Just like the Barbie doll which has been criticized for unrealistic portrayal of the female body, women characters in video games have also been cited by health groups on the same charge. One such character is Lara Craft in the video game "Tomb Raider: The Age of Darkness," although Toby Gard, the lead designed, claimed her bigger than real breast size was "done by accident."
However, in a blog post at Motherboard, the group Bulimia has acknowledged the efforts of game developers to create "more lifelike worlds and characters," reports Sentinel Republic. But it decided to do its own Photoshopping of some famous female video game characters by resizing their bodies.
Lara Craft, Jade of Mortal Kombat, "Bikini Girl" of Grand Theft Auto, Halo of Cortana and Christie Montiero of Tekken 5 are the video games women that it gave reverse Photoshop. The impact of portraying their bodies correctly and free from exaggerated proportions "go beyond the people playing the game," notes a Bulimia.com spokesperson.
However, Forbes appear to disagree with Bulimia's efforts because it "amounts to thin-shaming," or if not, at the very least, it is picking favorites, pointing out that thin-shaming is equally as wrong as fat-shaming.
Forbes preferred developer's version of Lara Croft than Bulimia's because it represent an active lifestyle, although it admits the waistline "is a little ridiculous." It said Bulimia should just get rid of washboard abs and too small waistlines, not add a lot of flesh in the tummy since it is the worst place to gain body fat at it exposes a person to chronic ailments such as diabetes.
But Forbes agrees with Bulimia's version of Tifa Lockhart of "Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy" because Tifa looks very average from the developer's stick-pole version. She 'doesn't look as nearly as forced as the rest."