Summary
Despite the colorful, creative world of video games,transgender representationis still fairly rare. While gender-fluid stories are becoming more common, there is still a long way to go for a more inclusive gaming industry.
Including marginalized characters in games provides an opportunity to expand people’s perspectives and validates LGBTQ+ stories. Everyone wants to see themselves echoed in their video game experience, including transgender players. Here are some of the most popular transgender characters in video games, helping break barriers.
10Poison
Street Fighter
Poison is a prominent character in both Street Fighter and Final Fight. While the stories behind her being transgender have been foggy, the original game manual refers to her as transgender.
While developers have attempted to portray her gender as ambiguous, LGBTQ+ fans are well aware of the debate surrounding her gender identity and choose to accept the original facts stated in the first iteration of the character.
9Birdo
Super Mario Bros
Birdo from Super Mario is widely considered the first transgender character in video games. She made her official debut as Birdetta in 1988 in Super Mario Bros 2. The game’s manual states that she thinks she’s a girl and would prefer to be called Birdetta, though people know her as Birdo now.
Nintendo has never officially made her transgender identity canon, but her transness is widely known by LGBTQ+ gamers. She may just be an animated dinosaur, but she provides escapism andvalidation for transgender players.
Baldur’s Gate 3 provides a lot of LGBTQ+ representation, including the addition of Nocturne in Act 3. She is Shadowheart’s friend from her past and is found in the House of Grief.
What some fans didn’t realize upon their first encounter, however, is that the character is trans. In a rare bit of dialogue during Act 2, Shadowheart remembers a male purple tiefling who was her friend as a kid. Later in the game, you meet the purple tiefling, Nocturne, as a female. Her diary reveals thatShadowheart fought people who deadnamedNocturne after her transition.
Ned Wynert is a character from Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate. Pretending to be a dutiful daughter at home, he couldn’t stand to be the gender he was assigned at birth. He would sneak away from home at night dressed as a man and run around the criminal underworld.
Eventually, Ned presented fully as male as a businessman and is portrayed as a protagonist in the game. He’s the first transgender character in the Assassin’s Creed series, helping break gaming barriers.
Dragon Age: Inquisition is not shy with LGBTQ+ inclusion. With gay romantic options and characters with various identities, it’s one of the more inclusive games out there. For instance, Cremissius, also known as Krem, is transgender.
While talking with Iron Bull, he reveals the concept of “Aqun-Athlok,” which means “born as one gender but living like another” in Qunlat. As the first trans character to appear in a BioWare game, he means a lot to transgender players.
Paolo de la Vega is a transgender side character in Far Cry 6. You meet Paolo while playing as a freedom fighter. He is a skilled fighter in the resistance and a valuable ally.
His identity plays a major role in his storyline. His backstory involves a relatable struggle for trans people. When his father found out about his identity, he was rejected. Paolo had to navigate unsafe medical care and social isolation as he found himself. His character provides emotional and cathartic representation for transgender gamers.
The Last of Us Part 2 is already well-known for having a lesbian protagonist, Ellie. The game also provides solid transgender representation through the character Lev.
Born into a religious cult, Lev refused to become a wife in an arranged marriage and shaved his head to announce his gender identity. He was forced to flee the cult for his life. It is during this time that he encounters Abby. Despite his violent life, he serves as a moral compass throughout the game.
Cyberpunk 2077 has various gender identities and sexualities available for players. Claire Russell, bartender at the Afterlife, provides some transgender representation to the game world.
Fans first began to speculate after spotting a transgender flag on her truck. Eventually, after a race, she mentions her gender identity. Not every player hears this dialogue, however, as it’s unique to a side questline. You have to earn her openness. The subtlety of her transness and the way it wasn’t presented as her tragic backstory provides LGBTQ+ fans with realistic, transgender representation.
With the release of Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, fans were reminded of an important transgender video game character. Vivian was portrayed as a transwoman in the original Japanese version of the game, frequently misgendered by her sister.
Different translations of the new game reveal various versions of the ghost girl’s identity, with references to her transition cut in the American release. However, the majority of Japanese and English translations clearly presentVivian’s transgender backstoryand journey to acceptance.
Tell Me Why is an episodic adventure game about twins Tyler and Alyson as they use their supernatural bond to unravel the truth about their childhood. Tyler is transgender, and the writers assured they created him to resonate with trans players by working with GLAAD and his trans voice actor.
The game has small moments that help players understand the trans experience, such as using a binder and taking testosterone daily. With a realistic transgender protagonist, the game is ground-breaking for LGBTQ+ representation.
