Rayne. The most powerful female characters of video games

Even though he's over a hundred years old (a little less if you take the chronology from "two" as a starting point), Rayne is still going strong. It's not that surprising when you realize she is a dhampire, but still, most of her brethren don't show such prowess. Well, joke's on them. Because Rayne, though she's "the good one," isn't afraid of cutting corners. The last emotion her enemies saw before dying was plain anger. Then the creators made her a little more aloof and cool later on. However, this did not affect her ability to slaughter entire legions of bad guys.

The story of the dhampiress, spanning two games and more than a dozen comic strips, appeals to many different tastes, not only those of fans of spectacular mayhem. Rayne is a well-conceived character – the evolution from an innocent, butterfly-loving child to a deadly Brimstone Society agent is simply credible. Especially since the thread of her relationship with her family was well explored. And the relationship wasn't as easy one – most of her family died prematurely, and some of them were even slain by Rayne herself.

The games seem to suggest that in 99 out of 100 cases, a girl like Rayne would not recover from the series of vicious crimes she witnessed. Yet, through incredible determination, she perseveres. And it is perhaps this determination to live that makes Rayne such a beloved character. And it's not that her double blade attacks aren't impressive – they are. Just as her attacks with a harpoon. Or her walking on walls. Or her insane stealth kills. Or sucking the energy out her victims. With a sadistic vampire smile. Well, okay, let's just say we love her for everything.

Bayonetta

Bayonetta is a true icon. There's no denying it – one of the greatest strengths of this heroine's design is her looks. But that doesn't do it justice – let's face it: she's hellishly sexy. That was likely the main idea behind her design. And while the perspective on such a, nilly-willy, sexist design has changed since 2009, there's no doubt that her appeal played a huge role in the game's success. But sexappeal is only part of our witch's charm.

What's even more impressive is the confidence and grace with which she deals with the queue of dragons, demons, and all manner of other abominations. Bayonetta is simply classy. She spends an awful lot of money on clothes and doesn't leave home without a suitable outfit, which, although fundamentally impractical, doesn't stop her from kicking ass. Bayonetta performs acrobatics worthy of Olympic champions... in 8-inch heels. Oddly enough, even the wings that she magically grows from time to time do not compromise the consistency of her outfit. Or lack thereof, as Bayonetta happens to get almost completely naked during after a combo buildup.

The protagonist of the PlatinumGames series owes her abilities to magic – she's one of the Umbraian witches. Their signature is, by the way, the hair. And three metal clips in the shape of the moon. In fact, every element of the outfit has its own significance. And as you discover more plot twists, you can learn more and more about it – for example, that her ribbon is covered with an inscription in the demon language. In general, the great thing about the game is the demonic setting. And, of course, the badass protagonist who can send any monster back to any hole it crawled out of, ending her attacks with lethal hair finishers (as hair used to be one of her most dangerous weapons up until some point).

Alice Liddell

Alicia, from McGee's two-part (so far) Americana series, may not display a stunning body. She also has no telekinetic abilities, nor is she a phenomenal markswoman. I'm not even sure she would know how to use a gun – after all she was born and raised in the 19th century. But none of that matters – she's perfectly fine murdering enemies with a monstrous pepper shaker, a chess horse, and, of course, a knife.

The girl doesn't joke – she simply shatters the giant dolls that attack her to pieces, and slashes the weird slimy creatures until they can't move. And if she consumes the growth potion... what follows is mayhem worthy of Saints Row. Stacking up combos and upgrading weapons is a pleasure in itself, even if the level design is a bit bland (but still beautiful!).

She's all the more noteworthy because, after all, in Lewis Carroll's original she also encountered at least a few monsters, but remained an innocent, sweet girl herself. McGee offers a much more mature Alice (in the second part, the heroine is about 20 years old) and deadly effective against further demonic beings roaming her Wonderland. Do you think that the character from the cutest fairy tale of your childhood gutting teddy bears is too much to take? Certainly not for McGee. In his brilliant, mind he created the concept of Hysteria – making Alice a ruthless banshee, bleeding from her eyes and sowing death and destruction among the card soldiers. You simply have to play it yourself.

Lissandra

Although her spells have a shorter range than those of other mages, Lissandra remains one of the favorites of the LoL fandom. When equipped with the Abyssal Scepter, for example, she can challenge with anyone. She's able to immobilizes enemies. And herself, too. And these are just her technical qualities.

Among the other characters in the game, Lissandra is distinguishable through her tragic past. Not that there's a lack of drama in LoL's world, but the ice witch seems to be the one with the most ambiguity around her. In the distant past, together with her two sisters, Serilda and Avarosa, she won countless battles. However, wanting to gain even more power, she made a secret pact with the Watchers. In the end, she betrayed everyone by sacrificing her sisters to defend the world from the Void.

Okay, the whole is at times borderline fan fiction, but if you suspend the disbelief for a while, you might just recognize the charm of this simple, yet uncommonly pronounced story. Is Lissandra more of a devious traitor, or a an amiable heroine after all? Even if you don't bother to answer this question, you will still lose hours sooner or later, testing the ice witch's abilities. In the world of LoL, few are so impressive in combat.