I’m going to open with a bold statement – there’s never been a better time for queerness in gaming than now. We are living in an era in which even though there still is discrimination and prejudice around these areas, queer representation in gaming is thriving, alive and well.
These articles (which I’ve found so you don’t have to) do a pretty good job of touching on representation through a historical lens, covering most eras and the notable games within :
https://www.theguardian.com/games/2023/jun/29/queer-video-games-pride-month-lgbtq (even the Guardian gets in on it!)
so I won’t delve too much into what they already cover. The articles above have tackled the historical perspective pretty well (I even learned some things!) so for the rest of this short piece, I’d like to turn my attention as to how certain franchises both major and minor have touched on LGBT themes and represented their characters.
(Far from it for me to quibble about dates too much, but the historian and journalist in me can’t help but notice a discrepancy – the first bisexual main character in gaming is not Tatsuya from Persona 2 (1999) as the Fandom article states, but rather the protagonist of Phantasmagoria 2 : A Puzzle of Flesh (1996)
Also, Solid Snake is apparently the first video game character to use the word “bisexual.” Fancy that!)
It has taken Final Fantasy about 30+ years to include an openly gay character in its mainline titles, despite their have been a lot of subtext in previous ones (I’m looking at you, FFX) and small mentions here and there (the openly gay NPCs in FF14, for instance) In Ff16, though, Dion and Terence are openly gay – which is a progressive step forwards for a flagship JRPG series.
(A slight digression into the world of other media, but after a similar length of time, the Gundam franchise has openly lesbian characters get married in one of its mainline titles. And there is an extremely queer tabletop RPG called Thristy Sword Lesbians (obviously inspired by Shoujo Kakumei Utena) but those would probably make good material for another article)
By now, the LGBT themes of the Life is Strange franchise are pretty well-known (at least in gaming circles) While I thought it interesting that the first entry into the series featured queer teenagers with mental illness (with a trigger warning no less! Where was this when I was 18?) I didn’t expect Don’t Nod to make an entire franchise out of them.
Narratively, the games are interesting in that because they are video games, you can actually choose how queer (or not) you make the main characters, at least for the first game. Even in the later installments in which the protagonist’s orientation is already established when you begin the game, you get to choose who to date.
To me, that’s one of the strength of gaming as a fictive medium – individual agency. Outside of interactive fiction, you don’t get to pick how a character in a book or movie responds – you’re just along for the ride.
The Borderlands series is perhaps better known for being an FPS Diablo with guns and for its comic book styling than it’s queer representation…but it sure has a lot of it.
Gay, lesbian and bisexual characters dot its landscape, ranging from the major (Mad Moxxi, Tina) to the minor (Mr. Torgue, Hammerlock) One thing I like about it is how diverse the cast feels – just like in real life, queer people aren’t confined to a single mode of expression or dress, and I like how in recent years gaming has stepped away from the somewhat tired old tropes of drag and camp.
(For more – https://gamerant.com/borderlands-best-lgbtq-character-franchise/)
While I can’t say that I’m a huge fan of League of Legends, I feel that I would be remiss in not at least mentioning that it has a reasonably wide assortment of queer characters, from pansexual pirates, Celesbians (celestial lesbians, although I thiiiinnnnnk Leona is bi) and bisexual polyamorous mermaids. The representation here is along the lines of what I would have liked to see growing up (why are there no gay dwarves? Why can’t orcs be lesbians?) and it’s heartening to see such a large franchise commit to representation in a sustained way.
Sometimes when franchises mature, they also become more queer. Bridget’s coming out as trans in Guilty Gear surprised exactly no long term fans because…well, just look at what she used to look like? And Testament’s reveal as nonbinary fits their backstory and character to a T.
Street Fighter is another venerable franchise that has moved in this direction. Poison’s actual orientation has been a mystery ever since she appeared – there are many stories dating from gaming’s less enlightened age in the game tried to skirt around outright calling her a transvestite (and then having a Capcom executive confirm it)
However, the current statement from Capcom seems that they don’t have one – fans are free to interpret her as they see fit.
In SF6, Marisa is an openly bisexual and polyamorous character who is very Ryu-like in her search for suitable suitors – they just need to be strong and worthy of battle. Her storyline also deals with marrying more than one person and more than one gender, so it’s nice to see a more non-traditional take on things.
Thirsty Suitors is a pretty unique game that I feel deserves a lot more attention. I played it because it shone a spotlight on a segment of the population that rarely gets any mention – queer Southeast Asian immigrants. The game treats its subject matter with lightness and verve,
One thing I felt deserved mention was how…normally the game treated Jala’s bisexuality. There are in-game reasons for that (no spoilers in this article) but I appreciated how it was not made a big deal out of, as is so often the case with media that focused on these themes. There’s nothing wrong with a tight focus when it fits the story, but it was refreshing to see an altogether different take on it which was both more humorous but no less poignant for that.
Goodbye Volcano High has a non-binary protagonist (to my knowledge, currently gaming’s only one) and I Was a Teenage Exocolonist has a well-deserved reputation for being the game with “blue hair and pronouns” – it has lots of both. While I can’t say that much about the former (haven’t not played it despite its interesting premise – full disclosure!) the latter has a vast plethora of characters of almost every kind of orientation. The game deals with how coming out and the biological changes that accompany puberty are sometimes the same in Earth or space, and whatever color your hair might be.
I greatly enjoyed Boyfriend Dungeon (so much so that I covered the opening on my Youtube channel!) and it’s all-inclusive take on dating and relationships – you can date anyone, basically. The characters are all varied and interesting, from all walks of life, age and race. But what I love about it is the fact that regardless of what your orientation may be or how you express, the foundations of self-love, growth and functional relationships are the same – trust, understanding, and taking responsibility. The game navigates those themes with style and panache, the writing (as I’ve seen one review saw) being “equal parts thirsty and thoughtful”
Tracer’s reveal as a lesbian in Overwatch was to my knowledge the first time a queer character has been on the cover art of a triple A game, and was widely well received by the community and press. While the game also has other queer characters, my eye is naturally trained on milestones of this nature, historical or otherwise.
While I don’t profess to be a Bioware fan, the vast amount of queer representation in almost all its keynote franchises hasn’t escaped my attention. Commander Shepard can romance basically anyone. So can many people in Dragon Age.
There are of course also tons of indie games with varying degrees of queer inclusion and representation which is beyond the scope of this article to cover. I’ve also chosen not to focus too much on games that I haven’t played or that I don’t have too much experience with, so I won’t be talking about Stardew Valley or Undetale much.
I guess all this begs the question of – why is representation important anyway? This is a question that I get asked a lot, and one that I’m happy to answer. Generally the prevailing view is that it helps to see ourselves in the media that we consume.
Like many Asian queer youths growing up in the 80 and 90s, it was hard to find people like myself anywhere – either in real life or in any form of media. (And if you think finding positive queer representation was hard, try looking into mental illness…) A lot of what I learnt about LGBTness was from anime like Sailor Moon, Evangelion and of course, video games.
People consume media – that’s a fact that no one is going to argue about, I hope. And how issues like these are treated – as well as how characters are depicted – does shape ones view of the world and society.
I would wager than positive representation goes a long way in creating a world in which queerness is more openly heard and understood. It’s one thing to read about it in a textbook and quite another to have it depicted in popular culture and fiction.
(A more thorough look at the subject – https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/psychology-the-people/202112/why-representation-matters-and-why-it-s-still-not-enough)
We’ve come a long way since the subtext laden 80s and 90s, and creators having to skirt and tiptoe around the issue. Now, many games are front and center with their brand of queerness, and I think that can only be a good thing.
The future looks bright for LGBTness in games, and let’s hope it keeps being that way. As media worldwide becomes more inclusive in general, I hope for a time in which all people can relate without terms like intertextuality having to be used…because there won’t be any need for them any longer.