Opinion We Need To Stop Pitting Queer Characters Against Each Other

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We Need To Stop Pitting Queer Characters Against Each Other​

Queer representation is only getting better and better in video games. While we still have a long way to go in the real world when it comes to universal rights in the LGBTQ+ community, it at least feels nice that gaming allows us to be fruity and feel seen in our favourite characters.

This month saw Venture added to Overwatch, a non-binary hero with a drill that can dig deep underground before bursting through the surface to get the drop on their enemies. I’m a big fan of their design, and so is the community, judging by the oodles of fan art and discussions which have warranted more fanfare than the past three heroes combined.

My favourite part of the whole situation is how the community has immediately made Venture into a non-binary gremlin who loves nothing more than to explore caves and eat rocks. If that isn’t an absolute mood, I don’t know what is. Better yet, Venture is authentically cast with the talented Valeria Rodriguez providing their voice. And, according to their TikTok at least, they go by all pronouns and have been a passionate follower of the game since its launch back in 2016. I’m yet to give Venture a proper spin (dig?) in game, but from their identity alone I can quickly see them becoming a firm favourite, not to mention how I see myself in them, too.

However, recent weeks also saw another non-binary character debut as a playable hero in a popular shooter - Valorant.
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Clove is a Scottish troublemaker with a luscious design and queer identity that isn’t dissimilar to that of Venture, so, of course, people have used this strange timing as a way to pit the two characters against one another.

Days after their respective releases, I’ve seen folks debating who “won” or can be labelled the best queer character. But this idea flies in the face of the fluidity that non-binary identities are supposed to represent.

It can be difficult to pin down what exactly non-binary means, because the term deliberately rejects being too tied to masculinity or femininity. People who decide to use this term to describe their identity often feel like they just don’t fit squarely into either of the boxes that society has demanded all people cram themselves into. But whether an individual decides to show themselves in a masculine or feminine light, they should never discount their non-binary identity.

It feels like as non-binary identification has become more commonplace in queer spaces, cis and queer people alike have inadvertently begun to try and define the term with parameters it's intended to deliberately subvert in the first place. There is no right way to present as non-binary, only a right way for society to respect those who do, regardless of how they’ve chosen to look or act. How non-binary people present themselves is none of your business, and we shouldn’t project weird expectations onto fictional characters either, since it only serves to highlight our own bias.
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Regardless of which character design you prefer or if you have more fun playing as one or the other, this evaluation shouldn’t factor in their queer identity and have it unfairly used as some sort of slight against them. You can’t do non-binary identity better or worse than anyone else, and claiming you can only further cement internal prejudice from within queer circles that we could really do without.

While representation in video games is still progressing in significant ways, there is value to be found in depictions we view as flawed, or even problematic, as we figure out the right path forward. Pitting us against one another serves to widen this divide, and allows toxicity that permeates so much of gaming to slip into spaces which should otherwise be inclusive and welcoming.
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Venture and Clove are both strong, fully-fledged, non-binary characters that represent the queer identity they stand for in dramatically different ways, but that doesn’t make one less or superior, purely because we might have a preference. If anything,

I love it when characters of this ilk aren’t afraid to lean into a feminine or masculine direction, or avoid it altogether, as it helps outsiders realise how big an umbrella non-binary identity can be. It doesn’t need to fit inside a strict box. No queer identities should, so stop turning Venture and Clove into enemies.
 
It's crazy to me how they care so fucking much about being represented in a fantasy game, in the most unrelatable and unrealistic way possible for the sole purpose of profit.

Like, do they know it doesn't matter? They are probably selling this game in shitholes where they still toss queers off buildings. I can't tell if they really don't get it or they pretend they don't because having a queer characters pisses off everyone and that's apparently good?
 
Do you ever imagine trying to explain current year to a medieval peasant? “Yeah so the gays are mad that the game where they pretend to be warriors doesn’t have the right number or type of gays. Oh this guy? No that’s a man who likes to dress like a woman. No, he doesn’t work on his lord’s land. Nobody does now. If he has a job it’s one where he manipulates symbols on magic paper. No, everyone is a heathen. Yeah, going straight to hell, you’re right.”
 
What a fucking pussy. Faggots are so fucking insufferable. They have no competitive spirit.
Gay men can be *maddeningly* competitive by nature, but once they are assimilated into the political oneness of the Gender Blob, it sucks the light out of their eyes.
 
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My favourite part of the whole situation is how the community has immediately made Venture into a non-binary gremlin who loves nothing more than to explore caves and eat rocks. If that isn’t an absolute mood, I don’t know what is.
This tranny has a writing job and I don't. Fuck this.
 
Similar energy to, "there are only men and women, but a script can't be good unless female characters don't rely on or discuss male characters."

🤡🌍
The Bechdel test says up front that it's not a measure of how "good" a movie is.

It's just a lens for looking at how women's stories are written in Hollywood.

If half of all movies made showed every white character only talking about black people, would that be a problem?

Might not be a problem in individual films, but if it was fully half of all movies, you'd think it was odd.
 
"We need to stop imaginary fighting between pretend characters from made-up goyslop entertainment."

Obsession with fag shit is a sign of Western decadence.
It's not even that. Even within the realm of "fag shit" this is trivial nonsense. There are people who legitimately suffer because they are gay - disowned by their parents, sent to conversion therapy or "troubled teen" boot camps, or kicked out of their house and left homeless. There are people out there who have actual problems. And this is what the author decides is so pressing they need to tell the world about it?
 
Venture and Clove are both strong, fully-fledged, non-binary characters

But can they beat Goku?

Clove is obviously a biological female. I wouldn't be surprised if the enby label was tacked on as an afterthought because there weren't enough alphabeticals on the roster. Venture looks like it was an intentional genderblobbification though. Therefore there may be no way to clock it accurately. The VA sounds kinda like Jimmy Neutron meets Timmy Turner. And the facial expressions are very male. But xe carries xirself in an odd way. The character sketch looks more feminine than the in-game model. It's a mess. I'm gonna go with stunted male though. Also probably has autism.

 
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The Bechdel test says up front that it's not a measure of how "good" a movie is.

It's just a lens for looking at how women's stories are written in Hollywood.

If half of all movies made showed every white character only talking about black people, would that be a problem?

Might not be a problem in individual films, but if it was fully half of all movies, you'd think it was odd.
Not if there were only black people and white people on earth, in roughly equal numbers and representing one of two sexes! The "Bechdel test" is ridiculous bullshit for resentful, truly privileged women who have no real problems.
 
sorta reminds me of a legend of game development that I've heard
the story goes that in the heyday of the capcom fighters and when Marvel and DC did their big crossover event there were some tentative plans of the most obvious Marvel vs DC fighting game
unfortunately both licensors demanded that at no point could their guys lose to the other company's guys, because they had no fucking clue how fighting games work
for obvious reasons the game didn't get far into development
 
Vidjya doesn't need to "pit" alphabet soup against themselves.

The Tranch demonstrated that rainbow children, locked into a house with each other, largely isolated from the rest of the world...will destroy not only each other, but their property as well as the surrounding environment.

It's all documented on this site.

I love their poster child character for non-binary is just a tomboyish girl and not a genderblob or a dress-wearing bearded man, like the author.
 
Clove is obviously a biological female. I wouldn't be surprised if the enby label was tacked on as an afterthought because there weren't enough alphabeticals on the roster. I'm gonna go with stunted male though. Also probably has autism.
They made it a vanilla woman in the Russian version to avoid running afoul of the anti-LGBT regulation and I am chortling.

"I'm a trans-non-binary-female-presenting aromantic genderqueer demiboy".
"Female it is, then. Next!"
 
This month saw Venture added to Overwatch, a non-binary hero with a drill that can dig deep underground before bursting through the surface to get the drop on their enemies.
So.... they added a literal tunnel troon to overwatch. I'm surprised twitter isn't screeching like psychotic banshees claiming its a deliberate attempt to stereotype troons
 
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