Welcome to the Dark Side

As the only woman on the original Street Fighter II roster, Chun-Li was guaranteed to stand out. Rest assured, she’s worthy of the attention. While many of the women on this list are hot without even trying, Chun-Li obviously works for her figure. Nobody develops legs like that without a lot of sweat, and I can only imagine how many kicks she had to throw to develop those legendary thighs. (She could probably kill you with those thighs, but I can’t imagine a better way to go.) Chun-Li doesn’t show a lot of skin and seldom lets her hair down, but it just goes to show that you can be conservative and sexy at the same time. She’s been around for longer than anyone else on this list, but the strongest woman in the world has never lost her relevance. If the street fighting thing doesn’t pan out, she could make a killing as an Instagram thot.

With the exception of Ms. Pac-Man and possibly Princess Peach, no gaming girl is more recognizable than Lara Croft. She graced the covers of countless magazines in the 1990s, and her turquoise tank top and light brown shorts are almost as iconic as Mario’s overalls. The busty star of the Tomb Raider series appeared in comic books and feature films, and she even modeled clothing for real-world fashion designers. (We haven’t even talked about all of the porn parodies she inspired!) It’s not hyperbole to suggest that she transcended the medium. Lara is simultaneously a positive role model for young women and the embodiment of the male fantasy, and I appreciate both facets of her character. I admire her independent streak and her dinosaur-killing skills, but I also love her big tits and her sexy British accent. What a gal!

The shade of Taki’s hair varies from one game to the next, but she’s depicted as a brunette often enough to be eligible for this list. The runaway kunoichi has devoted her life to fighting supernatural forces, and she uses an acrobatic fighting style to overwhelm her opponents. Although Taki technically shows less skin than any of her SoulCalibur contemporaries, her outfits are arguably the most revealing in the series. Her bodysuits appear to be made out of a 16th-century form of Lycra spandex, and I’m impressed by the way they highlight her curves. (The outfits accentuate her nipples, her abs, and even her pubic region!) Her clothes may as well be painted on, but they’re a practical choice for someone who is as active as Taki. As an added bonus, she could probably have sex without having to undress. Think of all the time she’ll save!

Several Dead or Alive girls were considered for this list, but one of them stood out from the rest. Introduced in Venus Vacation, Misaki helps run an elaborate festival in a tropical paradise. Acting as an assistant to the island’s owner, Misaki introduces guests to the archipelago and schedules various activities for them to partake in. The guests in question are beautiful women who are not afraid of showing off their bodies, but Misaki is extremely reserved. She’s embarrassed by the prospect of having to wear revealing outfits, and she’s so shy that she actually prefers to wear a sweatshirt over her swimwear! She also dislikes having her picture taken, and she occasionally stutters when speaking. These idiosyncrasies only serve to make her more endearing, of course. As cliché as it sounds, Misaki is not like the other girls.

Elizabeth Comstock is stunningly beautiful, but she’s not your typical gaming babe. Her outfits are straight out of the 1910s, so she doesn’t exactly show a lot of skin. Her personality is also reigned in, since she spent most of her life locked away in a tower. The poor girl grew up with limited social interaction and no romantic prospects to speak of, and the dashing man who eventually rescued her wound up being her long-lost father! Elizabeth looks like a Disney princess, but the doe-eyed beauty was robbed of a storybook ending. The fanart community reacted by placing her in every depraved scenario imaginable. The game’s creator begged fans to stop, but Liz will forever be linked with kinky sex. I still view Elizabeth as a real sweetheart and an total knockout, so she hasn’t been completely corrupted in my mind.

A vibrant student at a secret shinobi school, Asuka fights from the shadows to protect the world. Although she takes her fights very seriously, she also goes out of her way to make friends with other shinobi. It has been speculated that she wants to move beyond the point of friendship with some of her classmates, and the lesbian subtext is impossible to ignore. The suggestive manner in which she devours futomaki rolls makes me suspect that she probably swings both ways. I had a hard time choosing which girl from Senran Kagura would make it onto this list. I’m in love with Ryobi’s ass, and Homora’s sexy tanlines make her a contender as well. In the end, it’s hard to compete with a shortstack. F-cup breasts are par for the course in Senran Kagura, but they look especially impressive on Asuka since she’s only 5’1″!

The Atelier series dates back to 1997 and includes dozens of entries. The franchise revolves around alchemy and teenage protagonists, and most games focus on a new heroine. The eponymous alchemist from Atelier Ryza was popular enough to warrant a starring role in a direct sequel, however. I guess her milky thighs couldn’t be confined to a single game. When we first met her, Reisalin “Ryza” Stout was depicted as an ordinary farm girl with a taste for adventure. She had no outstanding talents and was actually considered mediocre by her village, but there was nothing mediocre about her body. Ryza is dripping with sex appeal thanks to her revealing outfits and some exceptional jiggle physics, but she’s a free-spirited tomboy who doesn’t even realize how hot she is. She’s effortlessly beautiful, and she’s even more alluring in the sequel.

Final Fantasy VII fans have always been torn between Aerith Gainsborough and Tifa Lockhart. Both characters are beautiful and compassionate women, but Tifa has way bigger tits so I don’t really see why there’s even a debate. On a more serious note, Tifa seems like she’d be a lot of fun to hang out with. Aerith has a reserved personality, dresses conservatively, and goes to church. In contrast, Tifa is a feisty girl who spends most of her time in a bar. Her short skirts and tight tops highlight her remarkable figure, but it never seems like she’s trying too hard. She’s a total knockout no matter what she’s wearing, and her elegant purple dress is just as sexy as her barmaid attire. Tifa’s a strong woman – both mentally and physically – and she’s a much more viable option than Aerith since she doesn’t get herself killed halfway through her adventure.

This is one of those times where the “one entry per franchise” rule makes things really difficult. Although I adore Makoto Niijima from Persona 5, Rise Kujikawa was born for the spotlight. As a teen idol, Rise is literally famous for her beauty. Even though all of her classmates fawn over her, she’s patently aware of how superficial the attraction is. Her ditzy “Risette” personality is overtly sexual by design, and she fears that people only admire the manufactured version of herself. She’s a natural flirt, however, and she eventually accepts that there are different versions of herself that reflect different aspects of her personality. She can be a sweet, down-to-earth girl, and be a national sex symbol. I’m still not sure which side is more attractive. Whenever I play Persona 4, my number one priority is to spend as much time with her as possible.

Mai Shiranui wasn’t gaming’s first sex symbol, but she represented a monumental step forward for boner culture. She made her debut in an era where most games were strictly 2D affairs, and she benefited from the fact that SNK had the best pixel artists in the business. The animators wisely used extra memory just to animate her breasts in the first King of Fighters, which means that Mai was bouncing around years before Dead or Alive popularized jiggle physics. Her hourglass figure was accentuated by her skimpy clothing, and her attacks were guaranteed to give gamers gratuitous shots of both her cleavage and her backside. There’s more to Mai than a set of tits and a round ass, of course. She also has a pretty face, a slim waist, and legs for days. She’s pretty much the total package, and her placement on this list was never in question.