Corset

Overview

The corset is an item of clothing used to make the waist appear slimmer and in the case of women accentuate the hips and bust. It is laced up at the back and classified as either 'overbust' or 'underbust' based on whether or not it covers the breasts. They usually appear in fantasy-themed video games or at least games with fantasy overtones but have appeared in games of varying thematic content.

Three of the best known examples of characters who wear corsets in video games are Trish from the Devil May Cry series, Elizabeth from Bioshock Infinite and Lulu from the Final Fantasy X games, however there are more obscure examples such as Tabitha from Advance Wars: Days of Ruin. Although her traditional outfit includes no kind of corset Harley Quinn can be noted for donning a corset in two of her video games appearances, first wearing one over her nurse's uniform in Batman: Arkham Asylum and later incorporating one into her outfit in Batman: Arkham City. Corsets are also worn by all of the prostitutes in Red Dead Redemption and Ashley Williams from Mass Effect mentions that her sister wore corsets.

As well as being a garment worn by characters corsets may also appear as an in-game item. In Fable 2 the hero may equip a corset which raises the attractiveness stat of females and the cross-dressing stat of males, strangely the game also features a tavern called the 'Cow & Corset'. In Yggdra Unison Yggdra starts the game with an item equipped called 'silk corset' and they also exist as an item drop from enemies in Maplestory and Mabinogi. An unlockable outfit for Casey Lynch in Guitar Hero III called 'Mo' Leather' includes a corset and in Arcanum: Of Steamworks & Magick Obscura when all of a female character's armor is unequipped they can be seen wearing a corset underneath.