ChronoBound
Smash Hero
- Joined
- Sep 20, 2006
- Messages
- 8,998
Here is a short nugget that explains a particular quality that makes Dixie Kong particularly special among heroines. She has "Mario appeal"
During the 1990's, there were very few female gaming protagonists, especially outside of RPGs. For Nintendo, the two big ones were Samus (who many did not even know was a woman) and of course Dixie Kong.
Dixie Kong was a very interesting case. For many female characters, they are usually loved because of "sex appeal" or "waifu bait". However, Dixie Kong was a very "girly girl" kind of character (she would even cry if she got hit), yet she was very popular among boys during the 1990's. Why was this? Well, even though she was still very feminine and girly, she was at the same time very cool. She could fly through stages that were very challenging for our much younger selves, and flying is very cool. Her animations did much to endear people to her too, whether it was rocking out on a guitar, chewing gum, having a drink through a straw, or licking honey while climbing a wall. She had spunk and personality. DKC3 might very well been the first Nintendo game I remember ever being hyped for solely due to Dixie Kong headlining it (it was either that or Yoshi's Island).
Dixie Kong in a lot of ways is a female Mario. You would not think a girly monkey with an oversized ponytail would be very endearing (much the same way you would not think a mustachioed middle aged man wearing a red cap and shirt and blue overalls would be appealing), yet she is appealing and endearing to all kinds of demographics. She in many ways is the ideal heroine. Many heroines are made and written to be men in a female body, but Dixie Kong is still very feminine and a "girly girl", yet at the same time very much a heroine. For a series that regularly features kidnapping as a plotpoint, she still remains the only major playable Kong to have never been kidnapped by K. Rool (DK and Diddy have both been kidnapped twice). She has fight in her too (remember how she sassed K. Rool in DKC3).
Young boys would love and appreciate Dixie Kong just as much as young girls would, and that speaks a lot to her design and appeal as a character.
This is something I think no one else aside from myself has touched upon for Dixie Kong. She is a character that anyone from a little girl, to a grown woman, to young boys, and young men can all appreciate. She is a heroine with Mario appeal. Her personality is full of charm and appeal, while also being very fun to play as and use, all the while having a design you would normally think would not appeal across demographics.
I think more people need to understand this. A lot of female characters in general are polarizing for various reasons (for example, a character like Camilla is is popular among Fire Emblem fans, but many outside the demographic of young men do not like her personality and design). Dixie Kong might very well be the Mario of heroines, and that is a very powerful statement, as even very few male gaming characters have "Mario appeal".
During the 1990's, there were very few female gaming protagonists, especially outside of RPGs. For Nintendo, the two big ones were Samus (who many did not even know was a woman) and of course Dixie Kong.
Dixie Kong was a very interesting case. For many female characters, they are usually loved because of "sex appeal" or "waifu bait". However, Dixie Kong was a very "girly girl" kind of character (she would even cry if she got hit), yet she was very popular among boys during the 1990's. Why was this? Well, even though she was still very feminine and girly, she was at the same time very cool. She could fly through stages that were very challenging for our much younger selves, and flying is very cool. Her animations did much to endear people to her too, whether it was rocking out on a guitar, chewing gum, having a drink through a straw, or licking honey while climbing a wall. She had spunk and personality. DKC3 might very well been the first Nintendo game I remember ever being hyped for solely due to Dixie Kong headlining it (it was either that or Yoshi's Island).
Dixie Kong in a lot of ways is a female Mario. You would not think a girly monkey with an oversized ponytail would be very endearing (much the same way you would not think a mustachioed middle aged man wearing a red cap and shirt and blue overalls would be appealing), yet she is appealing and endearing to all kinds of demographics. She in many ways is the ideal heroine. Many heroines are made and written to be men in a female body, but Dixie Kong is still very feminine and a "girly girl", yet at the same time very much a heroine. For a series that regularly features kidnapping as a plotpoint, she still remains the only major playable Kong to have never been kidnapped by K. Rool (DK and Diddy have both been kidnapped twice). She has fight in her too (remember how she sassed K. Rool in DKC3).
Young boys would love and appreciate Dixie Kong just as much as young girls would, and that speaks a lot to her design and appeal as a character.
This is something I think no one else aside from myself has touched upon for Dixie Kong. She is a character that anyone from a little girl, to a grown woman, to young boys, and young men can all appreciate. She is a heroine with Mario appeal. Her personality is full of charm and appeal, while also being very fun to play as and use, all the while having a design you would normally think would not appeal across demographics.
I think more people need to understand this. A lot of female characters in general are polarizing for various reasons (for example, a character like Camilla is is popular among Fire Emblem fans, but many outside the demographic of young men do not like her personality and design). Dixie Kong might very well be the Mario of heroines, and that is a very powerful statement, as even very few male gaming characters have "Mario appeal".
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