Shinji Mikami: ‘I won’t portray women as objects or submissive’

The father of Resident Evil has shared some insight into how he approaches female characters in his games.

During an interview with The Guardian, veteran developer Shinji Mikami said he preferred his in-game women to be independent and aims to depict them as more than eye candy.

"I don’t know if I’ve put more emphasis on women characters, but when I do introduce them, it is never as objects," he said. "In some games, they will be peripheral characters with ridiculous breast physics. I avoid that sort of obvious eroticism. 

"I also don’t like female characters who are submissive to male characters, or to the situation they’re in. I won’t portray women in that way. I write women characters who discover their interdependence as the game progresses, or who already know they are independent but have that tested against a series of challenges."

The Resident Evil creator, who has just launched his new horror game The Evil Within, also reflected on past female characters he has created, revealing his biggest regret.

"If I had to name the woman character I most disliked in my games, it would be Rebecca Chambers," said Mikami. 

"She’s submissive, she’s not independent. I didn’t want to include her but the staff wanted that kind of character in the game, for whatever reason. I’m sure it made sense to them. And in Japan, that character is pretty popular."

Mikami’s comments are interesting, following the uproar earlier this year surrounding Ubisoft when the publisher discussed the lack of female characters in Far Cry 4 and Assassin’s Creed Unity.