“It pisses me off that they act like that just because they have a female protagonist.” Anya Chalotra from The Witcher and Unknown 9: Awakening criticizes sexism in video games. She denounces the rejection of female characters in video games: “it’s confusing and sad.”

Anya Chalotra is clear about it: one of the keys to a good video game is its main characters, and the stronger and more well-built they are, the better the experience for the player. She carries this idea with her as we chat about Unknown 9: Awakening, the new and ambitious project from Reflector Entertainment, where she plays Haroona, the heroine of this story. In our interview, Chalotra is passionate about her new role and does not hesitate to share her vision of a problem that continues to affect the video game industry: the rejection of female protagonists.

Anya Chalotra has gained notoriety in recent years for her role as Yennefer in the popular Netflix series The Witcher, but with Unknown 9: Awakening she faces a different challenge. Haroona, her character, is a woman with a hard life who has grown up on the streets and who possesses superhuman abilities that connect her to a mysterious dimension known as “the fold.”

“Haroona is capable and intelligent,” Anya tells us. “She has the kind of knowledge that street life and survival give you,” adds the protagonist of this game from Reflector Entertainment. A strong character thanks to the decisions she makes in her story and how she faces the different challenges that come her way.

In fact, that has been one of the biggest challenges of her work, knowing how to transfer that strength throughout all the life stages of her character in the game, which she plays for various periods. From when Haroona is a child until she grows up, going through countless conflicts, traumas and battles, “I have had to think about it, because if not, there is no difference from where she starts to where she ends,” she tells us. This is also combined with the cultural heritage of the character, something she shares with Anya, which gives a sense of realism and rootedness to the character.

Haroona’s arc is not only a story of personal growth, it is also heavily influenced by the culture of her homeland, an aspect that Chalotra deeply values, although it is perhaps not the most striking trait of the character at first glance.

Another aspect worth highlighting is Haroona’s powers. She is not the first character with magical abilities that Anya has intercepted, but on this occasion, she explains that she is a character immersed in “a completely different lore and with a completely different energy than anything I’ve done before. It’s been a lot of fun.”

In Unknown 9: Awakening, Haroona has the ability to access the “fold,” an alternate dimension that grants her abilities to see and manipulate space-time. Not only does this add a mystical dimension to the character, but it also influences the gameplay. Players will need to use these abilities to solve puzzles and fight enemies. Ultimately, it is the players’ experience that determines the success of a video game. Although sometimes it may not be.

We asked Anya for her opinion on the rejection that some recent titles have suffered from certain sectors of fans simply because they feature a female lead. The actress expressed her frustration about a problem that is beginning to recur in the video game industry: the rejection that certain profiles of fans show towards titles with female protagonists. This “backlash” phenomenon is not new, but it continues to be a barrier to progress in the representation of diverse characters in video games.

“It makes me angry that that is the response just because a woman is the protagonist and not because of anything specific to the game. It makes me feel confused. I feel sad about that reality.”
Anya hopes that characters like Haroona can be an example of how important it is to have strong and interesting protagonists, regardless of their gender. “I hope that we move forward and that characters like Haroona show the world how important it is to have strong characters at the front of any story, no matter who they are,” she says.

Source: 3djuegos