May 11 2009
Typically Unrealistic: Ivy and the Girls in Soul Calibur IV
Video game characters are designed to be exaggerated and excessive. Even characters meant to represent the everyday man and woman stand out in their world. The main characters are supposed to be special figures, especially in video game settings which can be completely foreign to typical society. The more strange the world, the more strange the central character in comparison. Video games are designed to take players away from their world and into the fantastic. And yet, video games are sometimes criticized for presenting characters that create an insurmountable example to follow. That would be missing the point.
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During the weeks leading up to the premier of Soul Calibur IV, high-resolution pictures of popular characters from the cast were released in press kits for magazines and websites. The photos of the female characters received the most publicity with particular attention paid to their provocative outfits. The character Taki wears a red bodysuit that might as well have been painted on, Sophitia fights in a Greek goddess tunic that she could slip out of with a sneeze, and Ivy struts into battle in a dominatrix-inspired outfit using the amount of leather it would take to cover a large squirrel. While most Soul Calibur IV fans have no problem watching Taki, Sophitia, and Ivy duke-it-out with the rest of the game’s cast, there is a portion of players who point out that there is no way those women should be able to competently fight in such impractical outfits. However, even while Taki, Sophitia, and Ivy hover just outside the softcore fashion department, they are able to hold there own against full plated knights, kung-fu experts, and samurai.
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While costume design helps players devise an initial impression of the characters and spark discussion, what lies underneath the outfits also receives deliberation. Ivy has been singled out as representing an unrealistic stereotype of the idealized woman. In addition to wearing a leather dominatrix outfit into the arena, Ivy is a full-bodied woman with a back-breaking bosom. There is some satisfaction for women everywhere in that Ivy is curvy instead of anorexic, but critics are quick to point out that Ivy’s cup size has been inflated with each new game in the Soul Calibur series. There is, in fact, little defense for Ivy’s augmentations. Sex sells even in video games, but is character design solely about titillation?
Characters in fighting games are about pinnacles and, in some cases, personifications of martial art forms and attitudes. Ivy is the classic rose with thorns. She is meant to be alluring and appeal to the basest of instincts. With her foe enamored or at least off-balanced, Ivy takes advantage of that lapse to strike. Men and women are equally susceptible for similar or differing reasons. To round out her theme of deception, Ivy wields a sword that can extend like a whip thus widening her threat. Factor in her intimidating costume and Ivy represents seductive danger.
Ivy is an over-the-top video game character, but every aspect of her design has a purpose beyond raising heart rates. She battles against equally excessive fighters in a world where victory or defeat decides the fate of the world. A character based on a purely typical person would just humble the drama, and players do not play video games to be reminded of what is outside their door. Video games are a brief escape into the fantastic where the needle of reality is never steady in the middle. Could Ivy’s breasts have been smaller and her outfit less revealing? Sure. But where would the fun in that be? ~JKL
Soul Calibur® IV ©1995-2008 Namco Bandai Games Inc.
Website for Namco Bandai Games Inc.
Official Website for the Soul Calibur Series
Official Website for Soul Calibur IV
Images of Taki, Sophitia, and Ivy courtesy of SoulCaliburUniverse . Thanks!
