9 Insane Origins Of Gaming's Most Over-Sexualised Female Characters

4. Kasumi - Dead Or Alive

Okay, this... is a little creepy. It turns out, despite Kasumi being a fan-favourite in DOA and one of the most powerful characters in the series' lore, she was actually based on creator Tomonobu Itagaki's daughter... who was 17.

Now, Kasumi isn't the only character on this list whose creative rationale is skewed through cultural indifference, as Itagaki noted when talking to Xbox Magazine in 2002: "I was 27 when I created Kasumi. I'm older now, but 17-year-old girls are still gorgeous", and in regards to the idea of sexualising someone of such a young age, "In Japan, that's okay. Maybe it's 20 in America."

Yes Tom, yes it is.

Anyway, as a "soft character" (soft-faced, petit stature and cute figure) she was meant to be symbolic of Dead or Alive in comparison to Ninja Gaiden, the latter being thought of as one of the hardest games of all time.

As such, these appealing characteristics tend to get Kasumi regarded as one of the sexiest characters in gaming history, alongside appearing as a mainstay in the Xtreme Volleyball games. The spin-off series revels in putting the DOA characters in as many revealing outfits as possible, and asks that you take photographs of them from a bush.

Now that's creepy.