Portrayal and Representation of LGBT characters in video games

I think there should definitely be better portrayals of LGBT. There are not enough gay male characters and most (not all) lesbian characters are there to turn on straight men, That could probably only change though if more people who wanted change (LGBT for example) worked in the video game industry.

 

I had a lesbian marriage in Skyrim, if that counts

But yeah. Video games ARE heteronormative. And of course there should be more LGBT characters, with better stories. Or... they don't even have to be in the spotlight at all, they can just be random NPCs. Just to show that the LGBT community EXISTS.

 

What I really want to see is more video games created specifically for the LGBT community. There was a 8 or 16 bit one about trying to convince the family to accept the character, like a pokemon battle, but I can't remember the name, so I can't find it. The fact that I can't think of any more bums me out.

 

Yeah. Better representation, stat. I wanna see positive gay and bisexual characters, positive trans characters (and properly gendered- woot!). I remember the first time I played Harvest Moon, I got really cheesed off that I couldn't woo another guy and if I wanted to, I had to play as a female in the next port.

I mean, Sims is probably one of the earliest examples I can think of of a game that allowed positive queer representation and it wasn't a "huge deal", except apparently on the console systems... :dry:

That's what we need. Sometimes, Action Joe needs to save the prince.

 

Yes better representation would be great. The best game that achieves this standard that I've played so far is Persona 4.

Spoiler

Naoto is trans*. They handled Naoto's story pretty well... and the team members seemed very accepting of Naoto.

As for gay characters, it was a bromance more than actual gay guys. I would have liked actual gay characters. Perhaps in Persona 5? I hope so

 

Persona 4 is a great game with a great story, but I have mixed feelings about their portrayal of LGBT characters.

Spoiler

The game chickens out of actually making Kanji gay and Naoto trans. I feel it's got something to do with executive meddling or some bullshit, but it decides to make Kanji's arc about him being uncomfortable about liking one typically feminine activity. Whilst it's still a good message that people shouldn't be tied down by gender stereotypes, it still kind of annoyed me. As for Naoto? They try to explain away the trans as being just a way for him to be the detective he wants to be. It just leaves a sore spot for me. The reason I mentioned executive meddling was that it seems like it was headed towards Kanji and Naoto becoming a gay couple, but then some suit made the decision to censor it and they changed the ends of their character arcs. In addition to this, the game treats Naoto as a female romance option, which also kinda irked me. Don't get me wrong, I'm very glad the game brought up both topics, which is especially important in a game from Japan, which is a less tolerant country when it comes to LGBT rights. It's just that I don't think the message is entirely sound.

One good portrayal of a transgender character actually comes from Mario of all things. In Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, Vivian was an MtF character who starts off as a villain who is tormented by her sisters and called transphobic slurs by them. She works for the villains trying to appease them and gain their acceptance. Later, the party accepts Vivian for who she is and she joins the good side! The only catch? This was completely edited out of the English version. *facepalm*

 

Well, let's be honest :l It has to appeal to their marketing group which is adolescent heterosexual males. I doubt there is going to be Call uv Dooty: Ghosts DLC Kill it with kindness and understanding.

 

I have barely ever seen any LGBT character in any game me or my brother have ever played and when they do add them they're usually as fetish or bad written to the point it looks forceful, to be frank I wish they would add LGBT characters who seemed more natural and less fetichized (I'm pretty sure i got a typo there)

I think someone mentioned the Sims here and I wanna bring them up again because I think it is one of the games that manages it the best, in the history most Sims are actually bi if you check (back in sims 2 you can check and edit their sexuality/atracction they manage it with point to each sex and by defaul most sims are bi) and it also makes me really happy that you can marry and adopt (I'm obsessed with the sims I'm sorry)

 

Yeah, I've got Sims freeplay on my kindle, and my town is pretty gay. I've got two straight couples, one gay couple, and about three lesbian couples. My town needs more men.

I've done away with gender roles, too. My sims end up with whatever job and hobby suits them or sometimes I forget to pick a specific sim, and now the mayor does woodshop.

 

....you do realize that you can have a fucking game where a guy shoots zombies and that guy can just happen to be gay?

 

What? What do you mean? All gay guys are prissy, feminine, and obsessed over their appearance. They also cannot spell "ov" I mean "uf" - oh, I give up, my gayness is stopping me from spelling normally.

 

No. Nor do I think it's important. I'm getting kinda sick of homosexuality making it's way into every aspect of my life. We need to stop pushing so hard.

 

I always choose the gay romance options if they're available in a game. I feel that Bioware has really made the attempt to make them available in their games, from Dragon Age: Origins onward to Mass Effect 3. It's one of the reasons I still support Bioware despite their decline since being acquired by EA. Their depictions of gay relationships has also been rather decent, for example the ability to romance Kaiden in Mass Effect 3 was fairly well done.

That being said, the video is pretty much straight up correct on all it's points. I laughed every time there was a COMBO! In the video. "...villain, villain, and villain. Oh, and this one is even a sadist. COMBO! .... This one is gay, obnoxious, and a racist. KING COMBO!" :lol:

When I'm trying to make a decision between multiple games, and which one I want to spend my money on whether or not it has LGBT characters in it can usually be the deciding factor. I just like the option to play gay characters.

 

Yes, because we don't wanna offend nobody, do we?

So...if an advertisement features a couple, it's wrong for that couple to be homosexual once in a while because that would be 'pushing homosexuality on everyone' but having every single advertisement feature a straight couple isn't 'pushing heterosexuality' on everyone?

 

Once in a while is fine, but I'm not interested in every single game having some sort of LGBT character in it. Especially since the LGBT characters are a way for the game company to go "See! We're progressive, too!"

I'd rather the effort go towards content and game mechanics.

 

I blame the male dominated world and capitalism; it's clearly A FRONT!

For one year, I'd like to see the girls up on the pedestal!

---------- Post added 11th May 2014 at 01:42 AM ----------

Yep.

 

To be honest I'm not bothered by it. The reason LGBT characters aren't featured as protagonists or rarely fleshed out is Developers still see that as too big of a gamble and potential loss of sales. It is what it is, just another disappointing truth of the gaming industry. I also think it's more important that a game is fun to play. It would be nice to have better representation in my favorite interactive medium but for now I'll settle for being acknowledged at all.

 

Faris FFV- best Trans or at least drag character in any game =p she broke alot of "Gender Norms"

spoilers after this point, maybe.

and after a thorough evaluation of FFIV I am 95% sure that Kain, yes Kain Highwind the mainly man Lancer of the skies is in fact a closet Homosexual. If you are unfamiliar of the game, I'll note a few key points in the story.
Kain is Cecil's childhood friend and long rival, Kain was always jealous of Cecil's ability to the point of obsessiveness.
His first red flag is Kidnapping Rosa, Cecil's (protagonist) love interest, while he may pretend to have a thing for Rosa, he never tries anything with her during the period she is in his custody, yea he says a few lines about having her close, but what he really wanted was for Cecil to save HIM from Golbez (Antagonist for the first half), when Cecil shows up and saves Rosa, it is followed with a lip locking body warming Kiss, Kain gets instantly depressed.
Before this event Kain defeats Cecil in combat, and even has a chance to kill Cecil, but he hesitates, after which he kidnaps Rosa. This is important for later.

The first voyage to the moon, the three male characters urge the women to stay behind, upon landing on the moon, the women have stowed away, upon their discovery Kain is the only male character not concerned for an individual female's safety.

at the end of the game when he learns that Cecil and Rosa are to be wed he is the only character not to show up for the wedding, instead he goes into hiding for 17 years, 17 long long years, his excuse was to train to get stronger to be able to defeat Cecil even though he has already done so earlier in the story.

17 years pass before Kain reemerges, while he ends up helping to save the world again. His real reason for reemerging was saving Ceodore whom he instantly recognized as Cecil's son. after the events of "The After Years" Kain spends his years training Ceodore in the art of the Dragoon, he never again "falls in love" with any female character, showing only fatherly affection towards Ceodore.

This is all speculation of course.

it should be noted Kain's stat growth was the worst in the game until the DS release, gaining a level with Kain had a good possibility to actually LOOSE stats with the exception of HP