Do we need more LGBTQ+ protagonists in video games?

[Something Amyss]

Need? No. Would I like to see more? Yes.

As long as they are well-written and have a meaning behind them existing, sexuality doesn't matter.

Why are you putting them at a higher standard than the rest of the industry? Non-LGBTQ characters neither have to be well written nor have a meaning behind them existing (beyond because there's a game), so why do LGBTQ characters?

the T in "LGBTQ" doesnt involve trasvestite as well as transexual people?

Not as a rule, no. It addresses neither sex nor gender identity.

That being said, I doubt there's any "official" ruling, and issues that impact transvestites impact LGBT groups. And "trans" IS an umbrella term, so an argument could be made for it.

*whistle* I'll allow it!

 

[CrazyCapnMorgan]

Do we need them? No, certainly not. You know what I believe we do need more of? Better overall character development. It shouldn't matter about ANY character's sexuality, race, gender, etc. The fact that so many people stop at these characteristics and make the judgments there speaks volumes about how we, as a collective, can be so incredibly superficial.

However, I don't mind diversity - I wish there was more of it and have it implemented sensibly. Sadly, until those with money within the industry speaks loud enough to the point where someone can make a profit off of it, it won't be happening anytime soon. As mentioned on the previous page, Kanji and Naoto from Persona 4 (and the version I like more, Persona 4 Golden) are excellent examples of having these issues portrayed correctly in video games. Though, in my opinion, neither Kanji nor Naoto is homosexual. And for those who would like to say otherwise about Kanji...

 

[Jadak]

L, G and B.. Sure, why not. Don't see any point in T, and don't know what the fuck Q is.

 

[TT Kairen]

Why are you putting them at a higher standard than the rest of the industry? Non-LGBTQ characters neither have to be well written nor have a meaning behind them existing (beyond because there's a game), so why do LGBTQ characters?

Because if they were just thrown into a game willy-nilly (like any straight protagonist that's just thrown into a game at random), the social justice warriors would complain about marginalization or stereotyping.

Here's the thing. It really doesn't matter, and shouldn't matter to anybody. Unless it's a character study about an LGBT character and the hardships they specifically have to deal with in society for being that way, it's completely irrelevant. It SHOULD just be a shoe-horn situation.

If you have a game about a space marine hero who saves the galaxy and then comes home to a man, why does that matter? It's not ABOUT him being gay. But it SHOULDN'T matter. This scene should be seen because it's the same as any other relationship.

The problem comes in when someone makes a gay (or lesbian or bi or whatever) character, and they're gay first and a character second. That's stupid. Gay should be an afterthought because it doesn't really change WHO that person is (again, unless it's set in a time or place where being LGBT is socially unacceptable and those hardships can affect who they are).

Literally all game developers have to do is make the same characters they always have, just start changing skin tones, sexualities, and genders at random. Because people are people.

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

Need? Not really. While there's certainly nothing to be lost by having some games on the market with gay protagonists, I think overall it wouldn't be a good financial decision on the part of developers.

The fact is that 2-4% of the population are gay and making a game that targets that market audience means putting in the same amount of work as developer who targets 96% of potential customers by having a straight protagonist. One has to consider the install base of the target platform, the appeal of the game to that potential audience. It's the same sorta reason there are so few, if any, left-handed mice. With only 1 in 10 people being left-handed, it's financially prohibitive for companies to manufacture products for so small a number of potential customers who, after all, may not even buy it.

It also has to be considered that sexuality of any sort is important in relatively few games. It's not remotely relevant to the overwhelming majority of games and so for those that is, it's probably safer for the developer to either have a straight protagonist or a character whose sexuality is up to the player. Skyrim and DA2 did it the latter way for example. Everyone would marry anyone. I think the games lost something for so loose an implementation, since characters were less defined. Saying that, if it "pleased" more people by being so inclusive, power to them.

Personally, I wouldn't buy a game with a gay or "other" sexuality protagonist. I have no interest in it. I have no interest in golf or football games either and am not a big fan of RTSs. I think DA:O handled romances very well...there were options for just straight males (Morrigan), just straight females (Alistair) and as well as ones that batted for both sides (Leliana and Zhevran). And for both the "flexible" NPCs, there were in-character reasons for their freer sexuality. The characters IMO were better defined for it than their DA2 counterparts where anything went.

Developers would lose a lot potential customers by having a gay protagonist, but then they lose a lot of potential customers by making games exclusive to a given platform. Parents wouldn't buy them for their kids and straight teens wouldn't buy them. Most games don't "need" sexuality whatsoever and those that do would sell more with a straight protagonist.

 

[SacremPyrobolum]

No. We need more games where you can customize literally every part of his character for their sexuality down to their favorite colors of socks.

 

[kortin]

Correction: We need well-written and interesting LGBTQ protagonists.

As countless others have said before me, just crow-barring in an LGBTQ character is just cheap and pointless.

Why, though? I mean, crow-barring in a straight character would be just as pointless no?

Not at all. Straight characters are the norm. In order to break the norm, you have to make whatever isn't the norm a better option, otherwise you get lambasted for trying to force it.

 

[nomotog_v1legacy]

No. We need more games where you can customize literally every part of his character for their sexuality down to their favorite colors of socks.

Oh saints row how we miss thee. Well that and the sims might be the only games that let you customize that much. Funny. I think, there might be more games that let you pick your sexual orientation then let you pick your socks.

 

[Swarles]

I'm going to have to agree with people that we would need better writing in order for LGBTQ characters to actually mean anything. We can all agree that the AAA space just does not really have the writing capacity to consistently have deep characters, for every Vaas and GLaDOS, there are a dozen Master Chiefs and Call of Duty main characters. However, even the independent space you don't see a whole lot of LGBTQ main characters. That's fine with games like Proteus or Nidhogg where characters aren't the draw of the game, but there's still (at least in my opinion) a lack of LGBTQ characters.

EDIT: Just to address the concern about people who wouldn't play games that have gay protagonists I'm just going to give a quote then explain it a bit. This quote is from one of my favourite films titled Weekend. The film is mostly a study of a fleeting relationship between two gay men. One of them is an artist working on a project that involves gay sex so when asked about it he says this: "So the gays'll only come because they want a glimpse of a cock, and they'll be disappointed. The straights won't come because, well, it's got nothing to do with their world. They'll go and see pictures of refugees or murder or rape. But gay sex? Fuck off." While I don't agree entirely with the quote there's definitely a large amount of truth to it. Straight people will see anything in video games and go with it. Aliens: Fine. Warzones: Fine. A portly plumber on his way to save a princess of a magical kingdom from a large dragon: Way cool. A portly plumber on his way to save a prince of a magical kingdom from a large dragon: No, what the fuck, I can't identify with that character at all. It's just that you don't entirely have to identify with characters in order to connect with them. I don't entirely identify with the person Gone Home is about but I can get emotionally invested in the story and I can relate in some way to trials and tribulations involved in it all.

Wait, when the fuck did they add the Q? What's it stand for? Is the Q an official thing or is it another one of those made up tumblr identities people use to yell at other people?

Q stands for Queer and sort of functions as a catch all term, it's been in use since the 19th century but was mostly used as a malicious word until the 1980s when many LGBT groups started to reclaim the word and it's been used in the official acronym for a long time now. I used it in the title to represent the other identities that are not in the LGBT acronym, but I also added the plus symbol just in case someone felt misrepresented.

Yes I would like to see more protagonists that I can relate more closely to as a gay male but I that's not the only reason I would like more LGBT characters. There's just so many more varied stories you can tell if you don't just stick to the rigid formula that seems to be in place for video games.

...Such as? Barring having the protagonist suffer from prejudice against his/her sexuality[footnote]Not to be dismissive of those troubles, mind you. It's just that considering that kind of thing results in a disproportionately high suicide rate for LGBT youth that's the kind of material that I'd imagine developers would be very cautious about including.[/footnote], what stories can videogames with LGBT protagonists tell that stories without LGBT protagonists cannot?

There's a lot of Queer culture that doesn't really get touched on all that often in the media. I'm not just talking about pride parades or anything and I'm not suggesting I just want that focuses entirely on sexuality. But there's a certain amount of Queer culture that can come with LGBTQ characters that could at least be somewhat seen in a story about that character.

 

[Asita]

The word "More" implies that there were some to begin with and I have a hard time thinking of any LGBT protagonists in games. Trevor is the only one I can think of at the moment.

the main character from gone home, kanji tatsumi and nNaoto shirogane from persona 4, ellie from the last of us, they are few but they are not non-existant

Wait, how is Naoto LGBT? She's just a crossdresser, that's not exactly LGBT. And Kanji isn't a protagonist.

Fair enough with Ellie though.

Both of them are questionable examples at best, really. Naoto crossdresses for much the same reason that Mulan and Joan of Arc do; namely, she's trying to make it in an overwhelmingly male dominated industry and believes (rightly or wrongly) that the police would think less of her as a detective if they knew she was a woman. Similarly, Kanji's arc is based around the idea of him holding feminine interests which he'd become embarrassed about due to teasing and his subsequent overcompensation in adopting his 'tough guy' persona and how it caused its own set of issues. In both cases their character arcs revolve around them coming to terms with the fact that they didn't have to adapt to social expectations, a conclusion best illustrated by Golden's epilogue which shows Kanji apparently dropping his delinquent appearance and Naoto dressing more femininely.

 

[TheMadDoctorsCat]

Two of the companions in "Fallout: New Vegas" are gay (and this is treated solely as a "fact", not as a "big thing"), and the player character has the option to "romance" (these are just the characters that I've found) a man OR a woman, possibly both, regardless of the player's gender. I would say that that game pretty much caters for all tastes.

Also there's a sex-bot called Fisto. For what it's worth. Yeah... "all tastes" seems to be a fairly accurate description.

 

[Scars Unseen]

Do we need more? Not really. Would it kill my desire to play a game if more were featured? Not really.

Frankly, I don't care if a character is straight, gay, male, female, or anything in between. Just give me a well written character, and I'll appreciate it. Hell, my favorite character in a currently running anime is Shinatose Izana, an intersex mecha pilot who is my favored love interest for the main character.

 

[RandV80]

Yeah inclusiveness is good and all but sometimes you just have to listen to the money. Take Hollywood for example, a much more matured (as in they've been around a while) industry, do they go to this level of inclusiveness? Hell no, you get the odd gay or lesbian movie make it's rounds but overall the focus is much more like the video game industry, except they also have the method of making chick flicks down as well.

So for the demographics they've left behind? Independent film makers pick up the slack here. You'll find plenty of 'alternative' films on the indy scene in film fests and the like. If you're gay and don't like the selections Hollywood gives you, then make your own movies.

If you want G/L/etc specific video games, that's what you need to see happening. Rather than just demanding the big publisher spend their millions making these games, make them yourself (figuratively speaking). The indy scene is thriving on gaming right now, with both platforms to sell on and methods to raise funds. If there's a market in that community for these games then there's really no excuse to not filling it anymore. Otherwise you'll only be left with the tacked on options that some developers like Bethesda or Bioware leave in their open ended games.

 

[Scars Unseen]

I'd like to see a game that lets you define your character's sexual orientation, then has absolutely no consequences for that choice. No dialog differences, no cutscene differences, model differences or anything (for instance, because the game didn't involve a romance subplot). I'd be interested in seeing people's reaction about whether it let people relate to the character more (possibly only until they realised), or whether it was a token effort.

A little more on-topic, I'd just like to see better character writing. Generic white guys are the norm, but it's the word generic that I dislike the most. Make somebody interesting and I'll care.

While it doesn't let you purposefully choose one, Rogue Legacy has "gay" as a random modifier for your players. Hard to figure a situation where sexual orientation would matter less than in a Metroidvania style platformer.

 

[Asita]

...Such as? Barring having the protagonist suffer from prejudice against his/her sexuality[footnote]Not to be dismissive of those troubles, mind you. It's just that considering that kind of thing results in a disproportionately high suicide rate for LGBT youth that's the kind of material that I'd imagine developers would be very cautious about including.[/footnote], what stories can videogames with LGBT protagonists tell that stories without LGBT protagonists cannot?

There's a lot of Queer culture that doesn't really get touched on all that often in the media. I'm not just talking about pride parades or anything and I'm not suggesting I just want that focuses entirely on sexuality. But there's a certain amount of Queer culture that can come with LGBTQ characters that could at least be somewhat seen in a story about that character.

Can you maybe elaborate a bit? An example, perhaps? Not to be rude, but an answer that effectively boils down to "they exist" doesn't really answer the question of "what are they".

I'd like to see a game that lets you define your character's sexual orientation, then has absolutely no consequences for that choice. No dialog differences, no cutscene differences, model differences or anything (for instance, because the game didn't involve a romance subplot). I'd be interested in seeing people's reaction about whether it let people relate to the character more (possibly only until they realised), or whether it was a token effort.

So...Skyrim and Fable then? The games practically set a new low bar for "token romance".

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

No, but it wouldn't be bad thing if we did, is my opinion. I welcome developers who want to have protagonists that we don't see as often, but as long as they're a thought-out character I don't care what they are, and I wouldn't pressure developers into making their protagonists anything they don't need to be.

 

[VVThoughtBox]

No. I don't believe that video games need a LBGTQ protagonist because the character's sexuality isn't important to the plot. Plus, the topic of human sexuality goes beyond LGBTQ and is too complicated to be solved with a simple romantic side quest. How well the audiences likes the LBGT protagonist would be heavily dependent on how well the character in question.

 

[CelestDaer]

The word "More" implies that there were some to begin with and I have a hard time thinking of any LGBT protagonists in games. Trevor is the only one I can think of at the moment.

the main character from gone home, kanji tatsumi and nNaoto shirogane from persona 4, ellie from the last of us, they are few but they are not non-existant

Wait, how is Naoto LGBT? She's just a crossdresser, that's not exactly LGBT. And Kanji isn't a protagonist.

Fair enough with Ellie though.

Both of them are questionable examples at best, really. Naoto crossdresses for much the same reason that Mulan and Joan of Arc do; namely, she's trying to make it in an overwhelmingly male dominated industry and believes (rightly or wrongly) that the police would think less of her as a detective if they knew she was a woman.

Naoto crossdresses, if I'm not mistaken, because she would be immediately ostracized and ignored if she dressed as female for the job, and has denied the female truth of herself to stay in the mindset of her job. Because Japan... *shrug*

Similarly, Kanji's arc is based around the idea of him holding feminine interests which he'd become embarrassed about due to teasing and his subsequent overcompensation in adopting his 'tough guy' persona and how it caused its own set of issues. In both cases their character arcs revolve around them coming to terms with the fact that they didn't have to adapt to social expectations, a conclusion best illustrated by Golden's epilogue which shows Kanji apparently dropping his delinquent appearance and Naoto dressing more femininely.

The other problem is how much wasn't explicit in the PlayStation 2 game. Every single version of the game (or anime) since has been more intricate about their two stories. From my experience, though, the character who seems most likely to be 'gay' or even curious is Yosuke. Look at his reaction when Yu hugs him just before the end of his social link, and how eager Yosuke is to know where Yu hides his porn. Not to mention, he ALWAYS calls Yu 'partner'.

 

[VVThoughtBox]

Why do we need gay protagonists? What about gay villains and side characters?

 

[Cruickshank]

the main character from gone home, kanji tatsumi and nNaoto shirogane from persona 4, ellie from the last of us, they are few but they are not non-existant

neither Kanji nor Naoto were gay, kanji was unsure at first as he was attracted to naoto who he thought was a guy (spoiler alert, naoto is a girl), and he had a complex built up in his head since he liked cute things but was supposed to be manly, naoto was definitely not gay, she just dressed as a guy and used male pronouns to describe herself as she knew that she would get dismissed professionally for being female.
seriously, so many people believe those 2 characters are gay that i wonder how many of them actually played the game or even payed attention while doing so. they explain all i said in greater detail in the game, kanji not being gay but the other guys not quite being sure around him is a running joke the entire game.