On the occasion of Mother’s Day we decided to take you with you on this short journey to discover three illustrious mothers of the world of video games, in a concise analysis of the relationship with their children.
Let’s all say it together: to be a mother you don’t necessarily have to give birth to a child. And, at the same time, giving birth to a baby doesn’t automatically make you a mother. There is no license to be a mother, no written rules or thoughts to follow. Being good mothers is complex, almost impossible, because listen, listen: mothers are human beings too. There are those who see their mother grow old, those who lose them very young. Who has never had a mother, or who even has two! There are also maternal figures who accompany us throughout life alongside our real mother. In short, becoming a mother is not a due fact, an obligation, and even less a merit. To be a mother it is enough to know how to love.
Mama’s love!
To celebrate Mother’s Day in a very special year (which has now become two years), we decided to take you with us to a short journey to discover the most interesting maternal figures in the world of video games. We could come up with a myriad of examples, a very long list of women who are strong and determined, fragile and fearful, or simply controversial. However, we decided to limit ourselves to a few examples, some particularly interesting mothers who were able to steal our hearts. Come with us to meet the most exceptional mothers in the world of video games!
A small premise before starting: the following paragraphs may contain important spoilers on the plot and the narrative developments of the games to which they refer. The names of the video games examined are included in the various titles of the paragraphs, so if you haven’t played them and don’t want to receive any spoilers, we advise you to skip reading the paragraph. Good continuation!
“Aerith’s Mom” | Final Fantasy VII – Mothers and children in video games
Perhaps those who have played exclusively Final Fantasy VII Remake, and not the original title (or even better the spin off Crisis Core) will not have empathized with Aerith that much. Our Flower Girl is the last survivor of an ancient population, the Cetra, endowed with powerful magical powers. Precisely for this reason, Shinra is constantly looking for Aerith, wanting to explore, understand and exploit her abilities. We meet the girl when, in the role of Cloud (or Zack, ed) we fall through the roof of the church where she takes care of a small carpet of flowers. And we also know his mother.
Elmyra Gainsborough is a very protective mother towards her daughter, perhaps to a very excessive level, but let’s try to understand her motives. The woman lost her husband, soldier Shinra, during the Wutai War and, just shortly after receiving the sad news from the company, while she was at the train station to hug him again where a long time, meets a strange dying woman and her little baby. Ifalna, the name of Aerith’s biological mother, asks Elmyra to take the baby and raise her as her own daughter.
In a moment of deep despair, therefore, Elmyra finds a light she can pursue. Raising that little girl, certainly particular and unique, will give her a reason to live. The continuous hunt of Shinra, the attempts of kidnapping and the deep love that unites them, even if not sanctioned by something sanguine, amply justifies the excessive protection of Elmyra against the small (then not very small) Aerith. An indissoluble promise binds them.
Take Aerith someplace safe.
“Sam’s mom?” | Death Stranding – Mothers and children in video games
The story of Sam Porter Bridges has thrilled anyone who has completed Death Stranding. The various twists (some also predictable, but no less impactful) that lead to a masterfully written ending have allowed us to know the past of Sam and the BB. As the good Kojima told us, Sam was born as one of the first experiments conducted by Bridges for the creation of bridge babies. His biological mother, Lisa Bridges, wife of Clifford Unger (played by Mads Mikkelsen, whose excellent acting performance we want to remember), he died in a car accident. Cliff entrusts his unborn son to Bridges, then realizing his intentions and trying to save him by kidnapping him. The whole thing will obviously fail, Sam will return to Bridges and Cliff will be killed by none other than Bridget Strand.
Sam, still a baby, is also involved in the shooting, but once he arrives on the beach he is saved by Amelie and brought back to life. And, from this moment, will be raised by Bridget, her father’s murderer and President of the United States of America. We understand, therefore, the extreme dissonance that exists with respect to the relationship between Elmyra and Ifalna in Final Fantasy VII. That between Sam and Bridget is a relationship born of tragedy, although it was actually full of affection on the part of both.
We don’t have a lot of information about Bridget, given her little presence in the game, but she was quite a woman loved by both her staff and Sam himself. Although he had personality disorders, in fact, the young man demonstrates a rather powerful bond (in his own way) with what he has always considered his mother. Despite the implications and revelations, therefore, the love between Sam and Bridget has always been strong.
Alone, we have no future.
Kara | Detroit: Become Human – Mothers and children in video games
The last mother figure we want to consider in this short special is Kara. The domestic android purchased by Todd Williams is one of the three protagonists of Detroit: Become Human. And as for the other two, Kara will also have the chance (based on the choices you decide to make) to become Deviant and move away from his being Machine to get closer to human feeling. She will begin to develop strong feelings for Alice, Todd’s battered and abused daughter, making the child her only life purpose.
Make the little one happy, no matter the price. Stealing, lying, breaking into forbidden places, committing crimes. Kara is really ready to do anything to protect her. An unnatural instinct, from Deviante precisely, that he leads her to fight against her own being a machine in order to escape with the child. Kara is not strong, she has the build of a young woman and unlike Markus and Connor she is unable to fight. Kara, however, is the most determined of the three protagonists, even more so than the revolutionary Markus, because she bases all her essence exclusively on love for Alice.
And if we want to be cynical, it is difficult to understand how it is possible to speak of “love” when it comes to a car. The concept behind Detroit is actually this: we do not take for granted a future like the one portrayed by the title of Quantic Dream. Human emotions are mainly regulated by hormones and the mirror neuron population. An emotion is not created, it is determined by the individual himself in an unconscious and involuntary way, often in response to external stimuli. And when machines are created to be as similar to humans as possible, why shouldn’t similar, albeit different, mechanisms be activated?
I care for her, I fear for her, I can’t be happy if she’s not…
Greetings to all mothers!
Here ends our short journey to discover our three favorite mothers in the world of video games. Who else would you put on this list? What do you think of our choice? Write it to us below in the comments, we will continue to keep you updated with all the news, guides, specials and reviews on videogame and tech! And if you are interested in game keys at affordable prices, we recommend that you take a look at the InstantGaming catalog!