Top Ten Cutest RPG Girls

Okay, you guys have waited long enough for this one. You went through the boys hot springs, and now, at the end of the optional dungeon, you get to see the girls side. The rules are the same for this one. To be considered, the character has to be one of the game’s playable characters, or protagonists. Also, the idea is “cute” and not sexy or adorable. Attractive, both in their personality and in their physical appearance. Usefulness as a character is a plus, but not strictly necessary. Finally, only one character per game series, for no reason in particular other than most series don’t manage to have more than one really excellent female character. There are a few exceptions to this last one, but it would be boring to list three or four characters from the same series or game that specializes in cute girls. And, finally, in contrast to my other stuff, artwork matters. If the graphics don’t support a detailed look at a girl, then no luck.

10. Yukiko Amagi, from Persona 4. It’s a tough call, since all of the girls in Persona 4 are pretty cute, but Yukiko has the most going for her. She’s designed as the traditional Yamato Nadeshiko girl, but she’s also got her sense of humor, which is actually endearing. She looks cool, but the illusion is shattered when she gets embarrassed. In battle, she’s a total magic attacker. No healing, no physical power, but loads of magic. Especially once you get her social link high enough, she’s really cute and powerful, always a good combination.

9. Rikku, from Final Fantasy X. Urgh. Rikku is such an annoying, explicit, and uninspired little bit. Even so, there’s no denying that she’s cute. She’s a useful party member, she’s got a pretty skimpy outfit, and she’s got an adequate personality, so, really, there’s a lot to “like.” Her overdrive is probably the most interesting in the game, as it involves combining items to make one of a huge number of separate attacks. As to her outfit, there’s a cutscene devoted entirely to watching Rikku strip to her … undies? Or that’s what you think until you’re shown that it really is her normal outfit. She’s almost aggravatingly perky in her attitude. If you like that kinda stuff, she’s okay, I guess. I do like her all right, but she’s been made into such a huge sex symbol, I’m hesitant to put her on this list. I decided to, obviously, because her “sex” appeal is based primarily on her cutesiness.

8. Monica, from Dark Cloud 2. Monica is not a particularly amazing cutie, but she’s pleasant. She has sort of a girl next door vibe, which is especially odd considering she is, technically, a princess. As far as controlling her goes, she’s one of the two characters in the game you play as, so you’d better get used to her. She has pretty good melee ability, but her magic takes too long to charge up, which can be a problem if the enemy can close distance fast. Still, she’s upbeat, athletic, and very friendly.

7. Ridley Silverlake, from Radiata Stories. Oh, Ridley, you poor thing. You get hit with the plot cupid arrows in the worst way. Despite being the smartest, strongest, and most competent member of the initial party, you end up with the rock stupid protagonist to end all rock stupid protagonists. Ridley is very sweet, in an emotionally repressed kind of way. She really has a lot of issues on her plate, and deals with them reasonably well, all things considered. In battle, she’s very useful, providing powerful attacking capabilities. She suffers a little from throwing herself off-balance sometimes, but that doesn’t stop her from being quite useful. When her icy shell breaks, it’s quite touching.

6. Princess Éclair, from La Pucelle: Tactics. Éclair’s weird. Without going into spoileriffic stuff, she’s somewhat of a surprising personality. When she gets everything sorted out, she’s definitely a pleasing and curious character. Before you get to know her deep dark secret, she’s somewhat bland. She’s got two pretty nice outfits, one cute and respectable, one skanky as all get out. Because this is La Pucelle, you can pretty much make her whatever you want, though she has some pretty good specials for attacking. And, as a human with the purify ability built-in, she’s pretty useful overall.

5. Jane Maxwell, from Wild Arms Alter Code: F. Tsundere. Really, that’s all. At least she’s playable in this game. Plus, she looks pretty cute in her wildly unpractical dress. It’s okay though, because she uses a gun. All in all, she’s a fun character, who serves as one of the lighter, more comic characters in your party. When you can get her for keeps, she is an integral party member, having thief skills and excellent speed.

4. Tear Grants, from Tales of the Abyss. Oh, Tear. You’re such a kuudere. You act so cool and collected, but you really like those cute things. Ahem. Well, apart from being a member of a fairly rare archetype, Tear has a few other things going for her. She’s got a pretty skimpy but functional outfit. She’s smart, she serves as your first healer but not necessarily a primary healer, and has good support moves to help take advantage of elemental attacks. She’s also pretty harsh sometimes, which can be quite surprising. Even though the targets of her ire frequently deserve it, it’s relatively rarely that a video game character reacts as strongly to another in a realistic fashion.

3. Feena, from Grandia. Feena’s spunky. That’s really the only way to describe her adequately. She’s also a more mature person than the main character of her game, which makes her something like an older woman character, even though she’s only 15! And her outfit… wow, that’s really skimpy. She is a competent fighter, and a good magic user too, so she’s definitely got some redeeming value. Plus, she’s got a pretty romantic outlook, and knows how to be cute. She’s also pretty sneaky sometimes, so yeah, she’s got a personality to go along with her fanservicey digs.

2. Jean, from Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete. Jean starts out as your basic status effect ranged fighter. She’s pretty good, and wears pretty dancer’s clothing. She’s friendly and dependable. About halfway through the game, she classes into your secondary physical attacker. This comes after she deals with her past issues, and adds a little depth to her character. Unfortunately, her new duds don’t look all that great on her. Not bad, but not great. Still, she’s a pretty girl, with real weaknesses and strengths, and isn’t relegated to a traditionally female party role, such as healer or glass cannon.

1. Gwendolyn, from Odin Sphere. Gwendolyn is pretty much everything you could possibly want in a female protagonist from a cute perspective. First of all, she’s a badass, who looks pretty good in armor. Second, she’s also a little girly, because she does like looking pretty in a dress, with her hair down. She’s got her well developed tragic past issues. Finally, she’s both a little Tsuntsun and Deredere, but isn’t actually a tsundere overall. Basically, she covers all the bases (all right!) and thus ranks in as the cutest rpg protagonist girl.