PixlBit

With that new Tropes vs Women video up, I am at the point where I'm just sick of all this negativity in gaming. Not just with gender issues, but everything about it from the industry to reviewers. Now I have been negative on a lot of things, but the amount of negativity towards this industry is just annoying. So, I thought I'd just give some of my own positivity on it and what better way than to show how a trope that is shown to be harmful can be used in a positive manner? So I thought I'd just give an example of it used in a positive way with a game I have recently become obsessed with.

Now needless to say this contains huge spoilers for all three of Phoenix's games, so read at your own risk. But for those of you about to stop, just know one thing so you get something out of this: If anyone ever uses this series in a negative aspect when discussing mysogyny, they are an idiot. They are just focusing on the women who show a lot of cleavage ignoring just how great the characters themselves are as women in games.

So for those still reading but unfamiliar with the series (I know what it's like to have that game you want to experience even though you don't like it) there's a lot of exposition you need to know for this to make sense. Those who have played can easily skip to after Godot's picture.

So the second case in the original PW has Mia Fey (middle left character) die and Phoenix defending her sister Maya (far right). This seems like a damsel in distress until Phoenix gets blamed for the crime and Maya, who is a spirit medium, channels Mia's soul to give Phoenix the guidance he needs to win the case.

Throughout the rest of the series, Maya and her cousin Pearl (also a spirit medium) channel Mia's soul whenever Phoenix is about to lose a case. Pearl's introduction comes when her mother Morgan frames Maya for murder so Pearl can take over their village as the head spirit medium.

Yeah, they show cleavage off a lot. But these are anything but sexist.

This case comes back at the end of Trials and Tribulations when the true intentions of the game's prosecutor Godot (far left on first picture) are brought to light. T&T has two other cases that tie into this with murderer Dahlia Hawthorne. Dahlia murdered her step sister and framed her ex boyfriend so they wouldn't reveal she stole $2 million dollars on a fake kidnapping. She then poisoned Godot who was a part of the case and used a college aged Phoenix to hide the evidence, only to kill one person who knew about this. She tried to frame Phoenix, but Mia uncovered the truth and Dahlia was executed.

Godot then reveals how when he woke up froma coma from being poisoned, his eyesight was destroyed and Mia was dead, who was his one reason to live (surprisingly presented in a platonic manner, though not bashing it into your head). With this, he blames Phoenix and dedicates his life to two things: Exposing Phoenix as a hack and protecting Maya as a favor to Mia.

This brings issues however when Morgan asks her daughter Pearl to channel Dahlia's spirit in an area where Dahlia can then kill Maya. Pearl trusts her mother when she says it's to do what's best and is unaware of her true intentions. Godot hears of this and goes to protect Maya enlisting the aid of Dahlia's twin sister Iris and Maya's mother Misty.

During this plan Misty channels Dahlia instead from a place where they could subdue her, but Godot kills her as Dahlia is about to finish Maya. As only the bridge to where they are is taken out, Godot finds a way to send the body to Iris and both stage it so Maya is not suspected in Misty's murder. This backfires, however, when Iris is suspected of murdering Misty. Maya meanwhile channels Mia for help who comes up with the plan to channel Dahlia and seal herself away so Dahlia cannot harm her.

Seriously one of the best video game characters ever.

Phoenix ends up revealing the truth, proving Dahlia failed to murder Maya, and finding out Godot's true actions. It is then he is able to gain Godot's respect where Godot admits the flaw in his plan. He didn't tell Phoenix. No one is closer to Maya than Phoenix at this point in the game, so to keep him in the dark makes no sense if he wants to really save Maya.

This last part is where the positive use of a damsel in distress comes into play. Godot saving Maya was done for selfish reasons, something that was done to give himself purpose rather than for her own good. He wanted to prove it was Phoenix's fault Mia died when Phoenix had no way of preventing Maya's murder.

It's because of this that through his plan to protect Maya, he killed her mother and ended up getting another innocent girl framed for it. Worse he even admits that he did not know whether he was killing Misty or Pearl to save Maya. His idea of saving the damsel in distress was flawed to the point where he was harming everyone around him. And he was stabbed himself behind his visor, where it is implied his injury killed him soon after his arrest.

By proving this to Godot, Phoenix helped Godot realize how he was in denial. Maya even wanted to protect Godot when he saw him defend her, as she lied in her testimony. Yet proving Godot's guilt made him admit just how bad his true intentions were and Godot was able to find peace. 

This is what a game can do with the trope when it wants to use it effectively. About how good intentions can be destroyed by a quest for personal glory. Godot protecting Maya was damaging not only to the two of them, but everyone around them because he stopped seeing her as a person and saw her as a way to still help Mia. Not because she was a woman, but because he needed to prove himself.