ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses how survival horror games explore female representation and relationships. Unlike romance, which is a popular theme within many games, or sex, which is represented with varying degrees of success (and pleasure), the women of survival horror discussed here are often depicted through non-sexual relationships. This is a narrative technique that allows for nuanced and extremely popular stories to be told, and it is notable that when this fails to happen, fan enthusiasm for the featured characters often wanes. In particular, the chapter examines Clementine from The Walking Dead (Telltale 2012-4) and the women of the Resident Evil series of games (Capcom 1996 – present) in this context, discussing where negative or demeaning representation becomes problematic with fans, whereas more proactive discussions of women are welcomed. In the case of Clementine, engaging with a younger protagonist also allows a more complex depiction of survival in an apocalyptic domain, which is reflected through her interaction with other characters and the subsequent pathways available to the player.
