the conception of a child in Dragon Age: Origins. Indeed, thanks to a mod allowing a female companion to be courted by a female playable character, that child may find themselves with that lesbian couple as their parents.