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an extensive list of playable pre-90's female characters

(work in progress)

made because I am very tired of the mainstream narrative pretending that playable female characters in videogames didn't exist until 2017

the requirements are simple:

note that for many early games the player character's identity is fully up for the player: you were actually supposed to use your imagination! therefore, in some cases I will include characters like these based on additional materials like console cabinet art or advertisements

note that "sexualized" doesn't mean "bad" and is extremely biased: consider this a female point of view

1977
Character(s) First appearance Release date Notes Sexualized?
not named Score Men and women play tag in order to capture each others' hearts. The player can choose to play as a female character. This was a more "family-friendly" edition of Exidy's game "Death Race", which was apparently too violent and realistic for 1977. This arcade machine is, unfortunately, currently lost in history. ???

1980
Character(s) First appearance Release date Notes Sexualized?
Little Red Riding Hood Kid Venture An adventure game for little kids about the "kid-venture" of Red Riding Hood. No

1981
Character(s) First appearance Release date Notes Sexualized?
not named Tournament Pro Golf May 08 The game artwork features a woman, and the sprite is neutral enough to be open to interpretation for the player. No
Benthi Galactic Saga IV: Tawala's Last Redoubt August 15 No?
not named Lady Bug October A Pac-Man clone with images of cute but cheeky girls as attraction and "girly" items to collect (hearts, letters, etc). Yes

1982
Character(s) First appearance Release date Notes Sexualized?
Ms. Pac-Man Ms. Pac-Man January 13 An officially-endorsed Pac-Man clone. There have also been non-official Pac-Man clones (many of them), at least one features a "Pac-Gal" as well, released on DOS same year. No
nameable (later The Avatar) Ultima II: The Revenge of the Enchantress August 24 A well-regarded and revolutionary RPG series. Wobbly in the representation department: the original Ultima (and Alakabeth) didn't feature selection of sex at all, and with later games all cutscenes and cover artwork default to male. By Ultima 8 and 9 the option to play as female will disappear alongside with overall attention and care, because EA will buy out the devs and do what EA does... No
Billie Sue Wabbit September Main programmer: Van Tran (later Van Mai), a young female programmer originating from Vietnam. No
not named Swedish Erotica: Beat 'Em & Eat 'Em November It's a porn game for Atari 2600. You can imagine how cringe it looks. There is a version where you play as male, too. Yes
not named Kangaroo A Donkey Kong-inspired game. Mother kangaroo saves her baby. Both Japanese and North American covers depict a male kangaroo for some reason. No
Ripley? Alien A Pac-Man clone based on the 1979 movie. The player supposedly has several people under control, but as the movie features female main character, this game makes the cut. Even random crew members could be female, anyway. No
Mama Pig Pooyan Mother pig protects her piglets by shooting arrows at wolves, Robin Hood style. Who said action girls weren't invented till 2017? No

1983
Character(s) First appearance Release date Notes Sexualized?
not named Dishaster February A circus girl spins plates on sticks and must not let them fall down. The name is way too hilarious for me not to note. No
not named Dolphin May You are a dolphin. A female dolphin: the manual confirms that. It also has an audio chart for sound cues and an invitation to join the "Secret Society of Dolphins" if you gain a really high score. Wonder if Activision still sends club patches (probably no). No
??? 大奥マル秘物語 [Oooku Maruhi Monogatari] July The main character wishes to get in favor of her master in order to give birth to his child. ???
Kanae オルリー空港殺人事件 [Orly Kuukou Satsujin Jiken] November A detective visual novel. No
Kim Kimberly Snowball A sci-fi text adventure. No?
Charity Flair Murder on the Zinderneuf A detective game. There are 8 characters to choose, with each having different personality and style of case-solving. No?
Agatha Marbles
not named Tropical Angel Water-ski riding game with a cute and playful girl. Yes
not named 女子バレーボール [Joshi Volleyball] Women volleyball. No?
Becky おてんばベッキーの大冒険 [Otenba Becky no Daibouken] MSX-exclusive Lode Runner clone. No
Jenny Jenny of the Prairie Educational survival game targeted at girls. No
not named Lady in Wading The next in series of porn games for Atari 2600. Yes
Laurie Strode Halloween Based on the movie. No
Lilly Lilly Adventure Atari 2600 game, also known by a ton of different games. No

1984
Character(s) First appearance Release date Notes Sexualized?
Nana Ice Climber February, 4 Climb the mountain! Nana is Player 2. No
Miko ミコとアケミのジャングルアドベンチャ [Miko to Akemi no Jungle Adventures] March Two girls have to survive in a wild jungle after their plane crashes. No
Akemi
Flicky Flicky May Mother bird saves her babies from a cat. No
Nausicaä 風の谷のナウシカ [Kaze no Tani no Nausicaa] June Based on a well-known anime and manga by the same name. Allegidly the game was so terrible that no Ghibli games were allowed to be made even up to this day... No
Barbie Barbie June The game about the doll which needs no introduction. You need to prepare for a date with Ken as if he cares what exact clothes Barbie wears. The game was so boring that no new Barbie games were made until 1991, but currently Barbie has a very robust catalogue of various games. Yes
Nanako ななこＳＯＳ [Nanako SOS] June The game is based on the anime. Yes
Alice Alice: Adventures in Wonderland July An erotic re-imagining of Alice in Wonderland for PC-88. Yes
not named Bird Mother September Bird moms were trendy in videogames, it seems. No
Clair Cave Girl Clair Educational survival game: now about a cavegirl! No
Chelsea Chelsea of the South Sea Islands Another educational survival game: now you have a machete! What exactly these games were supposed to prepare young girls for? No
Anna Lee (nameable) Cabbage Patch Kids: Adventures in the Park A platformer by Konami. No
Annie Airbase Invader A very relevant game with political subtext, where a little girl must find President Raygun in a maze in order to stop him from launching nukes. No
Beaky Beaky and the Egg Snatchers Mother bird. No
Bionic Granny Bionic Granny Granny beats up some sense in these whippersnappers with her cane! Dodge lollipops, too much sugar is bad for your health. No
??? 40-0 Women's tennis. No
not named Field Day Track & Field, but with women. I would've liked to play this as a kid... No

1985
Character(s) First appearance Release date Notes Sexualized?
Papri Girl's Garden January A girl collects flowers in order to give them to the boy she likes and win his heart. No
Annie アステカ [Asteka] February An archeologist named Annie aspires to unveil the secrets of Aztecs. ???
Kurumi-hime Ninja Princess March The princess saves herself from being kidnapped. Actually was replaced by a default male ninja in home releases for no reason... No
??? Cauldron April The witch really hates pumpkins. No
Kissy (Masuyo Tobi) バラデューク [Baraduke] May 25 Women in full space suits eliminate hordes of aliens. No
Takky
Alexandra Lode Runner's Rescue October Lode Runner's daughter saves her dad from being kidnapped. No
??? Flashgal November Yes
Milky おにゃんこTOWN [Onyanko Town] November, 21 Mother cat looks for her lost kitten No
Amelie Amelie Minuit An adventure game where Amelie has an hour to find her lost paperwork before electricity in her office shuts down. No
(nameable) Pride and Prejudice Very loosely based on the novel's setting, this is a text parser "date sim" where the goal is to successfully marry a sucessful man, and to do it more sucessfully than your peers. No
Alice Alice in Wonderland An adventure game for Apple II and C64 based on the book. No
Dorothy Gale The Wizard of Oz An adventure game for Apple II, C64, and IBM PCjr based on the book. No
Reika Time Gal Cute scientist girl travels through time in order to get a time machine back from evil Luda. A LaserDisc FMV anime game. Yes
Lady Lady Master of Kung Fu Kung Fu lady beats up bad guys with her nunchaku. In a process she gets sweaty and tired and has to undress bit by bit. Poor Lady. Yes
Yuki Typhoon Gal The first playable female character in a 1-on-1 fighting! Cute girl in pink gi conquers dojos by fighting there and then withstands the attempts of other fighters to avenge their dojos. This game was also apparently the first to feature grappling and throws, which must be executed to win. No?
Claris City Connection Color a boring road, dodging the police. In the US NES release, Claris was completely removed and replaced by a blonde dude: but her playful gestures weren't, so those who ordered the butchering probably didn't succeed in creating an image of ultra-masculine dude. No
Thyra Gauntlet Wizard needs food badly Yes
Toremi The Fairyland Story You play as a cute witch. No
The Fairy Queen Elidon No
not named Doppleganger The sorceress and her magical alter-ego liberate all the treasures from the Castle of Doom. This is isometric puzzle game; there has been another text adventure game, but that Doppleganger doesn't make this list. No
Sevrina Maris Shadowfire No?

1986
Character(s) First appearance Release date Notes Sexualized?
Ki The Return of Ishtar March 1 The sequel of Namco's Tower of Druaga, intended for 2 players. The priestess Ki, which was "the damsel" of the previous game, is actually Player 1 here! No
Mary Quartet April 10 No
nameable 少女戦隊エンジェル [Shoujo Sentai Angel] April Crude-looking and "old-school" JRPG on PC-98. Very obscure. ???
Lina コスモエンジェル [Cosmo Angel] June Sci-fi adventures. Supposedly an eroge? Yes
not named バード・ウィーク [Bird Week] June 3 Another mother bird now has to feed her young. Considered by some to be *the* hardest game on Famicom/NES. No
Athena Asamiya Psycho Soldier June 30 Notable for being the first videogame which used a song with actual vocals in-gameplay. Athena Asamiya would later become a popular recurring character in SNK games. No
Amatelass 聖戦士アマテラス [Sei Senshi Amatelass] / Soldier Girl Amazon June No?
Athena Athena July Oh no! Princess Athena has lost all her clothes (aside from her red bikini)! Help her to get dressed! This Athena is related to Athena Asamiya. Famicom port of this game was garbage and the only saving grace of it was an audio cassette featuring vocal tracks from Psycho Soldier as a bonus; naturally, in Japan only. Yes
Chris アルファ [Alpha] July Sci-fi adventure game about a pilot stranded on an unknown planet after her ship crashes. Features H and violent scenes. Actually was made by Square! Yes
Valkyrie ワルキューレの冒険時の鍵伝説 [Valkyrie no Bouken: Toki no Kagi Densetsu] August 1 This game is hard... No
Samus Aran Metroid August 6 Not the first ever playable female character. Yes
Lum うる星やつら ラムのウェディングベル [Urusei Yatsura: Lum no Wedding Bell] October 23 Girl combats aliens just to survive the process of growing up (imo, very realistic...). The initial game for Famicom was based on the anime. Momoko 120% is the same game, but released in arcades with a different character due to license issues. No
Momoko Momoko 120% ??? No
Altiana スペースハンター [Space Hunter] September 25 Cyborg girl shoots stuff. No
Sayo-chan 奇々怪界 [Kiki Kaikai] October 18 Shoot 'em up featuring a shrine maiden before Touhou made it mainstream. In the 90's the series will be localized in the West as Pocky & Rocky (Sayo-chan will be named Pocky). No
Yuuko 夢幻戦士ヴァリス [Mugen Senshi Valis] November 26 An action game about a girl fighting with a sword in a school uniform. Supposedly full of drama. Yes?
Rabby ガルフォース Eternal Story [Gall Force - Eternal Story] December 10 Based on the anime. No?
the Star Leaf crew members
Kawa Yui ハイスクール!奇面組 [High School! Kimengumi] December 15 Based on comedy manga series. No
Uru Chie
Lucia The Wing of Madoola December 18 No
Layla レイラ [Layla] December 20 A sci-fi action game with mazes. No
Tiat Darius An arcade shoot'em up. Tiat is "blue player" and pilots the Blue Silver Hawk. No
Winnie Winnie Witch's Superbroom A waycast spell leads to the spirits rising again: now Winnie needs to fix this! No
??? クリスチーヌ [Christine] An eroge featuring H and violent scenes. Aside of the main character's boyfriend, all characters are female. Yes
Christine El Misterio del Nilo / The Mystery of the Nile Based on the movie by the same name, although made unofficially. The main character was renamed Janet Dwight in the English version. No?
not named? ルナシティ殺人事件 [Luna City Satsujin Jiken] A detective game. The player can choose the main character's gender and is free to switch it any time. No
nameable Mad Nurse A nurse in the maternity ward goes crazy with newborns running amok... No
Lady Wilde Legend of the Amazon Women No
??? Body Slam Pro Wrestling game. No?
Voleyball team of Japan Attack Four Volleyball Very seizure-prone women (judging by their sprites shaking) play professional volleyball. No
Myrtle Mermaid Madness Yes

1987
Character(s) First appearance Release date Notes Sexualized?
Sara Labyrinth January 7 Based on the movie. Features difficult time management. No
randomized (the Princess of Moonbrooke) Dragon Warrior II / Dragon Quest II January 26 No
Momo Wonder Momo February 24 Cute girl acts as superhero on-stage, battling enemies! No
Jenny ロストワード・オブ・ジェニー 失われたメッセー [Lost Word of Jenny: Ushinawareta Message] March 25 In the 80's, Mattel's Barbie was imported to Japan by Takara as herself (before Barbie, there was Licca-chan), but still got a renewed, "localized" look. In 1986 Takara lost the liscence and renamed the doll Jenny, patching up her lore by making her an actress who just "played" Barbie (or vice versa?). This game is about her script for the play of Cinderella getting stolen and Jenny trying to get it back. No
Yuri ダーティペア プロジェクトエデン [Dirty Pair: Project Eden] March 28 Based on the anime. Yes
Kei
not named Apple Town Story: Little Computer People April 3 Port of Little Computer People to Famicom, with a little girl as the player character. The game itself is a very proto Tamagotchi/The Sims thing. No
Cocona Cocona World April 10 A cute little witch wants to become a princess and embarks to a long mission of maintaining her mood, health, and forest animals' requests to do so. No
Apple Zillion May 24 A platformer game based on the anime. Apple needs to be unlocked first. No
Wendy Maniac Mansion ???
Razor
Yumiko Shirasagi 女神転生 [Megami Tensei] No
Mama 夢工場ドキドキパニック [Yume Koujou: Doki Doki Panic] July 10 Mom, dad, their son, and said son's girlfriend save kidnapped twins from the world of a storybook in a faux-Arabic setting. This game will later be officially modded and released in the US as Super Mario Bros. 2. No
Lina
Meyna Legacy of the Wizard / ドラゴンスレイヤーIV ドラスレファミリー [Dragon Slayer IV: Drasle Family] July 10 JRPG with a playable family and their dog (actually a monster). Was July 10 of 1987 some kind of family celebration? No
Lyll
Lady Dimsford Plundered Hearts July 30 You are the damsel, kidnapped by dashing and handsome pirates, and now you get to charm them and untangle the plot! This text-only adventure was specifically targeted at women. Written by Amy Briggs (of the Monkey Island fame). Yes
Nina Saboteur II: Avenging Angel The sequel to Saboteur, where we play as the previous protagonist's sister, who is doing her ninja job of saving the world from a nuke. Yes
Ingrid Bottomlow Gnome Ranger No?
Gloria Where Time Stood Still The party of four people survive after a plane crash. Yes
Giana The Great Giana Sisters May 6? Mario clone for personal computers with arrogant marketing. Spawned several sequels. No
Maria
Catherine Turner 山村美紗サスペンス 京都龍の寺殺人事件 [Yamamura Misa Suspense: Kyouto Ryuu no Tera Satsujin Jiken] December 11 American detective is accused of a crime and now has to solve it herself. The first game in the long-running series of detective games based on novels by Yamamira Misa. No
Alisa Landale Phantasy Star December 20 No
Nokko アタックアニマル学園 [Attack Animal Gakuen] December 26 Clone of Space Harrier by SEGA, but on Famicom, which, I suppose, took some skill to "port". Had a hilarious bootleg cartridge. No
Blon-Win 第４のユニッ [Dai-4 no Unit] December Sci-fi visual novel/adventure game. A girl named Blon-Win wants to recover her lost memory and uncover the mystery of how she is connected to a recently crashed aircraft. Supposedly an eroge? Yes?
Layla Alphon 死霊戦線: War of the Dead [Shiryou Sensen: War of the Dead] December A survival horror (!) open-world action-RPG (!!) about zombie apocalypse (!!!). The game was very ahead of its time not just with its ideas but with their execution as well: it featured a full day-night cycle! No
??? Bride of Frankenstein Assemble your own husband! Internal organs and batteries are not included! No
Gabrielle Gabrielle Angel in a post-apocalyptic world. No
Sofia Parallel World Sofia A girl touched a magic crystal and got teleported into another world: now she has to return back somehow. A Japan-only platform game for Sharp X1 and MSX. No
Irene Adler 221 B Baker St. PC version of a board game based on Sherlock Holmes books. No
nameable Sapiens Neantherdal life sim with character creator. No
nameable タイタニックミステリー ―蒼の戦慄― [Titanic Mystery ―Ao no Senritsu―] Port of C64 Titanic exploration game to Famicom Disk System with main character now defined as female (there are 3 characters to choose from, although sprites look the same). The game features not just the exploration part, but also making sure that you have a budget for that! No
Momoko
Marin
Reika
A-ko Magami プロジェクトＡ子 [Project A-ko] A dice roll game in comedic cyberpunk setting? No?
B-ko Daitokuji
C-ko Kotobuki
??? あぶない女性心理学入門 [Abunai Josei Shinrigaku Nyuumon] A collection of erotic stories focused on women's POV. Yes
Minako 天使たちの午後ＩＩ -美奈子- [Tenshi-tachi no Gogo II -Minako-] A girl named Minako has lots of sex. Yes
Anjela Anjela Japan-only visual novel about vampires in sci-fi setting. ???
Emily Popins Simple-looking and colorful arcade game for Sharp computers. No
nameable Mixed-Up Mither Goose An adventure game for children by Sierra about various popular children's rhymes getting mixed up with each other. No
Mrs. Mop Mrs. Mop Take a role of the cleaning lady in a *very* hazardous school environment. No
THX2240 Rebel In a dystopian future which awaits all of us one woman decided to rebel and she did that by hijacking a tank. No
Commander Serena Phantis A scrolling shooter and platformer mix. The game was localized in English as Game Over II and the main character got replaced with the male protagonist of Game Over... Yes
Mary Alien Syndrome No?
Akiko Psychic 5 An arcade game which had a slightly enchanced port to Famicom where all characters got different names. No
Mako エスパ冒険隊 [Esper Boukentai]
Leaza Hayato? I couldn't determine whether Leaza is actually playable in Hayato (she has stats?) so I am including both games from this series just in case. The games seem to be JRPG. No
COSMO聖士LEAZA [Cosmo Saint Leaza]
Dr. Udderbay Xenophobe Shoot aliens. No

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this list was made possible thanks to: vndb.org, vndbreview.blogspot.com, old-games.ru, wikipedia contributors, adb.arcadeitalia.net, mobygames.com, hardcoregaming101.net, 8-bits.info

PS: while I am grateful to all contributors of already existing lists, way too often I met a dismissive attidue towards characters under the guise of being "progressive" for the pettiest reasons, like "yeah, this character might successfully fight dozens of dudes but she wears pink clothes, ew" or "this character wants to marry, yikes". Don't claim to celebrate women when all that you do is mock them for being feminine.