Female video game role models in demand

Viperine (pictured) lost her arm at a young age after she was bitten by a poisonous snake.

Today, she is part of a vigilante group that liberates those forced into “slavery and inhumane experimentation".

And she is vying for recognition as a Fantastic Femme – a “strong female role model character" designed for a video game as part of a competition run by the Queensland University of Technology.

Penny Sweetser, who lectures on games and interactive entertainment, said the aim was to challenge the norm of featuring sexy, voluptuous female figures in video games.