The Top Moms of Video Games!
Photo Credit: Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images
With Mother’s Day approaching, we here at Checkpoint XP thought we might do a list of the top moms in video games. As it turns out, there’s not a ton of them, but here are the one’s that we could come up with.
JENOVA – Final Fantasy VII
So, ancient space monsters used for scientific experiments count as being a mom, right? Even if you think they don’t, throughout the entirety of FINAL FANTASY VII, that’s how Sephiroth refers to Jenova, so we’re going to count it anyway.
If you don’t know Jenova, she was an evil death craving space monster that crashed to Gaia two thousand years before the plot of FINAL FANTASY VII and proceeded to wipe out most of the planets inhabitants at that time, the Cetra. Fast forward a few thousand years, add one evil corporation, and a little bit of super science, that’s how we get to the plot of FINAL FANTASY VII. Shinra, the previously mentioned evil corporation, starts experimenting on Jenova to try and recreate the Cetra, instead they make super soldiers leading to SOLDIER. One of the experiments with Jenova’s DNA was Sephiroth, who was told by his creator Hojo that Jenova was his “mother”.
The rest – well, you’ll just have to play to find out!
Matriarch Benezia – Mass Effect
Despite Matriarch Benezia being a villain, there are still some reasons she should be considered for the list (and it’s only partially because there’s not a lot of memorable moms in Video Games). Did Benezia join forces with Saren and the Reapers? Yes. Was she trying to find a way to use the Rachni to further that cause and help wreck havoc on the galaxy? Yes. But she didn’t start out that way…
Matriarch Benezia is the mother of Liara T’Soni, one of the main party members of Mass Effect. A Matriarch is the title an Asari receives when they enter the final years of their life span (upwards of 1,000 years). They are wise beyond all reason and do great things for their people. In the game before her death Benezia explains that her original intentions were to help dissuade Saren from his path of darkness, but due to indoctrination aboard Sovereign her mind was twisted. In her last moments she did what she could to aid Commander Shepard and her daughter.
In the end isn’t that whats important?
Joyce Price – Life Is Strange
Oh Joyce. Chloe’s mother Joyce Price might be the most real character in a game that is frankly full of very real characters. She’s not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but she’s a woman doing the best she can in a world that has treated her very unfairly. While the player initially might find themselves annoyed or angry with Joyce, we become more sympathetic the longer we play. Nowhere is this more true than in the prequel- Life is Strange: Before the Storm.
Joyce embodies so many real world struggles. She lost her husband in a tragic car accident. She works insane hours at a diner and still struggles to make ends meet every month, and she’s doing the best she can to raise a daughter who is grieving over the loss of her best friend and father.
Hang in there Joyce! We love you!
Toriel – Undertale
Yes, she might be another species, but she’s your adoptive mother and you will love her! How could we leave off a character the entire internet affectionately calls ‘Goat mom?’ Toriel was the first time many of us realized that Undertale was going to be more than just another indie game. She’s kind, gentle, and I truly believe wouldn’t hurt a fly. If you don’t believe me, get to low health in the fight with her and see what happens.
Despite having one of the most painful backstories ever put in gaming, she remains determined to find the good in everyone she meets. (Sometimes to a fault.) However, even given her desire to see you stay with her and be safe, she supports you throughout the game and remains one of Undertale’s strongest characters.
Unless you killed her. You monster.
Ana Amari – Overwatch
Just about every mom has what seems to be superpowers to their children. They always seem to know what you are plotting before you do it, they know who ate the last of the cheesecake in the fridge and they seem to always make time for their kids. The last one is especially amazing. Even more so if you are a deadly sniper that’s also 2nd-in-command of the most elite fighting force in the land, in the middle of a war against sentient robots.
That’s Ana Amari from Overwatch. While being one of the most prolific sharpshooters in the land (2nd to only Widowmaker), Ana’s devotion to her daughter Phara makes her the quintessential tough Mom character. She spends virtually all of her time when not on missions with little Phara, who is also playable in the game as an adult, showering her with attention while trying to shield her from the horrors of war (she doesn’t). And when Ana loses a sniper battle to the aforementioned Widowmaker, she goes off the grid faking her own death, in part, to further deter Phara from going into military service (she doesn’t).
Functioning as the game’s finger-wagging elder stateswoman, Ana’s in-game quips with her daughter and other young characters are often cautionary and full of wisdom. Showing that a mother’s love, much like Ana herself, is indeed undying.
Chrono’s Mom – Chrono Trigger
What can we say about Chrono’s Mom?
No, seriously – what can we say about Chrono’s Mom? She doesn’t do a whole lot in Chrono Trigger – she does set the entire plot into motion by waking Chrono up? But, beyond that – she juts kind of hangs out at home while you have a crazy time adventure with a cave woman, a robot, a princess and a frog. She’ll keep your clone company for a while, and even goes on a time jumping adventure of her own, depending on which ending you get.
Oh, her name is Gina, though we’ll forgive for not knowing that because it’s never mentioned in the actual game.
The Boss – Metal Gear Solid 3
The Boss might just be the most epic, ass kickin’ mom on our list. She’s a highly skilled warrior that helped develop the tactics of close quarter combat with Big Boss himself. She’s a former astronaut that helped test rockets early on in the development of space flight. She’s a well-respected commander and leader of the Cobra Unit – a squad of legendary soldiers selected to fight the Axis powers in World War II.
She is the figurative mother of The Cobra Unit, whose members are referred to as “her sons” and have an undying love and respect for their commander. She’s the mother figurative mother of Metal Gear Solid 3’s protagonist Naked Snake AKA Big Boss who would set events into motion that play out through the rest of the game series. She is considered by many as “the mother of special ops”. And, she is the quite literal mother of Revolver Ocelot, giving birth to him on the battlefield during the invasion of Normandy.
That’s one bad ass mom!
Your Mom
Look, let’s be honest. “Your Mom” gets a lot of abuse when you’re playing online, whether she knows it or not. Online voice chat’s are prime vehicle’s for smack talk – and smack talk usually contains the words “your”and “mom”. But your mom is the only reason you’re here, so this weekend make sure you do something epic for you Mom on Mother’s Day.
Check out some of our other lists:
Top 7 Games That Still Don’t Have (Decent) Movies
7 Bosses Harder Than The Final Boss
Robbie’s Top 10 Single Player Games