One of the reasons I avoided collecting toys from Halo for so long was because of characters like Alice-130. I love when there is a female character who exhibits masculine traits, or at least doesn't exaggerate their feminine qualities just for the sake of gender contrast. (Zarya from Overwatch was one of my favorite toys from 2019 and is a great example of 'female masculinity' in toys (to quote Halberstam)). But on the flip side, when someone has to tell you a character is female, and you still aren't really sure, the appeal for me gets lost. Most early Halo females had this effect on me. They mostly looked indistinguishable from the males, and Alice-130 always stood out because she had a clearly gendered name, but seemingly male armor mimicking male musculature. Embarrassingly, it took a bright pink Spartan to inspire my first purchase (the exact type of exaggerated femininity I claim to dislike). But she was the gateway Halo for me and now I'm hooked, even with Alice-130. Let's check her out!
One reason I have grown to appreciate Alice-130 is because her armor is so reminiscent of Master Chief, the primary (male) character in Halo whose image is synonymous with the franchise. So to me, Alice is the most iconic-looking of all the female characters, despite having the most outwardly masculine appearance.
Time for some Group and Comparison Pics!
Here are the ladies from the Jazwares Spartan Collection so far. From Left to Right: Spartan Palmer (S3 2021), Alice-130 (S7 2023), Commander Agryna (S8 2023), Linda-058 (S6 2022), Kelly-087 (S5 2022), and Kat-B320 (S1 2020).
Cheers!
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