this post was submitted on 19 May 2026
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Everyone knows how to sexualize female characters in video games.
But how to sexualize male characters and do "fan service" for the female audience?

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[–] CommanderCloon@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 hour ago

I like feminine/twink guys, so everyone recommending bug buff guys πŸ’€πŸ’€

But I'm a gay guy so not the target of OP's question πŸ˜… I just barged in because it's a dry desert in terms of my preferences out there πŸ’€

[–] silverlightBeing@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 hour ago
[–] hildegarde@lemmy.blahaj.zone 19 points 18 hours ago (4 children)

To sexualize men for women, you have to understand women.

To men, attraction is largely visual. So to sexualize a woman for a male audience means making her look attractive, and dressed in a revealing outfit. Swapping the genders doesn't work. A visually attractive man in a revealing outfit is far more likely to appeal to either gay men sexually, or men generally as a power fantasy. To appeal to women you need a fundimentially different strategy altogether.

Consider erotic literature. Its a genre that is disproportionately popular with women. Its basically anti-porn, no visuals all story. Male characters in these stories are almost always sexualized by women for women. The attraction mostly from their choices and actions than appearance. You need a completely different approach.

Go read some smut. Talk to straight women about who and what they find attractive. You have to learn a lot about women to appeal to them. What they are looking for, and how they are looking for it is entirely different from men.

[–] bampop@lemmy.world 1 points 39 minutes ago

I guess that's one of the less-acknowledged reasons why you see more sexualization of women in games. It costs next to nothing in terms of game design. Take any game, slap a scantily clad woman on it and bam, you've significantly increased your appeal to male audiences. To do the same for female audiences you have to build the entire game around that requirement.

[–] NIB@lemmy.world 1 points 1 hour ago

One of the biggest mobile games on the planet is Love and Deepspace. It is a game that appeals to women(and gay men?) and on top of being kinda conventional videogame, it is the modern version of erotic literature.

I have only seen clips and they were much more spicy than most mobile games, even mobile games that appeal to straight men.

[–] clay_pidgin@sh.itjust.works 4 points 13 hours ago

For anyone wanting to know more about these books, Reading Smut is a side-project podcast by the hosts of Reading Glasses. It's really interesting, with lots of thoughtful guests and often odd books. One of the first episodes covered a book about a door that comes to life and lusts after the woman who lives inside.

[–] A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world 5 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

Consider erotic literature. Its a genre that is disproportionately popular with women. Its basically anti-porn, no visuals all story. Male characters in these stories are almost always sexualized by women for women. The attraction mostly from their choices and actions than appearance. You need a completely different approach.

Yes, its no visuals. Thats why there isnt 500,000,000 books with fabio ripped and glistening on the covers.

[–] xorollo@leminal.space 3 points 15 hours ago

Hey, dont judge a book of smut by the rippling muscled hunk on its cover!

[–] eestileib@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 13 hours ago

Watch some episodes of Charmed and look at the characters the sisters are flirting with, they are all different kinds of straight woman wish fulfillment.

Ofc women also sometimes are in the mood to get railed and knocked up, then a big hairy muscular guy is often the thing. But that mood comes upon most women relatively rarely. It's a kind of comfort and trust that makes you want to melt into a guy.

[–] HerbalGamer@sh.itjust.works 7 points 19 hours ago (1 children)
[–] Hermit_Lailoken@lemmy.world 2 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

Conan Exiles has good donger physics.

[–] GimmeUrBelt@lemmy.today 1 points 43 minutes ago

God I wish I could run that game on my PC. I'm relegated to ginormous goongaboongas on console.

[–] Aganim@lemmy.world 8 points 20 hours ago

But how to sexualize male characters and do "fan service" for the female audience?

Easy, just add Caius Cosades to your game:

[–] CitizenKong@lemmy.world 12 points 1 day ago

I think Hades is an excellent example of a game which just sexualizes everyone.

[–] jellyfishhunter@lemmy.world 7 points 22 hours ago

I think you need to check out the genre of Otome games. There's hundreds of weird dating sim style games catered to women which feature a male cast.

It's debatable of how sexualized these characters are. But whatever they do appeals to their female audience.

[–] orenj@leminal.space 4 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago) (1 children)
[–] HuePony@lemmy.ml 1 points 15 hours ago

And vampire too

[–] Klear@piefed.world 62 points 1 day ago (2 children)
[–] AzuranAurora@piefed.ca 11 points 1 day ago (1 children)

So lots and lots of cocaine. Got it!

[–] GraniteM@lemmy.world 1 points 14 hours ago

Cocaine doesn't even begin to cover what happened during Zardoz.

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[–] cattywampas@lemmy.world 56 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Same way. Hot bods, tight clothes, show plenty of skin.

[–] velma@lemmy.blahaj.zone 31 points 1 day ago (9 children)

Women enjoying the same things as men? Why, I never!

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[–] ashenone@lemmy.ml 14 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (3 children)

Testicle cleavage and beer belly shirts. What's the sluttiest hair style a man can have?

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[–] LwL@lemmy.world 3 points 21 hours ago

Seconding the otome comment, and a link to a relevant tag on vndb - you can probably find anything from not very sexualized to pure smut on that list, and there's often screenshots. https://vndb.org/g542

[–] cinoreus@lemmy.world 15 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (3 children)

Watch jojo. You are gonna get your answer best way possible

[–] GrantUsEyes@lemmy.zip 5 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago) (1 children)

I've tried to get into Jojo so many times for the beautiful men, but I kinda get bored.

Regardless ,thanks Araki. I still love the art.

[–] YiddishMcSquidish@lemmy.today 2 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

Strange, cause I'm a straight(ish) dude and it hooked me in season 2. Season 1 was cool, but the hyper batshit insanity of the following seasons hits.

[–] GrantUsEyes@lemmy.zip 1 points 16 hours ago

I think I never finished season 1... I don't remember exactly but I felt it had a lot of filler. Might give it a chance again if season 2 is where it ramps up.

[–] HerbalGamer@sh.itjust.works 3 points 19 hours ago

Jojo Rabbit? Not sure if Hitler is that sexy..

[–] Holytimes@sh.itjust.works 8 points 1 day ago

That's sexualizing men for everybody. He's asking how to do it specifically for women! It may seem like the same thing but it is different.

[–] jordanlund@lemmy.world 27 points 1 day ago (1 children)

According to my wife...

Dress shirt with sleeves rolled up to the elbow.

Kilts.

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[–] velma@lemmy.blahaj.zone 24 points 1 day ago (2 children)

It depends on the genre of the game.

Fighting games like Mortal Kombat? Put the men in skimpy outfits that show their muscles like the women.

Survival game? I don't need to see the characters sexualized while they're trying to survive a zombie apocalypse. Give me character depth and growth, empathy, and strong story-telling visuals. I'll fall in love with man or woman that way.

[–] GimmeUrBelt@lemmy.today 1 points 39 minutes ago

Ever play Days Gone? I'm a straight dude and even I fell in love with Deacon St. John. Dude is the total package.

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[–] Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world 23 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Rolled up sleeves. Just trust me.

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[–] Katana314@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago (3 children)

If it’s uncomfortable and disempowering for men, you’re probably doing it right. It’s often a power dynamic.

But to draw back from a sour take: This will also turn off some people. Both ways. For instance: I love sexualized designs, but some games genuinely went too far. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and Nier Automata had genuine, serious stories to tell, but fell flat on some people for sexualizing their main (female) characters in such an objectifying way.

I also think for women, the pure visual isn’t quite as important as their movements and actions. That part gets tricky since tastes vary.

There’s a few gacha games out there designed for women that can give an idea of an extreme end to take it to. Again, keep in mind, there’s not one universal appeal for a whole gender (same for guys) so it will often turn out that the most universally appealing designs are the relatively safe ones you already see.

[–] Zoomboingding@lemmy.world 3 points 20 hours ago

Love In Deepspace is your example of highly sexualized men for women.

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