Why your next sport wants a babygirl
To clarify this concept, I would like you to understand what a “babygirl” signifies. A babygirl is, as author and narrative creator Alexa Ray Corriea described in her 2025 Game Developers Conference speech, a character that many can agree is “a little bit traumatized,” yet genuine in their masculinity, appearance, calmness, and fragility, though not experienced. They are likely over 25 years old and may have “soft reasons to make tough decisions.” Corriea’s example was Clive from Final Fantasy XVI.
Following along? Great, let’s dive into a “meow meow.” A meow meow describes an antagonistic or morally ambiguous character who fans are inclined to “care for or console” despite the many troubles they face. Do not confuse a meow meow with a “woobie,” as a woobie refers to a more gallant character you’d likely want to give a big hug. If you’re confused by this distinction, think about the difference between Waluigi (meow meow) and Luigi (woobie).
There are still numerous terms to cover. A “girl failure” is a female character who appears to have her life in order but truly does not (such as Misato Katsuragi from Neon Genesis Evangelion). Then there are the charming older male characters that you might refer to as a “daddy” or “zaddy,” and finally, we can’t overlook the delightful-yet-inept concept of a “himbo.” These terms all represent popular character tropes identified by fans and made popular on platforms like Tumblr and Ao3.
Why should game developers pay attention to these vibrant terms? Well, let’s get down to brass tacks. It’s common knowledge that in order for gamers to care about your game’s narrative, you need compelling characters. However, after nearly 40 years of prominent narrative games, many classic tropes have been well-worn, and we all feel a tad fatigued when a narrative director dusts off their copy of Joseph Campbell’s The Hero’s Journey.
Corriea argues that these fandom terms are the key to energizing your game. How? Part of it relates to the techniques—and part of it involves freeing your creativity from a shame-based box.
Fans. Love. These. Tropes.
Data-driven developers could use a little guidance here. Ao3 (short for “Archive Of Our Own”), for those who aren’t familiar, is a successor to fanfiction.net and has become the principal home for fanfiction on the web. It often serves as a valuable barometer for identifying which characters are most popular in contemporary games. Corriea presented a list of the top “shipping” categories of 2024 (shipping, another fandom term, refers to pairing characters in fanfiction whether they are canon couples or not), highlighting that five fanfiction romances from Larian Studios’ Baldur’s Gate 3 ranked within the top 100 of all submitted works in 2024. Astarion and the player character ranked as the fourth most popular category, while the “Dark Urge” version of the player character and the antagonist Enver Gortash were at number 85, providing a sense of the landscape.
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“These characters are just six years old,” she remarked (referring to the 2019 Early Access release of Baldur’s Gate 3). “That staying power truly matters,” she added. “Observing how your fanbase engages with your game, or how your players interact with other titles you admire…can assist in your own character development process.”
She also noted that a popular entry in the Ao3 2024 shipping rankings was…Soap McTavish and “Ghost” from the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare series. “During my time in the writer’s room for Call of Duty, we aimed to make this canon, but they wouldn’t allow us,” she stated. “So thanks a lot, Activision.”
Image credit: Ash Poprik.
Image credit: Ash Poprik.
However, before you rush off and start inserting all of Ao3’s data into a spreadsheet to quantify the most potent pairings you might conceive (I know some of you are already attempting this—don’t hide from me), take a moment to pause. There’s one aspect of this fandom-driven phenomenon that possesses a darker side: the perpetuation of “toxic fandom.”
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Developers are somewhat familiar with toxic fandom, as it unfortunately fosters harassment throughout the industry. Yet when navigating these waters, fans often form unhealthy attachments to characters and may lash out against other players or creators if their favored character isn’t depicted in the way they desire. “I’m not suggesting you cater to toxic fandom culture, which remains a significant issue across our industry…this is about having a conversation with your fanbase, without allowing yourself to be controlled by it.”
She further mentioned that as younger generations of developers emerge from the cultural background of fandom, there will be more industry professionals who communicate in this language. “You’ll begin to see these discussions quite frequently, hearing this kind of conversation in your writers’ room, as it is part of our culture. Those fandoms introduced us to this profession, and it’s beneficial to keep up with them and understand how to meet them halfway.”
And pop culture has already nudged
the outline of the gaming sector in subtle manners. The X (formerly Twitter) account known as “Can you interact with the dog?” initiated a plethora of pettable animal video games within the gaming landscape.
These were the “practical” insights from Corriea’s presentation—the kind of information you might share in a large meeting when it’s necessary to persuade leadership that you’ve truly ventured a bit off the beaten path in your area of work. However, if we restrict ourselves solely to the pragmatic, we run the risk of interring these clichés alongside “the battle-hardened veteran” or “the adept female sidekick who is consistently outperformed by the protagonist.”
If you genuinely desire to tap into the potential of these archetypes, you must learn to liberate yourself.
Embrace discomfort, be open
“For an artist to become overly analytical is to become stifled. This doesn’t imply that artists lack rigor, but rather that creative discipline is rooted differently than scholarly pursuits typically acknowledge.”
This quote is sourced from Julia Cameron’s 1992 work The Artist’s Way, and is a remark Corriea mentioned is often on her mind. When reflecting on it, she recalls advice from a mentor who told her to “write spontaneously,” unleashing ideas with the speed of a classic gunslinger. Another mentor advised her to “write the outrageous piece, because you never know who might resonate with that.” All these expressions are, in one form or another, a call for creators to write authentically from their instincts. To achieve that, you must navigate past a feeling that burdens every creative individual: “discomfort.”
The term “cringe” has evolved into a popular noun and adjective, indicating a feeling that merges shame and awkwardness related to social embarrassment. Desiring fictional characters publicly can often be perceived as “cringe.” Sharing with your design pals about the hours dedicated to crafting a playlist for your game’s lead character may come off as “cringe.” Often elaborating at length about Star Wars on a B2B blog read by gaming industry professionals may also be deemed “cringe.”
“Embrace discomfort,” proclaims one of the items in the bag. “Please, no more embracing your discomfort,” insists another. “Ascend cringe mountain,” instructed Corriea. Regardless of how you phrase it, it is easy to concur that discomfort encompasses, in one form or another, emotions or actions that