Zako (1 Viewer)

[weediscool]

This is like a subsect of ryona i guess, it pertains to having a fetish for zako women (weak generic enemy females, aka cannonfodder)

女ザコ <---- The japanese word for it, so who else has this sort of fetish?

To give a few examples, beat em ups are notorious, in the first beat em up games you had poison/roxy from final fight, the whip ladies from double dragon, dominatrix from both vendetta games (crime fighters), action games like Afro Samurai had the strippers and female ninja, corrupt rogues from Diablo II, Gladiatrix from shadow of rome, kunoichi from Tenchu etc.

There are many more, also i'd appreciate it if people help me build some sort of list for this sort of thing, if you have read a manga, played a video game, watched a movie, saw anime whatever it is, don't hesitate to mention it.

 

[Mardion]

That sounds like an interesting fetish, care to elaborate on it a bit more? Like, do you like seeing lots of zako women getting the cr@p kicked out of, like when playing through a beat'em up game? Is the fact that all of them are identical part of what makes it appealing?

Making a list to start with should be pretty easy, just take the Ryona Games Master List and remove the 1-on-1 fighting games.

 

[ajstevus]

If you haven't tried it, I recommend the arcade game "Growl" for the MAME emulator. The henchwomen in it are cute, in an old-school 1980's sorta way.

 

[Wired4Weird]

Interesting, I never percieved any of the female enemies you've listed as "weak". But then again, I've never really played any of the games you've listed seriously.

I guess I like them the other way around, tough as nails and not afraid to admit it. :-)

 

[noice1]

This is a new one for me, I never thought of the henchwomen as its own fetish. I do remember those beat 'em games being notorious for performing some move on your (female) character, like a full nelson or bear hug. But I guess it's more about pounding on them with punches and kicks?

 

[weediscool]

@Mardion: Yeah those, its a general fetish though, nothing too specific, for me its what you mentioned but i figure others would have a different take on it, like their design, or how they figure in as badguys.

The Ryona Master list will need some work, i'll do some research and post a refined list in the future.

@ajstevus: oh yeah forgot to mention that game its pretty great :D , that game also throws like craploads of enemies at you.

@Wired4Weird: Oh was just kinda using the literal japanese translation, according to a friend. :p

@noice1: not just the 2d beat em ups, games like shadow of rome are pretty brutal in what you can do with them, that game is made so you can get to a really creepy point of sadism before you finish off your opponent.

 

[Unrelated]

Interesting. Not something I'm terribly into since most henchwomen are just another faceless baddie that goes down in a couple of hits. Shadow of Rome I'd totally be into for its ryona content, but the rest of the game sounded like something I really wouldn't be interested in. And of course, the inability to also play as a female character is disappointing.

 

[Mardion]

So it's a pretty wide term, then, which means you can probably also count me in as a zako fan. I generally like seeing female henchmen kicking the cr@p out of my character, and sometimes it's even better when it's two or more doing the beating simultaneously.

Growl is one of my least favourite games of the genre since all those zako do is throw grenades... boring! I'd take the ninja girls of Sengoku or the digitized girls of Guardian of the 'Hood any day of the week!

 

[DeceptionCircus]

Weediscool: Do you have a more elaborate definition of what you consider zako? That second new Prince of Persia game for one had some generic female enemies that you encountered quite often, but I wouldn't say they were the easiest enemies in the game. Then again, Final Fights had those female enemies that weren't any more dangerous than the standard grunts you fought. So basically, where do you draw the line between zako and non-zako? Could you give examples?

If you're making a list, one game that comes to my mind that has numerous female enemies that I suppose could be called cannon fodder is Spawn: Armageddon.

 

[weediscool]

We shouldn't really be constrained by the literal definition, i figure as long as its a generic enemy, something you face repeatedly throughout the game and aren't key to the plot or major antagonists, then it should be fine.

Good call on Spawn, Prince of Persia also applies, for some reason Warrior Within had the best variety in my opinion among the trilogy.

A preliminary list i have cooked up out of memory:

Arcade:

Final Fight
Captain Commando
The Punisher
Double Dragon
Vendetta (or Crime Fighters, 1 and 2)
Gaiapolis
Battle Tycoon
Growl

Genesis:

Streets of Rage 1 to 3

Snes:

Final Fight 2(Japanese version) and 3

PS2/Xbox:

Godhand (PS2 only)
Shadow of Rome (PS2 only)
Spawn: Armageddon
Prince of Persia (Sands of Time, Warrior Within, Two Thrones)
Deathrow (Xbox only)
Tenchu

PSP:

Metal Gear Solid: Portal Ops
Metal Gear Solid: Peacewalker*

XBOX-360/PS3:

Afro Samurai
God of War III (PS3 only)
Heavenly Sword (PS3 only)
Metal Gear Solid 4 (PS3 only)
Dantes Inferno
Bayonetta
Brutal Legend
Bladestorm
Clash of Titans
Resonance of Fate (requires time spent doing the story before you encounter them abouts chapter 9 or 10)
Final Fantasy 13 (you'll have to spend some time to get to them)

PC:

Borderlands (for consoles too, DLC3: Secret Armory of General Knoxx)
Diablo 1 and 2
Fallout 3
The Elder Scrolls (Daggerfall, Morrowind and Oblivion)
Borderlands (Knoxx's Armory)
Dawn of War series ***
Warhammer Battle March ***
Heroes of Might and Magic 5 ***
Kings Bounty (and armored princess expansion) ***

I'll update as necessary, i need to go through the ryona master list and see if i can remember anymore.

 

[weediscool]

Tiny Update, trying to go through new games, some games in the future will have * that means there is ryona/zako for sure, but its rare, for example in the new sequel to Portal Ops, they don't have enemy female soldiers, but when you recruit soldiers from online hotspots female soldiers may challenge you, also some missions are very superflous where there are women you can mess around with, kind of like meryl in mgs 1.

Oh yeah clash of titans has a varied bestiary, its quite mediocre but its pretty full of content, but you need incredible tolerance and low standards (like me) to cope with such games.

EDIT: *** stars are strategy games, your mileage may vary.

 

[keeblerelf]

Huh. I wish I could remember this artist (he has his own website, DeviantArt, etc.) -- fairly well-known for his StarCraft and Team Fortress scribbles though, turning every character and unit type female and putting them in various stressful situations. Would this fall under "zako"?

 

[weediscool]

afraid not, zako is specifically cannon fodder or common female enemies, starcraft is a maybe, but not team fortress.

 

[keeblerelf]

afraid not, zako is specifically cannon fodder or common female enemies, starcraft is a maybe, but not team fortress.

Jo Pereira! That's the guy. He's got a semi-regular webcomic, DA account, and his earlier works were about StarCraf Rule..., uh 63?

 

[weediscool]

well the thing is these characters are rather unique, as far as team fortress goes, so i don't believe it fits, they need to be generic and common. I checked his page and i think his work is general ryona, not really zako.

a popular example of zako is Poison from final fight, electra from streets of rage, or Carol/Brenda from captain commando.

 

[weediscool]

If anyone cares for this sort of thing, help me out, whatever games that have you encounter female enemies should be mentioned, i am but one man and i'm playing through one game at a time, sometimes you'll have to dig through the games content to reach these elusive enemies.

edit: i could mention mmos, but its a given they are in every mmo, almost.

 

[NNin]

This is one of my favorite too. I like to see when female enemy does something cool to beat your character in game.

A good zako I can think now are...

PS/PS2
-Kunoichi from Tenchu. Various. But my most favorite is Jokunoichi in Tenchu Kurenai/Fatal Shadows (PS2). She's as dangerous in combat as Ayame. Has her own skull-drilling special attack. And skillful enough to do stealth kill on Ayame. (She's hot with that short kimono and tattoo on her thigh.:nose bleed:)
-Shinibido has Mosu Ninja that is pretty good one. She's sexy and skillful in fighting.
-Assassin from Prince of Persia: Warrior Within. Her sneak attack has its own slow motion camera!
-Bloodrayne 2 has gothic vampire girls that work as guard and fight Rayne with kick, iron pole or gun. They're not that strong compare to Rayne, and you can torture them in many ways. Later female enemies in the game, Ephemera's soldiers, are more well trained and can fight Rayne toe-to-toe. (Has PC version too.)

Arcade
-Amazon from arcade game call Lightbringer, or Dungeon Magic in English name. She has good design. Use acrobatic moves and can block your attack.
-Dynamite Deka, or Die Hard Arcade, has short skirt woman, bodysuit braid woman and bikini woman. You can grab and attack them with belly punch, knee to stomach, suplex, mount attack, etc. They can do the same to you though. (Has remake version for PS2.)

PC
-Dominatrix from Watchmen: The End is Nigh Part2, PC game. Sexy, and able to do counter move against player's attack. (Also available in PS3/Xbox360.)

You can see some and more at my mediafire folder http://www.mediafire.com/kunoitisuki

And I know a board for zako here
With many pics from game, anime, movie.

edit: update a list.

 

[noice1]

That Watchmen Dominatrix was hot, her dialogue makes it. A little cliche, but, Dominas are like kryptonite to me.

 

[Weoooo]

The KuF series rarely gets mentioned. I always wonder why.

 

[NNin]

I think dark elf soldiers in KuF are hot too

Maybe because the series isn't widely known?
Or, I assume, they lack something interesting? Like, can't fight back effectively or such. Because they are enemies and supposed to hurt player. I find that zako I like have at least one impressive thing beside sexiness. As I mentioned above, Jokunoichi in Tenchu can drill your head and slit your throat. Dominatrix in Watchmen has some cool attacks, counter moves, sexy dialogues. Even Poison in old game like Final Fight can perform flip kick to you.

But KuF dark elf soldiers have no such things. Well, it can't be help because they are generic units in Action/Strategy game, instead of Action game :disapointed: