I don't play female characters for a very simple reason. I might wish I was a badass male nord barbarian or an old and wise male dunmer mage, but I would never wish to be a female anything because to me that is highly unappealing as I'm male. It would be like playing with barbie dolls instead of he-man action figures as a child. Of course, we're not children anymore and if someone wants to experience playing a character of the opposite gender, I can respect that, but I myself can't do it.


And yet, you have a female avatar .

I'm trans-gender in Real life and couldn't comprehend playing a male for more then a few minutes unless going for some achievement or other.

Aesthetical reasons. Smae goes for race selection. The character i play is not me, so there is really no deeper reasons for it.

Because I like the idea of girls kicking ass and being heroes. Why does it always have to be a man that saves the day?

And that too

I didn't play a female yet, but I'm planning to do it just to see the differences in armors and voice (I guess a female dovakiin sounds different than a male)

never really gave it much thought. Most of my character's are female, they are also mostly Nord. In Oblivion they were mostly female but Dunmer. I have one male char, Breton mage ( I DO have plan's for another)

I play in 1st person most of the time, so it really doesn't matter. I do like playing around with the different cloth's and armor...and dang it skirt's just look better on women! Not that I haven't seen some really sixy men in "skirt's"...thinking of Troy and Braveheart.

I find both the male and female bodies ( RL) attractive, but am only sixually attracted to men.

Not speaking for TES series specifically, but RPG's have to be politically correct or the developers get reamed in the media for being sixist/racist/etc. Older table-top RPG's, I think even D&D used to have separate attributes for gender, making males stronger an females more dexterous, agile, etc. People freaked the hell out about it. So, now devs of any RPG take the "better safe than sorry" route.

I am female, and play mostly females. I have six characters now, four female and two male. I play the male characters for variety, and to try to figure out things from a male perspective.

Depends on the type or class Im playing. For some reason if I play stealthy type I play female or if I play all out warrior I play male. besides the dark brotherhood gear looks prittey nice on a gal

I love the dichotomy of the "soft" and nurturing female clashing with absolute power, destruction, and ruthless independence. I enjoy it when appearances do not match abilities, causing preconceptions to be dashed on the rocks of reality. Additionally, I let characters germinate a bit in my mind before I actually create them, sometimes they grow into females, sometimes males. I just let it flow naturally.

And often times, the female avatars are simply animated better and move more fluidly than the males one who tend to be overly muscled and clunky.

I don't play male characters often since I'm not a good enough roleplayer to do so without them either being the same as my female characters or degenerating into a macho stereotype. Wish I could since my aim when roleplaying is to play as someone different to myself and make decisions and act as they would, not as I would, but I've never managed it to my satisfaction.

I'll play the opposite six at times........I like to get in touch with my feminine, or masculine side....

I play the same archetype from previous characters... their gender relates to that.

Fenyx is male paladin type
Relik is female mage
Valyn is a female ranger
Theiving characters are usually 50/50

These are all based off of characters I created, jeez, in Baldur's Gate 1&2. I've kept this up through all TES games, DA, Diablo, Warcraft, and many other titles.

Although to answer the OP's question, I just find female characters most aesthetically pleasing in the way armor fits and looks. I've never role-played "myself" because that's not very fantastical or interesting to me. *shrug*

I have one female character (Nord), because I have a Nord concept, but it requires a kind of less hairy/young/cleaner look in my mind. And the Nord males look like garbage. Even worse without beards. So... female it is.

I play both sides of the net. Some characters are female, some are male. Most I play the other gender so I can see how the game reacts to that gender.

Plus, Bethra just can't be a male, guys are not that cold hearted and devious.

I'm male and I create female characters. None of the characters (males included) I see as 'me' - they're a character. I can't see it's any different to playing an orc or an elf - unless some players really are - or believe they are - elves or orcs or whatever. And female characters make a change considering the majority of games overall use a set male character. With the amount of FPS games I've played over the years where the character is a set action film stereotype, it's kind of refreshing to control some badass female. And they look nicer in third person.
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I play a Lady Argonian Sorceress, because in real life I want to be a female lizard with magical powers!

No not really.

In reality I don't view myself as my character. So the answer to the question "why" is really "why not". I like to explore multiple types of characters in these games. The characters are not me, and their reactions are not necessarily what I would do in their situation.

So I have a range of characters, including both sixes.

This. I like girls. If I'm going to play dress-up with a doll, it's going to be a pretty one.


This, too. River Tam, Sydney Bristow, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, etc.


Also, as others have mentioned - the character is not me. I don't "relate" to it, or get in it's head, or whatever. It's the action figure I'm pushing around the game board.

(And honestly, even being male..... I'm not into the whole fratguy/macho/musclebound/pain thing. So I wouldn't particularly relate well to the steroid-abusing crewcut meatheads that show up as the male heroes of games, either. )

When creating a character, I have a certain idea about what type of character I want to play. Good, evil, mage, rogue, warrior and so on.. I chose a race that "fits" the character idea both lore- and stat-wise, and by then I already have an idea wether the character should be male or female. As for WHY I often choose to play female characters over male ones, there are a few simple reasons. For one, I simply like girls. Second, I - like many others here it seems - enjoy the idea of a strong and capable woman hero breaking the stereotypical mold of heroic endevour. I've always been a fan of underdogs, and in a sense female hero characters always seem to inhibit a less "uber" role than their male counterparts, and that makes it that more satisfying to wipe the floor with whatever Skyrim (or any other game world for that matter) can throw at me/her.

Last, but not least, and I think this actually is the main reason (except that female characters are nicer to look at than male characters) is that I seem to grow more "fond of" my female characters, in a way that I get a sense of "caring" about them more than the male characters I play. It makes me want to not jump carelessly into battle like, say, my male Orsimer warrior does (he's pretty much a berserk hammer-wielding maniac, like you would expect of a fierce male Orc making a name for himself).

"Caring" more about my character gives me - to the extent it's possible - an insentive to play the game more thoughtfully, making more overweighed decisions, and for some reason allowing me to immerse myself more into the gameplay, since I feel that my female characters often have more depth than the male characters I (role)play.

i play as a female because it's an option and i want to see the difference it makes for my gameplay.

in the fallouts, it does.

I rolled a female khajiit this time..... I don't think it really matters.... It depends on what kind of character I want to play.

I'm male and I play a male character, always. I just could never get into playing a female character.

Since it's a roleplaying game, where you in a sense forge your own story, playing as both genders can offer a new way to play (quite a minor way when compared to things like playstyle and such, but still)

personally, i don't "get into" the female characters. the psyches of those who do that will forever remain a mystery to me. and, a mystery not needed to be solved.

play a female and don't try and get into it.

it's all gameplay.