(This suggestion provided by @evilnoob)
gay characters in games. Too many or too few and are they represented?
Firstly, two things about this post before I even start. It’s boggling that in this day and age we still need to pigeonhole people in this way but for the benefit of the reader being able to see the angle this is coming from, 1) I am not gay[ref]No really. Despite what you may have heard.[/ref], and 2) evilnoob is gay. OK? OK.
Here is an exhaustive list of all the actually and unambiguously gay (by design) characters I can name off the top of my head:
- Gay Tony (from GTAV’s The Ballad of Gay Tony)
Oh wait, that’s it. And I can’t even remember if Gay Tony is actually gay or not. The only thing from that game I remember is the full frontal nudity scene. And basejumping.
Of course, there are many games where you can roleplay as gay if you wish. Skyrim, for example, where being gay isn’t an issue if that’s how you want to play it. Some characters of the same sex will be into it, some won’t. There are gay characters (none of whom I can name so they’re not on the list) who won’t let you romance them you’re a different sex to them, and there are bi characters too. Basically, in Skyrim, people are what they are and you can be what you want. Lovely. Roleplaying yourself as gay isn’t the same as having gay characters though.
In an ideal world, sexual preference just happens and people get on with it. The only embarrassment or awkwardness would be when you’re not sure if the object of your affections is aligned how you would like, and how to approach that conversation. In real life I don’t walk through a crowd trying to count or pick out the gay people, so why should I in a game? For all anyone should care, the people you meet in games, as in real life, don’t need to constantly signpost their orientation unless it’s in character for that person to do so (they’re holding hands with their boyfriend, or they’re naturally, er, flamboyantly camp or something) or paramount to the story in some way. That guy who gave you the fetch quest: Is he gay? Or straight? Does it matter when all you’re doing is killing molerats to collect teeth? Is he dressed like a rainbow, and if so, what purpose does this serve?
To return to evilnoob’s questions:
Are there too many gay characters in games?
No, of course not. There can’t be “too many”. Gay people are still just people. Are there too many people in games? No. Why separate them out? Unless it directly affects the story or the gameplay in some way, a game crammed full of homosexuals would matter not a jot. And if it does affect the story or the gameplay? Then you’re not going to fill it full of homosexuals so there won’t be “too many”.
Are there too few gay characters in games?
We haven’t asked all the characters so how would we know? 🙂
How many is “too few”? If a game was a semi-realistic game where you have interactions or conversations with a lot of people, I’d expect there to be a fair proportion of gay characters (and of course, a representation of other orientations) in the same way as a fair proportion of black or Asian characters. What proportion is “fair” would depend upon the setting. Middle Africa in the 1600s would not be mainly white gay women, for example. A realistic game should have a realistic distribution. After all, it’s realistic. If 5% of people in 18th Century France were homosexual (I’m literally pulling that out of nowhere – I have no idea) then you’d expect around 5% of the characters in Assassin’s Creed Unity to also be homosexual. Would they proclaim their identity in-game to prove this? Well, would they in real life? Perhaps 5% of them in the game are gay, but they don’t declare it. Maybe hidden away in the attributes for each NPC there’s a flag for age, a flag for gender, a flag for “fighty or flighty”, and flags for “likes boys”, “likes girls” and “likes both”. Who knows.
If the game isn’t semi-realistic then all bets are off, but I’d still expect a proportion that fits the game. If that’s even possible to comprehend for some of the more abstract games.
Are they represented?
Now that’s a question. They’re certainly represented as in, “games have gay characters”. Or even, “games have characters who may or may not be gay but we haven’t chosen which because it doesn’t actually matter”. Hopefully things have moved on in games a little to show that not all gay people have big moustaches, dress like The Village People and fawn over every single member of the same gender. I’m not saying no gay people are like that, but games have matured – I think, I hope – to the point where they realise that not all of them are.
I think the question implies “represented correctly and fairly”, to which my answer is, unfortunately, I don’t really know. If you look at Sluggy, the referee from Ribbit King, who could be described as the gayest character ever (if it were even politically correct to say that that, I’ve genuinely no idea), is he a fair representation? He certainly appears very, very gay, if you subscribe to a perhaps outdated stereotype, but is he representing gay people fairly? I suspect not. Thankfully, he’s a cartoon extremity of the image and not a common representation.
Most modern games, especially those maturely written, are more realistic – or at least appear so to me. One which dealt with sexuality in a natural way, sidelined from the story and in a matter of fact way which is left down to your own choices and interpretation, is Life is Strange. I’ve written much about that game before, but I’ve not really delved into the romantic relationship between Max and Chloe which may, or may not exist. At one point in the game, Chloe dares Max to kiss her, and you can choose to do so or not. How you read this is up to you, and with some other minor decisions in the game, it’s possible to roleplay Max as a lesbian to some degree. It’s not front and centre in the story, it’s more a passing subtext. You might not even realise it and it might not even be there – it is, as I say, down to interpretation. There are also suggestions that Chloe may have had a relationship with missing girl Rachel. Were they really good friends, or really good friends? Ultimately, it’s not important, but I think the game dealt with it all in a passing but caring and non-confrontational way. Far and away from Mr Sluggy up there, anyway.
What I do find disappointing, and it’s unfortunately Nintendo I’m mainly aiming this is at, is when games like Tomodachi Life allow you to get married but have no same-sex relationship options. Surely now this is something which should be a standard feature? Are we not past the “if we tell children that some people are gay, they might turn out gay!” stage in evolution yet? Certainly not if this continues to happen. Two women in a game like that, getting married, isn’t rude, isn’t titillation and certainly isn’t going to corrupt young players’ minds, so why the hell not allow it? With Nintendo specifically, I’m not sure it’s that they feel they’ll cause offence, or are concerned about how it is seen in certain markets where homosexuality is still stuck in the dark ages and considered somewhat illegal; I think it’s more that Nintendo just didn’t think to have that option. In some ways, that’s probably worse.
I’m not really sure if I’ve answered the question I’ve been posed, and did ramble on a bit there. In summary, I don’t think gay representation in games is particularly unfair, but that’s mainly because it’s something which isn’t necessarily obvious or relevant. There aren’t “too many” or “too few”, but that isn’t implying it’s “just right”, more that – perhaps – it isn’t important to most games.
