Daniel vs Mandus

[Alardem]

Just wanted to ask for elaboration on this part: "more fragile than the likes of men?"

Read carefully: I wrote "THE men". It's a simple observation of the fact that she is less physically resilient than Daniel/Phillip/Mandus (she dies in one hit as far as I know), and that death for her is technically permanent. I never said she was 'frail' mentally. Besides, I'm sure some of you folks already know my position on female protagonists/villains! Alma Wade from F.E.A.R. is, for instance, one of my favorite game characters because of her twisted psychology and evil deeds.

I like Justine's unrepentant sadism and the ambiguity of her background. She openly mocks the idea of salvation by turning it into a game, and she's a counterpoint to the deluded 'philanthropy' of Mandus - one can see her as the exemplification of the immoral aristocracy that Oswald so despised. One can also infer from her being named after one of the Marquis de Sade's most famous works that her sadomasochism may be derived from an inhumane father; that would account for her sociopathic treatment of men as an adult. Finally, the relatively small scale of her evil deeds (a handful of boyfriends and nosy men as opposed to an entire castle or city) serves to make her the most plausible villain in the series - I can buy the story of a twisted libertine much better than an alien sorcerer or a mad-scientist/industrialist.

I'm hoping that the protagonist of SOMA will be a complex woman. Not necessarily an evil one, but perhaps one that will connect with me better than Daniel did. On the blog post for the gameplay trailer, a reply from Thomas Grip to a comment asking about female protagonists does indicate that women will indeed have a role to play in the story of SOMA. That's more than can be said for AMFP where the sole woman is long dead, voiceless, and doesn't even have the courtesy to be a creepy gray lady. :p

Speaking of 'badassery', Phillip IS the only protagonist in the Frictional canon that used weapons and killed monsters. Mandus is a close second with his foolhardy 'heroism', his ability to not faint when looking upon his creations, and that part where he electrifies a piggy with the help of his lantern. :p