The early noughties was a frustrating time to be a girl gamer. Still tacitly considered a boys’ hobby, it was a rare thing in the world of PlayStation, Nintendo and Xbox to find a woman character who functioned as more than a prop. This was the era of Princess Peach (the ultimate damsel in distress), Lara Croft (whose pin-up image left no doubt that, despite being a gun-wielding badass, she was meant as eye candy for a male fantasy) and Grand Theft Auto (which incentivised the murder of sex workers). The message for women was clear: this was not their playground.

But one tonic came in 2003, when Ubisoft unveiled the cult classic Beyond Good & Evil and, with it, a different woman archetype. Dressed in baggy cargo trousers (regular body dimensions intact), pixie-cut swept back by a sweatband, Jade looked every part a woman existing on her own terms. ‘Nothing against sexy action women,’ Ubisoft’s Tyrone Miller told LadyGamers, ‘but with Jade, the question was more about her role, her situation in the world, and the meaning of her quest opposed to the size of her breasts.’ Jade didn’t need saving; indeed, she was the rescuer. A skilled photojournalist, she was committed to exposing a corrupt military’s propaganda. Finally, a woman character with depth had emerged. 

Twenty years after Jade’s creation, you’d think gaming would have improved for women; and in some ways it has. In 2016, just 2% of game protagonists were women, rising to 18% by 2020. In the US, women now make up 46% of gamers, up from 38% in 2006. One study puts women gamers at more than half of all participants in the UK. All positive steps, but remnants endure of a culture that at best is exclusive, and at worst is violently misogynistic.

Researchers analysed the speech of 13,000 characters last year, with damning results. Men speak twice as much, with women talking over half the time in three out of 50 games. Even when women have the floor, they are more likely to apologise, hesitate or be polite, reinforcing the passive feminine trope. Off-screen, over a third of women (half of those aged 18–34) report experiencing harassment or mansplaining while gaming online. 

This toxicity peaked in 2014 with Gamergate, a co-ordinated trolling and doxxing campaign against prominent women gamers. For the way it weaponised fury against wokeism, and unified thousands of complainants from the internet’s shadowy corners, Gamergate has been called a turning point in the alt-right’s online tactics. One Vox commentator even lays blame for 2021’s US Capitol insurrection at its door.

It may be a stretch to call woman characters the kryptonite of far-right terrorism, but it wouldn’t hurt to better reflect gaming’s growing demographic. A majority of gamers told Opinium that hiring more women in leadership positions could help. In Jade’s case, the proof is truly in the pudding. Alexandra Ancel (the wife of Jade’s maker, Michel) is said to have had a strong hand in the character’s creation, even inspiring her design.

Gender equality in gaming remains a work in progress, but, for this writer at least, Jade is a shining example. And her work is far from done. With Beyond Good & Evil’s 20th anniversary edition due this year, Jade might just inspire another generation of girl gamers.