 |
The following is a list of confirmed video games with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer characters, including any others falling under the LGBTQ umbrella term. The numbers in this list are possibly higher due to fact that some characters remained unconfirmed, unsourced or controversial.
During the 1980s, characters that can be argued as identifying as LGBTQ+ were rarely shown in a realistic or non-stereotypical context and were often the objects of ridicule or jokes. [1]
In the 1990s, games (often Japanese ones) continued to use stereotypical LGBT characters which did not reflect the diversity in LGBT communities. However, more efforts were found to make more diverse and less one-dimensional characters. [2]
In 2018, GamesRadar's Sam Greer found 179 games with any LGBT representation. [3] Of those 179 games, only 83 have queer characters who are playable characters. And of those, only eight feature a main character who is explicitly pre-written as queer as opposed to them being queer as a character creation option.
In 2024, GLAAD found that under 2% of digitally-distributed games for PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo consoles were noted by their respective companies as having LGBT content, and under 2.5% of Steam games were tagged as LGBT. [4]
| Year | Title | Character(s) | Classification | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Le crime du parking | Paco | Gay | The culprit in the murder mystery is revealed to be the tailor, Paco, who is gay and deals drugs. [5] |
| 1985 | Le mur de Berlin va sauter | Carlus | Gay | The main antagonist and left-wing terrorist Carlos, who wants to blow up the Berlin Wall, is gay and a lot of the action is spent in gay nightclubs and public baths. [6] |
| 1986 | Moonmist | Vivien Pentreath | Lesbian | In one of the possible storylines it is revealed that Vivien, a friend of Lord Jack, was in a relationship with his former fiancée Deirdre—before her apparent suicide—and was jealous that she chose Lord Jack over her. [7] [8] |
| Deirdre Hallam | Bisexual woman | |||
| 1988 | Caper in the Castro | Tracker McDyke | Lesbian | A murder mystery problem solving game for Apple Mac computers written in the HyperCard language, distributed on underground gay bulletin boards, starring the lesbian detective Tracker McDyke. C. M. Ralph, who wrote the game, later released a straightwashed version called "Murder on Main Street" and published by Heizer Software. [9] [10] |
| Tessy LaFemme | Gay/Drag Queen | |||
| 1989 | Circuit's Edge | Yasmin | Trans woman | The game features a transgender woman named Yasmin alleged to be the player character's former lover, and a gay man named Saied. [11] [12] |
| Saied | Gay | |||
| 1989 | Phantasy Star II | Usvestia | Gay | Usvestia will teach the MUSIK piano technique needed to progress in the game more cheaply to male characters because they "look cute". [13] In the English version, he instead says "He looks smart," and the gender-based disparity is left unexplained. [14] |
| 1989 | Leisure Suit Larry III: Passionate Patti in Pursuit of the Pulsating Pectorals | Kalalau | Bisexual | Kalalau, a character from the previous game, is married to Larry, but dumps him at the start of the game for another woman, Bobbi. [15] [16] |
| Bobbi | Lesbian | Bobbi is a woman in a relationship with Kalalau. She is described within the game as a lesbian. [15] [16] |
| Year | Title | Character(s) | Classification | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Rise of the Dragon | Patrons of the Pleasure Dome | Queer | In an establishment called the Pleasure Dome that caters to queer patrons, among other things. One of its patrons is a woman posing as a man posing as a woman. [8] |
| 1992 | The Dagger of Amon Ra | Two female lovers | Lesbian | This game features a woman from a small town who gets a job for a New York paper in the 1920s. Two of the women she meets are involved in a secret love affair. [8] |
| 1992 | Ultima VII: The Black Gate | Sex workers | Bisexual | In the House of Baths at Buccaneer's Den, the player (the "Avatar") can pay for the services of male and female sex workers, regardless of the player's gender. [17] |
| 1992 | Rex Nebular and the Cosmic Gender Bender | Rex Nebular | Genderqueer | The game requires the male hero to change his sex on a planet where women rule. [18] |
| 1993 | Ultima VII Part Two: Serpent Isle | A mage | Bisexual | A mage sexually proposes the player's character regardless of the character's gender. [8] The player is given the choice to accept or decline. |
| 1993 | Dracula Unleashed | Alfred Horner | Gay | Alfred Horner is a gay man who co-owns a bookstore. This was the first time a gay character in a computer game was given a speaking role. [8] |
| 1993 | Return of the Phantom | Charles | Gay | Charles is portrayed as an effeminate theater director. He is one of the good guys that helps the playable character, a French inspector, solve the mystery of the Phantom of the Opera once and for all. [19] |
| 1993 | Leisure Suit Larry 6: Shape Up or Slip Out! | Gary | Gay | Gary is a gay towel attendant. Larry is given the option of flirting with him, although this leads to a game over. [15] |
| 1993 | Police Quest: Open Season | Bob Hickman | Gay | A gay bar is featured in the game. The player is a police officer trying to track down the murderer of his partner. His quest leads him to discover that his partner had a double life as a cross-dresser at a West Hollywood transgender bar. [8] |
| 1994 | Streets of Rage 3 | Ash | Gay | Ash acts as a boss in the game and portrayed with "tight clothes and effeminate movements". [19] He was censored in some versions of the game. [20] |
| 1994 | EarthBound | Tony | Gay | Tony who has subtle attractions to his best friend Jeff, according to EarthBound creator, Shigesato Itoi. [21] |
| 1995 | The Beast Within: A Gabriel Knight Mystery | Baron Von Glower | Gay | The antagonist Baron Von Glower pursues the protagonist Gabriel Knight sexually and eventually leads him to be turned into a werewolf. [8] [18] |
| 1995 | Chrono Trigger | Flea | Genderqueer | Flea, a major villain, is genderfluid and/or gender nonconforming. [8] Notably, Flea stated in a self-referential manner "Male or female, what difference does it make? Power is beautiful, and I've got the power." [18] |
| 1995 | The Orion Conspiracy | Danny McCormack and his boyfriend | Gay | This is the first computer game to use the word homosexual. The main character, Devlin McCormack, lives on a space station where he investigates the murder of his son Danny McCormack and stops an alien invasion. His investigation leads him through the seedy, criminal underworld of the station, where he discovers that his son was homosexual by talking with his son's boyfriend. [8] |
| 1995 | True Love | Daisuke | Bisexual | At the end of the game, the player character—default name is Daisuke—may attempt to start a relationship with any of the ten available girls, or with his best friend Kazuhiko as the only gay option. Depending on the choices taken and interactions experienced throughout the game, each girl and Kazuhiko may or may not be available for a relationship. [22] |
| Kazuhiko Miyoshi | Gay | |||
| 1996 | Bahamut Lagoon | Sendak | Gay | Sendak is an older wizard who at one point flirts with the male protagonist, Byuu. The player can choose to accept or reject these advances. [23] |
| 1996 | Blazing Dragons | Sir Blaze | Gay | Sir Blaze, a dragon knight is implied to be gay similar to the cartoon. [2] |
| Trivet | Trivet is a dragon jester who works for the king. He hates being a jester and is trying to look for another job. He learns about hypnotism. He hypnotizes Flicker into believing he is Princess Flame. The effect is temporary and Flicker goes back to normal. When Trivet tries to hypnotize Flicker again; Flicker deflects it onto Trivet by making him believe he is Flame. Trivet-as-Flame flirts with Sir Loungealot for a few scenes. When Sir Loungealot kisses Trivet; it snaps him out of his hypnosis. Sir Longealot realizes he wasn't kissing Flame but Trivet. However, Trivet happily thinks that Sir Loungealot would care about him in that way much to the dragon knight's repulsion. [2] | |||
| 1996 | SimCopter | Player character, unnamed men | Gay | In response to another developer adding "bimbo" characters into the game, the game's designer and gay man Jacques Servin inserted shirtless male characters into the game that kiss each other and the player character. Servin was fired, and a new version of the game without his modification was released. [24] |
| 1996 | Phantasmagoria 2: A Puzzle of Flesh | Curtis Craig | Bisexual man | Curtis is the game's protagonist. He is also close friend with his co-worker, Trevor, who is gay. Curtis admits to his psychiatrist that he has feelings for Trevor and might be bisexual, and the two almost kiss later in the game. Curtis is also shown as having relations with his girlfriend and a S&M domme. Creators of the game talked about the mature sexual themes in the game during a 1997 interview. [25] Curtis is the first playable non-heterosexual character in a video game. [26] |
| Trevor Barnes | Gay | |||
| 1996 | NiGHTS into Dreams | NiGHTS | Agender | According to Takashi Iizuka, NiGHTS doesn't have a gender and "[the] impressions of the character with regards to gender are totally up to the player". [27] |
| 1997 | The Last Express | Sophie de Bretheuil | Lesbian | This game has the player meeting two young adult girls named Sophie de Bretheuil and Rebecca Norton who are almost always in each other's company. While at first they appear to be merely close friends, reading the diary of Recbecca suggests they are lesbians, but there are no explicitly homosexual gestures beyond hand-holding. [28] |
| Rebecca Norton | ||||
| 1997 | SaGa Frontier | Asellus | Lesbian | Infused with the Charm Lord's mystical blood, Asellus is attracted to other women and other women are attracted to her. Gina "calls Lady Asellus beautiful and blushes" at her during conversations, and they can marry each other in one of the game's multiple endings. [29] |
| Gina | Lesbian or heteroflexible | |||
| 1997 | Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers | Beta | Gay | Beta is one of the owners of the EL-115 Club alongside his brother Alpha. Described as an "over-the-top caricature of an effeminate gay man who speaks with a lisp", Beta continually comments on the male player's attractiveness. [30] |
| 1998 | Star Ocean: The Second Story | Claude C. Kenny | Gay, lesbian or bisexual | The player can choose to play as either Claude or Rena. They can have a friendship and romance level with each party member acquired. Ashton (a male party member) and Precis (a female party member) can go on a date with them, regardless of their gender. [8] |
| Rena Lanford | ||||
| Ashton Anchors | ||||
| Precis F. Neumann | ||||
| 1999 | The Longest Journey | Fiona and Mickey | Lesbian | This computer game features Fiona and Mickey, a lesbian landlady and her long-time lover. It also features a gay cop. [8] |
| A cop | Gay | |||
| 1999 | The Silver Case | Tetsugoro Kusabi | Gay | Tetsugoro Kusabi is a detective and one of the founding members of the HC unit. Kusabi takes a liking to the male protagonist, giving him the affectionate nickname "Big Dick". Kusabi is also enamored with his close friend and co-worker Sumio Kodai, despite being married. In a 2021 r/games thread, game director Suda51 confirmed his sexuality. [31] |
| Year | Title | Character(s) | Classification | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | The Sims | Sims | Gay, lesbian or bisexual | All Sims can be directed to fall in love with and engage in romantic interactions with others Sims of either sex. [32] |
| 2001 | RuneScape | Angof | Trans woman | Angof is a female character in "The Light Within", a quest released on August 24, 2015. At some point after the quest, the player can show her a wedding ring, prompting her to tell the player she was born male, but "corrected" herself to female once she could shapeshift. [33] |
| Fear Effect 2: Retro Helix | Hana Tsu-Vachel | Bisexual woman | The player character Hana Tsu-Vachel is bisexual and in a relationship with her hacker; Rain Qin. The game's advertising heavily emphasized their relationship. [34] | |
| Rain Qin | Lesbian | |||
| Shadow Hearts | Meiyuan | Gay | Meiyuan is a gay Chinese acupuncturist. [35] | |
| 2002 | The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind | Vivec | Intersex | In the in-game books The 36 Lessons of Vivec, Vivec describes himself as "brother-sister" [36] and "of male and female, the magic hermaphrodite." [37] |
| 2003 | Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic | Juhani | Lesbian | The party member Juhani is lesbian, though bugged coding on the initial release allowed her to be attracted to the player character regardless of gender. In subsequent patches, she reverts to same-sex preferences. [38] She and Belaya, another female Jedi were also heavily implied to be lovers. [39] This would make Juhani the first known gay character in the Star Wars universe. [40] |
| Belaya | ||||
| Deus Ex: Invisible War | Mark Finley | Gay | One of the manners which the character can gain access to the apartment of Mark Finley, Seattle's Minister of Culture, is to flirt with him at Club Vox; he will give the character his key. This only works if the character is male. [41] | |
| Lionel | ||||
| 2004 | Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Trials and Tribulations | Jean Armstrong | Gay | Trials and Tribulations localization team director Janet Hsu, in looking through all information that is given about Jean in the game, came to the conclusion that he is a gay man who likes to perform non-passing drag. Looking back at the game in 2014, Hsu said that she still thought Jean caused confusion due to the general public having a less informed and nuanced understanding of gender and sexuality at the time of the game's release. [42] |
| Fable | Player character and NPC townspeople | Gay or bisexual | The male protagonist can romance and marry various characters, regardless of gender. However, while a marriage between the protagonist and a woman is treated as a legitimate marriage, one with a male NPC is treated comically and the union is referred to as "just a couple of blokes being blokes". [43] | |
| The Sims 2 | Sims | Gay, lesbian or bisexual | Sims can romance and even marry other Sims of the same sex. [44] | |
| The Temple of Elemental Evil | Bertram | Gay | This computer game has an optional storyline permitting a gay marriage. In the town of Nulb, a pirate named Bertram begins flirting with male characters in the party and offers a lifetime of love and happiness in exchange for his freedom. [45] | |
| Outlaw Golf 2 | Summer | Lesbian | Playable character Summer kisses Autumn to calm down if the player fails a shot. [46] | |
| Autumn | ||||
| Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines | Player character | Lesbian or bisexual | The player can have sex with female prostitutes or Jeanette as either a man or a woman. [47] | |
| Jeanette Voerman | Bisexual woman | The female player character is able to have implied offscreen sexual relations with Jeanette, another female character. [47] | ||
| World of Warcraft | Chromie/Chronormu | Transgender woman | Chromie—a dragon who may appear as humanoid—adopted a female "visage form" and preferred pronouns after a draconic ceremony ("Visage Day"). This clarified by then-narrative lead Steve Danuser in 2021, after the publishing of a short story of the ceremony in World of Warcraft: Folk & Fairy Tales of Azeroth the same year, an anthology of franchise-relevant stories. [48] [49] [50] | |
| Flynn Fairwind | Bisexual [51] | The romantic relationship between Flynn and Matthias was first shown in the book Shadows Rising (2020) by Madeleine Roux. [52] [53] | ||
| Matthias Shaw | Gay | |||
| Pelagos | Transgender man | As Shadowlands takes place in an afterlife realm, the characters the players meet are often previously deceased. After death, the Kyrian Pelagos – who had a "female form in life" – chose to take on a male form in his afterlife. [54] This is detailed through in-game dialogue with the NPC. [55] | ||
| Thiernax and Qadarin | Gay | The player has to assist Thiernax, a former "night warrior", in rescuing his husband, Qadarin. This takes place in the main storyline of one of Shadowlands ' four factions. [56] | ||
| 2005 | Togainu no Chi | Akira | Gay | Depending on choices made throughout the story, the game's protagonist can enter a romantic relationship with many other men. [57] [58] |
| Keisuke | ||||
| Rin | ||||
| Shiki | ||||
| Motomi | ||||
| Jade Empire | Last Spirit Monk | Gay, lesbian or bisexual | The player—the Last Spirit Monk—can choose to play as either male or female. The player, regardless of gender, can romance Sky or Silk Fox. While only a male player can romance the Dawn Star, player can enter a ménage à trois with her and Silk Fox. [8] | |
| Sky | Bisexual man | |||
| Silk Fox | Bisexual woman | |||
| Dawn Star | ||||
| Drakengard 2 | Yaha | Bisexual | Yaha is an enemy character who is in love with his old friend Urick, one of the playable characters. [59] | |
| Fahrenheit | Tommy | Gay | This computer and console game includes a gay stock market follower named Tommy. One of the game's protagonists is good friends with him and Tommy's knowledge of the stock trade is essential in progressing in the game. If asked, he mentions that he's dating someone. [60] [ unreliable source ] | |
| 2006 | Enchanted Arms | Makoto | Gay | Makoto is fervently in love with Toya and the game's promotional materials list him as openly gay. [61] |
| Mother 3 | Magypsies | Genderqueer | They are a genderless race but their appearance and attitude are a parody of drag queens. Also, Ionia will teach Lucas "PK Love" in a scene that can be interpreted as sexual. [62] | |
| Baten Kaitos Origins | Guillo | Genderqueer | One of the three main characters, Guillo, speaks simultaneously with the voice of both a man and a woman. [63] | |
| Corpse Party: BloodCovered | Seiko Shinohara | Lesbian | Seiko is shown to have romantic feelings for her best friend, Naomi Nakashima. [64] | |
| Bully | James "Jimmy" Hopkins | Bisexual man | Jimmy is able to kiss both boys and girls. [65] In the Xbox version the player can unlock an achievement by kissing a boy twenty times. [66] | |
| 2007 | BioShock | Sander Cohen | Gay | The insane artist Sander Cohen is confirmed to be gay by the game's creative director Ken Levine. [67] |
| Clive Barker's Jericho | Cassus Vicus | Bisexual man | The Ancient Roman Governor Cassus Vicus claims it had been a while since "tasting" both genders after becoming aroused while confronting the Jericho Squad. Vicus is portrayed as overly perverted and morbidly obese and is said to practice cannibalism, sadomasochism and "blood orgies". [68] | |
| Abigail Black | Lesbian | Lt. Abigail Black, a telekinetic sniper and playable character, is confirmed to be lesbian. [69] | ||
| 2008 | Captain Rainbow | Birdo | Trans woman | Birdo's gender identity is explored in Captain Rainbow, which delves into her gender and how she was imprisoned for using the woman's bathroom. Birdo asks the player to find proof of her being female so she could be set free. [70] |
| Mighty Jill Off | Jill | Lesbian | Jill and her Queen's relationship are the core drive of the game, with Jill's desire to return to her Queen acting as her primary motivation, and their BDSM practices providing context for the game's difficulty. [71] The game's designer, Anna Anthropy confirmed The Queen is canonically trans on the game's itch.io page. [72] | |
| The Queen | Trans woman, lesbian | |||
| Violet | Violet | Bisexual | The player is either a man or woman and Violet is their girlfriend. [73] The player is freely able to change their gender and sex mid-game, which mostly only results in a few cosmetic changes in the dialogue. Violet serves as the game's narrator, but in fact the player character is only imagining how she would narrate. Upon gender-changing, Violet may react by saying, "I adore you either way." | |
| 2009 | League of Legends | Diana | Lesbian | As part of the Pride 2021 event celebrating LGBT Pride Month, Riot Games released the short story "Rise With Me", focusing on the backstory of Diana and Leona. The short story details how the two women fell in love and were each other's first kiss. [74] The two feature in a shared cosmetic released for the event. [75] They also feature in promotional art for Riot's 2023 [76] and 2024 [77] Pride celebrations. |
| Leona | Bisexual | |||
| Caitlyn | Lesbian | In the animated series Arcane (2021–present), which is set a few years before the events of the game, there are multiple hints that Vi and Caitlyn are attracted to each other. [78] The pair also featured together in cosmetics released for Valentines Day 2023. In promotional art for Riot Games' 2023 Pride Event, Vi is shown wearing a lesbian flag pin. [76] They also appear in promotional art for the 2024 Pride Event. [77] | ||
| Vi | Lesbian | |||
| Neeko | Lesbian | Neeko was revealed to be a lesbian by senior narrative writer Matt Dunn in 2018, making her the game's first Champion to be openly LGBTQ. [79] She has since appeared in promotional art for Riot's 2023 Pride celebrations, [76] and in promotional art, and in-game cosmetics for Riot's 2024 Pride celebrations. [77] | ||
| Rell | Bisexual or pansexual | Rell possesses in-game interactions where she expresses interest in both male and female characters. [80] She has since appeared in promotional art for Riot's 2023 [76] and 2024 [77] Pride celebrations. | ||
| Nami | Bisexual | In League of Legends spin-off game Legends of Runeterra, Nami's partners Tama (female) and Loto (male) are introduced, revealing her bisexuality and polyamory. Their relationship was later confirmed by the game's narrative lead, Meaghan Bowe. [81] Nami features in promotional art for Riot's 2023 [76] and 2024 [77] Pride celebrations. | ||
| Lee Sin | Gay | Udyr trained in Ionia with Lee Sin for a time before returning to his homeland of the Freljord. One of Udyr's alternate skins, portrays a timeline where Udyr remains in Ionia. The League of Legends development team confirmed this was because Udyr chose to stay with Lee Sin, his partner and "roommate" (a euphemism used to allude to queer couples). [82] | ||
| Udyr | Bisexual | |||
| Varus | Gay | Varus is a Darkin, a creature whose actual body is a weapon who can possess someone who attempts to wield it, and Varus himself isn't gay. However, when he attempted to possess the gay couple Valmar and Kai at the same time and fuse them together, the two hunters' love was strong enough to allow their conscience to be shared with the Darkin, with all three controlling the body. A music video titled "As We Fall" detailing this events was released in 2017. [83] | ||
| Graves | Gay | Devon Giehl, former creative designer and writer at Riot Games, revealed in 2018 that she had initially planned for Graves and Twisted Fate to have been in a relationship, [84] but the team was prevented from doing so. [85] Despite this, many former and present employees have described them as a couple. [86] Despite reports of internal censorship and push-back, the 2021 "Sentinels of Light" event did allude to Graves' relationship with Twisted Fate. [87] The pair featured heavily in Riot's 2022 Pride Event, with in-game cosmetics revealing their relationship as romantic, [88] and the two were represented in the event's promotional art. [89] During the event a story further highlighting their relationship was released. [90] Both appear in League of Legends' 2023 Pride Month key art, with both of them wearing their flags. [76] They also appear in key art for the Riot's 2024 Pride celebrations, with Twisted Fate appearing in in-game cosmetics for the event. [77] | ||
| Twisted Fate | Pansexual | |||
| K'Sante | Gay | In October 2022, it was confirmed that K'Sante was LGBTQ+ by his voice actor, DeObai Oparei. In his backstory, he has an ex named Tope. [91] [92] He also features in promotional art for Riot Games' 2023 [76] Pride celebrations. | ||
| 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors | Snake | Gay | In 2021, the game's director, Kotaro Uchikoshi, posted a Twitter poll asking if the character Snake is gay, and "Yes" won by a large margin. [93] |
| Series | Year | Title | Character(s) | Classification | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A Kiss for the Petals | 2006–2016 | All | Various girls, teachers and nurses | Lesbian | A series of adult yuri visual novels. [94] |
| Assassin's Creed | 2007 | Assassin's Creed | Abu'l Nuquod | Gay | Abu'l Nuquod, one of the assassination targets in this historically based game, is strongly implied to be gay. [95] He believes that the people hate him because he is different, is shown caressing the cheek of one of his male guards during his angry tirade and claims that he cannot serve the cause of a God who calls him an abomination. [12] |
| 2009 | Assassin's Creed II | Leonardo da Vinci | Gay | Lifelong friend of protagonist Ezio Auditore da Firenze, Leonardo da Vinci is implied to be gay, based on similar historical evidence. On one occasion, he assures Ezio that "women provide little distraction." [12] | |
| 2010 | Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood | Leonardo da Vinci | Gay | In the downloadable content The Da Vinci Disappearance, Ezio appears to know of Leonardo's romantic relationship with his pupil Salaì, stating that he approves of their relationship. [96] | |
| Salaì | |||||
| 2015 | Assassin's Creed Syndicate | Jacob Frye | Bisexual | The lead writer of the game indicated that the team explicitly avoided giving Jacob, one of the game's two protagonists, a female love interest. He also hinted that Jacob needed to "figure himself out to some degree" after his brief partnership with Maxwell Roth. [97] This led to speculation regarding Jacob's sexuality, with the official Assassin's Creed Tumblr account confirming he is canonically bisexual. [97] | |
| Ned Wynert | Trans man | Ned Wynert is a minor non-playable character (NPC) and a trans man. [98] | |||
| 2018 | Assassin's Creed Odyssey | Alexios or Kassandra | Bisexual | The player can play as either Alexios or his sister Kassandra. Throughout the game, the player can interact with many men and women romantically. This will not change or have limits based on the character picked, meaning either sibling can have romantic and sexual relationships with a person of the same and/or opposite gender throughout the game. [99] | |
| All romanceable characters | Bisexual | The player can have relations with all romanceable NPCs, regardless of which protagonist they're playing as. [100] | |||
| Gelon and Gyke | Lesbian | Gelon is a pirate the player can encounter in Phokis whose ship has disappeared, with her partner, Gyke, at the helm. She will ask the player to find them both. The ship is wrecked, with Gyke dead, by the time the player finds them, but they can return Gyke's armband to Gelon, to offer some solace. [101] | |||
| Blue Reflection | 2021 | Blue Reflection | Shirai Hinako and Shihori Sugamoto | Lesbian | After some story events, Shihori develops a one-sided crush on the protagonist Hinako. While the other girls Hinako can go on dates are generally platonic, Shihori wishes to trade swimwear and underwear with Hinako. [102] |
| Blue Reflection: Second Light | Hoshizaki Ao and various girls | The female player character is able to go on dates with other party members, all of whom are female. [103] During these dates, the player can choose platonic or flirtatious dialogue options. [104] | |||
| Rena Miyauchi and Yuki Kinjou | During the course of the story, it is revealed that prior to losing their memories and coming to the unknown school that serves as the setting for the game, Rena and Yuki were in a romantic relationship. This continues after their memories are regained - all the characters reference this relationship after this reveal, and Ao's dates with either of them past this point are platonic in nature. [105] | ||||
| Borderlands | 2009 | Borderlands | Mad Moxxi | Bisexual or pansexual | She is very open about her sexual fluidity, referencing her many male and female lovers. [106] |
| 2012 | Borderlands 2 | ||||
| Tiny Tina | Lesbian | It was confirmed by lead writer Anthony Burch on his ask.fm that she is lesbian. [107] | |||
| Axton | Bisexual | In the DLC Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep (2013), it is revealed that Axton, one of the playable characters, is bisexual. While his flirtatious lines with male characters were originally a coding error, Gearbox Studios decided to confirm his bisexuality with overt references in the DLC. [108] | |||
| Sir Hammerlock and Taggart | Gay | There is a sidequest given by Sir Hammerlock that involves finding his ex-boyfriend Taggart's audio logs on hunting for use in his almanac. [109] | |||
| Mister Torgue High-Five Flexington | Bisexual | It is alluded in Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep that Mr. Torgue is bisexual. This was confirmed via an interview. [110] | |||
| 2014 | Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel | Rose and Gabby | Lesbian | During the Recruitment Drive mission in the Triton area, a character named Rose talks about her ex Gabby. [106] | |
| Athena and Janey Springs | Lesbian | In Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel (2014) the playable character Athena and the supporting character Janey Springs are lesbian. [111] Janey repeatedly flirts with Athena, causing her to become embarrassed. Their relationship is confirmed later in a conversation where Athena implies that she "hit that" (referring to Janey) by giving a high five to Tiny Tina, even though Athena is initially defensive to talk about it. In the DLC Claptastic Voyage (2015), it is shown that Athena and Janey moved together to Hollow Point, a subterranean city on Pandora. In the episodic adventure game Tales from the Borderlands (2014), Athena and Janey are in a relationship. Depending on the player's choices, a scene may be available where Janey kisses Athena on the cheek and refers to her as her girlfriend. Later in the game, there is an unmissable scene where Athena is interrupted by a call from Janey, once again referring to her as her girlfriend. [112] | |||
| 2014 | Tales from the Borderlands | ||||
| 2019 | Borderlands 3 | FL4K | Non-binary | FL4K is shown to use gender-neutral pronouns, and has a pin on the collar of their coat that had the number 2 in binary crossed out as well as the non-binary flag colors, referencing their gender identity. [113] | |
| Wainwright Jakobs | Gay | The DLC pack Guns, Love, and Tentacles is about the marriage of Sir Hammerlock and Wainwright Jakobs. [114] | |||
| Danganronpa | 2012 | Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair | Nagito Komaeda / Servant | Gay | Most notably, during the last dialogue lines of Nagito Komaeda's fifth free time event, he attempts to confess his love to Hajime Hinata, but ends up changing his wording at the last minute. However, this is only evident in the original Japanese version of the game. [115] Near the end of Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls , there is an animated scene where Servant (Nagito Komaeda) reveals to Monaca Towa that he both loves and hates Junko Enoshima more than anyone else, however it's implicit these conflicting feelings were the result of Junko's manipulation or brainwashing, and his true feelings are that of absolute enmity towards her. [116] Besides Junko Enoshima, he displays no interest in the girls, not even being flustered when he falls directly under Mikan Tsumiki's skirt in the OVA special, [117] in which it's stated he only has bad luck instead of his regular bad luck-good luck cycle, implying that this is a bad-luck scenario for him. |
| Teruteru Hanamura | Bisexual | Teruteru makes several suggestive comments about the bodies of both his male and female classmates and his interest in them, stating that "[m]y tastes are pretty open." During the last of his free time events with Hajime Hinata, he questions whether Hajime has "awakened" yet before attempting to drug him. [118] | |||
| 2017 | Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony | Shuichi Saihara | Bisexual | During his Love Suite events, Shuichi explicitly engages in romantic and sexual scenarios with both male and female partners. During his Free Time Events with Kaito Momota, Shuichi states that "only someone like him could tell me what I need to hear" before becoming flustered over having romantic thoughts about him. [119] | |
| Tenko Chabashira | Lesbian | In the character's official English profile, it is stated that compliments from women will "make her heart aflutter", whereas the same compliments from men will result in them "getting thrown across the room". [120] | |||
| Kokichi Oma | Pansexual or bisexual | Kokichi tends to display romantic dialogues with many different characters in both canonical and bonus modes, showing no gender differences as he does so. He seems to have fun calling Miu Iruma sexual names, and had more or less joked about having a crush on Himiko Yumeno in Chapters 2 and 5. He expresses romantic interest towards Shuichi, claiming his objective during their Free Time events was to "steal [his] heart". [121] When Shuichi leaves the Neo World Program after refusing Kokichi's attempts to cooperate, Kokichi mutters to himself that he won't give up, because he found "someone he came to like". During the pair's Love Suite event, Shuichi himself notes that he's not a different person in Kokichi's ideal lover fantasy. [122] Kokichi has also shown interest in Kaede Akamatsu, often flirting with her and claiming he thought "they were of one heart and soul". [123] He says he "really cares about" Kaede and states that "he was thinking about her the whole time". He offers Kaede to join his criminal organization, as he apparently wishes to "rule the world and set it on fire with her". [124] After witnessing her death, he called her his "beloved Kaede". | |||
| Darkstalkers | 1994 | First appearance: Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors See also Morrigan Aensland § Appearances. | Morrigan Aensland | Bisexual | Morrigan is bisexual. [2] |
| Dishonored | 2016 | Dishonored 2 | Aramis Stilton | Gay | Aramis Stilton is a possible ally in Dishonored 2. His relationship with the previous Duke of Serkonas, Theodanis, is referenced throughout the game as being particularly close, and he was confirmed to be "openly gay" by director Harvey Smith on stream; with Theodanis being described as "his one true love". [125] |
| Mindy Blanchard | Transgender woman | Mindy is a recurring character in Dishonored 2 who can act as either an ally or antagonist to the player depending on their actions. A number of interactions in game hint at her being transgender, with the game's director, Harvey Smith, later confirming it on stream after players picked up on the clues. [125] | |||
| 2017 | Dishonored: Death of the Outsider | Billie Lurk / Meagan Foster | Bisexual | Billie first appears in the DLC for the original Dishonored before appearing as Meagan in the sequel, and finally being the player character in Death of the Outsider. In her second appearance, as 'Meagan Foster' she reveals through some of her audio logs, that she is bisexual, heard stating she has "loved many women, and even a couple of men". [126] |
| Series | Year | Title | Character(s) | Classification | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fallout | 1998 | Fallout 2 | Player character | Lesbian, gay, or bisexual | The player character can be either male or female. Miria and Davin are siblings that the player may have sex with and marry one of them, regardless of their gender. [127] The ability to marry either Miria or Davin irrespective of the player's gender marks Fallout 2 as the first game to feature a same-sex marriage. [128] [129] The player character can also have sex with Leslie Anne Bishop regardless of gender. |
| Miria | Bisexual woman | ||||
| Davin | Bisexual man | ||||
| Leslie Anne Bishop | Bisexual woman | ||||
| 2010 | Fallout: New Vegas | Courier | Straight, gay, lesbian, or bisexual (optional) | The main character, the unnamed Courier, can be chosen as male, with the perk (character trait) Confirmed Bachelor, giving him several advantages with other gay male NPCs (and, following the stereotype of gay people as more understanding and perceptive about emotions, grant him the ability to better understand the plight of the otherwise mute companion Christine). This perk has a female equivalent, the Cherchez la femme perk. Additionally, the male Courier can pick both Lady Killer (the "straight" perk) and Confirmed Bachelor, making them optionally bisexual, as with the female Courier with Black Widow and Cherchez la femme. According to Josh Sawyer, he was the one who came up with this implementation. [130] | |
| Arcade Gannon | Gay | Arcade Gannon is openly gay, briefly discussing his orientation. [131] | |||
| Veronica Santangelo | Lesbian | Veronica is an open lesbian. If asked about her past she will tell of a romance with fellow Brotherhood of Steel member Christine Royce. However, this relationship was frowned on and the two were separated. She will also lightly flirt with a female Courier and gently turn down potential flirtations from a male. | |||
| Rose of Sharon Cassidy | Queer [132] | Cassidy treats sex very casually and will often sleep with men who take her fancy. If flirted with by a female Courier, she will admit that, if drunk enough, she may be willing to share her bed with a woman, and though it isn't her preference, she has no problems with people who are homosexual. | |||
| Corporal Betsy | Lesbian | Another NPC, Corporal Betsy, a sharpshooter for the NCR, is openly gay and will flirt with a female Courier that has high enough charisma. [132] | |||
| 2015 | Fallout 4 | Sole Survivor | Bisexual (optional) | The player character, "Sole Survivor", starts off in a relationship with a wife (if the player chooses to be male) or a husband (if the player chooses to be female). Showing the primary character is at least straight, however, the "Sole Survivor" can romance their companions, regardless of their sex. [133] | |
| Final Fantasy | 2000 | Final Fantasy IX | Quina Quen | Agender or genderqueer or non-binary | Quina Quen is a non-human playable character. [134] Quina is referred to with non-gendered terms in the Japanese version. In the English version, Quina is referred to using the pronouns "his" and "him," but also by "s/he". [135] During gameplay, Quina cannot equip woman-only items, and is not affected by Zidane's "Protect Girls" ability. [134] |
| 2020 | Final Fantasy VII Remake | Andrea Rhodea | Queer | Andrea Rhodea, the owner of the Honeybee Inn in Midgar's red light district, is presented as a character who does not conform to gender norms. [136] | |
| 2023 | Final Fantasy XVI | Dion Lesage | Gay | Dion Lesage is the leader of the Holy Order of The Knights Dragoon, and his lover is his second-in-command Sir Terrance. [137] | |
| Sir Terrance | |||||
| Unnamed soldier and his lover | An unnamed male non-player character is in a romantic relationship with another man. [137] | ||||
| Final Fight and Street Fighter | 1989 | First appearance: Final Fight | Poison | Trans woman | Poison is introduced in Final Fight (1989), where she is either a pre-op or post-op trans woman, depending on the region where the game was released. [138] [139] [140] [141] One of Poison's win quotes, "Being gossiped about is proof of my popularity!" seemingly alludes to the controversy and ambiguity surrounding her gender identity. [142] [143] [144] [145] |
| 2023 | Street Fighter 6 | Marisa | Bisexual | Marisa is the first openly bisexual and polyamorous playable character in the series. [146] | |
| Eternity | Non-binary | Eternity is the emcee of Battle Hub mode, and not a playable character. [147] | |||
| Fire Emblem | 2003 | Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade | Limstella | Non-binary | They are a genderless, non-human character, and use they/them pronouns in the English version of Fire Emblem Heroes. [148] |
| 2007 | Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn | Heather | Lesbian | Heather is a character that the player can get on their team. She is implied to be a lesbian and claims to have joined the army to "meet cute girls". [149] | |
| 2016 | Fire Emblem Fates | Soleil | Lesbian or bisexual or sexually fluid | Soleil is romantically interested in women, and gets so nervous and weak-kneed around women she finds attractive that she comes off as strange to them or falls over. She talks to the (male) protagonist about wanting to overcome her fearfulness, and the protagonist spikes her drink with a substance that makes her see men as women and vice versa to try and give her a chance to practice interacting with women. She falls in love with the protagonist while under the influence of the substance, and remains in love with him as a man after the effect wears off. [150] This plot was considered controversial, with some comparing it to gay conversion therapy. [150] [151] In response, Nintendo removed parts of it from the North American and European versions of the game. [151] | |
| Niles | Bisexual | A character available on the Conquest and Revelation routes, he is the only male character that the player can S-Rank (a rank that enters the two characters into a romantic relationship) if their avatar character (whose default name is Corrin) is also male. [152] | |||
| Rhajat | Bisexual | Available only if Hayato marries someone on the Birthright or Revelation routes, she is the only same-sex romantic option the female player character has. She is based on a character introduced in Fire Emblem Awakening called Tharja who also expressed romantic interest in the player character of that game, but the avatar could only ever romance her as a male. [152] | |||
| Player character | Bisexual | They can romance Niles and Rhajat (who are bisexual characters) regardless of the gender the player assigns them. | |||
| 2017 | Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia | Leon | Gay | Leon asks Kamui if he wants to be hit on by Leon. Leon then states that Kamui is not his type and confesses his love to another male comrade, Valbar. [152] He also describes his past lover as a man. | |
| 2019 | Fire Emblem: Three Houses | Byleth Eisner | Bisexual | Byleth, the player character of the game, can be male or female. Only some of Byleth's romance options are same-gender. The women that female Byleth can marry are Edelgard, Dorothea, Mercedes, Rhea, and Sothis. The men that male Byleth can marry are Lindhardt, Jeritza, and Yuri. [153] | |
| Edelgard von Hresvelg | |||||
| Mercedes von Martrtiz | |||||
| Rhea | |||||
| Sothis | |||||
| Linhardt von Hevring | |||||
| Dorothea Arnault | In addition to being able to marry Byleth regardless of gender, she also mentions in conversation that she'd love to have either a husband or wife. [154] | ||||
| Jeritza von Hrym | Only able to be recruited on the Crimson Flower route. While he was present in the game at launch, he was unable to be recruited until the game's Version 1.1.0 update. He can marry Byleth regardless of their gender. [155] | ||||
| Yuri Leclerc | Leader of the Ashen Wolves house, and only available if the Cindered Shadows DLC has been purchased. He can marry Byleth regardless of their gender. [156] | ||||
| 2023 | Fire Emblem Engage | Player character | Bisexual | The player character can give anyone recruited into their army the Pact Ring if they have an A support with them. In the Japanese version of the game, the player character enters a relationship with the chosen character in the ensuing conversation (excluding their sister), but in the game's English release, several of these interactions were made platonic in nature. [157] [158] | |
| Various characters | |||||
| Grand Theft Auto | 2005 | Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories | Reni Wassulmaier | Genderqueer | Reni Wassulmaier is an adult film director. She is assigned female at birth. She undergoes four sex surgeries: female-to-male, then male-to-female, then female-to-male again, then male-to-female again. She is introduced in Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (2005), as a female radio DJ. In between songs, she drops hints about previously being male. [159] |
| 2006 | Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories | In the prequel Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (2006), set 14 years before, she already had the first three sex changes and the objective for one mission, titled "So Long Schlong", is to take Reni to the hospital for her fourth sex change. [159] | |||
| 2009 | Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony | "Gay Tony" Tony Prince | Gay [8] | ||
| 2013 | Grand Theft Auto V | Trevor Philips | Pansexual | The character's motion capture actor stated that "If [Trevor is] attracted to someone or something, he'll have sex with that, be it an object or a woman or man." [160] |
| Series | Year | Title | Character(s) | Classification | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The King of Fighters | 1994 | First appearance: The King of Fighters '94 | Mature | Bisexual | Mature, one of the series' recurring characters, is confirmed to be bisexual. [161] |
| Life is Strange | 2015 | Life is Strange | Max Caulfield | Bisexual | Life Is Strange is experienced from Max's perspective. The development of Max and Chloe's relationship is the main plot of the game, and they can end up romantically. At different points in the game, Max may have the choice to kiss her male friend, Warren (who has a crush on Max) and/or Chloe. If she kisses both of them she regards them as two people she truly cares about. [162] |
| Chloe Price | Sapphic | She mentions being in love with Rachel and can be in a romantic relationship with Max. [162] However, she also mentions having a "boy toy phase", has condoms in her wallet and flirts with Mark Jefferson. Chloe's sexuality was never confirmed. [163] | |||
| 2017 | Life is Strange: Before the Storm | In Before the Storm Chloe has the choice to kiss Rachel, whom she admits to a crush on in the original game, and, despite previous relations with a boy named Elliot, makes references to how Rachel "saved her" from boys. [164] | |||
| Rachel Amber | Bisexual | Depending on the player's actions, Rachel may open up and reveal that she reciprocates Chloe's romantic feelings and may even kiss her later on. She is shown to be romantically attracted to Chloe, and has had relationships with Mark Jefferson and Frank Bowers. [162] | |||
| Steph Gingrich | Lesbian | Steph has a crush on Rachel and can mention it to Chloe in episode 2. Her voice actress, Katy Bentz, later confirmed during a Reddit AMA that Steph is a lesbian. [165] | |||
| 2018 | Life is Strange 2 | Sean Diaz | Bisexual | During Episode 3 "Wastelands" Sean is able to pursue either Cassidy or Finn romantically. If Sean begins a relationship with either of them, they can be seen with Sean in the "Parting Ways" ending. [162] | |
| Finn McNamara | Pansexual | Players meet Finn during Episode 3, with interactions with him making implying his attraction to Sean, and the two can become romantically involved. [162] | |||
| Jacob "Jake" Hackerman | Gay | During Episode 3, Jake is met by Sean and Daniel Diaz at a campsite in Humboldt County, California. It is later revealed in Episode 4 that he is gay, and his old community had been putting him through gay conversion therapy, before subsequently kicking him out. [162] | |||
| Penny | Gay or bisexual | Penny mentions the disappearance of Arthur "Jinx" Lee, a man he met and fell in love with. [162] | |||
| Arthur and Stanley Petersen | Gay | Arthur and Stanley are a married couple who Sean and Daniel meet in episode 5. [162] | |||
| 2021 | Life is Strange: True Colors | Alex Chen | Bisexual | Alex is canonically bisexual and is able to enter a romantic relationship with Steph Gingrich or Ryan Lucan. [166] | |
| Magic: The Gathering | 2015 | Magic Duels | Aetherborn | Non-binary | The Aetherborn are a short lived genderless species born from the process of producing an energy source called Aether. Some Aetherborn, like Yahenni, and Gonti, take on genders and pronouns during their lives. [167] |
| Gonti | Transmaculine | ||||
| Yahenni | Transfeminine | ||||
| Chandra Nalaar | Bisexual | Nissa and Chandra are in a relationship. Chandra has also previously expressed attraction to the knight, Adeline. Their relationship was implied in stories released since at least 2016, and was confirmed in the March of the Machine story. [168] They were also featured in an in-universe Pride Parade on the plane of Kaladesh for Magic's 2022 Pride celebrations. [169] | |||
| Nissa Revane | Lesbian | ||||
| Oviya Pashiri | Lesbian | Oviya is an artificer on the plane of Kaladesh, working with the city's rebels after the death of her wife. [170] | |||
| Saheeli Rai | Lesbian | Saheeli is an artificer from the plane of Kaladesh. She is in a relationship with fellow former Planeswalker Huatli. Their relationship was confirmed with the story "Note For a Stranger" released alongside Magic's 2022 Pride celebrations, which tells the story of their first date. [171] They are also pictured embracing on one of the cards released for that event, [169] and have had their relationship reinforced on cards released since. | |||
| 2019 | Magic: The Gathering Arena | Adeline | Lesbian | Adeline is a knight from the plane of Innistrad who shared a short-lived relationship with Chandra during their time together. [172] | |
| Alesha | Trans woman | Alesha is a warrior from the plane of Tarkir. Among her people names are earned in glory and battle. At the age of 16 she earned her name and chose the name Alesha, after her grandmother. [173] She is also featured in a card for Magic's 2022 Pride celebrations. [169] | |||
| Alora | Aromantic and asexual | Alora is a halfling companion from the game Baldur's Gate, who was later featured on a card in the Magic: The Gathering set "Battle for Baldur's Gate". Her sexuality was confirmed by the set's narrative lead, Justice Geddes. [174] | |||
| Ashiok | Non-binary | Ashiok is a Nightmare, capable of controlling and wielding dreams. Their gender is officially unspecified, if it's even known at all. [175] [176] | |||
| Astarion Ancunín | Pansexual | Astarion is a half-elf vampire rogue companion from the game Baldur's Gate 3 who is also featured on a card in the Magic: The Gathering set "Battle for Baldur's Gate". His sexuality was confirmed by the set's narrative lead, Justice Geddes. [174] | |||
| Delney | Non-binary | Delney is a Ravnican youth occasionally working with the city's detectives. They use they/them pronouns. [177] [178] | |||
| Errant | Lesbian | Errant is a graffiti artist working for the Maestros on the plane of New Capenna, alongside her wife, Parnesse. [179] | |||
| Falkenrath Celebrants | Lesbian | An unnamed vampire couple attending the wedding of Edgar Markov and Olivia Voldaren. [180] [181] | |||
| Fleeting Spirit | Gay | After his partner cheated on and killed him, the cathar returned from the grave to take revenge on his former lover. [182] | |||
| Gale Dekarios | Pansexual | Gale is a human wizard companion from the game Baldur's Gate 3 who is also featured on a card in the Magic: The Gathering set "Battle for Baldur's Gate". His sexuality was confirmed by the set's narrative lead, Justice Geddes. [174] | |||
| Haktos | Gay | Haktos is a warrior from the plane of Theros. His 'lifelong partner', Perynes, is mentioned in Dungeons and Dragons source book "Mythic Odysseys of Theros", with the two being inspired by Achilles and Patroclus. [183] | |||
| Halana and Alena | Lesbian | Halana and Alena are rangers from the plane of Innistrad, and partners in both life and work. Their relationship was confirmed in their first appearances in the 2020 Commander set. [184] | |||
| Hallar | Non-binary | Hallar is an elf from the plane of Dominaria. Hallar uses genderless elvish pronouns, and is referred to by they/them pronouns in English. [185] | |||
| Heiko Yamazaki | Lesbian | Heiko is a samurai from the plane of Kamigawa. After an incident in her youth that left her cousin injured, she shunned her Imperial heritage and joined the anti-imperial 'Uprisers', where she met and fell in love with her partner, Chiye. [186] | |||
| Huatli | Lesbian | Huatli is a warrior poet from the plane of Ixalan. She is in a relationship with fellow former Planeswalker Saheeli Rai. Their relationship was confirmed with the story "Note For a Stranger" released alongside Magic's 2022 Pride celebrations, which tells the story of their first date. [171] They are pictured embracing on one of the cards released for that event, and have had their relationship reinforced on cards released since. [169] | |||
| Karlach Cliffgate | Pansexual | Karlach is a tiefling barbarian companion from the game Baldur's Gate 3 who is also featured on a card in the Magic: The Gathering set "Battle for Baldur's Gate". Her sexuality was confirmed by the set's narrative lead, Justice Geddes. [174] She is also played by non-binary actor, Samantha Béart. [187] | |||
| Klement | Gay Trans man | Klement is a tiefling cleric from Baldur's Gate, who is represented on a card in the Arena exclusive set "Alchemy Horizons: Baldur's Gate". He was designed by the set's narrative lead, Justice Geddes, who confirmed his identity. [188] | |||
| Korlessa | Lesbian | Korlessa is a dragonborn bard from Baldur's Gate, represented by a card in the set "Battle for Baldur's Gate". Her sexuality was confirmed by the set's narrative lead, Justice Geddes. [174] | |||
| Lae'Zel | Pansexual | Lae'Zel is a githyanki fighter companion from the game Baldur's Gate 3 who is also featured on a card in the Magic: The Gathering set "Battle for Baldur's Gate". Her sexuality was confirmed by the set's narrative lead, Justice Geddes. [174] | |||
| Lukamina | Lesbian | Lukamina is a human druid from Baldur's Gate, who is represented on a card in the Arena exclusive set "Alchemy Horizons: Baldur's Gate". She was designed by the set's narrative lead, Justice Geddes, who confirmed her sexuality. [189] | |||
| Minthara Baenre | Pansexual | Minthara is a drow paladin companion from the game Baldur's Gate 3 who is also featured on a card in the Magic: The Gathering set "Battle for Baldur's Gate". Her sexuality was confirmed by the set's narrative lead, Justice Geddes. [174] | |||
| Myrel | Non-binary | Myrel is a soldier from the plane of Dominaria. They use they/them pronouns. [190] | |||
| Nassari | Non-binary | Nassari is an efreet shaman from the plane of Arcavios. They use they/them pronouns. [191] | |||
| Niko Aris | Non-binary | Niko is a mage and athlete from the plane of Theros. They use they/them pronouns. [192] [193] They also feature on a card in Magic's 2022 Pride Celebrations. [169] | |||
| Oji | Non-binary | Oji is a monk from Baldur's Gate. They are represented on a card in the set "Battle For Baldur's Gate". Their identity and pronouns were confirmed by the set's narrative lead, Justice Geddes. [174] | |||
| Ral Zarek | Gay | Ral and Tomik are acting guild-masters for competing guilds on the plane of Ravnica. They opted to keep their relationship hidden to stave off accusations of conflicting interests, but their close relationship proved vital in uniting the guilds against a common threat. [194] Once their relationship was exposed, the two married publicly, with their marriage featured on a card in Magic's 2022 Pride Celebrations. [169] | |||
| Tomik Vrona | |||||
| Rocco | Non-binary | Rocco is an elven chef for the Cabaretti on the plane of New Capenna. They use they/them pronouns. [195] | |||
| Secret Rendezvous | Lesbian | The card depicts two students from rival colleges stealing away a moment alone together. [196] | |||
| Shadowheart | Pansexual | Shadowheart is a half-elven cleric companion from the game Baldur's Gate 3 who is also featured on a card in the Magic: The Gathering set "Battle for Baldur's Gate". Her sexuality was confirmed by the set's narrative lead, Justice Geddes. [174] She is also played by lesbian actress, Jennifer English. [197] | |||
| Syr Joshua | Gay | Syr Joshua and Syr Saxon are a human knight couple from Eldraine. The two live and fight together, even while under the influence of the mind controlling curse the 'Wicked Slumber'. [198] | |||
| Syr Saxon | |||||
| Talion | Non-binary | Talion is a faerie lord from the plane of Eldraine. They use they/them pronouns. [199] | |||
| The Scholar & The Knight | Lesbian | A couple from an Eldraine fairy tale of the same name. [200] | |||
| Vadrik | Gay | Vadrik is a wizard and astronomer from the plane of Innistrad. His husband is a man named Hailin. [201] | |||
| Vladimir and Godfrey | Gay | Vladimir and Godfrey were knights and lovers, until Godfrey was killed by a vampire lord. The rage at losing Godfrey caused Vladimir to become a revenant, lashing out at the one who took his partner. The couple originate from the Dungeons and Dragons Campaign Curse of Strahd. [202] The two are depicted on a shared card in the Arena exclusive set "Alchemy Horizons: Baldur's Gate". | |||
| Will Kenrith | Bisexual | Will is a wizard from the plane of Eldraine. Throughout the 'Throne of Eldraine' novel, and the Magic: The Gathering stories, he is repeatedly shown and stated to have crushes on various characters, both male and female, including his childhood friends, Cerise and Titus. [199] He was also featured on the official Magic The Gathering Pride 2023 playmat. [203] | |||
| Wyll Ravengard | Pansexual | Wyll is a human warlock companion from the game Baldur's Gate 3 who is also featured on a card in the Magic: The Gathering set "Battle for Baldur's Gate". His sexuality was confirmed by the set's narrative lead, Justice Geddes. [174] | |||
| Yuma | Trans man | Yuma is a human ranger, originally from New Capenna. As a small-time gangster Yuma raised enough to medically transition, but eventually he and his gang became overwhelmed with debt. To escape, he fled to the plane of Thunder Junction with the gang's remaining gold, where he found a new life caring for an orphaned cactusfolk, a sentient plant creature native to the plane. His identity is confirmed in his cover story, [204] and by the game's head designer, Mark Rosewater. [205] | |||
| Mario | 1985 | Super Mario Bros. | Toad | Agender | In a 2014 interview with Shigeru Miyamoto, he revealed that Toads were designed without a specific gender in mind. [206] Nintendo director Koichi Hayashida who produced Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker , explained that the appearance of a Toad does not represent his gender, stating that it has never been decided what gender could be associated with any Toad. [206] He clarifies later that the gender of the Toads will remain a mystery. [207] |
| 1988 | Super Mario Bros. 2 | Birdo | Trans woman | In the first-edition manual for the North American release of the game, Birdo is referred to as a "male who believes that he is a female" and would rather be called "Birdetta", making her the first transgender character for Nintendo. [208] [209] In the Japanese version, Birdo is referred as "Catherine" where it is also stated that the character is a man who wishes to be a woman. [210] In later printings, mention of Birdo being male was omitted, and further not included in most later games with the character. [208] | |
| 2004 | Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door | Vivian | Trans woman | In the original Japanese version, Vivian is a transgender woman. When Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door was localized to English and German, Vivian's status as a trans woman was not mentioned. In non-English/German localizations of the game, Vivian is still recognized as transgender. In the remake's English localization, she is presented as a transgender woman. [211] [212] | |
| Mass Effect | 2007 | Mass Effect | Commander Shepard | Lesbian or bisexual | Commander Shepard is the main character in Mass Effect, and the player may choose to play as either male or female. A female Commander Shepard has two possible love interests; the male human Kaidan Alenko, and the female appearing asari Liara T'Soni. Shepard may also optionally have a sexual encounter with the Asari Consort as a reward for completing their side quest. [213] |
| Liara T'Soni | Genderqueer and pansexual | Dr. Liara T'Soni is an Asari, a single gendered species that has traditionally feminine traits but reproduces by means other than sexual reproduction. There is an option for a subplot romance and sexual encounter with her, regardless of the gender of Commander Shepard, the player character. [213] | |||
| 2010 | Mass Effect 2 | Samara and Morinth | Genderqueer and pansexual | Commander Shepard, regardless of their own gender, can attempt to romance Samara and Morinth, who are both asari. [214] | |
| Jack | Pansexual | The developers intended for Jack to be pansexual, but removed the ability for a female Shepard to romance her due to the first game's alleged obscenity controversy. [215] [216] References to her sexuality remain in the game. [215] [216] | |||
| 2012 | Mass Effect 3 | Kaidan Alenko, Kelly Chambers, and Diana Allers, Liara T'Soni and Samara | Bisexual | Five characters express romantic interest in the player character Shepard, regardless of their gender. [217] | |
| Samantha Traynor | Lesbian | Specialist Samantha Traynor and Lieutenant Steve Cortez are only interested in Shepard if they are of the same gender. [218] | |||
| Steve Cortez | Gay | ||||
| 2017 | Mass Effect: Andromeda | Pelessaria "Peebee" B'Sayle, Keri, Vetra Nyx, and Reyes Vidal | Bisexual | Pathfinder Ryder is able to romance these characters, regardless of their gender. [219] | |
| Jaal Ama Darav | Jaal was added as a romance option for the male protagonist in an update to the game after community feedback. [220] | ||||
| Suvi Anwar | Lesbian | A female Pathfinder Ryder can also have a lesbian relationship with the ship's science officer Dr. Suvi Anwar and a male Pathfinder Ryder can have a gay relationship with the ship's engineer Gil Brodie. [219] | |||
| Gil Brodie | Gay | ||||
| Hainly Abrams | Trans woman | When the game initially released, Abrams would readily inform the player that she is transgender and the masculine name she was given at birth. She tells the player that she left the Milky Way galaxy searching for greater acceptance of her gender identity. The abruptness with which she shares this information received criticism from fans, and the game was later patched so that Abrams would only reveal this information if the player developed a supportive relationship with her. [221] | |||
| Metal Gear | 2001 | Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty | Vamp | Bisexual man | Vamp is bisexual and his name refers to his sexual orientation. [222] He was the lover of Scott Dolph, a Navy commander. [223] |
| Scott Dolph | |||||
| 2004 | Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater | Major Raikov | Gay | Major Raikov had no interest in women. However, Major Raikov and Volgin are in a relationship. [224] | |
| Volgin | Bisexual man | ||||
| 2010 | Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker | Dr. Strangelove | Bisexual | Dr. Strangelove is in love with The Boss. As her nickname implies, she had "a strange love". This is a reference to her sexuality.[ citation needed ] | |
| Mortal Kombat | 2015 | Mortal Kombat X | Kung Jin | Gay | In a conversation with Raiden, Kung Jin is afraid of the Shaolin not accepting him, with Raiden encouraging him that they "care only about what is in [his] heart. Not whom [his] heart desires." After speculation by fans of Kung Jin's sexuality, the game's cinematic director confirmed that the new kombatant is indeed gay. [225] |
| 2019 | Mortal Kombat 11 | Mileena, Tanya | Bisexual | Once Mileena's Tower Kombat is complete, her ending shows her and Tanya in a relationship feeding their newborn baby human flesh. This ends years of speculation on their sexuality. [226] | |
| 2023 | Mortal Kombat 1 | Following a reset of the series timeline, Mileena and Tanya are once again romantically involved, though their relationship remains secret for political reasons, with the two hoping this can change once Mileena becomes Empress of Outworld. [227] | |||
| Nurse Love | 2011 | Nurse Love Syndrome | Various girls | Lesbian | These are yuri games centered around lesbian nursing school students. [228] [229] |
| 2015 | Nurse Love Addiction |
| Series | Year | Title | Character(s) | Classification | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Persona | 1999 | Persona 2: Innocent Sin | Tatsuya Suou | Bisexual man | Tatsuya is the game's protagonist who attends the prestigious Seven Sisters school. Jun is a Kasugayama student and Tatsuya's childhood best friend, who plays a major role in Innocent Sin as a late party member. Jun is heavily implied to have romantic feelings towards Tatsuya throughout the game and his sexuality is confirmed by a demon contact in-game. [230] Players can choose to have Tatsuya and Jun enter a relationship which is treated as them being lovers. [231] Tatsuya's attraction to both sexes is also implied, regardless of which character is romanced. [230] |
| Jun Kurosu | Gay | ||||
| Anna Yoshizaka | Lesbian | Anna is a former star athlete and drop-out student from Seven Sisters High. She is implied to hold romantic feelings towards the party member Yukino Mayuzumi. In the official novel where Anna retells the events of Innocent Sin as the protagonist, she confesses her one-sided feelings with the quote "I love you, and am captive to your beautiful face." referencing the poem Der Erlkönig by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. [230] | |||
| Sumaru Genie | Intersex [230] | ||||
| 2000 | Persona 2: Eternal Punishment | Jun Kashihara | Gay | Jun and Tatsuya from Persona 2: Innocent Sin (1999) reappeared in this game, with the former having a minor role. [231] | |
| Tatsuya Suou | Bisexual man | ||||
| Anna and Noriko | Lesbian | Anna reappears in this game. [230] | |||
| Sumaru Genie | Intersex | Sumaru Genie reappears in this game. [230] | |||
| 2006 | Persona 3 | "Beautiful Lady" | Transgender woman | In Persona 3, several main characters flirt with a woman, and then misgender her when they realize she is transgender. In the 2024 remake Persona 3 Reload , there is no reference to her being transgender, and they find her strange because she is a conspiracy theorist. [232] | |
| 2009 | Persona 3 Portable | Aigis | Bisexual | Aigis shows romantic interest in both the male and female protagonists of the game from her level 8 Social Link onward. [233] Her dialogue in the Social Links remains largely unchanged regardless of the gender the player chooses, though Aigis’ dialogue when reaching level 8 and 9 include her worrying over whether her feelings for the female protagonist are appropriate due to not being male. [234] [235] [236] [237] | |
| Female Protagonist | The player has the option to romance various male characters if they're playing as the female protagonist by increasing their Social Link's level high enough. [233] They can also romance Aigis this way, though as is also the case in the male protagonist's route, they aren't given an option to decline. [236] [237] | ||||
| Ryoji Mochizuki | During his level 4 Social Link, Ryoji states he would still like the protagonist, “no matter if [they] were a guy or a girl”, though only the female protagonist is able to level up his Social Link and romance him due to the Fortune Arcana instead being tied to Keisuke Hiraga in the male protagonist's route. [238] [239] In Persona 3 Reload, Ryoji was given Linked Episodes where, on the fourth, he admits he wants to be “something more” than a friend to the protagonist (now exclusively male), though he's interrupted before he could elaborate. [240] | ||||
| 2016 | Persona 5 | "Scruffy Romantic" Angel | Gay | Persona 5 includes comedic scenes where two gay men sexually harass a teenager. [241] Some versions of Persona 5 Royal altered the scenes to have the men be drag queens mistaking him for a newcomer to the scene. | |
| "Beefy Trendsetter" Julian | |||||
| Joker | Bisexual | Joker is the protagonist of Persona 5. In Persona 5, he only has the option to date female characters. In Persona 5 Tactica, Joker is asked who he would eventually want to marry, with the player allowed to pick a male character. [242] | |||
| 2023 | Persona 5 Tactica | ||||
| Story of Seasons | 2020 | Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town | Playable character and all romanceable characters | Bisexual (except in the Japanese version) | In the Japanese version, the "Best Friends" system allows the player character to "form a lifelong partnership with a character of the same sex." [243] In the North American and European versions, the player character can marry characters of the same gender, and unique dialogue lines are added to acknowledge it as a same-gender relationship. [244] |
| 2023 | Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life | Player character | Non-binary (optional), bisexual | The player character can use he/him, she/her, or they/them pronouns, and there are no gender restrictions on the player character's appearance or clothing. [245] | |
| All romanceable characters | Bisexual | The player character can romance any romanceable character with no gender-based restrictions. [245] | |||
| Tekken | 1994 | Tekken 6 , Tekken Tag Tournament 2 , Tekken 7 | Leo Kliesen | Genderqueer | Leo's gender is deliberately ambiguous.[ citation needed ] |
| Trails | 2022 | Trails Through Daybreak II | Quatre Salision | Genderqueer, Bisexual | Quatre identifies as male despite being born genderless as a result of experiments. He is still exploring his gender and has been shown to have explicit attraction to both men and women, as shown in one of his connect events. [246] |
| Watch Dogs | 2016 | Watch Dogs 2 | Miranda Comay | Trans woman | Miranda Comay is a city councilwoman of San Francisco, a long time friend of protagonist Marcus Holloway and his family, and a transgender woman. [247] |
| 2022 | Watch Dogs: Legion | Various procedurally-generated playable characters and NPCs | Various LGBTQ+ identities | The procedural generation that generates Legion's characters includes many options for their sexualities and genders, giving them same-gender significant others or assigning them sexualities outright in their "metadata" section. [248] | |
| Xenoblade Chronicles | 2017 | Xenoblade Chronicles 2 | Roc | Nonbinary | Despite being referred to with male pronouns, his character status screen does not categorize him as male or female, using a different category entirely. [249] He is also not eligible for in game missions that require a male character.[ citation needed ] |
| 2022 | Xenoblade Chronicles 3 | Juniper | Non-binary [250] [251] [252] | The English localization of the game uses "they/them" pronouns when referring to Juniper. In other languages, the game refers to Juniper with non-gendered pronouns, a mix of pronouns, or no pronouns. Within the game's data, Juniper's internal gender value is set as "2", while every other character is set as a "0" (male), or a "1" (female). They are voiced in English by nonbinary actor Lilly Hart. | |
| A | Genderqueer [251] [252] [253] | Featured in the Future Redeemed DLC expansion. The English localization does not refer to A by any pronouns, while the Japanese release uses masculine pronouns despite the character's feminine appearance. When Shulk inquires about A's more feminine appearance compared to that of Alvis, the character's previous more masculine form, Rex comments "Logos was the male persona. And Pneuma the female one. Ontos [as the third being that makes up the Trinity Processor] was meant to stand somewhere in between." |
GLAAD is an American non-governmental media monitoring organization. Originally founded as a protest against defamatory coverage of gay and lesbian demographics and their portrayals in the media and entertainment industries, it has since expanded to queer, bisexual, and transgender people.
Queerbaiting is a marketing technique for fiction and entertainment in which creators hint at, but do not depict, same-sex romance or other LGBTQ+ representation. The purpose of this method is to attract ("bait") a queer or straight ally audience with the suggestion or possibility of relationships or characters that appeal to them, while not alienating homophobic members of the audience or censors by actually portraying queer relationships.
Jeremy Crawford is a game designer who has worked primarily on role-playing games. He was the Lead Rules Designer for the 4th Edition of Wizards of the Coast's tabletop role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons, and one of the Lead Designers of Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition.
Netflix has contributed substantially to LGBTQ representation in animation. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, asexual and transgender characters have appeared in various animated series, and some animated films, on the streaming platform. GLAAD described Netflix as a company taking "impressive strides in viewership and impact," when it came to LGBTQ representation. Scholars have stated that LGBTQ characters on streaming services, such as Netflix, "made more displays of affection" than on broadcast networks.
Cartoon Network, an American TV channel which launched in 1992, and Adult Swim, its adult-oriented nighttime programming block which launched in 2001, has regularly featured lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) characters in its programming.
Gayming Magazine is a British online LGBTQ video gaming magazine. The first video gaming website dedicated to the LGBTQ community, the site was launched in June 2019 with the aim of connecting the LGBTQ and video gaming communities, and has launched virtual Pride events. In 2021, the magazine hosted the world's first LGBTQ+ gaming awards ceremony, Gayming Awards. Its editor-in-chief is Aimee Hart.
This article features the history of the representation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) characters in animated productions under The Walt Disney Company, including films from the studios Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar, and programming from the Disney Branded Television channels as well as the streaming service Disney+. From 1983 onward, Disney struggled with LGBTQ representation in their animated series, and their content often included LGBTQ stereotypes or the content was censored in series which aired on Toon Disney such as Blazing Dragons. Some creators have also criticized Disney studio executives of cutting LGBTQ scenes from their shows in the past, or criticized that their shows were not seen as part of the "Disney brand", like The Owl House.
Thirsty Sword Lesbians is a narrative-focused tabletop role-playing game that emphasizes telling "melodramatic and queer stories". The game was funded via a 2020 Kickstarter campaign and published by Evil Hat Productions in 2021. It uses a modification of the Powered by the Apocalypse game system.
In Western animation, LGBTQ themes means plotlines and characters which are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or otherwise queer in series produced in Western countries, and not in Japan, which can also have similar themes. Early examples included Bugs Bunny in drag, wearing a wig and a dress, as a form of comedy, or episodes of Tom & Jerry, under restrictive moral guidelines like the Hays Code with some arguing that animation has "always had a history of queerness." This later evolved into gay-coded characters in Disney films like Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid, and in animated series such as The Simpsons and South Park. In later years, other series would more prominently depict same-sex characters and relationships. This would include Adventure Time, Steven Universe, The Legend of Korra, Gravity Falls, Clarence, The Loud House, and Arthur. Such series, and others, have encountered roadblocks, with series creators attempting to make their programs "more welcoming of different characters," and ensure all-ages animation is no longer "bereft of queer characters." Previously, an online database, by Insider, documented over 250 LGBTQ characters in children's animation dating back to 1983, but the "representation of overtly queer characters" skyrocketed from 2010 to 2020, with promotion of these series by some streaming platforms, while other companies were not supportive of overt representation, for one reason or another.
Narrator: 'Poor Larry. Not only does Kalalu no longer love you, she's fallen in love with another woman! What could Kalalau possibly see in an Amazonian Harley-riding former-cannibal lesbian slot-machine repairwoman?'
In Ultima VII: Black Gate, the player encounters a bath house in Buccaneer's Den. In this bath house the player can pay for the services of male and female sex workers, regardless of their avatar's gender.
Belaya: 'Juhani was a… a dear companion to me for many years. We spent many nights together alone under the stars.'
In the Night Fae campaign, players help the former Night Warrior, Thiernax, rescue his husband, Qadarin.
"This is maybe a little bit of a strange story, but we never really went out of our way to decide on the sex of these characters, even though they have somewhat gendered appearances", Hayashida said.
Hayashida clarified that Toads are not mushrooms at all, but the resemblance and nomenclature is too uncanny not to wonder. "This particular riddle might stay unsolved", Hayashida said. "That's one of the great mysteries of the Mario universe."
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