Why Asami and Bayonetta are Important

[Winter]

I am a massive fan and defender of Asami Sato from Avatar: The Legend of Korra. In my opinion Asami is one of the best characters and not just in TLOK but Avatar as a whole and that opinion is shared by many other fans and the show runners and despite having more limited screen time then the rest of the cast Asami is given a great deal of depth and is arguably the Deuteragonist given her active role in the series as a whole.

But there several fans who feel that Asami just isn't as good as she could have been and most of the time, I do get it. Like I said she has the least screen time of any central character, even many of the villains gets more focus then she does. But often I find that many fans don't seem to know why they dislike her or rather don't like her for who she is.

A while back I mentioned issues I had that kept showing up in TLOK re-writes and one thing I mentioned is how many of these rewrites just didn't seem to understand Asami, or didn't like how Asami was written. But something I didn't really notice in many of these rewrites of the character removed something about her that was a key part of who Asami is. Asami, is a very feminine character.

In many rewrites of TLOK when it comes to Korra is whenever Asami is "Fixed" I noticed that she's often made more of a tomboy. She's more gruff, and aggressive, wears cloths that are more masculine and even gets her haircut or messed up so she appears less "girly".

I didn't really notice until I saw something similar over on Bayonetta in Bayonetta 3. Spoilers for anyone who hasn't read that yet but in that game while the title character remains feminine B3 seems keeps emphasizing her replacement, Viola, as the new Bayonetta and that she's even better because she defeats an evil version of Bayo. And Viola is more of a tomboy.

It was until the ending of B3 that I realized what was bugging me so much about the mindset towards Asami and Bayonetta. Asami is, without question, the most feminine character in Avatar, not to say that other characters, male or female, lack femininity but Asami is the most feminine in the series. And within Bayonetta the title character is HYPER Feminine with only her should be girlfriend Jeanne coming matching her.

And what's interesting about these two characters is them being feminine ISN'T treated as a joke or as something to be discouraged and in fact their more feminine qualities are something both series kinda celebrates. Asami and Bayonetta are very girly and are not ashamed of that and their also badasses. And yet these sort of characters are the exception, not the norm.

In Avatar most of the female characters are not overly feminine. By and large most female characters are closer to tomboys or, to be more accurate, are "One of the Boys". Katara is a motherly figure her friends, Toph is a Tomboy through and through, Suki is presented as a warrior first and foremost. Mai is a Goth, Azula is all about, Korra's also a tomboy and Kuvira is also presented as a solider and dictator first. Rangi is a solider and bodyguard almost exclusively, and Kyoshi is, well, Kyoshi.

The only characters who presented as feminine is Asami, Ursa, Ty Lee and Yue and, well, one of them dies after 3 episodes, the other only shows up in one episode and is presumed dead until the end of the series and the other is there more to be the girly minion of evil. Asami is the only one who has a constant presents throughout the series and is not never treated as a joke, which often happened to Ty Lee.

As a transwomen and inspiring writer I often write my female characters as more feminine. Even the ones that seem to be more "masculine" are only seen as such because of how they present themselves. One of my characters, Himiko, is someone who wears cloths that are more practical and is generally serious minded, but that's whenever she's doing her job. When given the chance jumps at the chance to do more girly things. She loves to wear dresses and fancy shoes, put on makeup and just spend time with her girlfriend and wife. And this isn't presented as a bad thing or as a something to laugh at. Himiko is a woman and loves being seen as such.

And it's sad that stories that often present themselves as feminist fantasies often feel like they detest characters that act feminine and prefer to have characters that act more like men. Asami being reworked to be more of a tomboy and Bayonetta getting straight-up killed and replaced by a tomboy feels like that the people doing this just don't get why these characters are so popular.

They are loved by fans because they are feminine AND badasses.