Bayonetta Research Paper

Bayonetta is a popular third-person action video game produced for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and Wii U. It has sold more than 1.35 million copies worldwide since its original release in 2010, and a sequel to the game was recently released this year ("Bayonetta"). The game centers around its title character, Bayonetta, a sexy witch who fights off enemies with her high-heel revolvers and uses her magical hair to summon demons. Though the Bayonetta franchise has been generally well received by the gaming community, there exists a controversy surrounding Bayonetta's character design and representation. While many people believe that the explicit sexual themes involving Bayonetta's design exist for the pleasure of the male audience, others consider them to be an expression of the character's agency. It is definitely not a secret that Bayonetta's design is highly sexualized. Her tight black outfit is composed entirely of her magical hair, which almost completely disappears whenever she uses it to summon demons. In an interview with Hideki Kamiya, the creator of the game, he explicitly states that Bayonetta is actually naked, and that she uses her magical strength to form her hair into an …show more content…
There is no denying that nearly every aspect of her design is tremendously sexualized. At the same time, her characterization as a smart, capable, and confident woman is something that is not typically seen in video games and should not be overlooked. Even though there are glaring issues with how Bayonetta is presented to the player (the game's camera angles practically force you to sexualize her), Bayonetta herself is a female character in a position of power, and it is perfectly okay for women to identify with her and to draw inspiration from her. However, it is not okay to completely ignore the issues surrounding how Bayonetta was created and who she was initially created