Dick Justice
Banned
![26202_big-bosses-mgs3-ocelot[1].jpg](http://4chandata.org/images/threads/26202_big-bosses-mgs3-ocelot[1].jpg)
Clearly has a thing for Big Boss. But then, who doesn't?
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Gay characters in video games (?)
- Thread starter Kraftwerk
- Start date
Clearly has a thing for Big Boss. But then, who doesn't?
GalacticSushiman
Member
What's the point in knowing Mario's a plumber since all he does is jump on things? It's there. It's backstory. It's something to talk about, perhaps identify with. The better question is why not to include it, which has a pretty common and unfrotunate answer in the case of characters being anything but straight.
Also, Nathan Drake being gay would be interesting, since it'd be a major subversion of the archetypal womanizing dashing rogue that he's so obviously patterned after.
Hypereides
Member
These cool guys.
Haha, came to post this.
There's an older version of this thread from 2009:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=361497
Don't know if there have been any significant releases since then with LGBTQ characters, besides WRPG's / RPG's that let you customize and choose your character and relationships, and have secondary characters essentially be bisexual (e.g. Dragon Age 2 which lets you have male / male relationships with Fenris and Anders if you're a man).
Regardless of whether there's a romantic subplot, if the game has any attempt at a story, especially one that's supposed to take place in some version of "the real world" and not a fantasy setting, the main character's gender, race and sexuality will usually have an influence on how the plot plays out and the story being told (unless it's a RPG / character-creator where the game makers studiously try to make the plot play out gender, race and sexuality-neutrally, which isn't that common).
Try imagining those video game characters you mention as women instead of men, and tell me the dialogue, situations, and character interactions would play out exactly the same - would Uncharted be the same game if the main character was an Asian female instead of a white man? You could create a very similar-type adventure game (e.g. Tomb Raider) but the character's backstory, motivations, love interests and core relationships would almost certainly change. Even just changing the character's race - a lot of video games still rely on familiar stereotypes when portraying minority characters (e.g. more urban speech patterns), and if the game is supposed to take place in "the real world", pretending that race doesn't play a part in people's lives or their experiences growing up is a stretch. Gender / sexuality has an effect on any romantic subplots available, but again, maybe it's more about the character's backstory and personality and the conflicts and issues they've faced or will face.
Sometimes people of different genders, races and sexualities like to see themselves represented in the entertainment they consume, and even the assumed "average" mainstream video game consumer (straight white men) like to play video games which make an attempt at telling different stories and presenting different experiences and points of view rather than assuming that people only want to play games with characters of one gender, race and sexuality as protagonists and supporting players. Maybe there's an interesting story to be told about a black lesbian female from L.A. who shoots her way through a zombie apocalypse and gets back with her ex-girlfriend in the end, and you wouldn't be able to tell that same story if you had a male bald space marine-type in the role.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=361497
Don't know if there have been any significant releases since then with LGBTQ characters, besides WRPG's / RPG's that let you customize and choose your character and relationships, and have secondary characters essentially be bisexual (e.g. Dragon Age 2 which lets you have male / male relationships with Fenris and Anders if you're a man).
Regardless of whether there's a romantic subplot, if the game has any attempt at a story, especially one that's supposed to take place in some version of "the real world" and not a fantasy setting, the main character's gender, race and sexuality will usually have an influence on how the plot plays out and the story being told (unless it's a RPG / character-creator where the game makers studiously try to make the plot play out gender, race and sexuality-neutrally, which isn't that common).
Try imagining those video game characters you mention as women instead of men, and tell me the dialogue, situations, and character interactions would play out exactly the same - would Uncharted be the same game if the main character was an Asian female instead of a white man? You could create a very similar-type adventure game (e.g. Tomb Raider) but the character's backstory, motivations, love interests and core relationships would almost certainly change. Even just changing the character's race - a lot of video games still rely on familiar stereotypes when portraying minority characters (e.g. more urban speech patterns), and if the game is supposed to take place in "the real world", pretending that race doesn't play a part in people's lives or their experiences growing up is a stretch. Gender / sexuality has an effect on any romantic subplots available, but again, maybe it's more about the character's backstory and personality and the conflicts and issues they've faced or will face.
Sometimes people of different genders, races and sexualities like to see themselves represented in the entertainment they consume, and even the assumed "average" mainstream video game consumer (straight white men) like to play video games which make an attempt at telling different stories and presenting different experiences and points of view rather than assuming that people only want to play games with characters of one gender, race and sexuality as protagonists and supporting players. Maybe there's an interesting story to be told about a black lesbian female from L.A. who shoots her way through a zombie apocalypse and gets back with her ex-girlfriend in the end, and you wouldn't be able to tell that same story if you had a male bald space marine-type in the role.
Enter The 36 Chambers
Member
Do you think a game with an openly gay main characters sales would be effected because of this?
dragonlife
Member
I still don't know how to direct someone to specific times on YouTube videos, but if you skip to 27:49 and go from there, you'll see what I mean. This is Kanji's entire story mode, so I would suggest to those that haven't played it to steer clear. One line that stands out is
"It just happened that, uh, I got interested in her a little bit before I found that out." It's internal monologue, and it's in reply to Yosuke saying that Kanji was interested in Naoto before he found out she was actually a girl.
Like I said... bones thrown everywhere.
buddha0991
Member
I thought they made Kanji ambiguous because they wanted to make his sexuality not the point of his character, Kanji is Kanji
K
kittens
Unconfirmed Member
If Birdo identifies as a girl, then the accurate pronouns are "she" and "her". C'mon Nintendo, misgendering ain't cool.Birdo is in fact confirmed to be a Transexual in the Super Mario Bros 2 manual.
But Birdo's a girl, and Yoshi is a boy.
Creating a video game with the sole purpose of saying "LOOK OUR GAME HAVE GAY AND TRANSEXUAL CHARACTERS" is bad. Really bad. It make gay people feel even more left out because you have to sew something special for them.
Why cant we just get like a Gears of Wars game where the protangonist sit down in a plane after having killed thousands of monsters, get out of his pocket a picture of his boyfriend and says that he hope to see him again. Simple and not over stereotyped. Just a normal gay guy who is at war and want to see his boyfriend again. Dont mention it every time and dont make it like a joke. Just a normal thing.
It would make the straight and young gamers more inclined to accept that the character is gay if he does not act like freaking Tingle.
PumpkinPie
Banned
Makoto from Enchanted Arms, but I didn't like him because he lived up to the gay stereotype. How about Micky from Makai Kingdom?
Your answer. That said, if only it's announced as a purported selling point and highly publicized. It's going to be banned in muslim countries for starter followed by conservative people like Rush Limbaugh emboldened by news outlets like Fox News picking it for the sake of berating it.
If it's something popular and mainstream like CoD, yes, with lots of bitching and moaning about 'gays stealing out games'.
WrenchNinja
Member
That was already clear in Persona 4. That's not really proof that he's gay, more that its proof that he's still not sure of himself. Cause it is clear that he is aroused by women, but it is also clear that he was potentially interested in a man.
Also not a protagonist, Gwyndolin from Dark Souls was gay . He was the optional boss in Anor Londo, ostracized by his father for being effeminate.
He was raised as a woman, thus him being effeminate. That has nothing to do with being gay per se. Being gay is a different than that.
Count Dookkake
Member
.
Count of Monte Sawed-Off
un33dab@dpu$$y
all those girls throw themselves at him and... nothing.
buddha0991
Member
that just seems cheap and exploitative....Could make for some hilarious reactions from people though...
Humans are naturally curious. There are a lot of things that aren't really relevant to me that I still enjoy knowing.
Just because information isn't essential doesn't mean it's entirely useless. Dark souls is a great example. I'm playing the game, and loving the hell out of it. The story in that game seems incredibly thin when you play it, but if you take the time to look into it, the lore is incredibly interesting and cool. It's not a very narrative driven game, but having the extra info is nice.
I'm still just gonna kill monsters, but it adds more to the game.
Count Dookkake
Member
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TurnipFritters
Member
Yeah, I mean, "No, Kanji is actually straight" is literally his entire character arc in P4, so I'm not really sure why anyone thinks he's gay or bi.
This straddles a tough line. Because
he liked Naoto when he thought she was a guy. The initial attraction was to, for all intents and purposes, a man. If you find out a girl you're really attracted to has a penis, it doesn't suddenly make you gay, while the opposite doesn't really make him straight. If anything, I'd say he was bisexual.
buddha0991
Member
Because Atlus themselves stayed it was left open to player interpretation. They sort of put the fuel to that fire there.
For the record, my personal opinion on the matter is, hey may be bi, but he sure likes Naoto a lot, and that is all that really matters as of now. Again, Kanji's Kanji, a boss, I don't particularly care if he finds out he likes dudes, or women, or if he just has a thing for detective caps, hes still a boss.
R
Retro_
Unconfirmed Member
Maybe
but they are also more acceptable towards immaturity about it, if examples in this thread are any indication. (God Hand twins, Volgin, even Kanji are all played for laughs)
TurnipFritters
Member
Because oftentimes a character is brought to life, as it were, by their relationships with others, be they romantic, familial, platonic or whatever.
They didn't leave much up to interpretation when the only character he shows any interest is a girl.
I find it strange that you are all for Birdo being a girl if he's a transexual but refuse to call Yoshi gay for liking Birdo. I mean at this point what the word gay even means if its not two person of the same sex. If you dont like the mention of the relationship between a guy and a guy who identify himself as a girl as gay, then sexuality in itself is not good. A human being and a human being both aware and willing is kinda long to say everytime you want to talk about sexuality.
dragonlife
Member
Clearly.
When Erika was Erik she was straight? Considering she used to be a man, I'd say she was gay (at least in high school) unless you mean that since he/she identified as female then he/she has been straight all his/her life.
A character being gay in a Japanese video game usually means he's either comic relief or a villain.
And I believe the whole "thinks he's a girl" part about Birdo has been retconned, so she doesn't really count.
buddha0991
Member
There is plenty, how he states he became interested in her before he knew she was a girl, the nosebleed seen was purposely done so that he could have gotten the nose bleed from the girls or the guys, akihiko's request to take his clothes off made him blush and stammer, he thinks yukiko is cute, there is more, but it honestly doesn't matter to me lol
cj_iwakura
Member
Count Dookkake
Member
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cj_iwakura
Member
Baldur's Gate 2?
Star Wars KOTOR?
Sonic Chronicles?
Star Wars: the Old Republic?
Lots of Bioware games have straight-only options.
Last option.
You don't change sexual orientation when the world start seeing you as a girl =P
....what ???
If she is trans than she is a girl, than she is a girl. And a boy (egg laying dinossaur, but still a boy) liker her, she is straight and he is straigh. Simple as that.
Yeah, but they did understand it and try to improve the situation
, too bad their games turned to shit along the way.
R
Retro_
Unconfirmed Member
I think the only problem with it is that even after his big breakthrough with his shadow and accepting who he is, he's still the butt of "no homo" jokes among the cast to which he responds I DONT LIKE DUDES.
Inconsistent development is the wrong way to leave something "open to interpretation"
Gee thanks for that, I was totally unaware. Nonetheless I thought it was implied that Gwyndolin is gay, or was at least a member of the LGBT community.
And if that's not the case, it brings up another issue, which is that there are a lot of characters that are assumed to be gay but it is never stated outright. I understand it is politically incorrect to assume someone is gay because they are effeminate, and some people will find such an assumption insulting. I, however, do not find it insulting, simply because all of the effeminite transexuals I know are, well, actually gay. I must live in a box or something.
buddha0991
Member
Yosukes still the buttmonkey for everything and getting kicked by chie, chie's steak obsession went up to 11, yukiko snrk's and laughs at everything, rise is an airhead, naoto is awkward and unfeminine, they kind of do this for everyone man. Also Teddie's puns are getting unbearably overused now.
My point is teenagers like to pick on each other, especially friends.
Or that their cultural and societal context have failed to properly teach people about these things, and instead have provided the people in question the wrong and harmful stereotypes.
what's with the attitude? Did I kill your feelings or something?
Edit: And what does "political" correctness got to do with making faulty assumptions? Transexuals are transexuals, gays are gays and effeminate men are in the same boat as women that show more masculine trait. They may or may not be gay just like masculine male or feminine female.
Count Dookkake
Member
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toddhunter
Member
Not confirmed in game...but seriously..
still bitter about the scene where he *finally* finds Kairi