If you’ve done the math you’ll know Edith was therefore 91 when she passed away and clearly still a gamer, given its prominent mention in her obit. The DS version of Dragon Quest VI isn’t released until February 14.

What I love about this story is not only wee Edith (what a cool lady!), but also that user “Urban Champion-e” took time to look into it and then report on it in the manner he did. What a great little story.

Via The LG and RacketBoy.

How on Earth, or indeed Alderaan we forgot this lady is beyond explanation. When our member Ripley suggested Princess Leia in the Honorary Oakley thread, a great disturbance was felt in the Force, as if millions of pins suddenly dropped in terror and the thread was suddenly silenced. Okay enough corny Star Wars quotes, the fact remains we can’t believe we forgot Princess Leia, kick ass chick from the Star Wars universe. It is, a travesty… but thanks to Ripley (whose name matches that of an earlier Oakley recipient HERE), we’re about to reverse this mistake by naming Princess Leia Organa Solo (nee Skywalker – born Leia Amidala Skywalker) our Honorary Oakley for this month.

Political Rebel …
Princess Leia Organa is more than just a princess, she was also a political envoy and member of the Imperial Senate. Leia joined the Senate at the age of 18. Having being adopted by Senator Viceroy Bail Organa and his wife Queen Breha, politics was a way of life. She remained a member of the Senate until it was dissolved by Palpatine. During her time at the Senate, Leia had aligned herself with the Rebel Alliance and used her political powers to aid them. When the Senate dissolved, Leia took up a more active role with the Alliance and the rest as they say is history.. or as we like to say here in the Honorary Oakley.. herstory.

Princess Plothole …
Leia Amidala Skywalker is the child of Padme and Anakin Skywalker. She is hidden away when a baby, along with her twin brother Luke due to their father Anakin turning to the dark side of the force. Leia is sent to Alderaan and Luke to be brought up on the desert planet of Tattooine with his Unlce and Aunt. This never made much sense to some, as Leia was hidden away and Luke went to relatives, go figure. Trouble is, Leia states to Luke when asked about her mother that she remembers her as being “kind, but sad”, perhaps more down to the force than actual memories, given Padme Amidala dies during the childbirth (and it should be pointed out, she’s pretty cool too and may appear in a future Oakley).

Princess Peachy…
The great thing about Princess Leia is, she was a really cool kick ass female character, at a time when cinemas were awash with the usual wife, lady of the night, disco diva roles). She wasn’t forever tripping over her own two feet or squealing for help. Sure she needed rescuing and there was the love story with Captain Solo, but as female characters of the time go, their weren’t that many who could hold their own (Ellen Ripley, Cleopatra Jones, Jackie Brown, Laury Strode to name but a few from around that period). Leia was able to shoot a blaster, ride a speederbike, lead armies and various other traits usually left to ‘the boys’. Oh and let’s not forget, she also had one of the most recognizable hairdos of an entire generation.

Variations…
Just what happened to Princess Leia after Return of the Jedi anyway? There have been loads of stories written and it appears that after the Rebel victory on Endor, Leia establishes New Alderaan, given the demise of her home planet Alderaan. New Alderaan becomes a new home for those that survived the destruction of the original planet, the royal house is reinstated and Leia Organa Solo becomes head sovereign (though the planet was actually a constitutional monarchy with governmental leadership). Other stories suggest she continues her fight with the rebel alliance, becoming Chief of State of the New Republic (previously held by Mon Mothma). She also takes up Jedi skills and builds her own green lightsaber (though other versions suggest Luke builds her two). She has twins to han Solo, named Jacen and Jaina and another son born later named Anakin Solo (who is later killed, much to the pain of his mother).

A Life Lived …
On reading about Princess Leia one thing becomes clear, she’s an amazing woman. She’s done amazing acts of humanity, both to her own detriment and that of her family. She’s places herself in harms way on many occasions for the good of her people and she’s protected countless innocents from the threat of evil. We can’t believe we never thought of adding Princess Leia Organa Solo to the annals of the Honorary Oakley prior to this. Still, she’s here now forever more, kicking ass and taking numbers. We should also put a shout out to actress / writer Carrie Fisher, the woman that breathed life into the character of Leia with much gusto and tenacity, for without her Princess Leia wouldn’t be quite the cool icon she became. Princess Leia we salute you as Thumb Bandits Honorary Oakley for August 2007.

Thanks to forum member ‘Ripley’ for this suggestion.

Princess Leia – We Salute You!

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Where are the weeks going, it only seems like yesterday that girl gaming guru Laura Foy was front and center as the May 2007 Honorary Oakley. With that in mind and thanks to a couple of well placed suggestions within our forums and via MSN, we find ourselves this month looking at another female gaming guru, Ms Morgan Webb.

Morgan Ailis Webb is a female gamer and host of various tech related TV shows in the US. She started out working for The Screen Savers as a researcher, followed by G4TechTV before moving onto X-Play and various other technology related jobs within the industry. She also writes a female gamer column in a certain magazine….
Morgan Webb Commando

FHM Ahem…
Okay we’re covering this aspect of Ms Webb first because it seems to go against the Honorary Oakley and all it stands for. Morgan Webb does a monthly column for FHM magazine titled ‘Tips From The Gaming Goddess’. Given FHM’s rather obvious objectification of women, this is hardly the sort of thing that would usually make its way into the Honorary Oakley, which is about strong women. We look at it this way, obviously FHM is going to show a bikini clad Webb beside the article, that’s what they’re about, but she’s still a cool girl gamer with a major gaming column in a major magazine, it’s a step. This aside it should be pointed out that Morgan Webb won Tech TVs Sexiest Techie in 2004 and the winner was offered a Playboy centerfold spread, Ms Webb immediately refused. So clearly she’s not all about that sort of thing.

Olde Skool Gamer…
Morgan Webb isn’t a fly by night female gamer who took up gaming in order to gain employment. According to her bio, she’s been a gamer since childhood, cutting her teeth on such addictive titles as Combat on the Atari 2600 (ahh those were the days). From reading various pieces written by her, she does seem to have a great grasp on gaming overall and over various formats. Not just a pretty face then it would seem.

Sexiest Female…
Morgan Webb has her fair share of admirers and has won various sexiest polls held in a multitude of magazines, or at least appeared within them. She is obviously good looking and the allure of good looks, gaming prowess and computer knowledge would appear to be a major draw of this Gaming Goddess. One can’t help but wonder though if Ms Webb’s illustrious gaming career would be quite what it is were this not the case. Still, that’s the way of the world, so we can’t hold Morgan Webb guilty of good looks to the detriment of female gamers everywhere. It’s great to see a woman taken seriously for her love of the game, even if certain media sectors still feel the need to play the bikini card at any given opportunity.

Morgan Minute…
For those of you unfamiliar with the lovely Morgan Webb, we point you in the direction of everyone’s favorite research tool YouTube. Ahh yes, bastion of all that is good in gaming. Here you can watch Morgan Webb and see what the woman is all about. One of our favorite segments is The Morgan Minute, a literal minute in which Morgan Webb recounts some gaming catastrophe, a niggling point about gaming, something cool about gaming and various other things on her pretty little mind. It’s really cool and she’s right on the money as she states Movie + Game = Lame, Advertising in Games Sucks, Halo is Hyped!

Webbheads versus Fanboys (girls)…
As we close the book on girl gaming superstar Morgan Webb, we take a look at the dichotomy of being a great girl gamer in a centerfold body. According to IheartMorganWebb, people who appreciate Morgan for her gaming prowess over her looks (that be most of us here at Thumb Bandits) are known as Webbheads. Those that prefer looking at her and don’t really care what her thoughts on the latest games are–are referred to as Fanboys (or girls we assume as there are probably a few of those too). Funny, the same rule applies to consoles when you really think about it. It’s been a joy learning more about Morgan Webb, it’s great to see a woman getting the word out that female gamers like shooters, that we’re not all into pink DS’s and that we can look good AND play games, it’s not a crime. It’s good to be a Webbhead.. Morgan Webb, we salute you as our Honorary Oakley for June 2007!

Morgan Webb – We Salute You!

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It’s mid 2007, man time flies!. This time around the Honorary Oakley’s is going to take a look at another ‘real’ person. We’ve done a few characters recently, female game characters and a few fictional TV characters. This month we’re not only looking at a real human woman… but better than that, she’s a cool female gamer! Well come on now, what more could you possibly want? Who is she? Well her name is Laura Foy, she’s a kick ass gamer and TV presenter, amongst other things. So let’s take a look at the lady herself, get a feel for what she’s about and bow before her mighty gaming self…

“I’m pretty sure I was a strange little kid. Now that I think about it, I’m pretty sure I’m also a strange grown-up”

Laura Who? …
Laura Foy is a young woman born in New York back in 1976. Unlike some female gaming show hosts, Laura Foy wasn’t just there as eye candy (though sure, we all concur that could easily be part of it given how she looks), she’s a true female gamer. She started her hosting life with the online show Lilith and Eve and eventually moved on to other gaming TV shows, including GameTime. Laura Foy also worked with a few other female gamers, including Brit born Tina Wood of G4 TV.

Game Over Man, Game Over…
In mid December 2005, both Laura Foy and Tina Wood announced that G4 had canned G4TV. A lot of gamers were none too happy about the move, whilst others felt it was inevitable. Despite the cancellation, both Laura Foy and Tina Wood remained firmly entrenched in the games industry, both now working for Microsoft over at on10.net, yes you may give a little girl gaming cheer if you like.

USA, USA…
Okay so a lot of our readers external to the United States are going to be scratching their heads going Laura who? It doesn’t matter that G4TV was pretty much a US only thing and that therefore Laura Foy isn’t overly famous outside the USA. Other countries have their equivalents, at least the UK did, in fact we covered a few of them right here at Thumb Bandits way back in August 2004 when we took a peek at UK female gaming guru Violet Berlin. We also ran a couple of Q&A sessions with the brilliant Emily Newton Dunn and Aleks Krotoski (who are probably Foy’s UK equivalents more so than Violet Berlin). If you like Laura and you missed these Q&A sessions, make sure you check them out, Emily and Aleks are cool female gamers too.

A Brush With Greatness…
Ok so we didn’t contact Laura Foy prior to writing this article, why? Well, time constraints, well that and we didn’t want to seem crawly, because we hate that. Credit where credit is due, we think Laura Foy kicks ass and is brilliant, so why bother doing that whole ‘we love you’ email thing, it all just seems so creepy. Sure it would have been nice to get a quote from the lady herself, especially for this article, you never know, maybe if she trips over it on the interweb, we’ll get to add one. Till then we’ll just say, she’s a girl gamer, true to gaming, sticks to the cause, understands what it’s all about and goes about this in an intelligent manner. What more could you all want?

Shane Is My Homegirl…
Ok you ladies in the know appreciate what we’re getting at, you could call it ‘the Pink thing’. Quite a few of the girls here at Thumb Bandits adore Ms Foy, for more than just her gaming style. Is she, isn’t she.. who really cares (ok some of you lol), you have to love that hairdo, that style and that overall cool factor, whether it’s a yes, or a no. About the only thing letting Laura Foy down in the cool stakes is that she’s quoted as saying Madonna is her role model… hmm. Well we’re not sure about that, but we are sure we’ve enjoyed an all too brief look into one hell of a cool girl gamer. Laura Foy, we salute you as Thumb Bandits Honorary Oakley for May 2007. Keep on gaming!

Laura Foy – We Salute You!

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Back for another month and this time we’re celebrating gaming royalty no less. Please everyone, bow before Princess Zelda of the Hyrule royal family. It should be pointed out that Zelda isn’t the usual type of woman / girl / female we’d honor in the Oakley. The Honorary Oakley is all about strong women and independent kick ass chicks, Zelda appears to not really fit this very well when looking at the parts she plays within the games. What Princess Zelda does have however is an entire gaming franchise named after her, which we think is pretty cool, so here she is.
Princess Zelda Twilight

Bit of a princess…
As a lot of female gamers bemoan, there is nothing worse than a wussy female ‘hero’, it irks to have to play the leading man as he staunchly heads off to save the cowering damsel in distress. Sadly this is the case in much of the Zelda universe. Princess Zelda is captured and it is Link, the male hero who must save her from doom. That’s not to say that Zelda is a weak character, as she possesses many magical abilities, of course, this just makes the princess in distress factor all the more irritating to some. We’ll now take a very quick look at the overall role Zelda plays throughout the series.

Zelda – Evolution of a games character… Not
It’s a strange thing, that a game named Zelda in many instance’s, doesn’t feature a playable character of that name. As anyone playing the franchise will know, Link is the main protagonist within the Zelda universe and Zelda is always in need of rescue. In the initial outing The Legend of Zelda, Zelda is kidnapped and Link must save her. In the next title Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, Link must rescue another kidnapped Zelda (yawn). The third game The Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past sees Zelda imprisoned by the evil Agahnim and she calls Link to rescue her. The fourth Zelda game in the series The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time sees Princess Zelda captured by Ganondorf and rescued by Link (though there is a lot more to this story). The Legend of Zelda Majora’s Mask, barely sees Zelda at all, she merely plays a tool to the overall story. In the Oracle series, Zelda is captured and saved by Link. In the Four Swords, Zelda is kidnapped. Finally, in Wind Waker, Zelda throws off the shackles of the weak and kidnapped maiden and helps Link kick some ass. Likewise with Four Swords Adventures – seems like someone might have finally thought this was a good idea, but no, because in the next game Minish Cap, Zelda is turned to stone and abducted, later rescued by Link. The last game released at time of writing The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, once again sees Zelda captured and Link must rescue her.

Princess Zelda – Kinda Wussy but cool
Ok so we covered the games, albeit briefly and it does appear that Zelda, despite having some pretty cool magical abilities in a few of the games, never really gets to kick much ass, instead always hanging around some castle dungeon some place, waiting on Link to come rescue her. It’s a little sad to say the least, it would be nice to see an entire turn around and have a Zelda title in which Zelda is the hero AND playable protagonist. Perhaps she could rescue Link for a change? That would be pretty cool and certainly put a new spin within the series, which seems to follow the same damsel in distress storyline majority of the way through (even though Zelda may at times be the key to success, she’s still essentially a bit of a wuss).

Zelda Fitzgerald – Namesake & Flapper Princess
According to none other than Zelda creator Shigeru Miyamoto, the Princess Zelda of the Zelda game series gets her name from Zelda Fitzgerald, wife of author F Scott Fitzgerald. Why this is the case is anyone’s guess, given Zelda Fitzgerald appears to have been a woman fraught with mental breakdown and a problem with alchohol. Perhaps he just liked the name. Her mental breakdowns were later thought to have been because of schizophrenia, or even that she may have been bi-polar. Whatever the case, it’s thought by many that her problems stemmed from the bullying of her husband. In a strange twist, Zelda was thought to be imprisoned by her husband for quite a few years, perhaps that’s the ‘Link’ (oh yes, we know, it was a bad pun). This real life Zelda sadly died whilst trapped in a mental sanatorium as a fire ripped through it. Hardly a fairytale ending.

“More than a princess ”

So there you have it, another month and another cool female gaming character looked at, talked about and sadly in this case, wept over by the plethora of female gamers out there who think this kidnapped Princess Peach.. err.. sorry.. Zelda is a bit of a shame. Still, she has to be held in esteem for having an entire gaming franchise named after her, and a good franchise at that. Princess Zelda, we salute you!

Princess Zelda – We Salute You!

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In a special Honorary Oakley to kick off 2007, we thought we’d make it all about the cool female gaming characters in the sprawling gaming universe of Halo. So, instead of covering just the one female icon, this particular Oakley will cover a few—how’s that for value? The ladies of Halo we’ll be looking at include the eponymous A.I. Cortana, Commander Miranda Keyes, Captain Carol Rawley, Dr. Catherine Elizabeth Halsey, Déjà, Maria-062, Kalmiya, and the grunts (a couple of female marines “Hooyah!”).

Who knew there were so many women in Halo, especially given it’s a pretty macho affair. They’re certainly in there though, and some of them, no, ALL of them are extremely cool.

Cortana
Anyone who’s played Halo already knows Cortana, she’s the Chief’s right-hand woman, his virtual guide, his eyes and his ears. In actuality, Cortana is more closely related to one of our other female Halo characters, Dr. Catherine Halsey. Cortana is an A.I.-based construct built on the neural networks of the brilliant Dr. Halsey. Cortana has no tangible physical form, appearing as a 3D hologram, somewhat similar to a young Dr. Halsey. Cortana can take full command and control of ships, has in-depth knowledge of UNSC weapons systems, and is essentially a kick-ass character in both Halo and Halo 2. Current Halo 3 rumors seem to be suggesting that Cortana has been driven insane (the rampancy), remembering of course that Halo 2 ended with Cortana speaking to the ominous Gravemind.

Miranda
Here we have a real flesh-and-blood lady in the form of Commander Miranda Keyes. As well as being the daughter of Captain Jacob Keys (may he rest in peace) she was also Commanding officer of the UNSC FFG-142 Amber Clad military frigate. Much like Cortana, she kicks ass (in Halo 2) when she assists in the defence of New Mombasa. She also plays an integral role towards the end of Halo 2, which we can’t spoil for you here, on the off chance you haven’t played it. Suffice it to say, she’s a cool female character in her own right, despite the overshadowing figure of her father Jacob Keyes. Miranda Keyes Halo Women

Foehammer
To picture Foehammer, one must first recall Aliens—the 1986 James Cameron epic—then think about cool female drop-ship pilot Ferro, because she’s essentially the inspiration for Captain Carol ‘Foehammer’ Rawley. While players never get to actually see Foehammer they certainly get to hear her. Appearing in the original Halo, Foehammer is a Pelican transport pilot, and she’s one of the best due to her skills at combat insertion and rescue during severe hostility. Again, we don’t want to spoil things for those who have yet to experience the Halo games, but Carol ‘Foehammer’ Rawley is brave, forthright, and a great female character in Halo—one of only a couple that grace the original title.

Doctor Halsey
Dr. Catherine Elizabeth Halsey is another female character in the Halo universe. It’s said Cortana is modeled on her in physical appearance, as well as her neural pathways. Dr. Halsey is a civilian scientist in the UNSC, creating the Spartan II Project and therefore is the woman behind the creation of Master Chief himself. Although she’s certainly a cool female character, Dr. Elizabeth Halsey is not wholly good. The Spartan project involved the kidnapping of children who were then groomed to be super soldiers. Most believe Elizabeth Halsey sees the Spartans as her own children—even in their adult form. The undesirable aspects of the Spartan project leads Elizabeth Halsey to be a rather tragic character, one filled with remorse and guilt over what she’s done. However, she still believes she’s done the right thing in sacrificing the few to save the many.

Deja, Maria & Kalmiya
These three gals appear as relatively minor but still integral female characters in Halo. Déjà’s role in the Halo universe is that of a teacher. An A.I. teacher for the Spartans, she was essentially Master Chief’s teacher in many things academic in nature. Maria-062 was involved in the Spartan II project, but left to start a family (yawn). She is best known for her testing of the famous MJOLNIR armour Mark VI—as worn by Master Chief—though this does not appear in the videogame. Kalmiya was an experiment by Dr. Halsey to see if a smart A.I. could handle large amounts of crytographic (code-breaking) abilities. She is destroyed when UNSC protocol calls for a self-destruct sequence on the ONI castle base.
Grunts

There’s nothing quite like the voice acting in the Halo games; there are accents galore and it all feels more ‘real’ due to this. There are also a couple of female marines in Halo 2, one most notably voiced by Michelle Rodriguez of LOST fame (Ana Lucia). It may seem like no big deal to the male gamer out there, but for the female Halo fan, it’s great when you first hear female marines calling out when engrossed in action—it makes you feel more involved in the gameplay. Given Halo is set in a fantasy universe, there’s no reason why there wouldn’t be female super soldiers during combat. Hopefully Bungie will keep this in mind for Halo 3.

“Hooyah!!”
The ladies of Thumb Bandits still hold out hope that when the Master Chief eventually removes that helmet she’ll have piercing eyes, short hair, and look more like Kara ‘Starbuck’ Thrace than Vin ‘XXX’ Diesel—Ah, well we can but dream. Metroid Prime’s Samus pulls off the ‘hero’ role effortlessly, and let’s not forget she’s got a boy’s name too; Princess Leia also did it in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, so why not John in Halo? Okay, so that’s probably never going to happen, so we’ll just have to console ourselves with the female characters in Halo that we’ve covered here, most of who are integral to the overall plot. We hope you’ve enjoyed this New Year edition of the Honorary Oakley and it’s put you in the mood for some Halo….Hooyah!

Ladies of Halo We Salute You!

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This month we were looking for someone extra special to cover, a woman of such strength and fortitude that she stood out from the crowd. Although we’d have liked to have gone for a ‘real’ woman, we’ve opted for yet another fictional character in the form of Laura Roslin. For those people who do not watch the new Battlestar Galactica TV series, the name will mean very little, but, after reading about her, we’re sure you’ll see why she’s made it into the annals of the Honorary Oakley.

Laura Roslin President of the Colonies
Let’s start with a little background for those unfamiliar with her overall story. The planet Caprica, much like an idyllic Earth, was minding its own business one day when it was attacked and almost entirely wiped out by the returning Cylons—the Cylons being a race of robots/androids, created by humans many years before, that waged a war against their creators before disappearing into space. Essentially it’s a story of the child of man returning to wipe them out. The majority of the Caprican population are subsequently killed during the merciless Cylon surprise attack, and those spared are but a handful of remaining planetary survivors and those who take flight to the vastness of space.

An Educational Promotion…
At the time of the assault on Caprica, Laura Roslin, a member of the government, held the office of Secretary of Education, under the then President Richard Adar. By some fortuitous stroke of fate, Laura Roslin is visiting the Battlestar Galactica when the Cylons launch their all-out nuclear assault on an unsuspecting Caprica. She is subsequently spared from the slaughter and her life is changed for ever.

It soon becomes clear that all other high-ranking government officials are now dead, and, as a result, Roslin is catapulted into the position of President of the Twelve Colonies, essentially making her the President of all human survivors. This is a position that she holds with grace, strength, and considerable fortitude.

Saviour and Leader…
But Laura Roslin holds a secret that a scant few trusted friends know: she is dying. More pointedly, she’s struggling through the final stages of inoperable breast cancer. Whilst being treated by herbs for her condition, Roslin experiences inexplicable visions. Eventually it becomes clear that these visions tie-in with the holy books of scripture that the people of the Twelve Colonies follow. To cut a long story short, Roslin (and many others) believes she is the dying leader the scriptures state will lead her people to salvation. This culminates in clues to the whereabouts of the mythical thirteenth colony, a planet named Earth, a planet that the survivors duly set out to find (we don’t want to spoil it, should you wish to watch it).

Death and Rebirth…
Laura Roslin is subsequently spared death—again we’re not revealing the spoiler—which leads to some suggesting the work of a miracle. And, given their belief that she is the mighty leader meant to guide them to Earth, this all seems to make a great deal of sense. Whatever the case, Roslin exhibits an amazing strength of character and an elegant grace throughout every mounting ordeal, and that’s why we’ve placed her as December’s Oakley. Imagine a female leader, but on numerous levels (administrative and spiritual), a woman who places the well-being of her people before the importance of her own declining health. That, in a nut shell, is Laura Roslin.

Trials and Tribulations…
We won’t go into the show’s back-story too much here, but needless to say the road is not always smooth for the President. There are times when she loses office, but she never loses sight of the overall goal, to ensure the survival of the human race and to see its remnants safely to Earth. Roslin’s character is played wonderfully by actress Mary McDonnell, who’s perhaps best known for her roles in Dances With Wolves and Independence Day; McDonnell has such charisma that it is easy to believe this quiet, graceful woman could indeed hold an office of such magnitude.

“And so say we all!”

You probably have to watch the Battlestar Galactica TV series (now in its third season) to actually ‘get’ just what makes this character so amazingly cool. However, we do hope that this little bit of insight into the character of Laura Roslin has shown you why she’s eligible to Oakley inclusion. The Honorary Oakley is here to counterbalance the shallow ‘tits and ass’ mentality of some other gaming sites, especially with their babe of the month features. This is about strong, resourceful, amazing women, and President Laura Roslin is indeed one of them.

Laura Roslin – We Salute You!

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Due to a bit of feedback in the Honorary Oakley section, we’ve gone all superhero once more for this Honorary Oakley. You may recall we had Wonder Woman as our Oakley back in February 2005, well now it’s the time of the X-Men as we honor one of their most prolific members, Jean Grey. What makes Jean Grey a great choice for the Oakley is that she’s an Omega Level mutant, one of the most powerful in the universe. If that doesn’t make for a kick-ass chick, what does?

Thanks to Danielle for the suggestion.

It starts with a coma…
Jean Grey is undoubtedly best known as a member of the crime-fighting X-Men, but her mutant powers established themselves under tragic circumstances when she was just a girl. Jean and her best friend Annie were hanging out when Annie was hit by a car, and, as she lay on the edge of death, Jean’s mutant powers were suddenly triggered as she connected to Annie’s dying mind. This telepathic connection then put young Jean into a coma as she experienced Annie’s death. As Jean remained in her comatose state, her parents Dr. John Grey and Elaine Grey gathered the best doctors to try to bring their little girl back–yet only one man seemed able to reach her: Professor Charles Xavier. Through blocking her abilities with his own powers of thought, Professor X is able to return Jean to consciousness, knowing that her young mind is not yet ready to cope with its formidable abilities. It is a further three years before Jean develops further mind skills and it is at this point that she attends Xavier’s School For Gifted Youngsters.

A Marvel-ous Girl…
Jean Grey is cool for numerous reasons, but not least of all—and specific to the Honorary Oakley—is the fact she was the first female member of the X-Men (firstly opting for the name Marvel Girl). Whilst attending the school for the gifted, Jean Grey meets the handsome young Scott Summers (Cyclops), and the two begin to fall in love. As with most stories, be they comic book or literary greats, the road to true love is never a simple one and the two drift apart as Jean follows her education. Strangely it’s even hinted that Xavier himself develops romantic feelings for Jean, but this storyline is quashed in favour of the more acceptable Jean & Scott love story. Jean has numerous adventures in her role as a senior X-Men member, until one fateful day when she accidentally and fatally unleashes all of her powers and is seen to rise again as a woman called Phoenix.

Rise of the Phoenix…
Phoenix is an awesome character with powers unlike any of the other X-Men, but the internal power struggle Jean Grey fights sees her also become a danger to her friends and X-Men team mates whenever she’s taken over by the Dark Phoenix. In order to save her friends (and indeed a whole load of other folk) this transformation leads Jean to take drastic action; suicide. Suicide, you say? Well this is a comic book, which means there will be various tangents and storylines that in the real world would mean the end for a character; yet, in comic book land (just like soap opera land) it just means a rewrite at a later date. Jean survives the Dark Phoenix event but in the process suffers the loss of her powers. It’s all pretty convoluted due to the rewrites, but, in a nutshell, Jean (post death) is once more brought back to life and found in a weird pod. She returns to her family and friends with slightly different powers, including hugely powerful telekinesis. During the time of her ‘death’ Scott has remarried, though he returns to Jean when he realises she’s alive—leaving his wife.

Convoluted Love Story…
The story of Jean and Scott is a messy one, there are affairs, multiple proposals, and, to make things even slightly more messy, Jean kills Scott’s wife (no, no, nothing like you’re thinking, his wife had turned to the ‘darkside’ you see, and it was either kill her or face the end of the world as we know it—or something along those lines). Due to the mind link Jean and Scott’s wife shared at the time of her death, Jean takes on her memories; memories of Scott proposing and all those other personal things—oh, messy. Not that it matters, because it’s that true love thing again, and eventually Jean and Scott get remarried when Jean proposes, but Scott (that silly man) has an affair (tut, tut) with Emma Frost. It’s sounding more and more like a bad soap, isn’t it? Well, let’s keep in mind that the story has been going since 1963, so a lot of madness has to happen to keep things fresh and juicy.

Break it down…
Okay, so we could go on for pages and pages about the ins-and-outs of the story of Jean Grey, there’s different timelines, children, and all manner of other madness, but we’re essentially here to take a look at the woman herself and pinpoint what makes her so cool. Well, that should be fairly evident: she’s powerful, she’s good (mostly), and she fights against evil (within herself and the world/universe at large). Plus, she is a cool female superhero across various mediums, including our beloved videogames. Yes, Jean Grey has appeared in numerous games, on various formats, the latest incarnation being in Marvel Ultimate Alliance on GBA, PC, PS2, PS3, PSP, Xbox 360, Xbox, and Wii (PS3 and Wii when released, obviously). We also can’t finish off without mentioning the gorgeous Famke Janssen who so brilliantly brings Jean Grey to life in the X-Men film series.

All in all, Jean Grey is cool. Despite a few rather dodgy storylines, Jean Grey has, for the most part, stood for good. The fact she’s an Omega Level mutant makes her all-the cooler, and let’s not forget that she was also the first female to join the X-Men. As far as female superheroes go, Jean Grey is one of the best. As far as the Honorary Oakley goes, Jean Grey is more than worthy of a place in its archive.

Jean Grey, We Salute You!

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Thanks to a bit of feedback in the Honorary Oakley thread we’ve had a few suggestions for the Oakley this month, and, after some thought and deliberation, it has been decided that the Honorary Oakley for October goes to yet another ‘character’ as opposed to a ‘real’ woman.

Why? Well, the Oakley thread is there so our members can submit their ideas for people they’d like to see posted and honored here, so it would somewhat of an injustice to ignore those suggestions in favor of what many may see as ‘more worthy’ recipients.

Let’s digress a moment….
This month in particular was tough, especially as Safia Ahmed-jan (or Ama Jan) was shot and killed in front of her home (and she is someone we need to highlight, for her work and life). So, if you’ll forgive us, we mention her here briefly—though that’s not to say she won’t feature at a later date—despite this Oakley being about someone else. Please take the time to read about Safia. In essence she was an Afghan women’s rights leader who spoke out against the Taliban’s treatment of women. When assassinated last week (aged 65) she held the position of provincial director of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs in Kandahar Province. She was leaving her home to go to work when she was shot multiple times. The Taliban later claimed responsibility for her killing. Prior to Safia’s position at the Ministry for Women’s Affairs she was a teacher and school head mistress.

This month’s Oakley is not a ‘real’ hero—which Safia clearly was—but, in the world our Oakley inhabits she was just that, despite rather dubious beginnings. She worked on the side of the law and suffered personal tragedy; contrary to her vigilante actions (which we’ll consider momentarily) she remained a ‘good’ person and a survivor. That’s why this month Ana Lucia Cortez is the ThumbBandits.com Honorary Oakley for October.
Thanks to Danielle and Ruth for the suggestion.

Spoiler Alert: This article will cover Season One and Two of the TV series LOST.

Ana Who?
Ana Lucia Cortez, or just plain Ana Lucia is/was a character in the hit American television show Lost (played by Michelle Rodriguez). Ana Lucia entered the show during the closing episodes of Season One, in a flashback scene where she flirts/chats to one of the show’s central characters (Jack) in an airport departures lounge. When Season Two kicked off, viewers finally got to see the survivors from the tail end of the plane, led by the forthright Ana Lucia, who had taken charge to try to rescue as many people as possible from the wreckage and the water. Prior to the doomed flight of Oceanic 815, Ana Lucia was a Los Angeles police officer.

I am the Law!
Ana Lucia is a character not without flaws, and her story throws up an interesting moral dilemma within the framework of the Lost storyline. As a police officer, it is Ana Lucia’s sworn duty to ‘serve and protect’, but it doesn’t always work out that way. Whilst on a call to a burglary, Ana Lucia is shot, saved only by her flack vest. Her unborn child to boyfriend Danny isn’t so lucky, however. The resulting trauma and months of both physical and psychological therapy are hard for Ana Lucia and her boyfriend Danny leaves her during that period (whatta guy!). When Ana Lucia returns to duty she has trouble fitting back in and has clashes with colleagues, including her boss, the captain of the police precinct, who also happens to be her mother. Ana Lucia’s moral conflicts come to a head when the man who shot her and killed her unborn child is brought in as a suspect. Ana is asked to identify him in a line-up, but she doesn’t, instead letting him walk. She then tracks his movements and later waits for him to leave a bar, at which time she shoots him in cold blood.

The Missing Link
Ana Lucia is linked to the survivors of Lost in more ways than purely being on the plane. It is the show’s main protagonist Jack that makes up this link, for it is Jack’s father that hires Ana Lucia and takes her to Australia as his personal security guard. You see, Ana has since left the police force and is working in airport security when she meets Jack’s father in the airport bar. He propositions her to join him on a trip to Australia as his personal security and she accepts. Despite Ana Lucia killing the burglar who had initially shot her, she’s still portrayed as a ‘goodie’ albeit with a dark edge, and this is shown in her first job for Jack’s father, when he becomes aggressive towards a woman he claims is the mother of his daughter. Ana Lucia steps in and breaks it up and tries to talk sense into him. However, this fails and they go their separate ways; Jack’s father to the nearest bar and Ana Lucia home to her mother—or so she thinks. The final scenes prior to the crash of Oceanic 815 consist of Ana phoning her mother from the airport in tears and apologetic, telling her mother, “I made a mistake, Mom. You knew, so I got as far away from you as I could. But now, I want to come home, Mom.” This brief exchange shows Ana Lucia’s sorrow concerning prior events in her life, and also her mother’s forgiveness as she states she’ll meet her at the airport upon her arrival.

Island Life and Paranoia…
After the plane’s tail section crashes on the island, Ana Lucia takes up a role of leadership within the small group of survivors. She promises two children that they’ll be okay, but they’re subsequently kidnapped by the ‘Others’. This again shows that Ana Lucia has a softer side than the aggressive persona utilized throughout most of her time on screen. She’s not only fighting with true enemies, she is also, to some degree, at war with herself, because of the guilt she feels over the shooting and the difficulties of having let the children down. In a sense, these events harden Ana Lucia’s character, because she wants to ensure that the small group of survivors stay alive. If Ana Lucia were truly a bad person, she would not care what happened to the other survivors. But she does, and deeply. As if the poor woman hasn’t gone through enough, she then makes the error in judgement of imprisoning one of the survivors that she believes to be an ‘Other’. Although Nathan (the one imprisoned) turns out not to be an ‘Other’ and his eventual death is little to do with Ana Lucia, she takes the guilt of what’s happened, blaming herself for essentially not being good enough to spot the real culprit. Though she eventually uncovers and dispatches the true ‘Other’ in the end, it is only through self-defense.

Think Before You Shoot…
Ana Lucia’s first meeting with the rest of the doomed flight’s survivors is when Sawyer, Michael, and Jin are captured by the tail section survivors and placed into the very pit that held Nathan. Not wanting to make the same mistake again, Ana Lucia poses as another innocent captive and is flung into the pit to try to glean the truth surrounding the three strange new arrivals. Though an unpleasant truce is formed, Ana Lucia’s luck is about to take a turn for the worse. As the original three survivors lead the tail section survivors back towards the larger camp, Ana Lucia accidentally shoots Shannon (one of Season One’s main characters), who comes running through the jungle like a mad woman. Ana Lucia mistakes her for an Other, and before either of them realize what’s happened Ana Lucia has drawn a gun and fired, killing her. Needless to say this puts her somewhat on the outer edge when both the tail section group and original survivors are reunited.

Following the death of Shannon, those survivors loyal to Ana Lucia (who has thus far saved all of them to some degree or another) leave to find the original survivors. Ana is left alone with Sayid, Shannon’s lover. This is an important juncture in the character’s growth as she eventually imparts her story to Sayid about how she was a cop and this ‘kid’ had shot her because she’d let him reach for what she thought was ID. She says, “I thought I was dead. I feel dead.” She then urges Sayid to kill her for what she did to his lover, to which he responds, “What good would it be to kill you, if we’re both already dead?”

The End of Ana Lucia
It has to be said, that as a viewer of Lost, the death of Ana Lucia was both unexpected and shocking. Just as she was beginning to find some form of redemption, as she was beginning to find her place in the world, she was gone. More depth was found in this character via her interactions with captured ‘Other’ Henry Gale, when she saves him from execution and makes a comment about “needing to be sure” based on her previous experience with the innocent Nathan and, to some degree, Shannon too. These instances of moral fibre must be taken into account when looking at the character of Ana Lucia, because despite the darkness of the character, she clearly was a good person, trying to do good by others, and only events out of her control push her to commit the unthinkable.

Although these acts are, indeed, contrary to what the Oakley stands for, her leadership, compassion, and strength are exactly what it stands for. So, in the same way that we can honor someone such as Battlestar Galactica’s Number Six, so too we can honor Ana Lucia. Her leadership in the face of adversity, her strength given to help others survive, and her tenacity in the face of peril should all be commended. It’s just a shame the character was wiped out before she was seen returning to true self, the smiling, friendly character first seen in the airport bar. Looking forward to returning to her mother, to face her crimes and once more find herself.

Ana Lucia Cortez we salute you!

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Last month we highlighted one of the coolest female protagonists to appear in the survival horror genre (Resident Evil’s Claire Redfield). This month something a little different and somewhat of an umbrella Oakley; yes, this month we’re making an Honorary Oakley of girl gamers, not one particular gamer, just all the ladies out there who love gaming.

You know who you are; you know the untold hardships you’ve endured for your hobby; you know that, at some point, you will get some form of abuse from an idiot who doesn’t feel it’s your place to game. Sure, times have changed, but just how much? Let’s hear it for all the girl gamers out there as September 2006 sees Thumb Bandits’ Honorary Oakley celebrate the very reason of our being: the girl gamer.

Boys Only, No Girls Allowed!
Gaming has been around for decades, its roots actually running back as far as the 1940s—though these ‘games’ were generally academic blips that told researchers something relevant. However, in the 1950s the first videogames were born—or computer games as they were called back then due to the fact that they ran on huge computers. These archaic ‘games’ were nothing like the modern equivalent, but we mention them because this is the birth of gaming and there were no female researchers to be found. By the 1970s true arcade gaming had come of age and this was also the decade that would see the birth of the home videogames console. But, just whom exactly were they marketed towards, and was this the beginning of the struggle of the female gaming fan? Surprisingly, many of the older advertisements are non-gender specific (where no players appear—though this changes dramatically if players are present in the imagery), with many using the words ‘family and friends’, as opposed to gender specific pronouns. This didn’t stop gaming from becoming the realm of boys however, as, due to socialization and the varying aspects involved in gaming (technology, computing etc), it fit more freely within the realm of the male.

Girl Gamers – Where Are You?
It’s hardly surprising that girls/women didn’t flood the world of gaming in greater numbers, given that human imagery in advertising was obviously slanted towards the young male gamer. It’s not the fault of the industry as such, because this was who they saw as their bread and butter audience, this was the demographic purchasing the games. It was a sort of catch 22 in many ways, because boys were interested in gaming, so advertisers began increasingly to single them out as the target market. This obviously put girl gamers on the periphery, and so the cycle continued, as it still does today (at least to a much lesser extent) as gaming companies realize there’s a huge untapped market out there. This is without even looking at the sexual imagery used within gaming media, advertising, and magazines, which helps to employ a male-driven hegemony with the realm of gaming.

You Must Be A Tomboy Then
Yes, many girl gamers may have been considered tomboys in their youth, given that the term ‘tomboy’ could be slapped on any young girl who climbed a tree, wore jeans instead of skirts, rode a BMX instead of a pink and tasseled girl’s Chopper or decided to pick up a game pad for the NES console her brother got for Christmas. So what! So what if tomboys had more fun; the world was their oyster, so what if they were given this label; boys had an equivalent label of their own, it was ‘sissy boy’. No negative connotations there at all for the poor lad who opted to play with Barbie instead of GI Joe. It’s a shame the world does this to kids, pops them in their ‘rightful’ hole, ensures they know what they should and shouldn’t play with. Although much of this is gross generalization (sure, we admit it, this isn’t a thesis, it’s a one-page article!) many girl gamers found themselves hangers on at the local arcades and given strange sideways glances if they happened to have a quarter that lasted longer than the boys standing around.

Girl Power
Those girls that went against the grain before gaming became truly hip and they learnt a lot, not just about gaming, but also about how to deal with sexist morons of all shapes and sizes. Rarely has a young boy heard the words “Hey! Shouldn’t you be playing with Barbie?” or upon a friend seeing the NES they got for Christmas, the statement: “How come that’s in your room?” Yes, it’s all very amusing, but we’re glad to say that things have moved on and now all girl gamers have to put up with is the odd sexist comment on Xbox Live, or lovely typed messages of sexual prowess, size, stature, etc, from all those mature *cough* males that still find it odd a woman might like to kick a little ass in Halo, or play a formidable warrior in World of Warcraft. Thankfully, those more mature males out there love gaming with girls, they don’t find it strange any longer, they don’t mind getting beaten or beating a girl, they’re in it for the same reason girls are, for scant little more than fun and enjoyment. So whilst we are here celebrating the girl gamer, let’s give a little shout out to the male gamers who understand why it is that girls like to game too—we salute you.

Sisters Doing It For Themselves
Despite the ebbs and flows of where gaming has come from and where it’s going, things for the girl gamer do appear to be gradually getting better. Girl gamers now have a voice, though that’s largely due to the power of the Internet, since some print magazines do still like to marginalize girl gamers into non existence. There’s been the stark ‘revelation’ that a lot of women play games, they play games that have bloodshed in them, they play shooters, war and non-puzzle titles. Sure, there are plenty of women out there that remain confined within the realm of ‘female favorites’, as stated by dopey marketing firms who look no further than what might interest their wives, but there are plenty who don’t and they can now, as it’s okay. The world of gaming is opening up and finally letting women in, it’s still got its problems, but the more women that game, the more these myths will fall and women and girl gamers will finally be on equal footing with their male counterparts. The time of being able to open a gaming magazine without some sexist dribble leering out at you is still probably a millennia away, but at least the girl gamer can enjoy her hobby now, more than she’s been able to do in the past. If a young girl asks for a Nintendo DS for Christmas, the world is not going to fall apart.

A Salute To Girl Gamers Everywhere
Yes, that’s what this is all about, a salute to all the girl gamers out there; for their love of the game; for their steadfastness in the face of adversity; for listening to that moron comment on your breasts on Xbox Live or World of Warcraft and thinking, “What an almighty jackass!” For also respecting those male gamers out there who appreciate the fact it isn’t as easy being a girl gamer as it is being a male gamer, and for knowing that you as a female gamer are inevitably going to have to put up with more crap than he does, JUST for being female. This is for the girls, as it always is in the Honorary Oakley, because sometimes it’s nice to hear about the heroics of women, even on a small scale.

Girl Gamers…we salute you!

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