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Samus has to be the coolest female protagonist of all time. One of the first female protagonists in a videogame ever and the games she's featured in are considered some of the best games in the world. She's a woman who can do anything that a man can and much more. Plus, she wears a suit that might as well have been worn by a man. So why don't feminists seem to care?
Samus had no gender at the beginning of the game development. It was suppose to be a space whatever warrior doing their thing. That until a member of the development team suggested making Samus a woman to surprise the players. I've also read somewhere that the game booklets referred to Samus as a "he".
Samus was basically an eye candy. The faster players finished the game, the less armor she had on at the end of it; slow players saw a full armored Samus, assuming it's a man, faster players saw helmetless Samus, and so forth. All the way to a bikini wearing Samus.
Is she a feminist icon? I can't tell. Yes, these games are considered to be some of the best, but I don't think a sexualized female protagonist is a good feminist icon. I could be wrong, though, I don't know the games well enough.
Some female protagonists I'd consider good icons would be Faith Connors of Mirror's Edge, Aveline de Grandpré of AC3:Liberation and Aloy of Horizon Zero Dawn. I played these games in the past, and the three seem like great characters. There's another game, Hellblade, with a promising female lead, so that's something to look up to.
Maybe because feminists are involved in other activities rather than playing video games...?
i think lara croft is more of a feminist icon than samus, shes also discovering herself and her capabilities